Εμφανίζονται 28 τίτλοι με αναζήτηση: Πληροφορίες για τον τόπο στην ευρύτερη περιοχή: "ΡΕΤΖΙΟ ΚΑΛΑΜΠΡΙΑ Πόλη ΚΑΛΑΒΡΙΑ" .
ΕΠΙΖΕΦΥΡΙΟΙ ΛΟΚΡΟΙ (Αρχαία πόλη) ΙΤΑΛΙΑ
Locri (Lokroi), sometimes called, for distinction's sake, Locri Epizephyrii
(Lokroi Epizephurioi, Thuc. vii. 1; Pind. Ol.xi.15; Strab.; Steph. B.: Eth. Lokros,
Locrensis: Ruins near Gerace), a city on the SE. coast of the Bruttian peninsula,
not far from its southern extremity, and one of the most celebrated of the Greek
colonies in this part of Italy. It was a colony, as its name obviously implies,
of the Locrians in Greece, but there is much discrepancy as to the tribe of that
nation from which it derived its origin. Strabo affirms that it was founded by
the Locri Ozolae, under a leader named Euanthes, and censures Ephorus for ascribing
it to the Locri Opuntii; but this last opinion seems to have been the one generally
prevalent. Scymnus Chius mentions both opinions, but seems to incline to the latter;
and it is adopted without question by Pausanias, as well as by the poets and later
Latin authors, whence we may probably infer that it was the tradition adopted
by the Locrians themselves. (Strab. vi. p. 259; Scymn. Ch. 313-317; Paus. iii.
19. § 12; Virg. Aen. iii. 399.) Unfortunately Polybius, who had informed himself
particularly as to the history and institutions of the Locrians, does not give
any statement upon this point. But we learn from him that the origin of the colony
was ascribed by the tradition current among the Locrians themselves, and sanctioned
by the authority of Aristotle, to a body of fugitive slaves, who had carried off
their mistresses, with whom they had previously carried on an illicit intercourse.
(Pol. xii. 5, 6, 10-12.) The same story is alluded to by Dionysius Periegetes
(365-367). Pausanias would seem to refer to a wholly different tale where he says
that the Lacedaemonians sent a colony to the Epizephyrian Locri, at the same time
with one to Crotona. (Paus, iii. 3. § 1.) These were, however, in both cases,
probably only additional bands of colonists, as Lacedaemon was never regarded
as the founder of either city. The date of the foundation of Locri is equally
uncertain. Strabo (l. c.) places it a little after that of Crotona and Syracuse,
which he regarded as nearly contemporary, but he is probably mistaken in this
last opinion. Eusebius, on the contrary, brings it down to so late a date as B.C.
673 (or, according to Hieronymus, 683); but there seems good reason to believe
that this is much too late, and we may venture to adopt Strabo's statement that
it was founded soon after Crotona, if the latter be placed about 710 B.C. (Euseb.
Arm. p. 105; Clinton F. H. vol. i. p. 186, vol. ii. p. 410.) The traditions adopted
by Aristotle and Polybius represented the first settlers as gaining possession
of the soil from the native Oenotrians (whom they called Siculi), by a fraud not
unlike those related in many similar legends. (Pol. xii. 6.) The fact stated by
Strabo that they first established themselves on Cape Zephyrium (Capo di Bruzzano),
and subsequently removed from thence to the site which they ultimately occupied,
about 15 miles further N., is supported by the evidence of their distinctive appellation,
and may be depended on as accurate. (Strab. l. c.)
As in the case of most of the other Greek colonies in Italy, we have
very scanty and imperfect information concerning the early history of Locri. The
first event in its annals that has been transmitted to us, and one of those to
which it owes its chief celebrity, is the legislation of Zaleucus. This was said
to be the most ancient written code of laws that had been given to any Greek state;
and though the history of Zaleucus himself was involved in great obscurity, and
mixed up with much of fable, there is certainly no doubt that the Locrians possessed
a written code, which passed under his name, and which continued down to a late
period to be in force in their city. Even in the days of Pindar and of Demosthenes,
Locri was regarded as a model of good government and order; and its inhabitants
were distinguished for their adherence to established laws and their aversion
to all innovation. (Pind. Ol. x. 17; Schol. ad loc.; Strab. vi. p. 260; Demosth.
adv. Timocrat. p. 743; Diod. xii. 20, 21.)
The period of the legislation of Zaleucus cannot be determined with
certainty: but the date given by Eusebius of Ol. 30, or B.C. 660, may be received
as approximately correct. (Euseb. Arm. p. 105; Clinton, vol. i. p. 193.) Of its
principles we know but little; and the quotations from his laws, even if we could
depend upon their authenticity, have no reference to the political institutions
of the state. It appears, however, that the government of Locri was an aristocracy,
in which certain select families, called the Hundred Houses, enjoyed superior
privileges: these were considered to be derived from the original settlers, and
in accordance with the legend concerning their origin, were regarded as deriving
their nobility from the female side. (Pol. xii. 5.)
The next event in the history of Locri, of which we have any account,
is the memorable battle of the Sagras, in which it was said that a force of 10,000
Locrians, with a small body of auxiliaries from Rhegium, totally defeated an army
of 130,000 Crotoniats, with vast slaughter. (Strab. vi. p. 261; Cic. de N. D.
ii. 2; Justin. xx. 2, 3.) The extraordinary character of this victory, and the
exaggerated and fabulous accounts of it which appear to have been circulated,
rendered it proverbial among the Greeks (alethestera ton epi Sagra, Suid. s. v.)
Yet we have no means of assigning its correct place in history, its date being
extremely uncertain, some accounts placing it after the fall of Sybaris (B.C.
510), while others would carry it back nearly 50 years earlier.
The small number of troops which the Locrians are represented as bringing
into the field upon this occasion, as compared with those of Crotona, would seem
to prove that the city was not at this time a very powerful one; at least it is
clear that it was not to compare with the great republics of Sybaris and Crotona.
But it seems to have been in a flourishing condition; and it must in all probability
be to this period that we must refer the establishment of its colonies of Hipponium
and Medma, on the opposite side of the Bruttian peninsula. (Scymn. Ch. 308; Strab.
vi. p. 256.) Locri is mentioned by Herodotus in B.C. 493, when the Samian colonists,
who were on their way to Sicily, touched there (Herod. vi. 23); and it appears
to have been in a state of great prosperity when its praises were sung by Pindar,
in B.C. 484. (Pind. Ol. x., xi.) The Locrians, from their position, were naturally
led to maintain a close connection with the Greek cities of Sicily, especially
with Syracuse, their friendship with which would seem: to have dated,. according
to some accounts, [p. 200] from the period of their very foundation. (Strab. vi.
p. 259.) On the other hand, they were almost constantly on terms of hostility
with their neighbours of Rhegium, and, during the rule of Anaxilas, in the latter
city, were threatened with complete destruction by that despot, from which they
were saved by the intervention of Hieron of Syracuse. (Pind. Pyth. ii. 35; and
Schol. ad loc.) In like manner we find them, at the period of the Athenian expeditions
to Sicily, in close alliance with Syracuse, and on terms of open enmity with Rhegium.
Hence they at first engaged in actual hostilities with the Athenians under Laches;
and though they subsequently concluded a treaty of peace with them, they still
refused to admit the great Athenian armament, in B.C. 415, even to anchor on their
coasts. (Thuc. iii. 99, 115, iv. 1, 24, v. 5, vi. 44, vii. 1; Diod. xii. 54, xiii.
3.) At a later period of the Peloponnesian War they were among the few Italian
cities that sent auxiliary ships to the Lacedaemonians. (Thuc. viii. 91.)
During the reign of the elder Dionysius at Syracuse, the bonds of
amity between the two cities were strengthened by the personal alliance of that
monarch, who married Doris, the daughter of Xenetus, one of the most eminent of
the citizens of Locri. (Diod. xiv. 44.) He subsequently adhered steadfastly to
this alliance, which secured him a footing in Italy, from which he derived great
advantage in his wars against the Rhegians and other states of Magna Graecia.
In return for this, as well as to secure the continuance of their support, he
conferred great benefits upon the Locrians, to whom he gave the whole territory
of Caulonia, after the destruction of that city in B.C. 389; to which he added
that of Hipponium in the following year, and a part of that of Scylletium. (Diod.
xiv. 100, 106, 107; Strab. p. 261.) Hipponium was, however, again wrested from
them by the Carthaginians in B.C. 379. (Id. xv. 24.) The same intimate relations
with Syracuse continued under the younger Dionysius, when they became the source
of great misfortunes to the city: for that despot, after his expulsion from Syracuse
(B.C. 356), withdrew to Locri, where he seized on the citadel, and established
himself in the possession of despotic power. His rule here is described as extremely
arbitrary and oppressive, and stained at once by the most excessive avarice and
unbridled licentiousness. At length, after a period of six years, the Locrians
took advantage of the absence of Dionysius, and drove out his garrison; while
they exercised a cruel vengeance upon his unfortunate wife and daughters, who
had fallen into their hands. (Justin, xxi. 2, 3; Strab. vi. p. 259; Arist. Pol.
v. 7; Clearch. ap. Athen. xii. 541.)
The Locrians are said to have suffered severely from the oppressions
of this tyrant; but it is probable that they sustained still greater injury from
the increasing power of the Bruttians, who were now become most formidable neighbours
to all the Greek cities in this part of Italy. The Locrians never appear to have
fallen under the yoke of the barbarians, but it is certain that their city declined
greatly from its former prosperity. It is not again mentioned till the wars of
Pyrrhus. At that period it appears that Locri, as well as Rhegium and other Greek
cities, had placed itself under the protection of Rome, and even admitted a Roman
garrison into its walls. On the approach of Pyrrhus they expelled this garrison,
and declared themselves in favour of that monarch (Justin, xviii. 1); but they
had soon cause to regret the change; for the garrison left there by the king,
during his absence in Sicily, conducted itself so ill, that the Locrians rose
against them and expelled them from their city. On this account they were severely
punished by Pyrrhus on his return from Sicily; and, not content with exactions
from the inhabitants, he carried off a great part of the sacred treasures from
the temple of Proserpine, the most celebrated sanctuary at Locri. A violent storm
is said to have punished his impiety, and compelled him to restore the treasures.
(Appian, Samn. iii. 12; Liv. xxix. 18; Val. Max. i. 1, Ext. § 1.)
After the departure of Pyrrhus, the Locrians seem to have submitted
again to Rome, and continued so till the Second Punic War, when they were among
the states that threw off the Roman alliance and declared in favour of the Carthaginians,
after the battle of Cannae, B.C. 216. (Liv. xxii. 61, xxiii. 30.) They soon after
received a Carthaginian force within their walls, though at the same time their
liberties were guaranteed by a treaty of alliance on equal terms. (Liv. xxiv.
1.) When the fortune of the war began to turn against Carthage, Locri was besieged
by the Roman consul Crispinus, but without success; and the approach of Hannibal
compelled him to raise the siege, B.C. 208. (Id. xxvii. 25, 28.) It was not till
B.C. 205, that Scipio, when on the point of sailing for Africa, was enabled, by
the treachery of some of the citizens, to surprise one of the forts which commanded
the town; an advantage that soon led to the surrender of the other citadel and
the city itself. (Id. xxix. 6-8.) Scipio confided the charge of the city and the
command of the garrison to his legate, Q. Pleminius; but that officer conducted
himself with such cruelty and rapacity towards the unfortunate Locrians, that
they rose in tumult against him, and a violent sedition took place, which was
only appeased by the intervention of Scipio himself. That general, however, took
the part of Pleminius, whom he continued in his command; and the Locrians were
exposed anew to his exactions and cruelties, till they at length took courage
to appeal to the Roman senate. Notwithstanding vehement opposition on the part
of the friends of Scipio, the senate pronounced in favour of the Locrians, condemned
Pleminius, and restored to the Locrians their liberty and the enjoyment of their
own laws. (Liv. xxix. 8, 16-22; Diod. xxvii. 4; Appian, Annib, 55.) Pleminius
had, on this occasion, followed the example of Pyrrhus in plundering the temple
of Proserpine; but the senate caused restitution to be made, and the impiety to
be expiated at the public cost. (Diod. L. C.)
From this time we hear little of Locri. Notwithstanding the privileged
condition conceded to it by the senate, it seems to have sunk into a very subordinate
position. Polybius, however, speaks of it as in his day still a considerable town,
which was bound by treaty to furnish a certain amount of naval auxiliaries to
the Romans. (Pol. xii. 5.) The Locrians were under particular obligations to that
historian (lb.) ; and at a later period we find them enjoying the special patronage
of Cicero (Cic. de Leg. ii. 6), but we do not know the origin of their connection
with the great orator. From Strabo's account it is obvious that Locri still subsisted
as a town in his day, and it is noticed in like manner by Pliny and Ptolemy (Strab.
vi. p. 259; Plin. iii. 5. s. 10; Ptol. iii. 1. § 10). Its name is not found in
the Itineraries, though they describe this coast in considerable detail; but Procopius
seems to attest its continued existence in the 6th century (B. G. i. 15), and
it is probable that it owed its complete destruction to the Saracens. Its very
name was forgotten in the middle ages, and its site became a matter of dispute.
This has however been completely established by the researches of modern travellers,
who have found the remains of the ancient city on the sea-coast, near the modern
town of Gerace. (Cluver, Ital. p. 1301; Romanelli, vol. i. p. 152; Cramer, vol.
ii. p. 411; Riedesel, Voyage dans la Grande Grece, p. 148.)
The few ruins that still remain have been carefully examined and described
by the Due de Luynes. (Ann. d. Inst. Arch. vol. ii. pp. 3-12.) The site of the
ancient city, which may be distinctly traced by the vestiges of the walls, occupied
a space of near two miles in length, by less than a mile in breadth, extending
from the sea-coast at Torre di Gerace (on the left bank of a small stream called
the Fiume di S. Ilario), to the first heights or ridges of the Apennines. It is
evidently to these heights that Strabo gives the name of Mount Esopis (Esopis),
on which he places the first foundation of the city. (Strab. vi. p. 259.) The
same heights are separated by deep ravines, so as to constitute two separate summits,
both of them retaining the traces of ancient fortifications, and evidently the
two citadels not far distant from each other noticed by Livy in his account of
the capture of the city by Scipio. (Liv. xxix. 6.) The city extended from hence
down the slopes of the hills towards the sea, and had unquestionably its port
at the mouth of the little river S. Ilario, though there could never have been
a harbour there in the modern sense of the term. Numerous fragments of ancient
masonry are scattered over the site, but the only distinct vestiges of any ancient
edifice are those of a Doric temple, of which the basement alone now remains,
but several columns were standing down to a recent period. It is occupied by a
farm-house, called the Casino dell' Imperatore, about a mile from the sea, and
appears to have stood without the ancient walls, so that it is not improbable
the ruins may be the remains of the celebrated temple of Proserpine, which we
know to have occupied a similar position. (Liv. xxix. 18.) The ruins of Locri
are about five miles distant from the modern town of Gerace, which was previously
supposed to occupy the site of the ancient city (Cluver, l. c.; Barr. de Sit.
Calabr. iii. 7), and 15 miles from the Capo di Bruzzano, the Zephyrian promontory.
The Locrians are celebrated by Pindar (Ol. x. 18, xi. 19) for their
devotion to the Muses as well as for their skill and courage in war. In accordance
with this character we find mention of Xenocritus and Erasippus, both of them
natives of Locri, as poets of some note; the lyric poetess Theano was probably
also a native of the Epizephyrian Locri. (Schol. ad Pind. Ol. xi. 17; Boeckh,
ad Ol. x. p. 197.) The Pythagorean philosophy also was warmly taken up and cultivated
there, though the authorities had refused to admit any of the political innovations
of that philosopher. (Porphyr. Vit. Pyth. 56.) But among his followers and disciples
several were natives of Locri (Iambl. Vit. Pyth. 267), the most eminent of whom
were Timaeus, Echecrates, and Acrion, from whom Plato is said to have imbibed
his knowledge of the Pythagorean tenets. (Cic. de Fin. v. 29.) Nor was the cultivation
of other arts neglected. Eunomus, a Locrian citizen, was celebrated for his skill
on the cithara; and the athlete Euthymus of Locri, who gained several prizes at
Olympia, was scarcely less renowned than Milo of Crotona. (Strab. vi. pp. 255,
260; Paus. vi. 6. § § 4-11.)
The territory of Locri, during the flourishing period of the city,
was certainly of considerable extent. Its great augmentation by Dionysius of Syracuse
has been already mentioned. But previous to that time, it was separated from that
of Rhegium on the SW. by the river Halex or Alice, while its northern limit towards
Caulonia was probably the Sagras, generally identified with the Alaro. The river
Buthrotus of Livy (xxix. 7), which appears to have been but a short distance from
the town, was probably the Novito, about six miles to the N. Thucydides mentions
two other colonies of Locri (besides Hipponium and Medma already noticed), to
which he gives the names of Itone and Melae, but no other trace is found of either
the one or the other. (Thuc. v. 5.)
This text is from: Dictionary of Greek and Roman Geography (1854) (ed. William Smith, LLD). Cited October 2004 from The Perseus Project URL below, which contains interesting hyperlinks
ΚΑΥΛΩΝΙΑ (Αρχαία πόλη) ΚΑΛΑΒΡΙΑ
(KauloW or KauloWia: Eth. KauloWiates). A city on the E. coast of
Bruttium, between Locri and the Gulf of Scyllacium. All authors agree that it
was a Greek colony of Achaean origin, but Strabo and Pausanias represent it as
founded by Achaeans direct from the Peloponnese, and the latter author mentions
Typhon of Aegium in Achaia as the Oekist or leader of the colony (Strab. vi. p.
261; Paus. vi. 3. § 12); while Scymnus Chius and Stephanus of Byzantium affirm
that it was a colony of Crotona. (Scymn. Ch. 319; Steph. B. s. v. AuloW.) It is
easy to reconcile both accounts; the Crotoniats, as in many similar cases, doubtless
called in additional colonists from the mother-country. Virgil alludes to it as
if it were already in existence as a city at the time of the Trojan War (Aen.
iii. 552), but this is evidently a mere poetical license, like the mention of
the Lacinian temple in the preceding line. Scylax and Polybius both mention it
as one of the Greek cities on this part of the Italian coast. (Scyl. § 13, p.
5; Pol. x. 1.) We are told that its name was originally Aulonia (AuloWia), from
a deep valley or ravine (auloW), close to which it was situated (Strab. l. c.;
Scymn. Ch. 320-322; Hecataeus, ap. Steph. B. s. v. KauloWia), and that this was
subsequently altered into Caulonia: the change must, however, have taken place
at a very early period, as all the coins of the city, many of which are very ancient,
bear the name Caulonia.
We have very little information as to the early history of Caulonia:
but we learn from Polybius that it participated in the disorders consequent on
the expulsion of the Pythagoreans from Crotona and the neighbouring cities; and
was for some time agitated by civil dissensions, until at length tranquillity
having been restored by the intervention of the Achaeans, the three cities of
Caulonia, Crotona, and Sybaris, concluded a league together, and founded a temple
to Zeus Homorius, to be a common place of meeting and deliberation. (Pol. ii.
39.) Iamblichus also mentions Caulonia among the cities in which the Pythagorean
sect had made great progress, and which were thrown into confusion by its sudden
and violent suppression (Iambl. Vit. Pyth. § § 262, 267); and, according to Porphyry
(Vit. Pyth. § 56), it was the first place where Pythagoras himself sought refuge
after his expulsion from Crotona. The league just mentioned was probably of very
brief duration; but the part here assigned to Caulonia proves that it must have
been at this time a powerful and important city. Yet, with the exception of an
incidental notice of its name in Thucydides (vii. 25), we hear no more of it until
the time of the elder Dionysius, who in B.C. 389 invaded Magna Graecia with a
large army, and laid siege to Caulonia. The Crotoniats and other Italian Greeks
immediately assembled a large force, with which they advanced to the relief of
the city: but they were met by Dionysius at the river Helorus or Helleporus, and
totally defeated with great slaughter. (Diod. xiv. 103--105.) In consequence of
this battle Caulonia was compelled to surrender to Dionysius, who removed the
inhabitants from the city and established them at Syracuse, while he bestowed
their territory upon his allies the Locrians. (Ib. 106.) The power of Caulonia
was effectually broken by this disaster, and it never rose again to prosperity;
but it did not cease to exist, being probably repeopled by the Locrians; as at
the time of the landing of Dion in Sicily, we are told that the younger Dionysius
was stationed at Caulonia with a fleet and army. (Plut. Dion, 26.) At a somewhat
later period, during the wars of Pyrrhus in Italy, it was taken by a body of Campanian
mercenaries in the Roman service, and utterly ruined. (Paus. vi. 3. § 12.) It
is probably this event, to which Strabo also alludes when he says that Caulonia
was laid desolate by the barbarians (vi. p. 261), though his addition that the
inhabitants removed to Sicily would rather seem to refer to its former destruction
by Dionysius. Both he and Pausanias evidently regard the city as having remained
desolate ever after; but it appears again during the Second Punic War, on which
occasion it followed the example of the Bruttians and declared in favour of Hannibal.
An attempt was afterwards made to recover it by a Roman force, with auxiliaries
from Rhegium, but the sudden arrival of Hannibal broke up the siege. (Liv. xxvii.
12, 15, 16; Plut. Fab. 22; Pol. x. 1.) We have no account of the occasion when
it fell again into the hands of the Romans, nor of the treatment it met with:
but there is little doubt that it was severely punished, in common with the rest
of the Bruttians; and probably its final desolation must date from this period.
Strabo tells us it was in his time quite deserted: and though the name is mentioned
by Mela, Pliny speaks only of the vestigia oppidi Caulonis, and Ptolemy omits
it altogether. (Strab. l. c.; Mel. ii. 4; Plin. iii. 10. s. 15.). It must, however,
have continued to exist, though in a decayed condition, as the name of Caulon
is still found in the Tabula. (Tab. Peut.) An inscription, in which the name of
the Cauloniatae is found as retaining their municipal condition under the reign
of Trajan (Orelli, Inscr. 150), is of very doubtful authenticity.
The site of Caulonia is extremely uncertain: the names and distances
given in this part of the Tabula are so corrupt as to afford little or no assistance.
Strabo and Pliny both place it to the N. of the river Sagras, but unfortunately
that river cannot be identified with any certainty. Many topographers place Caulonia
at Castel Vetere, on a hill on the S. bank of the river Alaro: but those who identify
the Alaro with the Sagras, naturally look for Caulonia N. of that river. Some
ruins are said to exist on the left bank of the Alaro, near its mouth; but according
to Swinburne these are of later date, and the remains of Caulonia have still to
be discovered.
This text is from: Dictionary of Greek and Roman Geography (1854) (ed. William Smith, LLD). Cited June 2004 from The Perseus Project URL below, which contains interesting hyperlinks
ΜΕΔΜΑ (Αρχαία πόλη) ΚΑΛΑΒΡΙΑ
Medma or Mesma (Medme, Steph. B.; Medma, Strab., Scymn. Ch.; but Mesma
on coins, and so Apollodorus, cited by Steph. B.; Scylax has Mesa, evidently a
corruption for Mesma: Eth. Medmaios, Mesmaios), a Greek city of Southern Italy,
on the W. coast of the Bruttian peninsula, between Hipponium and the mouth of
the Metaurus. (Strab. vi. p. 256; Scyl. p. 4. § 12.) It was a colony founded by
the Epizephyrian Locrians, and is said to have derived its name from an adjoining
fountain. (Strab. l. c.; Scymn. Ch. 308; Steph. B. s. v.) But though it is repeatedly
noticed among the Greek cities in this part of Italy, it does not appear ever
to have attained to any great power or importance, and its name never figures
in history. It is probable, however, that the Medimnaeans (Medimnaioi), who are
noticed by Diodorus as contributing a body of colonists to the repeopling of Messana
by Dionysius in B.C. 396, are no other than the Medmaeans, and that we should
read Medmaioi in the passage in question. (Diod. xiv. 78.) Though never a very
conspicuous place, Medma seems to have survived the fall of many other more important
cities of Magna Graecia, and it is noticed as a still existing town both by Strabo
and Pliny. (Strab. l. c.; Plin. iii. 5. s. 10.) But the name is not found in Ptolemy,
and all subsequent trace of it disappears. It appears from Strabo that the town
itself was situated a little inland, and that it had a port or emporium on the
sea-shore. The exact site has not been determined, but as the name of Mesima is
still borne by a river which flows into the sea a little below Nicotera, there
can be no doubt that Medma was situated somewhere in the neighbourhood of that
town, and probably its port was at the mouth of the river which still bears its
name. Nicotera, the name of which is already found in the Antonine Itinerary (pp.
106, 111), probably arose after the decline of Mesma.
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
ΡΗΓΙΟΝ (Αρχαία πόλη) ΚΑΛΑΒΡΙΑ
Pegion: Eth. Rheginos, Rheginus: Reggio. An important city of Magna
Graecia, situated near the southern end of the Bruttian peninsula, on the E. side
of the Sicilian straits, and almost directly opposite to Messana in Sicily. The
distance between the two cities, in a direct line, is only about 6 geog. miles,
and the distance from Rhegium to the nearest point of the island is somewhat less.
There is no doubt that it was a Greek colony, and we have no account of any settlement
previously existing on the site; but the spot is said to have been marked by the
tomb of Jocastus, one of the sons of Aeolus. (Heraclid. Polit. 25.) The foundation
of Rhegium is universally ascribed to the Chalcidians, who had, in a year of famine,
consecrated a tenth part of their citizens to Apollo; and these, under the direction
of the oracle at Delphi, proceeded to Rhegium, whither they were also invited
by their Chalcidic brethren, who were already established at Zancle on the opposite
side of the strait. (Strab. vi. p. 257; Heraclid. l. c.; Diod. xiv. 40; Thuc.
vi. 4; Scymn. Ch. 311.) With these Chalcidians were also united a body of Messenian
exiles, who had been driven from their country at the beginning of the First Messenian
War, and had established themselves for a time at Macistus. They were apparently
not numerous, as Rhegium always continued to be considered a Chalcidic city; but
they comprised many of the chief families in the new colony; so that, according
to Strabo, the presiding magistrates of the city were always taken from among
these Messenian citizens, down to the time of Anaxilas, who himself belonged to
this dominant caste. (Strab. vi. p. 257; Paus. iv. 23. § 6; Thuc. vi. 4; Heraclid.
l. c. 1.) The date of the foundation of Rhegium is uncertain; the statements just
mentioned, which connect it with the First Messenian War would carry it back as
far as the 8th century B.C.; but they leave the precise period uncertain. Pausanias
considers it as founded after the end of the war, while Antiochus, who is cited
by Strabo, seems to refer it to the beginning; but his expressions are not decisive,
as we do not know how long the exiles may have remained at Macistus; and it is
probable, on the whole, that we may consider it as taking place shortly after
the close of the war, and therefore before 720 B.C. (Paus. l. c.; Antioch. ap.
Strab. l. c.). In this case it was probably the most ancient of all the Greek
colonies in this part of Italy. Various etymologies of the name of Rhegium are
given by ancient authors; the one generally received, and adopted by Aeschylus
(ap. Strab. l. c.), was that which derived it from the bursting asunder of the
coasts of Sicily and Italy, which was generally ascribed to an earthquake. (Diod.
iv. 85; Justin. iv. 1, &c.) Others absurdly connected it with the Latin regium.
(Strab. l. c.), while Heraclides gives a totally different story, which derived
the name from that of an indigenous hero. (Heraclid. Polit. 25.) There
seems no doubt that Rhegium rose rapidly to be a flourishing and prosperous city;
but we know almost nothing of its history previous to the time of Anaxilas. The
constitution, as we learn from Heraclides, was aristocratic, the management of
affairs resting wholly with a council or body of 1000 of the principal and wealthiest
citizens. After the legislation of Charondas at Catana, his laws were adopted
by the Rhegians as well as by the other Chalcidic cities of Sicily, (Heraclid.
l. c.; Arist. Pol. ii. 12, v. 12.) The Rhegians are mentioned as affording shelter
to the fugitive Phocaeans, who had been driven from Corsica, previous to the foundation
of Velia. (Herod. i. 166, 167.) According to Strabo they extended their dominion
over many of the adjoining towns, but these could only have been small places,
as we do not hear of any colonies of importance founded by the Rhegians; and their
territory extended only as far as the Halex on the E., where they adjoined the
Locrian territory, while the Locrian colonies of Medma and Hipponinm prevented
their extension on the N. Indeed, from the position of Rhegium it seems to have
always maintained closer relations with Sicily, and taken more part in the politics
of that island than in those of the other Greek cities in Italy. Between the Rhegians
and Locrians, however, there appears to have been a constant spirit of enmity,
which might be readily expected between two rival cities, such near neighbours,
and belonging to different races. (Thuc. iv. 1, 24.)
Rhegium appears to have participated largely in the political changes
introduced by the Pythagoreans, and even became, for a short time after the death
of Pythagoras, the head-quarters of his sect (Iambl. Vit. Pyth. 33, 130, 251);
but the changes then introduced do not seem to have been permanent.
It was under the reign of Anaxilas that Rhegium first rose to a degree
of power far greater than it had previously attained. We have no account of the
circumstances attending the elevation of that despot to power, an event which
took place, according to Diodorus, in B.C. 494 (Diod. xi. 48); but we know that
he belonged to one of the ancient Messenian families, and to the oligarchy which
had previously ruled the state. (Strab. vi. p. 257; Paus. iv. 23. § 6; Arist.
Pol. v. 12; Thuc. vi. 4.) Hence, when he made himself master of Zancle on the
opposite side of the straits, he gave to that city the name of Messana, by which
it was ever afterwards known.
Anaxilas continued for some years ruler of both these cities, and
thus was undisputed master of the Sicilian straits: still further to strengthen
himself in this sovereignty, he fortified the rocky promontory of Scyllaeum, and
established a naval station there to guard the straits against the Tyrrhenian
pirates. (Strab. vi. p. 257.) He meditated also the destruction of the neighbouring
city of Locri, the perpetual rival and enemy of Rhegium, but was prevented from
carrying out his purpose by the intervention of Hieron of Syracuse, who espoused
the cause of the Locrians, and whose enmity Anaxilas did not choose to provoke.
(Schol. ad Pind. Pyth. ii. 34.) One of his daughters was, indeed, married to the
Syracusan despot, whose friendship he seems to have sought assiduously to cultivate.
Anaxilas enjoyed the reputation of one of the mildest and most equitable of the
Sicilian rulers (Justin. iv. 2), and it is probable that Rhegium enjoyed great
prosperity under his government. At his death, in B.C. 476, it passed without
opposition under the rule of his two sons; but the government was administered
during their minority by their guardian Micythus, who reigned over both Rhegium
and Messana for nine years with exemplary justice and moderation, and at the end
of that time gave up the sovereignty into the hands of the two sons of Anaxilas.
(Diod. xi. 48, 66; Herod. vii. 170; Justin. iv. 2; Macrob. Sat. i. 11.) These,
however, did not hold it long: they were expelled in B.C. 461, the revolutions
which at that time agitated the cities of Sicily having apparently extended to
Rhegium also. (Diod. xi. 76.)
The government of Micythus was marked by one great disaster: in B.C.
473, the Rhegians, having sent an auxiliary force of 3000 men to assist the Tarentines
against the Iapygians, shared in the great defeat which they sustained on that
occasion; but the statement of Diodorus that the barbarians not only pursued the
fugitives to the gates of Rhegium, but actually made themselves masters of the
city, may be safely rejected as incredible. (Diod. xi. 52; Herod. vii. 170; Grote's
Hist. of Greece, vol. v. p. 319.) A story told by Justin, that the Rhegians being
agitated by domestic dissensions, a body of mercenaries, who were called in by
one of the parties, drove out their opponents, and then made themselves masters
of the city by a general massacre of the remaining citizens (Justin, iv. 3), must
be placed (if at all) shortly after the expulsion of the sons of Anaxilas; but
the whole story has a very apocryphal air; it is not noticed by any other writer,
and it is certain that the old Chalcidic citizens continued in possession of Rhegium
down to a much later period.
We have very little information as to the history of Rhegium during
the period which followed the expulsion of the despots; but it seems to have retained
its liberty, in common with the neighbouring cities of Sicily, till it fell under
the yoke of Dionysius. In B.C. 427, when the Athenians sent a fleet under Laches
and Charoeades to support the Leontines against Syracuse, the Rhegians espoused
the cause of the Chalcidic cities of Sicily, and not only allowed their city to
be made the head-quarters of the Athenian fleet, but themselves furnished a considerable
auxiliary force. They were in consequence engaged in continual hostilities with
the Locrians. (Diod. xii. 54; Thuc. iii. 86, iv. 1, 24, 25.) But they pursued
a different course on occasion of the great Athenian expedition to Sicily in B.C.
415, when they refused to take any part in the contest; and they appear to have
persevered in this neutrality to the end. (Diod. xiii. 3: Thuc. vi. 44, vii. 1,
58.)
It was not long after this that the increasing power of Dionysius
of Syracuse, who had destroyed in succession the chief Chalcidic cities of Sicily,
became a subject of alarm to the Rhegians; and in B.C. 399 they fitted out a fleet
of 50 triremes, and an army of 6000 foot and 600 horse, to make war upon the despot.
But the Messenians, who at first made common cause with them, having quickly abandoned
the alliance, they were compelled to desist from the enterprise, and made peace
with Dionysius. (Diod. xiv. 40.) The latter, who was meditating a great war with
Carthage, was desirous to secure the friendship of the Rhegians; but his proposals
of a matrimonial alliance were rejected with scorn; he in consequence concluded
such an alliance with the Locrians, and became from this time the implacable enemy
of the Rhegians. (lb. 44, 107.) It was from hostility to the latter that he a
few years later (B.C. 394), after the destruction of Messana by the Carthagilians,
restored and fortified that city, as a post to command the straits, and from which
to carry on his enterprises in Southern Italy. The Rhegians in vain sought to
forestal him; they made an unsuccessful attack upon Messana, and were foiled in
their attempt to establish a colony of Naxians at Mylae, as a post of offence
against the Messenians. (Ib. 87.) The next year Dionysius, in his turn, made a
sudden attack on Rhegium itself, but did not succeed in surprising the city; and
after ravaging its territory, was compelled to draw off his forces. (Ib. 90.)
But in B.C. 390 he resumed the design on a larger scale, and laid regular siege
to the city with a force of 20,000 foot, 1000 horse, and a fleet of 120 triremes.
The Rhegians, however, opposed a vigorous resistance: the fleet of Dionysius suffered
severely from a storm, and the approach of winter at length compelled him to abandon
the siege. (Ib. 100.) The next year (B.C. 389) his great victory over the confederate
forces of the Italiot Greeks at the river Helorus left him at liberty to prosecute
his designs against Rhegium without opposition: the Rhegians in vain endeavoured
to avert the danger by submitting to a tribute of 300 talents, and by surrendering
all their ships, 70 in number. By these concessions they obtained only a precarious
truce, which Dionysius found a pretext for breaking the very next year, and laid
siege to the city with all his forces. The Rhegians, under the command of a general
named Phyton, made a desperate resistance, and were enabled to prolong their defence
for eleven months, but were at length compelled to surrender, after having suffered
the utmost extremities of famine (B.C. 387). The surviving inhabitants were sold
as slaves, their general Phyton put to an ignominious death, and the city itself
totally destroyed. (Diod.xiv. 106-108, 111, 112; Strab. vi. p. 258; Pseud.-Arist.
Oecon. ii. 21.)
There is no doubt that Rhegium never fully recovered this great calamity;
but so important a site could not long remain unoccupied. The younger Dionysius
partially restored the city, to which he gave the name of Phoebias, but the old
name soon again prevailed. (Strab. l. c.) It was occupied with a garrison by the
despot, but in B.C. 351 it was besieged and taken by the Syracusan commanders
Leptines and Callippus, the garrison driven out, and the citizens restored to
independence. (Diod. xvi. 45.) Hence they were, a few years later (B.C. 345),
among the foremost to promise their assistance to Timoleon, who halted at Rhegium
on his way to Sicily, and from thence, eluding the vigilance of the Carthaginians
by a stratagem, crossed over to Tauromenium. (Diod. xvi. 66, 68; Plut. Timol.
9,10.) From this time we hear no more of Rhegium, till the arrival of Pyrrhus
in Italy (B.C. 280), when it again became the scene of a memorable catastrophe.
The Rhegians on that occasion, viewing with apprehension the progress of the king
of Epirus, and distrusting the Carthaginians, had recourse to the Roman alliance,
and received into their city as a garrison, a body of Campanian troops, 4000 in
number, under the command of an officer named Decius. But these troops had not
been long in possession of the city when they were tempted to follow the example
of their countrymen, the Mamertines, on the other side of the strait; and they
took advantage of an alleged attempt at defection on the part of the Rhegians,
to make a promiscuous massacre of the male citizens, while they reduced the women
and children to slavery, and established themselves in the sole occupation of
the town. (Pol. i. 7; Oros. iv. 3; Appian, Samnit. iii. 9; Diod. xxii. Exc. H.
p. 494, Exc. Vales, p. 562; Dion Cass. Fr. 40. 7; Strab. v. p. 258.) The Romans
were unable to punish them for this act of treachery so long as they were occupied
with the war against Pyrrhus; and the Campanians for some years continued to reap
the benefit of their crime. But as soon as Pyrrhus had finally withdrawn from
Italy, the Romans turned their arms against their rebellious soldiers; and in
B.C. 270, being actively supported by Hieron of Syracuse, the consul Genucius
succeeded in reducing Rhegium by force, though not till after a long siege. Great
part of the Campanians perished in the defence ; the rest were executed by order
of the Roman people. (Poi. i. 6, 7; Oros. iv. 3; Dionys. Fr. Mai. xix. 1, xx.
7.)
Rhegium was now restored to the survivors of its former inhabitants
(Pol. i. 7; Liv. xxxi. 31; Appian, l. c.); but it must have suffered severely,
and does not seem to have again recovered its former prosperity. Its name is hardly
mentioned during the First Punic War, but in the second, the citizens distinguished
themselves by their fidelity to the Roman cause, and repeated attempts of Hannibal
to make himself master of the city were uniformly repulsed. (Liv. xxiii. 30, xxiv.
1, xxvi. 12, xxix. 6.) From this time the name of Rhegium is rarely mentioned
in history under the Roman Republic ; but we learn from several incidental notices
that it continued to enjoy its own laws and nominal liberty as a foederata civitas,
though bound, in common with other cities in the same condition, to furnish an
auxiliary naval contingent as often as required. (Liv. xxxi. 31, xxxv. 16, xxxvi.
42.) It was not till after the Social War that the Rhegians, like the other Greek
cities of Italy, passed into the condition of Roman citizens, and Rhegium itself
became a Roman Municipium. (Cic. Verr. iv. 6. 0, Phil. i. 3, pro Arch. 3.) Shortly
before this (B.C. 91) the city had suffered severely from an earthquake, which
had destroyed a large part of it (Strab. vi. p. 258; Jul. Obseq. 114); but it
seems to have, in great measure, recovered from this calamity, and is mentioned
by Appian towards the close of the Republic as one of the eighteen flourishing
cities of Italy, which were promised by the Triumvirs to their veterans as a reward
for their services. (Appian, B.C. iv. 3.) Rhegium, however, had the good fortune
to escape on this occasion by the personal favour of Octavian (Ib. 86); and during
the war which followed between him and Sextus Pompeius, B.C. 38-36, it became
one of the most important posts, which was often made by Octavian the headquarters
both of his fleet and army. (Strab. vi. p. 258; Appian, B.C. v. 81, 84; Dion Cass.
xlviii. 18, 47.) To reward the Rhegians for their services on this occasion, Augustus
increased the population, which was in a declining state, by the addition of a
body of new colonists; but the old inhabitants were not expelled, nor did the
city assume the title of a Colonia, though it adopted, in gratitude to Augustus,
the name of Rhegium Julium. (Strab. l. c.; Ptol. iii. 1. § 9; Orell. Inser. 3838.)
In the time of Strabo it was a populous and flourishing place, and was one of
the few cities which, like Neapolis and Tarentum, still preserved some remains
of its Greek civilisation. (Strab. vi. pp. 253, 259.) Traces of this may be observed
also in inscriptions, some of which, of the period of the Roman Empire, present
a curious mixture of Greek and Latin, while others have the names of Roman magistrates,
though the inscriptions themselves are in Greek. (Morisani, Inscr. Reginae, 4to.
Neap. 1770, pp. 83, 126, &c.; Boeckh, C. L 5760-5768.)
Its favourable situation and its importance, as commanding the passage
of the Sicilian straits, preserved Rhegium from falling into the same state of
decay as many other cities in the south of Italy. It continued to exist as a considerable
city throughout the period of the Roman Empire (Plin. iii. 5. s. 10; Ptol. l.
c.; Itin. Ant. pp. 112, 115, 490), and was the termination of the great highway
which led through the southern peninsula of Italy, and formed the customary mode
of communication with Sicily. In A.D. 410 Rhegium became the limit of the progress
of Alaric, who after the capture of Rome advanced through Campania, Lucania, and
Bruttium, laying waste those provinces on his march, and made himself master of
Rhegium, from whence he tried to cross over into Sicily, but, being frustrated
in this attempt, retraced his steps as far as Consentia, where he died. (Hist.
Miscell. xiii. p. 535.) Somewhat later it is described by Cassiodorus as still
a flourishing place (Var. xii. 14), and was still one of the chief cities of Bruttium
in the days of Paulus Diaconus. (Hist. Lang. ii. 17.) During the Gothic wars after
the fall of the Western Empire, Rhegium bears a considerable part, and was a strong
fortress, but it was taken by Totila in A.D. 549, previous to his expedition to
Sicily. (Procop. B. G. i. 8, iii. 18, 37, 38.) It subsequently fell again into
the hands of the Greek emperors, and continued subject to them, with the exception
of a short period when it was occupied by the Saracens, until it passed under
the dominion of Robert Guiscard in A.D. 1060. The modern city of Reggio is still
a considerable place, with a population of about 10,000 souls, and is the capital
of the province of Calabria Ultra; but it has suffered severely in modern times
from earthquakes, having been almost entirely destroyed in 1783, and again in
great part overthrown in 1841. It has no remains of antiquity, except a few inscriptions,
but numerous coins, urns, mosaics, and other ancient relics have been brought
to light by excavations.
Rhegium was celebrated in antiquity as the birthplace of the lyric
poet Ibycus, as well as that of Lycus the historian, the father of Lycophron.
It gave birth also to the celebrated sculptor Pythagoras (Diog. Laert. viii. 1.
§ 47; Paus. vi. 4. § 4); and to several of the minor Pythagorean philosophers,
whose names are enumerated by lamblichus (Vit. Pyth. 267), but none of these are
of much note. Its territory was fertile, and noted for the excellence of its wines,
which were especially esteemed for their salubrity. (Athen. i. p. 26.) Cassiodorus
describes it as well adapted for vines and olives, but not suited to corn. (Var.
xii. 14.) Another production in which it excelled was its breed of mules, so that
Anaxilas the despot was repeatedly victor at the Olympic games with the chariot
drawn by mules (apene), and his son Leophron obtained the same distinction. One
of these victories was celebrated by Simonides. (Heraclid. Polit. 25; Athen. i.
p. 3 ; Pollux, Onomast. v. 75.)
Rhegium itself was, as already mentioned, the termination of the line
of high-road which traversed the whole length of Southern Italy from Capua to
the Sicilian strait, and was first constructed by the praetor Popilius in B.C.
134. (Orell. Inscr. 3308; Mommsen, Inscr. R. N. 6276; Ritschel, Mon. Epigr. pp.
11, 12.) But the most frequented place of passage for crossing the, strait to
Messana was, in ancient as well as in modern times, not at Rhegium itself, but
at a spot about 9 miles further N., which was marked by a column, and thence known
by the name of COLUMNA RHEGINA. (Itin. Ant. pp. 98, 106, 111; Plin. iii. 5. s.
10; he Hpeginon stulis, Strab. v. p. 257.) The distance of this from Rhegium is
given both by Pliny and Strabo at 12 1/2 miles or 100 stadia, and the latter places
it only 6 stadia from the promontory of Caenys or Punta del Pezzo. It must therefore
have been situated in the neighbourhood of the modern village of Villa San Giovanni,
which is still the most usual place of passage. But the distance from Rhegium
is overstated by both geographers, the Punta del Pezzo itself being less than
10 miles from Reggio. On the other hand the inscription of La Polla (Forum Popilii)
gives the distance from the place of passage, which it designates as Ad Statuam,
at only 6 miles. (Mommsen, Inscr. R. N. 6276.) Yet it is probable that the spot
meant is really the same in both cases, as from the strong current in the straits
the place of embarkation must always have been nearly the same.
This text is from: Dictionary of Greek and Roman Geography (1854) (ed. William Smith, LLD). Cited June 2004 from The Perseus Project URL below, which contains interesting hyperlinks
ΕΠΙΖΕΦΥΡΙΟΙ ΛΟΚΡΟΙ (Αρχαία πόλη) ΙΤΑΛΙΑ
(Aokroi Epizephurioi). An ancient Greek city in Lower Italy,
situated in the southeast of Bruttium, north of the promontory of Zephyrium, from
which it was said to have derived its surname Epizephyrii, though others suppose
this name was given to the place simply because it lay to the west of Greece.
It was founded by the Locrians from Greece, B.C. 683. The inhabitants regarded
themselves as descendants of Aiax Oileus; and as he resided at the town of Naryx
among the Opuntii, the poets gave the name of Narycia Locri. For the same reason
the pitch of Bruttium is frequently called Narycia. Locri was celebrated for the
excellence of its laws, which were drawn up by Zaleucus soon after the foundation
of the city. Near the town was an ancient and wealthy Temple of Persephone.
This text is cited Oct 2002 from The Perseus Project URL below, which contains interesting hyperlinks
ΡΗΓΙΟΝ (Αρχαία πόλη) ΚΑΛΑΒΡΙΑ
(Rhegion). Now Reggio; a celebrated Greek town on the coast
of Bruttium, in the south of Italy, was situated on the Fretum Siculum, or the
strait which separates Italy and Sicily. Rhegium was founded about the beginning
of the first Messenian War, B.C. 743, by Aeolian Chalcidians from Euboea and by
Doric Messenians, who had quitted their native country on the commencement of
hostilities between Sparta and Messenia. Even before the Persian Wars Rhegium
was sufficiently powerful to send 3000 of its citizens to the assistance of the
Tarentines, and in the time of the elder Dionysius it possessed a fleet of eighty
ships of war. This monarch, having been offended by the inhabitants, took the
city and treated it with the greatest severity. Rhegium never recovered its former
greatness, though it still continued to be a place of considerable importance.
The Rhegians having applied to Rome for assistance when Pyrrhus was in the south
of Italy, the Romans placed in the town a garrison of 4000 soldiers, who had been
levied among the Latin colonies in Campania.
These troops seized the town in B.C. 279, killed or expelled
the male inhabitants, and took possession of their wives and children. The Romans
were too much engaged at the time with their war against Pyrrhus to take notice
of this outrage; but when Pyrrhus was driven out of Italy they took signal vengeance
upon these Campanians, and restored the surviving Rhegians to their city. Rhegium
was the place from which persons usually crossed over to Sicily, but the spot
at which they embarked was called Columna Rhegina (Torre di Cavallo), and was
100 stadia north of the town.
This text is cited Oct 2002 from The Perseus Project URL below, which contains interesting hyperlinks
ΕΠΙΖΕΦΥΡΙΟΙ ΛΟΚΡΟΙ (Αρχαία πόλη) ΙΤΑΛΙΑ
Locri. City of southern Italy.
The city of Locri was founded around 680 B. C. by settlers from Ozolian
Locris in central Greece,
on the northern coast of the gulf
of Corinth, who gave their new city the name of their homeland.
Bernard Suzanne (page last updated 1998), ed.
This extract is cited July 2003 from the Plato and his dialogues URL below, which contains interesting hyperlinks.
ΕΠΙΖΕΦΥΡΙΟΙ ΛΟΚΡΟΙ (Αρχαία πόλη) ΙΤΑΛΙΑ
The settlement was founded from Lokris in Greece though it is not
certain whether by the Opuntii or by the Ozolai, at the beginning of the 7th c.
B.C. It is in the vicinity of modern Bortigliola, Locri, and Gerace.
The city flourished during the 6th and 5th c., extending its dominion
over territory from the Ionian to the Tyrrhenian seas, including the cities of
Metauroo, Medma, and Hipponion. It defeated Kroton in the battle of the Sagra
shortly after the middle of the 6th c.
Lokroi was allied with Sparta, Taras, and Syracuse, and aided Dionysios
I in the struggle against Rhegion and the Italic league. In 356 it welcomed Dionysios
II, sent out from Syracuse, but was soon forced to expel him. During the war between
Rome and Pyrrhos, Lokroi changed sides several times. It surrendered to Hannibal
in 216 and was conquered by Scipio in 205. Included in the orbit of Rome, Lokroi
increasingly diminished in importance until in the course of the 8th and 9th c.,
following the incursion of the Saracens, it ceased to exist.
Not all of the area inside the encircling wall, which dates to the
4th-3d c. B.C., was occupied by buildings. Several stretches of the wall, with
round and square towers, have been found. The outlines of the walls that regulated
the watercourses crossing the city are clear. Neither the location of the port
nor the situation of the acropolis has been identified. An urban complex just
inside the city wall in the locality now called Centocamere, was laid out in large
city blocks separated by roads. It contains remains of water conduits, and in
some places kilns for the production of small terracotta objects. A second nucleus
of habitations has been located in the section of the city now called Caruso,
and this also is characterized by modest buildings with kilns and millstones.
Above the modern road to the hill is the theater, with its tiers resting against
the natural incline of the terrain. Several parts of the steps and the parodoi
were rebuilt by the Romans, with the respective part of the analemma. The plan
of the scena is recognizable, with parascenia, and it is probable that behind
this was a portico.
Not far from the theater, in the locality now called Casa Marafioti,
the remains of a Doric temple have been discovered. It may perhaps be identified
with a temple of Olympian Zeus referred to on bronze tablets found a short distance
from the theater and from the dromos. Belonging to this temple is an akroterion
in terracotta with a horseman and a sphinx below, very similar to contemporaneous
akroterial groups from Marasii.
In the little valley between the hills of the Abbadessa and those
of the Mannella a deposit of votive objects has been found, particularly pinakes
and dedicatory inscriptions. The latter must refer to the Sanctuary of Persephone
(Diod. 27.4.3), which flourished especially during the 6th and 5th c. In the vicinity
is a treasury building. No trace remains of the temple itself, which numerous
clues indicate was on the summit of the hill called Mannella.
Near Marasa a temple has been discovered. It is not certain to which
divinity it was dedicated. In its earliest phase, at the end of the 7th c., it
was an elongated cella subdivided into two naves. Belonging to it are terracotta
slabs with meander motifs. During the 6th c. the cella was embellished by a peristyle,
probably hexastyle. In the last third of the 5th c. there was built on the ruins
of the archaic temple another larger temple (19 x 45.4 m) with a slightly different
orientation. It had a cella, pronaos, opisthodomos, and peristyle in the Ionic
order. It was hexastyle with 17 columns on the long sides, and furnished with
a gutter having leonine heads in stone, and with akroterial decoration in marble,
at the center of which a Nereid between Dioskouroi mounted on horses is sustained
by Tritons.
To the NE of the city in the Lucifero section is a necropolis with
tombs largely from the 6th and 5th c., but with some later burials. A necropolis
from the 7th-6th c. has been found in the Manaci section of the city. Roman tombs
found in the area of the hill indicate a shrinking in the city's area.
F. Parise Badoni, 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.
ΚΑΥΛΩΝΙΑ (Αρχαία πόλη) ΚΑΛΑΒΡΙΑ
On the E coast between Krotone and Lokroi Epizephyroi near modern
Punta Stilo and the town of Monasterace Marina. Founded from Kroton in the 7th
c. B.C., it became a center of Pythagoreanism and was destroyed by Dionysios I
of Syracuse in 389 B.C. Rebuilt in the 4th c. B.C., it is mentioned in connection
with events of the second Punic war, but by the 1st c. B.C. the site had already
been abandoned.
Excavations conducted early in this century established the perimeter
of the city walls and led to the discovery of houses of the Hellenistic period
and the foundations of a peripteral temple in the Castellone district. There is
an important deposit of architectural terracottas from the acropolis.
R. Holloway, 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.
ΜΑΤΑΥΡΟΣ (Αρχαία πόλη) ΚΑΛΑΒΡΙΑ
On the Tyrrhenian Sea about 100 km N of Reggio Calabria. A settlement
of Chalkidians of Rhegion was occupied at the beginning of the 6th c. B.C. by
Lokrians in the course of their W expansion. Between the 5th c. and the Roman
period there are few records: the settled life must have moved S of the Petrace
river (ancient Matauros) into the ancient center of Taurianon. The poet Stesichoros
was most likely a citizen of Matauros and from there moved to Himera.
In the area of Due Pompe, excavations have revealed a necropolis,
which was used during three major periods. The oldest period (cremation) comprised
the 7th c. and the first half of the 6th c. B.C., and provides late proto-Corinthian
ware; Ionic ware (Ionic cups B1 and B2); Greco-oriental ware (alabaster on grey
bucchero and glazed figured vases); Attic black-figure ware (a kotyle of the painter
KX). The middle period (inhumation) lasted from the middle of the 6th c. until
the beginning of the 5th c. B.C. The final period (covered tombs) spans the period
from the 2d c. to the 3d c. A.D.
In the area of Masseria Fava, an imperial villa has been partially
excavated, along with its attached bath complex. Occasionally, a cache of Carthaginian
and Neapolitan coins of the Hellenistic period is discovered. Related to the construction
of a temple are the remains of a terracotta equestrian group, perhaps an acroterion
of the Lokrian type, dating to the beginning of the 5th c. B.C. and contemporary
with other terracotta finds.
The city itself, of which nothing is known, is probably covered over
by the present settlement. The finds are preserved in Reggio Calabria and in New
York.
P. Guzzo, 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.
ΜΕΔΜΑ (Αρχαία πόλη) ΚΑΛΑΒΡΙΑ
On the W coast, ca. 43 km N of Reggio Calabria. The history of the
settlement, founded from Lokroi Epizephyrioi, is little known. Remains of several
sanctuaries have been reported from the site, and recent work has revealed remains
of the Hellenistic and Roman periods. Especially important is the deposit of terracotta
votive statuettes found at Piano delle Vigne in 1912 and 1913.
R. Holloway, 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.
ΡΗΓΙΟΝ (Αρχαία πόλη) ΚΑΛΑΒΡΙΑ
According to ancient sources, founded toward the middle of the 8th
c. B.C. by Chalkidian colonists, near the Calopinace river (ancient Apsias) (Diod.
8.23.2) in an area called Pallontion (Dion. Hal. 19.2). The city expanded N between
the right bank of the Calopinace and the Santa Lucia. The ancient urban plan is
long and narrow on a sloping plateau between the ridges of the Aspromonte hills
along the straits of Messina. Its limits have been ascertained by the remains
of the circuit wall and by the presence of the necropolis.
Although the area of the settlement expanded in the course of time,
what is known of the circuit wall dates from the period of expansion between the
end of the 5th c. and the beginning of the 4th c. B.C. Nothing remains of the
wall in the S sector and on that side the determining date, for the area outside
the city, is given by the presence of the necropolis. In the E sector a section
of crude-brick wall must be attributed to a building outside the wall rather than
to a preceding phase of the walls. Some parts of the N sector are known, where
the extent of the urban area has been ascertained. The W sector is almost entirely
known as it is limited by the coastline. The wall construction shows a double
ring, joined by transverse elements and a filling of the intervening area with
earth and rubble. The lower sections were large sandstone blocks, with brick above.
The exact location of the gates is unknown, but there must have been one at either
end of the major urban axis, at least one toward the Aspromonte hills, and two
on the seaside.
Probably the acropolis was in the high area of today's city in the
district of Reggio Campi-Cimitero. The site of the Greek agora, and later the
forum of the Roman era, corresponds to the present-day Piazza Italia and there
the principal public buildings were constructed. No evidence remains of the street
system, and the continual rebuilding of the city on the same site and occasional
earthquakes have made archaeological evidence scarce. Yet, in the NE sector, a
large sacred area from the archaic and Classical periods has been identified.
Interesting architectural terracotta elements have come from the area as well
as votive materials) from the districts of Griso-Laboccetta, Sandicchi, and Taraschi-Barilla).
Recent excavations have brought to light traces of a small temple and of other
structures that point to the existence of a sanctuary. In the vicinity, the remains
of an odeon have also been discovered. The stereobate of another temple has been
partially unearthed beneath the modern prefecture. An inscription from the Roman
period (CIL X, 1) attests the existence of a temple of Isis and Serapis, and another
(CIL X, 6) mentions the templum Apollinis maioris. The latter inscription also
mentions a prytaneum, while inscriptions provide a record of various other buildings.
The most interesting of the inscriptions, dating to 374, mentions a porticoed
basilica and a bath building. The excavations have brought to light ruins of bath
buildings, private homes, and perhaps also public buildings. These ruins, interesting
primarily because of their Late Empire mosaics, also include honorary column bases
and other materials, particularly in the vicinity of Piazza Italia. Among other
finds of special interest are those pertaining to the water supply of the city,
particularly the cisterns.
Outside the city, necropoleis have been identified in the districts
of Santa Lucia, Santa Caterina, and Pentimeli to the N, and Modena and Ravagnese
to the S. Outside the walls toward the sea, a sanctuary of Artemis has also been
discovered. Near it, the Athenian forces encamped at the time of the Sicilian
expedition of 415 B.C. (Thuc. 6.44.3). The worship of that divinity at Rhegion
has been attested by other sources. From the Classical sources it is known that
the city was endowed with a fine harbor, which would therefore have had to be
situated at the mouth of the Apsias river.
The city's territory was not large by comparison with the sphere of
influence of other cities of Magna Graecia. Naturally limited by the mass of the
Aspromonte hills and by the sea, it reached on the Tyrrhenian side as far as the
Metauros river (in the archaic period perhaps even a little beyond) and on the
Ionian side it ended at the territory of the Lokrians. At that point, in consequence
of historic changes, the line of demarcation was formed at times by the Caecinos
river and at times by the Halex river.
The Museo Nazionale di Reggio Calabria contains enormous documentation
for the civilization of Magna Graecia, particularly material which concerns the
territory of ancient Bruttium.
A. De Franciscis, 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 3 image(s), bibliography & interesting hyperlinks.
Ετσι ονόμασαν την πόλη που ξανάκτισαν το 358 μετά την καταστροφή του 387 π.Χ. από τους Συρακούσιους.
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