NESACTIUM
NESACTIUM (
Νεσάκτον, Ptol.), a town of Istria, situated to the E. of Pola, on the Flanaticus Sinus, and not far from the river Arsia, which was the boundary of Istria on this side. Hence Ptolemy calls it the last city of Italy.
It is mentioned by Livy as a city. of the Istrians before their conquest by Rome, and a strong fortress, so that it stood a long siege, and was only taken by the Roman consul C. Claudius Puleher, by cutting off its supply of water (
Liv. 41.11).
It afterwards appears both in Pliny and Ptolemy as a municipal town of Istria under the Romans, and seems to have survived the fall of the Western Empire, but the period of its destruction is unknown (
Plin. Nat. 3.19. s. 23;
Ptol. 3.1.27;
Tab. Peut.; Anon. Rav. 4.31).
The fact of its proximity to the Arsia (
Arsa), combined with Livy's mention of a river
flowing by the walls, render it probable that it was situated immediately on the right bank of the Arsia; but its exact site has not been determined.
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E.H.B]
