Page:Dictionary of Greek and Roman Geography Volume I Part 1.djvu/237

 ARPI. Scylax, or ScTimnis Gbins, who notice all the cities to which ther ascribe a Greek origin, and though we find both Arpi and Canonam called by Strabo w^ccs 1raivr£9ct, bj which he certainly means liaiitm-Grtek, thia pfrobably refers merely to their repDted ibondatioa by Diomedes. It is certain, btrarew, fimn its omns, as well as other sources, that it bad receired, in common with the neigh* bouring city of Cannsiiim, a great amount d Greek mfloence aind cultivation. (Mommsen, U. I. Dia- leHe, pp. 89 — ^92.) Its name first appears in history daring the wars between the Romans and the Sam- sites, when the Arpani are mentioned a& on hostile terms with the Utter, and in consequence supplied the Boman consul Papirius with provisions and other tapplks for the siege of Luoeria, b. c. 320. (Liv. iz. 13.) It is singular that its name does not occur again during these wars; probably it con- tinoed steadfast to the Roman <illiance, as we find it giTing a striking proof of fidelity in the war with pTfTfans, on which occasion the Arpani furnished a'cootiogent of 4000 foot and 400 horse, and ren- dered signal assistance to the Romans at the battle ^ A^colam. (Dionys. xz. Fr. nov. ed. Didot.) In the Second Punic War it plays an important part. Daring the first invasion of Apulia by Han- nibal (b. c. 217), its territory was laid waste by tlse Carthaginians; but after the battle of Cannae It was one of the first to open its gates to the con- <pierar, who took up his quarters in its fertile plain fcr the ensming winter. It continued in his power tai B.C. 213, when it was betrayed by the in- habhanta into the hands of Fabius Maximus, though occupied at the time by a garrison of 5000 Gartha- giiuan troops. (Pol.ilL 88, 1 18 ; Liv.xxii. 9, 12, xxiv. 3, 45—47 ; Appian. Anaib. 31.) So powerful was Arpi at this period that it furnished on one occa.sion 9000 fnllT armed troope, but it suffered severely from the e&sts of the war, and not only never appears to have Trained its former importance, but we may date from this period the commencement of its total de- «ixne. (Mnmroaen, U. I. Bialekte^ p. 86.) It is only oooe ^irain mentioned in history, when Caesar halt^ there for a night on his march to Brundusium. (Cic ad AtLix. 3.) Strabo tells ns {L c), that the extensfive circuit of the walls still remaim'ng in hb dm«, attested the former magnitude of the dty, but it was then greatly decayed. Nor does any attempt seem to have been made under the I^«nan Empire to arrest its decline; but we find it ccntinaing to exist as a town of small coa<iidera- tim onder Constantine, who erected it into a bufaiips see. The period of its total destruction b unknown; there now remain only faint traces of its walla, besides sepulchres and other signs of ■orient habitation at a spot still called Arpa, about 5 railes K. of the modem city of Foggia. The prcsperity of this last city, one of the most populous asd jBonrishing in the Neapolitan dominions, has probably accelerated the complete decay of Arpi. ARPINUM. 221 COIN OP AKPI. (Swinburne, Travelt^ vol. i. p. 148; Romanelli, vol. ii. pp. 219, 220; Holsten. Not in Cluver. p. 280.) Ail the coins of Arpi bear Greek legends ; the one annexed has the name of a magistrate AAZOT, evidently the same which the Latins wrote Dasius, as in the case of Dasius Altinius mentioned by Livy. (Mommsen. L c. p. 72.) [E. H. B.] ARPl'NUM ("Apviva, Diod. ; Eth, Arpinas, -Stis : Arpino), a very ancient and celebrated dty of the Volscians, situated on a hill rising above the valley of the Liris, near its junction with the Fibrenus, and about 6 miles S. of Sora. (Sil. Ital. viii. 401.) The still extant remains of its ancient walls prove it to have been a dty of importance at a very early period; Juvenal expressly telb us that it was in the Volsdan territory (viii. 245), but no mention <rf it is found, any more than of the other Vol- scian cities in this part of Italy, during the wars of the Romans with that people, and it had been wrested from them by the Samnites before its name appears in history. In B.C. 305 it was conquered from the latter by the Romans, but from Livy's expression "recq^ta ab Somnitibus," it appears that it had already, as well as Sora, previously been in their hands. (Liv. ix. 44 ; Diod. xx. 90.) A few years later, b. c. 302, it obtained the Roman franchise, but without the right of suf&age, which was not bestowed upon its dtizens until b. c. 188, when they were enrolled in the Cornelian tribe. (Liv. xxxviii. 36 ; Festus. s. v. Municipium,') During the latter period of the Roman republic, Arpinum was a flourishing municipal town, but its chief celebrity is derived from its having been the birth-place of two of the most illustrious men in Roman history, C. Marius and M. TuUius Cicero. The former ^as of ignoble birth, and is said to have failed in obtaining some local magistracy in his native place, but the family of Cicero was certainly one of tlie most ancient and considerable at Arpinum, and his father was of equestrian rank. (Cic. pro Plane. 8, tie Leg. ii. 1, 3, iii. 16; Sail. Jug. 67; Val. Max. ii. 2. § 3, vi. 9. § 14; Juv. viU. 237—248.) The writings of Cicero abound with allusions to hb native place, the inhabitants of which, in common Tilth those cf the ndghbouring Yolscian dties, he describes as rustic and simple in thehr manners, from the rugged and mountainous character of the country; but possessing many also of the virtues of mountaineers; and he applies to Arpinum the well-known lines in the Odyssey, concerning Ithaca : T(niX^^ &AA' ikyajB^ Kovp&rpoipoSj &c. (Cic pro Plane. 9, ad Attn. II ^ de Legg. ii. 1, 2, A:c.) He inherited from his father an estate in the plain beneath the town, on the banks of the little river Fibrenus, where his favourite villa was situated, on an island surrounded by the waters of that beau- tiful stream. [Fibrenus.] There is no authority for supposing that he had, besides this, a house in the toxon of Arpinum, as has been assimied by local antiquarians; though the aUeged remains of the Casa di Cicerone are still shown in the andent citadel. (Dionigi, Viaggio nel LaziOf p. 51.) Very little notice is found of Arpnum under the Roman empre. Its name is not mentioned either by Strabo or Ptolemy, though included by Pliny (iii. 5. s. 9) among the cities of the First Region : it was undoubtedly reckoned a dty of Latium, in the later acceptation of that name. But few inscriptions of imperial times have been discovered here : but I from two of these we learn that it already possessed,