Page:Dictionary of Greek and Roman Geography Volume I Part 1.djvu/188

 172 AQUINUM. tical. 1. A city of the Hirpim, idtiiated near the frontiers of Apulia, is mentioned by Pliny and Pto- lemy, both of whom distinctly assign it to the Hir- jnni, and not to Samninm proper; while the Tabula places it on the Via Appia, 37 M. P. from Aecolanam and 6 from the Pons Aufidi (Ponte Sta Venere) en the xtxul to Yennsia. These distances ccnncide well >vitii the situation of the modem city of Lacedogntij the name of which closely resembles the Oscan form of Aquilonia, which, as we learn from coins, was '* Akudunnio." The combination of these circumstances leaves little doubt that Lacedogna, which is certunly an ancient city, rejHresents the Aquilonia of Pliny and Ptolemy, as well as that of the Tabula. (Plin. iii. 11. s. 16; Ptol. iii. 1. s. 71 ; Tab. Peut; Holsten. Not ad Cluv. p. 274; Boma- nelli, 7ol. ii. p. 345.) But it seems impossible to reconcile this position of Aquilonia with the de- tails given by Livy (x. 38 — 43) conceming a city of the same name in Samnium, which bore an im- portant part in the campaign of the consuls Carvi- hus and Papirius in b. c. 293. 2. The city thus mentioned by Livy appears to have been situated in the country of the Pentri or central Samnites, to which the whole operations of the campaign seem to have been confined, but it must be confessed that the geography of them is throughout very obscure. It was little more than 20 miles from Cominium, a place of which the site is unfortunately equally uncertain [Cominium], and apparently not more than a long day s march from Bovianum, as after the defeat of the Samnites by Papirius near Aquilonia, we are told that the nobility and cavalry took refuge at Bovianum, and the re- mains of the cohorts which had been sent to Comi- nium made good their retreat to the same city. Papirius, after making himself master of Aquilonia, which he burnt to the ground, proceeded to besiege Saepinum, still in the direction of Bovianum. Hence it seems certun that both Aquilonia and Cominium must be placed in the heart of Samnium, in the country of the Pentri: but the exact site of neither can be determined with any certainty: and it is probable that they were both destroyed at an early period. Bomanelli, who justly reg^u^ the Aqui- lonia of Livy as distinct from the city of the Uir- pini, is on the other hand certainly mistaken in transferring it to AgnoiM in the north of Samnium. (Bomanelli, vol. ii. p. 493—500.) The coins which bear the Oscan legend akvdvn- Niv in retrograde characters, attributed by earlier numismatists to Acherontia, are now admitted to l>elong to Aquilonia (FriedlEnder, Oskischen Mun- zeriy p. 54), and may be assigned to the city of that name in the country of the Hirpini. [£. H. B.] AQUrmiM ('AKovtvov; £th. Aquinas, -iltis : A quino), 1. One of the most important cities of the Volscians, was situated on the Via Latina between Fabrateria and Casinum, about 4 miles from the left bank of the Liris. Strabo erroneously describes it as situated on the river Melpis {Meifi)^ from which it is in fact distant above 4 miles. In common with the other Volsdan cities it was included in Latium in the more extended use of that term: hence it is Mentioned by Ptolemy as a Latin city, and is in- cluded by Pliny in the First Region of Italy, accord- ing to the division of Augustus. (Ptol. iii. 1. § 63; Plin. iii. 5. s. 9 ; Strab. v. p. 237 ; Itin. Ant p. 303.) Its name is not mentioned in history during the wars of the Romans with the Volscians, or tiiose with the Samnites; and is first found during the AQUINUM. Second Punic War on occasion of the march of HanV nibal upon Rome by the Via Latina. (Liv. xeyL 9 ; SiL ItaL xii.) But all writers agree in describ- ing it as a populous and floorishing place during the latter period of the Roman B^nblk. Cicero, irjjo had a villa there, and on account of its ndghboar- hood to Arpinum, repeatedly alludes to it, touu it " frequens mnnidpium,** and Silius Italicus " ingens Aquinum." Strabo also calls it ** a large city." (Cic. pro Cluent. 68, PhiL iL 41, pro Plane. ^^adAU, V. 1, ad Fam. ix. 24, &&; Sil. ItaL viiL 405; Strab. V. p. 237.) We learn from the liber Cdooiimin that it received a Roman colony under the Second Triumvirate, and both PUny and Tadtus mentioD it as a place of colonial rank under the Empire. Nu- merous inscriptions also prove that it continued a flourishing city throughout that period. (Lib. Colon. p. 229 ; Tac. Hist, i. 88, ii. 63 ; Plin. I c.) It vis, the birtiiplacevof the poet Juvenal, as he himself/Vf^ tells us (iii rfl&): as well as of the Emperor Pes-^^ cennius Niger. (AeL Spartian. Pesc. L) Hoiice ^ speaks of it as noted for a kind of purple dye, but of inferior quahty to the finer sorts. {Ep. i. 10, 27.) I The modem city of Aqtdno is a very poor place, with little more than 1000 inhabitants, but still re- tains its episcopal see, which it preserved throughout the middle ages. It still occupies a part of the site of the ancient city, in a broad fertile phun, which extends from the foot of the Apennines to the river Liris on one side and the Melpis on the other. It was completely traversed by the Via Latina, consi- derable portions of which are still preserved, as well as a part of the andent walls, buUt of laige stones without cement. An old church called the Vegco- vado is built out of the ruins of an ancient temple, and considerable remains of two others are still ri- sible, which are commonly regarded, but without anj real authority, ns those of Ceres Helvina and Diana, alluded to by Juvenal (iii. 320). Besides these there exist on the site of the ancient city the ruins of an amphitheatre, a theatre, a triumphal arch, and va- rious other edifices, mostly constructed of brickwork in the style called oput reUctUatum, The numerous inscriptions which have been discovered here men- tion the ex»tence of various temples and colleges of priests, as well as companies of artisans: all proring the importance of Aquinum under the Roman Eut- pire. (Hoare's Clasncai Tour, vol. i. pp.279— 283; Romanelli, vol. iii. pp. 384 — 388; Cayro, Storia di AquinOj 4to. Nap. 1808, where all the inscriptions relating to Aquinum will be found collected, vol. i. p. 360, &c, but including many spurious ones.) There exist corns of Aquinum with the head of Minerva on one side and a cock on the other, predselj similar to those of the neighbouring dtiesof Gales and SnesMu (MilUngen, Numitm. de Vltaiie, pi 220.) COIN OF AQUINUSI. 2. Among the obscure names enumerated By Pliny (iii. 15. s. 20) in tiie Eighth Region (Gallia Cispadana) are " Saltus Galliani qui cognominantur Aquinates," but their positioo and the origin of the name are wholly unknown. [E. H. B.]