Tripolitania, name given to an area of western *Libya containing the three cities of *Sabratha, *Oea, and *Lepcis (‘Tripolis’), and their hinterlands. Founded as *Phoenician or at least Punic emporia (see emporion, first entry), they provided sheltered harbours on an otherwise inhospitable shore, but owed their importance largely to trans-Saharan trade and the considerable *olive-oil production of their hinterlands. For long dependencies of *Carthage, they were annexed by *Masinissa and remained in theory subject to the Numidian kings until the Jugurthine War (see numidia; jugurtha). Under Augustus they became part of Africa Proconsularis (see africa, roman), which extended eastwards as far as the Arae Philaenorum on the Greater Syrtis. Their southern frontier zone was administered by the legate of Numidia from early in the 1st cent. ce. The Tripolis had bishops by the mid-3rd cent.The Tripolitanian pre-desert has been extensively surveyed, especially c.
Article
Donald Ernest Wilson Wormell and Stephen Mitchell
Troas, or Troad, the mountainous north-west corner of Asia Minor forming a geographical unit dominated by the Ida massif and washed on three sides by the sea. Its name derives from the belief that all this area was once under Trojan rule (see troy). The interior is inaccessible, and the more important cities were situated on the coast. The historical significance of the Troas derives from its strategic position flanking the *Hellespont (a factor which may already have weighed with the Achaeans in their attack on Troy). From the 6th cent. Athens became increasingly interested in holding the straits (see chersonesus(1); sigeum), but after Aegospotami (see athens, History) Persia nominally controlled the Troas. It became the battlefield in the struggle between east and west when *Alexander(3) the Great routed the Persian first line of resistance at the *Granicus. Later the Troas was ruled by *Antigonus(1), who founded Antigoneia—afterwards *Alexandria(7) Troas—and from him the country passed successively under the power of *Lysimachus, the *Seleucids, and *Attalus I of Pergamum.
Article
Edward Togo Salmon and T. W. Potter
Tuder (mod. Todi), in Umbria (see
Article
Brian Herbert Warmington
Tunis (or Tunes), a Libyan town on the site of modern Tunis. It is frequently mentioned in connection with fighting in the vicinity of *Carthage in the campaigns of *Agathocles (1), M. *Atilius Regulus, and P. *Cornelius Scipio Africanus. Although overshadowed by Carthage, situated only a few miles away, it remained a separate community to the end of the Roman period.
Article
Edward Togo Salmon and T. W. Potter
Tusculum, a city near modern Frascati, 24 km. (15 mi.) south-east of Rome. Its extensive remains occupy a strong, bracing site 668 m. (2,198 ft.) above sea-level. Myths shroud its origin, but Tusculum was certainly powerful in early *Latium. Its *dictatorOctavius *Mamilius allegedly supported his son-in-law *Tarquinius Superbus (508 bce); but traditions associating Tusculum with Etruscans may be mere aetiological fictions to explain its name. More credibly, Tusculum reputedly led the Latins (see latini) at lake *Regillusc.496, when Mamilius himself fell. Thereafter, however, being exposed to Aequian attacks (see aequi) via *Algidus, it became Rome's ally and staunchly resisted Aequi, *Volsci, and Gauls. Tusculum, the first Latin city to obtain Roman citizenship (381; see citizenship, roman), supplied Rome with several illustrious families (Mamilii, Fulvii, Fonteii, Iuventii, Porcii). Some Tusculans joined the Latin revolt in 340 bce but usually Tusculum remained loyal (e.
Article
Radcliffe G. Edmonds III
Depictions of the underworld, in ancient Greek and Roman textual and visual sources, differ significantly from source to source, but they all draw on a common pool of traditional mythic motifs. These motifs, such as the realm of Hades and its denizens, the rivers of the underworld, the paradise of the blessed dead, and the places of punishment for the wicked, are developed and transformed through all their uses throughout the ages, depending upon the aims of the author or artist depicting the underworld. Some sources explore the relation of the world of the living to that of the dead through descriptions of the location of the underworld and the difficulties of entering it. By contrast, discussions of the regions within the underworld and existence therein often relate to ideas of afterlife as a continuation of or compensation for life in the world above. All of these depictions made use of the same basic set of elements, adapting them in their own ways to describe the location of, the entering into, and the regions within the underworld.
Article
John James van Nostrand, M. Isobel Henderson, and Simon J. Keay
Urso (mod. Osuna), a native settlement in Spain some 96 km. (60 mi.) east of Seville (see
Article
R. J. A. Wilson
Uthina (mod. Oudna), a Roman city in the fertile plain of the Meliana valley, 32 km. (20 mi.) south-west of *Carthage. Originally an indigenous civitas governed by Punic magistrates called suffetes (and possibly the Adys of Polyb. 1. 30. 5, a fortified city besieged by M. *Atilius Regulus in 256/5 bce), it was chosen as a colonia by Augustus for veterans of Legio XIII (see legion). Also favoured by *Hadrian (ILS6784), who may have given citizenship to *peregrini in its territory, it rapidly grew to be a city of great size and prosperity, as witnessed both by the scale of its public buildings and by the luxury of its private houses from the mid-2nd cent. onwards: 67 figured *mosaics from the latter were transported to the Bardo Museum in Tunis in the 19th cent. Its 2nd-cent. *amphitheatre is one of the biggest in Africa (112 m.
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William Nassau Weech, Brian Herbert Warmington, and R. J. A. Wilson
Utica, by tradition the oldest Phoenician settlement on the north African coast, in Tunisia, 33 km. (21 mi.) north-east of *Tunis. The traditional foundation date of 1101 bce (Plin.HN 16. 216; Vell. Pat. 1. 2. 4; Sil. 3. 241) is not borne out by the archaeological evidence: Utica's earliest traces are burials of the later 8th cent. bce. Although it now lies 11 km. (7 mi.) inland because of coastline changes as a result of silting, Utica was in antiquity an important port at the mouth of the river Bagradas. Within the empire of *Carthage it always retained a position of importance (Polyb. 3. 24. 2; 7. 9. 5). Utica was conquered by *Agathocles (1) of Syracuse in 308 (Diod. Sic. 20. 54) and besieged by P. *Cornelius Scipio Africanus in 204 (Livy 30. 10. 3). A supporter of *Masinissa against Carthage in 149, Utica was rewarded by Rome with lands of the defeated city, and was made a civitas libera (see free cities) and the capital of the new Roman province of *Africa in 146.
Article
John Frederick Drinkwater
Uxellodunum, an *oppidum of the Cadurci, in 51 bce the scene of the last Gallic resistance to *Caesar, who took it by diverting its spring. The precise location of the place remains a little problematic. It is now generally identified with Puy d'Issolu (Lot, near Vayrac) where in 1862 Cessac discovered diversionary works at a spring on the west side of the hill-fort.
Article
Simon J. Keay
On the south-east coast of Hispania Citerior (Hither *Spain), probably founded by D. *Iunius Brutus Callaicus (138 bce) for soldiers who had fought under him against *Viriatus. The inhabitants supported *Sertorius' cause even after his death. It was a mint, and had become a Latin colony by 60 bce (see colonization, roman).
Article
Martin Millett
(also Victis or Ictis), the classical name of the Isle of Wight. The separate identification of Ictis with St Michael's Mount is not favoured, given the confusion surrounding its mention in relation to the mythical *Cassiterides. The Isle of Wight was well settled and an important navigation point.
Article
John Bryan Ward-Perkins and D. W. R. Ridgway
Veii (mod. Isola Farnese), 16 km. (10 mi.) north of Rome, was the most southerly of the great Etruscan cities. Habitation and burial are attested from the culturally proto-*Villanovan final bronze age onwards, and document growing exchanges with the outside world; the vast Villanovan cemeteries have yielded a particularly instructive range of imported Greek and locally made Geometric pottery. Later, the inexorable expansion of Rome led to rivalry; after a long siege the city was destroyed in 396 bce (Livy, 5. 1–22; Plut.Cam.2–6) and its territory annexed. A small urban nucleus survived and shortly before 2 bce became the modest municipium Augustum Veiens (Prop. 4. 10. 27 ff.). The *Etruscan city, of which little is known, was provided with imposing defences in the late 5th cent. It was famous for its statuary: *Pliny(1) (HN 35. 157) records the name of Vulca, commissioned to furnish statues for *Jupiter's temple on the Roman *Capitol.
Article
Ian Archibald Richmond and John Patterson
Velabrum, according to *Varro (Ling. 5. 43), the landing-place of an ancient ferry connecting the Aventine with the Palatine in Rome; more generally, an area of low ground between the Capitol and Palatine. Originally open to seasonal floods of the Tiber, it was drained by the *Cloaca Maxima, and eventually became one of the busiest commercial centres of the city; the vicus Tuscus and vicus Iugarius, which carried traffic between the *forum Romanum and the Tiber, passed through.
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Ian Archibald Richmond and John Patterson
Velia, a hill located between the *Palatine and Oppian hills of Rome, overlooking the *forum Romanum; traditionally King Tullus *Hostilius lived here, and P. *Valerius Poplicola (consul 509 bce). The Temple of the *Penates was also located on the hill. The appearance of the area under the republic is now difficult to reconstruct due to the effect of major imperial building projects (the vestibule of *Nero's*Domus Aurea, *Hadrian's temple of Venus and Rome, and the *basilica of *Maxentius) and the destruction caused by the building of the via dell'Impero (now via dei Fori Imperiali) in 1932–3.
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Edward Togo Salmon and T. W. Potter
Volscian town (see volsci) on the southern rim of the Alban hills (see albanus mons) in *Latium. It frequently fought early Rome, until annexed by the latter (338 bce). It still spoke Volscian then, but was soon completely Latinized. *Augustus originated from Velitrae. *Claudius made it a colonia (see colonization, roman).
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H. Kathryn Lomas
Venafrum (mod. Venafro), a Samnite (Pentrian; see samnium) city on the borders of *Latium and *Campania. It came under Roman control c.290 bce. In the *Social War (3), it was captured and the Roman garrison slaughtered. A colony was founded there, possibly Augustan (CIL 10.
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Edward Togo Salmon and T. W. Potter
Inhabited fertile country about the head of the Adriatic. Chief cities: *Ateste in prehistoric times, *Patavium in historic (see antenor (1)). They may be of Illyrian extraction (cf. Hdt. 1. 196), although their surviving inscriptions (5th–1st cent. bce) are not in an *Illyrian language. Archaeological evidence reveals that they immigrated into north Italy c.950; here they preceded and later successfully resisted *Etruscans and Gauls. They were highly civilized, preferred horse-breeding and commerce to war, and early organized the Baltic *amber trade. They particularly worshipped a goddess of healing, Rehtia (or Reitia: see religion, italic). Always friendly to the Romans, the Veneti aided them against Gauls (390 bce) and *Hannibal (see punic wars). Later from allies they became subjects, though retaining local autonomy. Presumably they obtained Latin rights (see ius latii) in 89, full citizenship in 49 bce (see citizenship, roman).
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Sheppard S. Frere and Martin Millett
Venta Silurum, a town of Roman *Britain in South Wales (mod. Caerwent) the civitas-capital of the *Silures. A dedication to Ti. Claudius Paulinus, former commander of Legio II Augusta (RIB311; see
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H. Kathryn Lomas
Venusia (mod. Venosa), in south Italy, a Peucetian city (see
