1-8 of 8 Results  for:

  • Ancient Geography x
  • Roman Myth and Religion x
Clear all

Article

Albunea  

Stephen J. Harrison

Albunea, sulphurous spring and stream near *Tibur with a famous waterfall, and its homonymous nymph (cf. Hor. Carm. 1. 7. 12), classed as a *Sibyl by *Varro (Lactant. Div. Inst. 1. 6. 12) and fancifully identified by etymology with the sea-goddess *Ino-Leucothea (Servius on Verg. Aen.

Article

Islands of the Blest  

Eric Herbert Warmington, Emily Kearns, and Simon J. Keay

Islands of the Blest (Fortunatae insulae) were originally, like the ‘Gardens of the *Hesperides’, the mythical winterless home of the happy dead, far west on Ocean shores or islands (Hom. Od. 4. 563 ff.; Hes. Op. 171; Pind. Ol. 2. 68 ff.). Comparable is *Homer's description of *Elysium (Od. 4. 563–9); in both cases entry is reserved for a privileged few. The islands were later identified with Madeira (Diod. Sic. 5. 19–20; Plut. Sert.8) or more commonly with the Canaries, after their discovery (probably by the Carthaginians). The Canaries were properly explored by King *Juba (2) II (c.25 bcec.23 ce), who described apparently six out of the seven. From the meridian line of this group *Ptolemy(4) (Geog. passim) established his longitudes eastwards.

Article

Praeneste  

Edward Togo Salmon and T. W. Potter

Praeneste (mod. Palestrina), with interesting polygonal walls, occupied a cool, lofty spur of the *Apennines 37 km. (23 mi.) east-south-east of Rome. Traditionally founded in the mythical period (Verg. Aen. 7. 678), the oldest finds belong to the recent bronze age. Immensely rich burials of *Etruscan type and 7th-cent. date show it to be the pre-eminent city in this region at that time. It first appears in history in the 5th cent. bce as a powerful Latin city (see latini) whose strategic site facing the Alban Hills was inevitably attacked by *Aequi. In the 4th cent. it frequently fought Rome and, after participating in the Latin War, was deprived of territory and became a civitas foederata which still possessed ius exilii 200 years later (Polyb. 6. 14) and apparently preferred its own to Roman citizenship (Livy 23. 19 f.; see citizenship, roman). After 90 bce Praeneste became a Roman municipium devoted to C.

Article

ships of Lake Nemi, the  

Deborah N. Carlson

Article

Soracte  

Edward Togo Salmon and T. W. Potter

The isolated mountain 691 m. (2,267 ft.) high to the north of Rome, from which it is sometimes visible. Celebrated by *Horace (Odes 1. 9), there were priests here called Hirpi, resembling Roman Luperci (cf. Lupercalia). They worshipped *Apollo Soranus by walking over hot coals (Plin.

Article

templum Pacis  

Janet DeLaine

Templum Pacis, later called forum Pacis or Vespasiani, was the precinct of the temple of Peace at Rome, dedicated by *Vespasian in 75 ce. The area (145×100 m.) was surrounded by marble porticoes within an enclosure wall of peperino and laid out as a garden. The temple, a rectangular hall in the centre of the east side set flush with the portico, housed the spoils from *Jerusalem. It was flanked by a library, the bibliotheca Pacis, and various other halls. One of these carried the *Forma urbis and may have housed the office of the urban prefect. After the fire of *Commodus the complex was restored by *Septimius Severus.

Article

underworld  

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

via Sacra  

Ian Archibald Richmond and John Patterson

Via Sacra, the ‘sacred way’, street connecting the *forum Romanum with the *Velia, affording access to the *Palatine. According to *Varro and *Pompeius Festus, the stretch of road popularly known as via Sacra lay between the *Regia and the house of the rex sacrorum, which was at a location known as Summa Sacra Via; as properly defined, however, the road led from the Sacellum Streniae (cf. strenae) on the Carinae to the Arx (Varro, Ling. 5. 47; Festus, 372 Lindsay). The position of Summa Sacra Via is, however, disputed by modern scholars, who variously locate it close to the Basilica of *Maxentius or near the arch of *Titus. Following the fire of ce 64, the street became a noble avenue, leading from the forum to the entrance to the *Domus Aurea, which was flanked by shops for jewellers, and other luxury-traders.