LAR FLUVIUS. [CANIS FLUMEN.] LARANDA (rà Aápavda: Eth. Aapavdeús, f. Aapavdís; Larenda or Karaman), one of the most important towns of Lycaonia, 400 stadia to the south-east of Iconium. Strabo (xii. p. 569) states LARI'NUM (Adpivov, Ptol.; Aápiva, Steph. B.: that the town belonged to Antipater of Derbe, which Eth. Aapivaîos, Steph. B.; but Aapıvâtıs, Pol.; Larishows that for a time it was governed by native nās, -ātis: Larino Vecchio), a considerable city in princes. Respecting its history in antiquity scarcely the northern part of Apulia, situated about 14 miles anything is known beyond the fact that it was taken from the sea, a little to the S. of the river Tifernus. by storm, and destroyed by Perdiccas (Diod. xviii. There is much discrepancy among ancient authori22); that it was afterwards rebuilt, and on ac- ties, as to whether Larinum with its territory, excount of the fertility of its neighbourhood became tending from the river Frento to the Tifernus, one of the chief seats of the Isaurian pirates. (Amm. belonged properly to Apulia or to the land of the Marc. xiv. 2; comp. Steph. B. s. v.; Ptol. v. 6. Frentan. Ptolemy distinctly assigns it to the latter § 17; Hierocl. p. 675; Euseb. Hist. Eccl. vi. 19.) people; and Pliny also, in one passage, speaks of the Suidas (8. v.) says that Laranda was the birthplace "Larinates cognomine Frentani :" but at the same of Nestor, an epic poet, and father of Pisander, a time he distinctly places Larinum in Apulia, and poet of still greater celebrity; but when he calls the not in the "regio Frentana," which, according to former Aapardevs èk Auklas, he probably mistook him, begins only from the Tifernus. Mela takes the

From the repeated mention during these military operations of the territory of Larinum, while none occurs of the city itself, it would appear that the latter could not have been situated on the high road, which probably passed through the plain below it. LARISSA (Adpora, but on coins and inser AáBut it is evident from the oration of Cicero in de- ρισα or Λάρισα: Eth. Λαρισσαίος, Λαρισαίος), fence of A. Cluentius, who was a native of Larinum, name common to many Pelasgic towns, and probably that it was in his day a flourishing and considerable a Pelasgic word signifying city. (Comp. Strab. xiii. municipal town, with its local magistrates, senate, p. 620; Dionys. i. 21; Niebuhr, Hist. of Rome, vol. i. public archives, forum, and all the other appurte- note 60.) Hence in mythology Larissa is reprenances of municipal government. (Cic. pro Cluent.sented as the daughter of Pelasgus (Paus. ii. 24

§1), or of Piasus, a Pelasgian prince. (Strab. xiv. p. 621.)

| more celebrated Larissa, situated in a plain. Strabo also describes it as well watered and producing vines (ix. p. 440). The same writer adds that it was surnamed Pelasgia as well as Cremaste (1. c.). From its being situated in the dominions of Achilles, some writers suppose that the Roman poets give this hero the surname of Larissaeus, but this epithet is perhaps used generally for Thessalian. Larissa Cremaste was occupied by Demetrius Poliorcetes in B. C. 302, when he was at war with Cassander. (Diod. xx. 110.) It was taken by Apustius in the first war between the Romans and Philip, в C. 200 (Liv. xxxi. 46), and again fell into the hands of the Romans in the war with Perseus, B. C. 171. (Liv. xlii. 56, 57.) The ruins of the ancient city are situated upon a steep hill, in the valley of Gardhiki, at a diThe walls are very conspicuous on the western side of the hill, where several courses of masonry remain. Gell says that there are the fragments of a Doric temple upon the acropolis, but of these Leake makes no mention. (Gell, Itinerary of Greece, p. 252; Dodwell, Travels, vol. ii. p. 81; Leake, Northern Greece, vol. iv. p. 347.)

3. The citadel of Argos [Vol. I. p. 202.]

1. An important town of Thessaly, the capital of the district Pelasgiotis, was situated in a fertile plain upon a gently rising ground, on the right or south bank of the Peneius. It had a strongly fortified citadel. (Diod. xv. 61.) Larissa is not mentioned by Homer. Some commentators, however, suppose it to be the same as the Pelasgic Argos of Homer (I. ii. 681), but the latter was the name of a district rather than of a town. Others, with more probability, identify it with the Argissa of the poet. (Il. ii. 738.) [See Vol. I. p. 209.] Its foundation was ascribed to Acrisius. (Steph. B. s. v.) The plain of Larissa was formerly inhabited by the Perrhaebi, who were partly expelled by the Larissaeans, and partly reduced to subjection. They continued sub-rect distance of five or six miles from Khamáko. ject to Larissa, till Philip made himself master of Thessaly. (Strab. ix. p. 440.) The constitution of Larissa was democratical (Áristot. Pol. v. 6), and this was probably one reason why the Larissaeans were allies of the Athenians during the Peloponnesian War. (Thuc. ii. 22.) During the Roman wars in Greece, Larissa is frequently mentioned as a place of importance. It was here that Philip, the son of Demetrius, kept all his royal papers during his campaign against Flamininus in Greece; but after the battle of Cynoscephalae, in B. C. 197, he was obliged to abandon Larissa to the Romans, having previously destroyed these documents. (Polyb. xviii. 16.) It was still in the hands of the Romans when Antiochus crossed over into Greece, B. C. 191, and this king made an ineffectual attempt upon the town. (Liv. xxxvi. 10.) In the time of Strabo Larissa continued to be a flourishing town (ix. p. 430). It is mentioned by Hierocles in the sixth century as the first town in Thessaly (p. 642, ed. Wessel.). It is still a considerable place, the residence of an archbishop and a pasha, and containing 30,000 inhabitants. It continues to bear its ancient name, though the Turks call it Yenishehér, which is its official appellation. Its circumference is less than three miles. Like other towns in Greece, which have been continually inhabited, it presents few remains of Hellenic times. They are chiefly found in the Turkish cemeteries, consisting of plain quadrangular stones, fragments of columns, mostly fluted, and a great number of ancient cippi and sepulchral stelae, which now serve for Turkish tombstones. (Leake, Northern Greece, vol. . p. 439, seq.)

2. LARISSA CREMASTE ( Kpeμaoтǹ Aάρioσa), a town of Thessaly of less importance than the preceding one, was situated in the district of Phthiotis, at the distance of 20 stadia from the Maliac gulf, upon a height advancing in front of Mount Othrys. (Strab. ix. p. 435.) It occupied the side of the hill, and was hence surnamed Cremaste, as hanging on

LARISSA (Aάpiooa). 1. A town in the territory of Ephesus, on the north bank of the Caystrus, which there flows through a most fertile district, producing an excellent kind of wine. It was situated at a distance of 180 stadia from Ephesus, and 30 from Tralles. (Strab. ix. p. 440, xiii. p. 620.) In Strabo's time it had sunk to the rank of a village, but it was said once to have been a wóλis, with a temple of Apollo. Cramer (As. Min. i. p. 558) conjectures that its site may correspond to the modern Tirich.

2. A place on the coast of Troas, about 70 stadia south of Alexandria Troas, and north of Hamaxitus. It was supposed that this Larissa was the one men. tioned by Homer (Il. ii. 841), but Strabo (xiii. p. 620) controverts this opinion, because it is not far enough from Troy. (Comp. Steph. B. s. v.) The town is mentioned as still existing by Thu cydides (viii. 101) and Xenophon (Hellen. iii 1. § 13; comp. Scylax, p. 36; Strab. ix. p. 440, xiii. p. 604). Athenaeus (ii. p. 43) mentions some hot springs near Larissa in Troas, which are still known to exist a little above the site of Alexandria Troas. (Voyage Pittoresque, vol. ii. p. 438.)

3. Larissa, surnamed PHRICONIS, a Pelasgiar town in Aeolis, but subsequently taken possession of by the Aeolians, who constituted it one of the towns of their confederacy. It was situated near the coast, about 70 stadia to the south-east of Cyme (Tepi Thy Kúμμny, Strab. xiii. p. 621; Herod. i. 149). Strabo, apparently for good reasons, considers this to be the Larissa mentioned in the Iliad (ii. 840). Xenophon (Hellen. iii. 1. § 7, comp. Cyrop. vii. 1. § 45) distinguishes this town from others of the same name by the epithet of "the Egyptian," because the elder Cyrus had established there a colony of Egyptian soldiers. From the same historian we must infer that Larissa was a place of considerable strength, as it was besieged in vain by Thimbrom; but in Strabo's time the place was deserted. (Comp. Plin. v. 32; Vell. Pat. i. 4; Vit. Hom. c. 11; Steph. B. s. v.; Ptol. v. 2. § 5.) [L. S]

LARISSA (Aápioσa, Xen. Anab. iii. 4. § 7), a town of Assyria, at no great distance from the left

retreat of the Ten Thousand Greeks. It appears to have been situated a little to the north of the junction of the Lycus (Záb) and the Tigris. Xenophon describes it as a deserted city, formerly built by the Medes, with a wall 25 feet broad, and 100 high, and extending in circumference two parasangs. The wall itself was constructed of bricks, but had a foundation of stone, 20 feet in height (probably a casing in stone over the lower portion of the bricks). He adds, that when the Persians conquered the Medes, they were not at first able to take this city, but at last captured it, during a dense fog. Adjoining the town was a pyramid of stone, one plethron broad, and two plethra in height. It has been conjectured that this was the site of the city of Resen, mentioned in Genesis (x. 12); and there can be little doubt, that these ruins represent those of Nimrud, now so well known by the excavations which Mr. Layard has conducted.

[V.]

LARISSA (Aápioσa), a city of Syria, placed by Ptolemy in the district of Cassiotis, in which Antioch was situated (v. 15. § 16), but probably identical with the place of the same name which, according to Strabo, was reckoned to Apamia (xvi. p. 572), and which is placed in the Itinerary of Antoninus 16 M. P. from Apamia, on the road to Emesa. D'Anville identifies it with the modern Kalaat Shyzar, on the left bank of the Orontes, between Hamah and Kalaat el-Medyk or Apamia. [G. W.]

LARISSUS or LARISUS, a river of Achaia. [Vol. I. p. 14, a.]

of olives, and afforded space for numerous villas. Among these the most celebrated are those of the younger Pliny, who was himself a native of Comum, and whose paternal estate was situated on the banks of the lake, of which last he always speaks with affection as "Larius noster." (Ep. ii. 8, vi. 24, vii. 11.) But, besides this, he had two villas of a more ornamental character, of which he gives some account in his letters (Ep. ix. 7): the one situated on a lofty promontory projecting out into the waters of the lake, over which it commanded a very extensive prospect, the other close to the water's edge. The description of the former would suit well with the site of the modern Villa Serbelloni near Bellaggio; but there are not sufficient grounds upon which to identify it. The name of Villa Pliniana is given at the present day to a villa about a mile beyond the village of Torno (on the right side of the lake going from Como), where there is a remarkable intermitting spring, which is also described by Pliny (Ep. iv. 30); but there is no reason to suppose that this was the site of either of his villas. Claudian briefly characterises the scenery of the Larius Lacus in a few lines (B. Get, 319-322); and Cassiodorus gives an elaborate, but very accurate, description of its beauties. The immediate banks of the lake were adorned with villas or palaces (praetoria), above which spread, as it were, à girdle of olive woods; over these again were vineyards, climbing up the sides of the mountains, the bare and rocky summits of which rose above the thick chesnut-woods that encircled them. Streams of water fell into the lake on all sides, in cascades of snowy whiteness. (Cassiod. Var. xi. 14.) It would be difficult to describe more correctly the present aspect of the Lake of Como, the beautiful scenery of which is the theme of admiration of all modern travellers.

Cassiodorus repeats the tale told by the elder Pliny, that the course of the Addua could be traced throughout the length of the lake, with which it did not mix its waters. (Plin. ii. 105. s. 106; Cassiod. . c.) The same fable is told of the Lacus Lemannus, or Lake of Geneva, and of many other lakes formed in a similar manner by the stagnation of a large river, which enters them at one end and flows out at the other. It is remarkable that we have no trace of an ancient town as existing on the site of the modern Lecco, where the Addua issues from the lake. We learn, from the Itinerary of Antoninus (p. 278), that the usual course in proceeding from Curia over the Rhaetian Alps to Mediolanum, was to take boat at the head of the lake and proceed by water to Comum. This was the route by which Stilicho is represented by Claudian as proceeding across the Alps (B. Get. l. c.); and Cassiodorus speaks of Comum as a place of great traffic of travellers (l. c.) In the latter ages of the Roman empire, a fleet was maintained upon the lake, the head-quarters of which were at Comum. (Not. Dign. ii. p. 118.)

LA'RIUS LACUS († Aápios Nuvn: Lago di Como), one of the largest of the great lakes of Northern Italy, situated at the foot of the Alps, and formed by the river Addua. (Strab. iv. p. 192; Plin. iii. 19. s. 23.) It is of a peculiar form, long and narrow, but divided in its southern portion into two great arms or branches, forming a kind of fork. The SW. of these, at the extremity of which is situated the city of Como, has no natural outlet; the Addua, which carries off the superfluous waters of the lake, flowing from its SE. extremity, where stands the modern town of Lecco. Virgil, where he is speaking of the great lakes of Northern Italy, gives to the Larius the epithet of "maximus " (Georg. ii. 159); and Servius, in his note on the passage, tells us that, according to Cato, it was 60 miles long. This estimate, though greatly overrated, seems to have acquired a sort of traditionary authority: it is repeated by Cassiodorus (Var. Ep. xi. 14), and even in the Itinerary of Antoninus (p. 278), and is at the present day still a prevalent notion among the boatmen on the lake. The real distance from Como to the head of the lake does not exceed 27 Italian, or 34 Roman miles, to which five or six more may be added for the distance by water to Riva, the Lago di Riva being often regarded as only a portion of the larger lake. Strabo, therefore, is not far from the truth in estimating the Larius as 300 stadia (37) Roman The name of Lacus Larius seems to have been miles) in length, and 30 in breadth. (Strab. iv. early superseded in common usage by that of LACUS p. 209.) But it is only in a few places that it at- COMACINUS, which is already found in the Itinerary, tains this width; and, owing to its inferior breadth, as well as in Paulus Diaconus, although the latter it is really much smaller than the Benacus (Lago author uses also the more classical appellation. di Garda) or Verbanus (Lago Maggiore). Its (Itin. Ant. l. c.; P. Diac. Hist. v. 38, 39.) [E.H.B.] waters are of great depth, and surrounded on all sides by high mountains, rising in many places very abruptly from the shore: notwithstanding which their lower slopes were clothed in ancient times, as they still are at the present day, with rich groves

LARIX or LARICE, a place on the southern frontier of Noricum, at the foot of the Julian Alps, and on the road from Aquileia to Lauriacum. The town seems to have owed its name to the forests of larch trees which abound in that district, and its site

inust be looked for between Idria and Krainburg, in | The circuit of the walls is less than a mile. The Illyricum. (It. Ant. p. 276; comp. Muchar, Nori- annexed plan of the remains is taken from Leake. cum, p. 247.) [L. S.]