Page:Dictionary of Greek and Roman Geography Volume I Part 1.djvu/720

 702 GBEMONA. thai the7 did not take either of the two cities, which are mentioned in the following year as affording a shelter and winter-qoarters to the armj of Scipio after the battle of the Trebia. (Liv. xxi. 25, 56 ; Pol. I. c. ; Appian, ffatm. 7.) At a later period of the Second Panic War Cremona was one of the colonies which remained fidthfiil, when twelve of them refoMd any further snpplies. (Liy. xxvii. 10.) Its territory suffered seTerely from the ravages c^ the Gauls, and after the close of the war, the city itself had a narrow escape, being closely besieged l^ the insurgent Gauls under Hamiloar, who had already taken and destroyed the neighbouring colony of Pbicentia. Cremona, howeyer, was able to hold out till the arrival of the praetor L. Furius, who defeated the Cranls in a great battle under its walls, B. c. 200. The dtj had, nevertheless, suffered so much from the repeated wars in this part of Gaul, that in B. c. 190, a fresh body of colonists was sent thither, and 6000 new fiunilies were divided between it and Plaoentia. (Lir. zxviii. 11, zxzi. 10,21, xxxviL 46.) From this time till near the end of the Bepublic, we hear nothing more of Cremona, — but we leam that it became a populous and flouruh- ing odony, and rose to be one of the most consider- able dties hi this part of Italy. The fertility of its '.territory and the advantages of its situation in con- 'necticD with the great rivers vrere the sources of its prosperity. (Tac. ITm^ iiL 34.) During the civil wars after the deatii of Caesar, Cremona espoused the cause of Brutus, and was in consequence one of the cities of which the territory 'was confiscated and assigned to his veterans by Octavian. It is to this event that VirgU alludes in the well-known line, " Mantua vae misene nimium Tidna Cremonae," a part of the territory of Mantua having shared the same fate with that of the ndghbouring city. (Vbg. Ed. iz. 28, and Serv. ad loc.) But this change of proprietors did not injure the prosperity of the city itself, which is described by Strabo (v. p. 216) as one of the chief places in this part of Italy, and appears from Tadtus to have been a flourishing and wealthy dty when the dvil wars of a.d. 69 inflicted a fatal blow on its prosperity. During the ocmtest between Otho and Vitellius, Cremona was one of the first places occupied by the generals of the latter. Caedna, when repulsed from Placentia, made it his head-quarters, and the first battle of Bedriacum, which led to the defeat and death of Otho, was fought between that town and Cremona. To cele- brate this yictory Caedna shortly after exhibited a show of gladiators at Cremona, at which Vitdlius himself was present; and an amphitheatre was expressly constructed for the occadon. (Tao. Hist, iL 17, 22. 28, 67, 70 ; Dion Cass. Iv. 1.) A few months after, Cremona again became the head- quarters of the Vitdlian forces, which were opposed to Antonius Primus, the general of Vespadan: and these after their defeat in the second battle of Be- driacum (which was fought only a few miles from Crem<Hia), fell back upon the dty, immediatdy adjoining to which they had a fortified camp. But the tnwpe of Antonius, following up thdr advantage, tuooesdvely took by storm both the camp, and Sie dty itsdf, notwithstanding that the latter was strongly fortified with walls and towers. The troops of Caedna were admitted to terms of capitulation, but the whole dty was given up to plunder, and tftiBt hftTing been exposed for four days to the fury CBESSA. of the soldiery was ultimately burnt to the graimd. Ndther temples nor public buildings were spared, and only one of the former surrived the catastrophe. (Tac Hitt. u. 100, in. 15—33.) So great a cala- mity felling upon one of the meet floundiiiig dttes of Italy, necessarily brought gnat odium i^on Vo. paskn, who, after he bad establishad his power, sought as far as posdble to repair Uie misdiief, and encouraged the rebuilding of the dty^ wfaidk aooo rose agdn from its ashos. (Tac. L a. 34.) Bat though its public buildings were restored, and it retained its odonial rank, it appears never to have recovered its former prospwity. Its oantxuued ex- istence under the Boman Empire is attested by the Itineraries as well as by inscriptions: it is notked by Zosimus as a considerable place under the reign of Honorius, and we learn from the Notitia that it was regarded as a military post of importance (Zodra. ▼. 37 ; Itin. Ant. p. 283 ; Tab. Pent. ; Not Dign. p. 121; OrdL Imcr. 1765, 3750, 3843.) But in A.D. 605 it was taken, and fisr the second time utterly destroyed by the Lombard king Agflulfiis. (P.Diac.£riftLan^.iy.29.) In the Middle Ages, however, it again rose to great prosperity, and be- came a large and populous dty; though mudi decayed since then, it still contains near 30,000 inhabitants. No remains of antiquity are new visible there, except a few Roman inscription^ one of which is interestmg as referring to the worship/ of the goddess Mefitis, whose temj^e, according to Tadtus, was the only one that escaped in the ooo-i fiagration of the city. (Tac HitL iiL 33 ; Orelli Inter, 1795.) The mention of this ddty shows Uutt the low and marshy lands in the ndghbocuhood of Cremona were unhealthy, in andent as well as modem times. We leam from Donatus that Viigil, though bom in Uie neighbourhood of Mantua, speot the earliest years of his life, and recdved the first radiments of his education at CrancHia. (DooaL VU, Virg.) [E. H. B.] CREM(yNIS JUGUM. [Alpes, p. 107.] CRENAE. [Abqos Amphilochicum.] CRE'NIDES (Kimydtf), or CRANIDES (K^ ytBts ; Etik KpavlrriSf Steph. t. v.), a place on the coast of Bithynia, aocordLng to Arrian 60 stadia east of Sandaraca; according to Marcian only 20 stadia. It was between Heraclea and the month of the Billaeus. [G. L.] CRENIDE& [PmuPFi.] CREONES, m North Britain, mentioned W Ptolemy as lying west of the Ceranes [CkbonbsJ, occupi^ parts of Boas and Inverness. [R. G. L.] CREOTHAGI (Kptm^dryoi, Stnb. xvi p. 771.^ a Troglodytic race on the western shore of the Red Sea, and, as their name of ** the flesh-eaters" imports, a pastoral people who lived upon the produce of thdr herds of cattle. Strabo ({. c.) seems to regard the Cdobi and Creophagi as tiie same tribes. [W.B.D.] CRESSA (Kpncrtra: Etk. Kprntr^eubs}. ]. Ac- cording to Stephanus (s. v.) a dty of P^phlagonia, founded by Meriones after the war of Troy. Zeihe, the son of Nicomedes, took it. Cramer (Jm Minor, voL 1. p. 241), says, ** that it was probably on the sea coast, and perhaps should be identified with Csrussa." But there is no foundation for this guess. [Caruba.] 2. There is a Cressa on the coast of Caria, which Pliny (v. 27) calls Cressa Portus, and plaoes 20 M.P. from Rhodus. It is also mentioned by Pto- lemy (t. 2). Leake {Ana Minor, p. 222) says ^ that the excellent harbour of Cre^ is now calfed