Bedriacum, but on the road from thence to Cremona, and considerably nearer to the latter city: the assailing army having, in both instances, advanced from Bedriacum. (Tac. Hist. ii. 23, 39-44, 49, iii. 15, 20-25, 27; Plut. Otho, 8, 11-13; Jo seph. B. J. iv. 9. §9; Suet. Oth. 9; Eutrop. vii. 17; Vict. Epit. 7; Juv. ii. 106, and Schol. ad loc.) The position of Bedriacum has been the subject of much controversy. From the detailed narrative of Tacitus we learn that it was on the high road from Verona to Cremona; while the Tabula places Beloriaco (evidently a mere corruption of Bebriaco) on the road from Cremona to Mantua, at the distance of 22 M. P. from the former city. This distance coincides exactly with a point on the modern road from Cremona to Mantua, about 2 miles E. of S. Lorenzo Guazzone, the same distance NW. of Bozzolo, and close to the village of Calvatone, from whence a perfectly direct line of road (now abandoned, but probably that of the Roman road) leads by Goito to Verona. If this position be correct Bedriacum was situated just at the point of separation of the two roads from Cremona, one of which appears from Tacitus (Hist. iii. 21) to have been called the Via Postumia. Cluverius placed Bedriacum at Canneto, a small town on the Oglio (Ollius) a few miles NW. of the place just suggested: Mannert fixes it at S. Lorenzo Guazzone: D'Anville at Cividale, about 3 miles S. of Bozzolo; but this is probably too near the Padus. The precise position must depend upon the course of the Roman road, which has not been correctly traced. We learn from Tacitus that, like the modern high roads through this flat and low country, it was carried along an elevated causeway, or agger; both sides being occupied with low and marshy meadows, intersected with ditches, or entangled with vines trained across from tree to tree. (Cluver. Ital. pp. 259-262; Mannert, Italien, vol. i. p. 153; D'Anville, Geogr. Anc. p. 48.) [E.H.B.]

BEDU'NIA, BEDUNENSES. [ASTURES.] BEER (Βηρά), mentioned only once in Scripture (Judges, ix. 21). It is placed by Eusebius and St. Jerome in the great plain, ten miles north of Eleutheropolis (Beit Jebrin), and a deserted village named elBirch, situated near the site of Beth-Shemesh, serves to confirm their notice. It is sometimes supposed to be identical with the following, though they are distinguished by the above-cited authors. [G.W.] BEEROTH (Bnpw0), the plural form of Beer, signifies Wells. It is placed by Eusebius at the distance of seven miles from Jerusalem, on the road to Nicopolis, or Emmaus (now 'Amwús). But St. Jerome's version of the Onomasticon places it on the road to Neapolis (Nablús) at the same distance from Jerusalem. This would correspond very nearly with the site of the modern village of el-Birch, which is about three hours, i. e. eight or nine miles, north of Jerusalem, on the high road to Nablús. Many large stones, and various substructions testify to the antiquity of the site" (Robinson, Bib. Res. vol. ii. p. 130), and there are remains of two large reservoirs, formerly fed by a copious fountain, to which the city probably owed its name. It was one of the four cities of the Gibeonites, and fell to the lot of the tribe of Benjamin. (Josh. ix. 17, xviii. 25; Reland, Palaest. pp. 484, 618.) [G.W.] BEERSHEBA (Bnpoabei), "The Well of the Oath;" so named from an incident in the life of Abraham (Gen. xxi. 25, &c.), and afterwards the site of a city, situated in that part of Judah, which

was assigned to the tribe of Simeon. (Josh. xv. 28, xix. 2.) It is proverbial as the southernmost extremity of the Land of Israel, and was in the time of Eusebius a very extensive village twenty miles south of Hebron. It was then occupied by a Roman garrison. Its name is still preserved, and the site is marked by two fine ancient wells, and extensive ruins. (Reland, s. v.; Robinson, Bib. Res. vol. ii. pp. 301-303.) It is 12 hours, or more than 30 Roman miles, S. W. by W. of Hebron. [G. W.] BEGORRI'TIS LACUS, mentioned only by Livy (xlii. 53), was situated in Eordaea in Macedonia, and probably derived its name from a town Begorra. Leake supposes Begorra to have been situated at Kaliári, and the Begorritis Lacus to be the small lake of Kitrini. (Leake, Northern Greece, vol. iii. pp. 289, 316.)

BELBINA (Βέλβινα : Εth. Βελβινίτης, Her.; more correctly Beλ6wýτns, Steph. B.: St. George), a small island, very lofty and difficult of access situated at the entrance of the Saronic gulf, about 10 miles from the promontory of Sunium. Although nearer Attica than the Peloponnesus, it was reckoned to belong to the latter. Hence, it was doubtless inhabited by Dorians, and was probably a colony from Belemina (also written Belmina and Belbina), a town on the confines of Laconia and Arcadia. [BELEMINA.] Themistocles quotes the name of this island as one of the most insignificant spots in Hellas. (Herod. viii. 125.) The island was inhabited in antiquity. On all the slopes of the hills there are traces of the ancient terraces; and on one of the summits are remains of the ancient town. But neither inscriptions nor coins have yet been found on the island. (Scylax, p. 20; Strab. viii. p. 375, ix. p. 398; Steph. B. s. v.; Plin. iv. 12. s. 19; Ross, Reisen auf den Griech. Inseln, vol. ii. p. 172.)

BELEA, a place which is mentioned in the Antonine Itin., between Genabum, Orléans, and Brivodurum (Briare). Its site is unknown. [G. L.]

BELEMI'NA, BELMI'NA, or BELBI'NA (Beλεμίνα, Βέλμινα, Βελβίνα: Eth. Βελβινήτης, Steph. B.), a town in the NW. frontier of Laconia, the territory of which was called Belminatis. (Beλμvāris, Polyb. ii. 54; Strab. viii. p. 343.) It was originally an Arcadian town, but was conquered by the Lacedaemonians at an early period, and annexed to their territory; although Pausanias does not believe this statement. (Paus. viii. 35. § 4.) After the battle of Leuctra Belbina was restored to Arcadia; most of its inhabitants were removed to the newly founded city of Megalopolis; and the place continued to be a dependency of the latter city. (Paus. viii. 27. § 4; Plut. Cleom. 4; Polyb. ii. 54.) In the wars of the Achaean league, the Belminatis was a constant source of contention between the Spartans and Achaeans. Under Machanidas or Nabis, the tyrants of Sparta, the Belminatis was again annexed to Laconia; but upon the subjugation of Sparta by Philopoemen in B.C. 188, the Belminatis was once more annexed to the territory of Megalopolis. (Liv xxxviii. 34.) The Belminatis is a mountainous district, in which the Eurotas takes its rise from many springs. (Strab. I. c.; Paus. iii. 21. § 3.) The mountains of Belemina, now called Tzimbarú, rise to the height of 4108 feet. Belemina is said by Pausanias (1. c.) to have been 100 stadia from Pellana, and is placed by Leake on the summit of Mount Khelmós, upon which there are Hellenic remains. (Leake, Morea, vol. iii.' p. 20; Peloponnesiaca, pp. 203 234. 237 366.)

CC

BELENDI, a people of Aquitania, mentioned by Pliny (iv. 19), whose name appears to be preserved in that of Bélin, a small place in the Landes, between Bordeaux and Bayonne. The place is called Belinum in some old documents, and the passage of the river Pons Belini. Bélin is on the small river Leyre, in the department of Les Landes, which runs through the dreary Landes into the Bassin d'Arcachon.

mous.

[G. L.] BELE'RIUM, the Land's End, in Britain. Belerium is the form in Diodorus Siculus (v. 21). Ptolemy (ii. 3. § 3) has Bolerium; specially stating that Bolerium and Antivestaeum were synony[R. G. L.] BELGAE. Caesar (B. G. i. 1) makes the Belgae, by which he means the country of the Belgae, one of the great divisions of Gallia. The Belgae were separated from their southern neighbours the Celtae by the Seine and the Marne (Matrona), a branch of the Seine. Their boundary on the west was the Ocean; on the east and north the lower course of the Rhine. Caesar's Gallia extends as far as the outlets of the Rhine (B. G. iv. 10), and includes the Insula Batavorum [BATAVORUM INSULA]; but there is a debated point or two about the outlets of the Rhine, which is better discussed elsewhere [RHENUS]. Caesar does not fix the boundary of the Belgae between the source of the Marne and the Rhine; but as the Lingones and the Sequani seem to be the most northern of the Celtae in these parts, the boundary may have run from the source of the Marne along the Côte d'Or and the Faucilles to the Vosges (Vosegus Mons): and the Vosegus was the boundary from the north bank of the Doubs (Dubis) to its termination in the angle formed by the juncture of the Nahe and the Rhine, near Bingen, with this exception that the Mediomatrici extended to the Rhine (B. G. iv. 10). The people on the east of the Vosges were Germans, Vangiones, Nemetes, Tribocci, who occupied the plain of Alsace, and perhaps somewhat more. (Tacit. German. 28.) These three tribes, or a part of each, were in the army of Ariovistus. (Caes. B. G. i. 51.) As to the Tribocci at least, their position on the left bank of the Rhine in Caesar's time, is certain (B. G. iv. 10). Strabo (p. 194) speaks of them as having crossed the Rhine into Gallia, without mentioning the time of this passage. The Nemetes and Vangiones may have settled west of the Rhine after Caesar's time, and this supposition agrees with Caesar's text, who does not mention them in B. G. iv. 12, which he should have done, if they had then been on the Gallic side of the Rhine. Caesar's military operations in Gallia did not extend to any part of the country between the Mosel and the Rhine. The battle in which he defeated Ariovistus was probably fought in the plain of Alsace, north of Bâle; but Caesar certainly advanced no further north in that direction, for it was unnecessary: he finished this German war by driving the Germans into the Rhine. Caesar gives to a part of the whole country, which he calls the country of the Belgae, the name of Belgium (B. G. v. 12, 24, 25); a term which he might form after the fashion of the Roman names, Latium and Samnium. But the reading "Belgio" is somewhat uncertain, for the final o and the s may easily have been confounded in the MSS.; and though the MSS. are in favour of "Belgio" in v. 12, 25, they are in favour of "Belgis" in v. 24. The form "Belgio" occurs also in Hirtius (B. G. viii. 46, 49, 54), in the common texts. The form " Belgium,"

which would decide the matter, does not occur in the Gallic war. But whether Belgium is a genuine form or not, Caesar uses either Belgium or Belgae, in a limited sense, as well as in the general sense of a third part of Gallia. For in v. 24, where he is describing the position of his troops during the winter of the year B. C. 54-53, he speaks of three legions being quartered in Belgium or among the Belgae, while he mentions others as quartered among the Morini, the Nervii, the Essui, the Remi, the Treviri, and the Eburones, all of whom are Belgae, in the wider sense of the term. The part designated by the term Belgium or Belgae in v. 24, is the country of the Bellovaci (v. 46). In Hirtius (viii. 46, 47) the town of Nemetocenna (Arras), the chief place of the Atrebates, is placed in Belgium. The position of the Ambiani, between the Bellovaci and the Atrebates, would lead to a probable conclusion that the Ambiani were Belgae; and this is confirmed by a comparison with v. 24, for Caesar placed three legions in Belgium, under three commanders; and though he only mentions the place of one of them as being among the Bellovaci, we may conclude what was the position of the other two from the names of the Ambiani and Atrebates being omitted in the enumeration in v. 24. There was, then, a people, or three peoples, specially named Belgae, whom Caesar places between the Oise and the upper basin of the Schelde, in the old French provinces of Picardie and Artois. We might be inclined to consider the Caleti as Belgae, from their position between the three Belgic peoples and the sea; and some geographers support this conclusion by a passage in Hirtius (viii. 6), but this passage would also make us conclude that the Aulerci were Belgae, and that would be false.

In B. G. ii. 4, Caesar enumerates the principal peoples in the country of the Belgae in its wider sense, which, besides those above enumerated, were: the Suessiones, who bordered on the Remi; the Menapii in the north, on the lower Maas, and bordering on the Morini on the south and the Batavi on the north; the Caleti, at the mouth of the Seine; the Velocasses on the Seine, in the Vexin; the Veromandui, north of the Suessiones, in Vermandois, and the Aduatuci on the Maas, and probably about the confluence of the Maas and Sambre. The Condrusi, Eburones, Caeraesi, and Paemani, who are also mentioned in B. G. ii. 4, were called by the general name of Germani. They were all in the basin of the Maas, extending from Tongern, southwards, but chiefly on the east side of the Maas; and the Eburones extended to the Rhine. The Aduatuci were said to be Teutones and Cimbri. (B. G. ii. 29.)

Besides these peoples, there are mentioned by Caesar (B. G. v. 5) the Meldi, who are not the Meldi on the Seine, but near Bruges, or thereabouts; and the Batavi, in the Insula Batavorum. [BATAVORUM INSULA.] The Segni, mentioned in B. G. vi. 32 with the Condrusi, were probably Germans, and situated in Namur. The Ambivareti (B. G. iv. 9, vii. 90) are of doubtful position. The Mediomatrici, south of the Treviri, were included in Caesar's Belgae; and also the Leuci, south of the Mediomatrici. The Parisii, on the Seine, were Celtae. These are the peoples included in Caesar's Belgae, except some few, such as those mentioned in B. G. v. 39, of whom we know nothing.

This division of Gallia comprehends part of the basin of the Seine, the basin of the Somme, of the Schelde, and of the Maas; and the basin of the Mosel, which belongs to the basin of the Rhine. It

But the Belgic area of Britain may be carried further eastwards by considering the Attrebatii as a Belgic population; in which case Belgae is a generic term, and Attrebatii the specific name of one of the divisions it includes; and by admitting the evidence of Richard of Cirencester we may go further still. [BIBROCI.] To this line of criticism, however, it may be objected, that it is as little warranted by the text of Caesar as by that of Ptolemy.

The Belgae of Caesar require Kent and Sussex as their locality: those of Ptolemy, Wilts and Somerset. The reconciliation of these different conditions has been attempted. An extension westward between the times of the two writers has given one hypothesis. But this is beset with difficulties. To say nothing about the extent to which the time in question was the epoch of conquests almost exclusively Roman, the reasons for believing the sources of Ptolemy to have been earlier than the time of Caesar are cogent. In the mind of the present writer, the fact that Ptolemy's authorities dealt with was the existence in Britain of localities belonging to populations called Belgae and Attrebatii; a fact known to Caesar also. Another fact known to Caesar was, the existence of Belgic immigrants along the shores of Kent and Sussex, Between these there is as little necessary connection as there is between the settlements of the modern Germans in London, and the existence of German geographical names in -sted, -hurst, &c., in Kent. But there is an apparent one; and this either Caesar or his authorities assumed. Belgae and Attrebates he found in Kent, just as men from Delmen-horst may probably be found at present; and populations called Belgae and Attrebates he heard of in parts not very distant just as men of Gould-hurst or Mid-hurst may be heard of now. He connected the two as nine ethnologists out of ten, with equally limited data, would have done,-logically, but erroneously.

The professed Keltic scholar may carry the criticism further, and probably explain the occurrence of the names in question-and others like them-upon the principle just suggested. He may succeed in showing that the forms Belg- and Attrebat-, have a geographical or political signification. The first is one of importance. The same, or a similar, combination of sounds occurs in Blatum Bulg-ium, a station north of the Solway; in the Numerus A-bulc-orum stationed at Anderida; and in the famous Fir-bolgs of Ireland. Two observations apply to these last. Like the Attacotti [ATTACOTTI], they occur only in the fabulous portion of Irish history. Like the -libet in such words as quodlibet, quibus-libet, the Bolg is unflected, the fir- only being declined-so that the forms are Fir-Bolg (Belgae), Feroib-Bolg (Belgis). This is against the word being a true proper name. Lastly, it should be added, that, though the word Belgae in Britain is not generic, it is so in Gaul, where there is no such population as that of the Belgae, except so far as it is Nervian, Attrebatian, Menapian, &c.

That the Belgae of Britain were in the same ethnological category with the Belgae of Gaul, no more follows from the identity of name, than it follows that Cambro-Briton and Italian belong to the same family, because each is called Welsh. The truer evidence is of a more indirect nature, and lies in the fact of the Britannic Belgae being in the same category with the rest of the Britons, the rest of the Britons being as the Gauls, and the Gauls as the continental Belgae. That the first and last of

these three propositions has been doubted is well known; in other words, it is well known that good writers have looked upon the Belgae as Germans. The Gallic Belgae, however, rather than the Britannic, are the tribes with whom this question rests. All that need be said here is, that of the three Belgic towns mentioned by Ptolemy (Ischalis, Aquae Sulis, and Venta), none is Germanic in name, whilst one is Latin, and the third eminently British, as may be seen by comparing the Venta Silurum and the Venta Icenorum with the Venta Belgarum. [R. G. L.] BE'LGICA. [GALLIA.] BELGINUM. [GALLIA.] BE'LGIUM. [BELGAE.] BELIAS. [BALISSUS.] BE'LION. [GALLAECIA.]

BELISAMA (Aestuarium), in Britain, mentioned by Ptolemy (ii. 3. § 2) as south of Morecambe (Morecame Bay), and, consequently, most probably the mouth of the Ribble, though Horsley identifies it with that of the Mersey. [R. G. L.]

BELLI (Beλλoí), one of the smaller tribes of the Celtiberi, in Hispania Tarraconensis, with the powerful city of Segeda (Zeynōn), the revolt of which commenced the Celtiberian War. (Polyb. xxxv. 2; Appian. de Reb. Hisp. 44, 45.) [P.S.]

BELLINTUM, a place in Gallia, marked in the Jerusalem Itin. between Avignon and Arles. The distance identifies it with Barbentane, according to D'Anville, and with Lauzac, according to others. [G. L.]

BELLOCASSES. [VELLOCASSES.] BELLOVACI (Beλoάko, Strabo, p. 195), a Belgic people, the first of the Belgae in numbers and influence (B. G. ii. 4, 8; vii. 59). It was reported to Caesar that they could muster 100,000 armed men. [BELGAE.] Their position was between the Somme (Samara) and the Seine, S. of the Ambiani, E. of the Caleti, and W. of the Suessones. It is conjectured that the small tribe of the Sylvanectes, E. of the Oise, who are not mentioned in Caesar, were in his time included among the Bellovaci. The whole extent of the territory of the Bellovaci probably comprehended the dioceses of Beauvais and of Senlis. Ptolemy mentions Caesaromagus (Beauvais) as the capital of the Bellovaci in his time. The only place that Caesar mentions is Bratuspantium. [BRATUSPANTIUM.] [G. L.]

BELON (Béλwv, Strab. iii. p. 140, Steph. B.: Eth. Beλúvios, comp. s. v. Bλos), or BAELON (Baíλwv, Ptol. ii. 4. § 5; Marc. Herac. p. 40; Geogr. Rav. iii. 42; coins), a city on the S. coast of Hispania Baetica, at the mouth of a river of the same name (probably the Barbate), which Marcian places between 150 and 200 stadia S. E. of the Prom. Junonis (C. Trafalgar). The city was a considerable port, with establishments for salting fish; and it is 6 m. p. W. of Mellaria and 12 E. of BESIPPO (Itin. Ant. p. 407, where it has the surname Claudia), at the entrance of the Fretuin Gaditanum (Straits of Gibraltar) from the Atlantic (Mela, ii. 6; Plin. iii. 3. s. 1), directly opposite to Tingis, in Mauretania, and was the usual place of embarcation for persons crossing over to that city (Strab. I. c.), the distance to which was reckoned 30 Roman miles (Plin. v. 1), or 220 stadia (Itin. Ant. p. 495). Its ruins are still seen at the place called Belonia, or Bolonia, 3 Spanish miles W. of Tarifa. There is a coin with the epigraph BAILO. (Philos. Trans. vol. xxx. p. 922; Florez, Med de Esp. vol. ii. p. 635, vol. iii. p. 152; Mionnet,