Neapolis

Nĕāpŏlis, is, f., = Νεάπολις (Newtown).

• A celebrated maritime city in Campania, a colony of the Cumaeans, called by the early Romans Novapolis, now Napoli, Naples, Mel. 2, 4, 9; Plin. 3, 5, 9, § 62; Varr. L. L. 6, § 58 Müll.; Cic. Balb. 24, 55; id. Rab. Post. 10, 26: otiosa, Hor. Epod. 5, 43: docta, Mart. 5, 78, 14: hospita Musis, Sil. 12, 31.—Hence,
• • • 1 Nĕāpŏlītānus, a, um, adj., of or belonging to Naples, Neapolitan: piscinae, Varr. ap. Non. 543, 33: ager, Plin. 17, 17, 26, § 122: mala cotonea, id. 15, 11, 10, § 38.—
    • • b Subst.
      • • α Nĕāpŏlītānum, i, n., a villa near Naples; of Pompey, Cic. Att. 7, 2, 5; of Lucullus, id. Ac. 2 (Luc.), 3, 9; of Pontius, id. Att. 14, 21, 3.—
        • β Nĕāpŏlītāni, ōrum, m., the Neapolitans, Cic. Fam. 13, 30, 1; id. Off. 1, 10, 33; id. Tusc. 1, 35, 86.—
    • 2 Nĕāpŏlītes, ae, m., a Neapolitan: Dion, Varr. ap. Aug. Civ. Dei, 21, 8.—
    • 3 Nĕā-pŏlītis, ĭdis, f., a (female) Neapolitan: meretrix, Afran. ap. Non. 318, 6.—
• II A city in Zeugitana, now Nabal, Mel. 1, 7; Plin. 5, 4, 3, § 24; Auct. B. Afr. 2.—
• III The fourth quarter of the city of Syracuse, Cic. Verr. 2, 4, 53, § 119; Liv. 25, 25, 5.

Neāpolis, polis, Akk. polim u. polin, Abl. polī, f. (Νεάπολις, Neustadt), I) der vierte Stadtteil von Syrakus, Cic. Verr. 4, 119. Liv. 25, 25, 5. – II) berühmte Seestadt in Kampanien am westl. Abhange des Vesuvs, Kolonie des nahen Kumä, Sitz griech. Kunst u. Wissenschaft, j. Neapel, Cic. Rab. post. 26: otiosa, Hor. epod. 5, 43: docta, Mart. 5, 78, 14. – Arch. Nbf. Novapolis, Varro LL. 6, 58. – Dav.: A) Neāpolītānus, a, um, neapolitanisch, Cic. – subst., Neāpolītānī, ōrum, m., die Einwohner von Neapolis, die Neapolitaner, Cic.: Neapolitānum, ī, n., ein Landgut bei Neapel, wie das des Attikus, des Lukullus u.a., Cic. u. Plin. ep. – B) Neāpolītēs, ae, m. (Νεαπολίτης), aus Neapolis gebürtig, ein Neapolitaner, Dion Neapolites, Augustin. de civ. dei 21, 8, 2. p. 504, 22 D². – C) Neāpolītis, tidis, f., neapolitanisch, meretrix, Afran. com. 136. – III) Stadt in Zeugitana, j. Nabal, Auct. b. Afr. 2, 6.

Nĕāpŏlis, (11) is, f. (Νεάπολις), ¶ 1 Naples : Plin. 3, 62 ; Cic. Balbo 55 ¶ 2 ville de Zeugitane : Mela 1, 34 ; Plin. 5, 24 ¶ 3 un des quartiers de Syracuse : Cic. Verr. 2, 4, 119 ; Liv. 25, 25, 5 || -lītānus, a, um, de Naples : Plin. 17, 122 || -ānum, ī, n. , propriété près de Naples : Cic. Ac. 2, 9 ; Att. 7, 2, 5 || -ānī, ōrum, m. , les Napolitains : Cic. Fam. 13, 30.

NEAPOLIS

NEA´POLISi. e. the New City.I. In Europe.

1.

（Νεάπολις: Eth. Νεαπολίτης, Strab. and Steph. B.; but coins have Νεοπολίτης, Neapolitanus: Napoli;in French and English Naples), one of the most considerable cities of Campania, situated on the northern shore of the gulf called the Crater or Sinus Cumanus, which now derives from it the name of Bay of Naples. All ancient writers agree in representing it as a Greek city, and a colony of the neighbouring Cumae; but the circumstances of its foundation are very obscurely related. Seymnus Chius tells us it was founded in pursuance of an oracle; and Strabo calls it a Cumaean colony, but adds that it subsequently received an additional body of Chalcidic and Athenian colonists, with some of the settlers from the neighbouring islands of the Pithecusae, and was on this account called Neapolis, or.the New City. (Strab. 5. p. 246; Scymn. Ch. 253; Vellei. 1.4.) Its Chalcidic or Euboean origin is repeatedly alluded to by Statius, who was himself a native of the city ( Silv. 1.2. 263, 2.2. 94, 3.5. 12); but these expressions probably refer to its being a colony from the Chalcidic city of Cumnae. The name itself sufficiently points to the fact that it was a more recent settlement than some one previously existing in the same neighbourhood; and that this did not refer merely to the parent city of Cumae, is proved by the fact that we find mention (though only at a comparatively late period) of a place called PALAEPOLIS or the Old City.(Liv. 8.22.) But the relations between the two are very obscure. No Greek author mentions Palaepolis, of the existence of which we should be ignorant were it not for Livy, who tells us that it was not farfrom the site of Neapolis. From the passage of Strabo above cited, it seems clear that this was the original settlement of the Cumaean colonists; and that the name of Neapolis was given to the later colony of Chalcidians and others who established themselves on a site at no great distance from the former one. A different version of its history, but of much more dubious authority, is cited by Philargyrius from the historian Lutatius, according to which the Cumaeans abandoned their first colony from an apprehension lest it should eclipse the parent city, but were commanded by an oracle to restore it, and gave to the colony thus founded anew the name of Neapolis. (Philargyr. ad Georg. 4.564.) The original name of Palaepolis (which obviously could not be so designated until after the foundation of the new city) appears to have been Parthenope (Plin. Nat. 3.5. s. 9; Philargyr. l. c.), a name which is used by the Roman poets as a poetical appellation of Neapolis. (Verg. G. 4.564; Ovid, Ov. Met. 15.711, &c.) Stephanus of Byzantium notices Parthenope as a city of Opicia (the ancient designation of Campania); but it is singular enough that both he and Strabo call it a colony of the Rhodians, without mentioning either the Chalcidians or Cumaeans. (Steph. B. s. v.;Strab. 14. p. 654.) On the other hand, Lycophron alludes to the place where the Siren Parthenope was cast on shore, by the name of Falerum (Φαλήρου τύρσις, Lycophr. Alex. 717); and Stephanus also says that Phalerum was a city of Opicia, the same which was afterwards called Neapolis. (Steph. B. s. v. Φαλήρον.) The name of Falerum has a Tyrrhenian or Pelasgic aspect; and it is not improbable, as suggested by Abeken ( Mittel Italien, p. 110), that there was originally a Tyrrhenian settlement on the spot. The legendary connection of the Siren Parthenope with the site or neighbourhood of Neapolis was well established, and universally received; hence Dionysius designates the city as the abode of Parthenope; and Strabo tells us that even in his time her tomb was still shown there, and games celebrated in her honour. (Strab. 5. p. 246; Dionys. Per. 358; Eustath. ad loc.;Plin. Nat. 3.5. s. 9.)

The site of the original settlement, or Old City (Palaepolis), is nowhere indicated, but it seems most probable that it stood on the hill of Pausilypus or Posilipo, a long ridge of moderate elevation, which separates the bay of Pozzuolior Baiae from that of Naplesitself. The new town, on the contrary, adjoined the river Sebethus, a small stream still called the Sebeto, and must, therefore, have occupied the same site with the more easterly portion of the modern city of Naples. (Abeken, Mittel Italien, p. 111; Niebuhr, vol. 3. p. 179.) The latter city seems rapidly to have risen to great prosperity, and, in great measure, eclipsed the older settlement; but it is clear from Livy that Palaepolis continued to subsist by the side of the new colony, until they both fell under the dominion of the Samnites. It does not appear that either the old or the new city was reduced by force of arms by the Campanian conquerors; they seem rather to have entered into a compromise with them, and admitted a body of the Campanians to the rights of citizenship, as well as to a share of the government. (Strab. 5. p. 246.) But notwithstanding this, the Greek element still greatly predominated; and both Palaepolis and Neapolis were, according to Livy, completely Greek cities at the time when they first came into contact with Rome, nearly a century after the conquest of Campania by the Samnites. (Liv. 8.22.)

On that occasion the Palaepolitans, who had had the temerity to provoke the hostility of Rome by incursions upon the neighbouring Campanians, alarmed at the declaration of war which followed (B.C. 328), admitted within their walls a garrison of 2000 troops from Nola, and 4000 Samnites; and were thus enabled to withstand .the arms of the consul Publilius Philo, who occupied a post between the two cities so as to prevent all communication between them, while he laid regular siege to Palaepolis. This was protracted into the following year; but at length the Palaepolitans became weary of their Samnite allies, and the city was betrayed into the hands of the Romans by Charilaus and Nymphius, two of the chief citizens. (Liv. 8.22, 23, 25, 26.) The Neapolitans would appear to have followed their example without offering any resistance; and this circumstance may explain the fact that while Publilius celebrated a triumph over the Palaepolitans (Liv. 8.26; Fast. Capit.), the Neapolitans were admitted to peace on favourable terms, and their liberties secured by a treaty (foedus Neapolitanum, Liv. l. c.) From this time all mention of Palaepolis disappears from history. Livy tells us that the chief authority, which appears to have been previously enjoyed by the older city, was now transferred to Neapolis; and it is probable that the former town sank gradually into insignificance, while the community or populuswas merged in that of Neapolis. So completely was this the case, that Dionysius, in relating the commencement of this very war, speaks only of the Neapolitans (Dionys. Exc. Leg. pp. 2314--2319); while Livy, evidently following the language of the older annalists, distinguishes them from the Palaepolitans, though he expressly tells us that they formed only one community ( duabus urbibus populus idem habitabat,Liv. 8.22).

From this time Neapolis became, in fact, a mere dependency of Rome, though retaining the honourable title of an allied state (foederata civitas), and enjoying the protection of the powerful republic, with but a small share of the burdens usually thrown upon its dependent allies. So favourable, indeed, was the condition of the Neapolitans under their treaty that, at a later period, when all the cities of Italy obtained the Roman franchise, they, as well as the Heracleans, were long unwilling to accept the proffered boon. (Cic. pro Balb. 8,24.) Hence it is no wonder that they continued throughout faithful to the Roman alliance, though more than once threatened by hostile armies. In B.C. 280, Pyrrhus approached the walls of Neapolis, with the view of making himself master of the city, but withdrew without accomplishing his purpose (Zonar. 8.4); and in the Second Punic War, Hannibal, though he repeatedly ravaged its territory, Was deterred by the strength of its fortifications from assailing the city itself. (Liv. 23.1, 14, 15. 24.13.) Like the other maritime allies of Rome, the Neapolitans continued to furnish ships and sailors for the Roman flees throughout the long wars of the Republic. (Plb. 1.20; Liv. 35.16.)

Though Neapolis thus passed gradually into the condition of a mere provincial town of the Roman state, and, after the passing of the Lex Julia, became an ordinary municipal town (Cic. pro Balb. 8, ad Fam. 13.30), it continued to be a flourishing and populous place, and retained, to a far greater extent than any other city in this part of Italy, its Greek culture and institutions; while its population was still almost exclusively Greek. Thus Strabo tells us that, in his time, though they had become Roman citizens, they still had their gymnasia and quinquennial games, with contests of music and gymnastic exercises after the Greek fashion; and retained the division into Phratries, a circumstance attested also by inscriptions still extant. (Strab. 5. p. 246; Varr. L. L. 5.85; Boeckh, C. I. vol. 3. p. 715.) Before the close of the Republic, the increasing love of Greek manners and literature led many of the upper classes among the Romans to resort to Neapolis for education, or cultivation of these pursuits; while many more were attracted by the delightful and luxurious climate or the surpassing beauty of the scenery. It possessed also hot springs, similar to those of Baiae, though inferior in number (Strab. l. c.); and all these causes combined to render it one of the favourite resorts of the Roman nobility. Its prosperity received a rude shock, in B.C. 82, during the Civil War of Marius and Sulla, when a body of the partisans of the latter, having been admitted by treachery into the city, made a general massacre of the inhabitants (Appian, App. BC 1.89); but it seems to have quickly recovered this blow, as it was certainly a flourishing city in the time of Cicero, and continued such throughout the period of the Roman Empire. It is not improbable that it received a body of fresh colonists under Sulla, but certainly did not then assume the title of a Colonia, as it is repeatedly alluded to by Cicero as a Municipium. (Cic. ad Fam. 13.3. 0, ad Att. 10.13.) Under the Empire we find it in inscriptions bearing the title of a Colonia (Gruter, Inscr. p. 110. 8, p. 373. 2); but there is much doubt as to the period when it obtained that rank. It is, however, noticed as such by Petronius, and would seem to have first received a colony under Claudius, to which subsequent additions were made under Titus and the Antonines. (Lib. Colon. p. 235; Zumpt, de Colon.pp. 259, 384; Petron. Satyr. 44, 76; Boeckh, C. I. vol. iii. pp. 717, 718.)

Besides its immediate territory, Neapolis had formerly possessed the two important islands of Capreae and Aenaria (Ischia); but the latter had been wrested from it by force of arms, probably at the period of its first war with Rome. Capreae, on the other hand, continued subject to Neapolis without interruption till the time of Augustus, who, having taken a fancy to the island, annexed it to the imperial domain, giving up to the Neapolitans in exchange the richer and more important island of Aenaria. (Suet. Aug. 92; Dio Cass..)

The same attractions which had rendered Neapolis a favourite residence of wealthy Romans under the Republic operated with still increased force under the Empire. Its gymnasia and public games continued to be still celebrated, and the emperors themselves condescended to preside at them. (Suet. Aug. 98. Ner.40; Vellei. 2.123; Dio Cass..) Its strong tincture of Greek manners, which caused it to be frequently distinguished as the Greek city,attracted thither many grammarians and others; so that it came to acquire a reputation for learning, and is called by Martial and Columella docta Parthenope(Martial (Mart. 5.78. 14; Colum. 10.134); while its soft and luxurious climate rendered it the favourite resort of the indolent and effeminate. Hence Horace terms it otiosa Neapolis;and Ovid, still more strongly, in otia natam Parthenopen.(Hor. Epod. 5. 43; Ovid, Ov. Met. 15.711; Stat. Silv. 3.78--88; Sil. Ital..) The coasts on both sides of it were lined with villas, among which the most celebrated was that of Vedius Pollio, on the ridge of hill between Neapolis and Puteoli, to which he had given the name of Pausily pus (Ραυσίλυπος); an appellation afterwards extended to the whole hill on which it stood, and which retains to the present day the name of Monte Posilipo. (Dio Cass.; Plin. Nat. 9.53. s. 78.) Neapolis was a favourite residence of the emperor Nero, as well as of his predecessor Claudius; and it was in the theatre there that the former made his first appearance on the stage, before he ventured to do so publicly at Rome. (Tac. Ann. 14.10, 15.33; Dio Cass..) It is well known also that it was for a considerable period the residence of Virgil, who composed, or at least finished, his Georgics there. (Verg. G. 4.564.) thither, also, his remains were transferred after his death; and his tomb was still extant there in the time of the poets Statius and Silius Italicus, who paid to it an almost superstitious reverence. The last-named poet himself died at Neapolis, where he had a villa, which was his favourite place of residence, as it was also that of Statius, who, in several passages, appears to allude to it as the place of his birth. (Donat. Vit. Virg.;Plin. Ep. 3.7; Martial (Mart. 11.49; Stat. Silv. 3.5. 13, 4.4. 51--55.)

It is clear that Neapolis was at this period a provincial city of the first class; and though we meet with little historical mention of it during the later ages of the Empire, inscriptions sufficiently prove that it retained its consideration and importance. It appears to have escaped the ravages of the Goths and Vandals, which inflicted such severe blows upon the prosperity both of Capua and Nola ( Hist. Miscell. 15. p. 553); and under the Gothic king Theodoric, Cassiodorus speaks of it as still possessing a numerous population, and abounding in every kind of delight, both by sea and land. (Cassiod. Var. 6.23.) In the Gothic wars which followed, it was taken by Belisarius, after a long siege, and a great part of the inhabitants put to the sword, A.D. 536. (Procop. B. G. 1.8--10.) It was retaken by Totila in A.D. 542 ( Ib. 3.6--8), but again recovered by Narses soon after, and continued from this time subject to the supremacy of the Byzantine Empire, as a dependency of the exarchate of Ravenna, but under the government of its own dukes. In the eighth century Paulus Diaconus still speaks of it as one of the opulentissimae urbesof Campania. ( Hist. Lang. 2.17.) It was about this period that it threw off the yoke of the Byzantine emperors, and continued to enjoy a state of virtual independence, until it was conquered in A.D. 1140 by the Normans, and became thenceforth the capital of the kingdom of Naples.

It is certain that the ancient city of Neapolis did not occupy nearly so great a space as the modern Naples, which is the largest and most populous city in Italy, and contains above 400,000 inhabitants. It appears to have extended on the E. as far as the river Sebethus, a small stream still called the Sebeto, though moore commonly known as the Fiume della Maddalena, which still forms the extreme limit of the suburbs of Naples on the E. side; from thence it probably extended as far as the mole and old castle, which bound the port on the W. Pliny speaks of the small island which he calls Megaris, and which can be no other than the rock now occupied by the Castel dell' Uovo, as situated between Pausilypus and Neapolis (Plin. Nat. 3.6. s. 12); it is therefore clear that the city did not extend so far as this point. Immediately above the ancient portion of the city rises a steep hill, now crowned by the Castle of St. Elmo;and from thence there runs a narrow volcanic ridge, of no great elevation, but steep and abrupt, which continues without interruption in a SW. direction, till it ends in a headland immediately opposite to the island of Nesis or Nisida. It is the western portion of this ridge which was known in ancient times as the MONS PAUSILYPUS, and is still called the Hill of Posilipo. It formed a marked barrier between the immediate environs of Neapolis and those of Puteoli and Baiae, and must have been a great obstacle to the free communication between the two cities; hence a tunnel was opened through the hill for the passage of the high-road, which has served that purpose ever since. This passage, called in ancient times the Crypta Neapolitana, and now known as the Grotta di Posilipo, is a remarkable work of its kind, and has been described by many modern travellers. It is 2244 feet long, and 21 feet broad: its height is unequal, but, towards the entrance, is not less than 70 feet. It is probable, however, that the work has been much enlarged in later times. Seneca, in one of his letters, gives a greatly exaggerated view of its fancied horrors, arising from the darkness and dust. (Sen. Ep. 57.) Strabo assigns its construction to Cocceius, probably the M. Cocceius Nerva, who was superintendent of aqueducts under Tiberius, and who constructed a similar tunnel from the lake Avernus to Cumae (Strab. 5. p. 245); and there is no reason to doubt this statement, though many Italian antiquarians have maintained that the work must be much more ancient. On the hill immediately above the E. entrance of the grotto is an ancient sepulchre designated by tradition as the tomb of Virgil; and though popular tradition is a very unsafe guide in such cases, there seems in this instance no sufficient reason to reject its testimony. We know, from the precise statement of Donatus, that the poet was buried on the road to Puteoli, within less than two miles from Naples ( via Puteolana intra lapidem secundem,Donat. Vit. Virg.;Hieron. Chron. ad 01. 190), which agrees well with the site in question, especially if (as is probable) the high-road at that time passed over the hill, and not through the grotto beneath. The argument of Cluverius, who inferred, from the description of Statius ( Silv. 4.4. 50--55), that the tomb of Virgil was situated at the foot of Mount Vesuvius, is certainly untenable. (Cluver. Ital. p. 1153; Eustace's Classical Tour, vol. ii. pp. 370--380; Jorio, Guida di Pozzuoli, pp. 118, &c.)

Near the Capo di Posilipo, as the headland opposite to Nisidais now called, are the extensive ruins of a Roman villa, which are supposed to be those of the celebrated villa of Vedius Pollio, which gave name to the whole hill, and which he bequeathed by his will to Augustus. (Dio Cass.; Plin. Nat. 9.53. s. 78.) Immediately opposite to the headland, between it and the island of Nisida(Nesis), lie two small islets, or rather rocks, one of which now serves for the Lazzaretto,--the other, which is uninhabited, is called La Gajola;these are supposed to be the islands called by Statius Limon and Euploea. (Stat. Silv. 2.2. 79, 3.1. 149.) From their trifling size it is no wonder that they are not noticed by any other author. Recent excavations on the supposed site of the villa of Pollio have brought to light far more extensive remains than were previously known to exist, and which afford a strong illustration of the magnificent scale on which these edifices were constructed. Among the ruins thus brought to light are those of a theatre, the seats of which are cut out of the tufo rock ; an Odeon, or theatre for music; a Basilica; besides numerous porticoes and other edifices, and extensive reservoirs for water. But the most remarkable work connected with these remains is a tunnel or gallery pierced through the promontory, which is actually longer than the Grotta di Posilipo. This work appears from an inscription to have been restored by the emperor Honorius; the period of its construction is wholly uncertain. ( Bullett. d. Inst. Arch. 1841, pp. 147--160; Avellino, Bullett. Archeol. Napol. 1843, Nos. 4--6.) Many writers have assigned the extensive ruins visible on the hill of Posilipoto a villa of Lucullus; and it is certain that that statesman had a Neapolitan villa distinct from that at Misenum (Cic. Acad. 2.3), but its site is nowhere indicated; and the supposition that it was the same which afterwards passed into the hands of Vedius Pollio is not warranted by any ancient authority.

Though the neighbourhood of Naplesabounds on all sides in ancient remains, those which are still extant in the city itself are inconsiderable. Two arches of a Roman theatre in the street called Anticaglia, a fragment of an aqueduct known by the name of the Ponti Rossi, and the remains of a temple dedicated to Castor and Pollux, incorporated into the church of S. Paolo, are all the ancient ruins now visible. But the inscriptions which have been discovered on the site, and are for the most part preserved in the museum, are numerous and interesting. They fully confirm the account given by ancient writers of the Greek character so long retained by the city, and notice its division into Phratries, which must have continued at least as late as the reign of Hadrian, since we find one of them named after his favourite Antinous. Others bore the names of Eumelidae, Eunostidae, &c., the origin of which may probably be traced back to the first foundation of the Cumaean colony. From some of these inscriptions we learn that the Greek language continued to be used there, even in public documents, as late as the second century after the Christian era. (Boeckh, C. I. vol. iii. pp. 714--750; Mommsen, Inscr. Regn. Neap. pp. 127--131.) COIN OF NEAPOLIS IN CAMPANIA.

COIN OF NEAPOLIS IN CAMPANIA.

（ Nabui), a city of Sardinia, and apparently one of the most considerable places in that island, was situated on the W. coast, at the southern extremity of the gulf of Oristano. The Itineraries place it 60 miles from Sulci, and 18 from Othoca ( Oristano). ( Itin. Ant. p. 84.) The name would clearly seem to point to a Greek origin, but we have no account of its foundation or history. It is noticed by Pliny as one of the most important towns in Sardinia; and its name is found also in Ptolemy and the Itineraries. (Plin. Nat. 3.7. s. 13; Ptol. 3.3.2; Itin. Ant. l. c.; Tab. Peut.;Geogr. Rav. 5.26.) Its ruins are still visible at the mouth of the river Pabillonis, where that stream forms a great estuary or lagoon, called the Stagno di Marceddi, and present considerable remains of ancient buildings as well as the vestiges of a Roman road and aqueduct. The spot is marked by an ancient church called Sta Maria di Nabui. (De la Marmora, Voy. en Sardaigne, vol. 2. p. 357.)

The AQUAE NEAPOLITANAEmentioned by Ptolemy as well as in the Itinerary, which places them at a considerable distance inland, on the road from Othoca to Caralis, are certainly the mineral sources now known as the Bagni di Sardara, on the highroad from Cagliari to Oristano. ( Itin. Ant. p. 82; Ptol. 3.3.7; Geogr. Rav. 5.26; De la Marmora, l. c.p. 406.)

3.

A city of Apulia, not mentioned by any ancient writer, but the existence of which is attested by its coins. There seems good reason to place it at Polignano, between Barium and Egnatia, where numerous relics of antiquity have been discovered. (Romanelli, vol. 2. p. 148--152; Millingen, Numism. de l'Italie, p. 147.) [E.H.B]

4.

A town on the isthmus of Pallene, on the E. coast, between Aphytis and Aege. (Hdt. 7.123.) In Leake's map it is represented by the modern Polýkhrono.

5.

A town of Macedonia, and the haven of Philippi, from which it was distant 10 M. P. (Strab. 7. p. 330; Ptol. 3.13.9; Scymn. 685; Plin. Nat. 4.11; Hierocl.; Procop. Aed. 4.4; Itin. Hierosol. ) It probably was the same place as DATUM(Δάτον), famous for its gold-mines (Hdt. 9.75; comp. Böckh, Pub. Econ. of Athens, pp. 8,228, trans.), and a seaport, as Strabo (7. p. 331) intimates: whence the proverb which celebrates Datum for its good things.(Zenob. Prov. Graec. Cent. 3.71; Harpocrat. s. v. Δάτος.) Scylax (p. 27) does, indeed, distinguish between Neapolis and Datum; but, as he adds that the latter was an Athenian colony, which could not have been true of his original Datum, his text is, perhaps, corrupt in this place, as in so many others, and his real meaning may have been that Neapolis was a colony which the Athenians had established at Datum. Zenobius (l. c.) and Eustathius ( ad Dionys. Perieg. 517) both assert that Datum was a colony of Thasos; which is highly probable, as the Thasians had several colonies on this coast. If Neapolis was a settlement of Athens, its foundation was, it may be inferred, later than that of Amphipolis. At the great struggle at Philippi the galleys of Brutus and Cassius were moored off Neapolis. (Appian, App. BC 4.106; Dio Cass..)

It was at Neapolis, now the small Turkish village of Kávallo(Leake, North. Greece, vol. 3. p. 180, comp. pp. 217, 224), that Paul ( Acts, 16.11) landed. The shore of the mainland in this part is low, but the mountains rise to a considerable height behind. To the W. of the channel which separates it from Thasos, the coast recedes and forms a bay, within which, on a promontory with a port on each side, the town was situated. (Conybeare and Howson, Life and Epist. of St. Paul, vol. 1. p. 308.) Traces of paved military roads are still found, as well as remains of a great aqueduct on two tiers of Roman arches, and Latin inscriptions. (Clarke, Trav. vol. 8. p. 49.) For coins of Neapolis, see Eckhel, vol. 2. p. 72; Rasche, vol. iii. pt. 1. p. 1149. COIN OF NEAPOLIS IN MACEDONIA.

COIN OF NEAPOLIS IN MACEDONIA.

A town of the Tauric Chersonesus, and a fortress of Scilurus. (Strab. 7. p. 312 ; Böckh, Inscr. vol. 2. p. 147.) Dubois de Montperreux ( Voyage Autour du Caucase, vol. 5. p. 389, vol. vi. pp. 220, 378) has identified this place with the ruins found at Kermentchiknear Simpheropol. [E.B.J]

NEAPOLIS

NEA´POLIS, II. In Asia.

1.

An important city of Palaestine, commonly supposed to be identical with the SICHEMor SHECHEMof the Old Testament. Thus Epiphanius uses the names as synonymous (ἐν Σικίμοις, τοῦτ ἔστιν ἐν τῇ νυνὶ Νεαπόλει, adv. Haeres. lib. iii. tom. i.p. 1055, comp. 1068). Eusebius and St. Jerome, however, place Sichem (Σικίμα, Συκὲμ, Συχὲμ) in the suburbs of Neapolis ( Onomast. s. vv. Terebinthus, Sychem); and Luz is placed near to, and, according to the former, viii. M. P., according to the latter, iii. M. P., from Neapolis (s. v. Λούζα), which would imply a considerable interval between the ancient and the modern city. In order to reconcile this discrepancy, Reland suggests that, while the ancient city gradually decayed, the new city was extended by gradual accretion in the opposite direction, so as to widen the interval; and he cites in illustration the parallel case of Utrechtand Veehten. (Palaestina, pp. 1004, 1005.) Another ancient name of this city occurs only in one passage of St. John's Gospel (4.5), where it is called Sichar (Σιχάρ); for although St. Jerome maintains this to be a corrupt reading for Sychem ( Epitaph. Paulae, Ep. lxxxvi. Op. tom. 4. p. 676, Quaest. in Genes. c. xlviii. ver. 22, tom 2. p. 545), his correction of what he allows was an ancient and common error, even in his age, has no authority in any known codex or version. Another of its ancient names which has exercised the ingenuity of the learned, occurs in Pliny, who reckons among the cities of Samaria, Neapolis quod antea Mamortha dicebatur(5.13), evidently a mistake for Mabortha, which Josephus gives for the native name of Neapolis ( B. J. 4.8.2); unless, as Reland conjectures, both readings are to be corrected from coins, which he shrewdly remarks are less liable to corruption than MSS., and which read Morthia (Μορθία), which that learned writer takes to be the classical form of the Hebrew word Moreh, which was associated with Sichem, both in the Old Testament and the Rabbinical commentaries. ( Gen. 12.6; Deut. 11.30; Reland, Dissertationes Miscell. pars i. pp. 138--140.) The same writer explains the name Sichar, in St. John, as a name of reproach, contemptuously assigned to the city by the Jews as the seat of error (the Hebrew HEBREWsignifying mendacium, falsum), and borrowed from the prophet Habakkuk, where the two words Moreh Shaker(HEBREW) occur in convenient proximity, translated in our version, a teacher of lies(2.18). The time when it assumed its new name, which it still retains almost uncorrupted in Nablûs, is marked by the authors above cited and by the coins. Pliny died during the reign of Titus, under whom Josephus wrote, and the earliest coins bearing the inscription ΦΛΑΟΥΙ. ΝΕΑΡΟΙ. ΣΑΜΑΡ.are of the same reign.

Sichem is an exceedingly ancient town, and is frequently mentioned in the history of the earliest patriarchs. It was the first place of Abraham's sojourn on coming into the land of Canaan, and there he built an altar to the Lord. ( Gen. 12.6.) The connection of Jacob with the place is marked by the traditionary well still called by his name, and referred to as an undoubtedly authentic tradition, eighteen centuries ago,--that is, at the expiration of about half the period that has elapsed since the time of the patriarch ( Gen. 33.18, xxxiv.; St. John, 4.5, 6, 12); nor need the authority of the other local tradition of Joseph's tomb be questioned, as he was certainly deposited there on the coming in of the Israelites, and the reverence paid by them to their fathers' sepulchres forbids us to suppose that it could fall into oblivion. ( Gen. 1. 25; Josh. 34.32.) That tomb was probably situated in the parcel of a fieldwhere Jacob had spread his tent, which he had bought of the children of Hamor, Shechems' father, for a hundred pieces of money, but which the patriarch himself represents as taken (probably recovered) from the Amorites with his sword and with his bow( Gen. 48.22), and which he retained as pasture-ground for his cattle after his removal from that vicinity (37.12--14). In the division of the land, it fell to the tribe of Ephraim, and is described as situated in Mount Ephraim; it was a Levitical city, and one of the three cities of refuge on the west of Jordan. ( Josh. 20.7, 21.20, 21.). There it was that Joshua assembled the national convention shortly before his death (24.1, 25); at which time he took a great stone and set it up there under an oak, that was by the sanctuary of the Lord(ver. 26), proving that the tabernacle was then at Shechem, probably in the identical place, the memory of which the Samaritan tradition has perpetuated to this day. [EBAL; GERIZIM.] The pillar erected by Joshua continued to be held in veneration throughout the time of the Judges ; there the Shechemites made Abimelech king, by the plain (|| oak) of the pillar that was in Shechem,--his own birthplace, and the scene of his father Gideon's victory over the Midianites ( Judges, 7.1, 8.31, 9.6) ; and there it was that the Israelites assembled to make Rehoboamking. (1 Kings, 12.1 ; 2 Chron. 10.1.) The remainder of its history is so identified with that of its sacred Mount Gerizim that it has been anticipated under that article. There can be little doubt that this is the city of Samaria mentioned in the Acts of the Apostles, where Philip preached with such success, and which furnished to the Church one of its earliest and most dangerous adversaries, and its first and most distinguished apologist. Not that Simon Magus was a native of Neapolis, but of a village of Samaria named Gitton (Γιττῶν, Just. Mart. Apol. 1.36; comp. Euseb. H. E. 2.13), but Neapolis was the principal theatre of his sorceries. Justin Martyr was a native of the city, according to Eusebius (ἀπὸ Φλαυίας νέας πόλεως Συρίας τῆς Ραλαιστίνης, Hist. Eccles. 2.13). Sichem is placed by Eusebius and St. Jerome, x. M. P. from Shilo, which agrees well with the interval between Silûnand Nablûs. ( Onomast. s. v. Σηλώ.) But it must be observed, that these authors distinguish between the Sychem of Ephraim, near the sepulchre of Joseph,--which, having been destroyed and sown with salt by Abimelech, was restored by Jeroboam (comp. Judges, 9.45, with 1 Kings, 12.25), who, Josephus says, built his palace there ( Ant. 8.8.4),--and the city of refuge in Mount Ephraim, which they assign to Manasseh, and, with strange inconsistency, immediately identify with the preceding by the fact that Joseph's bones were buried there. ( Onomast. s. v. Συχέμ.) The author of the Jerusalem Itinerary places it xl. M. P. from Jerusalem.

The modern town of Nablûsis situated in a valley lying between Mount Ebal on the N., and Mount Gerizim on the S., giving to the valley a direction from E. to W. On the E., the Nablûsvalley opens into a much wider valley, about 2 miles from the town; this valley is called Erd-MûkhnaWhere the Nablûsvalley meets the Erd-Mûkhna, at the NE. base of Mount Gerizim, is Jacob's well, and, hard by the well, is the traditionary site of Joseph's tomb, both of them close to the Moslem village of Askar, situated at the SE. base of Mount Ebal. Possibly this Askarmay mark the site of ancient Sychar, the names present only an anagrammatical variation. This would satisfy the language of Eusebius and St. Jerome, cited at the commencement of the article, and remove the obvious difficulty of supposing the well so far distant from the city as is Nablûs, particularly as Nablûsabounds with running streams, and there are copious fountains between it and the well. One of these, not noticed by any traveller, situated about mid-way between the well and the town, in the middle of the valley, is called ‘Ain Daphné, so named, no doubt, at the time when Greeks inhabited Neapolis, from the infamous fountain and grove near Antioch. The modern Nablûsis a large and well-built town, containing a population of from 12,000 to 14,000 souls, almost entirely Mohammedans; the Samaritans having been reduced to something under 200 of all ages ani both sexes. (Raumer, Palästina, pp. 144--148, notes; Robinson, Bib. Res. vol. iii. pp. 95--136.)

The coins of Neapolis are very frequent under the emperors from Titus to Volusianus. The common inscription is ΦΛ. ΝΕΑΞΡΟΛΕΩΞ, more rarely ΦΛΑΟΥ, as in the one below, in which is also added, as in many examples, the name of the region. The more usual emblem on the reverse is a temple situated on the summit of a mountain, to which is an ascent by many steps. The temple is doubtless that mentioned by Damasius as Διὸς Ὑψίστου ἁγιώτατον ἱερὸν ( ap. Phot. Bibl. p. 1055), the steps those alluded to by the Bordeaux Pilgrim in A.D. 333:--Ascenduntur usque ad summum montem gradus numero CCC.On the coins of Titus, however, before the Mount Gerizim was introduced, a palm, as in the example below, was the type; or a laurel, with COIN OF NEAPOLIS IN PALESTINE.

the name of the city written among its branches. (Eckhel, vol. iii. pp. 433--435: see GERIZIMVol. 1. p. 992. a.) [G.W]

2.

A town of Colchis, south of Dioscurias, and north of Phasis, on the river Chobos or Chorsos. (Scyl. p. 27; Ptol. 5.10.2.)

3.

A town on the coast of Ionia, south of Ephesus, on the road between Anaea and Marathesium. It was a small place which at first belonged to the Ephesians, and afterwards to the Samians, who received it in exchange for Marathesium. (Strab. 14. p. 639.) Most writers identify its site with the modern Scala Nova, at a distance of about three hours' walk from the site of ancient Ephesus; but Col. Leake (Asia Minor, p. 261) believes that this place marks the site of the ancient Marathesium, and that the ancient remains found about halfway between Scala Novaand Tshangli, belong to the ancient town of Neapolis. (Comp. Tournefort, Letters, 20. p. 402; Fellows, Journal of an Exc. in As. Min. p. 271, who identifies Neapolis with Tshanglior Changliitself.)

4.

A town in Caria, between Orthosia and Aphrodisias, at the foot of Mount Cadmus, in the neighbourhood of Harpasa. (Ptol. 5.2.19; Hierocl. p. 688.) Richter ( Wallfahrten, p. 539) identifies it with the modern Jenibola, near Arpas Kalessi, the ancient Harpasa. Another town of the same name is mentioned on the coast of Caria by Mela (1.16) and Pliny (Plin. Nat. 5.29); and it is clear that this cannot be the same town as that near Harpas ; it is probably only another name for New Myndus [MYNDUS].

5.

A town in Pisidia, a few miles south of Antioch. (Ptol. 5.4.11; Hierocl. p. 672.) Pliny (Plin. Nat. 5.42) mentions it as a town of the Roman province of Galatia, which embraced a portion of Pisidia. Franz ( Fünf Inschriften, p. 35) identifies its site with Tutinek, where some ancient remains still exist. [L.S]

6.

A small place situated on the Euphrates, at the distance of 14 schoeni (about 40 miles) below Besechana. Bitter has tried, but unsuccessfully (if the present numbers be correct) to identify it with Maida. (Isid. Mans. Parth. 1.12, ed. Müller, 1855.) [V]

NEAPOLIS

NEA´POLIS, III. In Africa.

1.

In Egypt. [CAENEPOLIS]

2.

A town of Cyrenaica, which Ptolemy (Ptol. 4.4.11) places in 31° 10′ lat. and 49° long. The town of Mabnyor Mably, with which it has been identified, and which appears to be a corruption of the old name, with no other change than what might be expected from the Arab pronunciation, does not quite agree with the position assigned by Ptolemy to Neapolis. (Beechey, Exped. to the N. Coast of Africa, p. 350; Barth, Wanderungen, pp. 391. 405.)

3.

[LEPTIS MAGNA]

4.

A town of Zeugitana with a harbour (Scylax, p. 47; Stadiasm. § 107 ), the same as the MACOMADESof Pliny (Plin. Nat. 5.3; Μακόμαδα, Ptol. 4.3.11); a municipium,as it appears from the Antonine Itinerary ( Macomades Minores, Peut. Tab.;Geog. Rav. 3.5); this latter name indicates a Phoenician origin. (Mövers, Phoeniz. Alterth. vol. 2. p. 494.) It has been identified with Kass'r Ounga, on the N. of the Gulf of Hammámét.

5.

A factory of the Carthaginians upon the SINUS NEAPOLITANUS,from which it was the shortest distance to Sicily--a voyage of two days and a night. (Thuc. 7.50; Seylax, p 49; Stadiasm. § 107; Strab. 17. p. 834.) It was taken by Agathocles in his African campaign. (Diod. 20.17.) Under the earlier emperors it was a liberum oppidum(Plin. Nat. 5.3), afterwards under Hadrian a colonia.(Ptol. 4.3.8; Itin. Anton.; Peut. Tab.;Geog. Rav. 5.5.) The old name is retained in the modern Nâbel, where Barth ( Wanderungen, p. 141; comp. Shaw, Trav. p. 161) found some remains of antiquity. [E.B.J]

Neapŏlis

(Νεάπολις). The name of a number of ancient cities.

I. European.—(1) Now Napoli (Naples); a city of Campania in Italy on the western slope of Mount Vesuvius and the river Sebethus (Maddalena). It was founded about B.C. 1056 by Aeolian Chalcidians of Cumae, on the site of an ancient place called Parthenope (Παρθενόπη), after the Siren of that name. Hence we find the town called Parthenopé by Vergil and Ovid. The year of the foundation of Neapolis is not recorded. It was perhaps called the “New City,” because regarded simply as a new quarter of the neighbouring city of Cumae. When the town is first mentioned in Roman history it consisted of two parts, divided from each other by a wall, and called respectively Palaeopolis and Neapolis. This division probably arose after the capture of Cumae by the Samnites, when a large number of the Cumaeans took refuge in the city they had founded, whereupon the old quarter was called Palaeopolis, and the new quarter, built to accommodate the new inhabitants, was named Neapolis. There has been a dispute respecting the site of these two quarters; but it is probable that Palaeopolis was situated on the west side near the harbour, and Neapolis on the east side near the river Sebethus. In B.C. 327 the town was taken by the Samnites, and in 290 it passed into the hands of the Romans, who allowed it, however, to retain its Greek constitution. At a later period it became a municipium, and finally a Roman colony. Under the Romans the two quarters of the city were united, and the name of Palaeopolis disappeared. It continued to be a prosperous and flourishing place till the time of the Empire; and its beautiful scenery and the luxurious life of its Greek population made it a favourite residence with many of the Romans. In the reign of Titus the city was destroyed by an earthquake, but was rebuilt by this emperor in the Roman style. The modern city of Naples does not stand on exactly the same site as Neapolis. The ancient city extended farther east than the modern city, since the former was situated on the Sebethus, whereas the latter does not reach so far as the Fiume della Maddalena; but the modern city, on the other hand, extends farther north and west than the ancient one, since the island of Megaris, on which the Castel del Ovo now stands, was situated in ancient times between Pausilypum and Neapolis. In the neighbourhood of Neapolis there were warm baths, the celebrated villa of Lucullus, and the Villa Pausilypi or Pausilypum, bequeathed by Vedius Pollio to Augustus, and which has given its name to the celebrated grotto of Posilippo between Naples and Pozzuoli, at the entrance of which what is called the tomb of Vergil is still shown. Augustus frequently visited the city, and Tiberius, Claudius, Nero, Titus, and Hadrian favoured it in many ways. In 536 it was taken by Belisarius, and in 543 by the Goths under Totila. Naples is a city of much interest to archaeologists, both because of its proximity to Pompeii and Herculaneum, and because of its remarkable collection of ancient works of art and industry preserved in the Museo Nazionale. (See Museum.)

(2) A part of Syracuse. (See Syracusae.)

(3) Napoli, a town on the west coast of the island of Sardinia, celebrated for its warm baths.

(4) Kavallo, a sea-port town in Thrace, subsequently Macedonia adjecta, on the Strymonic Gulf, between the Strymon and Nessus.

II. Asiatic.—(1) A small Ionian city, on the coast of Lydia, north of Mycalé and southwest of Ephesus. The Ephesians, to whom it at first belonged, exchanged it with the Samians for Marathesium. (2, 3) Two towns of Caria, the one near Harpasa, the other on the coast, perhaps the new town of Myndus.

(4) In Pisidia, south of Antioch; afterwards reckoned to Galatia.

(5) In Palestine, the Sychem or Sychar of Scripture (Συχέμ, Συχάρ, Σικίμα, Nablous), one of the most ancient cities of Samaria, stood in the narrow valley between Mounts Ebal and Gerizim, and was the religious capital of the Samaritans, whose temple stood on Mount Gerizim before its destruction by Hyrcanus, B.C. 129. Its full Roman name was Flavia Neapŏlis. Here was born Justin Martyr.

III. African.—(1) A town in North Africa on the coast west of the Great Syrtis, and by some identified with the modern Tripoli.

(2) A Phoenician colony, now Nabal, on the eastern coast of Zeugitana near the northern end of the gulf called from it Sinus Neapolitanus.

NEAPOLIS (Limassol) Cyprus.

On the S coast in Greek Lemesos. Remains of a sizable town, whose limits are difficult to define, are largely covered by the modern town. The necropolis lies E and N.

Practically nothing is known of the founding of this town except that it must have succeeded a Late Bronze Age settlement located N of Limassol. On present-day evidence the town was in existence from Geometric to Roman times but the area had been inhabited since the Early Bronze Age and after the Roman period. Nothing is known of its early history and by the time this place is known by a name we are already in post-Roman times. By the 5th c. A.D. it was a town of some importance with an established episcopal see. It was then known by several names such as Neapolis, Theodosias, or Theodosiana. By the following century this had become Nemesos. The name Neapolis, however, might be earlier (Βίος Αὐξιβιόυ13). The Life informs us that Tychicos I was consecrated to the see of Neapolis in the time of St. Paul.

The name appears in an inscription of the second half of the 3d c. B.C. This inscription, which was acquired in the village of Gypsos in the hinterland of Salamis, honors Nikandros, commandant of Neapolis, but as no other town of that name can be found within Cyprus it may well refer to the predecessor of Limassol.

It has also been suggested that this Neapolis might be identified with Kartihadast but since this name applies rather to Kition this view must be dismissed. Moreover nothing Phoenician has been found so far in Limassol.

The town site is unexplored but many casual finds have been recorded.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

George Hill, “Two Toponymic Puzzles,” Journal of the Warburg Institute 2.4 (1939) 375-79; V. Karageorghis, “Chronique des Fouilles et Découvertes Archéologiques à Chypre,” BCH 84 (1960), and thereafter every year, under the chapter “Musée régional de Limassol.”

K. NICOLAOU

NEAPOLIS or NEA POLlS (Kavala) Thrace, Greece.

A coastal city, a colony of Thasos, on the site of the modern city of Kavala. It seems to have been founded ca. the middle of the 7th c. B.C. in this very strategic position through which pass the ancient coast road which joins Asia and Europe, and the road which leads from the shore to gold-bearing Mt. Pangaeum and the proverbial land of Datos.

After the flight of the Persians from Greece, Neapolis was a member of the first Athenian League, and from 454-453 B.C. on it is entered in the Athenian Tribute Lists with an unvarying tribute of 1000 drachmai a year. Close ties of friendship and alliance bound the city to Athens, as shown by two Athenian honorary decrees of 410 and 407 B.C. which praise the Neapolitans and give them several privileges in the sanctuary of Parthenos.

Around 350 B.C. Philip II of Macedon, who had captured one after another of the Greek cities in Thrace, took Neapolis also and used it as the harbor for Philippi. At the battle of Philippi (42 B.C.), the harbor of Neapolis was used as a base by the Republican generals, Brutus and Cassius. It kept its importance as a station on the Via Egnati through the Imperial and Early Christian periods.

The remains and known traces of the ancient city are scanty. Of its walls, which probably date to the early 5th c. B.C., a few large sections are preserved, chiefly on the N side of the Kavala peninsula, where the ancient town was, but some also on the E and W. The wall, built of granite blocks of varying sizes, is in places preserved to a height of ca. 2 to 4 m.

Notable was the sanctuary of the patron goddess of Neapolis, the Parthenos, probably a Hellenized figure of the Thracian Artemis Tauropolos or Bendis. An archaistic figure of the goddess is known from a bas-relief on an Athenian decree of 356-355 B.C. (National Museum 1480). Investigation in the area of the sanctuary, which is approximately in the middle of the ancient town in the years 1936-37 and 1959-63, uncovered sacred hearths, building walls, parts of the peribolos or a supporting terrace wall, and deposits of pottery and figurines. In the beginning of the 5th c. B.C. an Ionic peripteral temple built of Thasian marble was constructed in the sanctuary area (column capitals of excellent workmanship and architectural fragments from the temple are in the Kavala Museum). No houses or other buildings have been uncovered. The well-preserved and very impressive aqueduct of the city is the work of Sultan Suleiman the Magnificent.

The pottery found in the excavations comes from the workshops of Asia Minor, Chios, Lesbos, the Cyclades, Attica, Corinth, and Lakonia. Among the most interesting pieces are a “Melian” amphora with representations of Peleus, Thetis, and the Nereids; a Chian krater with a representation of the Chalydonian boar hunt; and an Attic black-figure amphora by the painter Amasis. On the site or in the area of the Parthenon sanctuary three votive inscriptions were found (4th-2d c. B.C.), a marble naiskos-treasury, and a bas-relief of the mid 4th c. B.C. with the representation of a sphinx facing an amphora (Kavala Museum).

BIBLIOGRAPHY

IG I2108; T. Bakalakis, Νεάπολις-Χριστούπολις-Καβάλα, A.E. (1936) Iff; a description of the excavations conducted under state auspices, ΠΑΕ (1937) 59ff; id., Ἐκ τοῦ ἱεροῦ τῆς Παρθένου ἐν Νεαπόλει A .E. (1938) 106ff; ΑΔ (1960) 219ff; (1961-62) 235ff; (1963) 257; (1964) 370ff; (1967) 417; P. Collart, Philippes ville de Macédoine (1937) 102ff; J. Pouilloux, Recherches sur l'histoire et les cultes de Thasos I (1954) 109ff and 152ff; D. Lazarides, Νεάπολις-Χριστούπολις-Καβάλα, Ὁδηγός Μουσείου Καβάλας (1969).

D. LAZARIDES

NEAPOLIS (Naples) Campania, Italy.

On the W coast of Italy some 241 km SE of Rome, the city stands overlooking the Tyrrhenian sea in the N part of the Gulf of Naples. To the E lies the silhouette of Mt. Vesuvius, and to the W stretches a fertile area known to the ancients as the Phlegraean Fields because of the mineral springs, sulphur mines, and small craters it contains. To the SW is the Posillipo (the ancient Mons Pausilypos), a large hill which ends in a promontory and separates the Gulf of Naples from the Gulf of Pozzuoli.

Neapolis was founded ca. 650 B.C. from Cumae. Ancient tradition records that it had originally been named after the siren Parthenope, who had been washed ashore on the site after failing to capture Odysseus (Sil. Pun. 12.33-36). The early city, which was called Palae(o)polis, developed in the SW along the modern harbor area and included Pizzofalcone and Megaris (the Castel dell'Ovo), a small island in the harbor. Megaris itself may have been the site of a still older Rhodian trading colony (Strab. 14.2.10). Owing to the influx of Campanian immigrants, the town began to develop to the NE along a Hippodamian grid plan. This new extension was called Neapolis, while Palae(o)polis became a suburb. Incited to a war with Rome by the Greek elements, the city was captured in 326 B.C. by the proconsul Quintus Publilius Philo (Liv. 8.22.9), and the suburb ceased to exist. Neapolis then became a favored ally of the Romans; it repulsed Pyrrhos, contributed naval support during the First Punic War, and withstood the attacks of Hannibal. Even though it suffered the loss of its fleet and a massacre of its inhabitants in 82 B.C. during the Civil War (App. BCiv. 1.89), it became a flourishing municipium and enjoyed the favors of the Julio-Claudian emperors. Subsequently it was damaged by the eruption of Vesuvius in A.D. 79.

Remains of both the Greek and the Roman cities are scarce since the modern town has been built on top. Stretches of the Greek city walls have been found in various locations, and it has been possible to reconstruct the entire ring of fortifications. In the N the walls stretch from S. Maria di Constantinopoli to SS. Apostoli. Some blocks were found when the Ospedale degli Incurabili at the Piazza Cavour was demolished. On the E they run along the course of the Via Carbonara, by the Castel Capuano, and down the Via Maddalena to the church of S. Agostino alla Zecca. In the area of the former convent of the Maddalena have come to light the remains of a tower measuring 10.8 m on each face with traces of rebuilding associated with the siege by Belisarius in A.D. 536. In the S they go from S. Agostino, by the University, and finally reach S. Maria la Nuova. Under the Corso Umberto I, in the stretch between the Via Seggio del Popolo and the Via Pietro Colletta, large portions have appeared, dating from the 5th c. B.C. to the Hellenistic period. On the W side, sections were uncovered at the Piazza Bellini. Outside the ring of fortifications, in the vicinity of the Via S. Giacomo, a wall, constructed in blocks of tufa, has been discovered. It dates to the 6th c. B.C. and probably belongs to the older city of Palae(o)polis.

It is also possible to reconstruct some of the street system of Neapolis, since it is likely that many modern streets run over their ancient counterparts. Three main E x W decumani can be distinguished: the Via S. Biagio dei Librai, the Via Tribunali, and the Via Anticaglia. These were crossed at right angles by about 20 narrower N x S cardines having an average width of 4 m and forming some 100 house blocks. A stretch of one of these cardines has been located under the church of San Lorenzo Maggiore. In the Via del Duomo have been found the foundations of a small sacred edifice dating to the 5th c. B.C. and rebuilt completely in the 1st c. of our era. Parts of Greek houses have been uncovered on the Via del Duomo and on the Via Nib in the W part of the town. Graves of the Greek period are scattered throughout the city. In the region of Pizzofalcone on the Via Nicotera, part of a necropolis, belonging to the original city of Palae(o)polis, has come to light with pottery dating from the 7th and 6th c. B.C. A second early cemetery lay in the spot now occupied by the Piazza Capuana.

Evidence for the Roman buildings of Neapolis is more abundant. The church of S. Paolo Maggiore contains building materials from an earlier temple, identified by means of an inscription as sacred to the Dioscuri and of the time of Tiberius, but standing on the site of an older sanctuary. The temple itself was Corinthian hexastyle. Its front faced S and looked over the decumanus maximus (Via Tribunali). On the Via Anticaglia, between the Via S. Paolo and the Vico Giganti, are the remains of a theater, dating to the early empire. The cavea faces S towards the harbor and has a diameter of some 102 m. Beneath the level of the Early Christian basilica under San Lorenzo Maggiore have been uncovered the foundations of a large public building of the 1st c. A.D., perhaps the aerarium of the city. In various locations there are remnants of baths. Roman houses appear at the NE end of the Corso Umberto I, near the section of wall found there, and in the Via del Duomo. The cryptoporticus of a villa belonging to the 1st c. A.D. has emerged in the vicinity of the Via S. Giacomo. The Castel dell'Ovo can be identified with the site of Lucullus' villa and famous fish ponds (Plin. HN 9.170).

The most direct route from Neapolis to Puteoli (modern Pozzuoli) was along a coast road named the Via Puteolana. This road passed through the Posillipo hills by means of a tunnel, the Crypta Neapolitana, located in the region of Mergellina. The crypta, built by Augustus' architect Cocceius but many times restored and remodeled, now measures 700 m in length. A second ancient tunnel, now called the Grotta di Seiano, was built at the extreme tip of the Posillipo promontory. It led from the villa of Vedius Pollio (later given to Augustus) to the Puteoli road and is a little larger than the crypta. On the Posillipo itself are the remains of a small Augustan odeum once connected with a private villa, perhaps Pollio's. Near the entrance to the crypta is a sepulcher identified by some as the tomb of Virgil, which according to Donatus (Vita Virg. 36) was located before the second milestone on the Via Puteolana. Others argue that the present tomb is too far away and that the second milestone, calculated from the Porta Puteolana, would lie on the modern Riviera di Chiaia; furthermore, they assert that the present tomb resembles a family columbarium rather than a poet's sepulcher. The grave, belonging to the Augustan period, is in the form of a columbarium, built in the opus caementicium technique. It is circular and stands on a square podium; inside are ten niches (loculi) for cinerary urns.

The Museo Archeologico Nazionale in Naples off the Piazza Cavour is one of the finest in Italy and contains extensive collections of mosaics, paintings, and sculpture.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

J. Beloch, Campanien (1890) M; F. von Duhn, “Der Dioskurentempel in Neapel,” SBHeidelberg Phil-Hist. Kl. (1910) 3-20; H. Philipp, “Neapolis,” RE 16 (1933) 2112-22; H. Achelis, Die Katakomben von Neapel (1936) I; J. Bérard, Bibliographie topographique des principales cités grecques de l'Italie méridionale et de la Sicile dans l'antiquité (1941) 71; M. Napoli, Napoli greco-romana (1959) PI; W. Johannowsky, Problemi archeologici napoletani (1960) PI; A. G. McKay, Naples and Campania (1962) 109-20; M. Napoli & A. Maiuri, “Napoli,” EAA 5 (1963) 332-40PI; M. Guido, Southern Italy: an Archaeological Guide (1972) 48-63MP.

W.D.E. COULSON

NEAPOLIS Sardinia, Italy.

An ancient city on the W coast of Sardinia below Cape Frasca, near the present church of S. Maria di Nabui. It is mentioned by Ptolemy (3.3.2) and by the Itineraries (It. Ant. 84; Rav. Cosm. 5.26), which place it on the Via Karalibus-Othocam. A milestone (CIL X, 8008) attests that Neapolis was linked with the colony of Uselis. Cited by the agronomist Palladius for the richness of its fields (De Agr. 3.16), the city must have been in an area of large landed estates mainly engaged in the cultivation of cereals, to judge from the numerous ruins of villas. Scholars of the last century describe the solidarity and size of the private buildings; the encircling walls; the well-paved roads; and the aqueduct, whose ruins are still visible, which carried water to the city from Landa de Giaxi, eight Roman miles away. Its territory must have bordered Cagliari's, as is shown by the mention of “water from Neapolis” (Ptol. 3.3.7) in the territory of Sardara. The city declined during the invasions of the Vandals and the Saracens.

Excavation undertaken in 1951 near S. Maria di Nabui brought to light a small bath building of brick, with a caldarium to the S, an apodyterium to the N, and a frigidarium. To the E are several modest houses and a Late Roman necropolis with tufa sarcophagi and masonry tombs. At S' Anžrarža, near the sea, another bath building of considerable size has an anterior gallery from which one enters a large hall with a polychrome mosaic pavement.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

G. Spano, Bull. Arch. Sardo 5 (1859) 20PI; E. Pais, Storia della Sardegna e della Corsica, I (1923) 366ff; G. Lilliu, Annali Fac. Lettere di Cagliari 21.1 (1953) 3 n. 1; G. Pesce, EAA (1963) 388.

D. MANCONI