Page:Dictionary of Greek and Roman Geography Volume I Part 1.djvu/165

 ANTIUM. 248.) Ainr thurs afterwards, however (b.C.459), Aniiam ^gain revolted; and thoogh it is represented bj Uk aosalists as having been recoDqnered, this appnn to be a fiction, and we find it from hence- fcntanl enjojing oomplete independence for near l^Ojeais, doling which period it nee to great opoIoKe flod power, and came to be regarded as the Jtief atj of the Yolscians. (Liv. iiL 4, 5, 23,- TOdmhr, voL n. ppi 254, 255.) During the former part of this period it continued on friendly terms irith Bome; but in b. c 406, we find it, for a short tiBK, joining with the other Volscian cities in their hostilities: and after the invasion of the Ganls, the Anti«taia took the lead in declaring war against the fioaoans, which thej waged almost without hitennission for 13 years (b. c 386 — 374), until Rpeated defeats at length compelled them to sue ftr peace. (Lit. iv. 59, vi. 6 — 33 ; Niebnhr, voL ii. P|iu4e5, 583 — 593.> Notwithstanding this lesson, tfaej again provoked the hostility of Borne in b. c. 948. bj sending a colony to Satxicnm; and in the great Latin War (b. c. 340 — 338) they once more took the lead of the V olsdans, in uniting their arms vith those of the Latins and their allies, and shared ii thdr delieats at Pedum and Astura. Their de- fectidi was severelj punished; they were deprived of all their ships of war (the beaks of which served to adon the Bostra at Borne), and prohibited from sD naritime commerce, while a Boman colony was MBt to garrison their town. (Liv. vii. 27, viii. 1, 12-14; Niebohr, ToLiiL p.128, 140—144.) ffook this time Antium figures <»]y in histoiy as CM of the maritime colonies of Bcone (Liv. zxvii. 38, zxxTi.3); bat Stiabo states, that the inhabit- nte did not disomtinue their piratical habits even after they had become subject to Bome, and that JUoander the Great, and Demetrius (Poliorcetes), laeoeasivdy sent embassies to comphiin of their depredsticDfi. (Strab. y. p. 232.) It was taken by )fari«s daring tiie civil wars (Appian. B. C, i. 69); and snflered severely firom the ravages of his fol- kwen (liv. Epit. Izzx.), but appears to have qmckly recovered, and became, during the latter daji of the Bepubfic, as well as under the Boman £iiipire, a fikvoorite jdace of resort with wealthy Ba&ans, who adorned both the town and its neigh- boBzfaood wHh splendid villas. (Strab. t c) Among itheii, Cicero bad a villa here, to which he re- peat^ aDudes. iAd Att. ii. 1, 7, 11, &c) Nor «ia it leas in &vtmr with tiie emperas themselves; iivashere that Augustus first received from the peopfethetitkof" Pater Patriae '^ (Suet Avg. 58); it was also the bdrth-phioe of Caligula (Id. CaL 8), iS wen as of Noo, who, in consequence, r^;arded it irxth opedal favour; and not only enlarged and bcantified the imperial villa, but establi^ed at Asliun a colony of veterans of the praetorian guard, and ecaistmcted there a new and splendid port, the reiaains of which are still visible. (Id. Ner. 6. 9 ; Tac Atm. sir. 27, xv. 23.) It was at Antium, also, that he received the tidings of the great con- flagiBtian of Rome. (Ibid. zv. 39.) I^r em- peron continued to regard it with equal favour; it VIS indebted to Antoninus Pius for the aqueduct, of vrhicfa some portions still renuun, and Septimins Serana added laigely to the buildings of the im- pvia] residenK!. (CaptoL Ant. Piut, 8; Philostr. FiL ApoU, ym 20.) The popdation and import- aofce of the town appear, however, to have declined; and thoogh wt learn that its port was still ser- vkeahle in a. D 537 (Procop. B. G. i. 26), we find ANTIUJL 149 no subsequent mention of it; and during the middle ages it appeara to have been wholly deserted, the few inhabitants having established themselves at Nettuno. The attempts made by Innocent XII. and subsequent popes to restore the port, though attended with very imperfect success, have again attracted a small population to the spot, and the modern village of Porto d'Anzo contains about 500 inhabitants. Antium was celebrated for its temple of Fortune, alluded to by Horace (C? Diva gratum quae regis AnHum^ Hor. Carm. i. 35 ; Tac. Ann, iii. 71), which vras one of the wealthiest in Latium, on which account its treasures were laid under con- tribution by Octavian in the war against L. An- tonins in b. a 41 (Appan. B. C, v. 24), as well as for one of Aesculapius, where the god was said to have landed on his way from Epidaurus to Bome (Val. Max. i. 8. § 2; Ovid. Met, xv. 718). The neighbouring small town of Nettuno probably derives its name firom a temple of Neptune, such as would naturally belong to a city so much devoted to mari- time pursuits. The same place is generally sup- posed to occupy the site of the ancient Geito, which, as we learn £rom Livy and Dionysius, served as the naval station and arsenal uf Antium (Liv. ii. 63; Dion. Hal. ix. 56.) Besides this, several other towns, as Longula, Pollusca, and Satricum, were dependent upon ^tium in the days of its greatest power. The only remains of the ancient Latin or Volscian dty are some trifling fragments of its walls ; it ap- pears to have occupied tihe hill a little to the N. of the modem town, and a short distance from the sea. The extensive nuns which adjoin the ancient port, and extend along the sea-coast fior a conidderable distance on each side of the promontoiy, are wholly of Boman date, and belong either t6 the imperial villa, or to those of private individuals. The greater part of those immediately adjoining the outer mole may be rdferred, from the style of their construction, to the reign of Nero, and evidently formed part of his palace. Excavations which have been made, from time to time, among these ruins, have brought to light numerous wor^ of art of the first order, <i which the most celebrated are the statue <^ the Apollo Belvedere, and that commonly known as the Fighting Ghidiator. (Nibby, Dmtomi di Roma^ voL i. p. 187.) The remains of the port constructed by Nero, which are extensive and well preserved, prove that it was wholly artificial, and formed by two moles, the one projecting immediately from the extremity of the promontoiy, the other opposite to it, enclosing between them a basin of not less than two miles in circumference. Great part of this is now filled with sand, but its circuit may still be readily traced. Previous to the construction of this great work, Antium could have had no r^ular port (Strabo expressly tells us that it had none), and notwithstanding its maritime greatness, was pro- bably content with the beach below the town, which was partially sheltered by the }»pqjecting headland on the W. The ruins still visible at Antium are fully described by Nibby (Dintomi di Rotiuiy vol. i. p. 181 — 197); of the numerous inscriptions which have been found there, the most important are given by Orelli (Nos. 2273, 2648, 3180), and by Nibby (/. c). Among them is a valuable fragment of an ancient calendar, which has been repeatedly pub- lished: for the first time by Volpi {Tabula Antia- tina, 4to. Bomae, 1726), and by OreUi (vol. ii. pp. 394 — 405.) L 3