RHENUS
RHENUS (
Reno), a river of Gallia Cispadana, and one of the southern tributaries of the Padus. (
Plin. Nat. 3.16. s. 20.)
It flowed within about a mile of the walls of Bononia (
Bologna), on the W. side of the city, and is celebrated in history on account of the interview between Antony, Octavian, and Lepidus, which is generally believed to have taken place in a small island formed by its waters. [
BONONIA] It has its sources in the Apennines nearly 50 miles above
Bologna, and is a considerable stream, though called by Silius Italicus “parvus,” to distinguish it from its far greater namesake, the
Rhine. (
Sil. Ital. 8.599.)
In the time of Pliny it is probable that it discharged its waters into the principal channel of the Padus, but at the present day they are turned aside into an artificial channel before reaching that river, and are thus carried into the arm now known as the
Po di Primaro. Hence the mouth of that branch of the
Po is now called the
Foce del Reno. Pliny tells us that the reeds which grew on the banks of the Rhenus were superior to all others for making arrows. (
Plin. Nat. 16.36. s. 65.)
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E.H.B]
