Page:Dictionary of Greek and Roman Geography Volume I Part 1.djvu/586

 S68 CATAKA. sxpresuDn of Plinf (Ti[. 60) irlto nprMents it at bttving been takm bj V'llnriuB M»3b1&, ii cerUinlj a mir-tHke. It nppeara to have continued sftcmniB etadilj to muntun iU friendij relations with Rome, nd thoagh it did not enjoj the advinta^ cf ■ confedenic cilf (fbederata dTitas), like its niiigh- pwition of grvAt pcYvpvritj under the Ronuui mle^ Ciivro repcsledly mentioni it u, in his time, ■ wealthj and floiiriehing cUj; it lelaiood ita ancient inanid{«l inatitatitHia, ita chief magistrate bearing (lie title of Pn«i;<irUB; and appears to have been one of the principal porta of Sicil; for the export of com. (Cic. Verr. iii. 43, 83, it. 23, 45 ; J.iv. jiivii. 8.) 1[ lubaequentlj tuBered lererely from llie ravages of Seilus Pomprius, and was in sequenn oih of the nlies to vhich a colon; ^ent bj Augustus; a measure that appean to in a gnnt degree itetorvl its prosperity, so 111 Strabo's time it Kaa OIK of the few cities ii iaiand that was in a flourishing condition, {! yi. pp. 268, 270.272; Diim Cass. liv. 7.) It r^ tained ita cohmial rank, as well as its proeperitj. ihrDUghout the period of the Roman empire; eo tliat in the fourtli century Ausonios in his Ordo NobUium rrMum, noticM Calaua and STraciiw alaiie among the liciog of Sialy. In B. c, 535, it wa» reoovered bj Belisariua frmn the Gotlij, and became again, under the mle of the Bjiantine ein- pre, one c( the moat important tiliea of the island. <Plin. iii. 8. s. 14; Plol. iii. 4. §9; lUn. Ant. pp. 87,90,93,94; Procop. B.G. i. S.) At the pment ■lay Calania stiU lanhs as the third cilj of Sicily, and ia little inferior to Uttiina in popnhition. The poution of Catani at the fool of Mount Aetna was the aourte, u Strabo retnarku, both of benefits and evils to tlK citj. For on 1 he oite h&nd, the violent outbursts of the volcann from lit time desolated great parts of its territory ; o other, tlia volcanic asha produced ■ wiJ of ^reat fertility, adapted especially for the growth of vineB. <Strab. ri. p. 2Gg.) One of the mnt serious ca- Ismitiee of Ibe farmer daai, was the eruption of B.C. 121, when peat port rfits terriloiy wan over- in such qnaniities in the city itself, as to break in the nwfs of the booses. Catana was in cor^si-quence lemptcd, for 10 years, from its usruil cos tribul ions to the Komao state. {Urte, v. 13, J The greater part of the broad tract nf pisin to the SW. of Catana (now called the Piano di Caianin, a disirict cf great fertility), appran to Iiave belonged, in ancient timte, to Leontini or CentuKpa, but that portico of it between Catana itself and the mouth (if the Symaetlms, was annexed to ttte territory of the latter dty, and must have fumibhed abundant supplies of com. Tbe port of Catana also, which in great pait filled up by the eruption of 1669), appears to hare been in ancient times much fre- quented, and waa the chief pUce of eipoit fur tlio corn of the rich neighbouring jilains. The little river Amrhanus, or Amenaa, which ftowed through the city, was a very small stream, and coulil never have been navigable. Calana was the hirth-plaoe of the philosopher and legislator Charondaa, already alluded to; it was also the place of residence nf the poet Stcsicborus, who died there, and was buried m a magniRcent tepnlchie ootside one of the gates, which derived from thence the nam of Porta Stcsichoreia. (Suid. CATANA. •. V. 2TTK>lxofni.) Xeno]Jiane9, the philosopheT of Elca, also spent the latter years of his life there (Diog. Laert. ii. 2. § I), ao Ibat it was evidently, at an early period, a place of cultivation and refiDe>- ment. The first introduction of dancing to acRm- pany the flute, was also aacrilied to Andrno, a citiieu of Catana(AClian.L p.Z2.c.); and the first sun-dial thither by Valerius Messala from Catana, b. c. 263. (Van p.Phn. ».) It few as times than Ibe legend of tbr " Pii Frstna," Amphi- nomns and Anapiaa, nlia, tai occasiim of a i;reat eruption tf Aetna, abandoced all tbar property, and carried off their aged parents on thdr shooldeni the stream of lava itself was said to have parted. and flowed aside so aa not to harm them. Statnn were erected to their honour, and the place of their Inirinl was known aa the " Campus Piomm;" the t Catanaewis even introduced the figures of the youths * on their cnna, and the legend became a favourite J sabjcct of allusion and declamation among the Latin poets, of whom the younger Luciliua and Claudian have dwelt upon it at considerable length. The oocorrence is referred by Hyginus to llie fint eruption of Aetna, that look place after Ibe settle- ment of Calana. (Strab. vi. p.269i Pans. K. 2S. §4; Conon, A'oiT. 43; Pliilostr. Vil.Api/a.f. 17; Sulm. 5. § 15i Hygin. 254 ; Val. Mai. T, 4. Eil, §*; Ucil. XetB. 602—640; Claudian, /(^ 7; ■•■■ ' ■ ■ 196; Anson. Orio Neb. Vrh. II.) The n la of the It city, St important; I CataniOj at markable that [flriod, the cdiGcea of the Greek city having prutably been destroyed by some of the eartiiquakes to which it has been in all ages subject, or so datnagtd as to be entirely rebuilt. The most important of thoe rains are tlioee of a theatre of large si» and maauve conatmctiun, the architecture of which ia so similar to that of the amphitheatre, at no great distance from it, ai (o leave no doubt that they were erected at the same period, probably not long aher the establishment of tEie colony by Augustus. The nun of the latter edifice dates Irom the time of Theoiloric, who^ in A. D. 498, gave permission to the citizens of Catana Iheir walls and pubhc buildioga (Cassiod. I'arr. iii. 49); the theatre, on the contrary, ccntinncd alnnat perfect till the 1 1th century, when it waa in great jsrt pulled down by the Monnan Count Roger, iu order to adom lili new cathedral. Nearly adjoining the large theatre was a smaller one. designed appa- rently tor an odeium or music theatre. Besidai these, there are numerous remahia of thermae or baths, all of Roman construction, and some massive sepulchral monuments of the same period. A few fragments only remain of a magnificent aqoeilvcl, which was destroyed by the great eruption <i AeOik