And again,
[d] Demosthenes, when not more than seven years old, lost his father, and was left under the care of three guardians, who thought an orphan lawful prey, and did not scruple to embezzle his effects. In the mean time Demosthenes pursued a plan of education, without the aid or advice of his tutors. He became the scholar of Isocrates, and he was the hearer of Plato. Under those masters his progress was such, that at the age of seventeen he was able to conduct a suit against his guardians. The young orator succeeded so well in that prelude to his future fame, that the plunderers of the orphan's portion were condemned to refund a large sum. It is said that Demosthenes, afterwards, released the whole or the greatest part.
Section XXXVIII.
[a] The rule for allowing a limited space of time for the hearing of causes, the extent of which could not be known, began, as Pliny the younger informs us, under the emperors, and was fully established for the reasons which he gives. The custom, he says, of allowing two water-glasses (i.e. two hour-glasses) or only one, and sometimes half a one, prevailed, because the advocates grew tired before the business was explained, and the judges were ready to decide before they understood the question. Pliny, with some indignation, asks, Are we wiser than our ancestors? are the laws more just at present? Our ancestors allowed many hours, many days, and many adjournments, in every cause; and for my part, as often as I sit in judgement, I allow as much time as the advocate requires; for would it not be rashness to guess what space of time is necessary in a cause which has not been opened? But some unnecessary things may be said; and is it not better, that what is unnecessary should be spoken, than that what is necessary should be omitted? And who can tell what is necessary, till he has heard? Patience in a judge ought to be considered as one of the chief branches of his duty, as it certainly is of justice. See Plin. b. vi. ep. 2. In England, there is no danger of arbitrary rules, to gratify the impatience of the court, or to stifle justice. The province of juries, since the late declaratory act in the case of libels, is now better understood; and every judge is taught, that a cause is tried before him, not BY HIM. It is his to expound the law, and wait, with temper, for the verdict of those whom the constitution has intrusted.
[b] Pompey's third consulship was A.U.C. 702; before Christ, 52. He was at first sole consul, and in six or seven months Metellus Scipio became his colleague.
[c] The centumviri, as mentioned s. vii. note [c], were a body of men composed of three out of every tribe, for the decision of such matters as the prætors referred to their judgement. The nature of the several causes, that came before that judicature, may be seen in the first book DE ORATORE.
[d] The question in this cause before the centumviri was, whether Clusinius Figulus, the son of Urbinia, fled from his post in battle, and, being taken prisoner, remained in captivity during a length of time, till he made his escape into Italy; or, as was contended by Asinius Pollio, whether the defendant did not serve under two masters, who practised physic, and, being discharged by them, voluntarily sell himself as a slave? See Quintilian, lib. vii. cap. 2.
Section XXXIX.
[a] The advocates, at that time, wore a tight cloak, or mantle, like that which the Romans used on a journey. Cicero, in his oration for Milo, argues that he who wore that inconvenient dress, was not likely to have formed a design against the life of any man. Apparet uter esset insidiator; uter nihil cogitaret mali: cum alter veheretur in rheda, penulatus, unà sederet uxor. Quid horum non impeditissimum? Vestitus? an vehiculum? an comes? A travelling-cloak could give neither grace nor dignity to an orator at the bar. The business was transacted in a kind of chat with the judges: what room for eloquence, and that commanding action which springs from the emotions of the soul, and inflames every breast with kindred passions? The cold inanimate orator is described, by Quintilian, speaking with his hand under his robe; manum intra pallium continens.
Section XL.
[a] Maternus is now drawing to a conclusion, and, therefore, calls to mind the proposition with which he set out; viz. that the flame of oratory is kept alive by fresh materials, and always blazes forth in times of danger and public commotion. The unimpassioned style, which suited the areopagus of Athens, or the courts of Rome, where the advocate spoke by an hour-glass, does not deserve the name of genuine eloquence. The orations of Cicero for Marcellus, Ligarius, and king Dejotarus, were spoken before Cæsar, when he was master of the Roman world. In those speeches, what have we to admire, except delicacy of sentiment, and elegance of diction? How different from the torrent, tempest, and whirlwind of passion, that roused, inflamed, and commanded the senate, and the people, against Catiline and Marc Antony!
[b] For the account of Cicero's death by Velleius Paterculus, see s. xvii. note [e]. Juvenal ascribes the murder of the great Roman orator to the second Philippic against Antony.
What Cicero says of Antonius, the celebrated orator, may be applied to himself: That head, which defended the commonwealth, was shewn from that very rostrum, where the heads of so many Roman citizens had been saved by his eloquence. In his ipsis rostris, in quibus ille rempublicam constantissime consul defenderat, positum caput illud fuit, a quo erant multorum civium capita servata. Cicero De Oratore, lib. iii. s. 10.
Section XLII.
[a] The urbanity with which the Dialogue is conducted, and the perfect harmony with which the speakers take leave of each other, cannot but leave a pleasing impression on the mind of every reader of taste. It has some resemblance to the conclusion of Cicero's Dialogue DE NATURA DEORUM. In both tracts, we have a specimen of the politeness with which the ancients managed a conversation on the most interesting subjects, and by the graces of style brought the way of instructing by dialogue into fashion. A modern writer, whose poetical genius cannot be too much admired, chooses to call it a frippery way of writing. He advises his countrymen to abandon it altogether; and this for a notable reason: because the Rev. Dr. Hurd (now Bishop of Worcester) has shewn the true use of it. That the dialogues of that amiable writer have an intrinsic value, cannot be denied: they contain a fund of reflection; they allure by the elegance of the style, and they bring us into company with men whom we wish to hear, to know, and to admire. While we have such conversation-pieces, not to mention others of the same stamp, both ancient and modern, the public taste, it may be presumed, will not easily be tutored to reject a mode of composition, in which the pleasing and useful are so happily blended. The present Dialogue, it is true, cannot be proved, beyond a controversy, to be the work of Tacitus; but it is also true, that it cannot, with equal probability, be ascribed to any other writer. It has been retained in almost every edition of Tacitus; and, for that reason, claims a place in a translation which professes to give all the works of so fine a writer.
CONCLUSION.
The Author of these volumes has now gone through the difficult task of translating Tacitus, with the superadded labour of supplements to give continuity to the narrative, and notes to illustrate such passages as seemed to want explanation; but he cannot lay down his pen, without taking the liberty of addressing a few words to the reader. As what he has to offer relates chiefly to himself, it shall be very short. He has dedicated many years of his life to this undertaking; and though, during the whole time, he had the pleasure and the honour of being acquainted with many gentlemen of taste and learning, he had no opportunity of appealing to their opinion, or guiding himself by their advice. Amidst the hurry of life, and the various pursuits in which all are engaged, how could he hope that any one would be at leisure to attend to the doubts, the difficulties, and minute niceties, which must inevitably occur in a writer of so peculiar a genius as Tacitus? He was unwilling to be a troublesome visitor, and, by consequence, has been obliged, throughout the whole of his work, to trust to his own judgement, such as it is. He spared no pains to do all the justice in his power to one of the greatest writers of antiquity; but whether he has toiled with fruitless industry, or has in any degree succeeded, must be left to the judgement of others.
He is now at the end of his labours, and ready, after the example of Montesquieu, to cry out with the voyager in Virgil, Italiam! Italian! But whether he is to land on a peaceful shore; whether the men who delight in a wreck, are to rush upon him with hostile pens, which in their hands are pitch-forks; whether his cargo is to be condemned, and he himself to be wounded, maimed, and lacerated; a little time will discover. Such critics will act as their nature prompts them. Should they cry havoc, and let slip the dogs of war, it may be said,
This, they may say, is anticipating complaint; but, in the worst that can happen, it is the only complaint this writer will ever make, and the only answer they will ever receive from his pen.
It is from a very different quarter that the translator of Tacitus waits for solid criticism. The men, as Pliny observes, who read with malignity, are not the only judges. Neque enim soli judicant, qui malignè legunt. The scholar will see defects, but he will pronounce with temper: he will know the difficulty, and, in some cases, perhaps the impossibility, of giving in our language the sentiments of Tacitus with the precision and energy of the original; and, upon the whole, he will acknowledge that an attempt to make a considerable addition to English literature, carries with it a plea of some merit. While the French could boast of having many valuable translations of Tacitus, and their most eminent authors were still exerting themselves, with emulation, to improve upon their predecessors, the present writer saw, with regret, that this country had not so much as one translation which could be read, without disgust, by any person acquainted with the idiom and structure of our language. To supply the deficiency has been the ambition of the translator. He persevered with ardour; but, his work being finished, ardour subsides, and doubt and anxiety take their turn. Whatever the event may be, the conscious pleasure of having employed his time in a fair endeavour will remain with him. For the rest, he submits his labours to the public; and, at that tribunal, neither flushed with hope, nor depressed by fear, he is prepared, with due acquiescence, to receive a decision, which, from his own experience on former occasions, he has reason to persuade himself will be founded in truth and candour.
GEOGRAPHICAL TABLE:
OR,
INDEX OF THE NAMES OF PLACES, RIVERS, &c. MENTIONED IN THESE VOLUMES.
A.
ACHAIA, often taken for part of Peloponnesus, but in Tacitus generally for all Greece.
ACTIUM, a promontory of Epirus, now called the Cape of Tigolo, famous for the victory of Augustus over M. Antony.
ADDUA, a river rising in the country of the Grisons, and in its course separating Milan from the territory of the Venetians, till it falls into the Po, about six miles to the west of Cremona. It is now called the Adda.
ADIABENE, a district of Assyria, so called from the river Adiaba; Adiabeni, the people.
ADRANA, now the Eder; a river that flows near Waldeck, in the landgravate of Hesse, and discharges itself into the Weser.
ADRIATIC, now the gulf of Venice.
ADRUMETUM, a Phœnician colony in Africa, about seventeen miles from Leptis Minor.
ÆDUI, a people of Ancient Gaul, near what is now called Autun, in Lower Burgundy.
ÆGEÆ, a maritime town of Cilicia; now Aias Kala.
ÆGEAN SEA, a part of the Mediterranean which lies between Greece and Asia Minor; now the Archipelago.
ÆGIUM, a city of Greece, in the Peloponnesus; now the Morea.
ÆNUS, a river rising in the country of the Grisons, and running thence into the Danube.
ÆQUI, a people of Ancient Latium.
AFRICA generally means in Tacitus that part which was made a proconsular province, of which Carthage was the capital; now the territory of Tunis.
AGRIPPINENSIS COLONIA, so called from Agrippina, the daughter of Germanicus, mother of Nero, and afterwards wife of the emperor Claudius. This place is now called Cologne, situate on the Rhine.
ALBA, a town of Latium, in Italy, the residence of the Alban kings; destroyed by Tullus Hostilius.
ALBANIA, a country of Asia, bounded on the west by Iberia, on the east by the Caspian Sea, on the south by Armenia, and on the north by Mount Caucasus.
ALBINGANUM; now Albinga, to the west of the territory of Genoa, at the mouth of the river Cente.
ALBIS, now the Elbe; a river that rises in the confines of Silesia, and, after a wide circuit, falls into the German sea below Hamburgh.
ALBIUM INTEMELIUM; now Vintimiglia, south-west of the territory of Genoa, with a port on the Mediterranean, between Monaco and S. Remo.
ALESIA, a town in Celtic Gaul, situate on a hill. It was besieged by Julius Cæsar. See his Commentaries, lib. vii. s. 77.
ALEXANDRIA, a principal city of Egypt, built by Alexander the Great, on the Mediterranean; famous for the library begun by Ptolemy Philadelphus, and consisting at last of seven hundred thousand volumes, till in Cæsar's expedition it was destroyed by fire.
ALISO, a fort built by Drusus, the father of Germanicus, in the part of Germany now called Westphalia, near the city of Paderborn.
ALLIA, river of Italy, running into the Tiber, about forty miles from Rome; famous for the slaughter of the Romans by the Gauls, under Brennus.
ALLOBROGES, a people of Narbon Gaul, situate between the Rhodanus and the Lacus Lemanus.
ALPS, a range of high mountains separating Italy from Gaul and Germany. They are distinguished into different parts, under several names: such as the Maritime Alps, near Genoa; the Cottian Alps, separating Dauphiné from Piedmont; the Graian Alps, beginning from Mount Cenis, where the Cottian terminate, and extending to Great St. Bernard; the Pennine Alps, extending from west to east to the Rhetian Alps, the Alpes Noricæ, and the Pannonian Alps, as far as the springs of the Kulpe. Their height in some places is almost incredible. They are called Alps, from Alpen, a Celtic term for high mountains.
ALTINUM, a town in the territory of Venice, on the Adriatic; now in ruins, except a tower, still retaining the name of Altino.
AMANUS, a mountain of Syria, separating it from Cilicia; now called Montagna Neros by the inhabitants; that is, the watery mountain, abounding in springs and rivulets.
AMATHUS, a maritime town of Cyprus, consecrated to Venus, with an ancient temple of Adonis and Venus: it is now called Limisso.
AMAZONIA, a country near the river Thermodon, in Pontus.
AMISIA, now the Ems; a river of Germany that falls into the German sea, near Embden.
AMORGOS, an island in the Egean sea, now Amorgo.
AMYDIS, a town near the gulf of that name, on the coast of Latium in Italy.
ANAGNIA, a town of ancient Latium, now Anagni, thirty-six miles to the east of Rome.
ANCONA, a port town in Italy, situate on the gulf of Venice.
ANDECAVI, now Anjou.
ANEMURIUM, a promontory of Cilicia, with a maritime town of the same name near it. See Pomponius Mela.
ANGRIVARIANS, a German people, situate on the west side of the Weser, near Osnaburg and Minden.
ANSIBARII, a people of Germany.
ANTIOCH, or ANTIOCHIA, the capital of Syria, called Epidaphne, to distinguish it from other cities of the name of Antioch. It is now called Antakia.
ANTIPOLIS, now Antibes, on the coast of Provence, about three leagues to the west of Nice.
ANTIUM, a city of the ancient Volsci, situate on the Tuscan Sea; the birth-place of Nero. Two Fortunes were worshipped there, which Suetonius calls Fortunæ Antiates, and Martial, Sorores Antii. Horace's Ode to Fortune is well known—
O Diva gratum quæ regis Antium.
The place is now called Capo d'Anzo.
ANTONA, now the Avon. See Camden.
AORSI, a people inhabiting near the Palus Mæotis; now the eastern part of Tartary, between the Neiper and the Don.
APAMEA, a city of Phrygia, near the banks of the Mæander; now Aphiom-Kara-Hisar.
APENNINUS, now the Apennine, a ridge of mountains running through the middle of Italy, extremely high, yet short of the Alps. Its name is Celtic, signifying a high mountain.
APHRODISIUM, a town of Caria in Thrace, on the Euxine.
APOLLONIDIA, a city of Lydia.
APULIA, a territory of Italy, along the gulf of Venice; now Capitanate, Otranto, &c.
AQUILEIA, a large city of the Veneti, and formerly a Roman colony, near the river Natiso, which runs into the gulf of Venice.
AQUINUM, a town of the Ancient Latins; now Aquino, but almost in ruins.
AQUITANIA, a division of Ancient Gaul, bounded by the Garumna (now Garonne), by the Pyrenees, and the ocean.
ARABIA, an extensive country of Asia, reaching from Egypt to Chaldea. It is divided into three parts, Arabia Petræa, Deserta, and Felix.
ARAR, or ARARIS, a river of Gaul; now the Saone.
ARAXES, a river of Mesopotamia, which runs from north to south, and falls into the Euphrates.
ARBELA, a city of Assyria, famous for the battle between Alexander and Darius.
ARCADIA, an inland district in the heart of Peloponnesus; mountainous, and only fit for pasture; therefore celebrated by bucolic or pastoral poets.
ARDEN, Arduenna, in Tacitus; the forest of Arden.
ARENACUM, an ancient town in the island of Batavia; now Arnheim, in Guelderland.
ARICIA, a town of Latium in Italy, at the foot of Mons Albanus, about a hundred and sixty stadia from Rome. The grove, called Aricinum Nemus, was in the vicinity.
ARII, a people of Asia.
ARIMINUM, a town of Umbria, at the mouth of the river Ariminus, on the gulf of Venice.
ARMENIA, a kingdom of Asia, having Albania and Iberia to the north, and Mount Taurus and Mesopotamia to the south: divided into the GREATER, which extends astward to the Caspian Sea; and the LESSER, to the west of the GREATER, and separated from it by the Euphrates; now called Turcomania.
ARNUS, a river of Tuscany, which visits Florence in its course, and falls into the sea near Pisa.
ARSANIAS, a river of the GREATER ARMENIA, running between Tigranocerta and Artaxata, and falling into the Euphrates.
ARTAXATA, the capital of Armenia, situate on the river Araxes.
ARVERNI, a people of Ancient Gaul, inhabiting near the Loire; their chief city Arvernum now Clermont, the capital of Auvergne.
ASCALON, an ancient city of the Philistines, situate on the Mediterranean; now Scalona.
ASCIBURGIUM, a citadel on the Rhine, where the Romans stationed a camp and a garrison.
ATESTE, a town in the territory of Venice, situate to the south of Patavium.
ATRIA, a town of the Veneti, on the river Tartarus, between the Padus and the Athesis, now the Adige.
AUGUSTA TAURINORUM, a town of the Taurini, at the foot of the Alps; now Turin, the capital of Piedmont.
AUGUSTODUNUM, the capital of the Ædui; now Autun, in the duchy of Burgundy. It took its name from Augustus Cæsar.
AURIA, an ancient town of Spain; now Orense, in Galicia.
AUZEA, a strong castle in Mauritania.
AVENTICUM, the capital of the Helvetii; by the Germans called Wiflisburg, by the French Avenches.
B.
BACTRIANI, a people inhabiting a part of Asia, to the south of the river Oxus, which rains from east to west into the Caspian Sea.
BAIÆ, a village of Campania, between the promontory of Misenum and Puteoli (now Pozzuolo), nine miles to the west of Naples.
BALEARES, a cluster of islands in the Mediterranean, of which Majorca and Minorca are the chief.
BASTARNI, a people of Germany, who led a wandering life in the vast regions between the Vistula and the Pontic sea.
BATAVIA, an island formed by two branches of the Rhine and the German sea. See Annals, book ii. s. 6; and Manners of the Germans, s. 29. note a.
BATAVODURUM, a town in the island of Batavia; now, as some of the commentators say, Wyk-te-Duurstede.
BEBRYACUM, or BEDRYACUM, a village situate between Verona and Cremona; famous for two successive defeats; that of Otho, and soon after that of Vitellius.
BELGIC GAUL, the country between the Seine and the Marne to the west, the Rhine to the east, and the German sea to the north.
BERYTUS, now Barut, in Phœnicia.
BETASII, the people inhabiting the country now called Brabant.
BITHYNIA, a proconsular province of Asia Minor, bounded on the north by the Euxine and the Propontic, adjoining to Troas, over-against Thrace; now Becsangial.
BŒTICA, one of the provinces into which Augustus Cæsar divided the Farther Spain.
BOII, a people of Celtic Gaul, in the country now called Bourbonnois. There was also a nation of the same name in Germany. See Manners of the Germans, s. 28.
BONNA, now Bonn, in the electorate of Cologne.
BONONIA, called by Tacitus Bononiensis; now Bologna, capital of the Bolognese in Italy.
BOSPHORANI, a people bordering on the Euxine; the Tartars.
BOSPHORUS, two straits of the sea so called; one Bosphorus Thracius, now the straits of Constantinople; the other Bosphorus Cimmerius, now the straits of Caffa.
BOVILLÆ, a town of Latium, near Mount Albanus; about ten miles from Rome, on the Appian Road.
BRIGANTES, the ancient inhabitants of Yorkshire, Lancashire, Durham, Westmoreland, and Cumberland.
BRIXELLUM, the town where Otho dispatched himself after the defeat at Bedriacum; now Bresello, in the territory of Reggio.
BRIXIA, a town of Italy, on this side of the Po; now Brescia.
BRUCTERIANS, a people of Germany, situate in Westphalia. See the Manners of the Germans, s. 33. note a.
BRUNDUSIUM, a town of Calabria, with an excellent harbour, at the entrance of the Adriatic, affording to the Romans a commodious passage to Greece. The Via Appia ended at this town. Now Brindisi, in the territory of Otranto, in the kingdom of Naples.
BYZANTIUM, a city of Thrace, on the narrow strait that separates Europe from Asia; now Constantinople. See Annals, xii. s. 63.
C.
CÆLALETÆ, a people of Thrace, near Mount Hæmus.
CÆRACATES, probably the diocese of Mayence.
CÆSAREA, a maritime town in Palestine; now Kaisarié.
CÆSIAN FOREST, now the Forest of Heserwaldt, in the duchy of Cleves. It is supposed to be a part of the Hercynian Forest.
CALABRIA, a peninsula of Italy, between Tarentum and Brundusium; now the territory of Otranto, in the kingdom of Naples.
CAMELODUNUM, said by some to be Malden in Essex, but by Camden, and others, Colchester. It was made a Roman colony under the emperor Claudius; a place of pleasure rather than of strength, adorned with splendid works, a theatre, and a temple of Claudius.
CAMERIUM, a city in the territory of the Sabines; now destroyed.
CAMPANIA, a territory of Italy, bounded on the west by the Tuscan sea. The most fertile and delightful part of Italy; now called Terra di Lavoro.
CANGI, the inhabitants of Cheshire, and part of Lancashire.
CANINEFATES, a people of the Lower Germany, from the same origin as the Batavians, and inhabitants of the west part of the isle of Batavia.
CANOPUS, a city of the Lower Egypt, situate on a branch of the Nile called by the same name.
CAPPADOCIA, a large country in Asia Minor, between Cilicia the Euxine sea. Being made a Roman province, the inhabitants had an offer made them of a free and independent government; but their answer was, Liberty might suit the Romans, but the Cappadocians would neither receive liberty, nor endure it.
CAPREA, an island on the coast of Campania, about four miles in length from east to west, and about one in breadth. It stands opposite to the promontory of Surrentum, and has the bay of Naples in view. It was the residence of Tiberius for several years.
CAPUA, now Capoa, a city in the kingdom of Naples; the seat of pleasure, and the ruin of Hannibal.
CARMEL, a mountain in Galilee, on the Mediterranean.
CARSULÆ, a town of Umbria, about twenty miles from Mevania; now in ruins.
CARTHAGO, once the most famous city of Africa, and the rival of Rome; supposed by some to have been built by queen Dido, seventy years after the foundation of Rome; but Justin will have it before Rome. It was the capital of what is now the kingdom of Tunis.
CARTHAGO NOVA, a town of Hispania Tarraconensis, or the Hither Spain; now Carthagena.
CASPIAN SEA, a vast lake between Persia, Great Tartary, Muscovy and Georgia, said to be six hundred miles long, and near as broad.
CASSIOPE, a town in the island of Corcyra (now Corfou), called at present St. Maria di Cassopo.
CATTI, a people of Germany, who inhabited part of the country now called Hesse, from the mountains of Hartz, to the Weser and the Rhine.
CAUCI. See CHAUCI.
CELENDRIS, a place on the coast of Cilicia, near the confines of Pamphylia.
CENCHRIÆ, a port of Corinth, situate about ten miles towards the east; now Kenkri.
CENCHRIS, a river running through the Ortygian Grove.
CEREINA, an island in the Mediterranean, to the north of the Syrtis Minor in Africa; now called Kerkeni.
CHALCEDON, a city of Bithynia, situate at the mouth of the Euxine, over-against Byzantium. It was called the City of the Blind. See Annals, xii. s. 63.
CHAUCI, a people of Germany, inhabiting what we now call East Friesland, Bremen, and Lunenburg. See Manners of the Germans, s. 35.
CHERUSCANS, a great and warlike people of Ancient Germany, to the north of the Catti, between the Elbe and the Weser.
CIBYRA, formerly a town of Phrygia, near the banks of the Mæander, but now destroyed.
CILICIA, an extensive country in the Hither Asia, bounded by Mount Taurus to the north, by the Mediterranean to the south, by Syria to the east, and by Pamphylia to the west. It was one of the provinces reserved for the management of the emperor.
CINITHIANS, a people of Africa.
CIRRHA, a town of Phocis, near Delphi, sacred to Apollo.
CIRRHUS, a town of Syria, in the district of Commagene, and not far from Antioch.
CIRTA, formerly the capital of Numidia, and the residence of the king. It is now called Constantina, in the kingdom of Algiers.
CLITÆ, a people of Cilicia, near Mount Taurus.
CLUNIA, a city in the Hither Spain.
COLCHOS, a country of Asia, on the east of the Euxine, famous for the fable of the Golden Fleece, the Argonautic Expedition, and the Fair Enchantress, Medea.
COLOPHON, a city of Ionia, in the Hither Asia. One of the places that claimed the birth of Homer; now destroyed.
COMMAGENE, a district of Syria, bounded on the east by the Euphrates, on the west by Amanus, and on the north by Mount Taurus.
COOS. See Cos.
CORCYRA, an island in the Adriatic; now Corfou.
CORINTHUS, a city of Achaia, on the south part of the isthmus which joins Peloponnesus to the continent. From its situation between two seas, Horace says,
The city was taken and burnt to the ground by Mummius the Roman general, A.U.C. 608. It was afterwards restored to its ancient splendour, and made a Roman colony. It retains the name of Corinth.
CORMA, a river in Asia; mentioned by Tacitus only.
CORSICA, an island in the part of the Mediterranean called the Sea of Liguria, in length from north to south about a hundred and fifty miles, and about fifty where broadest. To the south it is separated from Sardinia by a narrow channel.
COS, or COOS, one of the islands called the Cyclades, in the Ægean sea, famous for being the birth-place of Apelles; now Stan Co.
COSA, a promontory of Etruria; now Mont Argentaro, in Tuscany.
CREMERA, a river of Tuscany, falling into the Tiber a little to the north of Rome, rendered famous by the slaughter of the Fabii.
CREMONA, a city of Italy, built A.U.C. 536, and afterwards, in the year 822, rased to the ground by the army of Vespasian, in the war with Vitellius. It was soon rebuilt by the citizens, with the exhortations of Vespasian. It is now a flourishing city in the duchy of Milan, and retains the name of Cremona.
CUMÆ, a town of Campania, near Cape Misenum, famous for the cave of the Cumæan Sibyl.
CUSUS, a river in Hungary, that falls into the Danube.
CYCLADES, a cluster of islands in the Ægean sea, so called from Cyclus, the orb in which they lie. Their names and number are not ascertained. Strabo reckons sixteen.
CYME, a maritime town of Æolia in Asia.
CYPRUS, a noble island opposite to the coast of Syria, formerly sacred to Venus, whence she was called the Cyprian goddess.
CYRENE (now called Curin), the capital of Cyrenaica, a district of Africa, now the Desert of Barca. It stood about eleven miles from the sea, and had an excellent harbour.
CYTHERA, an island situated on the coast of Peloponnesus formerly sacred to Venus, and thence her name of Cytherea. The island is now called Cerigo.
CYTHNUS, one of the islands called the Cyclades, in the Ægean Sea.
CYZICUS, a city of Mysia, in the Hither Asia, rendered famous by the long siege of Mithridates, which at last was raised by Lucullus.
D.
DACIA, a country extending between the Danube and the Carpathian mountains to the mouth of the Danube, and to the Euxine, comprising a part of Upper Hungary, Transylvania, and Moldavia. The inhabitants to the west, towards Germany, were called Daci; those to the east towards the Euxine were called Getæ. The whole country was reduced by Trajan to a Roman province.
DAHÆ, a people of Scythia, to the south of the Caspian, with the Massagetæ on the east. Virgil calls them indomitique Dahæ.
DALMATIA, an extensive country bordering on Macedonia and Mæsia, and having the Adriatic to the south.
DANDARIDÆ, a people bordering on the Euxine. Brotier says that some vestiges of the nation, and its name, still exist at a place called Dandars.
DANUBE, the largest river in Europe. It rises in Suabia, and after visiting Bavaria, Austria, Hungary, and taking thence a prodigious circuit, falls at last into the Black or Euxine sea. See Manners of the Germans, s. 1. note g.
DELOS, the central island of the Cyclades, famous in mythology for the birth of Apollo and Diana.
DELPHI, a famous inland town of Phocis in Greece, with a temple and oracle of Apollo, situate near the foot of Mount Parnassus.
DENTHELIATE LANDS, a portion of the Peloponnesus that lay between Laconia and Messenia; often disputed by those states.
DERMONA, a river of Gallia Transpadana; it runs into the Ollius (now Oglio), and through that channel into the Po.
DIVODURUM, a town in Gallia Belgica, situate on the Moselle, on the spot where Metz now stands.
DONUSA, or DONYSA, an island in the Ægean sea, not far from Naxos. Virgil has, Bacchatamque jugis Naxon, viridemque Donysam.
DYRRACHIUM, a town on the coast of Illyricum. Its port answered to that of Brundusium, affording a convenient passage to Italy.
E.
ECBATANA, the capital of Media; now Hamedan.
EDESSA, a town of Mesopotamia; now Orrhoa, or Orfa.
ELEPHANTINE, an island in the Nile, not far from Syene; at which last place stood the most advanced Roman garrison, Notitia Imperii.
ELEUSIS, a district of Attica near the sea-coast, sacred to Ceres, where the Eleusinian mysteries were performed; now in ruins.
ELYMÆI, a people bordering on the gulf of Persia.
EMERITA, a city of Spain; now Merida in the province of Estramadoura.
EPHESUS, an ancient and celebrated city of Ionia, in Asia Minor; now Efeso. It was the birth-place of Heraclitus, the weeping philosopher.
EPIDAPHNE, a town in Syria, not far from Antioch.
EPOREDIA, a town at the foot of the Alps, afterwards a Roman colony; now Jurea, or Jura, a city of Piedmont.
ERINDE, a river of Asia, mentioned by Tacitus only.
ERITHRÆ, a maritime town of Ionia, in Asia Minor.
ETRURIA, a district of Italy, extending from the boundary of Liguria to the Tiber; now Tuscany.
EUBŒA, an island near the coast of Attica; now Negropont.
EUPHRATES, a river of Asia, universally allowed to take its rise in Armenia Major. It divides into two branches, one running through Babylon, and the other through Seleucia. It bounds Mesopotamia on the west.
EUXINE, or PONTUS EUXINUS; now the Black Sea.
F.
FERENTINUM, a town of Latium, in Italy; now Ferentino, in the Campania of Rome.
FERENTUM, a town of Etruria; now Ferenti.
FERONIA, a town in Etruria.
FIDENÆ, a small town in the territory of the Sabines, about six miles to the north of Rome. The place where the ruins of Fidenæ are seen, is now called Castello Giubileo.
FLAMMINIAN WAY, made by Flamminius A.U.C. 533, from Rome to Ariminum, a town of Umbria, or Romana, at the mouth of the river Ariminus, on the gulf of Venice. It is now called Rimini.
FLEVUS, a branch of the Rhine, that emptied itself into the lakes which have been long since absorbed by the Zuyderzee. A castle, called Flevum Castellum, was built there by Drusus, the father of Germanicus.
FORMIÆ, a maritime town of Italy, to the south-east of Cajeta. The ruins of the place are still visible.
FOROJULIUM. See FORUM JULIUM.
FORUM ALLIENI, now Ferrare, on the Po.
FORUM JULIUM, a Roman colony in Gaul, founded by Julius Cæsar, and completed by Augustus, with a harbour at the mouth of the river Argens, capable of receiving a large fleet. The ruins of two moles at the entrance of the harbour are still to be seen. See Life of Agricola, s. 4. note a. The place is now called Frejus.
FRISII, the ancient inhabitants of Friesland. See Manners of the Germans.
FUNDANI MONTES, now Fondi, a city of Naples, on the confines of the Pope's dominions.