Liri

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The Liri (Latin Liris, previously, Clanis; Greek: Λεῖρις) is one of the principal rivers of central Italy, flowing into the Tyrrhenian Sea a little below Minturno under the name Garigliano.

The Liri's source is in the Monte Camiciola (1,701 m) in the Monti Simbruini of central Apennines (Abruzzo, comune of Cappadocia): in the nearby is the Lake Fucino, of which it has been sometimes, but erroneously, regarded as a subterranean outlet. It flows at first in a southeasterly direction through a long troughlike valley, parallel to the general direction of the Apennines, until it reaches the city of Sora, after which it receives the waters of Fibreno. A dam is built on the river after the conjunction with the Sacco River at Ceprano. The last important Liri's tributary is the Melfa, with which it joins near Aquino. After Cassino it receives the waters of the river Gari (or Rapido), and afterwards it is known as Garigliano.

The Liri-Garigliano system has a total water drainage basin of 5,020 km².

History

Both Strabo and Pliny tell us that it was originally called Clanis, a name which appears to have been common to many Italian rivers; the former writer erroneously assigns its sources to the country of the Vestini; an opinion which is adopted also by Lucan. (Strab. v. p. 233; Lucan ii.425.) The Liris is noticed by several of the Roman poets, as a very gentle and tranquil stream (Hor. Carm. i. 31. 8; Sil. Ital. iv. 348), a character which it well deserves in the lower part of its course, where it was described by a nineteenth century traveller as a wide and noble river, winding under the shadow of poplars through a lovely vale, and then gliding gently towards the sea. (Eustace's Classical Tour, vol. ii. p. 320.)

At the mouth of the Liris near Minturnae, was an extensive sacred grove consecrated to Marica, a nymph or local divinity, who was represented by a tradition, adopted by Virgil, as mother of Latinus, while others identified her with Circe. (Virg. Aen. vii. 47; Lactant. Inst. Div. i. 21.) Her grove and temple (Lucus Maricae; Greek: Μαρίκας ἄλσος, Plut. Mar. 39) were not only objects of great veneration to the people of the neighboring town of Minturnae, but appear to have enjoyed considerable celebrity with the Romans themselves. (Strab. v. p. 233; Liv, xxvii. 37; Serv. ad Aen. vii. 47.) Immediately adjoining its mouth was an extensive marsh, formed probably by the stagnation of the river itself, and celebrated in history in connection with the adventures of Gaius Marius.

References

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