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ATTICITUS (ATTIKITOS, Ptol. v. 9), or ANTI- | CEITES (AVTIKETηs, Strab. xi. pp. 494, 495), a great river in the country of the Maeotae, in Sarmatia Asiatica, with two mouths, the one falling into the Palus Maeotis, and the other into the Euxine; but the latter formed first the lake of Corocondametis (Koрokovdaunтis), so named from the town of Corocondame. It is evidently the Kuban. According to Strabo, it was also called Hypanis, and Ptolemy calls its southern arm Vardanes. [P. S.] ATTI'DIUM, a town of Umbria, mentioned only by Pliny, who enumerates the Attidiates among the inland towns of that province (iii. 14. s. 19). But its existence as a municipal town is confirmed by inscriptions (Holsten. Not. ad Cluver. p. 83; Orell. Inscr. 88), and there is little doubt that the "Attidiatis ager" mentioned in the Liber de Coloniis (p. 252) among those of Picenum is only a corruption of "Attidiatis." The site is clearly marked by the village of Attigio, situated in the upper valley of the Aesis, about 2 miles S. of the modern city of Fabri. ano, to which the inhabitants of Attidium appear to have migrated in the middle ages. Some ruins and numerous inscriptions still remain at Attigio. (Cluver. Ital. p. 614; Calindri, Statistica del Pon tificio Stato, p. 115; Ramelli, Iscrizioni di Fabriano, in Bull. d. Inst. 1845, p. 127.) [E. H. B.]

the name of the Tarbelli, an Aquitanian people who occupied the flat coast north of the mouth of the Adour.

It seems that there was a tribe nained Atures (Tibull. i. 7, according to the emended text) or Aturenses: probably this was a name given to the inhabitants of the banks of the Atur. [G. L.]

ATU'SA, a town in Assyria, the exact site of which has been much questioned. It has, however, been determined lately, by the publication of a very rare and almost unique coin, bearing the inscription Ατουσιέων τῶν πρὸς τὸν καπρον (Millingen, Sylloge of Unedited Coins, 4to. 1837). It had, indeed, been noticed previously, and correctly, by Weston (Archaeol. xvi. pp. 9 and 89), though Sestini (Letter. Numism. Ser. ii. vol. vi. p. 80) questioned the attribution, on insufficient grounds. The fabric, form of the inscription, the arrow symbolical of the Tigris (Strab. xi. p. 529), all combine to refer the coin to a country in that part of Asia, and, if the coin be evidence enough, to a city on the Caprus, now Lesser Zab. The name, too, is probably Assyrian, and may be derived either from Atossa, which was a national Assyrian name (Euseb. Chron. an. 583; Conon, vi.), or else a modification of the ancient name Aturia. [AsSYRIA.] A passage of Pliny (v. 40), where the name Attusa occurs, is manifestly corrupt.

[V.]

ATTUBI or A'TUBI (prob. Espejo, on the Guadajoz), a colony in Hispania Baetica, with the Cramer, on the authority of a single autonomous surname Claritas Julia, belonging to the conventus coin, speaks of Atusia, a city of Phrygia, on the river of Astigi. (Plin. iii. 1. s. 3; Mariana, iii. 21; Caprus, which flows into the Macander; but he proFlorez, Esp. Sagr. ix. 54, x. 149, xii. 303; Volk-bably refers to the coin mentioned above. (Cramer, mann, Reisen, vol. ii. p. 18; Ukert, vol. ii. pt. 1. Asia Minor, vol. ii. p. 55.) p. 366.) [P. S.] ATTU'DA ("ATTouda: Eth.'ATToudeús), a town of Caria, or of Phrygia, as some suppose, noticed only by Hierocles and the later authorities. But there are coins of the place with the epigraph 'Iepa Bouλn 'ATTOυdéwv, of the time of Augustus and later. The coins show that the Men Carus was worshipped there. An inscription is said to show that the site is that of Ypsili Hissar, south-east of Aphrodisias in Caria. (Cramer, Asia Minor, vol. ii. p. 55; Forbiger, vol. ii. p. 235.) [G. L.]

ATUATICI. [ADUATICI.]
ATURIA. [ASSYRIA.]

ATURIA (prob. Oria), a river of Hispania Tarraconensis, in the territory of the Vascones. (Mela, iii. 1; Ukert, vol. ii. pt. 1. p. 300.) [P.S.]

A'TURUS (Adour), as Lucan (i. 420) names it, or ATURRUS (Auson. Mosell. v. 467), a river of Aquitania. Vibius Sequester has the name Atyr (ed. Oberl. p. 68), which is the genuine name, unless we should write Atur. The Adur of Sussex is the same name. Ptolemy's form Aturis is the Aquitanian word with a Greek termination. The Aturus is the chief river of Aquitania. It drains some of the valleys on the north face of the western part of the Pyrenees, and has a course of about 170 miles to the Bay of Biscay, which it enters below Bayonne. The town of Aquae Augustae was on the Aturus. The poets call the river Tarbellicus, from

AUALITES SINUS (Avaλírηs Kóλπos, Steph. B. 8. v., 'Abaλíτns in some manuscripts of Ptolemy, iv. 7. §§ 27, 39; Plin. vi. 29. s. 34; Arrian. Perip. Mar. Eryth. p. 6: Eth. Avaλirns), the modern Zeyla, in Abyssinia, was a deep bay on the eastern coast of Africa, in lat. 11° N., SW. of the Straits of Bab-el-Man-deb. At the head of the bay was a town Avalites; and the inhabitants of the immediate district were called Avalitae. They were dependent upon the kingdom of Axum. [W. B. D.]

AUA'SIS. [OASIS.]

AUDUS (Audos), a river of Mauretania Caesariensis (aft. Sitifensis), falling into the Sinus Numidicus (G. of Boujayah). It is placed by Ptolemy 10' W. of Igilgilis (Jijeli), a position which identifies it, according to Pellissier, with a river called Wad-el-Jenan, not marked on the maps. If so, the promontory Audum (Aʊdov), which Ptolemy places 10' W. of the Audus, would be C. Cavallo. (Ptol. iv. 2. §§ 10, 11). But, on the other hand, Ptolemy seems to make Audum the W. headland of the Sinus Numidicus (C. Carbon or Ras Metznkoub); and, if this be its true position, the Audus might be identified with the considerable river Sumeim, falling into the gulf E. of Boujayah, and answering (on the other supposition) to the Sisar of Ptolemy. Mannert solves the difficulty by supposing that here (as cer. tainly sometimes happens) Ptolemy got double results from two inconsistent accounts, and that his

Sisar and Audus are the same river, and identical also with the USAR of Pliny. Perhaps the two names, Audus and Sisar (or Usar), may belong to the two great branches of the Sumeim, of which the western is still called Adous, and the other Ajeby. (Mannert, vol. x. pt. 2. p. 411; Pellissier, Exploration de l'Algérie, vol. vi. p. 356.)

[P.S.] AUFIDE'NA (Avoidýva, Ptol.: Eth. Aufidenas, ātis: A'fidena), a city of northern Samnium, situated in the upper valley of the Sagrus, or Sangro. Ptolemy mentions it as the chief city of the Caraceni, the most northern tribe of the Samnites; and the Itineraries place it 24 miles from Sulmo, and 28 from Aesernia, but the latter number is certainly erroneous. (Ptol. iii. 1. § 66; Itin. Ant. p. 102.) The remains of its massive ancient walls prove that it must have been a fortress of great strength; but the only notice of it in history is that of its conquest by the Roman consul Cn. Fulvius, who took it by storm in B. C. 298. (Liv. x. 12.) It seems to have suffered severely in common with the other Samnite cities from the ravages of Sulla, but received a military colony under Caesar (Lib. Colon. p. 259; Zumpt, de Coloniis, p. 307), and continued to exist under the empire as a municipal town of some consequence. (Plin. iii. 12. s. 17; Orell. Inscr. 3776; Zumpt, l. c.) The modern village of Alfidena, as is often the case in Italy, though it has retained the name of Aufidena, does not occupy its original site; the ruins of the ancient city (consisting principally of portions of its walls of a very rude and massive character) are still visible on a hill on the left bank of the river Sangro, about 5 miles above Castel di Sangro. Numerous architectural fragments and other ancient relics of Roman date are also still found on the site. (Romanelli, vol. ii. pp. 486, 487; Craven's Abruzzi, vol. ii. p. 59.) [E. H. B.]

AU'FIDUS (Aŏpidos: Ofanto), the principal river of Apulia, and one of the most considerable of Southern Italy, flowing into the Adriatic Sea. Polybius says (iii. 110) that it is the only river of Italy that traverses the central chain of the Apennines, which is a mistake; but its sources are at so short a distance from the Tyrrhenian Sea, as to have readily given rise to the error. It actually rises in the Apennines, in the country of the Hirpini, about 15 miles W. of Compsa (Conza), and only 25 from Salernum, on the Tyrrhenian Sea. From thence it flows through the rugged mountain country of the Hirpini for a distance of above 40 miles to the frontiers of Apulia, which it crosses between Asculum and Venusia, and traverses the broad plains of that province, till it discharges itself into the Adriatic, about half way between Sipontum and Barium. Like most of the rivers of Italy, it has much of the character of a great mountain torrent. Horace, whose native place of Venusia was scarcely 10 miles distant from the Aufidus (whence he calls himself "longe sonantem natus ad Aufidum," Carm. iv. 9. 2), alludes repeatedly to the violent and impetuous character of its stream, when swollen by winter floods or by heavy rains in the mountains of the Hirpini; nor has it in this respect degenerated from its ancient character. (Hor. Carm. iii. 30. 10, iv. 14. 25, Sat. i. 1 58.) But in the summer, on the contrary, it dwindles to a very inconsiderable river, so that it is at this season readily fordable at almost any point; and below Canusium it is described by a recent traveller as "a scanty stream, holding its slow and winding course through the flat country from thence to the sea." (Craven, Travels, p. 86.)

Hence Silius Italicus, in describing the battle of Cannae, speaks of the "stagnant Aufidus" (stagna Aufida, x. 180; see also xi. 510), an epithet well deserved where it traverses that celebrated plain. So winding is this part of its course, that the distance from the bridge of Canusium to the sea, which is only 15 miles in a direct line, is nearly double that distance along the river. (Lupuli, Iter Venusin. p. 176; Swinburne, Travels, vol. i. p. 165; Giustiniani, Diz. Geogr. pt. ii. vol. iii. p. 44.) Strabo speaks of it as navigable for a distance of 90 stadia from its mouth, at which point the Canusians had an emporium. But this could never have been accessible to any but very small vessels. (Strab. vi. p. 283; Plin. iii. 11. s. 16; Mela, ii. 4; Ptol. iii. 1. § 15.)

There are at the present day only three bridges over the Aufidus, all of which are believed to have been originally of ancient construction; the one called the Ponte di Canosa, 3 miles W. of that city, was traversed by the Via Trajana from Herdonia to Canusium; that called the Ponte di Sta. Venere, about 7 miles from Lacedogna, is clearly the Pons AUFIDI of the Itin. Ant. (p. 121), which places it on the direct road from Beneventum to Venusia, 18 M. P. from the latter city. The ancient Roman bridge is still preserved, and an inscription records its restoration by M. Aurelius. (Pratilli, Via Appia, iv. c. 5, p. 469; Lupuli, Iter Venusin. p. 178; Romanelli, vol. ii. pp. 230, 231.)

The Itineraries also notice a station at the mouth of the river where it was crossed by the coast road from Sipontum to Barium; but its name is corrupted into Aufidena (Itin. Ant. p. 314) and Aufinum (Tab. Peut.) [E. H. B]

AUFINA, a city of the Vestini, mentioned only by Pliny (iii. 12. s. 17), who enumerates the "Aufinates Cismontani" among the communities of the Vestini; and tells us that they were united with the Peltuinates, but whether municipally or locally, is not clear. The modern village of Ofena, about 12 miles N. of Popoli, in the lofty and rugged group of mountains N. of the Aternus, retains the ancient site as well as name. It was a bishop's see as late as the 6th century, and numerous antiquities have been found there. (Holsten. Not. in Cluver. p. 140; Romanelli, vol. iii. p. 271.) [E. H. B.]

AUFONA, a river in Britain. In Tacitus (Annal xii. 31) we find that Ostorius covered the rivers Sabrina and Antona with encampments. The Geographer of Ravenna has Aufona, and the Gloucestershire Avon suits the locality. This has justified the current notion that such was either the true reading of Tacitus, or else that it would have been more correctly so written by the author. [R. G. L.]

AUGEIAE (Αὐγειαί: Eth. Αὐγεάτης). 1. Α town of Locris Epicnemidia, near Scarpheia, mentioned by Homer, but which had disappeared in the time of Strabo. (Hom. Il. ii. 532; Strab. ix. p. 426; Steph. B. s. v.)

2. A town of Laconia, mentioned by Homer (Il. ii. 583), probably the same as the later Aegiae [AEGIAE.]

AUGILA (rà Abyiλa: Eth. Avyıλíru, Steph. B.; Ayıλa, Ptol.; Augilae or Augylae, Mela and Plin.: Aujeluh), an oasis in the desert of Barca, in the region of Cyrenaica, in N. Africa, about 34° S. of Cyrene. Herodotus mentions it as one of the oases formed by salt hills (roλwvol äλos), which he places at intervals of 10 days' journey along the ridge of sand which he supposes to form the N.

margin of the Great Desert. His distance of 10 days' W. of the oasis of Ammon is confirmed by Hornemann, who made the journey with great speed in 9 days; but the time usually taken by the caravans is 13 days. In the time of Herodotus the oasis belonged to the NASAMONES, who then dwelt along the shore from Egypt to the Great Syrtis; and who, in the summer time, left their flocks on the coast, and migrated to Augila to gather the dates with which it abounded. (Herod. iv. 172. 182: in the latter passage some MSS. have Atyiλa.) It was not, however, uninhabited at other seasons, for Herodotus expressly says, καὶ ἄνθρωποι περὶ αὐτὸν oikéovo. Mela and Pliny, in abridging the statement of Herodotus, have transferred to the Augilae (by a carelessness which is evident on comparison) what he says of the Nasamones. (Mela, i. 4, 8; Plin. v. 4, 8.) They place them next to the Garamantes, at a distance of 12 days' journey. (Plin.) Ptolemy (iv. 5. § 30) mentions the Augilae and the Nasamones together, in such a manner as to lead to the inference that the Nasamones, when driven back from the coast by the Greek colonists, had made the oasis of Augila their chief abode. Stephanus Byzantinus calls Augila a city.

The oasis, which still retains its ancient name, forms one of the chief stations on the caravan route from Cairo to Fezzan. It is placed by Rennell in 30° 3′ N. lat. and 22° 46′ E. long., 180 miles SE. of Barca, 180 W. by N. of Siwah (the Ammonium), and 426 E. by N. of Mourzouk. Later authorities place Aujilah (the village) in 29° 15′ N. lat. and 21° 55' E. long. It consists of three oases, that of Aujilah properly so called, and those of Jalloo (Pacho: Mojabra, Hornemann) and Leshkerreh, a little E. and NE. of the former, containing several villages, the chief of which is called Aujilah, and supporting a population of 9000 or 10,000. Each of these oases is a small hill (the Koλwrós of Herodotus), covered with a forest of palm-trees, and rising out of an unbroken plain of red sand, at the S. foot of the mountain range on the S. of Cyrenaica. The sands around the oasis are impregnated with salts of soda. They are connected with the N. coast by a series of smaller oases. Augila is still famous for the palm-trees mentioned by Herodotus and by the Arabian geographer Abulfeda. An interesting parallel to Herodotus's story of the gathering of the date harvest by the Nasamones occurs in the case of a similar oasis further to the E., the dates of which are gathered by the people of Derna on the coast.

According to Procopius (Aedif. vi. 1), there were temples in the oasis, which Justinian converted into Christian churches. There are still some traces of ruins to be seen.

(Rennell, Geography of Herodotus, vol. ii. pp. 209, 212, 213, 271; Hornemann, Journal of Travels from Cairo to Mourzouk; Heeren, Researches, &c., African Nations, vol. i. p. 213; Pacho, Voyage dans la Marmarique, p. 272.) [P.S.]

AUGUSTA (Eth. Augustanus, Steph. B. s. v. AŬyouσтa), a Cilician town, in the interior. (Plin. v. 27.) The name shows that it was either founded under the patronage of some Roman emperor, or a new Roman name was given to an old place. Ptolemy places this town in a district named Bryelice. [G. L.] AUGUSTA AUSCORUM (Auch), the chief town of the Ausci, a people of Aquitania. Augusta was originally Climberrum (Mela, iii. 2), which seems to be a Basque name. Like many other Gallic towns named Augusta, it obtained this appellation under

Augustus or some of his successors. It was on the road from Bordeaux to Toulouse. It appears in the Table under the name Eliberre; and in the Antonine Itin., on the route from Aginnum (Agen) to Lugdunum in Aquitania, under the name of Climberrum. Auch is the chief town of the department of Gers, and on the river Gers, a tributary of the Garonne. [AUSCI.] [G. L.] AUGUSTA ASTURICA. [ASTURICA AUGUSTA.]

AUGUSTA EMERITA (Αὐγούστα Ημερίτα: Merida, Ru.), the chief city of Lusitania in Spain, was built in B. c. 23, by Publius Carisius, the legate of Augustus, who colonized it with the veterans of the 5th and 10th legions whose term of service had expired (emeriti), at the close of the Cantabrian War. (Dion Cass. liii. 26; Strab. iii. pp. 151, 166.) It was, of course, a colonia from the first, and at a later period it is mentioned as having the jus Italicum. (Paullus, Dig. viii. de Cens.) It was the seat of one of the three juridical divisions of Lusitania, the conventus Emeritensis. (Plin. iv. 22. s. 35.) It speedily became the capital of Lusitania, and one of the greatest cities of Spain. (Mela, ii. 6.) Ausonius celebrates it in the following verses (Ordo Nobil. Urb. viii., Wernsdorf, Poet. Lat. Min. vol. v. p. 1329):

"Clara mihi post has memorabere, nomen Iberum,
Emerita aequoreus quam praeterlabitur amnis,
Submittit cui tota suos Hispania fasces.
Corduba non, non arce potens tibi Tarraco certat,
Quaeque sinu pelagi jactat se Bracara dives."

Emerita stood on the N. bank of the Anas (Guadiana), but a part of its territory lay on the S. side of the river, on which account Hyginus places it in Baeturia. (Hygin. Lim. Const. p. 154.) From its position on the borders of Lusitania and Baetica, we have various statements of the people and district to which it belonged. Strabo assigns it to the Turduli, a part of whom certainly dwelt at one time on the right bank of the Anas (comp. Plin. l. c.); Prudentius to the Vettones (Hymn. in Eulal. ix. 186). Ptolemy simply mentions it as an inland city of the Lusitani (ii. 5. § 8). It is one of his points of astronomical observation, having 14 hrs. 15 min. in its longest day, and being 3 hours W. of Alexandria (viii. 4. § 3).

Emerita was the centre of a great number of roads branching out into the three provinces of Spain; the chief distances along which were, 162 M. P. to Hispalis; 144 to Corduba; 145, 161, and 220, by different routes, to Olisipo; 313 to the mouth of the Anas; 632 to Caesaraugusta, or 348 by a shorter route, or 458 by the route through Lusitania. (Itin. Ant. pp. 414, 415, 416, 418, 419, 420, 431, 432, 433, 438, 444.) Its territory was of great fertility, and produced the finest olives. (Plin. xv. 3. s. 4) Pliny also mentions a kind of cochineal (coccus) as found in its neighbourhood and most highly esteemed (iv. 41. s. 65).

The coins of Emerita are very numerous, most of them bearing the heads of the Augustan family, with epigraphs referring to the origin of the city, and celebrating its founder, in some cases with divine honours. A frequent type is a city gate, generally bearing the inscription EMERITA AUGUSTA, a device which has been adopted as the cognizance of the modern city. (Florez, Med. vol. i. p. 384; Eckhel, Doctr. Num. Vet. vol. i. pp. 12, 13.)

And well may Merida, though now but a poor

neglected town of 4500 inhabitants, cling to the memory of her past glory; for few cities in the Roman empire have such magnificent ruins to attest their ancient splendour. It has been fitly called "the Rome of Spain in respect of stupendous and well-preserved monuments of antiquity." (Ford, p. 258) Remains of all the great buildings which adorned a Roman city of the first class are found within a circuit of about half a mile, on a hill which formed the nucleus of the city. The Goths preserved and even repaired the Roman edifices; and, at the Arab conquest, Merida called forth from the Moorish leader Musa the exclamation, that "all the world must have been called together to build such a city." The conquerors, as usual, put its stability to the severest test, and the ruins of Merida consist of what was solid enough to withstand their violence and the more insidious encroachments of the citizens, who for ages have used the ancient city as a quarry. Within the circuit of the city, the ground is covered | with traces of the ancient roads and pavements, remains of temples and other buildings, fragments of columns, statues, and bas-reliefs, with numerous in scriptions. A particular account of the antiquities, which are too numerous to describe here, is given by Laborde and Ford. The circus is still so perfect that it might be used for races as of old, and the theatre, the vomitaries of which are perfect, has been the scene of many a modern bull-fight. The great aqueduct is one of the grandest remains of antiquity in the world; and there are several other aqueducts of less consequence, and the remains of vast reservoirs for water. The Roman bridge over the Guadiana, of 81 arches, 2575 feet long, 26 broad, and 33 above the river, upheld by Goth and Moor, and repaired by Philip III. in 1610, remained uninjured till the Peninsular War of our own time, when some of the arches were blown up, in April 1812. (Florez, Esp. Sagr. vol. xiii. pp. 87, toll.; Laborde, Itinéraire de l'Espagne, vol. iii. pp. 399, foll., 3rd ed.; Ford, Handbook of Spain, pp. 258, foll.) [P. S.] AUGUSTA FIRMA. [ASTIGI.] AUGUSTA GEMELLA. [TUCCI.] AUGUSTA JULIA. [GADES.]

AUGUSTA PRAETO'ŘIA (Aʊyoυora, Strab.; Avyouaта Прairwpla, Ptol.), a city of Cisalpine Gaul, in the territory of the Salassi, situated at the foot of the Alps, in the valley of the Duria Major: it is now called Aosta, and gives to the whole valley of the Duria the name of Val d Aosta. It was a Roman colony, founded by Augustus, who, after the complete subjugation of the Salassians by Terentius Varro, established here a body of 3,000 veterans. From the statement of Strabo, that the colony was settled on the site of the camp of Varro, it would appear that there was previously no town on this spot; but the importance of its position at the point of junction of the two passes over the Pennine and Graian Alps (the Great and Little St. Bernard) caused it quickly to rise to great prosperity, and it soon became, what it has ever since continued, the capital of the whole valley and surrounding region. (Strab. iv. p. 206; Dion Cass. liii. 25; Plin. iii. 17. s. 21; Ptol. iii. 1. § 34.) According to Pliny it was the extreme point of Italy towards the north, so that he reckons the length of that country "ab Alpino fine Praetoriae Augustae" to Rhegium. (H. N. iii. 5. § 6.) The importance of Augusta Praetoria under the Roman empire is sufficiently attested by its existing remains, among which are those of a triumphal arch at the entrance of the town on the

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E. side, of a very good style of architecture, and probably of the time of Augustus, but which has lost its inscription. Besides this, there is another ancient gate, now half buried by the accumulation of the soil; a fine Roman bridge, and some remains of an amphitheatre; while numerous architectural fragments attest the magnificence of the public buildings with which the city was once adorned. (Millin. Voy. en Piémont, vol. ii. pp. 14-17.) [E. H. B.] AUGUSTA RAURACORUM (Augst), the chief town of the Rauraci, who bordered on the Helvetii. (Caes. B. G. i. 5.) A Roman colony was settled here by L. Munatius Plancus, in the time of Augustus, as is proved by an inscription. (Plin. iv. 17, ed. Hard. note.) Ammianus (xiv. 10) gives it the name Rauracum, and fixes its position on the border of the Rhine.. The town suffered from the Alemanni, and was reduced to a mere fort, Castrum Rauracense. Augst is in the canton of Bâle, six miles east of Bale, and on the left bank of the Rhine. It is now a village. In the sixteenth century there were still many remains of Augusta, and among them a large amphitheatre. [RAURACI.]

AUGUSTA SUESSONUM or SUESSIONUM (Soissons). The position of this place is determined by the Itineraries. It is twice called simply Suessonae in the Antonine Itin. It was on the road from Durocortorun (Rheims) to Samarobriva (Amiens). Soissons is on the south bank of the Aisne, in the department of Aisne. Under the later empire there was a Roman manufactory of shields, balistae, and armour for the cavalry called Clibanarii. D'Anville and others suppose that the Noviodunum of Caesar (B. G. ii. 12) was the place that afterwards became Augusta Suessonum; and it may be, but it is only a conjecture. [SUESSIONES.] [G. L.]

τα

AUGUSTA TAURINORUM (Avyovσтa Taupivv, Ptol.: Torino or Turin), the capital of the Ligurian tribe of the Taurini, was situated on the river Padus, at its junction with the Duria Minor or Dora Riparia. It was at this point that the Padus began to be navigable, and to this circumstance, combined with its position on the line of high road leading from Mediolanum and Ticinum to the passage of the Cottian Alps (Mont Genèvre), the city doubtless owed its early importance. It is probable that the chief city of the Taurini, which was taken by Hannibal immediately after his descent into Italy (Polyb. iii. 60), and the name of which, according to Appian (Annib. 5), was Taurasia, was the same that became a Roman colony under Augustus, and received from him the name of Augusta. The only subsequent mention of it in history is during the civil war between Otho and Vitellius, A. D. 69, when a considerable part of it was burnt by the soldiers of the latter (Tac. Hist. ii. 66); but we learn both from Pliny and Tacitus, as well as from numerous inscriptions, that it retained its colonial rank, and was a place of importance under the Roman empire. (Plin. iii. 17. s. 21; Ptol. iii. 1. § 35; Gruter. Inscr pp. 458. 8, 495. 5; Maffei, Mus. Veron. pp. 209 -233; Millin. Voy. en Piémont, vol. i. p. 254.)

The name of Augusta seems to have been gradually dropped, and the city itself came to be called by the name of the tribe to which it belonged: thus we find it termed in the Itineraries simply "Taurini," from whence comes its modern name of Torino or Turin. It continued after the fall of the Roman empire to be a place of importance, and became the capital of Piedmont, as it now is of the kingdom of Sardinia. With the exception of the inscriptions

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