Page:Dictionary of Greek and Roman Geography Volume II.djvu/516

of the Osismii to the northern coast of Basse Bretagne, though there are the strongest reasons for thinkiiig that they occupied the extremity of the same continent in all its breadth and that the diocese of Quiinper was a part of the territory as well as the diocese of Lcun." D'Anville observes that there is no part of ancient Gaul the geography of which is more obscure. [G. L.]

O'SMIDA ('Ocrn'iSa, Scyl. p. 18), a district of Crete, which Mr. Pashley's map places at the sources of the Megdlo-potamo. (Hiick, Kreta, vol. i. p. .396.) [K. B. J.]

O'SPHAGUS, a branch of the river Erigon, m Lyncestis, upon which the consul Sulpicius pitched his camp in the campaign of b. c. 200 (Liv. xxxi. 39) ; perhaps the same as the Schemnitza, an affluent of the Erigon, which falls into it to the N. of Bitolia. [E. B. J.]

OSQUIDATES, one of the peoples of Aquitania mentioned by Pliny (iv. 19). He mentions Osqui- dates Montani and Osquidutes Campestres, but he enumerates many names between the two, from which we may conclude that the Campestres did not border on the Mimiani.fir if they had, it is probable that he would have enumerated the Campestres immediately after the M.mtani instead of placing between them the names of eleven peoples. Be.side this, we must look f )r the Montani on the north side of the Pyrenees and in the valleys of the Pyrenees, and the Campes- tres in the low country of Aquitania. There are no means for determining the position of either the Montani or the Campestres, except from the resem- blance between the ancient and the modern names in this part of Gallia, which resemblance is often very great. Thus D'Anville supposes that the Osquidates Jhmfani may have occupied the valley of Ossau, wliieli extends from the foot of the Pyrenees to Oleron, on a branch of the Aduur. This is pro- balile enoush, but his attempt to find a position fur the Campestres is unsuccessful. [G. L.] OSRHOE'NE, a small district in the NW. corner of Mesopotamia (taken in its most extended sense), which there is some reason for supposing would be more correctly written Orrhoene. It does not appear in any writer earlier than the times of the Auto- nines, and is not therefore mentioned by either Strabo or Ptolemy. Procopius states that it de- rived its name from a certain Osroes, who ruled there in former tiiries {Pers. i. 17); and Dion C.is- sius declares that the name of the man who be- trayed tiie Romat' ariny under Crassus was Abgarus the Osroenian (xl. 19; see for the same name, Ixviii. 18, and Ixxvii. 12.) Again, Herodian calls the people who dwelt in those parts Osroeni (iii. 9, iv. 7, vii. 1). Ammianus writes the name Osdroene (xiv. 3, 8, xxiv. 1). The name prevailed in the country as late as the seventh century. (Hierocl. p. 713.) In the Notitia Imperat. Osroene was placed under a " Praeses Provinciae," and appears to have been sometimes included in Mesopotamia, Bometimes kept separate from it. (See Justinian, Notit. cit. § 11 ; Joan. Malalas, xi. p. 274, ed. Bonn; Noiis. de Epoch, ii. p. 110.) It is most likely that the correct form of the name is Orrhoene; and 'that this is connected with the Mavuovop^a of Isidorus. (Statkm. Purth. [. and see Dion, Ixviii. 2, for the name of Mannus, a chief of the Mesopotamian Arabs, who gave himself up to Trajan.) Not im- possibly, the Oruros of Pliny may refer to the same district, (vi. 30, 119.) [Edessa.] [V.] OSSA ("Offo-o, Ptol. iii. 13. § 15), a town of the OSSET. Bisaltae, which, before the annexation of Bisaltia to the kingdom of Macedonia, must have been a place of some importance from the fact of its pos- sessing an autonomous coinage. (Eckhel, vol. ii. p. 73.) It has been identified with Sokhd, a large vil- lage on the S. side of the Nigrita mountain, where some Hellenic remains are found on the surrounding heights. Another ancient site at Lakhand, on the N. road from Serres to Saloniki, has also claims to be considered the representative of Ossa. (Leake, North. Greece, vol. iii. pp. 213, 233.) [E. B. J.]

COIN OF OSSA.

OSSA (Ὂσσα), a lofty mountain in Thessaly on the coast of Magnesia, separated f om Olympus only by the narrow vale of Tempe. Hence it was sup- posed by the ancients that tiiese mountains were once united, and had been se])arated by an earth- quake. (Herod, vii. 129; Strab. ix. pp. 430, 442; Lucan, vi. 347; Claudian, Rapt. Proserp. ii. 183.) Ossa is conical in form and has only one summit. Polybius mentions it as one of the highest moun- tains in Greece (xxxiv. 10); but it is considerably lower than Olympus, and according to Ovid even lower than Pelion. (Ov. Fast. iii. 441.) According to Dodwell, who speaks, however, only from conjecture, Ossa is about 5000 feet high. To the south of Ossa ri.ses Mt. Pelion. and the last falls of the two mountains are united by a low ridge. (Herod, vii. 129.) Olympus, Ossa, and Pelion differ greatly in character; and the conical peak, standing between the other two, is well contrasted with the broad majesty of Olympus, and the ex- tended outline of Pelion. The length of Ossa along the coast is said by Strabo to be 80 stadia (ix. p. 443). It is hardly necessary to allude to the passages in the poets, in which Ossa is mentioned, along with Olympus and Pelion, in the war of the giants and the gods. (Horn. Od. xi. 312 : Virg. Georg. i. 282, &c.) The modern name of Ossa is Kissavo. (Holland, Travels, &c. vol. ii. pp. 3. 95; Dodwell, Classical Tour, vol. ii. p. 106; Leake, Northern Greece, vol. i. p. 434, vol. iv. pp. 411, 513: Me'- zieres, Mtmoire sur le Pelion et TOssa, Paris, 1853.) 2. A mountain in Elis near Olympia. [Vol. L p. 817, b.]

OSSADIAE ('Oo-fTciSiai), a people who dwelt in the Punjab along the banks of the Acesines (CAe- nuU), and who surrendered themselves to Alexander the Great after the conquest of the Malli {MiiHdn'). (Arrian, vi. 15.) [V.]

OSSARE'NE QOaffaprtv-h, Ptol. v. 13. § 9 ; To). (Taprivri, Interp.), a canton of Armenia situated on the banks of tl.e river Cyrus. St. Martin {Mem. sur V Armenie, vol. i. p. 81) is of opinion that it may be the same as the Gogarene of Strabo. [E. B. J.]

OSSET, also called Julia Constantia (Plin. iii. 3), a town of Baetica, on the right bank of the river Baetis, and opposite to Hispalis. It is probably the modern S. Juan de Alfarache, near Castello de la Cuesta, where there are some Human remains.