Page:Dictionary of Greek and Roman Geography Volume I Part 1.djvu/369

 AVEBNU& Gunpuia, between Gnmae and the Golf of Baiae. It occupies the enter of an eztinct volcano, the steq> aidee of which rising predpitonslj around it, and ooivered in andent times with dark and shaggy woods, gave it a strildnglj gloom j character; and it was probablj this curcomstance, associated with the snlphnreoiis and mephitic ezhalatioins so common in the nejghboaihood, that led the Greeks to fix npon it as the entrance to the infernal regions, and the scene of Uljsses' visit to the shades. ^ How early this mythical legend became attached to the lake we know not, bat j^robablj soon after the settlement of the Greeks at Comae. Ephoms, however, is the earliest writer whom we find dted as adopting it. (ap, Slrab. v. p. 244.) It was commonly reported that the pestiferous vapours arismg from the lake were so strong that no living thing could approach its banks, and even birds were sufibcated by them as they flew across it. Hence its Greek name "Aopmn was commonly supposed to be derived from d and bfwu. This is probably a mere etymological iuMij : but it is not improbable that there was some feondation for Uie fiict, though it is treated as merely £aboloo8 by Strabo and other writers. SimiUu* efifects from mephitic exhalaticDs an still observed in the valley of Amsanctos and other localities, and it must be observed that Viigil, who describes the pheno- menon in some detail, represents the noxious vapours as issuing fnm a cavern or fissure in the rocks adjoining the lake, not fimn the lake itself; and constantly uses the expression "Avema loca** or '^Avema," as does Lucretius also, in speaking of the same locality. But while the lake itself was closely surrounded with dense woods, these would so mnch prevent the dreulation of the air, that the whole of the atmosphere might be rendered pesti- lential, though in a less degree. In the time of Strabo the woods had been cut down ; but the vol- canic exhalations seem to have already ceased alto- gether. (Strab. V. pp. 244, 245 ; Pseud. Aristot de Mirab. 102 ; Antig. Caiyst. 167; Diod. iv. 22 ; Virg. Ae», iii.442, vi. 201, 237—242 ; Lucr. vi. 739^749 ; Sil. Ital. xil 121 ; Nonius, I p. 14 ; Daubeny on Volcanoes, p. 199.) The lake itsdf rma of nearly circular form, about a mile and a half in drcumferencef though Diodorus reckons it only 5 stadia; and like most volcanic lakes, of great depth, so that it was believed to be uniathomable. (Lycophron. Alex. 704; Diod. Lc; Pseud. Arist. L c ; Lucan. ii. 665.) It seems to have had no natond outlet ; but ^fdppa opened a communicatiai between its watere and those of the Lucrine Lake, so as to render the Lake Avemns itself acoessibto to ships ; and though this work did not continue long in a complete state, there appears to have always remained some outlet fnnn the inner lake to the Gulf of Baiae. (Strab. lc; Cassiod. Var. ix. 6. For further particulars concerning the work of Agrippa see Lucrinus Lacus.) At a subsequent period Nero conceived the extravagant project of constructing a canal, navigable for ^Ips from the Tiber to tiie Lake Avemus, and from thence into the Gulf of Baiae ; and it appeare that the wwks were actually commenced in the neigh- boorhood of the Avemus. (Suet. Ner. 31 ; PHn. xiv. 6. s. 8; Tac. Ann. xv, 42.) There existed from very early times an oracle or sanctuary on the Vnka of the kdce, connected with the sources of mephitic vapoura; and this was asserted by many writers to be the spot where Ulysses held conference with the shade, of the departed. It was pretended AXU. 351 that the Cimmerians of Homer were no others than the ancient inhabitants of the banks of the lake, and his assertion that they never saw the light of the sun, was explained as referring to their dwelling in subterranean abodes and caverns hollowed in the rocks. (Ephorus ap. Strah. I. c. ; Lycophr. 695; Max. Tyr. Diss. xiv. 2 ; Sil. Ital. xii. 130.) The soft- ness of the volcanic tufo of which the surrounding hills are composed, rendered them well adapted for this purpose; and after the whole neighbourhood ^ had been occupied by the Romans, Cooceius carried I the road firom the lake to Cmnae, tiirough a long I grotto or tunnel. (Strab. v. p. 245.) A simihur ! excavation, still extant on the S. side of the lake, is now comm(Xily known as the Grotta d ella SUnllaf it has no outlet, an d was probab ly never "fimshed. ^ Those vnriters who placed here~fliB~Crnimerians of Homer, represented them as having been subse- quently destroyed (Ephorus, L c; Plin. iii. 5. s. 9) ; but the orade continued down to a much later period; and the lake itself was regarded as sacred to Proserpine or Hecate, to whom sacrifices were frequently offered on the spot. It was under pre- tence of celebrating these sacred rites that Hannibal in B.0. 214 vbited the Lake Avemus at the head of his army; but his real object, according to Livy, was to make an attempt upon the neighbouring town of PuteolL (Liv. xxiv. 12, 13 ; Sil. Ital. xu. 106—160.) There exist on the SE. side of the lake the pic- turesque ruins of a large octagonal vaulted edifice, built of brick, in the style of the best Roman works; this has been called by some writers the temple of Proserpine; but it is more probable that it was em> ployed for thermal purposes. [E. H. B.] AVIO'NES, a tribe in the north of Germany, dwelling probd)]y in Schleswig, on the river Auwe^ a tributary of the Eyder, or in the duchy aSLauen- burg. (Tacit. Germ. 40.) They are believed to be the same people as the Ghabiones or Caviones. (Mamert. Genethl. Max. Avg. 7, Panegyr. ConsU 6.) [L. S.] AVIUM PR. [Taprobane.] AVRAVANNUS. [Abrauanhus.] AVUS (PtoL ii. 6. §■ 1 : Afow wrofiov iKSoXat), or AVO (Mela, iii. 1. § 8), a small river on the W. coast of Hispania Tarraconensis, N. of the Durius and S. of the Naebis, in the territoiy of the Galhieci Bracarii; now called the Hio dAye [P. S.] AXATI, aft. prob. OLAURA (JLora), a muni- cipinm of Hispania Baetica. (Inscr. ap. Gmter, p. 1065, Na 2 ; Morales, pp. 22, 99 ; Florez, Esp. S, vol. ix, p. 62.) [P. S.] AXELODU'NUM, the 16th sUtion, per lineam valli of the Notitiay under the charge of the Cohors prima Hispanorum. This cohort is mentioned in an inscription fomid at EUenborough in Cumberland. Place for place, Bwgk on the Sands is Axellodunum. Name for name, Hexham suits better; as {he -e/may have been a diminutive fomi (as in MoseUd) and the -dimum is an element of composition. Horsley prefers Burgh (Book i. c. 7). The evidence, also, of there baling been a staticm of Burgh is complete (c. 9). [R. G. L.] A'XIA C^^^a), a small town of Etruria, mentioned by Cicero (jfro Caec. 7), who calls it a " castellum," and describes it as situated ** in agro Tarquiniensi.** It is probably tlie same of which the name is found in Stepfaanus of Byzantium (s. v. 'A|ta), who tells us only that it was ^ a dty of Italy." Its site may be fixed with much probability at a place still called Castel (T A sso or CasteUacciOj about six miles W. of Vi* rl. . . ■■ ■ I*.