Page:Dictionary of Greek and Roman Geography Volume II.djvu/951

 SCILLUS. (s. v.), who calls it merely a " city of Italy." We Lave therefore no clue to its position; for even its situation on the Tyrrhenian sea is a mere inference froui the manner in which it is mentioned by Hero- dotus in conjunction with Laiis. But there exist at Sripri, on the Gulf of PoUcastro, extensive remains of an ancient city, which are generally considered, and apparently not without reason, as indicatinj; the site of Scidrus. They are said to consist of the remains of a theatre and other public buildings of the ancient walls, and constructions around the port. (Antonini, Lucania, part ii. c. 11 ; Eomanelli, v(il. i. p. 377.) This last is a remarkable land- lojked basin, though of small extent ; and it is singular that, even if the town had ceased to exist, no allusion should be found to the existence of this secure port, on a coast almost wholly destitute of natural harbours. But the high mountains which shut it in and debar it from all communication with the interior probably prevented it from ever attain- ing to any importance. Sapri is at the present day a mere fishing village, about 6 miles E. of PoU- castro. [E. H. B.] SCILLUS (SkiMoDs: Etli. :SkiAoi/vtios), a town of Triphylia, a district of Elis, situated 20 stadia south of Olympia. In B.C. 572 the Scil- luntians assisted Pyrrhus, king of Pisa, in making war upon the Eleians; but they were completely conquered by the latter, and both Pisa and Scillus were razed to the ground. (Fans. v. 6. § 4, vi. 22. § 4.) Scillus remained desolate till about B. c. 392, when the Lacedaemonians, who had a few years previously compelled the Eleians to renounce their supremacy over their dependent cities, colonised Scillus and gave it to Xenophon, then an exile from Athens. Xenophon resided here more than twenty years, but was expelled from it by the Eleians soon after the battle of Leuctra, B.C. 371. He has left us a description of the place, which he says was situ- ated 20 stadia from the Sacred Grove of Zeus, on the road to Olympia from Sparta. It stood upon the river Selinus, which was also the name of the river flowing by the temple of Artemis at Ephesus, and like the latter it abounded in fish and shell-fish. Here Xenophon, from a tenth of the spoils acquired in the Asiatic campaign, dedicated a temple to Artemis, in imitation of the celebrated temple at Ephesus, and instituted a festival to the goddess. Scillus stood amidst woods and meadows, and afforded abundant pasture for cattle; while the neighbouring moun- tains supplied wild hogs, roebucks, and stags. (Xen. ^Ma6. v. 3. §§ 7 — 13.) When Pausanias visited Scillus five centuries afterwards the temple of Ar- temis still remained, and a statue of Xenophon, made of Pentelic marble. (Paus. v. 6. § 5, seq. ; comp. Strab. viii. pp. 344, 387; Plut. de Exsil. p. 603.) There are no remains to identify Scillus, but there can be no doubt that it stood in the woody vale, in which is a small village called Rasa, and through which flows a river falling into the Alpheius nearly opposite the Cladeus. (Leake, Morea, vol. ii. p. 213, seq., Peloponnesiaca, p. 9 ; Boblaye, Rechcrches, tfc. p. 133; Curtius, I'eloponnesos, vol. ii. p. 91.) SCINCOiMAGUS (XKtyy6/.iayos). This place is first mentioned by Strabo (:v. p. 179), who says, when he is speaking of one of the passes of the Alps, that from Ebrodunum (^Einhrun) on the Gallic side through Brigantium {Brianr/ni) and Scincomagus and the pass of the Alps to Occluni, the limit of the land of Cottius is 99 miles; and at Scincomagus Italy begins: and the distance from SCIRL D"! Scincomagus to Ocelum is 27 miles. (See Groskurd's note on the passage, Transl. Strab. i. p. 309.) Pliny also (ii. 108) makes Italy extend to the Alps at Scincomagus, and then he gives the breadth of Gallia from Scincomagus to the Pyrenees and Illiberis. (See the notes and emendations in Har- duin's edition.) It appears then that Scincomagus was at the foot of the Alps on the Italian side; and if the position of Ocelum were certain, we might pro- bably determine that of Scincomagus, which must be on tiie line of the passage over the Alps by the 3/ont Genivre. It was a great mistake of Bouche and Harduin to suppose that Scincomagus was the same as Segusio or Susa. D'Anville guesses that Scincomagus may be a place which he calls " Chamlat de Siguin, at the entrance of the Col de Cestrieres, which leads from the valley of Stzane (Cesano) into that of Pra-gelas." As usual, he relies on the resemblance of the ancient and modern names, which is often useful evidence; for " magus " in Scincomagus is merely a common Gallic name for town. D'Anville also supposes that this position of Scincomagus is confirmed by the site of Ocelum, as he has fixed it. [Ocelum.] But all this is vague. [G. L."! SCIO'XE (SKiaJj/jjjHerod.vii. 123, viii. 128; Thuc. iv. 120—123, 133, v. 32; Strab. vii. p. 330 ; Pomp. Mela, ii. 2. § 11; Plin. iv. 17: £th. 'S.kiwvoios, Herod.; 'S.Kiwpevs, Steph. B. s. ik), the chief town on the isthmus of Pallene in Macedonia. Although it called itself Achaean, like many other colonial towns, in default of any acknowledged mother-city, it traced its origin to warriors returning from Troy. Under con- cert with Brasidas the Scionaeans proclaimed their re- volt from Athens, two days after the truce was sworn, JIarch, B.C. 421. Brasidas, by a speech which ap- pealed to Grecian feeling, wound up the citizens to the highest pitch of enthusiasm. The Athenians, furious at the refusal of the Lacedaemonians to give up this prize, which they had gained after the truce, passed a resolution, under the instigation of Cleon to kill all the grown-up male inhabitants of the place, and strictly besieged the town, which Bra- sidas was unable to relieve, though he had pre- viously conveyed away tlie women and children to a place of safety. After a long blockade Scione sur- rendered to the Athenians, who put all the men of military age to death, and sold the women and children to slavery. The site of this ill-fated city must be sought for between the capes Paliuri and Posidhi. (Leake, Northern Greece, vol. iii. p. 157.) [E.B.J.] SCIRA'DIUM. [Salajiis.] SCIPI or SClPiRI, a population variously placed by various authors. The first who mentions thein is Pliny (iv. 13. s. 27), who fixes them in Eningia, i. e. in the parts to the NE. of the extreme fron- tier of what he and his contemporaries call Gernia- nia, i. e. East Prussia, Courland, Livonia, Esthonia, and part of Fivnland, "quidam haec habitari ad Vis- tulam usque fiuvium a Sarmatis, Venedis, Sciri.«, Ilirris, tradunt." Xo other author either mentions the Hirri or places the Sciri thus far northward. The most interesting notice of them is in the so- called Olbian inscription (Biickh, Inscr. no. 2058), wherein they are mentioned as dangerous neighbours to the town of Olbia along with the Galatae, the Thisamatae, the Scythae, and the Saudaratae (Zeuss, Die JJeutschen, (f-c, s.v. Galulae); and, doubtless, the neighbouring town of Olbia was their truo locality. 3o 2