Page:Dictionary of Greek and Roman Geography Volume I Part 1.djvu/228

 212 ARICIA. also the Voconian fiunily derived its origin. (Cic. /. c.) Its position on the Appian Way, at a short distance from Rome (Hor. Sat. i. 5. 1 ; Itin. Ant p. 107), doubtless contributed much to its pros- perity, which seems to have continued under the Roman empire ; but the same circumstance exposed it at a later period to the incursions of the bar- barians, from which it seems to have suffered se- verely, and fell into a state of decay early in the middle ages. (Nibby, IHntomi di Bomaf vol. i. p. 249, seq.; Westplial, Rom. Kampag^e^ P«27.) The modem town of La Ricda occupies the site of the ancient citadel (probably that also of the original city), on a steep hill rising above a basin- shaped hollow or valley, the ancient Vallis Ari- CINA, still called VaUe Ricciay which was evidently at one time the basin of a lake, analogous to those of Albano and iVemt, and, like them, at a still earlier period the crater of a volcano. It would seem that some traces of this lake were extant in the time of Pliny ; but the greater part of the valley must have been drained in very early times. (Plin. xix. 8. s. 41 ; Abeken, Mittel Itatien, p. 166.) In the days of Strabo the town of Aricia spread itself 3W ^own into this hollow (Strab. v. p. 239 ). probably for the purpose of approachmg the Appian Way, which was canned directly across the valley. This part of the ancient road, resting on massive sub- structions, is still very well preserved. The descent from the hill above into the hollow — which, not- ^vithstandlng tlie great work just mentioned, is still sufficiently steep — was the Clivns Aricinns, re- peatedly alluded to by ancient authors as a favourite resort of beggars. (Juv. iv. 117; Martial, xii. 32. 10; Pers. vi. 56.) Some remains of the ancient walls of Aricia still exist near the gate of the mo- dem town leading towards Albano^ a.9 well as the ruins of a temple on the slope towards the VaUe Riccia.* Aricia was celebrated throughout Italy for its temple of Diana, which was situated about 3 miles from the town, in the midst of the dense forests that clothed the lower slopes of the Mens Albanus, and on the margin of a small crater-shaped lake. The sanctuary was commonly known as Nemus Diana£ (Vitruv. iv. 8. § 4; Stat SUv. iv. 4; Aricmum Triviae Nemus, id. ib. iii. 1. 65; ^Aprtfiia-toir ft «ro- Kovcri Ne^os, Strab. p. 239 ; Ne'/uo$ rb iy 'AptK^^, I Philostr. Vit. Apoll. iv. 36), from whence the lake i^; came to be named Lac us Nemorensis (Propert iii. 22), while Aricia Itself obtained the epithet of ' Nemoralis. (Ov. Fast. vi. 59; Lucan. vi. 74.) ■ The lake was also frequently tenned Speculum DiANAE (Serv. ad Aen. vii. 516), and is stiU called the Laffo di iVcmt, so celebrated by all travellers in Italy for its picturesque beauty. It b much smaller than the Lacns Albanus, and more regular in its crater-like form, being snrrounded on ail sides by steep and lofty hills covered with wood. The worship of Diana hero was considered by some an- cient writers to be directly derived from Tauris (Strab. V. p. 239), while others ascribed its intro- duction to Hippolytus, who, after having been brought to life again by Aesculapius, was supposed to have settled in Italy under the name of Virbius. (Paus. ii. 27. § 4; Virg. Aen. viL 761—777 ; Serv. of this temple, to which a very high antiquity had been assigned by Gell and Nibby, see Abeken, in the Ann. delT Inst vol. xii. pp.23 — 34. / ^^ ARIGAEUH. €td loc.') It was remarkable for the peculiar and barbarous custom, retained even in the days of Strabo and Pausanias, that the high-priest (who i was called Rex Nemorensis) was a fugitive slave, | who had obtained the situation by killing his prede- I cesBor, on which account the priests went alu-ays Isk^ armed. (Strab., Paus., IL cc.; Suet Cai. 35.) J The same custom is alluded to by Ovid {Art Amat, i. 260 J^ and by Stadus {SUv. iii. 1. 55)y^^^4 Like most cel^orated sanctuaries, it acquired great //^«^^ wealth, and was in consequence one of those on ' which Augustus levied contributions during the war with L. Antonias, b. c 41. (Appian. B. C. v. 24.) No vestiges of the temple remain ; but it appears to have been situated on the east side of the hike, where there grew up around it a village or small town called Nemus, of which the modem village of Nemi is probably the successor. The lake has no visible outlet, but its waters are carried off by an artificial emissary, probably of very ancient con- straction. (Abeken, M. I. p. 167.) Among the sources which supplied it was a fountain sacred to Egcria, whose worship here appears to have been established at least as early as at Rome. (Strab. I c; Virg. Aen, vii. 763; Ov. FoMt. iiL 261, MeU XV. 488, 547 ; Val. Flacc. iL 304.) So beautiful a situation could not iail to be sought by Roman nobles as a place of retirement, and we hear that J. Caesar commenced a villa here, but afterwards abandoned it in a fit of caprice. (Suet. Caes. 46.) Some foundations still visible beneath the waters of the lake have been thought to be those of this villa. (Nibby, vol. ii. p. 396.) VitelHus, too, is mentioned as dawdling away his time " in Nemore Aricino," when he should have been preparing for defence. (Tac. Hist. iii. 86.) The Vallis Aricina appears to have been in an- cient times as remarkable for its fertility as at the present day: it was particularly adapted for the growth of vegetables. (Plin. xix. 6. s. 33, 8. s. 41 ; Golumell. x. 139; Mart. xiii. 19.) The name of Mons Artbmisius has been applied by several writers (Gell, Nibby, &c.) to the summit of the Alban hills, which rises immediately above the lake of Nemi^ and is now called Monle Ariano; but there is no foundation for the ancient appellation assigned to it Strabo (pp. 239, 240) uses *Af>T€- fittrioy of the temple or sanctuary itself, and the word 6pos in the latter passage is an interpolation. (See Groskurd and Kramer, cui loc.) For the description of the situation and existing remains both of Aricia and Nemus, see Gell (^Topogr. of Rome, pp. 103—107, 324—327) and Nibby {Dintomi di Roma^ vol. i. pp. 254, 255, vol. ii. pp. 395—397.) [E. H. B.] ARICO'NIUM (»r«ton, in Herefordshire), the third station of the Itinerarium Antonini, on the road from Caerleon to Silchester, between Blestuin {Monmouth'), and Glevum {Gloucester). [R.G. L.J ARIGAEUM {'Apiyaiop), a city of the Pam- pamisus, in the extreme N. of India (properly beyond its boundary), in the NE. part of the territory of the Aspasii, who inhabited the valley of the Chocs {Kameh). The inhabitants abandoned and burnt it on Alexander's approach, b. c. 327 ; but the plaoo was so important, as commanding a passage from the valley of the Choes to that of the Guraeus, tknt Alexander assigned to Crateras the task of its re> storation, while he himself pursued the fugitives. (Arrian. Aftab. iv. 24.) Its site is supposed to have been at Askira or Alichurg. ^ [P. S-J '^J-*t^ /r >i**> ^' vt)^ ^ r' Ai? -%^4. <^
 * Conceming the architecture and probable date