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Arverni, named Luer, is mentioned by Strabo, who as he rode in his chariot used to throw about him gold and silver coin, for the people to pick up. He was the father of Bituitus, king of the Arverni at the time of the campaign of Fabius Maximus.

The Romans seem to have first met the Arverni in B. C. 121. The Aedui and Allobroges were at war, and the Allobroges had the Arverni and Ruteni as allies. Q. Fabius Maximus defeated the Allobroges and their allies with great slaughter, at the confluence of the Rhone and the Isère. (Florus, iii. 2; Vell. Pat. ii. 10; Oros. v. 14.) The Allobroges were made Roman subjects, but the Arverni and the Ruteni lost none of their territory (B. G. i. 45). In fact their position defended them, for the wall of the Cévennes was the natural boundary of the Provincia on the NW. Some years before Caesar was proconsui of Gallia the Arverni had joined the Sequani in inviting Ariovistus and his Germans into Gallia, in order to balance the power of the Aedui, who were allies of the Romans. The German had become the tyrant of the Sequani, but the territory of the Arverni had not been touched by him when Caesar entered Gallia (B. C. 58). In R.Cc. 52, when Gallia was tranquillized, as Caesar says, a general rising of the Galli took place. The Carnutes broke out first; and next Vercingetorix, an Arvernian, whose father had held the chief power (principatus) in all Gallia, roused his countrymen. This was the beginning of a great contest and the last struggle of the Galli. Vercingetorix commanded the combined forces (B. G. vii. 63, 64). The war was finished by the capture of Alesia, and Vercingetorix fell into the hands of Caesar. He was carried to Rome, and kept a prisoner till Caesar's great triumph, when the life of this brave and unsuccessful Gaul was ended in Roman fashion by the hands of the executioner, after he had adorned the barbaric pomp of the procession. (Dion Cass. xliii. 19.)

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joins the sea, close to the mouth of the Limyrus, as
probably the Arycandus of Pliny. In the map of
Fellows, only the name Arycandus appears, and no
Limyrus; but the Limyrus is clearly laid down in
the map in Spratt's Lycia as a small stream flowing
from Limyra, and joining near its mouth the larger
river Orta Tchy, the Arycandus. Compare the ac-
count of Arycanda in Fellows and in Spratt's Lycia
(vol. i. p. 153).
[G. L.]

ARYMPHÁEI. [ARGIPPAEI.]

ARXATA (Aptara)), a town of Armenia, situated on the borders of Atropatene. (Strab. xi. p. 529; Eckhel, vol. iii. p. 202.) [E. B. J.]

ARZEN CAρTČe, Cedren. Hist. Comp. vol. ii. p. 722), a town of Armenia to the E. of Theodosiopolis (Erzrúm). According to native writers it contained 800 churches, A.D. 1049. It was taken by the Seljuk Turks, and the inhabitants retired to Theodosiopolis. No remains of this city are to be found now. (St. Martin, Mém. sur l'Armenie, vol. i. p. 68.) [E. B. J.]

ARZANE'NE ('ApÇavnvý, also 'Apšárn, Procop. de Aedif. iii. 2), a province in the S. of Armenia, situated on the left bank of the Tigris, extending to the E. as far as the valley of Bitlis, and bounded on the S. and W. by Mesopotamia. It derived its name from the lake Arsene, or the town Arzen, situated on this lake. Its name frequently occurs in the writers of the Lower Empire. (Eutrop. vi. 7; Amm. Marc. xxv. 7, 9, Procop. B. Pers. i. 8.) Ptolemy calls the district Thospitis (Owonitis, v. 13. § 18), a name which he also gives to the lake Arsene (v. 13. § 7). The district Arrhene in Pliny (vi. 31) is probably the same as Arzanene.

This province was the subject and the theatre of continual wars between the emperors of Constantinople and the kings of Persia. It is now comprehended in the Pashalik of Dyár Bekr. [E. B. J.] ASA PAULINI, a place on the road from LugAr-dunum (Lyon) to Augustodunum (Autun). It is placed in the Antonine Itin. x Gallic leagues, or xv M.P. from Lugdunum, and this distance corresponds to the site of Anse. Asa, in the Itin., perhaps ought to be Ansa. [G. L.]

ASAEI ('Aσaîoi), a people of Sarmatia Asiatica, near the Suardeni and the upper course of the Tanaïs. (Ptol. v. 9. § 16). They are also mentioned by Pliny, according to the common text, as having been, before his time, among the most celebrated peoples of Scythia; but Sillig gives a different reading, namely Chroasai. (Plin. vi. 17. s. 19.) [P.S.]

In the division of Gallia under Augustus the verni were included in the extended limits of Aquitania. Pliny (iv. 19) calls them "liberi;" and, if this is correct, we must suppose that in Pliny's time the Arverni enjoyed the privileges which, under the Roman government, were secured to those provincials who had the title of "liberae civitates." [G.L.] AR'VII, are only mentioned by Ptolemy, who places them in Gallia Lugdunensis, next to the Diablintes. D'Anville ascertained the position of this people, who, with the Cenomani and the Diablintes, occupied what was afterwards the diocese of Mans. He discovered the site of the capital of the Arvii, which preserves the name of Erve or Arve, on the banks of a stream which flows into the river Sarthe, near Sable. The Sarthe joins the Mayenne, which enters the Loire below Angers. The name of the chief town of the Arvii in Ptolemy is Vagori[G. L.] ARYCANDA (Aрúкavda: Eth. 'Apuкavdeus), a city in Lycia (Steph. s. v. 'Apukávda; Schol. ad Pind. Ol. Od. 7), on the river Arycandus, a branch of the Limyrus (Plin. v. 27, 29). Its site has been ascertained by Fellows (Lycia, p. 221), who found near the river Arycandus, and 35 miles from the sea, the ruins of Arycanda, which are identified by a Greek inscription. There are the remains of a the-spectabile" (v. 1. s. 1). It is thought by some to atre, tombs, and some fine specimens of doorways.

tum.

ASAMA ('Aσáμa), a river of Mauretania Tingitana, falling into the Atlantic, in 32° N. lat. (Ptol. iv. 1. § 3), 30' S. of Port Rhusibis, and 20' N. of the river Diour. All along this coast, the positions may be safely determined by Ptolemy's latitudes (his longitudes are greatly out); consequently Asan.a is Wadi-Tensift, the river which, in its upper course, flows past Marocco: Portus Rhusibis is Saffee, and the river Diour is Wad-al-Gored, which falls into the ocean by Mogador. (Comp. Rennell, Geog. of Herod. vol. ii. p. 16.) Pliny, who calls it Asana, places it, on the authority of native report, 150 M.P. from Sala (Sallee : it is nearly 200 in a direct line), and adds the description, "marino haustu sed portu

be the same as the river Anatis, which Pliny menThere are coins of Arycanda. Fellows found one tions a little before, on the authority of Polybius, as among the ruins, with the name of the city on it 205 M. P. from Lixus; but the distances do not and the head of the Emperor Gordian. Leake agree. Some also identify it with the Anidus ("Avi(Asia Minor, p. 187) speaks of a stream which | dos) or, according to the emendation of Salmasius,

Adonis of Scylax (p. 52, or p. 123, ed. Gronov.); but that river is much further N., between Lixus and the Straits.

[P.S.] ASBYSTAE ('Ao6uora, Herod. iv. 170, 171; Lycophr. Alex. 895; 'Aosura, Ptol. iv. 4. § 10), a Libyan tribe, in the inland parts of Cyrenaica, S. of Cyrene, and W. of the Giligainmae; distinguished above the other Libyan tribes for their skill in the use of four-horsed chariots. (Herod. 7. c.) Dionysius Periegetes (211) names them next to the Nasamones, inland (μeσheiрo). Pliny also places them next to the Nasamores, but apparently to the W. of them (v. 5). Ptolemy's position for them, E. of the mountains overhanging the Gardens of the Hesperides, agrees well enough with that of Herodotus. Stephanus Byzantinus mentions a city of Libya, named Asbysta (Ao6uora, Eth. 'Aσbúσrns), and quotes the following line from Callimachus:

| calon was the see of a bishop, and remained so till the middle of the 7th century, when it fe'i into he hands of the Saracens. Abúl-fedá (Tab. Syr. p. 78) speaks of it as one of the famous strongholds of Islam (Schultens, Index Geog. s. v. Edrisi, par Jaubert, vol. i. p. 340); and the Orientals speak of it as the Bride of Syria. The coast is sandy, and difficult of access, and therefore it enjoyed but little advantage from its port. It is frequently mentioned in the history of the Crusades. Its fortifications were at length utterly destroyed by Sultan Bibars (A. D. 1270), and its port filled up with stones thrown into the sea, for fear of further attempts on the part of the Crusaders. (Wilken, die Kreuzz, vol. vii. p. 58.)

D'Arvieux, who visited it (A. D. 1658), and Von Troilo, who was there eight years afterwards, describe the ruins as being very extensive. (Rosenmüller, Handbuch der Bibl. Alterthem. vol. ii. pt. 2, p. 383.) Modern travellers represent the situation as strong; the thick walls, flanked with towers, were built on the top of a ridge of rock, that encircles the town, and terminates at each end in the sea. The ground within sinks in the manner of an amphitheatre. 'Askulan presents now a most mournful scene of utter desolation. (Robinson, Palestine, vol ii. p. 369.) [E. B. J.]

ASCA'NIA LACUS or ASCA'NIUS ('Aokavía: Isnik), a large lake in Bithynia, at the east extremity of which was the city of Nicaea. (Strab. p. 565, &c.) Apollodorus, quoted by Strabo (p. 681), says that there was a place called Ascania on the lake. The lake" is about 10 miles long and 4 wide, surrounded on three sides by steep woody slopes, behind which rise the snowy summits of the Olympus range." (Leake, Asia Minor, p. 7.) Cramer refers to Aristotle (Mirab. Ausc. c. 54) and Pliny (xxxi. 10), to show that the waters of this lake are impregnated with nitre; but Aristotle and Pliny mean another Ascania. This lake is fresh; a river flows into it, and runs out into the bay of Cios. This river is the Ascanius of Pliny (v. 32) and Strabo.

οἵη τε Τρίτωνος ἐφ ̓ ὕδασιν ̓Ασβύσταο: where the mention of the Triton is not at all inconsistent with the position of the Asbystae, as determined by the other writers; for the Triton is frequently placed near the Gardens of the Hesperides, on the W. coast of Cyrenaica. [TRITON.] [P.S.] A'SCALON ('Aokáλwv, 'Aokaλúviov, Ascalo, Plin. v. 14. : Eth. Ασκαλωνίτης, Ασκαλώνιος, fem. 'Aokalavis, Steph. B., Suidas, Hierocles, Ascalona, Ascalonius: 'Askulân), one of the five cities of the Philistines (Josh. xiii. 3; 1 Sam. vi. 17), situated on the coast of the Mediterranean Sea, between Gaza and Jamnia (Joseph. B. J. iv. 11. § 5), 520 stadia (Joseph. B. J. iii. 2. § 1), or 53 M. P., according to the Peutinger Tables, from Jerusalem; and 16 M. P. from Gaza. (Anton. Itin.. Ptol. v. 16.) It was taken by the tribe of Judah (Judges, i. 18), but did not remain long in their possession (Judges, iii. 3); and during the wars which the Hebrews waged under Saul and David with the Philistines Ascalon appears to have continued in the hands of the native inhabitants. (2 Sam. i. 20.) The prophets devoted it to destruction (Amos, i. 8; Zeph. ii. 4, 7; Zech. ix. 5; Jer. xxv. 20, xlvii. 5, 7). After the time of Alexander it shared the fate of Phoenicia and Judaea, and was sometimes subjected to Aegypt (Joseph. Antiq. xii. 425), at other times to the Syrian kings (1 Mac. x. 86; xi. 60; xii. 33.) Herod the Great, though it was not in his dominions, adorned the city with fountains, baths, and colonnades. (Joseph. B. J. i. 12. § 11.) After his death, Ascalon, which had many Jewish inhabitants (B. J. ii. 18. § 5), was given to his sister Salome as a residence. (Joseph. Ant. xvii. 11. § 5.) It ASCATANCAE ('Aσкатáукαι), a people of suffered much in the Jewish wars with the Romans. Scythia intra Imaum, adjacent to the mountain (Joseph. B. J. ii. 18. § 1, iii. 22. § 1.) And its called ASCATANCAS: extending E. of the Tapuri, inhabitants slew 2500 of the Jews who dwelt there. as far as M. Imaus: somewhere about the SE. part (Joseph. B. J. ii. 18. § 5.) In very early times it of Independent Tartary. (Ptol. vi. 14. § 3.) [P.S.] was the seat of the worship of Derceto (Diod. ii. 4), or Syrian Aphrodite, whose temple was plundered by the Scythians (Herod. i. 105). This goddess, representing the passive principle of nature, was worshipped under the form of a fish with a woman's head. (Comp. Ov. Fast. ii. 406.) Josephus (B. J. iii. 2. § 1), speaks of Ascalon as a strongly fortified place. (Comp. Pomp. Mela, i. 11. § 5.) Strabo xvi. p. 759) describes it as a small town, and remarks that it was famous for the shallot (Allium Ascalonicum; French, Echalotte; Italian, Scalogna, a corruption of Ascalonia). (Comp. Plin. xix. 6; Athen. ii. p. 68; Dioscor. i. 24; Columell. xii. 10; Theophr. Plant, vii 4.) In the 4th century As

The Ascanius of Homer (Il. ii. 862) is supposed to be about this lake of Strabo (p. 566), who attempts to explain this passage of the Iliad. The country around the lake was called Ascania. (Steph. s. v. 'Aokavía.)

The salt lake Ascania, to which Aristotle and Pliny refer, is a lake of Pisidia, the lake of Buldur or Burdur. The salt lake Ascania of Arrian (Anab. i. 29) is a different lake [ANAYA]. [G. L.]

ASCATANCAS ('Аσкатάукая), a mountain range of Asia, forming a part of the E. boundary which divided the land of the Sacae from Scythia. Extending, apparently, NW. and SE., it joined, at its SE. extremity, the branch of M. Imaus which ran N. and S., according to Ptolemy [IMAUS], at a point which he defines as the halting-place (dpunTýpiov) of the caravans on their way to Sera, and which he places in 140° lon. and 43° lat. (vi. 13. § 1). Now, following Ptolemy's latitude, which is seldom far wrong, and the direction of the roads, which are pretty well defined by nature where great mountains have to be crossed, we can hardly be far wrong in placing Ptolemy's caravanserai at the spot

marked by the rock hewn monument called Takhti-Souleiman (i, e. Solomon's Throne), near Och, in a lateral valley of the upper Jaxartes (Sihoun), --which is still an important commercial station, from its position at the N. foot of the pass of Terek over the great Moussour range, Ptolemy's N. branch of the Imaus. The Ascatancas might then answer to the Alatau M. or the Khouhakhai M.; and the more northerly Anarei M. of Ptolemy might be the Khaltai or Tschingis; both NW. branches of the Moussour range: but it is, of course, impossible to make the identification with any certainty. Ammianus Marcellinus (xxiii. 6) appears to refer to the same mountains by the name of Ascanimia. (Ritter, Erdkunde, vol. i. p. 513; Heeren, Ideen, i. 2, p. 487; Forbiger, vol. ii. p. 469.)

[P.S] ASCIBURGIUM, or ASCIBURGIA ('ATKICoupyior), a town near the left bank of the lower Rhine, the foundation of which was attributed to Ulysses, according to an absurd story reported by Tacitus (German. 3). It was a Roman station in A.D. 70. (Tac. Hist. iv. 33.) In the Peutinger Table it is placed between Novesium or Neuss, opposite to Düsseldorf on the Rhine, and Vetera, probably Xanten. Asciburgium then will correspond to Asburg, which is on the high road between Neuss and Xanten. The Anton. Itin, places Gelduba and Calo between Novesium and Vetera, and omits Asciburgium. [G. L.]

ASCORDUS. [AGASSA.] ASCRA (Aokрa: Eth. Aσкрaios), a town of Boeotia on Mount Helicon, and in the territory of Thespiae, from which it was 40 stadia distant. (Strab. ix. p. 409.) It is celebrated as the residence of Hesiod, whose father settled here after leaving Cyme in Aeolis. Hesiod complains of it as a disagreeable residence both in summer and winter. (Hes. Op. 638, seq.); and Eudoxus found still more fault with it. (Strab. ix. p. 413.) But other writers speak of it as abounding in corn (πоλvλý¡os, Paus. ix. 38. § 4), and in wine. (Zenod. ap. Strab. p. 413.) According to the poet Hegesinus, who is quoted by Pausanias, Ascra was founded by Ephialtes and Otus, the sons of Aloeus. In the time of Pausanias a single tower was all that remained of the town. (Paus. ix. 29. §§ 1, 2.) The remains of Asera are found" on the summit of a high conical hill, or rather rock, which is connected to the NW. with Mount Zagará, and more to the westward with the proper Helicon. The distance of these ruins from Lefka corresponds exactly to the 40 stades which Strabo places between Thespiae and Asera; and it is further remarkable, that a single tower is the only portion of the ruins conspicuously preserved, just as Pausanias describes Ascra in his time, though there are also some vestiges of the walls surrounding the summit of the hill, and inclosing a space of no great extent. The place is now called Pyrgaki from the tower, which is formed of equal and regular layers of masonry, and is uncommonly large." (Leake, Northern Greece, vol. ii. p. 491.) The Roman poets frequently use the adjective Ascraeus in the sense of Hesiodic. Hence we find "Ascraeum carmen" (Virg. Georg. ii. 176), and similar phrases.

ASCRIVIUM ('Acкроúïor), a town of Dalmatia in Illyricum of uncertain site. (Ptol. ii. 17. § 5; Plin. iii. 22.)

A'SCUA, a city of the Carpetani, in Hispania Tarraconensis. (Liv. xxiii. 27: Gronovius proposes to read Asena; Epist. iii. in Drakenborch's Livy,

vol. vii. p. 129.) The coins with the epigraph Ascv. are supposed to belong to this place. (Sestim, p. 27; Ukert, i. 2. p. 370.) [P.S]

A'SCULUM 1. (Аøkλov, Plut. Dionys.: Eth. 'Аøкλaws, Appian.. Asculanus: Ascoli), a city of Apulia, situated in the interior of the province, about 10 miles S. of Herdonia, and 27 SW. of Canusium. It was celebrate for the great battle between Pyrrhus and the Romans, which was fought in its immediate neighbourhood, B. C. 269. (Flor. i. 18. § 9; Plut. Pyrrh. 21; Zonar. viii. 5; Dionys. xx. Fr. nov. ed. Didot.) No mention of it is found in history previous to this occasion, but it must have been a place of consequence, as we learn from its having struck coins as an independent city. From these it appears that the proper form of the name was AUSCULUM or AUSCLUM (written in Oscan AUHUSCLUM), whence we find OSCULUM and "Osculana pugna" cited by Festus from Titinius. (Friedländer, Oskische Münzen, p. 55; Festus, p. 197, v. Osculana pugna.) It is again mentioned during the Social War in conjunction with Larinum and Venusia (Appian. B. C. i. 52), and we learn from the Liber Coloniarum (p. 260) that its territory was portioned out to colonists, first by C. Gracchus, and again by Julius Caesar. An inscription preserved by Lupoli (Iter Venusin, p. 174) proves that it enjoyed the rank of a colony under Antoninus Pius, and other inscriptions attest its continued existence as a considerable provincial town as late as the time of Valentinian. It is therefore not a little singular that no mention of it is found either in Strabo, Pliny, or Ptolemy. We might, indeed, suspect that the AUSECULANI of Pliny (iii. 11. s. 16) were the people of Asculum, but that he seems (so far as his very confused list enables us to judge) to place them among the Hirpini. The modern city of Ascoli retains nearly the ancient site, on the summit of a gentle hill, forming one of the last declivities of the Apennines towards the plain of Apulia. Considerable remains of the ancient city are still visible among the vineyards without the modern walls; and many inscriptions, fragments of statues, columns, &c. have been found there. The battle with Pyrrhus was fought in the plain beneath, but in the immediate vicinity of the hills, to which part of the Roman forces withdrew for protection against the cavalry and elephants of the king. (See the newlydiscovered fragment of Dionysius, published by C. Müller at the end of Didot's edition of Josephus, Paris, 1847.) The name of Asculum is not found in the Itineraries, but we learn from an ancient milestone discovered on the spot that it was situated on a branch of the Appian Way, which led direct from Beneventum to Canusium. (Romanelli, vol. ii. pp. 248-251; Lupuli, Iter Venusin. pp. 157-175; Pratilli, Via Appia, p. 509.)

2. (Aσкovλov, Ptol.; Aσкλо, Strab.), a city of Picenum, situated on the river Truentus or Tronto, about 20 miles from its mouth, and still called Ascoli. It was frequently termed Asculum Picenum, to distinguish it from the city of the same name in Apulia. (Caes. B. C. i. 15.) Strabo speaks of it as a place of great strength, from its inaccessibie position, and the rugged and difficult character of the surrounding country (v. p. 241); and we learn from Florus that it was, prior to the Roman conquest, the capital city of the Piceni. Hence its capture by the consul P. Seinpronius Sophus in B. C. 268 appears to have led to the submission of the whole nation. (Flor. i. 19.) It bore an important

part in the Social War, the massacre of the pro-
consul Q. Servilius, his legate Fonteius, and all the
Roman citizens in the town by the people of As-
culum, having given the first signal for the actual
outbreak of hostilities. Pompeius Strabo was in
consequence sent with an army to reduce the re-
fractory city, but was defeated by the Picentians;
and even when the tide of fortune was beginning to
turn in favour of the Romans, in the second year of
the war, Pompeius was unable to reduce it till after
a long and obstinate siege. The Italian general
Judacilius, himself a native of Asculuin, who had
conducted the defence, put an end to his own life;
and Pompeius, wishing to make an example of the
city, put to death all the magistrates and principal |
citizens, and drove the other inhabitants into exile.
(Appian. B. C. i. 38, 47, 48; Oros. v. 18; Vell.
Pat. ii. 21; Flor. iii. 19; Liv. Epit. lxxii., lxxvi.)
If we may trust the expressions of Florus, the city
itself was destroyed; but this is probably an exagge-
ration, and it would appear to have quickly recovered
from the blow thus inflicted on it, as we find it soon
after mentioned by Cicero (pro Sull. 8) as a muni-
cipal town, and it was one of the places which |
Caesar hastened to seize, after he had passed the
Rubicon. Lentulus Spinther, who had previously
occupied it with 10 cohorts, fled on his approach.
(Caes. B. C. i. 15.)

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its territory, and at the distance of 5 stadia from the
city, on the road to Pallantium, were the sources of
the Alpheius, and near them those of the Eurotas.
The two rivers united their streams, and, after flow-
ing in one channel for 20 stadia, disappeared beneath
the earth; the Alpheius rising again at Pegae, and
the Eurotas at Belemina in Laconia. North of Asea,
on the road to Pallantium, and on the summit of
Mt. Boreium (Krávari), was a temple of Athena
Soteira and Poseidon, said to have been founded by
Odysseus on his return from Troy, and of which the
ruins were discovered by Leake and Ross. The re-
mains of Asea are to be seen on the height which
rises above the copious spring of water called Fran-
góvrysi, "Frank-spring," the sources of the Alpheius.
(Strab. pp. 275, 343; Paus. viii. 3. § 4, viii. 44. § 3,
viii. 54. §2; Steph. B. s. v.; Leake, Morea, vol. i.
p. 84, vol. iii. p. 34, Peloponnesiaca, p. 247; Ross,
Reisen im Peloponnes, vol. i. p. 63.)
ASHER. [PALAESTINA.]
ASHDOD. [AZOTUs.]

ASHTAROTH and ASHTAROTH CARNAIM ('Aσrapúl, 'Aorapúł kaì Kapvạtv, LXX., El-Mezârîb), a town of Bashan (Deut. i. 4; Josh. ix. 10), included in the territory of the half-tribe of Manasseh (Josh. xiii. 31), which was afterwards assigned to the Levites (1 Chron. vi. 71). Eusebius (Onomast. in 'Aσrapú and 'soapú0) places it 6

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Pliny terms Asculum a colony, the most illus-M. P. from Adraa and 25 M. P. from Bostra. This trious in Picenum (iii. 13. 18); and its colonial dignity is further attested by inscriptions; but the period at which it attained this rank is uncertain. It was probably one of the colonies of Augustus. (Lib. Colon. p. 227; Gruter, Inser. p. 465. 5, 10; Orelli. Inscr. 3760; Zumpt. de Colon. p. 349.) We learn from numerous inscriptions, that it continued to be a place of importance until a late period of the Roman empire; during the Gothic wars it was besieged and taken by Totila; but is again mentioned by P. Diaconus, as one of the chief cities of Picenum. (Procop. iii. 11; P. Diac. ii. 19.) The modern city of Ascoli, which retains the ancient site, is still an important place, and the capital of a province, with a population of about 8000 inhabitants.

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ASCURIS (Ezeró), a lake in Thessaly in the range of Mt. Olympus. The castle LAPATHUS, which Livy describes as above the lake Ascuris, probably corresponds to the ancient castle near Rúpsani. (Liv. xliv. 2; Leake, Northern Greece, vol. iii. pp. 349, 418.)

A'SEA (Area: 'Aσeárns), a town of Arcadia in the district Maenalia, situated near the frontier of Laconia, on the road from Megalopolis to Pallantium and Tegea. Asea took part in the foundation of Megalopolis, to which city most of its inhabitants removed (Paus. viii. 27. § 3, where for 'laoaia we ought to read 'Ασαία or 'Ασέα); but Asea continued to exist as an independent state, since the Ascatae are mentioned, along with the Megalopolitae, Tegeatae, and Pallantieis, as joining Epaminondas before the battle of Mantineia, B. c. 362. (Xen. Hell. vi. 5. § 5.) At a later time, however, Asca belonged to Megalopolis, as we see from the descriptions of Strabo and Pausanias. The city was in ruins in the Nine of Pausanias, who mentions its acropolis. In

town existed in the time of Abraham (Gen. xiv. 5).
The epithet of "Karnaim or "horned" is referred
to the worship of the moon under the name of Ash-
taroth or Astarte. This goddess, the Derceto of the
Greeks, had a temple ('Arapyaтelov) at Carnion
(2 Macc. xii. 26; comp. 1 Macc. v. 43), which is
identified with Ashtaroth, and is described as a
strongly fortified town, but taken by Judas Macca-
baeus, who slew 25,000 of the inhabitants (2 Mace.
xii. 26; Joseph. Antiq. xii. 8. § 4.) El-Mezârib,
which Colonel Leake (Preface to Burkhardt's
Travels, p. xii.) identifies with Ashtaroth, is the
first resting-place for the caravans on the great
Hadj Road from Damascus to Mekkah. Burkhardt
(Trav. p. 241) mentions, that close to the castle
where the pilgrims collect, built by the Sultan
Selym, is a lake or pond, a mile and a half in cir-
cumference. In the midst of this lake is an island,
-and at an elevated spot at the extremity of a pro-
montory, advancing into the lake, stands a sort of
chapel, around which are many ruins of ancient
buildings. There are no other ruins. (Buckingham,
Arab. Tribes, p. 162; Chesney, Exped. Euphrat.
vol. i. p. 511; Capt. Newbold, Lond. Geog. Journ.
vol. xvi. p. 333.)
[E. B. J.]

A'SIA ('Aoia, sc. yn; Poet. 'Aois, -idos, Aesch. Pers. 763, 'Aols ain, Dion. Perieg. 20, 'Aσídos ǹnelpolo; ASIS, Ov Met. v. 648, ix. 448: Eth. and Adj. Ασιανός, Ασιάτης, Ion. Ασιήτης, Ασιος ? frequent in Homer as a proper name; 'Aoiaîos, Steph.; 'AσiaTikós, Strab.; 'AσiaToyens, Aesch. Pers. 12; 'Aolayevns, Dio Chrysost., Lob. Phryn. 646: Fem. Ασιανή, Ασιάτις, and 'Ασιήτις, with χθών, γῆ, γαῖα, ap. Trag.; 'Ασίς, Ασιάς, -άδος, αρ. Trag., with own, and especially with Kópa, for the three-stringed lyre of the Lydians, called simply

'Aoiás by Aristoph. Thesm. 120, comp. Schol., Suid., Hesch., Etym. Mag., s. v.: Asiānus; Asius, Poets and Varr. ap. Non. 466. 3; Asiaticus, adj. Asiagenes, not only in poets, but in old Latin, for Asiaticus, applied to Scipio, Liv. xxxvii. 58, Inscr., and to Sulla, Sidon. Carm vii. 80, see

Forcellini, s. v.; Gronov. Obs. iv. 391, p. 531, Frotsch; lastly, the form Asiacus, Ov. Met. xii. 588, rests only on a false reading. On the quantity of the A, see Jahn, ad Ov. Met. v. 648).

This most important geographical name has the following significations. 1. The continent of Asia. -2. ASIA MINOR (see below).—3. The kingdom of Troy (Poet. e. g. Ov. Met. xiii. 484).—4. The kingdom of PERGAMUS. 5. The Roman province of Asia (see the Article). — 6. A city of Lydia (see below, No. 1.). - 7. An island of Aethiopia, according to Steph. B., who gives 'Aσiárns for a citizen, and Eth. Adeus. This article is on the continent of Asia.

1. Origin and Applications of the Name. - The origin of the names, both of Europe and Asia, is lost in antiquity, but perhaps not irrecoverably. The Greek writers give two derivations. First, on their system of referring the names of tribes and countries to a person as eponymus, they tell us of a nymph Asia as one of the Oceanids, daughters of Oceanus and Tethys (Hes. Theog. 359), the wife of Iapetus, and mother of Prometheus (Apollod. i. 2. § 2; Eustath. ad Dion. Per. 270, 620; Etym. Mag. 8..; Schol. Lycophr. 1412), or, according to others, the wife of Prometheus. (Herod. iv. 25; Schol. Apollon. i. 444; Steph. B. s. v.) In this mythical genealogy, it should be noticed that Asia is connected with the Titanic deities, and Europe with the race of Zeus. (Ritter, Vorhalle, p. 456.)

The other class of derivations connects Asia, in the first instance, with Lydia, which some of the grammarians distinctly state to have been at first called Asia; an opinion which Strabo ascribes to the school of Demetrius of Scepsis. (Strab. xiii. p. 627; Schol. Aristoph. Thesm. 120; Schol. Apoll. Rhod. ii. 779.) We are told of a city called Asia, near M. Tmolus, where the Lydian lyre was invented (Etym. Mag 8. v.; Steph. B. s. v.), and to which Eckhel (vol. iii. p. 93) refers the Lydian coins bearing the inscription ΑΣΙΕΩΝ.

Herodotus says that the Lydians themselves derived the name of Asia from one of their ancient kings, Asias, the son of Cotys, the son of Manes, whose name continued to be borne by the puλn 'Aoids in the city of Sardis (Herod. iv. 45; Eustath. ad Dion. Ferieg. 270, 620), and whose chapel near the Cayster was still shown in Strabo's time. (Strab. xiv. p. 650.) A similar account is given by Dionysius of Halicarnassus, in his discussion respecting the Etruscans, the supposed emigrants from Lydia (i. p. 21, ed. Sylburg). Another instance of the connection of the name with Lydia is furnished by the passage of Homer, in which we have also the first example of the word Asia in a Greek writer (Il. ii. 461);—’Aoíw ¿v Xeiμŵvi, Kavoтpíov àμpi peelpa. (Comp. Dion. Perieg. 836-838.) In this passage, the ancient grammarians read 'Aoi as the genitive of 'Acías, not 'Aole the dative of "Aotos. (Schol. Aristoph. Ach. 68; Strab. xiv. p. 650, comp. xiii. p. 627; Steph. B. s v.; Eustath. ad Dion. Perieg. 620, ad Hom. pp. 204. 10, Etym. Mag. 8. v.) But even if, with some of the best modern scholars, we adopt the reading thus rejected by the ancients, 'Aoi should still be taken as the adjective connected with 'Aoiás, i. e. the meadow sacred to the hero Asias. (Hermann, ad Hymn. in Apoll. 250; Thiersch, Gramm. § 178, No. 26; Spitzner, ad loc.: of course, no argument can be drawn from Virgil's Asia prata Caystri, Georg. i. 383, 384, which is a mere imitation; comp. Aen. vii. 701,

Asia palus. The explanation of doíe as the adjec tive of bois, mud or slime, barely requires mention, Steph. B. s. v.; Eustath. ad Dion. Perieg. 620.) The text of Homer confirms the statement of ancient writers, that Homer knows nothing of Asia, as one of the divisions of the world, any more than of Europa or Libya, and that such a system of division, among the Greeks at least, was probably subsequent to the Homeric poems. (Strab. xii. p. 554; Steph. B. s. v.) He also uses "Aotos or 'Aoías as a proper name of more than one hero among the Trojan allies (see Dict. of Biog. art. Asius), and it deserves notice that one tradition derived the name of the continent from the sage and seer Asius, who presented the palladium to Tros (Eustath. ad Dion. Perieg. 620; Suid. s. v. Haλλáðtov); indications that the root was known in other parts of W. Asia besides Lydia. Another tradition of considerable importance is preserved by Strabo from the poet Callinus; namely, that when the Cimmerians invaded Asia, and took Sardis, the people whom they drove out of the city were called 'Hotoves, which the grammarians of the school of Demetrius of Scepsis interpreted as the Ionic form of 'Aoloveis. (Strab. xiii. p. 627.) Neither should we altogether overlook the frequency of the syllable As in Trojan and other Asiatic names, such as 'Aoσápaкos, 'Aσ κávios, and several others.

Scholars who are accustomed to regard antiquity only from a Grecian point of view, are content to draw from these premises the conclusion, that Asia was the name first app ied by the Greeks, whether borrowed from the natives or not, to that part of the region east of the Aegean Sea with which they first became acquainted, namely, the plains of Lydia; that the Greek colonists, who settled on the coasts of that region, were naturally distinguished from those of the mother country, as the Greeks of Asia ; and that the name, having thus become common, was extended with their extending knowledge of the country, first to the regions within the Halys and the Taurus, and ultimately to the whole continent. It is important to observe that this is confessedly a mere hypothesis; for the expression of an opinion on such a subject by an ancient writer, who could not possess the means of certain knowledge, must not be taken as positive evidence, simply because it comes to us in the form of a statement made by one whom we accept as an authority on matters within the range of his knowledge; nay more, such statements, when reduced to their true value, as opinions, are often deserving of much less regard than the speculations of modern scholars, based on a wider foundation, and guided by a sounder criticism. There is a science of ancient history, even as to its facts, which is ever advancing, like all other sciences, and for similar reasons. Least of all can it be permitted to the inquirer, wilfully to restrict himself to one kind of evidence; as, for example, to take the assertions and hints of classical writers at their utmost value, while rejecting the results of Oriental and other learning.

If the primeval history of Asia is ever to be settled on a basis of probability (and few objects of learning yield in interest to this), it must be by a comprehensive and patient criticism, cautious but not timid, of all the existing sources of information, in history, ethnography, philology, mythology, and antiquities; whether derived from the West, the East, or the North; from direct testimony, indirect evidence, or well conducted speculation; from sacred or secular

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