SEPTEM MARIA(Ἑπτὰ πελάγη), was the name commonly given to the extensive lagunes at the mouth of the Padus, and the adjoining rivers, and which extend along a considerable part of the shores of the Adriatic from the mouths of the Padus to Altinum. Pliny indeed seems to use the term in a more restricted sense, as he speaks of Atrianorum paludes, quae Septem Maria appellantur(3.16. s. 20); but the Itinerary distinctly applies the name to the whole extent of the lagunes from Ravenna to Altinum ( Itin. Ant. p. 126); and Herodian, who notices them particularly (8.7), clearly uses the term in the same sense.
[E.H.B]