Druentia

DRUE´NTIA(ὁ Δρουεντίας, ὁ Δρουέντιος: Durance). Ausonius (Id. x. Mosella, 5.479) makes the name feminine. Silius Italicus (Sil. Ital. 3.478) makes it masculine:— Turbidus hi truncis saxisque Druentia laetumDuctoris vexavit iter; namque Alpibus ortus,Avulsas ornos et adesi fragmina montisCum sonitu volens, fertur latrantibus undis, &c.
Strabo (p. 203) says of the Druentia: Above, in certain hollow places, a great lake is formed,and there are two springs not far from one another, from one of which flows the Druentias, a torrent river. which has a rapid descent to the Rhodanus; and the Durias runs in the opposite direction, for it joins the Padus, flowing down through the country of the Salassi into Celtica south of the Alps.Strabo is mistaken about this Durias or Doria Minor ( La Doria Riparia), for it is the other Doria which flows through the country of the Salassi. Two streams rise on Mont Genèvrenear one another; one is the Durance, and the other is the Doria. The Duranceis joined by a larger stream called La Claire. The river flows from Briançon, with a general southern course, past Embrunand Sisteron, as far as the junction of the Verdon. It then forms a curve, and runs W. by N. past Cavaillon(Cabellio), and joins the Rhonea little below Avignon. The lower part of the course is full of small islands. It is a rapid river, and subject to inundations. Though not navigable, it is used for floating timber down. Silius Italicus has well described this turbulent river. It has been inferred from an expression in the Notitia Imp., where a Praefectus Classis Barcariorum Ebruduni Sapaudiaeis mentioned, and from an inscription in Gruter (pp. 413, 414), where Patronus Nautarum Druenticorum et Utriciariorumis mentioned, that the river was navigated in the time of the later empire. But the navigation could not be more than a boat navigation, and for a short distance. As to the Utricularii, see CABELLIO
Livy (Liv. 21.31) mentions the Druentia, and Pliny (Plin. Nat. 3.4) as a rapid river.
[G.L]