Ancient Odessus (also called Odessos, Odesopolis, and Odyssos), the precursor to the bustling Black Sea port city of Varna in present-day Bulgaria, was originally founded by Greek colonists from Miletus in the first half of the 6th century BCE. Prior to the arrival of the Greeks, the area was inhabited by Thracian populations dating back…
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Tucked away among the foothills of the Cottian Alps in Northern Italy, the ancient settlement of Segusium is today located in the Val di Susa, which takes its name from the modern successor of Segusium, Susa. The settlement at the confluence of the modern Cenischia stream and the Dora Riparia (Dura Minor in antiquity) was…
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Located in the Apennine foothills of Umbria along the banks of the Sapis river (modern Savio) sat the ancient settlement of Sarsina. Also called Sasina in antiquity, the modern town of just a few thousand retains the ancient name. Prior to Roman hegemony, the settlement was located in the territory of the Sarsinates, who seem…
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The bustling port city of Ancona, on the Adriatic coast of Italy, seems to have begun life as a small settlement of the Italic Picentes, perhaps dating back to the 8th or 9th century BCE. It grew in importance, but, around 380 BCE a contingent of exiles from Syracuse, fleeing the rule of Dionysius I,…
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The modern town of Brescia is situated in Northern Italy at the foot of the Alps, between Lake Iseo and Lake Garda (Lacus Sebinus and Lacus Benacus in antiquity, respectively) and along the Mella River (seemingly retaining it’s ancient name). In the Roman period, the settlement was called Brixia, seeming to derive from the Celtic…
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Located on a plateau atop the Monti Lepini (Volscian Mountains), an anti-Apennine mountain range overlooking the Agro Pontino (Pomptinus Ager in antiquity; the land of the Pontine Marshes), sits the ancient settlement of Norba. The settlement’s commanding presence over the Pomptinus Ager made it a particularly important location in the control of the area. The…
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Continued From Paestum – Part I Southern Sanctuary Heading toward the southernmost part of the city and the southern sanctuary are the other two major temples of Paestum. The northern most of these two temples is the Temple of Hera II, or the Second Temple of Hera. Built between 460 BCE and 440 BCE, the…
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Today located in the fertile region of modern Campania (but was in antiquity part of the region of Lucania), the city of Paestum was founded by Greek colonists as Poseidonia sometime in the middle to late 7th century BCE. Strabo claims that the colonists were Achaean settlers from Sybaris, a Greek colony on the toe…
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History Located on the northeast coast of the Sardinia, Olbia is today, as it was in antiquity, the primary city on the eastern coast of the island. The city has taken on a number of names throughout history; Civita, Phausania, and Terranova Pausania, before being changed back to Olbia under Mussolini. Historically, the founding of…
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For the final roundup of miscellaneous sites on Sardinia, we focus on the most northern part of the island, or more accurately, the northwestern part of the island. This route will cover roughly the northern part of the Sassari region. As with the other itineraries of this nature, the caveat is that most of these…
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