Astura

Astŭra, ae, m., = Ἄστυρα.

• A river in Asturia, now Esla, Flor. 4, 12, 54.—
• II A river (and f., an island and town) in Latium, near which Cicero had a villa, Cic. Att. 12, 40; id. Fam. 6, 19; Liv. 8, 13; Plin. 3, 5, 9, § 57; cf. Mann. Ital. I. p. 620.

Astura — Astura (Latium), Pleiades 432703

Astura, ae, m. (Ἄστυρα), I) ein Fluß in Latium, der aus den Albanerbergen südwärts zwischen Antium u. Circeji ins Tyrrhen. Meer fließt, noch j. Astura, Liv. 8, 13. § 5 u. 12, vor seiner Mündung aber eine gleichn. Insel (f.) aus Tuffelsen bildet, Plin. 3, 57. Serv. Verg. Aen. 7, 801, mit einem gleichn. Städtchen (f., jetzt torre d'Astura), in dessen Nähe Cicero ein Landgut hatte, Cic. ep. 6, 19, 2. – II) ein Nebenfluß des Durius in Hispania Tarrac., j. Ezla od. Estola, Flor. 4, 12, 4, Oros. 6, 21.

Astŭra, (14) æ, ¶ 1 m. , a) fleuve du Latium : Liv. 8, 13, 5 ; b) fleuve de la Tarraconnaise : Flor. 4, 12, 4 ¶ 2 f. , a) île et ville du Latium : Cic. Att. 12, 40 ; Fam. 6, 19, 2 ; b) ville de lʼÉolide : Mela 1, 94.

ASTURA

A´STURA (Ἄστυρα).

1.

A small islet on the coast of Latium, between Antium and Circeii, at the mouth of a river of the same name, which rises at the southern foot of the Alban hills, and has a course of about 20 miles to the sea. It is called Storas (Στόρας) by Strabo, who tells us that it had a place of anchorage at its mouth (5. p. 232). It was on the banks of this obscure stream that was fought, in B.C. 338, the last great battle between the Romans and the Latins, in which the consul C. Maenius totally defeated the combined forces of Antium, Lanuvium, Aricia and Velitrae. (Liv. 8.13.) At a much later period the little island at its mouth, and the whole adjacent coast, became occupied with Roman villas; among which the most celebrated is that of Cicero, to which he repeatedly alludes in his letters, and which he describes as locus amoenus et in maria ipso,c ommanding a view both of Antium and Circeii (ad Att. 12.19, 40, ad Farm. 6.19). It was from thence that, on learning his proscription by the triumvirs, he embarked, with the intention of escaping to join Brutus in Macedonia; a resolution which he afterwards unfortunately abandoned. (Plut. Cic. 47.) We learn from Suetonius also that Astura was the occasional resort both of Augustus and Tiberius (Suet. Aug. 97, Tib. 72), and existing remains prove that many of the Roman nobility must have had villas there. (See Nibby, Dintorni di Roma, vol. i. pp. 267--277.) But it does not appear that there ever was a town of the name, as asserted by Servius (ad Aen. 7.801). The island was at some time or other joined to the mainland by a bridge or causeway, and it thus became, as it now remains, a peninsula projecting into the sea. It is surmounted by a fortified tower, called the Torre di Astura, a picturesque object, conspicuous both from Antium and the Circeian headland, and the only one which breaks the monotony of the low and sandy coast between them. The Tab. Peut. reckons Astura 7 miles from Antium, which is rather less than the true distance.

There is no doubt that the STORAS of Strabo is the same with the Astura, which Festus also tells us was often called Stura (p. 317, ed. Mill.); but there is no ground for supposing the Saturae paluso f Virgil (Aen. 7.801) to refer to the same locality. [E.H.B]

2.

(Ezla or Estola), a river of Hispania Tarraconensis, in the NW., which, rising in the mountains of the Cantabri, the prolongation of the Pyrenees, flows S. through the country of the ASTURES; and, after receiving several other rivers that drain the great plain of Leon, it falls into the Durius (Douro) on its N. side. (Florus (Flor. 4.12; Oros. 6.21; Isidor. Etym. 9.2.) [P.S]

Astŭra

A river in Latium, flowing between Antium and Circeii into the Tyrrhenian Sea. At its mouth it formed a small island, with a town upon it, also called Astura, where Cicero had an estate.

ASTURA (Torre Astura) Italy.

A small inhabited center on the Tyrrhenian Sea between Anzio and Terracina. The river Astura is recorded by Livy (8.13.5; 12) for the battle fought near it in 338 B.C. by the Consul Menius against the Latini and the Volsci. The island of Astura is recorded particularly in the writings of the geographers (Strab. 5.3.232; Plin. HN 3.57.81).

The center itself, called an oppidum only by Servius (Ad Aen. 7.801), is indicated as a way station on the Via Severiana in the Itineraries. The major mention of Astura appears in the letters written by Cicero to Atticus (12.9; 19.1; 40.2-3; 45.2; 13.21.3; 26.2; 34; 38.2; 14.2.4 etc.) in 45 and 44 B.C. when he retired to his villa there after the death of his daughter Tullia, and from which he embarked in 43 B.C. on a dramatic attempt at flight (Cic., Att. 12.40.3). Astura is also mentioned in the lives of Augustus and of Tiberius, both of whom contracted grave illnesses there (Suet., Aug. 97; Tib. 72).

While there remains no trace of the center, there are remains of a villa. It must have been built on a tiny island, today joined to the coast, while in ancient times it was reached by a long bridge. Around the villa was constructed a large protected fishpond on the sea. Its articulated structure is well preserved. To it was annexed a portico, of which there remain notable parts of two wharves and the sea wall. The major part of these structures may be dated to the 1st and 2d c. A.D.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

A. Nibby, Analisi . . . della carta de' dintorni di Roma (2d ed., 1848) I, 266ff; L. Jacono, “Note di archeologia Marittima,” Neapolis 1 (1913) 363ff; M. Hofmann, RE VIII (1956) 1228ff; F. Castagnoli, “Astura,” Studi Romani 11 (1963) 637-44.

F. CASTAGNOLI