Liv. xxxviii. 37.) We learn from the Acts of the
Apostles (xiv. 24, 25) that Paul and Barnabas
preached the gospel at Perge. (Comp. Acts, xiii.
13.) In the ecclesiastical notices and in Hierocles
(p. 679) Perge appears as the metropolis of Pam-
phylia. (Comp. Steph. B. s. v.; Eckhel, Doctr.
Num. i. 3, p. 12.) There are considerable ruins of
Perge about 16 miles to the north-east of Adalia, at
a place now called Eski-Kalesi. (Comp. Leake,
Asia Minor, p. 132; Texier, Descript. de l'Asie
Min., where the ruins are figured in 19 plates; Fel-
lows, Asia Minor, p. 190, &c.) [L. S.]
PERIMULA (Пepíuovλa, Ptol. vii. 2. § 5), the
name of a town of some commercial importance on
the W. side of the Sinus Magnus (or gulf of Siam),
on a tongue of land anciently called the Aurea
Chersonesus, and now known by the name of Ma-
lacca. Lassen places it in lat. 7° N. In its imme-
diate neighbourhood was a small bay or indentation of
the coast, which was called the Sinus Perimulicus
(Περιμουλικός κόλπος).
[V.]

PERIMULICUS SINUS. [PERIMULA.] PERINTHUS ( Пéрiveos, Ptol. iii. 11. § 6, viii. 11. §7; Xenoph. Anab. vii. 2. § 8: Eth. Пepivotos), a great and flourishing town of Thrace, situated on the Propontis. It lay 22 miles W. of Selymbria, on a small peninsula (Plin. iv. 18) of the bay which bears its name, and was built like an amphitheatre, on the declivity of a hill (Diod. xvi. 76.) It was originally a Samian colony (Marcian, p. 29; Plut. Qu. Gr. 56), and, according to Syncellus (p. 238), was founded about B. c. 599. Panofka, however (p. 22), makes it contemporary with Samothrace, that is about B. C. 1000. It was particularly renowned for its obstinate defence against Philip of Macedon (Diod. xvi. 74-77; Plut. Phoc. 14). At that time it appears to have been a more important and flourishing town even than Byzantium; and being both a harbour and a point at which several main roads met, it was the seat of an extensive commerce (Procop. de Aed. iv. 9). This circumstance explains the reason why so many of its coins are still extant; from which we learn that large and celebrated festivals were held here (Mionnet, i. p. 399415; Eckhel, Doctr. Num. vol. iv. p. 445; Morell. Spec. Rei Num, tab. xiii. 143). According to Tzetzes (Chil. iii. 812), it bore at an early period the name of Mygdonia; and at a later one, but not before the fourth century of our era, it assumed the name of Heracleia; which we find sometimes used alone, and sometimes with the additions H. Thraciae and H. Perinthus. (Procop. l. c. and B. Vand. i. 12; Zosim. i. 62; Justin, xvi. 3; Eutrop. ix. 15; Amm. Marc. xxii. 2; Itin. Ant. pp. 175, 176, 323; Jorn. de Regn. Succ. p. 51, &c. On the variations in its name, see Tzschucke, ad Melam, ii. 2, vol. iii. pt. ii. p. 102, seq.) Justinian restored the old imperial palace, and the aqueducts of the city. (Procop. 1.c.) It is now called Eski Fregli, and still con

tains some ancient ruins and inscriptions. (See Clarke's Travels, viii. p. 122, sqq.) [T. H. D.]

PERISADYES (Περισαδυές, Περισάδιες), an IIlyrian people, near the silver mines of Damastium, whose name seems to be corrupt. (Strab. vii. p. 326. Kramer and Groskurd, ad loc.)

PERITUR, a place in Lower Pannonia (Itin. Hieros. p. 562), probably the same as the one mentioned in the Peuting. Table under the name of Piretis, and in the Antonine Itinerary (p. 266) under that of Pyrri or Pyrrum, and situated on the road from Petovio to Siscia. (See Wesseling, ad It. Hieros. l. c.) [L. S.] PERIZZITES. [PALAESTINA, p. 529.] PERMESSUS. [BOEOTIA, p. 413, a.]

PERNE (Пépvn), a small island off the coast of Ionia, which, during an earthquake, became united with the territory of Miletus. (Plin. ii. 91.) There was also a town in Thrace of this name, which is mentioned only by Steph. B. (s. v.) [L. S.]

PERNICIACUM, or PERNACUM in the Table, in North Gallia, is placed on a road from Bagacum (Barai) to Aduatuca (Tongern). The road passed from Bagacum to Geminiacum (Gemblou). From Geminiacum to Perniciacum is xii. in the Anton. Itin., and xiiii. in the Table; and from Perniciacum to Aduatuca is xiv. in the Itin. and xvi. in the Table. The road is generally straight, but there is no place which we can identify as the site of Perniciacum; and the geographers do not agree on any position. [G. L.]

PERORSI (Πέρορσοι, Πύρορσοι, Ptol. iv. 6. 35 16, 17; Polyb. ap. Plin. v. 1. s. 8, vi. 35), a people of Libya, subdued by Suetonius Paullinus, who inhabited a few fertile spots spread over the long extent of maritime country between the Canarii, who dwelt opposite to the Fortunate Islands, and the Pharusii, who occupied the banks of the Senegal. (Leake, London Geog. Journ. vol. ii. p. 17.) [E. B. J.]

PERPERE'NA (Пepreрhva), a place in Mysia,
on the south-east of Adramyttium, in the neigh-
bourhood of which there were copper mines and good
vineyards. It was said by some to be the place in
which Thucydides had died. (Strab. xiii. p. 607;
Plin. v. 32; Steph. B. s. v. Парnáрwv, from whom
we learn that some called the place Perine; while
Ptol. v. 2. § 16, calls it Perpere or Permere; Galen,
Пepl evxvuías, p. 358; comp. Sestini, p. 75.)
Some, without sufficient reason, regard Perperena as
identical with Theodosiu polis, mentioned by Hiero-
cles (p. 661).
[L. S.]

PERRANTHES. [AMBRACIA.]
PERRHAEBI, PERRHAE'BIA. [THESSALIA.]
PERRHIDAE. [ATTICA, p. 330, a.]

PERSABO'RA (Inpσab@pa, Zosim. iii. 17), a very strong place in Mesopotamia, on the W. bank of the Euphrates, to which the emperor Julian came in his march across that country. Zosimus, who gives a detailed account of its siege, states that it was in size and importance second only to Ctesiphon. Ammianus, speaking of the same war, calls the place Pirisabora (xxiv. c. 2); and Libanius Soph. mentions a city of the same name as the then ruling king of Persia, evidently supposing that it derived its name from Sapor (or Shahpur). (Orat. Fun. p. 315.) Forbiger has conjectured that it is represented by the present Aubas, and that it was situated near the part of the river Euphrates whence the canal Nahr-sares flows, and no great distance from the Sipphara of Ptolemy (v. 18. § 7). [V.]

PERSE POLIS (Пepσémoλs, Diod. xvii. 70; Ptol. vi. 4. § 4: Curt. v. 4. 6; Пepoaíroλis, Strab. xv. 729: Eth. Пepσeñoλíтns), the capital of Persis at the time of the invasion of Alexander, and the seat of the chief palaces of the kings of Persia. It was situated at the opening of an extensive plain (now called Mardusht), and near the junction of two streams, the Araxes (Bendamir) and the Medus (Pulwán). The ruins, which are still very extensive, bear the local name of the Chel Minar, or Forty Columns. According to Diodorus the city was originally surrounded by a triple wall of great strength and beauty (xvii. 71). Strabo states that it was, after Susa, the richest city of the Persians, and that it contained a palace of great beauty (xv. p. 729), and adds that Alexander burnt this building to avenge the Greeks for the similar injuries which had been inflicted on them by the Persians (xv. p. 730). Arrian simply states that Alexander burnt the royal palace, contrary to the entreaty of Parmenion, who wished him to spare this magnificent building, but does not mention the name of Persepolis. (Anab. iii. 18.) Curtius, who probably drew his account from the many extant notices of Alexander's expedition by different officers who had accompanied him, has fully described the disgraceful | burning of the city and palace at Persepolis by the Greek monarch and his drunken companions. He adds that, as it was chiefly built of cedar, the fire spread rapidly far and wide.

Mare Persicum, Plin. vi. 13. s. 16), the great gulf
which, extending in a direction nearly NW. and SE,
separated the provinces of Susiana and Persis, and
the western portion of Carmania from the opposite
shores of Arabia Felix. There are great differences
and great errors in the accounts which the ancients
have left of this gulf; nor indeed are the statements
of the same author always consistent the one with
the other. Thus some writers gave to it the shape
of the human head, of which the narrow opening
towards the SE. formed the neck (Mela, iii. 8; Plin.
vi. 24. s. 28.) Strabo in one place states that, at
the entrance, it was only a day's sail across (xv. p.
727), and in another (xvi. p. 765) that from Har-
muza the opposite Arabian shore of Mace was visible,
in which Ammianus (xxiii. 6) agrees with him. He
appears to have thought that the Persian Gulf was
little inferior in size to the Enxine sea (1. c.), and
reckons that it was about 20,000 stadia in length.
(Cf. Agathem. i. 3.) He placed it also, according
to a certain system of parallelism, due S. of the
Caspian (ii. p. 121, cf. also xi. p. 519). The earliest
mention of the Persian Gulf would appear to be that
of Hecataeus (Steph. B. 8. v. Kúpŋ); but a doubt has
been thrown upon this passage, as some MSS. read
πόντος instead of κόλπος.
[V.]

PERSIS (Пepois, Aeschyl. Pers. 60; Herod. iii. 19; Plin. vi. 23. s. 25; Amm. Marc. xxiii. 6, &c.; Пeрσikh, Herod. iv. 39: Eth. Пépons, Persa), the province of Persis, which must be considered as the centre of the ancient realm of Persia, and the district from which the arms of the Persians spread over all the neighbouring nations, was bounded on the N. by Media and part of the chain of the Parachoathras M.; on the W. by Susiana, which is separated from Persis by the small stream Arosis or Oroatis; on the S. by the Persian Gulf, and on the E. by the desert waste of Carmania. In the earlier periods of history

not till the wars of Alexander and of his successors that the Greeks formed any real conception of the position and character of the land, from which their ancient and most formidable enemies took their name. The whole province was very mountainous,

Great light has been thrown upon the monuments which still remain at Persepolis by the researches of Niebuhr and Ker Porter, and still more so by the interpretation of the cuneiform inscriptions by Colonel Rawlinson and Prof. Lassen. From the result of their inquiries, it seems doubtful whether any portion of the present ruins ascend to so high a period as that of the founder of the Persian monarchy, Cyrus. The principal buildings are doubt-this province was altogether unknown, and it was less due to Dareius the son of Hystaspes, and to Xerxes. The palace and city of Cyrus was at Pasargada, while that of the later monarchs was at Persepolis. (Rawlinson, Journ. of Roy. As. Soc. vol. x; Lassen, in Ersch and Gruber's Encycl. s.v.; Fergusson, Palaces of Nineveh and Persepolis Res-with few extended plains; it possessed, however, tored, Lond. 1851.) It has been a matter of some doubt how far Persepolis itself ever was the ancient site of the capital; and many writers have supposed that it was only the high place of the Persian monarchy where the great palaces and temples were grouped together. On the whole, it seems most probable that the rock on which the ruins are now seen was the place where the palaces and temples were placed, and that the city was extended at its feet along the circumjacent plain. Subsequent to the time of Alexander, Persepolis is not mentioned in history except in the second book of the Maccabees, where it is stated that Antiochus Epiphanes made a fruitless attempt to plunder the temples. (2 Maccab. ix. 1.) In the later times of the Muhammedan rule, the fortress of Istakhr, which was about 4 miles from the ruins, seems to have occupied the place of Persepolis; hence the opinion of some writers, that Istakhr itself was part of the ancient city. (Niebuhr, ii. p. 121: Chardin, Voyages, viii. p. 245; Ker Porter, vol. i. p. 576; Ouseley, Travels, ii. p. 222.)

[V.]

PERSICUS SINUS (¿ Пepσinds kóλTOS, Strab. ii. p. 78, xv. p. 727; Ptol. vi. 3. § 1. 4. § 1. uvxós, Ptol. vi. 19. § 1; катà Пéрσαs dáλaora, Strab. ενί. p. 765 ; ἡ Περσικὴ θάλασσα, Agathem. i. 3;

several valleys of great beauty and fertility, as those for instance in the neighbourhood of Persepolis (Strab. xv. p. 727; Arrian, Ind. c. 40; Amm. Marc. xxiii. 6; Chardin, Voy. iii. p. 255); the coast-line appears to have been, as it is now, sandy and hot, and uninhabitable, owing to the poison-bearing winds. (Plin. xii. 20.) The principal mountain chains bore the names of Parachoathras (Elwend) and Ochus (perhaps Nakhilu), and were, in fact, prolongations to the sea of the still higher ranges of Media. It was watered by no great river, but a number of smaller streams are mentioned, some of them doubtless little more than mountain torrents. The chief of these were the Araxes (Bend-amir,) the Medus (Pulwán), and the Cyrus (Kúr), in the more inland part of the country; and along the coast, the Bagrada, Padargus, Heratemis, Rhogonis, Oroatis, &c. (Plin. vi. 23. s. 26; Arrian, Ind. c. 39; Amm. Marc. xxiii. 6; Strab. xvi. p. 727, &c.) The principal cities of Persis were, PASARGADA, its earliest capital, and the site of the tomb of its first monarch, Cyrus; PERSEPOLIS, the far-famed seat of the palaces and temples of Dareius the son of Hystaspes, and his successors; GABAE, one of the residences of the Persian kings; TAOCE, and ASPADANA.

The Persae were properly the native inhabitants

Ahriman. (Strab. xv. p. 727-736; Herod. i. 33, 133; Xen. Cyrop. i. 22.) Many of their ancient religious customs have continued to the present day; the fire-worshippers of India still contending that they are the lineal descendants of the ancient Persians. The language of the ancient people was strictly Indo-Germanic, and was nearly connected with the classical Sanscrit: the earliest specimens of it are the cuneiform inscriptions at Murghab,— the site of Pasargada, and the place where Cyrus was buried, and those of Dareius and Xerxes at Persepolis and Behistán, which have been deciphered by Colonel Rawlinson and Professor Lassen. (Rawlinson, Journ. As. Soc. vol. x.; Lassen, Zeitschrift f. Mor

of this small district; though in later times the name was applied generally to the subjects of the great king, whose empire extended, under Dareius the son of Hystaspes, from India to the Mediterranean. In the earliest times of the Old Testament they are not mentioned by name as a distinct people, and when, in the later days of the captivity, their name occurs, they must be taken as the inhabitants of the great empire above noticed (Ezek. xxxviii. 5; Esth. i. 3-18; Ezra, iv. 5; 1 Maccab. i. 1, &c.), and not simply of the limited district of Persis. According to Herodotus, the ancient people were divided into three leading classes, warriors, husbandmen, and nomades. In the first class, the Pasargadae, Maraphii, and Maspii, were the most important sub-genl. vi. 1; Hitzig, Grabschrift d. Darius, Zurich, divisions. The Achaemenidae, rom whom their well-known line of kings descended, was one of the families of the Pasargadae. The tribes of husband-, men bore the names of Panthialaei, Derusiaei and Germanii; those of the nomades were called, Dai, Mardi, Dropici and Sagartii. (Herod. i. 125) It is clear from this account that Herodotus is describing what was the state of the Persae but a little while before his own times, and that his view embraces a territory far more extensive than that of the small province of Persis. We must suppose, from his notice of the nomade tribes, that he extended the Persian race over a considerable portion of what is now called Khorásan; indeed, over much of the country which at the present day forms the realm of Persia. In still later times, other tribes or subdivisions are met with, as the Paraetaceni, Messabatae, Stabaei, Suzaei, Hippophagi, &c. &c. Herodotus states further that the most ancient name of the people was Artaei (Herod. vii. 61), a form which modern philology has shown to be in close connection with that of the Arii, the earliest title of their immediate neighbours, the Medes. Both alike are derived from the old Zend and Sanscrit Arya, signifying a people of noble descent; a name still preserved in the modern Irak (Ariaka). (Muller, Journ. Asiat. iii. p. 299; Lassen, Ind. Alterth. ii. p. 7.) There can be no doubt that the name Persae is itself of Indian origin, the earliest form in which it is found on the cuneiform inscriptions being Parasa. (Lassen, Alt-Pers. Keil-Inscr. p. 60.)

The Persian people seem to have been in all times noted for the pride and haughtiness of their language (Aeschyl. Pers. 795; Amm. Marc. xxiii. 6); but, in spite of this habit of boasting, in their earlier history, under Cyrus and his immediate successors, they appear to have made excellent soldiers. Herodotus describes fully the arms and accoutrements of the foot-soldiers, archers, and lancers of the army of Xerxes (vii. 61), on which description the well-known sculptures at Persepolis afford a still living commentary. (Cf. also Strab. xv. p. 734; Xen. Cyrop. vi. 3. § 31.) Their cavalry also was celebrated (Herod. l. c. ix. 79, 81; Xen. Cyrop. vi. 4. § 1). Strabo, who for the most part confines the name of Persae to the inhabitants of Persis, has fully described some of the manners and customs of the people. On the subject of their religious worship Herodotus and Strabo are not at one, and each writer gives separate and unconnected details. The general conclusion to be drawn is that, in the remotest ages, the Persians were pure fire-worshippers, and that by degrees they adopted what became in later times a characteristic of their religious system, the Dualistic arrangement of two separate principles of good and evil, Hormuzd and

1847; Benfey, Pers. Keil-Inscrift, Leipzig, 1847.) The government of Persia was a rigid monarchy. Their kings lived apart from their subjects in well secured palaces (Esth. iv. 2, 6), and rejoiced in great parks (mapádeioi), well stocked with game and animals for the chase (Cyrop. i. 3. § 14, viii. 1. § 38, Anab. i. 2. § 7; Curt. viii. 1. § 11), and passed (in later times, when their empire was most widely extended) their summer at Ecbatana, their spring at Susa, and their winter at Babylon. (Nehem. i. 1; Dan. viii. 2; Esth. i. 2, 5; Xen. Anab. iii. 5. § 15, Cyrop. viii. 6. § 22.) Like other eastern monarchs, the Persian kings possessed a well appointed harem, many curious details of which we gather from the history of Esther (cf. also Curt. iii. § 3; Athen. xiii. p. 557; Plut. Artax. c. 43); and they were accustomed to receive from their subjects direct adoration (πpoσkúvŋσis), as the presumed descendants or representatives of Hormuzd. (Plut. Themist. c. 7; Curt. vi. 6. § 2, viii. 5. § 6.) Their local government was a pure despotism; but in some extraordinary cases a sort of privy council was called of the seven chief princes, who stood around the royal throne, like the Amshaspands round the throne of Hormuzd. (Herod. vii. 8, viii. 67; Esth. i. 14, 19, vii. 14.) Whatever document had once passed the king and had been sealed by the royal signet was deemed irrevocable. (Esth. i. 19, viii. 8; Dan. vi. 9, 16; cf. also Chardin, Voy. iii. 418.) Over the individual provinces-which in the time of Dareius were said to have been twenty in number (Her. iii. 89), but were subsequently much more numerous (Esth. i. 1), probably from the subdivision of the larger ones-were placed satraps, whose business it was to superintend them, to collect the revenues, and to attend to the progress of agriculture. (Her. iii. 89, 97; Joseph. Ant. xi. 3, &c.) Between the satraps and the kings was a well organised system of couriers, who were called &yyapos orȧorávðaι (Plut. Fort. Alex. vii. p. 294, ed. Reiske), who conveyed their despatches from station to station on horses, and had the power, when necessary, to press horses, boats, and even men into their service. As this service was very irksome and oppressive, the word ayyapeúe came to mean compulsion or detention under other circumstances. (Joseph. Ant. xiii. 2. § 3; Esth. iii. 13, 15, viii. 10, 14; Bentley's Menander, p. 56.)

The history of the Persian empire need not be repeated here, as it is given under the names of the respective kings in the Dict. of Biogr. [V.]

PERTU'SA, a town of the Ilergetes in Hispania Tarraconensis, which still exists under the old name on the Alcanadre. (Itin. Ant. p. 391.) [T.H.D.]

PERU'SIA (Пepovoía: Eth. Perusinus: Perugia), one of the most important and powerful cities of

Etruria, situated nearly on the eastern frontier of |
that country, on a lofty hill on the right bank of the
Tiber, and overlooking the lake of Thrasymene
which now derives from it the name of Lago di
Perugia. It closely adjoins the frontiers of Umbria,
and hence the tradition reported by Servius, that it
was originally an Umbrian city, inhabited by the
tribe called Sarsinates, is at least a very probable
one. (Serv. ad Aen. x. 201.) The same author
has, however, preserved to us another tradition,
which ascribes the foundation of Perusia to a hero
named Auletes, the brother of Ocnus, the reputed
founder of Mantua. (Ib. x. 198.) Justin's assertion
that it was of Achaean origin (xx. 1) may be safely
rejected as a mere fable; but whatever historical
value may be attached to the statements of Servius,
it seems probable that Perusia, in common with the
other chief places in the same part of Etruria, was
in the first instance an Umbrian city, and sub-
sequently passed into the hands of the Etruscans,
under whom it rose to be a powerful and important
city, and one of the chief members of the Etruscan
confederacy. It is not till B. c. 310, when the
Romans had carried their arms beyond the Ciminian
forest, that the name of Perusia is heard of in his-
tory; but we are told that at that period it was one
of the most powerful cities of Etruria. (Liv. ix. 37.)
The three neighbouring cities of Perusia, Cortona,
and Arretium, on that occasion united in concluding
a peace with Rome for thirty years (Liv. I. c.; Diod.
xx. 35); but they seem to have broken it the very
next year, and shared in the great defeat of the
Etruscans in general at the Vadimonian lake. This
was followed by another defeat under the walls of
Perusia itself, which compelled that city to sue for
peace; but the statement that it surrendered at dis-
cretion, and was occupied with a Roman garrison, is
one of those obvious perversions of the truth that
occur so frequently in the Roman annals. (Liv. ix.
40.) When we next meet with the name of Perusia,
it is still as an independent and powerful state,
which in B. C. 295, in conjunction with Clusium,
was able to renew the war with Rome; and though
their combined forces were defeated by Cn. Fulvius,
the Perusians took the lead in renewing the contest
the next year.
On this occasion they were again
defeated with heavy loss by Fabius, 4500 of their
troops slain, and above 1700 taken prisoners. (Id. x.
30, 31.) In consequence of this disaster they were
compelled before the close of the year to sue for
peace, and, by the payment of a large sum of money,
obtained a truce for forty years, B. C. 294. (Id. x.
37.) At this time Livy still calls the three cities of
Perusia, Volsinii, and Arretium (all of which made
peace at the same time) the three most powerful
states and chief cities of Etruria. (Id. I. c.)

We find no other mention of Perusia as an independent state; and we have no explanation of the tircumstances or terms under which it ultimately became a dependency of Rome. But during the Second Punic War it figures among the allied cities which then formed so important a part of the Roman power: its cohorts were serving in her armies (Liv. xxiii. 17), and towards the end of the contest it was one of the "populi " of Etruria which came forward with alacrity to furnish supplies to the fleet of Scipio. Its contribution consisted of corn, and timber for shipbuilding. (Id. xxviii. 45.) With this exception, we meet with no other mention of Perusia till near the close of the republican period, when it bore so conspicuous a part in the civil war between

But

Octavian and L. Antonius, in B. C. 41, as to give to that contest the name of Bellum Perusinum. (Suet. Aug. 9; Tac. Ann. v. 1; Oros. vi. 18.) It was shortly after the outbreak of hostilities on that occasion that L. Antonius, finding himself pressed on all sides by three armies under Agrippa, Salvidienus, and Octavian himself, threw himself into Perusia, trusting in the great natural strength of the city to enable him to hold out till the arrival of his generals, Ventidius and Asinius Pollio, to his relief. whether from disaffection or incapacity, these officers failed in coming to his support, and Octavian surrounded the whole hill on which the city stands with strong lines of circumvallation, so as to cut him off from all supplies, especially on the side of the Tiber, on which Antonius had mainly relied. Fainine soon made itself felt in the city; the siege was protracted through the winter, and Ventidius was foiled in an attempt to compel Octavian to raise it, and drew off his forces without success. L. Antonius now made a desperate attempt to break through the enemy's lines, but was repulsed with great slaughter, and found himself at length compelled to capitulate. His own life was spared, as were those of most of the Roman nobles who had accompanied him; but the chief citizens of Perusia itself were put to death, the city given up to plunder, and an accidental conflagration having been spread by the wind, ended by consuming the whole city. (Appian, B. C. v. 3249; Dion Cass. xlviii. 14; Vell. Pat. ii. 74; Flor. iv. 5; Suet. Aug. 14, 96.) A story told by several writers of Octavian having sacrificed 300 of the prisoners at an altar consecrated to the memory of Caesar, is in all probability a fiction, or at least an exaggeration. (Dion Cass. l. c.; Suet. Aug. 15; Senec. de Clem. i. 11; Merivale's Roman Empire, vol. iii. p. 227.)

Perusia was raised from its ashes again by Augustus, who settled a fresh body of citizens there, and the city assumed in consequence the surname of Augusta Perusia, which we find it bearing in inscriptions; but it did not obtain the rank or title of a colony; and its territory was confined to the district within a mile of the walls. (Dion Cass. xlviii. 14; Orell. Inscr. 93–95, 608.) Notwithstanding this restriction, it appears to have speedily risen again into a flourishing municipal town. It is noticed by Strabo as one of the chief towns in the interior of Etruria, and its municipal consideration is attested by numerous inscriptions. (Strab. v. p. 226; Plin. iii. 5. s. 8; Ptol. iii. 1. § 48; Tab. Peut.; Orell. Insor. 2531, 3739, 4038.) From one of these we learn that it acquired under the Roman Empire the title of Colonia Vibia; but the origin of this is unknown, though it is probable that it was derived from the emperor Trebonianus Gallus, who appears to have bestowed some conspicuous benefits on the place. (Vermiglioli, Iscriz. Perug. pp. 379-400; Zumpt, de Colon. p. 436.) The name of Perusia is not again mentioned in history till after the fall of the Roman Empire, but its natural strength of position rendered it a place of importance in the troubled times that followed; and it figures conspicuously in the Gothic wars, when it is called by Procopius a strong fortress and the chief city of Etruria. It was taken by Belisarius in A. D. 537, and occupied with a strong garrison: in 547 it was besieged by Totila, but held out against his arms for nearly two years, and did not surrender till after Belisarius had quitted Italy. It was again recovered by Narses in 552. (Procop. B. G. i. 16, 17, iii. 6, 25, 35, iv. 33.)