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Chronology
Place Names |
Place Names Under construction. I'll soon put a list of ancient place names here, with modern correspondences where they exist or descriptions of locale and/or importance. It's sometimes useful to be able to locate a place mentioned in the story on a map. (There's also a link to my maps in the brown panel to the left.) This listing is still highly incomplete. Agrigentum A city just inland of the southwestern
coast of Sicily. Site of some magnificent Greek temples. Antium An Italian city on the Tyrrhenian coast
south of Rome. Modern Anzio. During a war with Antium, Rome had her first
ever sea victory, by Gaius Maenius. Apennine Mountains The range of mountains that runs from
northwestern Italy down the length of the peninsula. Apulia A region of Roman Italy near the spur
of the Italian boot, roughly overlapping modern Abruzzo and Puglia. Ariminum Modern Rimini, on the northeast coast
of Italy. It was strategically important because it was the best route into
northern Italy from Rome, along the Via Flaminia. From Ariminum,
it was a straight march along the northeastern flanks of the Apennines to Bononia
(Bologna) and beyond to the soldier colonies at Placentia
(Piacenza) and Cremona, although the Via Aemilia had
not yet been built on that route. Instead, there was an older, pre-Roman road. Aternum Modern Pescara, on the eastern
(Adriatic) coast of Italy. Atlas The Atlas Mountains in north Africa. Avens River Modern Velino River, between modern
Terni and Reate in Italy. Bagradas River The main river in Carthage
(modern name is Medjerda). Runs to the Gulf of Tunis near Carthage from
far southwest of the city. Bay of Utica A bay off Utica and Carthage
in Tunisia. Bellona, Temple of Temple to the goddess Bellona, goddess
of war. It was here that the Senate met when considering matters of war.
Probably located near the southwest end of the Campus Martius,
just off the Capitoline Hill. I situate it just north of the Theater
of Marcellus. Brundisium Modern Brindisi, on the heel of the
Italian boot. Bruttium The region of Roman Italy that
contained the toe of the Italian boot, roughly modern Calabria. (Ancient Calabria
was the heel of the boot.) Calabria The region of Roman Italy that
contained the heel of the Italian boot, roughly modern Puglia. (Modern Calabria
is the toe of the boot.) Campania Campus Martius The military training fields in Rome.
Used for training soldiers and boys, for mounting triumphal parades, and housing
armies home from war (in the area called the Villa Publica).
Located just north of the Capitoline Hill, and east of the Tiber.
Some temples located there, especially Bellona. Capitol, Capitoline Hill One of the seven hills of Rome. In
ancient times, housed the Temple of Jupiter Capitolinus (Optimus Maximus), the
Temple of Jupiter Feretrius, and other temples. Technically outside of the pomerium. Cape Ecnomus Site of a sea battle between Rome and Carthage,
256 B.C. M. Atilius Regulus and L. Manlius Vulso won. Carthage Ancient city founded about 800 B.C. or
earlier by the Phoenicians in what is now Tunisia, in northern Africa, near
present-day Tunis; a shipping and trading nation and Rome’s mortal enemy in
the western Mediterranean. Owned Sicily, Sardinia, and Corsica,
as well as Spain, before Rome took them away during and after the First
Punic War. Carthago Nova New Carthage—the modern Spanish city
of Cartagena, on the southeastern coast. Publius Cornelius Scipio took the city
in a daring surprise attack in 209 B.C. Cissa A city in northern Spain, which
Gnaeus Scipio took early in his campaign. Clastidium A town in the Padus (Po)
River Valley, about 30 miles west of Placentia. In 218 B.C.,
its Italian commander betrayed the town and its stores to Hannibal. Corsica A large island off Italy and Liguria,
north of Sardinia. Taken from Carthage by the Romans when
they took Sardinia. Clitumnus River Modern Teverone River, north of Spoletium
(Spoleto). Clupea A town on the eastern side of the
Hermaean Cape near Carthage. Site of M. Atilius Regulus’s
landing during the invasion of 156. Cremona One of two Roman soldier colonies
established in early 218 B.C. to guard Italy’s northern frontier at the Padus
(Po) River. See also Placentia. Curia Hostilia The Senate House in ancient Rome before
the first century B.C. Located in the Forum Romanum, in front of
the Temple of Saturn and near the Capitoline Hill. Ebro River A river in northeastern Spain,
which runs from the Cantabrian Mountains into the Mediterranean at Dertosa
(Tortosa). The Ebro was the nominal boundary between Carthaginian and Roman
interests at the start of the Second Punic War. Emporiae, or Emporion (Greek name) A city on the northeastern coast of Spain,
site of Gnaeus Cornelius Scipio’s landing in 218 B.C. Emporiae was a colony of
Massilia. enemy territory A small plot of land in front of the Temple
of Bellona in Rome. When Rome’s wars were near home, the custom was to
throw a spear into the enemy’s territory to declare war. When the wars moved
overseas, the practical Romans made a prisoner buy a small plot of land in front
of the Temple of Bellona so it could represent enemy territory. The fetiales,
special priests, threw the spear into enemy territory. Euxine Sea Ancient name for the Black Sea. Forum Boarium The meat market in ancient Rome,
located near the Tiber, the foot of the Capitoline Hill,
the Palatine Hill, and the Circus Maximus. Forum Holitorium The vegetable market in ancient Rome,
located on the Tiber near the foot of the Capitoline Hill. Forum Romanum The main political forum of ancient
Rome, located south of the Capitoline Hill, east of the Palatine Hill.
Housed the Senate, the Vestals, and most of the temples. Reference to “the
Forum” are usually to this place. Fulginiae Modern Foligno, a little southeast of
Assisi. Gaul Modern France, Belgium, Holland,
and Switzerland, approximately, also known in Scipio’s day as Gallia
Transalpina, or Gaul-Across-the-Alps. See also Italian Gaul. Hatria A Roman town midway between Aternum
(Pescara) and Interamnia Praetuttiorum (Teramo) in east-central
Italy. Hermaean Cape A cape jutting out from Tunisia, near Carthage,
on the Bay of Utica. Himeras River River that flowed near ancient Phintias
on the southwestern coast of Sicily. Interamna Modern Terni, south of Spoletium
(Spoleto) in Italy. Interamnia Praetuttiorum Modern Teramo, northwest of Aternum
(Pescara) in eastern Italy. Italian Gaul Northern Italy, south of the
Alps and north of the Padus (Po) River: Lombardy and Veneto
regions. Lacydon The port area in the city of Massilia. Lipari Islands A group of islands north of Sicily,
near the toe of Italy. 1. Attacked during First Punic War by an ancestor of
Scipio. 2. Ti. Sempronius Longus had taken them before moving to the Padus
(Po) in the Second Punic War. Liguria Massilia Modern Marseilles, France, on the
French Riviera at the mouth of the Rhodanus (Rhone) River. Matrinum A Roman town on the Adriatic coast
north of Aternum (Pescara). Messana A principal port of Sicily,
located on the Strait of Messina. Occupied by the Mamertines during the First
Punic War. Mutina Mylae A town on the northern coast of Sicily.
It was off Mylae that Gaius Duilius first defeated the Carthaginians, in
honor of which he placed the ships’ beaks on a special column near the Rostra
in Rome. Numidia In Scipio’s day, an African nation
roughly equivalent to the northern parts of modern Algeria. It lay west of Carthage
and was the source of many of Carthage’s best mercenaries, especially
cavalry. Ostia Rome’s seaport, lying west of the
city on the Tyrrhenian coast. Ostia Aterni The seaport of ancient Aternum
(Pescara) in eastern Italy. Padus River The Po River in northern Italy; it
marked the northern boundary of Italy in Scipio’s day. Palatine Hill One of the seven hills of Rome. In
Imperial times, site of emperors’ palaces. In Republican times, site of rich
men’s homes. Southwest of the Forum Romanum. Perusia Modern Perugia, in Umbria just east of Lake
Trasimene (Lago Trasimeno). Phintias A town on Cape Ecnomus on the
southwestern side of Sicily. Site from which M. Atilius Regulus launched
his invasion of Africa in 256 B.C. Picenum A region of Roman Italy running south
of Ariminum (Rimini) along the Adriatic coast. Overlapped modern
Romagna and Abruzzo regions. Pisae Modern Pisa, site of the Leaning Tower,
not built until the Renaissance. Placentia A Roman soldier colony on the Padus
River; I agree with Peter Connolly that it was probably west of the present town
of Piacenza, perhaps near present-day Stradella, rebuilt in a different place
after Hannibal destroyed the original in 218 B.C. See also Cremona. pomerium The ancient sacred boundary of the city
of Rome. Pyrenees Reate Modern Reati, a town northeast of Rome. Rhodanus River The Rhone River in southern France. Saguntum Sardinia The large island off Italy and north of
Sicily. Owned by Carthage but taken away shortly after the
First Punic War. Sella di Corno A pass through the Apennine Mountains
east of Reate (see) Italy. Since its ancient name is unknown, I’ve used the
modern name. Sicily The large island at the toe of the
Italian boot. Fifty years before Scipio, it had been the focus of conflict
between Rome and Carthage in the First Punic War (264 – 241
B.C.) and was the scene of some action in the Second Punic War (218 – 201
B.C., the time of our story). Spoletium Modern Spoleto, a city northeast of
Rome. Syracuse A major city of Sicily. Ruled by
Hiero during First Punic War. Home of Archimedes, who built ingenious defenses
for Syracuse during that war and was slain there by Marcellus’s invading
soldiers. Tannetum A town 36 miles northwest of Mutina in
Italian Gaul. L. Manlius Vulso was chased there by the Gauls in 218 B.C. Tarraco A city on the eastern coast of Spain.
It became the base of the Scipios after Gnaeus Scipio took it in 218 B.C. Tiber Island An island in the middle of the Tiber
River, near the heart of Rome and the Capitoline Hill. In modern times,
it houses a hospital. In ancient times, the temple of the god Aesculapius,
borrowed from the Greeks, stood there. Tiber River The large river that flows through
Rome. Ticinus River The Ticino River near Milan and Pavia
in northern Italy; the Ticinus is a tributary of the Padus (Po)
River. Tinea River Modern Topino River, southeast of
Assisi. Tophet The main temple in ancient Carthaginian
cities. It housed the idols to Baal Hammon, Tanit, and other gods and was the
site in which small children under
four, usually under one, were sacrificed to the gods. These children were the
children of the city’s most prominent men. Trasimene, Lake Modern Lago Trasimeno in central Italy
near Perugia. Site of one of the major defeats that Hannibal inflicted on the
Romans, in 217 B.C. Trebia River The Trebia River near modern Piacenza,
southwest of the city towards the mountains. Site of the first great battle with
Hannibal, at which the Roman consul Tiberius Sempronius Longus was defeated. Tunis A major city in the territory of Carthage
in Tunisia. Uthina A town in the territory of Carthage
in Tunisia. Utica A major city in the territory of Carthage
in Tunisia. See Bay of Utica. Via Flaminia Villa Publica An area on the Campus Martius
in Rome, where troops home from war were quartered and where triumphal parades
began. Back to Top
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