Page:Dictionary of Greek and Roman Geography Volume I Part 1.djvu/671

 COMUM. Coma), an important city of Cisalpine Gani, ritnated at the soatbern extremity of the Lacus Loiiiu, im- mediately at the foot of the Alps; and distant 28 miles from Milan. (/fm.j4n(.p. 278, where we shooid certainly read zzviiL for zviii. The Tab. Pent gives xxzv., which considerably exceeds the troth.) It was indoded in the territory of the Insnbrian Ganls (Ptol. iiL 1, § S.3); though according to Pliny, Cato assigned the foundation of Comum as well as Bergommn to a people called the Orobii, who are not mentioned by any other aathor, and would seem to have been extinct in the time of Pliny himself. (Cato ap. Plin. iii. 17. s. 21.) Justin mentions Comum among the cities founded by the Ganls after their occupation of this part of Italy, but without indicating the particular tribe. (Justin. XX. .'».) Its name occurs only once during the wars of the Ramans with the Gauls, in b. c. 196, when the Comenses joined their arms with those of the In- snbrians; but their united forces were defeated by Marcellus, and the town of Comum itself taken. (Liv. xxziii. 36.) After the reduction of Cisalfnne Gaul, it appears early to have been occupied by a body of Soman settlers; but these having suffered severely from the incursions of the neighbouring Rhaetians, a more considerable body of colonists was established there by Pompeius Strabo, to which 3000 more were soon after added by C. (?) Scipio. A still more important accessioo to their numbers was made by Julius Caesar, who srttled there 5000 new colonists, of whom SCK) were Greeks of dis- tinction. (Strab. V. p. 213.) Whether the site of the town was changed at this time does not appear, but the new colony assumed the title of Novum Co- mum, by which it b designated by Catullus (xzxv. 3) : Greek writers term it Nc^KM^or, and the inhabit- ants KtoKwfurcu (Appian, B. C. it 26; Strab. L c; Ptolemy has y4a let&fiiit but this is probably erro- neous). The new colonists had obtained the Latin franchise ; but just befiore the outbreak of the dvil war, the enemies of Caesar endeavoured to cancel this privilege; and the consul C. Marcellus even went so far as to order a magistrate of the colony to be scourged, by way of an insult to Caesar. (Appian, L c; Suet Caes. 28; Pint. Caes. 29; Cic ad AtL ▼. 11.) But after the victory of the latter, the citi- zens of Comum obtained the full Roman civitas, in common with tiie rest of the Transpadane Gauls (b. c. 49) ; and it from this time ceased to be a colony, ranking only as a municipium, though it was one of the most populous and flourishing towns in this part of Italy. The name of New Comum seems to have been early laid aside, and it was called simply Comum. It is probable that it was the birth- place of both the elder and the younger Pliny, though we have no direct testimony to this efl^t; the latter certainly made the adjoining lake his favourite place of residence, and had several villas on its banks, one of which, about five miles from ComOy is still known as the P/iiiMwia. There is little doubt that his native place (patria), to which he repeatedly alludes, and which he enriched with public works, as well as with a libraiy and other institutions for purposes of education, is no other than Comum. (Plin. Ep. i. 3, 8, iii. 6, iv. 13 ; Oiell. Jfucr, 1 172.) With this exception, however, we hear little of it under the Roman Empire: iuKcriptions prove that it continued to be a flourishing municipal town, and one of these, in honour of a grammarian named Septicianus, shows that the efibrts of Pliny to render it a school of leamiog were not altogether fruitless. (Orell. Inter, COKCORDIA. 653 1197, 3898.) It was, however, more noted for its iron foundries, which were among the most cele- brated in Italy. (Plin. xxxiv. 14. s. 41.) Its posi- tion at the southern end of the Lacus Larius, the fer- tile and beautiful shores of which were comprised, in great part at least, within its territory, must, in itself, have secured its prosperity: it was also the point from whence travellers, proceeding across the Rhaetian Alps, used to embark on the lake; a route whidi appears to have been one very much frequented during the latter ages of the Empire, (/(m. Jnt p. 279; Claudian. B. Get, 319; Cassiod. Var, xi. 14.) It appears to have retained its prosperity down to the close of the Rcxnan Empire, and is still mentioned as a flourishing city under the Goths and Lombards. In the 4th century we find that a fleet was stationed there for the protection of the lake; and Cassiodorus speaks of it as one of the bulwarks of Italy in a mili- tary point of view, while he extols the beauty of its situation, and the richness of the villas or palaces with which the neighbouring shores were adorned. (Not Dign. ii. p. 1 18 ; Cassiod. ^ c. ; P. Diac. v. 38.) Comum continued to be a city of importance in the middle ages, and is still a populous and flourishing place; but contains no remains of antiquity, except numerous inscriptions, several of which relate to the £unily of the two Plinies. The Lacus Larius, now called the ZaJbe of Como, was already underthe Roman Empire sometimes termed Lacus Comacinus. (/ttn. ArU. p. 278.) P. Diaconus (v. 38) calls it Comatianus Lacus. [E. H. B.] CONANA (K6para% a place in Pisidia, which is erroneously written Comana in Ptolemy (v. 5) ; for there are coins of this place of the Roman imperial period, with the epigraph Kapoytwy, The site is unknown. [G. L.] CONCANGII, in Britain, mentioned in the Notitia as the station of a Numerut Viffiktm: Identified with JTen-dal, in Westmoreland. [ R.G.L.] CONCANI. [Castabria.] CONCOBAR (KoyKoedp), a place in Media, with a temple of Artemis (Isidor. Char. p. 7 ; Tab. Pent.; Geogr. Rav.) It still retains its name, but slightly changed, Kangawdr, [V.] CONCCRDIA, a Gallic town on the Rhine be- tween Brocomagus (^Brumat) and Noviomagus (^Speyer)f according to the Antonine Itin. D'An- viUe fixes Concordia at Alt-stacU on the Lauter, near Weieeenburg; and Walckenaer at LatUerbtirg, The distances, as usual, do not completely agree; and the exact site cannot be ascertained. Schopflin, a good authority, fixes it near Weittenburg, Chno- dcMnarius, king of the Alemanni, who was defeated by Julian near Argentoratum, had his camp near Concordia, which was a Roman fort. (Amm. Marc, xvi. 12.) [G. L.] CONCO'RDIA (KoyKopSla-. Eth. Concordieiisis: Concordia')^ a considerable city of Venetia, situated about 10 miles from the Adriatic, on the high road from Altinum to Aquileia, from each of which cities it was distant 31 Roman miles, (/tm. AnL pp. 126, 128.) Both Pliny and Ptolemy noUce it as a Roman colony, and we find it bearing on inscriptions the titles Colonla JuUa Concordia, whence it seems probable that it was one of the colonies founded by Augustus to celebrate the restoration of peace. (Plin. ui. 18. 8. 22; Ptol. iii. 1. § 29; Mel. ii. 4; Orell. Iwcr, 4082 ; Gruter. Inter, p. 365. 1, 549. 7 ; Zumpt, de Colon, p. 348.) It is reckoned by Strabo (v. p. 214) among the smaller towns of Venetia, but seems to have rapidly risen into importance, and is