Ossonoba
OSSO´NOBA (Ὀσσόνοβα, Ptol. 2.5.3), a town of the Turdetani in Lusitania, between the rivers Tagus and Anas, on the road from Esuris to Ebora and Pax Julia. (Itin. Ant. pp. 418, 426.) [LUSITANIA 220a.] It is the same town mentioned by Strabo in a corrupt passage (3. p. 143), by Mela (3.1.6), Pliny (Plin. Nat. 4.21. s. 35), and others. Commonly identified with Estoy, lying a little N. of Faro, near the mouth of the Silves, where Roman ruins and inscriptions are still found. One of the latter has RESP. OSSON. (Ukert, vol. ii. pt. 1. p. 387.)
[T.H.D]The modern city lies over the ancient one which is mentioned by Strabo (3.2.5), Ptolemy (2.5), Pliny (HN 4.22), Mela (3.1), and in the Antonine Itinerary. Roman remains include a temple unearthed in the Largo da Sé, tombs in Bairro Letes, and a deposit of some scores of lamps in the Horta do Pinto. Additional evidence of identification comes from inscriptions found mostly in the fortifications. The finds are in the Archaeological Museum of Faro.
BIBLIOGRAPHYA. Viana, “Ossonoba. O Problema da sua localização,” Revista de Guimarães 62 (1952) 250-85.
J. ALARCÃO