ROSCIA´NUM(Rossano), a town of Bruttium, situated on a hill about 2 miles from the sea-coast, on the gulf of Tarentum, and 12 miles from the mouth of the Crathis. The name is not found in the geographers, or mentioned by any earlier writer; but it is found in the Itinerary of Antoninus, which places it 12 miles from Thurii, and is noticed by Procopius during the Gothic wars as a strong fortress, and one of the most important strongholds in this part of Italy. (Itin. Ant. p. 114; Procop. B. G. 3.30.) It was taken by Totila in A.D. 548, but continued throughout the middle ages to be a place of importance, and is still one of the most considerable towns in this part of Calabria.
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