Page:Dictionary of Greek and Roman Geography Volume II.djvu/1131

From Wikisource
Jump to navigation Jump to search
This page needs to be proofread.

TARTESSUS. and in like manner the word Tartessus, and its deriva- tive adjectives, are employed by Latin writers as sy- nonymous with the West (Ovid, Met. xiv. 416; Sil. Ital. iii. 399 ; Claud. Epist. iii. v. 14). Tarshish appears in Scripture as a celebrated emporium, rich in iron, tin, lead, silver, and other commodities; and the Phoenicians are represented as sailing thither in large ships (Ezek.xs.vn. 12, xxviii 13; Jerem.'s.. 9). Isaiah speaks of it as one of the finest colonies of Tyre, and describes the Tyrians as bringing its products to their market (sxiii. 1, 6, 10). Among profane writers the antiquity of Tartessus is indicated by the myths connected with it (Strab. iii. p. 149; Justin, xliv. 4). But the name is used by them in a very loose and indefinite way. Sometimes it stands for the whole of Spain, and the Tagus is re- presented as belonging to it (Rutilius, Ithi. i. 356; Claud, in Rvfin.i. 101; Sil. Ital. xiii. 674, &c.). But in general it appears, either as the name of the river Baetis, or of a town situated near its mouth, or thirdly of the country south of the middle and lower course of the Baetis, which, in the time of Strabo, was inhabited by the Turduli. The Baetis is called Tartessus by Stesichorus, quoted by Strabo (iii. p. 148) and by Avienus (^Ora Marit. i. 224), as well

(■> the town situated between two of its mouths ; and

Miot (ad Herod, iv. 152) is of opinion that the mo- rn town of S. Lncar de Barameda stands on its ill'. The countiy near the lower course of the liaetis was called Tartessis or Tartesia, either from the river or from the town; and this district, as well as others in Spain, was occupied by Phoenician settlements, which in Strabo's time, and even later, preserved their national customs. (Strab iii. p. 149, xvii. p. 832; Arr. Exp. Alex. ii. 16; App. Hisp. 2; Const. Porphyrog. de Them. i. p. 107, ed. Bonn.) There was a temple of Hercules, the Phoenician Melcarth, at Tartessus, wliose worship was also spread amongst the neighbouring Iberians. (Arr. I.e.') About the middle of the seventh century b. c. some Samiot sailors were driven thither by stress of weather ; and this is the first account we have of the intercourse of the Greeks with this distant Phoenician colony (Herod, iv. 152). About a cen- tury later, some Greeks from Phocaea likewise visited it, and formed an alliance with Arganthonius, king of the Tartessians, renowned in antiquity for the great age which he attained. (Herod, i. 163; Strab. iii. p. 151.) These connections and the vast commerce of Tartessus, raised it to a great pitch of prosperity. It traded not only with the mother country, but also with Africa and the distant Cas- siterides, and bartered the manufactures of Phoenicia for the productions of these countries (Strab. i. p. 33; Herod, iv. 196; cf. Heeren, Ideen, i. 2. §§ 2, 3). Its riches and prosperity had become proverbial, and we find them alluded to in the verses of Anacreon (ap. Strab. iii. p. 151). The neighbouring sea (Fretum Tartessium, Avien. Or. Mar. 64) yielded the lamprey, one of tlie delicacies of the Roman table (Geli. vii. 16): and on a coin of Tartessus are represented a fish and an ear of grain (Mionnet, Med. Ant. i. p. 26). We are unacquainted with the cir- cumstances which led to the fall of Tartessus ; but it may probably have been by the hand of Hamilcar, tlie Carthaginian general. It must at all events have disappeared at an early period, since Strabo (iii. pp. 148, 151), PHny (iii. 1, iv. 22, vii. 48), Mela (ii. 6), Sallust (Hist. Fr. ii.), and others, confounded it with more recent Phoenician colonies, or took its name to be an ancient appellation of them, [T. II. D.] TARL'SCONIEXSES. 1107 TARUALTAE (TapovaKrai, Ptol. iv. 6. § 19), a people of Libya Interior. [T. U. D.j ' TARVEDUM. [Orca.s.] TARUENNA or TARUANXA (Tapoiawa, Ptol. ii. 9. § 8), a town in North Gallia, and according to Ptolemy an inland town of the Jlorini. [JVIORiNi.] It is written Teruanna in the Table, where it is marked a capital town, and the modem name is Terouenne. It is mentioned in several Roman routes. The distance between Gesoriacum (Boulogne') in the Antonine Itin. and Taruenna does not agree with the true distance ; nor does the dis- tance in the same Itin. between Taruenna and Cas- tellum (Cassel) agree with the actual measurement. In both instances we must assume that there is an error in the numerals of the Itin. D'Anville says that the Roman road appears to exist between Terouenne and the conmiencement of the Boulenois, or district of Boulogne, near Devre, where it passes by a place called La Chaussee. There are also said to be traces of a Roman road from Itius Portus ( Wissant) to Terouenne. [G. L.] TARVESEDE (It. Ant. p. 279) or TARVES- SEDO, according to the Peuting. Table, was a place in Rhaetia on the road from Mediolanum leading by Comum to Augusta Vindelicorum. Its exact site is now unknown, though it seems to have been situated near Torre di Vercella. [L. S.] TARVrSIUM (Tap§i<Tiov : Eth. Tarvisianus : Treviso), a town of Northern Italy, in the province of Venetia, situated on the left bank of the river Silis (Sele), about 15 miles from its mouth. The name is not mentioned by any of the geographers, though Pliny speaks of the Silis as flowing " ex montibus Tarvisanis," in a manner that would lead us to suppose it to have been a municipal town (Plin. iii. 18. s. 22), and this is confirmed by au inscription given by iluratori (hiso: p. 328). After the fall of the Western Empire it appears as a considerable city, and is repeatedly noticed by Pro- copius during the Gothic Wars, as well as by Cassio- dorus and Paulus Diaconus. (Cassiod. Var. x. 27; Procop. B. G. ii. 29, iii. 1, 2; P. Diac. Hist. Lang. ii. 12, iv. 3, V. 28, &c.) It retained this considera- tion throughout the middle ages, and is still a flou- rishing city under the name of Treviso. [E. H. B.] TARUS (Taro), a river of Gallia Cispadana, one of the southern tributaries of the Padus, which crosses the Aemilian Way between 5 and 6 miles west of Parma. (Phn. iii. 16. s. 20; Geogr. Rav. iv. 36.) [E. H. B.] TAliUSATES are mentioned by Caesar (B. G. iii. 27) among the Aquitanian peoples who sub- mitted to P. Crassus: " Vocates, Tarusates, Elu- sates." After Crassus had defeated the Sotiates [SoTiATEs] he entered the territory of the Vocates, and Tarusates, a statement which gives some indi- cation of their position. Pliny (iv. 19) places the Tarusates between the Suceasses and Basabocates; but the MSS. reading in Pliny seems to be Latu- sates, which probably should be Tarusates, There appears to be no variation in the name in tiie SLSS. of Caesar. D'Anville conjectures that the name Tarusates is preserved in Turuin, or Teursau, a part of the diocese of Aire. The town of Aire is on the Aturis (Adow). [(). L.] TARUSCONIENSES, as the name stands in Ilarduin's edition of Pliny (iv. 4), but the read- ing is doubtful. Harduin found Taracunonienses in five MSS., and there are other variations. Besides Tarascon on the Rhone, there is Tarascon on tl.e 4 u 2