Page:Dictionary of Greek and Roman Geography Volume II.djvu/949

 SCARrOXA. Starplieia to Heracleia (xsxiii. 3). Hence the town may be placed between the modern villages of 'Aiidera and Molo. (Leake, Northern Greece, vol. ii. p. 1 78.) Scarpheia is .said by Strabo to have been destroyed by an inundation of the sea caused by an earthquake (i. p. 60), but it must have been after- wards rebuilt, as it is mentioned by subsequent writers down to a late period. (Plin. iv. 7. s. 12; Ptol. iii. 15. § 11; Hierocl. p. 643; Geog. Rav. iv. 10; Const. Porphyr. de Them. ii. 5. p. 51, Bonn.) Scarpheia is also mentioned by Lycophr. 1147; Appian, Sip: 19; Paus. ii. 29. § 3, s. 1. § 2. SCARPO'NA or SCARPONXA, in Gallia, is placed in the Antonine Itin. and in the Table on a road between Tullum (Toul) and Divodurum {Metz). The Iwo authorities agree in placing it at the dis- tance of X. from Tullum ; but the Itin. makes the distance from Scarpona to Divodurum sii., and the Table makes it siiii. The larger number comes nearer to the truth, for the place is Charpagne, on the Mosel. An inscription lias been found at Char- pagne. which is as follows : " iiiivir %-iarum curand. Sabell. V. S. P. M. Scarp. Civit. Leuc." Scarpona was in the territory of the Leuci. [Leuci.] Jovinus, Equitnm Magister, defeated the Alemanni near Scarponna in a. d. 366. in the reign of Valen- tiiiian and Valens. (Amm. Marc, xxvii. 2; D'Anville, Notice, fc; Ukert, Gullien, p. 506.) [G. L.] SCENAE (S/fTjvoi). 1. A town of Mesopotamia on a canal from the Euphrates, and on the borders of Babylonia, 18 schoeni from Seleucia, and 25 days' journey from the passage of the Euphrates at Zeufcma. (Strab. xvi. p. 748.) It belonged to the peaceful and nomadic tribe of the Scenitae, and therefore, though called by Strabo o^idKoyos ir6is, was probably only a city of tents, as, indeed, its n.ame implies. 2. ScENAE SIandrae, a place in Middle Egypt, on the right bank of the Nile, between Aphroditopolis and Babylon, a little SE. of Memphis. {Itin. Ant. p. 169.) It had a Roman garrison, and in later limes became the see of a Christian bishop. {Not. Imp. ; comp. ^'esseling, ad Itin. I. c.) 3. ScENAE Veteranorum, a place in Lower Egypt, on an arm of the Nile, and on the road from Heliupolis to Vicus Judaeonim. {Itin. Ant. pp. 163, 169.) It lay SV. of Bubastus. [T. H. D.] SCENI'TAE (S/cTiJ/n-ai), a general name for various Arab tribes in Pliny, often distinguished by some other appellation. Thus, towards the lower part of the Euphrates, beyond the " Attali latrones, Ara- buin gens," he places the Scenitae (vi. 26), whom he mentions again more fully (c. 28), " Nomadas inde infestatoresque Chaldaeorum Scenitae, ut diximus cludunt,et ipsi vagi, sed a tabernaculis cognominati, quae ciliciis metantur, ubi libuit. Deinde Nabataei," &c. Then again below the confluence of the Eu- phrates and Tigris he places the Nomades Sce- nitae on the right bank of the river, the Chaldaei on the left. He speaks also of the Scenitae Sabaei. Strabo also uses the name in the same latitude of application of many various tribes of Arabia. Syria, and Mesopotamia (see Index, s.w.); but Ptolemy a-ssi^ns them a definite seat near the mountains which stretch along the north of the peninsula, north of the Thaditae {al. Oaditae) and Saraceni (vi. 7. § 21); and in this vicinity, towards the lied Sea, it is that Ammianus Marcellinus places the Scenite Arabs, whom posterity called Saracens (xxiii. 6.) [Saraceni.] The remark of Bochart is therefore borne out by authorities: " Ubi Sce- VuL. II. SCEPSIS. 929 nitas Eratosthenes, ibi Saracenos ponunt Procopius et Marcianus. Saraceni nimirum a Scenitis hoc solum difFerunt, quod Scenitanim nomen est vetus- tius." {Geogr. Sacr. iv. 2. p. 213.) [G.W.] SCEPSIS {'S.KTi^is : Eth. 2i<rn(/ios), a town in the SE. of Jlysia, on the river Aesepus, 150 stadia to the SE. of Alexandria Troas, and not far from Dicte, one of the highest points of Mount Ida. It was apparently a place of the highest antiquity; for it was beheved to have been founded immediately after the time of the Trojan War, and Demetrius, a native of the place, considered it to have been the capital of the domi- nions of Aeneas. (Strab. siii. p. 607). The .same author stated that the inhabitants were transferred by Scamandrius, the son of Hector, and Ascanius. the son of Aeneas, to another site, lower down the Aesepus, about 60 stadia from the old place, and that there a new town of the same name was founded. The old town after this was distinguished from the new one by the name of Palaescepsis. For two ge- nerations the princes of the house of Aeneas main- tained themselves in the new town ; but the form of government then became an oligarchy. During this period, colonists from Miletus joined the Scepsians, and instituted a democratic form of government. The descendants of the royal family, however, still con- tinued to enjoy the regal title and some other dis- tinctions. (Strab. I. c. comp. xiii. p. 603 ; xiv. p. 635; Plin. v. 2; Steph. B. s. v.) In the time of Xenophon {Hell. iii. 1. § 15), Scepsis belonged to Mania, a Dardanian princess ; and after her death it was seized by Meidias, who had married her daughter; but Dercyllidas, who had obtained admission into the town under some pretext, expelled Meidias, and restored the sovereign power to the citizens. After this we hear no more of Scepsis until the time of the jMacedonian supremacy, when Antigonus transferred its inhabitants to Alexandria Troas, on account of their constant quarrels with the town of Cebrene in their neighbourhood. Lysimachus afterwards allowed them to return to their ancient home, which at a later time became subject to the kings of Pergamum. (Strab. xiii. p. 597.) This new city became an important seat of learning and philosophy, and is celebrated in the history of the works of Aristotle. Strabo (xiii. p. 608) relates that Xeleus of Scepsis, a pupil of Aristotle and friend of Theophrastus, inherited the library of the latter, which also contained that of Aristotle. After Ne- leus' death the library came into the hands of per- sons who, not knowing its value, and being unwilling to give them up to the library which the Pergameniau kings were collecting, concealed these literary trea- sures in a pit, where they were exposed to injury from damp and wonris. At length, however, ihey were rescued from this place and sold to Apellicoii of Teos. The books, in a very mutilated condition, were conveved to Athens, and thence they were car- ried by Sulla to Rome. It is singular that Scylax (p. 36) enumerates Scepsis among the Aeolian coast-towns ; for it is evident from Strabo (comp. Demosth. c. Aristocr. p. 671) tljat it stood at a cuii- siderable distance from the sea. The town of Palae- scepsis seems to have been abandoned entirely, for in Pliny"s time (v. 33) not a vestige of it existed, while Scepsis is mentioned by Ilierocles (p. 664) and the ecclesiastical notices of bisiioprics. In the neighbourhood of Scepsis there existed very produc- tive silver mines. It was the birthplace of Deme- trius and Metrodorus. The former, who bestowed much labour on the topograj>liy of Troas, spoke of 3 u