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the Caspian. It appears to be the Sefid-rud, or Kizil Ozien as it is otherwise called. As Ptolemy places the Amardi round the south coast of the Caspian and extending into the interior, we may suppose that they were once at least situated on and about this river. [G. L.] AMA'RI LACUS (ai winpal xíμvai, Strab. xvii. p. 804; Plin. vi. 29. s. 33), were a cluster of saltlagoons east of the Delta, between the city of Heropolis and the desert of Etham- the modern Scheib. The Bitter Lakes had a slight inclination from N. to E., and their general outline resembled the leaf of the sycamore. Until the reign of Ptolemy Philadelphus (B. C. 285—247), they were the termination of the royal canal, by which the native monarchs and the Persian kings attempted, but ineffectually, to join the Pelusiac branch of the Nile with the Red Sea. Philadelphus carried the canal through these lagoons to the city of Arsinoë. The mineral qualities of these lakes were nearly destroyed by the introduction of the Nile-water. A temple of Serapis stood on the northern extremity of the Bitter Lakes. [W. B. D.]

AMARYNTHUS ('Aμápureos: Eth. "Auapuvios, 'Auapoios), a town upon the coast of Euboea, only 7 stadia from Eretria, to which it belonged. It possessed a celebrated temple of Artemis, who was hence called Amarynthia or Amarysia, and in whose honour there was a festival of this name celebrated, both in Euboea and Attica. (Strab. p. 448; Paus. i. 31. § 5; Liv. xxxv. 38; Steph. B. s. v.; Dict. of Ant. art. Amarynthia.)

AMASE'NUS, a small river of Latium, still called the Amaseno, which rises in the Volscian mountains above Privernum, and descends from thence to the Pontine marshes, through which it finds its way to the sea, between Tarracina and the Circeian promontory. Before its course was artificially regulated it was, together with its confluent the Ufens, one of the chief agents in the formation of those marshes. Its name is not found in Pliny or Strabo, but is repeatedly mentioned by Virgil (Aen. vii. 684, xi. 547). Servius, in his note on the former passage, erroneously places it near Anagnia, evidently misled by the expressions of Virgil. Vibius Sequester (p. 3) correctly says "Amasenus Privernatium." [E. H. B.] AMASIA (Αμάσεια, Αμασία: Eth. Αμασεύς: Amasia, Amasiah, or Amásiyah), a town of Pontus, on the river Iris, or Yeshil Ermak. The origin of the city is unknown. It was at one time the residence of the princes of Pontus, and afterwards appears to have been a free city under the Romans till the time of Domitian. It is said that all the coins to the time of Domitian have only the epigraph Amaseia or Amasia, but that from this time they bear the effigy and the name of a Roman emperor. The coins from the time of Trajan bear the title Metropolis, and it appears to have been the chief city of Pontus.

Amasia was the birthplace of the geographer Strabo, who describes it in the following words (p. 561): "our city lies in a deep and extensive gorge, through which the river Iris flows; and it is wonderfully constructed both by art and by nature, being adapted to serve the purpose both of a city and of a fort. For there is a lofty rock, steep on all sides, and descending abruptly to the river; this rock has its wall in one direction on the brink of the river, at that part where the city is connected with it; and in the other direction, the wall runs up the hill on each side to the heights; and the heights

(Kopvpal) are two, naturally connected with one another, very strongly fortified by towers; and within this enclosure are the palace and the tombs of the kings; but the heights have a very narrow neck, the ascent to which is an altitude of 5 or 6 stadia on each side as one goes up from the bank of the river and the suburbs; and from the neck to the heights there remains another ascent of a stadium, steep and capable of resisting any attack; the rock also contains (šxεi, not èkεî) within it water-cisterns (údpeia) which an enemy cannot get possession of (avapaípera, the true reading, not àvapéperai), there being two galleries cut, one leading to the river, and the other to the neck; there are bridges over the river, one from the city to the suburb, and another from the suburb to the neighbouring country, for at the point where this bridge is the mountain terminates, which lies above the rock." This extract presents several difficulties. Groskurd, in his German version, mistakes the sense of two passages (ii. p. 499).

Amasia has been often visited by Europeans, but the best description is by Hamilton (Researches in Asia Minor, &c. vol. i. p. 366), who gives a view of the place. He explains the remark of Strabo about the 5 or 6 stadia to mean "the length of the road by which alone the summit can be reached," for owing to the steepness of the Acropolis it is necessary to ascend by a circuitous route. And this is clearly the meaning of Strabo, if we keep closely to his text. Hamilton erroneously follows Cramer (Asia Minor, vol. i. p. 302) in giving the version, "the summits have on each side a very narrow neck of land;" for the words "on each side" refer to the ascent to the "neck," as Groskurd correctly understands it. Hamilton found two "Hellenic towers of beautiful construction" on the heights, which he considers to be the kopupal of Strabo. But the greater part of the walls now standing are Byzantine or Turkish. Indeed we learn from Procopius (de Aedif. iii. 7), that Justinian repaired this place. Hamilton observes: "the κopupai were not, as I at first imagined, two distinct points connected by a narrow intermediate ridge, but one only, from which two narrow ridges extend, one to the north, and the other to the east, which last terminates abruptly close to the river.” But Strabo clearly means two κορυφαί, and he adds that they are naturally united (ovuqueîs). It is true that he does not say that the neck unites them. This neck is evidently a narrow ridge of steep ascent along which a man must pass to reach the kopupal.

The iopeia were cisterns to which there was access by galleries (σúpryyes). Hamilton explored a passage, cut in the rock, down which he descended about 300 feet, and found a small pool of clear cold water." The wall round this pool, which appeared to have been originally much deeper, was of Hellenic masonry, which he also observed in some parts of the descent. This appears to be one of the galleries mentioned by Strabo. The other gallery was cut to the neck, says Strabo, but he does not say from where. We may conclude, however, that it was cut from the κopupai to the ridge, and that the other was a continuation which led down to the well. Hamilton says: "there seem to have been two of these covered passages or galleries at Amasia, one of which led from the Kopupal or summits in an easterly direction to the ridge, and the other from the ridge into the rocky hill in a northerly direction. The former, however, is not excavated in the rock,

like the latter, but is built of masonry above ground, yet equally well concealed."

...

mention Amastris. (Comp. Plin. vi. 2.) There is a coin with the epigraph Sesamum. Those of Amastris have the epigraph Auaσтρiavwv.

The territory of Amastris produced a great quantity of boxwood, which grew on Mount Cytorus. The town was taken by L. Lucullus in the Mithridatic war. (Appian. Mithrid. 82.) The younger Pliny, when he was governor of Bithynia and Pontus, describes Amastris, in a letter to Trajan (x. 99), as a handsome city, with a very long open was called a river, but in fact was a filthy, pestilent, open drain. Pliny obtained the emperor's permission to cover over this sewer. On a coin of the time of Trajan, Amastris has the title Metropolis. It continued to be a town of some note to the seventh century of our aera. [G. L.]

The tombs of the kings are below the citadel to the south, five in number, three to the west, and two to the east. The steep face of the rock has been artificially smoothed. "Under the three smaller tombs are considerable remains of the old Greek walls, and a square tower built in the best Hellenic style." These walls can also be traced up the hill towards the west, and are evidently those described by Strabo, as forming the peribolus or en-place (platea), on one side of which extended what closure within which were the royal tombs. (Hamilton.) The front wall of an old medresseh at Amasia is built of ancient cornices, friezes, and architraves, and on three long stones which form the sides and architrave of the entrance there are fragments of Greek inscriptions deep cut in large letters. Hamilton does not mention a temple which is spoken of by one traveller of little credit.

The territory of Amasia was well wooded, and adapted for breeding horses and other animals; and the whole of it was well suited for the habitation of man. A valley extends from the river, not very wide at first, but it afterwards grows wider, and forms the plain which Strabo calls Chiliocomon, and this was succeeded by the districts of Diacopene and Pimolisene, all of which is fertile as far as the Halys. These were the northern parts of the territory, and extended 500 stadia in length. The southern portion was much larger, and extended to Babonomon and Ximene, which district also reached to the Halys. Its width from north to south reached to Zelitis and the Great Cappadocia as far as the Trocmi. In Ximene rock salt was dug. Hamilton procured at Amasia a coin of Pimolisa, a place from which the district Pimolisene took its name, in a beautiful state of preservation.

The modern town stands on both sides of the river; it has 3970 houses, all mean; it produces some silk. (London Geog. Jour. vol. x. p. 442.) [G.L.]

AMASTRĂ. [AMESTRATUS.]

AMASTRIS CAμaσтpis: Eth. 'Auaσтpiavós, Amastrianus: Amasra, or Amasserah), a city of Paphlagonia, on a small river of the same name. Amastris occupied a peninsula, and on each side of the isthmus was a harbour (Strab. p. 544): it was 90 stadia east of the river Parthenius. The original city seems to have been called Sesamus or Sesamum, and it is mentioned by Homer (Il. ii. 853) in conjunction with Cytorus. Stephanus (s. v. "Auaσтpis) says that it was originally called Cromna; but in another place (s. v. Kpwuva), where he repeats the statement, he adds, "as it is said; but some say that Cromna is a small place in the territory of Amastris," which is the true account. The place derived its name Amastris from Amastris, the niece of the last Persian king Darius, who was the wife of Dionysius, tyrant of Heracleia, and after his death the wife of Lysimachus. Four places, Sesamus, Cytorus, Cromna, also mentioned in the Iliad (ii. 855), and Teion or Tios, were combined by Amastris, after her separation from Lysimachus (Memnon, ap. Phot. Cod. ccxxiv.), to form the new community of Amastris. Teion, says Strabo, soon detached itself from the community, but the rest kept together, and Sesamus was the acropolis of Amastris. From this it appears that Amastris was really a confederation or union of three places, and that Sesamus was the name of the city on the peninsula. This may explain the fact that Mela (i. 19) mentions Sesamus and Cromna as cities of Paphlagonia, and does not

200000

COIN OF AMASTRIS.

A'MATHUS ('Αμαθοῦς, -οῦντος: Εth. Αμαθού σos: Adj. Amathusiacus, Ov. Met. x. 227.: nr. Old Limasol), an ancient town on the S. coast of Cyprus, celebrated for its worship of Aphrodite who was hence called Amathusia - and of Adonis. (Scylax, p. 41; Strab. p. 683; Paus. ix. 41. § 2; Steph. B. s. v.; Tac. Ann. iii. 62; Catull. Iviii. 51; Ov. Am. iii. 15. 15.) It was originally a settlement of the Phoenicians, and was probably the most ancient of the Phoenician colonies in the island. Stephanus calls Amathus the most ancient city in the island, and Scylax describes its inhabitants as autochthones. Its name is of Phoenician origin, for we find a town of the same name in Palestine. (See below.) Amathus appears to have preserved its Oriental customs and character, long after the other Phoenician cities in Cyprus had become hellenized. Here the Tyrian god Melkart, whom the Greeks identified with Heracles, was worshipped under his Tyrian name. (Hesych. s. v. Μάλικα, τὸν Ἡρακλέα, Αμαθούσιοι.) The Phoenician priesthood of the Cinyradae appears to have long continued to exercise its authority at Amathus. Hence we find that Amathus, as an Oriental town, remained firm to the Persians in the time of Darius I., while all the other towns in Cyprus revolted. (Herod. v. 104, seq.) The territory of Amathus was celebrated for its wheat (Hipponax, ap. Strab. p. 340), and also for its mineral productions (fecundam Amathunta metalli, Ov. Met. x. 220, comp. 531.)

Amathus appears to have consisted of two distinct parts: one upon the coast, where Old Limasol now stands, and the other upon a hill inland, about 14 mile from Old Limasol, at the village of Agios Tychonos, where Hammer discovered the ruins of the temple of Aphrodite. (Hammer, Reise, p. 129; Engel, Kypros, vol. i. p. 109, seq.; Movers, Die Phōnizier, vol. ii. pt. ii. pp. 221, 240, seq.)

AMATHUS ('Αμαθοῦς or τὰ 'Αμαθά), a strongly fortified city on the east of the Jordan, in Lower Persia, 21 Roman miles south of Pella. (Eusebii Onomast.) It was destroyed by Alexander Jannaeus

(Joseph. Ant. xiii. 13. § 3), and after its restoration
was one of the five cities in which the Sanhedrim
sat: the others were Jerusalem, Jericho, Gadara
and Sepphoris (Ib. xiv. 10). Burkhardt passed
"the ruins of an ancient city standing on the de-
clivity of the mountain" called Amata, near the
Jordan, and a little to the north of the Zerka
(Jabbok). He was told "that several columns
remain standing, and also some large buildings."
(Travels, p. 346.)
[G. W.]
AMAZONES ('AuaÇóves), a mythical race of
warlike females, of whom an account is given in the
Dictionary of Biography and Mythology.

are copper coins of Amblada of the period of the Antonini and their successors, with the epigraph Aμ6λadewv. The site is unknown. [G. L.]

AMBRACIA (Αμπρακία, Thuc.; Αμβρακία, Xen. and later writers: Eth. 'Auяракιτηs, Herod. viii. 45, Thuc. ii. 80; Ionic 'Aμmрakinτηs, Herod. ix. 28; 'Aubрakiwтns, Xen. Anab. i. 7. § 18, et alii; 'Aubрakieús, Apoll. Rhod. iv. 1228; 'Aμ6páKIOS, 'Aμbрaкivos, Steph. B. s. v.: Ambraciensis, Liv. xxxviii. 43; Ambraciota, Cic. Tusc. i. 34: Arta), an important city to the north of the Ambraciot gulf, which derived its name from this place. It was situated on the eastern bank of the river Arachthus or Arethon, at the distance of 80 stadia from the gulf, according to ancient authorities, or 7 English miles, according to a modern traveller. It stood on the western side of a rugged hill called Perranthes, and the acropolis occupied one of the summits of this hill towards the east. It was rather more than three miles in circumference, and, in ad

AMBARRI, & Gallic people, whom Caesar (B. G. i. 11) calls close allies and kinsmen of the Aedui. If the reading "Aedui Ambarri” in the passage referred to is correct, the Ambarri were Aedui. They are not mentioned among the "clientes" of the Aedui. (B. G. vii. 75.) They occupied a tract in the valley of the Rhone, probably in the angle between the Saône and the Rhone; and their neigh-dition to its strong walls, it was well protected by bours on the E. were the Allobroges. They are mentioned by Livy (v. 34) with the Aedui among those Galli who were said to have crossed the Alps into Italy in the time of Tarquinius Priscus. [G.L.] AMBIA'NI, a Belgic people, who were said to be able to muster 10,000 armed men in B. C. 57, the year of Caesar's Belgic campaign. They submitted to Caesar. (B. G. ii. 4, 15.) Their country lay in the valley of the Samara (Somme); and their chief town Samarobriva, afterwards called Ambiani and Civitas Ambianensium, is supposed to be represented by Amiens. They were among the people who took part in the great insurrection against the Romans, which is described in the seventh book of the Gallic war. (B. G. vii. 75.) [G. L.]

AMBIATI'NUS VICUS, or AMBITARINUS, as the true reading is said to be (Sueton. Calig. 8), a place in the country of the Treviri above Confluentes (Coblentz), where the emperor Caligula was born. Its precise position cannot be ascertained. [G. L.] AMBIBARI, one of the people or states of Armorica. (Caes. B. G. vii. 75.) Their position does not appear to be determined. [G. L.]

AMBILIATI, a people mentioned by Caesar (B. G. iii. 9) with the Nannetes, Morini, and others; but nothing can be inferred from this passage as to their precise position. Some of the best MSS. have in this passage the reading " Ambianos" instead of "Ambiliatos." [G. L.]

AMBISONTES or BISONTES, one of the many otherwise unknown tribes in the interior of Noricum, about the sources of the rivers Ivarus and Anisus, in the neighbourhood of the modern city of Salzburg. (Plin. iii. 24; Ptol. ii. 13. §3.) [L. S.] AMBIVA'RETI, are mentioned by Caesar (B. G. vii. 75) as "clientes" of the Aedui; and they are mentioned again (vii. 90). As dependents of the Aedui, they must have lived somewhere near them, but there is no evidence for their exact position. The Ambivareti mentioned by Caesar (B. G. iv. 9) were a people near the Mosa (Maas). As the two names are evidently the same, it is probable that there is some error in one of the names; for these people on the Mosa could hardly be clientes of the Aedui. As to the various readings in the passage (B.G.iv.9), see Schneider's edition of Caesar. [G.L.] AMBLADA (Αμβλαδα: Eth. 'Αμβλαδεύς), city of Pisidia, which Strabo (p. 570) places near the boundaries of Phrygia and Caria. It produced wine that was used for medicinal purposes. There

the river and the heights which surrounded it. It is generally described as a town of Epirus, of which it was the capital under Pyrrhus and the subsequent monarchs; but in earlier times it was an independent state, with a considerable territory, which extended along the coast for 120 stadia. How far the territory extended northward we are not informed; but that portion of it between the city itself and the coast was an extremely fertile plain, traversed by the Arachthus, and producing excellent corn in abundance. Ambracia is called by Dicaearchus and Scylax the first town in Hellas proper. (Strab. p. 325; Dicaearch. 31, p. 460, ed. Fuhr; Scyl. p. 12; Polyb. xxii. 9; Liv. xxxviii. 4.)

According to tradition, Ambracia was originally a Thesprotian town, founded by Ambrax, son of Thesprotus, or by Ambracia, daughter of Augeas; but it was made a Greek city by a colony of Corinthians, who settled here in the time of Cypselus, about B. C. 635. The colony is said to have been led by Gorgus (also called Torgus or Tolgus), the son or brother of Cypselus. Gorgus was succeeded in the tyranny by his son Periander, who was deposed by the people, probably after the death of the Corinthian tyrant of the same name. (Strab. pp. 325, 452; Scymn. 454; Anton. Lib. 4; Aristot. Pol. v. 3. § 6, v. 8. § 9; Ael. V. H. xii. 35; Diog. Laërt. i. 98.) Ambracia soon became a flourishing city, and the most important of all the Corinthian colonies on the Ambraciot gulf. It contributed seven ships to the Greek navy in the war against Xerxes, B. c. 480, and twenty-seven to the Corinthians in their war against Corcyra, B. c. 432. (Herod. viii. 45; Thuc. i. 46.) The Ambraciots, as colonists and allies of Corinth, espoused the Lacedaemonian cause in the Peloponnesian war. It was about this time that they reached the maximum of their power. They had extended their dominions over the whole of Amphilochia, and had taken possession of the important town of Argos in this district, from which they had driven out the original inhabitants. The expelled Amphilochians, supported by the Acarnanians, applied for aid to Athens. The Athenians accordingly sent a force under Phormion, who took Argos, sold the Ambraciots as slaves, and restored the town to the Amphilochians and Acarnanians, B. C. 432. Anxious to recover the lost town, the Ambraciots, two years afterwards (430), marched against Argos, but were unable to take it, and retired after laying waste its territory. Not disheartened by this repulse, they

concerted a plan in the following year (429), with the Peloponnesians, for the complete subjugation of Acarnania. They had extensive relations with the Chaonians and other tribes in the interior of Epirus, and were thus enabled to collect a formidable army of Epirots, with which they joined the Lacedaemonian commander, Cnemus. The united forces advanced into Acarnania as far as Stratus, but under the walls of this city the Epirots were defeated by the Acarnanians, and the expedition came to an end. Notwithstanding this second misfortune, the Ambraciots marched against Argos again in B. C. 426. The history of this expedition, and of their two terrible defeats by Demosthenes and the Acarnanians, is related elsewhere. [ARGOS AMPHILOCHICUM.] It appears that nearly the whole adult military population of the city was destroyed, and Thucydides considers their calamity to have been the greatest that befel any Grecian city during the earlier part of the war. Demosthenes was anxious to march straightway against Ambracia, which would have surrendered without a blow; but the Acarnanians refused to undertake the enterprize, fearing that the Athenians at Ambracia would be more troublesome neighbours to them than the Ambraciots. Acarnanians and Amphilochians now concluded a peace and alliance with the Ambraciots for 100 years. Ambracia had become so helpless that the Corinthians shortly afterwards sent 300 hoplites to the city for its defence. (Thuc. ii. 68, 80, iii. 105 -114.)

The

The severe blow which Ambracia had received prevented it from taking any active part in the remainder of the war. It sent, however, some troops to the assistance of Syracuse, when besieged by the Athenians. (Thuc. vii. 58.) Ambracia was subsequently conquered by Philip II., king of Macedonia. On the accession of Alexander the Great (B. C. 336) it expelled the Macedonian garrison, but soon afterwards submitted to Alexander. (Diod. xvii. 3, 4.) At a later time it became subject to Pyrrhus, who made it the capital of his dominions, and his usual place of residence, and who also adorned it with numerous works of art. (Pol. xxii. 13; Liv. xxxviii. 9; Strab. p. 325.) Pyrrhus built here a strongly fortified palace, which was called after him Pyrrheum (Пuppetov). (Pol. xxii. 10; Liv. xxxviii. 5.) Ambracia afterwards fell into the hands of the Aetolians, and the possession of this powerful city was one of the chief sources of the Aetolian power in this part of Greece. When the Romans declared war against the Aetolians, Ambracia was besieged by the Roman consul M. Fulvius Nobilior, B.C. 189. This siege is one of the most memorable in ancient warfare for the bravery displayed in the defence of the town. In the course of the siege the Aetolians concluded a peace with Fulvius, whereupon Ambracia opened its gates to the besiegers. The consul, however, stripped it of its valuable works of art, and removed them to Rome. (Pol. xxii. 9-13; Liv. xxxviii. 3-9.) From this time Ambracia rapidly declined, and its ruin was completed by Augustus, who removed its inhabitants to Nicopolis, which he founded in commemoration of his victory at Actium. (Strab. p. 325; Paus. v. 23. § 3.)

There is no longer any doubt that Arta is the site of Ambracia, the position of which was for a long time a subject of dispute. The remains of the walls of Ambracia confirm the statements of the ancient writers respecting the strength of its fortifications. The walls were built of immense quadran

[merged small][graphic][merged small]

How long Ambracia continued deserted after the removal of its inhabitants to Nicopolis, we do not know; but it was re-occupied under the Byzantine Empire, and became again a place of importance. Its modern name of Arta is evidently a corruption of the river Arachthus, upon which it stood; and we find this name in the Byzantine writers as early as the eleventh century. In the fourteenth century Arta was reckoned the chief town in Acarnania, whence it was frequently called by the name of Acarnania simply. Cyriacus calls it sometimes Arechthea Acarnana. (Böckh, Corpus Inser. No. 1797.) It is still the principal town in this part of Greece, and, like the ancient city, has given its name to the neighbouring gulf. The population of Arta was reckoned to be about 7000 in the year 1830. (Leake, Northern Greece, vol. i. p. 206, seq.; Wolfe, Journal of Geographical Society, vol. iii. p. 82, seq.)

There were three other places in the territory of Ambracia mentioned by ancient writers: 1. Am. bracus. 2. The port of Ambracia. 3. Craneia.

Ambracus (Auspakоs) is described by Polybius as a place well fortified by ramparts and outworks, and as surrounded by marshes, through which there was only one narrow causeway leading to the place. It was taken by Philip V., king of Macedonia, in B.C. 219, as a preliminary to an attack upon Ambracia. (Pol. iv. 61, 63.) Scylax probably alludes to this place, when he says (p. 12) that Ambracia had a fortress near its harbour; for near the western shore of the old mouth of the river Arachthus (Arta) some ruins have been discovered, whose topographical situation accords with the description of Polybius. They are situated on a swampy island, in a marshy lake near the sea. They inclosed an area of about a quarter of a mile in extent, and appeared to be

merely a military post, which was all that the swampy and fortified by the Thebans with a double wall, in nature of the ground would admit of. (Wolfe, Ibid. their war against Philip. Its fortifications were p. 84.) This fortress commanded the harbour, considered by Pausanias the strongest in Greece, which is described by Scylax and Dicaearchus (II. next to those of Messene. (Paus. x. 3. § 2, x. 36. cc.) as a kλelotòs Auny, or a port with a narrow § 1, seq., iv. 31. § 5; Strab. p. 423.) It was taken entrance, which might be shut with a chain. The by the Romans in the Macedonian war, B. c. 198. harbour must have been an artificial one; for the (Liv. xxxii. 18.) The site of Ambrysus is fixed present mouth of the Arta is so obstructed by swamps at the modern village of Dhistomo, by an inscription and shoals as scarcely to be accessible even to boats. which Chandler found at the latter place. The In ancient times its navigation was also esteemed remains of the ancient city are few and inconsiderdangerous, whence Lucan (v. 651) speaks of "oraeable. (Dodwell, Tour through Greece, vol. i. p. 196, malignos Ambraciae portus."

Craneia (Kpávea) was a small village situated on a mountain of the same name, which Leake supposes to have been the high mountain now called Kelberini, which rises from the right bank of the river Arta, immediately opposite to the town.

Between the territory of Ambracia and Amphilochia, Dicaearchus (45) mentions a people called Oreitae ('Opeîrai), who appear to have been inhabitants of the mountains named Makrinoro, beginning at the NW. corner of the Ambraciot gulf.

COIN OF AMBRACIA.

AMBRA'CIUS SINUS (8'Аμтракiкds Kóλños, Thue. i. 55; 'Aμ¤pakiкds кóλños, Pol. iv. 63, Strab. p. 325, et al.; dáλavoа 'Аμяρаkikh, Dion Cass. I. 12: Sinus Ambracius, Liv. xxxviii. 4; Mel. ii. 3: Gulf of Arta), an arm of the Ionian sea, lying between Epirus and Acarnania, so called from the town of Ambracia. Polybius (1. c.) describes the bay as 300 stadia in length, and 100 stadia in breadth: Strabo (1. c.) gives 300 stadia as its circumference, which is absurdly too small. Its real length is 25 miles, and its breadth 10. The entrance of the gulf, one side of which was formed by the promontory of Actium, is described under ACTIUM. In consequence of the victory which Augustus gained over Antony at the entrance to this gulf, Statius (Silv. ii. 2. 8) gives the name of Ambraciae frondes to the crowns of laurel bestowed upon the victors in the Actian games. The Ambracius Sinus is also frequently mentioned in Greek history. On it were the towns of Argos Amphilochicum, and Anactorium, and the sea-port of Ambracia. The rivers Charadra and Arachthus flowed into it from the N. It was celebrated in antiquity for its excellent fish, and particularly for a species called kampos. (Ath. iii. p. 92, d., vii. pp. 305, e., 311, a., 326, d.) The modern gulf still maintains its character in this respect. The red and grey mullet are most abundant, and there are also plenty of soles and eels. (Wolfe, Observations on the Gulf of Arta, in Journal of Geographical Society, vol. iii.)

AMBRY SUS or AMPHRY'SUS (Ausрvoos, Strab.; "Auspwooos, Paus.; "Aμopvoos, Steph. B. 8.v.: Eth. 'Auspúσios, 'Aμépvσeús, and in Inscr. 'Auspwooebs: Dhistomo), a to wn of Phocis, was situated 60 stadia from Stiris, NE. of Anticyra, at the southern foot of Mt. Cirphis (not at the foot of Parnassus, as Pausanias states), and in a fertile valley, producing abundance of wine and the coccus, or kermes-berry, used to dye scarlet. It was destroyed by order of the Amphictyons, but was rebuilt

seq.; Leake, Northern Greece, vol. ii. p. 535, seq.) AMENANUS (Αμένανος, Strab.: ̓Αμενανός, Steph. Byz. where the MSS. have 'Aueλiavós : 'Aμévas, Pind.: Amenana flumina, Ovid. Fast. iv. 467), a small river of Sicily which flows through the city of Catania, now called the Giudicello. It is noticed by Strabo (p. 240) as remarkable for the vicissitudes to which it was subject, its waters sometimes failing altogether for years, and then flowing again in abundance. The same peculiarity is remarked by Ovid (Met. xv. 279), and is still observed with regard to the Giudicello. It is probably connected with internal changes of Etna, at the foot of which it rises. (Fazell. iii. 1. P. 138; Cluver. Sicil. p. 120; D'Orville, Sicula, p. 218.) Pindar speaks of the newly founded city of Aetna (the name given by Hieron to Catana) as situated by the waters of the Amenas, but the correctness of the form Amenanos, preserved by Strabo, is attested by coins of Catana, which bear on the obverse the head of the river deity, under the usual form of a youthful male head with horns on the forehead, and the name at full length AMENANOZ. (Castell. Sicil. Numism. pl. 20, fig. 8.) [E. H. B.]

AME'RIA. [CABIRA.]

AME'RIA ('Auepía, Strab. Ptol. Plut. Mar. 17; 'Auépiov, Steph. B.: Eth. Amerinus: Amelia), one of the most ancient and important cities of Umbria, situated about 15 m. S. of Tuder, and 7 W. of Narnia, on a hill between the valley of the Tiber and that of the Nar, a few miles above their junction. (Strab. p. 227; Plin. iii. 14. s. 19; Ptol. iii. 1.

54; Festus, s. v.) According to Cato (ap. Plin. I. c.) it was founded 964 years before the war with Perseus, or 1135 B. C.: and although this date cannot be regarded as historical, may be received as evidence of a belief in its remote antiquity. The still extant remains of its ancient walls, constructed in the polygonal style, prove it to have been a place of strength in early times: but it is remarkable that its name is not once mentioned during the wars of Rome with the Umbrians, nor does it occur in history previous to the time of Cicero. But the great orator, in his defence of Sex. Roscius, who was a native of Ameria, repeatedly mentions it in a manner which proves that it must then have been a flourishing municipal town: its territory extended to the Tiber, and was fertile in osiers and fruit trees. (Cic. pro Sex. Rosc. 7, 9, &c.; Virg. Georg. i. 265; Colum. iv. 30, v. 10) Its lands were portioned out by Augustus among his veterans; but it did not obtain the rank of a colony, as we find it both in Pliny and inscriptions of later date styled only a municipium. (Lib. Colon. p. 224; Zumpt. de Colon. p. 356; Inscr. ap. Grut. p. 485. 5, 1101. 2, 1104.) The modern town of Amelia retains the ancient site as well as considerable portions of the ancient walls: it is now a small place with only about 2000 inhabitants, though still the see of a bishop.

The Tabula Peutingeriana gives a line of road

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