Page:Dictionary of Greek and Roman Geography Volume I Part 2.djvu/155

 896 FEBENTIKAE LUCUS. phal) recordfl the names of three faniis or /i«J» in the terrifccry of Ferentinanif two of which, called Bojaniun aud Ceponiannm, still retain the appella- tions of Roama and CipoUara. (Westji^l, Rd- mitckt Kampagne, p. 85; IMonlgi, Viaggio ad al- aufie CUtd del Lazio, pp. 4^18.) [£. H. B.] FERENTrNAE LUCUS, a sacred grove with a fountain and shrine of the dei^ of the same name, celebrated as the place where the cities composing the Latin Leagae used to hold their general assem- blies. It is mentioned by Livy on occasion of the attempt of Tnmns Herdonins to overthrow the power of Tarqoinios Saperbns (L 50, 52), and again on several subseqnent occasions (iL 38, vii. 25); and we learn from a remarkable passage of Cindiis (op. FeaL a. v. Praetor, p. 241) that these assemblies continued to be held regnlarlj till b. c. 340. The name is indeed comipted in the passage in question ; bat there is no doubt that we should read '* ad ca- put Fetentinae,'' which oomsponds to the expressions employed by Livy, **ad caput aquae Ferentinae" and ** ad caput Ferentinum." From these modes of expression it is evident that there was both a sacred grove, and a fountain fiNrming the head or source of the stream called Aqua Ferentina. Dionysius, on the ootttraiy, calls the place of assembly Ferentinum (♦cpcmvor, iv. 45, v. 50), and appears to have re- garded it as a town, though we need not suppose that he confounded it with the Heniican city of the name, as has been done by some modem writers. The only clue to its position is the passage above cited from Cincius, who places it " sub monte Al- bano;" but even without tliis testimony we could hardly hesitate to seek it in the neighbourhood of Alba Longa, and there can be little doubt that its site is correctly fixed by Gell and Nibby in the deep valley or ravine near Mctrmo, where there is a co- pious fountain (supposed by some to be a subterra- nean outlet of the Lacua Albanus), which gives rise to the small stream now known as the Marrama del PantaaM, The valley in which this source is found is now called the Parco di Colonna^ and is still shaded with deep woods, which give it a picturesque and solitary aspect (Gell, Top. of Horns, pp. 90 —92 ; Nibby, DifUoni, vol il p. 319.) [E. H. B.] FERENTUM or FORENTUM (♦f^^A^, Died.: Eih, Forentauus), a town of Apulia, about 10 miles 6. of Venusia. The name is written Ferentum in most editions of Horace, though Orelli has substi- tuted Foientum, which is the form found in Livy and Pliny; but the first form is supported by Dio- dorus. It is sHU called Forenza; but from the expressions of Horace (** arvrmi pingue humilis Fe- renti," Cam, lii. 4, 16), to whom it was familiar from its proximity to Venusia, the ancient town ap- pears to have been situated in a valley, while the modem one stands on the summit of a hill; and according to local writers, some remains of the an- cient Ferentum may be found in a small plain 2 miles nearer Venoaa, (Romanelll, vol. ii. p. 236.) Livy terms it a strong town, so that it was one df the few places in Apulia which oftred any c<msider- able resistance to the Roman arms, and was one of the last subdued. (Liv. ix. 16, 20, but in the former of these passages it is probable that the trae reading is ** Frentani," not ** Forentani;" Died. xix. 65.) The Forentani are menti(»ed by Pliny (iii. 1 1. s. 16) among the municipal towns of Apulia; but we meet with no subsequent mention of it in any ancient author. [E. H. B.] FERESNE, in Gallia, is placed by tlie Tabic on FEROKIA. the road from Atuaca (that is, Atnatncft, or Tc gern) to Noviomagus (^NyTttegen), and 16 Gallic leagues from Tongem, The next place to Fer«M- certaui. [G. L.] FERCNIA or LUCUS FEBCXNLAE (•^/mm^s, Strab. ; Aovkos ^/wWot, PtoL). I. A tofwn of Southern Etruria, at the foot of Momit Soracte, within the territory of Capena, with a celebrated temple or shrine ui the goddess from whom it derived its name, and a sacred grove, attached to it. Strabo, indeed, b the only author who mentions a town of the name, which he caUs Feronia (v. p. 226); other writers speaking of " Lucus Feroniae " and " Feroniae f»- num": but it is natural that in profess of time a town should have grown up around a site of so much sanctity, and which was annually visited bj a great concoune of persons. Feronia appeare to have beos a Sabine goddess (Varr. L,L, v. 74), and hence the festivals at her shrine seem to have been attended especially by the Sabines, though the aanctoaiy itsdf was in Uie Etruscan territory, and dependent npua the neighbouring city of Capena (Liv. i. 30, xxrii 4). The first mention of these annW festivals ooctiis as early as the reign of Tullus Hostilins, when we find them already frequented by great nixmberi of people, not only for refigious objects, but as a kind of fair for the purposes of trade, a custom which seems to Ymv9 previuled at all similar meetiz^s. (Liv. i. 30 ; Dionys. iiL 32.) Great wealth had, in the course of ages, been accumulated at the shrine of Feronia, and this tempted Hannibal to make a di- gression from his mvch during his retreat froca Rome, in b.g. 211, for tlie purpose of plundering the temj^e. On this occasion he despoiled it of dl its gold and silver, amounting to a lai^ge som : le^ sides which there was a large quantity of mde or uncoined brass, a sufficient proof of the antiquity of the sanctuary. (Liv. xxvi. 1 1 ; 2^1. ItaL xiii. 83 — 90.) The only other notices of the spot which oomr in history are some casual mentions of prodigies that occurred there (Id. xxvii. 4, xxxiii. 26); bnt Strabo tells that it was still much frequented in his time, and that many perstms came thither to see the mi- racle of the priests and votaries of the goddess pass- ing unharmed through a fire and over burning cin- ders (Strab. V. p. 226). This superstition b ascribed by other writers to the temple of Apollo, on the snm- mit of Mt. Soracte (Plin. vii. 2 ; Virg. Aen,xi. 785— 790) : it was probably transferred from thence to the more celebrated sanctuary at its foot. [Soractk.^ The general position <tf the Lucus Feroniae b suf- ficiently fixed by the statements that it was ** in agro Capenate," and at the foot of Ht Soracte. A foun- tain at the foot of the hill of S. Ore$te, near the S£. extremity of the mountain, b still called Fehmea ; and as such fountddns were generally C(«nected with sacred groves, there b every probability that thb was the site of the grove and sanctuary of the goddess. The village of S. Oreats, which stands on the hill above (a shoulder or ofi'- shoot of Soracte), and bears some traces of having been an ancient site, is thought by Nibby and Dennb to occupy the position of the ancient town of Feronb. (Nibby, D^omij roL ilL p. 108; Dennb, Etruria, vol. i. p. 180.) Pliny mentions a Lucus Feroniae among the colo- nies of the interior of Etraria: and firom the <Mder in which he describes the towns of that province, there can be little doubt that he means the celebrated lo-