SCULTENNA
SCULTENNA (
Σκούλταννα, Strab.:
Panaro), a river of Gallia Cispadana, and one of the principal of the southern tributaries of the Padus. (
Plin. Nat. 3.16. s. 20; P. Diac.
Hist. Lang. 4.47.)
It crosses the Aemilian Way about 5 miles E. of Mutina (
Modena), and falls into the
Po a little below
Bondeno, being the last of the tributaries of that river which now flow into its main stream.
In the lower part of its course it now bears the name of
Panaro, but in the upper part, before it leaves the valleys of the Apennines, it is still known as the
Scoltenna. It has its sources in one of the loftiest and most rugged groups of the Apennines, at the foot of the
Monte Cimone, and from thence flows for many miles through a deep and winding valley, which appears to have been the abode of the Ligurian tribe of the Friniates.
The district still bears on old maps the title of
Frignano. (Magini,
Carte d'Italia, tav. 16.) In B.C. 177 the banks of the Scultenna were the scene of a decisive conflict between the Ligurians and the Roman consul C. Claudius, in which the former were defeated with great slaughter (
Liv. 41.12,
18); but the site of the battle is not more exactly indicated. Strabo speaks of the plains on the banks of the Scultenna, probably in the lower part of its course, as producing wool of the finest quality. (
Strab. v. p.218.)
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E.H.B]
