Listed 7 sub titles with search on: Information about the place for wider area of: "LEUCANIA Ancient country ITALY" .
LAOS (Ancient city) ITALY
Laus (Laos: Eth. La+inos: near Scalea). A city on the W. coast of
Lucania, at the mouth of the river of the same name, which formed the boundary
between Lucania and Bruttium. (Strab. vi. pp. 253, 254.) It was a Greek city,
and a colony of Sybaris; but the date of its foundation is unknown, and we have
very little information as to its history. Herodotus tells us that, after the
destruction of Sybaris in B.C. 510, the inhabitants who survived the catastrophe
took refuge in Laus and Scidrus (Herod. vi. 20); but he does not say, as has been
supposed, that these cities were then founded by the Sybarites: it is far more
probable that they had been settled long before, during the greatness of Sybaris,
when Posidonia also was planted by that city on the coast of the Tyrrhenian sea.
The only other mention of Laus in history is on occasion of a great defeat sustained
there by the allied forces of the Greek cities in southern Italy, who had apparently
united their arms in order to check the progress of the Lucanians, who were at
this period rapidly extending their power towards the south,,. The Greeks were
defeated with great slaughter, and it is probable that Laus itself fell into the
hands of the barbarians. (Strab. vi. p. 253.) From this time we hear no more of
the city; and though Strabo speaks of it as still in existence in his times it
seems to have disappeared before the days of Pliny. The latter author, however
(as well as Ptolemy), notices the river Laus, which Pliny concurs with Strabo
in fixing as the boundary between Lucania and Bruttium. (Strab. l.c.; Plin. iii.
5. s. 10; Ptol. iii. 1. § 9 ; Steph. B. s. v.)
The river Laus still retains its ancient name as, the Lao, or Laino:
it is a considerable stream, falling into the Gulf of Policastro. Near its sources
about 10 miles from the sea, is the town of Laino, supposed by Cluverius to represent
the ancient Laus; but the latter would appear, from Strabo's description, to have
been nearer the sea. Romanelli would place it at Scalea, a small town with a good
port, about three miles N. of the mouth of the river; but it is more probable
that the ancient city is to be looked for between this and the river Lao. (Cluver.
Ital. p. 1262; Romanelli, vol. i. p. 383.) According to Strabo there was, near
the river and city, a temple or Heroum of a hero named Dracon, close to which
was the actual scene of the great battle between the Greeks and Lucanians. (Strab.
l. c.)
Strabo speaks of a gulf of Laus, by which he can hardly mean any other
than the extensive bay now called the Gulf of Policastro, which may be considered
as extending from the promontory of Pynus (Capo degli Infreschi) to near Cirella.
There exist coins of Laus, of ancient style, with the inscription LAINON: they
were struck after the destruction of Sybaris, which was probably the most flourishing
time in the history of Laus.
This text is from: Dictionary of Greek and Roman Geography (1854) (ed. William Smith, LLD). Cited August 2004 from The Perseus Project URL below, which contains interesting hyperlinks
CHONES (Ancient tribe) ITALY
The name in early times of a district in the south of Italy, inhabited by the Chones, an Oenotrian people. Chonia appears to have included the southeast of Lucania and the whole of the east of Bruttium as far as the promontory of Zephyrium.
LAOS (Ancient city) ITALY
(Laos). A Greek city in Lucania, near the mouth of the river Laus, which formed the boundary between Lucania and Bruttium.
LEUCANIA (Ancient country) ITALY
A district in Lower Italy, bounded on the north by Campania
and Samnium, on the east by Apulia and the Gulf of Tarentum, on the south by Bruttium,
and on the west by the Tyrrhene Sea. It was separated from Campania by the river
Silarus, and from Bruttium by the river Laus. Lucania was celebrated for its excellent
pastures; and its oxen were the finest and largest in Italy. Hence the elephant
was at first called by the Romans a Lucanian ox (Lucas bos). The coast of Lucania
was inhabited chiefly by Greeks, whose cities were numerous and flourishing. The
interior of the country was originally inhabited by the Chones and Oenotrians.
The Lucanians proper were Samnites, a brave and warlike race, who left their mother
country and settled both in Lucania and Bruttium. They not only expelled or subdued
the Oenotrians, but they gradually acquired possession of most of the Greek cities
on the coast. They were subdued by the Romans after Pyrrhus had left Italy. The
chief cities of Lucania were Heraclea, Metapontum, Thurii, Elea or Velia, Paestum
(Posidonia), and Buxentum.
This text is cited Oct 2002 from The Perseus Project URL below, which contains interesting hyperlinks
PYXOUS (Ancient city) ITALY
Originally Pyxus (Puxous); a town on the west coast of Lucania and on the river Buxentius, was founded by Micythus, tyrant of Messana, B.C. 471, and was afterwards a Roman colony.
A port at the mouth of the Bussento, the only good harbor other than
Sapri on the Golfo di Policastro (sinus terinaeus). In the 6th c. B.C. when it
first appears in history, Pyxous was apparently a dependency of Sybaris and issued
coins of Sybarite type that also bear the name of Siris on the Gulf of Tarentum.
It is possible that an overland route connected these cities. Pyxous may have
collapsed after the fall of Sybaris in 510 B.C., for it is next heard of as a
foundation of Mikythos, tyrant of Messine and Rhegion in 467. The majority of
the colonists planted there is said by Strabo (6.253) to have soon departed, and
we next hear of it as the site of a Roman colony of 300 families in 194 B.C. that
had then to be reinforced with a second draft of colonists in 186 (Livy 32.29.4;
34.42.6; 34.45.2; 39.23.4). Though it seems never to have flourished, it is mentioned
by geographers in the Imperial period, and inscriptions show that it had duovirs
as magistrates and was inscribed in the tribus Pomptina.
All that is known of the ancient city is a stretch of Roman road recently
excavated. The name Buxentum, which Strabo (6.253) says was also given to the
cape, harbor, and river, refers to the abundance of box growing in the vicinity.
L. Richardson, Jr., ed.
This text is from: The Princeton encyclopedia of classical sites,
Princeton University Press 1976. Cited Nov 2002 from
Perseus Project URL below, which contains bibliography & interesting hyperlinks.
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