Listed 100 (total found 107) sub titles with search on: Information about the place for wider area of: "PUGLIA Region ITALY" .
IPPION ARGOS (Ancient city) PUGLIA
EGNATIA (Ancient city) PUGLIA
Egnatia or Gnatia (Egnatia or Ignatia: Eth. Gnathinos, Inscr.; Ignatinus,
Lib. Col. p. 262), a considerable town of Apulia, situated on the seacoast between
Barium and Brundusium. The Itineraries place it at 27 M. P. from the former, and
29 from the latter city. (Itin. Ant. pp. 117, 315; Tab. Peut.) Both Strabo and
Ptolemy mention it as a city of the Peucetians or southern Apulians: and Pliny
also assigns it to the Pediculi (the same people with the Peucetians), though
he elsewhere less correctly describes it as a town of the Sallentines. It must
indeed have been the last city of the Peucetians towards the frontiers of Calabria.
(Strab. vi. p. 282; Ptol. iii. 1. § 15; Mel. ii. 4; Plin. ii. 107. s. 111, iii.
11. s. 16.) Horace, who made it his last halting-place on his journey to Brundusium,
tells us that it suffered from the want of good water, and ridicules the pretended
miracle (noticed also by Pliny) shown by the inhabitants, who asserted that incense
placed on a certain altar was spontaneously consumed without the application of
fire. (Hor. Sat. i. 5. 97-100; Plin. ii. 107. s. 111.)
No mention of it is found in history, and it seems to have derived
its chief importance from its position on the high road to Brundusium, which rendered
it a convenient halting-place for travellers both by land and sea. (Strab.) There
is, however, no authority for the assertion of some Italian topographers (adopted
from them by Cramer and others), that the road from hence along the coast to Barium
and Canusium was named from this city the Via Egnatia, - still less that it gave
name to the celebrated military road across Macedonia and Thrace, from Apollonia
to the Hellespont. It appears probable, indeed, that the proper, or at least the
original, name of the city was not Egnatia, but Gnatia; which form is found in
Horace, as well as in some of the best MSS. of Pliny and Mela; and is further
confirmed by a Greek inscription, in which the name of the people is written Gnathinon.
(Tzschucke, Not. ad Mel. l. c.; Mommsen, U. I. Dialekte, p. 66.)
The period of the destruction of Egnatia is unknown, but its ruins
are still visible on the sea-coast about 6 miles SE. of Monopoli. An old tower
on the shore itself still bears the name of Torre d'Agnazzo; while considerable
portions of the walls and other remains indicate the site of the ancient city
a little more inland, extending from thence towards the modern town of Fasana.
Numerous sepulchres have been excavated in the vicinity, and have yielded an abundant
harvest of vases, terracottas, and other ancient relics, as well as a few inscriptions
in the Messapian dialect. (Pratilli, Via Appia, iv. c. 15. p. 546; Romanelli,
vol. ii. p. 146; Mommsen, U. I. Dialekte, p. 66.)
This text is from: Dictionary of Greek and Roman Geography (1854) (ed. William Smith, LLD). Cited September 2004 from The Perseus Project URL below, which contains interesting hyperlinks
KALLIPOLIS (Ancient city) PUGLIA
Callipolis (Kallipolis), a city on the E. coast of Sicily, which was
of Greek origin, and a colony from the neighbouring city of Naxos. (Scymn. Ch.
286; Strab. vi. p. 272.) It appears to have ceased to exist at an early period,
as the only notice of it found in history is in Herodotus (vii. 154), who mentions
it as having been besieged and reduced to subjection by Hippocrates, tyrant of
Gela. It is probable that it was destroyed, or its inhabitants removed, either
by that ruler, or his successor Gelon, according to a policy familiar to the Sicilian
despots, as, from the absence of all mention of the name by Thucydides during
the operations of the Athenians on the E. coast of Sicily, it seems certain that
it was then no longer in existence. Nor is the name afterwards found in Diodorus;
and it is only mentioned by Strabo as one of the cities of Sicily that had disappeared
before his time. (Strab. vi. p. 272; Steph. B. s. v.) Silius Italicus, indeed,
speaks of it as if it still existed during the Second Punic War (xiv. 249); but
his accuracy on this point may well be questioned. It was probably situated on
the coast between Naxos and Messana.
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
LOUPIAE (Ancient city) PUGLIA
Lupiae (Loupiai, Strab.; Loupia, Pans., Louppiai, Ptol.: Eth. Lupiensis:
Lecce), an ancient city of the Salentines, in the Roman province of Calabria.)
situated on the high road from Brundusium to Hydruntum, and just about 25 M.P.
distant from each of these cities (Itin. Ant. p. 118). It was about 8 miles from
the sea, whence Strabo correctly describes it as situated, together with Rhudiae,
in the interior of Calabria (Strab. v. p. 282), though both Pliny and Ptolemy
would lead us to suppose that it was a maritime town. (Plin. iii. 11. s. 16; Ptol.
iii. 1. § 14.) Appian also speaks of Octavian as landing there on his return to
Italy, immediately after Caesar's death, when he halted some days at Lupiae without
venturing to advance to Brundusium, until he received fresh information from Rome.
(Appian, B.C. iii. 10.) There seems, however, no doubt that the ancient Lupiae
occupied the same site as the modern Lecce, though it may have had a port or landing-place
of its own. The above passage of Appian is the only mention of it that occurs
in history; but a tradition preserved to us by Julius Capitolinus (M. Ant. 1.)
ascribed its foundation to a king of the Salentines, named Malennius, the son
of Dasumus. There is little doubt that it was really a native Salentine city;
nor is there any foundation for supposing it to have received a Greek colony.
Pausanias, in a passage which has given rise to much confusion, in treating of
the treasury of the Sybarites at Olympia, tells us that Sybaris was the same city
which was called in his time Lupia, and was situated between Brundusium and Hydruntum.
(Paus. vi. 19. § 9.) The only reasonable explanation of this strange mistake is,
that he confounded Lupia in Calabria (the name of which was sometimes written
Lopia) with the Roman colony of Copia in Lucania, which had in fact arisen on
the site of Thurii, and, therefore, in a manner succeeded to Sybaris. But several
modern writers (Romanelli, Cramer, &c.) have adopted the mistake of Pausanias,
and affirmed that Lupiae was previously called Sybaris, though it is evidently
of the well-known city of Sybaris that that author is speaking. We hear but little
of Lupiae as a Roman town, though it appears to have been a municipal town of
some importance, and is mentioned by all the geographers. The ager Lyppiensis
(sic) is also noticed in the Liber Coloniarum; but it does not appear that it
received a colony, and the inscriptions in which it bears the title of one are,
in all probability, spurious. Nor is there any ancient authority for the name
of Lycium or Lycia, which is assigned to the city by several local writers: this
form, of which the modern name of Lecce is obviously a corruption, being first
found in documents of the middle ages. (Lib. Colon. p. 262; Mel. ii. 4. § 7; Itin.
Ant. p. 118.)
The modern city of Lecce is a large and populous place, and the chief
town of the province called the Terra, di. Otranto. No ancient remains are now
visible ; but Galateo, writing in the 15th century, tells us that there were then
extensive subterranean remains of the ancient city - vast arches, covered galleries
and foundations of ancient buildings--upon which the modern city was in great
measure built. Numerous vases and other relics of antiquity have also been brought
to light by excavations, and an inscription in the Messapian dialect. (Galateo,
de Sit. Iapyg. pp. 8 -86; Romanelli, vol. ii. pp. 83-93; Mommsen, Unter Ital.
Dialecte, p. 59.)
This 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
ROUDIAI (Ancient city) PUGLIA
or Rudiae (Rhoudia, Ptol.; Rhodiai, Strab.: Eth. Rudinus: Rugge),
an ancient city of the Salentines, in the interior of the Roman province of Calabria,
and in the immediate vicinity of Lupiae (Lecce). (Strab. vi. p. 281; Ptol. iii.
1. § 76.) Strabo calls it a Greek city (polis Hellenis); but we have no other
indication of this fact, and all the other notices we find of it would lead us
to infer that it was a native Salentine or Messapian town. Under the Romans it
appears to have enjoyed municipal rank (an inscription has Municipes Rudini, Orell.
3858); but in other respects it was a place of little importance, and derived
its sole celebrity from the circumstance of its being the birthplace of the poet
Ennius. (Strab. l. c. Mel. ii. 4. § 7; Sil. Ital. xii. 393; Cic. de Or. iii. 4.
2) That author is repeatedly termed a Calabrian (Her. Carm. iv. 8; Ovid. A. A.
iii. 409; Sil. Ital. l. c.; Acron, ad Hor. l. c.), and these passages confirm
the accuracy of Ptolemy, who assigns Rhudiae to the Salentines, and therefore
to the Calabrians according to the Roman use of the name. Pliny and Mela, on the
contrary, enumerate Rudiae among the towns of the Pediculi together with Barium
and Egnatia, and the latter author expressly excludes it from Calabria (Plin.
iii. 11. s. 16; Mel. l. c.). But it seems impossible to reconcile this statement
with that of Strabo, who places it near Lupiae, in the interior of the peninsula,
or with the actual situation of Rudiae, which is clearly ascertained at a place
still called Rugge, though now uninhabited, about a mile from Lecce, where the
inscription above cited was discovered, as well as several others in the Messapian
dialect, and many vases and other objects of antiquity. The identity of this place
with the municipal town of Rudiae can therefore admit of no doubt ; nor is there
any reason to question the fact that this was also the birthplace of Ennius :
but considerable confusion has arisen from the mention in the Tabula of a place
called Rudae, which it places 12 miles W. of Rubi, on the road to Canusium. As
this place would have been within the limits of the Pediculi or Peucetii, it has
been supposed by some writers to be the same with the Rudiae of Pliny and Mela,
and therefore the birthplace of Ennius; but the claims of Rugge to this distinction
appear unquestionable. (Galateo, de Sit. Iapyg. p. 77; Romanelli, vol. ii. pp.
93-102; Mommsen, Unter Ital. Dialekte, p. 58.)
The Rudae or Rudiae of the Tabula, which is otherwise quite unknown,
must have been situated somewhere in the neighbourhood of the modern Andria.
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
SALAPIA (Ancient city) PUGLIA
Salapia (Salapia Eth. Salapinos; Salapinus: Salpi), one of the most
considerable cities of Apulia, situated on the coast of the Adriatic, but separated
from the open sea by an intervening lagune, or saltwater lake, which was known
in ancient times as the Salapina Palus (Lucan v.377; Vib. Seq. p. 26), and is
still called the Lago di Salpi. This lagune has now only an artificial outlet
to the sea through the bank of sand which separates them; but it is probable that
in ancient times its communications were more free, as Salapia was certainly a
considerable sea-port and in Strabo's time served as the port both of Arpi and
Canusium (Strab. vi. p. 284). At an earlier period it was an independent city,
and apparently a place of considerable importance. Tradition ascribed its foundation,
as well as that of the neighbouring cities of Canusium and Arpi, to Diomedes (Vitruv.
i. 4. § 12); or, according to others, to a Rhodian colony under Elpias (Id. ib.;
Strab. xiv. p. 654).1 There is no trace of its having received a Greek colony
in historical times, though, in common with many other cities of the Daunian Apulians,
it seems to have imbibed a large amount of Hellenic influence. This was probably
derived from the Tarentines, and did not date from a very early period.
The name of Salapia is not mentioned in history till the Second Punic
War, in which it bears a considerable part. It was evidently one of the cities
of Apulia which revolted to Hannibal after the battle of Cannae (Liv. xxii. 61);
and a few years after we find it still in his possession. It was apparently a
place of strength, on which account he collected there great magazines of corn,
and established his winter quarters there in B.C. 214. (Id. xxiv. 20.) It remained
in his hands after the fall of Arpi in the following year (Id. xxiv. 47); but
in B.C. 210 it was betrayed into the power of Marcellus by Blasius, one of its
citizens, who had been for some time the leader of the Roman party in the place,
and the Numidian garrison was put to the sword. (Id. xxvi. 88; Appian, Annib.
45-47.) Its loss seems to have been a great blow to the power of Hannibal in this
part of Italy; and after the death of Marcellus, B.C. 208, he made an attempt
to recover possession of it by stratagem; but the fraud was discovered, and the
Carthaginian troops were repulsed with loss. (Liv. xxvii. 1, 28; Appian, Annib.
51.) No subsequent mention of it is found till the Social War, in the second year
of which, when the tide of fortune was beginning to turn in favour of Rome, it
was taken by the Roman praetor C. Cosconius, and burnt to the ground (Appian,
B.C. i. 51). After this time it appears to have fallen into a state of decay,
and suffered severely from malaria in consequence of the exhalations of the neighbouring
lagune. Vitruvius tells us, that at length the inhabitants applied to M. Hostilius,
who caused them to remove to a more healthy situation, about 4 miles from the
former site, and nearer the sea, while he at the same time opened fresh communications
between the lagune and the sea (Vitruv. i. 4. § 12). We have no clue to the time
at which this change took place, but it could hardly have been till after the
town had fallen into a declining condition. Cicero, indeed, alludes to Salapia
as in his day notorious for its pestilential climate (de Leg. Agr. ii. 27); but
this may be understood as relating to its territory rather than the actual town.
Vitruvius is the only author who notices the change of site; but if his account
can be depended upon, the Salapia mentioned by Pliny and Ptolemy as well as Strabo,
must have been the new town, and not the original city of the name. (Strab. vi.
p. 284; Plin. iii. 12. s. 17; Ptol. iii. 1. § 16.) The Liber Coloniarum also speaks
of it as a colony adjoining tire sea-coast, which doubtless refers to the new
town of the name. This does not, however, seem to have ever risen into a place
of much importance, and the name subsequently disappears altogether. Extensive
ruins of Salapia are still visible on the southern shore of the Lago di Salpi,
in a tract of country now almost wholly desolate. They evidently belong to a city
of considerable size and importance, and must therefore be those of the ancient
Apulian city. This is further confirmed by the circumstance that the coins of
Salapia, which of course belong to the period of its independence, are frequently
found on the spot. (Swinburne's Travels, vol. i. p. 81.) The site of the Roman
town founded by M. Hostilius is said to be indicated by some remains on the seashore,
near the Torre di Salpi. (Romanelli, vol. ii. p. 201.)
The lagune still called the Lago di Salpi is about 12 miles in length
by about 2 in breadth. At its eastern extremity, where it communicates with the
sea by an artificial cut, are extensive salt-works, which are considered to be
the representatives of those noticed in the Itineraries under the name of Salinae.
It is by no means certain (though not improbable) that these ancient salt-works
occupied the same site as the modern ones; and the distances given in the Itineraries
along this line of coast, being in any case corrupt and confused, afford no clue
to their identification. (Itin. Ant. p. 314; Tab. Peut.) It is probable that the
name of Salapia itself is connected with sal, the lagune having always been well
adapted for the collection of salt.
The coins of Salapia, as well as those of Arpi and Canusium, have
Greek legends, and indicate the strong influence of Greek art and civilisation,
though apparently at a late period, none of them being of an archaic style. The
magistrates' names which occur on them (DAZS, PPSAAOS, &c.) are, on the contrary,
clearly of native origin. (Mommsen, U. I. D. pp. 82, 83.)
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
SIPONTO-MANFREDONIA (Town) PUGLIA
Sipontum or Sipuntum, but in Greek always Sipus (Sipous-ountos: Eth.
Sipountios, Sipontinus: Sta Maria di Siponto), a city of Apulia, situated on the
coast of the Adriatic, immediately S. of the great promontory of Garganus, and
in the bight of the deep bay formed by that promontory with the prolongation of
the coast of Apulia. (Strab. vi. p. 284.) This bay is now called the Gulf of Manfredonia,
from the city of that name which is situated within a few miles of the site of
Sipontum. The Cerbalus, or Cervaro, and the Candelaro fall into this bay a short
distance S. of Sipontum, and form at their mouth an extensive lagune or saltwater
pool (stomalimne, Strab. l. c.), now called the Pantano Salso. Like most places
in this part of Apulia the foundation of Sipontum was ascribed to Diomed (Strab.
l. c.): but with the exception of this vague and obscure tradition, which probably
means no more than that the city was one of those belonging to the Daunian tribe
of Apulians, we have no account of its being a Greek colony. The name is closely
analogous in form to others in this part of Italy (Hydruntum, Butuntum, &c.):
and its Greek derivation from sepia, a cuttle-fish (Strab. l. c.), is in all probability
fictitious The Greek form Sipus, is adopted also by the Roman poets. (Sil. Ital.
viii. 633; Lucan v.377.) The only mention of Sipontum in history before the Roman
conquest is that of its capture by Alexander, king of Epirus, about B.C. 330.
(Liv. viii. 24). Of the manner in which it passed under the yoke of Rome we have
no account; but in B.C. 194 a colony of Roman citizens was settled there, at the
same time that those of Salernum and Buxentum were established on the other sea.
(Liv. xxxiv. 45.) The lands assigned to the colonists are said to have previously
belonged to the Arpani, which renders it probable that Sipontum itself had been
merely a dependency of that city. The new colony, however, does not seem to have
prospered. A few years later (B.C. 184) we are told that it was deserted, probably
on account of malaria; but a fresh body of colonists was sent there (Liv. xxxix.
22), and it seems from this time to have become a tolerably flourishing town,
and was frequented as a seaport, though never rising to any great consideration.
Its principal trade was in corn. (Strab. vi. p. 284; Me]. ii. 4. § 7; Plin. iii.
11. s. 16; Ptol. iii. 1. § 16; Pol. x. 1.) It is, however, mentioned apparently
as a place of some importance, during the Civil Wars, being occupied by M. Antonius
in B.C. 40. (Appian, B.C. v. 56; Dion Cass. xlviii. 27.) We learn from inscriptions
that it retained its municipal government and magistrates, as well as the title
of a colony, under the Roman Empire (Mommsen, Inscr. R. N. 927-929); and at a
later period Paulus Diaconus mentions it as still one of the urbes satis opulentae
of Apulia. (P.Diac. Hist. Lang. ii. 21.) Lucan notices its situation immediately
at the foot of Mount Garganus ( subdita Sipus montibus, Lucan v.377). It was,
however, actually situated in the plain and immediately adjoining the marshes
at the mouth of the Candelaro, which must always have rendered the site unhealthy;
and in the middle ages it fell into decay from this cause, till in 1250 Manfred
king of Naples removed all the remaining population to a site about a mile and
a half further N., where he built a new city, to which he gave the name of Manfredonia.
No ruins of the ancient city are now extant, but the site is still marked by an
ancient church, which bears the name of Sta Maria di Siponto, and is still termed
the cathedral, the archbishop of Manfredonia bearing officially the title of Archbishop
of Sipontum. (Craven's Southern Tour, p. 67; Romanelli, vol. ii. p. 209.) The
name of Sipontum is found in the Itineraries (Itin. Ant. p. 314; Tab. Peut.),
which give a line of road proceeding along the coast from thence to Barium, passing
by the Salinae at the mouth of the Palus Salapina, and therefore following the
narrow strip of beach which separated that lagune from the sea. There is still
a good horse-road along this beach; but the distances given in the Itineraries
are certainly corrupt.
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SIRIS (Ancient city) PUGLIA
Siris (Siris: Eth. Sirites, but also Sirinos; Sirites), an ancient
city of Magna Graecia, situated at the mouth of the river of the same name flowing
into the Tarentine gulf, and now called the Sinno. There is no doubt that Siris
was a Greek colony, and that at one time it attained to a great amount of wealth
and prosperity; but its history is extremely obscure and uncertain; Its first
origin was generally ascribed to a Trojan colony; and, as a proof of this, [p.
1013] an ancient statue of Minerva was shown there which claimed to be the true
Trojan Palladium (Strab. vi. p. 264; Lycophr. Alex. 978-985). Whatever may have
been the origin of this legend, there seems no doubt that Siris was originally
a city of the Chones, the native Oenotrian inhabitants of this part of Italy (Strab.
l. c.). A legend found in the Etymologicon (s. v. Siris), according to which the
city derived its name from a daughter of Morges, king of the Siculi, evidently
points in the same direction, as the Morgetes also were an Oenotrian tribe. From
these first settlers it was wrested, as we are told, by a body of Ionian colonists
from Colophon, who had fled from their native city to avoid the dominion of the
Lydians. (Strab. l. c.; Athenae. xii. p. 523.) The period of this emigration is
very uncertain; but it appears probable that it must have taken place not long
after the capture of the city by Gyges, king of Lydia, about 700-690 B.C. Archilochus,
writing about 660 B.C., alludes to the fertility and beauty of the district on
the banks of the Siris; and though the fragment preserved to us by Athenaeus does
not expressly notice the existence of the city of that name, yet it would appear
from the expressions of Athenaeus that the poet certainly did mention it; and
the fact of this colony having been so lately established there was doubtless
the cause of his allusion to it (Archil. ap. Athen. xii. p. 523). On the other
hand, it seems clear from the account of the settlement at Metapontum (Strab.
vi. p. 265), that the territory of Siris was at that time still unoccupied by
any Greek colony. We may therefore probably place the date of the Ionian settlement
at Siris between 690 and 660 B.C. We are told that the Ionic colonists gave to
the city the name of Polieum (Polieion, Strab. vi. p. 264; Steph. B. s. v. Siris);
but the appellation of Siris, which it derived from the river, and which seems
to have been often given to the whole district (he Siris, used as equivalent to
he Siritis), evidently prevailed, and is the only one met with in common use.
Of the history of Siris we know literally nothing, except the general fact of
its prosperity, and that its citizens indulged in habits of luxury and effeminacy
that rivalled those of their neighbours the Sybarites. (Athen. xii. p. 523.) It
may be received as an additional proof of their opulence, that Damasus, a citizen
of Siris, is noticed by Herodotus among the suitors for the daughter of Cleisthenes
of Sicyon, about 580-560 B.C., on which occasion Siris and Sybaris among the cities
of Italy alone furnished claimants. (Herod. vi. 127.) This was probably about
the period that Siris was at the height of its prosperity. But an Ionian city,
existing as it did in the midst of the powerful Achaean colonies, must naturally
have been an object of jealousy to its neighbours; and hence we are told that
the Metapontines, Sybarites, and Crotoniats formed a league against Siris; and
the war that ensued ended in the capture of the city, which appears to have been
followed by the expulsion of the inhabitants (Justin. xx. 2). The date of the
destruction of Siris cannot be fixed with any approach to certainty: it was probably
after 550 B.C., and certainly preceded the till of its rival Sybaris in B.C. 510.
Its ruin appears to have been complete, for we meet with no subsequent mention
of the city, and the territory is spoken of as open to colonisation at the time
of the Persian War, B.C. 480. (Herod. viii. 62.)
Upon that occasion we learn incidentally that the Athenians considered
themselves as having a claim of old standing to the vacant district of the Sirites,
and even at one time thought of removing thither with their wives and families.
(Herod. l. c.) The origin of this claim is unknown; but it seems pretty clear
that it was taken up by the Athenian colonists who established themselves at Thurii
in B.C. 443, and became the occasion of hostilities between them and the Tarentines.
These were at length terminated by a compromise, and it was agreed to found in
common a fresh colony in the disputed territory. This appears to have been at
first established on the site of the ancient city, but was soon after transferred
to a spot 3 miles distant, where the new colony received the name of Heracleia,
and soon rose to be a flourishing city. (Strab. vi. p. 264; Diod. xii. 36.) According
to Strabo, Siris still continued to exist as the port or naval station of Heracleia;
but no other mention of it is found, and it is not clear whether Strabo himself
meant to speak of it as still subsisting in his day. No remains of it are extant,
and the exact site does not appear to have been determined. But it may be placed
on the left bank of the river Siris (now called the Sinno), at or near its mouth;
a position which well accords with the distance of 24 stadia (3 miles) from Heracleia,
the remains of which are visible at Policoro, near the river Agri, the ancient
Aciris.
The river Siris is mentioned by Lycophron (Alex. 982), as well as
by Archilochus in a passage already cited (ap. Athen. xii. p. 523); but the former
author calls it Sinis, and its modern name of Sinno would seem to be derived from
an ancient period; for we find mention in the Tabula of a station 4 miles from
Heracleia, the name of which is written Semnum, probably a corruption for Ad Simnum
or Sinnum. The Siris and Aciris are mentioned in conjunction by Pliny as well
as by Strabo, and are two of the most considerable streams in Lucania. (Plin.
iii. 11. s. 15; Strab. vi. p. 264.) The name of the former river is noticed also
in connection with the first great battle between Pyrrhus and the Romans, B.C.
280, which was fought upon its banks (Plut. Pyrrh. 16). It has been absurdly confounded
by Florus and Orosius with the Liris in Campania. (Flor. i. 18. § 7; Oros. iv.
1.)
The fertile district of the Siritis (he Siritis or Seiritis) is a
portion of the level tract or strip of plain which borders the gulf of Tarentum
from the neighbourhood of Rocca Imperiale to the mouth of the Bradano. This plain
stretches inland from the mouth of the Sinno to the foot of the hill on which
stands the modern city of Tursi, about 8 miles from the sea. It is a tract of
extraordinary natural fertility, but is now greatly neglected, and, in common
with all this coast, desolated by malaria.
This text is from: Dictionary of Greek and Roman Geography (1854) (ed. William Smith, LLD). Cited September 2004 from The Perseus Project URL below, which contains interesting hyperlinks
SYVARIS (Ancient city) PUGLIA
(Sutharis: Eth. Sutharites, Sybarita). A celebrated city of Magna
Graecia, situated on the W. shore of the Tarentine gulf, but a short distance
from the sea, between the rivers Crathis and Sybaris. (Strab. vi. p. 263; Diod.
xii. 9.) The last of these, from which it derived its name, was the stream now
called the Coscile, which at the present day falls into tlie Crati about 3 miles
from its mouth, but in ancient times undoubtedly pursued an independent course
to the sea. Sybaris was apparently the earliest of all the Greek colonies in this
part of Italy, being founded, according to the statement of Scymnus Chius, as
early as B.C. 720. (Scymn. Ch. 360; Clinton, F. H. vol. i. p. 174.) It was an
Achaean. colony, and its Oekist was a citizen of Helice in Achaia: but with the
Achaean emigrants were mingled a number of Troezenian citizens. The Achaeans,
however, eventually obtained the preponderance, and drove out the Troezenians.
(Strab. l. c.; Arist. Pol. v. 3.) The Sybarites indeed appear to have sought for
an origin in heroic times; and Solinus has a story that the first founder of the
city was a son of Ajax Oileus (Solin. 2. § 10); but this is evidently mere fiction,
and the city was, historically speaking, undoubtedly an Achaean colony. It rose
rapidly to great prosperity, owing in the first instance to the fertility of the
plain in which it was situated. Its citizens also, contrary to the policy of many
of the Greek states, freely admitted settlers of other nations to the rights of
citizenship, and the vast population of the city is expressly ascribed in great
measure to this cause. (Diod. xii. 9.) The statements transmitted to us of the
power and opulence of the city, as well as of the luxurious habits of its inhabitants,
have indeed a very fabulous aspect, and are without doubt grossly exaggerated,
but there is no reason to reject the main fact that Sybaris had in the sixth century
B.C. attained a degree of wealth and power unprecedented among Greek cities, and
which excited the admiration of the rest of the Hellenic world. We are told that
the Sybarites ruled over 25 subject cities, and could bring into the field 300,000
of their own citizens (Strab. l. c.), a statement obviously incredible. The subject
cities were probably for the most part Oenotrian towns in the interior, but we
know that Sybaris had extended its dominion across the peninsula to the Tyrrhenian
sea, where it had founded the colonies of Posidonia, Laus, and Scidrus. The city
itself was said to be not less than 50 stadia in circumference, and the horsemen
or knights who figured at the religious processions are said to have amounted
to 5000 in number (Athen. xii. p. 519), which would prove that these wealthy citizens
were more than four times as numerous as at Athens. Smindyrides, a citizen of
Sybaris, who was one of the suitors for the daughters of Cleisthenes of Sicyon,
is said by Herodotus to have surpassed all other men in refined luxury. (Herod.
vi. 127.) It was asserted that on this occasion he carried with him a train of
1000 slaves, including cooks, fishermen, &c. (Atlien. vi. p. 273; Diod. viii.
Fr. 19.) It is unnecessary to repeat here the tales that are told by various writers,
especially by Athenaeus, concerning the absurd refinements of luxury ascribed
to the Sybarites, and which have rendered their very name proverbial. (Athenae.
xii. pp. 518-521; Diod. viii. Fr. 18-20; Suid. s. v. Sutharitikais.) They were
particularly noted for the splendour of their attire, which was formed of the
finest Milesian wool, and this gave rise to extensive commercial relations with
Miletus, which produced a close friendship between the two cities. (Timaeus, ap.
Athen. xii. p. 519; Herod. vi. 21.) As an instance of their magnificence we are
told that Alcimenes of Sybaris had dedicated as a votive offering in the temple
of the Lacinian Juno a splendid figured robe, which long afterwards fell into
the power of Dionysius of Syracuse, and was sold by him for 120 talents, or more
than 24,0001. sterling. (Pseud. Arist. Mirab. 96; Athen. xii. p. 541.)
Notwithstanding these details concerning the wealth and luxury of
Sybaris. we are almost wholly without information as to the history of the city
until shortly before its fall. Herodotus incidentally refers to the time of Smindyrides
(about 580-560, B.C.) as the period when Sybaris was at the height of its power.
At a later period it seems to have been agitated by political dissensions, with
the circumstances of which we are very imperfectly acquainted. It appears that
the government had previously been in the hands of an oligarchy, to which such
persons as Smindyrides and Alcimenes naturally belonged; but the democratic party,
headed by a demagogue named Telys, succeeded in overthrowing their power, and
drove a considerable number of the leading citizens into exile. Telys hereupon
seems to have raised himself to the position of despot or tyrant of the city.
The exiled citizens took refuge at Crotona; but not content with their victory,
Telys and his partisans called upon the Crotoniats to surrender the fugitives.
This they refused to do, and the Sybarites hereupon declared war on them, and
marched upon Crotona with an army said to have amounted to 300,000 men. They were
met at the river Traeis by the Crotoniats, whose army did not amount to more than
a third of their numbers; notwithstanding which they obtained a complete victory,
and put the greater part of the Sybarites to the sword, continuing the pursuit
to the very gates of the city, of which they easily made themselves masters, and
which they determined to destroy so entirely that it should never again be inhabited.
For this purpose they turned the course of the river Crathis, so that it inundated
the site of the city and buried the ruins under the deposits that it brought down.
(Diod. xii. 9, 10; Strab. vi. p. 263; Herod. v. 44; Athenae. xii. p. 521; Scymn.
Ch. 337-360.) This catastrophe occurred in B.C. 510, and seems to have been viewed
by many of the Greeks as a divine vengeance upon the Sybarites for their pride
and arrogance, caused by their excessive prosperity, more especially for the contempt
they had shown for the great festival of the Olympic Games, which they are said
to have attempted to supplant by attracting the principal artists, athletes, &c.,
to their own public games. (Seymn. Ch. 350-360; Athen. l. c.)
It is certain that Sybaris was never restored. The surviving inhabitants
took refuge at Laus and Scidrus, on the shores of the Tyrrhenian sea. An attempt
was indeed made, 58 years after the destruction of the city, to establish them
anew on the ancient site, but they were quickly driven out by the Crotoniats,
and the fugitives afterwards combined with the Athenian colonists in the foundation
of Thurii. At the present day the site is utterly desolate, and even the exact
position of the ancient city cannot be determined. The whole plain watered by
the rivers Coscile and Crati (the ancient Sybaris and Crathis), so renowned in
ancient limes for its fertility, is now a desolate swampy tract, pestilential
from malaria, and frequented only by vast herds of buffaloes, the usual accompaniment
in Southern Italy of all such pestiferous regions. The circumstance mentioned
by Strabo that the river Crathis had been turned from its course to inundate the
city, is confirmed by the accidental mention in Herodotus of the dry channel of
the Crathis (para ton xeron Krathin, Herod. v. 44): and this would sufficiently
account for the disappearance of all traces of the city. Swinburne indeed tells
us that some degraded fragments of aqueducts and tombs were still visible on the
peninsula formed by the two rivers, and were pointed out as the ruins of Sybaris,
but these, as he justly observes, being built of brick, are probably of Roman
times, and have no connection with the ancient city. Keppel Craven, on the other
hand, speaks of a wall sometimes visible in the bed of the Crathis when the waters
are very low as being the only remaining relic of the ancient Sybaris. (Swinburne's
Travels, vol. i. pp. 290--292; Craven's Southern Tour, pp. 217, 218.) The ruins
marked on Zannoni's large map as l'Antica Sibari are probably those of Thurii.
But it is certain that the locality has never yet been thoroughly examined, and
it is probable that some light may even yet be thrown upon the site of this celebrated
city: especially if the marshy plain in which it is situated should ever be reclaimed
and cultivated. There is no doubt that if this were done, it would again be a
tract of surpassing fertility: it is cited as such by Varro, who tells us that
in Sybaritano wheat was said to produce a hundred-fold. (Varr. R. R. i. 44.) Even
at the present day the drier spots produce very rich crops of corn. (Swinburne,
l. c.)
The river Sybaris was said to be so named by the Greek colonists from
a fountain of that name at Bura in Achaia (Strab. viii. p. 386): it had the property,
according to some authors, of making horses shy that drank of its waters. (Pseud.
Arist. Mirab. 169; Strabl. vi. p. 263.) It is a considerable stream, and has its
sources in the Apennines near Murano, flows beneath Castrovillari, and receives
several minor tributary streams before it joins the Crathis.
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
TARANTO (Ancient city) PUGLIA
Taras,-antos: Eth. Tarantinos, Tarentinus: Taranto. One of the most
powerful and celebrated cities of Southern Italy, situated on the N. shore of
the extensive bay, which derived from it, both in ancient and modern times, the
name of the gulf of Tarentum. (Tarentinus Sinus: ho Tarantinos kolpos: Golfo di
Taranto). It was included within the limits of the province of Calabria, as that
term was used by the Romans; but the Greeks would generally have reckoned it a
city of Magna Graecia, and not have regarded it as included in lapygia. Its situation
is peculiar, occupying a promontory or peninsula at the entrance of an extensive
but shallow bay, now called the Mare Piccolo, but in ancient times known as the
Port of Tarentum, an inlet of above 6 miles in length, and from 2 to 3 in breadth,
but which was so nearly closed at its mouth by the peninsula occupied by the city,
that the latter is now connected by a bridge with the opposite side of the harbour.
There can be no doubt that the ancient city originally occupied only the same
space to which the modern one is now confined, that of the low but rocky islet
which lies directly across the mouth of the harbour, and is now separated from
the mainland at its E. extremity by an artificial fosse or ditch, but was previously
joined to it by a narrow neck of sand. This may probably have been itself a later
accumulation; and it is not unlikely that the city was originally founded on an
island, somewhat resembling that of Ortygia at Syracuse, which afterwards became
joined to the mainland, and has again been artificially separated from it. As
in the case of Syracuse, this island or peninsula afterwards became the Acropolis
of the enlarged city, which extended itself widely over the adjoining plain.
Tarentum was a Greek city, a colony of Sparta, founded within a few
years after the two Achaean colonies of Sybaris and Crotona. The circumstances
that led to its foundation are related with some variation by Antiochus and Ephorus
(both cited by Strabo), but both authors agree in the main fact that the colonists
were a body of young men, born during the First Messenian War under circumstances
which threw over their birth a taint of illegitimacy, on which account they were
treated with contempt by the other citizens; and after an abortive attempt at
creating a revolution at Sparta, they determined to emigrate in a body under a
leader named Phalanthus. They were distinguished by the epithet of Partheniae,
in allusion to their origin. Phalanthus, who was apparently himself one of the
disparaged class, and had been the chief of the conspirators at Sparta, after
consulting the oracle at Delphi, became the leader and founder of the new colony.
(Antiochus, ap. Strab. vi. p. 278; Ephorus, Ib. p. 279; Serv. ad Aen. iii. 551;
Diod. xv. 66; Justin, iii. 4; Scymn. Ch. 332.) Both Antiochus and Ephorus represent
them as establishing themselves without difficulty on the spot, and received in
a friendly manner by the natives; and this is far more probable than the statement
of Pausanias, according to which they found themselves in constant warfare; and
it was not till after a long struggle that they were able to make themselves masters
of Tarentum. (Paus. x. 10. § 6.) The same author represents that city as previously
occupied by the indigenous tribes, and already a great and powerful city, but
this is highly improbable. The name, however, is probably of native origin, and
seems to have been derived front that of the small river or stream which always
continued to be known as the Taras; though, as usual, the Greeks derived it from
an eponymous hero named Taras, who was represented as a son of Neptune and a nymph
of the country. (Paus. Ib. § 8.) It is certain that the hero Taras continued to
be an object of special worship at Tarentum, while Phalanthus, who was revered
as their Oekist, was frequently associated with him, and gradually became the
subject of many legends of a very mythical character, in some of which he appears
to have been confounded with Taras himself. (Paus. x. 10. § § 6-8, 13. § 10; Serv.
ad Aen. l. c.) Nevertheless, there is no reason to doubt the historical character
of Phalanthus, or the Lacedaemonian origin of Tarentum, which was confirmed by
numerous local names and religious observances still retained there down to a
very late period. (Pol. viii. 30, 35.) The Roman poets also abound in allusions
to this origin of the Tarentines. (Hor. Carm. iii. 5. 56, ii. 6. 11; Ovid. Met.
xv. 50, &c.) The date of the foundation of Tarentum is given by Hieronymus as
B.C. 708, and this, which is in accordance with the circumstances related in connection
with it, is probably correct, though no other author has mentioned the precise
date. (Hieron. Chron. ad Ol. xviii.)
The history of Tarentum, for the first two centuries of its existence,
is, like that of most other cities of Magna Graecia, almost wholly unknown. But
the main fact is well attested that it attained to great power and prosperity,
though apparently at first overshadowed by the superior power of the Achaean cities,
so that it was not till a later period that it assumed the predominant position
among the cities of Magna Graecia, which it ultimately attained. There can be
no doubt that it owed this prosperity mainly to the natural advantages of its
situation. (Scymn. Ch. 332-336; Strab. vi. p. 278.) Though its territory was not
so fertile, or so well adapted for the growth of grain as those of Metapontum
and Siris, it was admirably suited for the growth of olives, and its pastures
produced wool of the finest quality, while its port, or inner sea as it was called,
abounded in shell-fish of all descriptions, among which the Murex, which produced
the celebrated purple dye, was the most important and valuable. But it was especially
the excellence of its port to which Tarentum owed its rapid rise to opulence and
power. This was not only landlocked and secure, but was the only safe harbour
of any extent on the whole shores of the Tarentine gulf; and as neither Brundusium
nor Hydruntum, on the opposite side of the Messapian peninsula, had as yet attained
to any eminence, or fallen into the hands of a seafaring people, the port of Tarentum
became the chief emporium for the commerce of all this part of Italy. (Pol. x.
1; Flor. i. 18. § 3.) The story of Arion, as related by Herodotus (i. 24) indicates
the existence of extensive commercial relations with Corinth and other cities
of Greece as early as the reign of Periander, B.C. 625-585.
As the Tarentines gradually extended their power over the adjoining
territories, they naturally came into frequent collision with the native tribes
of the interior,-the Messapians and Peucetians; and the first events of their
history recorded to us relate to their wars with these nations. Their offerings
at Delphi noticed by Pausanias (x. 10. § 6, 13. § 10), recorded victories over
both these nations, in one of which it appears that Opis, making of the Iapygians,
who had come to the assistance of the Peucetians, was slain; but we have no knowledge
of the dates or circumstances of these battles. It would appear, however, that
the Tarentines were continually gaining ground, and making themselves masters
of the Messapian towns one after the other, until their progress was checked by
a great disaster, their own forces, together with those of the Rhegians, who had
been sent to their assistance, being totally defeated by the barbarians with great
slaughter. (Herod. vii. 170; Diod. xi. 52.). So heavy was their loss that Herodotus,
without stating the numbers, says it was the greatest slaughter of Greeks that
had occurred up to his time. The loss seems to have fallen especially upon the
nobles and wealthier citizens, so that it became the occasion of a political revolution,
and the government, which had previously been an aristocracy, became thenceforth
a pure democracy. (Arist. Pol. v. 3.) Of the internal condition and constitution
of Tarentum previously to this time, we know scarcely anything, but it seems probable
that its institutions were at first copied from those of the parent city of Sparta.
Aristotle speaks of its government as a politeia, in the sense of a mixed government
or commonwealth; while Herodotus incidentally notices a king of Tarentum (iii.
156), not long before the Persian War, who was doubtless a king after the Spartan
model. The institutions of a democratic tendency noticed with commendation by
Aristotle (Pol. vi. 5) probably belong to the later and democratic period of the
constitution. We hear but little also of Tarentum in connection with the revolutions
arising out of the influence exercised by the Pythagoreans: that sect had apparently
not established itself so strongly there as in the Achaean cities; though many
Tarentines are enumerated among the disciples of Pythagoras, and it is clear that
the city had not altogether escaped their influence. (Iambl. Vit. Pyth. 262, 266;
Porphyr. Vit. Pyth. 56.)
The defeat of the Tarentines by the Messapians, which is referred
by Diodorus to B.C. 473 (Diod. xi. 52), is the first event in the history of Tarentum
to which we can assign a definite date. Great as that blow may have been, it did
not produce any permanent effect in checking the progress of the city, which still
appears as one of the most flourishing in Magna Graecia. We next hear of the Tarentines
as interfering to prevent the Thurians, who had been recently established in Italy,
from making themselves masters of the district of the Siritis. On what grounds
the Tarentines could lay claim to this district, which was separated from them
by the intervening territory of Metapontum, we are not informed; but they carried
on war for some time against the Thurians, who were supported by the Spartan exile
Cleandridas; until at length the dispute was terminated by a compromise, and a
new colony named Heracleia was founded in the contested territory (B.C. 432),
in which the citizens of both states participated, but it was agreed that it should
be considered as a colony of Tarentum. (Antioch. ap. Strab. vi. p. 264; Diod.
xii. 23, 36.) At the time of the Athenian expedition to Sicily, the Tarentines
kept aloof from the contest, and contented themselves with refusing all supplies
and assistance to the Athenian fleet (Thuc. vi. 44), while they afforded shelter
to the Corinthian and Laconian ships under Gylippus (Ib. 104), but they did not
even prevent the second fleet under Demosthenes and Eurymedon from touching at
the islands of the Choerades, immediately opposite to the entrance of their harbour,
and taking on board some auxiliaries furnished by the Messapians. (Id. vii. 33.)
Another long interval now elapses, during which the history of Tarentum
is to us almost a blank; yet the few notices we hear of the city represent it
as in a state of great prosperity. We are told that at one time (apparently about
380-360 B.C.) Archytas, the Pythagorean philosopher, exercised a paramount influence
over the government, and filled the office of Strategus or general no less than
seven times, though it was prohibited by law to hold it more than once; and was
successful in every campaign. (Diog. Laert. viii. 4. § § 79-82.) It is evident,
therefore, that the Tarentines were far from enjoying unbroken peace. The hostilities
alluded to were probably but a renewal of their old warfare with the Messapians;
but the security of the Greek cities in Italy was now menaced by two more formidable
foes, Dionysius of Syracuse in the south, and the Lucanians on the north and west.
The Tarentines, indeed; seem to have at first looked upon both dangers with comparative
indifference: their remote position secured them from the immediate brunt of the
attack, and it is even doubtful whether they at first joined in the general league
of the Greek cities to resist the danger which threatened them. Meanwhile, the
calamities which befel the more southern cities, the destruction of some by Dionysius,
and the humiliation of others, tended only to raise Tarentum in comparison, while
that city itself enjoyed an immunity from all hostile attacks; and it seems certain
that it was at this period that Tarentum first rose to the preponderating position
among the Greek cities in Italy, which it thenceforth enjoyed without a rival.
It was apparently as an acknowledgment of that superiority, that when Tarentum
had joined the confederacy of the Greek cities, the place of meeting of their
congress was fixed at the Tarentine colony of Heracleia. (Strab. vi. p. 280.)
It was impossible for the Tarentines any longer to keep aloof from
the contest with the Lucanians, whose formidable power was now beginning to threaten
all the cities in Magna Graecia; and they now appear as taking a leading part
in opposing the progress of those barbarians. But they were not content with their
own resources, and called in successively to their assistance several foreign
leaders and generals of renown. The first of these was the Spartan king Archidamus,
who crossed over into Italy with a considerable force. Of his operations there
we have no account, but he appears to have carried on the war for some years,
as Diodorus places his first landing in Italy in B.C. 346, while the battle in
which he was defeated and slain was not fought till the same time as that of Chaeroneia,
B.C. 338. (Diod. xvi. 63, 88.) This action, in which Archidamus himself, and almost
all the troops which he had brought with him from Greece perished, was fought
(as we are told), not with the Lucanians, but with the Messapians, in the neighbourlhood
of Manduria, only 24 miles from Tarentum (Plut. Agis. 3; Paus. iii. 10. § 5; Diod.
l. c.); but there can be no doubt, however, that both nations were united, and
that the Lucanians lent their support to the Messapians, as the old enemies of
Tarentum. Henceforth, indeed, we find both names continually united. A few years
after the death of Archidamus, Alexander, king of Epirus, was invited by the Tarentines,
and landed in Italy, B.C. 332. The operations of his successive campaigns, which
were continued till B.C. 326, are very imperfectly known to us, but he appears
to have first turned his arms against the Messapians, and compelled them to conclude
a peace with the Tarentines, before he proceeded to make war upon the Lucanians
and Bruttians. But his arms were attended with considerable success in this quarter
also: he defeated the Samnites and Lucanians in a great battle near Paestum, and
penetrated into the heart of the Bruttian territory. Meanwhile, however, he had
quarrelled with his allies the Tarentines, so that he turned against them, took
their colony of Heracleia, and endeavoured to transfer the congress of the Greek
cities from thence to a place on the river Acalandrus, in the territory of Thurii.
(Strab. vi. p. 280; Liv. viii. 24; Justin. xii. 2.) Hence his death, in B.C. 226,
only liberated the Tarentines from an enemy instead of depriving them of an ally.
They appear from this time to have either remained tranquil or carried on the
contest single-handed, till B.C. 303, when we find them again invoking foreign
assistance, and, as on a former occasion, sending to Sparta for aid. This was
again furnished them, and a large army of mercenaries landed at Tarentum under
Cleonymus, the uncle of the Spartan king. But though he compelled the Messapians
and Lucanians to sue for peace, Cleonymus soon alienated the minds of his Greek
allies by his arrogance and luxurious habits, and became the object of general
hatred before he quitted Italy. (Diod. xx. 104.) According to Strabo, the Tarentines
subsequently called in the assistance of Agathocles (Strab. vi. p. 280); but we
find no mention of this elsewhere, and Diodorus tells us that he concluded an
alliance with the Iapygians and Peucetians, which could hardly have been done
with favourable intentions towards Tarentum. (Diod. xxi. p. 490.)
Not long after this the Tarentines first came into collision with
a more formidable foe than their neighbours, the Messapians and Lucanians. The
wars of the Romans with the Samnites, in which the descendants of the latter people,
the Apulians and Lucanians, were from time to time involved, had rendered the
name and power of Rome familiar to the Greek cities on the Tarentine gulf and
coast of the Adriatic, though their arms were not carried into that part of Italy
till about B.C. 283, when they rendered assistance to the Thurians against the
Lucanians. But long before this, as early as the commencement of the Second Samnite
War (B.C. 326), the Tarentines are mentioned in Roman history as supporting the
Neapolitans with promises of succour, which, however, they never sent; and afterwards
exciting the Lucanians to war against the Romans. (Liv. viii. 27.) Again, in B.C.
321 we are told that they sent a haughty embassy to command the Samnites and Romans
to desist from hostilities, and threatened to declare war on whichever party refused
to obey. (Id. ix. 14.) But on this occasion also they did not put their threat
in execution. At a subsequent period, probably about B.C. 303 (Arnold's Rome,
vol. ii. p. 315), the Tarentines concluded a treaty with Rome, by which it was
stipulated that no Roman ships of war should pass the Lacinian cape. (Appian,
Samnit. 7.) It was therefore a direct breach of this treaty when, in B.C. 302,
a Roman squadron of ten ships under L. Cornelius, which had been sent to the assistance
of the Thurians, entered the Tarentine gulf, and even approached within sight
of the city. The Tarentines, whose hostile disposition was already only half concealed,
and who are said to have been the prime movers in organising the confederacy against
Rome which led to the Fourth Samnite War (Zonar. viii. 2.), immediately attacked
the Roman ships, sunk four of them, and took one. After this they proceeded to
attack the Thurians on account of their having called in the Romans, expelled
the Roman garrison, and made themselves masters of the city. (Appian, Samn. 7.
§ 1; Zonar. viii. 2.) The Romans sent an embassy to Tarentum to complain of these
outrages; but their demands being refused, and their ambassador treated with contunmely,
they had now no choice but to declare war upon the Tarentines, B.C. 281. (Appian,
l. c. § 2; Zonar. l. c.; Dion Cass. Fr. 145.) Nevertheless, the war was at first
carried on with little energy; but meanwhile the Tarentines, following their usual
policy, had invited Pyrrhus, king of Epirus, to their assistance. That monarch
readily accepted the overture, and sent over his general Milo to occupy the citadel
of Tarentum with 3000 men, while he himself followed in the winter. (Zonar. viii.
2; Plut. Pyrrh. 15, 16.)
It is usual to represent the Tarentines as at this period sunk in
luxury and effeminacy, so that they were unable to defend themselves, and hence
compelled to have recourse to the assistance of Pyrrhus. But there is certainly
much exaggeration in this view. They were no doubt accustomed to rely much upon
the arms of mercenaries, but so were all the more wealthy cities of Greece; and
it is certain that the Tarentines themselves (apart from their allies and mercenaries),
furnished not only a considerable body of cavalry, but a large force or phalanx
of heavy-armed infantry, called the Leucaspids, from their white shields, who
are especially mentioned as serving under Pyrrhus at the battle of Asculum. (Dionys.
xx. Fr. Didot. 1, 5.) It is unnecessary here to repeat the history of the campaigns
of that, monarch. His first successes for a time saved Tarentum itself from the
brunt of the war: but when he at length, after his final defeat by Curius, withdrew
from Italy (B.C. 274), it was evident that the full weight of the Roman arms would
fall upon Tarentum. Pyrrhus, indeed, left Milo with a garrison to defend the city,
but the Tarentines themselves were divided into two parties, the one of which
was disposed to submit to Rome, while the other applied for assistance to Carthage.
A Carthaginian fleet was actually sent to Tarentum, but it arrived too late, for
Milo had already capitulated and surrendered the citadel into the hands of the
Roman consul Papirius, B.C. 272. (Zonar. viii. 6; Oros. iv. 3.)
From this time Tarentum continued subject to Rome. The inhabitants
were indeed left in possession of their own laws and nominal independence, but
the city was jealously watched; and a Roman legion seems to have been commonly
stationed there. (Pol. ii. 24.) During the First Punic War the Tarentines are
mentioned as furnishing ships to the Romans (Pol. i. 20): but with this exception
we hear no more of it till the Second Punic War, when it became a military post
of great importance. Hannibal was from an early period desirous to make himself
master of the city, which, with its excellent port, would at once have secured
his communications with Africa. It is evident also that there was a strong Carthaginian
party in the city, who shortly after the battle of Cannae, opened negotiations
with Hannibal, and renewed them upon a subsequent occasion (Liv. xxii. 61, xxiv.
13); but they were kept down by the presence of the Roman garrison, and it was
not till B.C. 212 that Nico and Philemenus, two of the leaders of this party,
found an opportunity to betray the city into his hands. (Liv. xxv. 8-10; Pol.
viii. 26-33.) Even then the Roman garrison still held the citadel; and Hannibal
having failed in his attempts to carry this fortress by assault, was compelled
to resort to a blockade. He cut it off on the land side by drawing a double line
of fortifications across the isthmus, and made himself master of the sea by dragging
a part of the fleet which was shut up within the inner port (or Mare Piccolo),
across the narrowest part of the isthmus, and launching it again in the outer
bay. (Pol. viii. 34-36; Liv. xxv. 11.) This state of things continued for more
than two years, during the whole of which time the Carthaginians continued masters
of the city, while the Roman garrison still maintained possession of the citadel,
and the besiegers were unable altogether to prevent them from receiving supplies
from without, though on one occasion the Romans, having sent a considerable fleet
under D. Quintius to attempt the relief of the place, this was met by the Tarentines,
and after an obstinate conflict the Roman fleet was defeated and destroyed. (Liv.
xxv. 15, xxvi. 39, xxvii. 3.) At length in B.C. 209 Fabius determined if possible
to wrest from Hannibal the possession of this important post; and laid siege to
Tarentum while the Carthaginian general was opposed to Marcellus. He himself encamped
on the N. of the port, close to the entrance, so that he readily put himself in
communication with M. Livius, the commander of the citadel. But while he was preparing
his ships and engines for the assault, an accident threw in his way the opportunity
of surprising the city, of which he made himself master with little difficulty.
The Carthaginian garrison was put to the sword, as well as a large part of the
inhabitants, and the whole city was given up to plunder. (Id. xxvii. 12, 15, 16;
Plut. Fab. 21-23.) Livy praises the magnanimity of Fabius in not carrying off
the statues and other works of art in which Tarentum abounded (Liv. xxvii. 16;
Plut. Fab. 23); but it is certain that he transferred from thence to Rome a celebrated
statue of Hercules by Lysippus, which long continued to adorn the Capitol. (Strab.
vi. p. 278; Plin. xxxiv. 7. s. 18.) The vast quantity of gold and silver which
fell into the hands of the victors sufficiently bears out the accounts of the
great wealth of the Tarentines. (Liv. l. c.)
Tarentum had already suffered severely on its capture by Hannibal,
and there can be no doubt that it sustained a still severer blow when it was retaken
by Fabius. (Strab. vi. p. 278.) It was at first proposed to degrade it to a condition
similar to that of Capua, but this was opposed by Fabius, and the decision was
postponed till after the war. (Liv. xxvii. 25.) What the final resolution of the
senate was, we know not; but Tarentum is alluded to at a subsequent period, as
still retaining its position of an allied city, urbs foederata. (Liv. xxxv. 16.)
It is certain that it still remained the chief place in this part of Italy, and
was the customary residence of the praetor or other magistrate who was sent to
the S. of Italy. Thus we find in B.C. 185, L. Postumius sent thither to carry
on investigations into the conspiracies that had arisen out of the Bacchanalian
rites, as well as among the slave population. (Liv. xxxix. 29, 41.) But it is
nevertheless clear that it was (in common with the other Greek cities of this
part of Italy) fallen into a state of great decay; and hence, in B.C. 123, among
the colonies sent out by C. Gracchus, was one to Tarentum, which appears to have
assumed the title of Colonia Neptunia. (Vell. Pat. i. 15; Plin. iii. 11. s. 16;
see Mommsen, in Berichte der Sachsischen Gesellschaft for 1849, pp. 49-51.) According
to Strabo this colony became a flourishing one, and the city enjoyed considerable
prosperity in his day. But it was greatly fallen from its former splendour, and
only occupied the site of the ancient citadel, with a small part of the adjoining
isthmus. (Strab. vi. p. 278.) It was, however, one of the few cities which still
retained the Greek language and manners, in common with Neapolis and Rhegium.
(Ib. p. 253.) The salubrity of its climate, as well as the fertility of its territory,
and, above all, the importance of its port, preserved it from the complete decay
into which so many of the cities of Magna Graecia fell under the Roman government.
It is repeatedly mentioned during the civil wars between Octavian, Antony, and
Sex. Pompeius as a naval station of importance; and it was there that in B.C.
36 a fresh arrangement was come to between Octavian and Antony, which we find
alluded to by Tacitus as the Tarentinum foedus. (Appian, B.C. ii. 40, v. 50, 80,
84, 93-99; Tac. Ann. i. 10.)
Even under the Empire Tarentum continued to be one of the chief seaports
of Italy, though in some measure eclipsed by the growing importance of Brundusium.
(Tac. Ann. xiv. 12, Hist. ii. 83.) An additional colony of veterans was sent there
under Nero, but with little effect, most of them having soon again dispersed.
(Tac. Ann. xiv. 27.) No subsequent mention of Tarentum is found in history until
after the fall of the Western Empire, but it then appears as a considerable town,
and bears an important part in the Gothic Wars on account of its strength as a
fortress, and the excellence of its port. (Procop. B. G. iii. 23, 27, 37, iv.
26, 34.) It was taken by Belisarius, but retaken by Totila in A.D. 549, and continued
in the hands of the Goths till it was finally wrested from them by Narses. From
that time it continued subject to the Byzantine Empire till A.D. 661, when it
was taken by the Lombard Romoaldus, duke of Beneventum (P. Diac. vi. 1); and afterwards
fell successively into the hands of the Saracens and the Greek emperors. The latter
did not finally lose their hold of it till it was taken by Robert Guiscard in
1063. It has ever since formed part of the kingdom of Naples. The modern city
of Tarentum has a population of about 20,000 souls; it is the see of an archbishop,
and still ranks as the most important city in this part of Italy. But it is confined
to the space occupied by the ancient citadel, the extremity of the peninsula or
promontory between the two ports: this is now an island, the low isthmus which
connected it with the mainland having been cut through by king Ferdinand I., for
the purpose of strengthening its fortifications.
Scarcely any remains are now extant of the celebrated and opulent
city of Tarentum. Never (says Swinburne) was a place more completely swept off
the face of the earth. Some slight remains of an amphitheatre (of course of Roman
date) are visible outside the walls of the modern city; while within it the convent
of the Celestines is built on the foundations of an ancient temple. Even the extent
of the ancient city can be very imperfectly determined. A few slight vestiges
of the ancient walls are, however, visible near an old church which bears the
name of Sta Maria di Murveta, about 2 miles from the gates of the modern city;
and there is no doubt that the walls extended from thence, on the one side to
the Mare Piccolo, on the other side to the outer sea.
The general form of the city was thus triangular, having the citadel
at the apex, which is now joined to the opposite shore by a bridge of seven arches.
This was already the case in Strabo's time, though no mention of it is found at
the time of the siege by Hannibal. The general form and arrangement of the city
cannot be better described than they are by Strabo. He says: While the whole of
the rest of the Tarentine gulf is destitute of ports, there is here a very large
and fair port, closed at the entrance by a large bridge, and not less than 100
stadia in circumference. [This is beneath the truth: the Mare Piccolo is more
than 16 miles (128 stadia) in circuit.] On the side towards the inner recess of
the port it forms an isthmus with the exterior sea, so that the city lies upon
a peninsula; and the neck of the isthmus is so low that ships can easily be drawn
over the land from one side to the other. The whole city also lies low, but rises
a little towards the citadel. The ancient wall comprises a circuit of great extent;
but now the greater part of the space adjoining the isthmus is deserted, and only
that part still subsists which adjoins the mouth of the port, where also the Acropolis
is situated. The portion still remaining is such as to make up a considerable
city. It has a splendid Gymnasium, and a good-sized Agora, in which stands the
bronze colossal statue of Jupiter, the largest in existence next to that at Rhodes.
In the interval between the Agora and the mouth of the port is the Acropolis,
which retains only a few remnants of the splendid monuments with which it was
adorned in ancient times. For the greater part were either destroyed by the Carthaginians
when they took the city, or carried off as booty by the Romans, when they made
themselves masters of it by assault. Among these is the colossal bronze statue
of Hercules in the Capitol, a work of Lysippus, which was dedicated there as an
offering by Fabius Maximus, who took the city. (Strab. vi. p. 278.)
In the absence of all extant remains there is very little to be added
to the above description. But Polybius, in his detailed narrative of the capture
of the city by Hannibal, supplies us with some local names and details. The principal
gate on the E. side of the city, in the outer line of walls, seems to have been
that called the Temenid Gate (hai pulai Temenidai, Pol. viii. 30); outside of
which was a mound or tumulus called the tomb of Hyacinthus, whose worship had
obviously been brought from Sparta. A broad street called the Batheia, or Low
Street, led apparently from this gate towards the interior of the city. This from
its name may be conjectured to have lain close to the port and the water's edge,
while another broad street led from thence to the Agora. (Ib. 31.) Another street
called the Soteira (Soteira) was apparently on the opposite side of the city from
the Batheia, and must therefore have adjoined the outer sea. (Ib. 36.) Immediately
adjoining the Agora was the Museum (Mouseion), a public building which seems to
have served for festivals and public banquets, rather than for any purposes connected
with its name. (Ib. 27, 29.) There is nothing to indicate the site of the theatre,
alluded to by Polybius on the same occasion, except that it was decidedly within
the city, which was not always the case. Strabo does not notice it, but it must
have been a building of large size, so as to be adapted for the general assemblies
of the people, which were generally held in it, as was the case also at Syracuse
and in other Greek cities. This is particularly mentioned on several occasions;
it was there that the Roman ambassadors received the insult which finally led
to the ruin of the city. (Flor. i. 18. § 3; Val. Max. ii. 2. § 5; Appian, Samnit.
7.)
Livy inaccurately describes the citadel as standing on lofty cliffs
(praealtis rupibus, xxv. 11): the, peninsula on which it stood rises indeed (as
observed by Strabo) a little above the rest of the city, and it. is composed of
a rocky soil; but the whole site is low, and no part of it rises to any considerable
elevation. The hills also that surround the Mare Piccolo are of trifling height,
and slope very gradually to its banks, as well as to the shore of the outer sea.
There can be no doubt that the, port of Tarentum, properly so called, was the
inlet now called the Mare Piccolo or Little Sea, but outside this the sea on the
S. side of the city forms a bay or roadstead, which affords good shelter to shipping,
being partially sheltered from the SW. by the two small islands of S. Pietro and
S. Paolo, apparently the same which were known in ancient times as the Choreades
(Thuc. vii. 33.)
Tarentum was celebrated in ancient times for the salubrity of its
climate and the fertility of its territory. Its advantages in both respects are
extolled by Horace in a well-known ode (Carm. ii. 6), who says that its honey
was equal to that of Hymettus, and its olives to those of Venafrum. Varro also
praised its honey as the best in Italy (ap. Macrob. Sat. ii. 12). Its oil and
wines enjoyed a nearly equal reputation; the choicest quality of the latter seems
to have been that produced at Aulon (Hor. l. c.; Martial, xiii. 125; Plin. xiv.
6. s. 8), a valley in the neighbourhood, on the slope of a hill still called Monte
Melone. But the choicest production of the neighbourhood of Tarentum was its wool,
which appears to have enjoyed an acknowledged supremacy over that of all parts
of Italy. (Plin. xxix. 2. s. 9; Martial, l. c.; Varr. R. R. ii. 2. § 18; Strab.
vi. p. 284; Colum. vii. 2. § 3.) Nor was this owing solely to natural advantages,
as we learn that the Tarentines bestowed the greatest care upon the preservation
and improvement of the breed of sheep. (Colum. vii. 4.) Tarentum was noted likewise
for its breed of horses, which supplied the famous Tarentine cavalry, which was
long noted among the Greeks. Their territory abounded also in various kinds of
fruits of the choicest quality, especially pears, figs, and chestnuts, and though
not as fertile in corn as the western shores of the Tarentine gulf, was nevertheless
well adapted to its cultivation. At the same time its shores produced abundance
of shell-fish of all descriptions, which formed in ancient times a favourite article
of diet. Even at the present day the inhabitants of Taranto subsist to a great
extent upon the shell-fish produced in the Mare Piccolo in a profusion almost
incredible. Its Pectens or scallops enjoyed a special reputation with the Roman
epicures. (Hor. Sat. ii. 4. 34.) But by far the most valuable production of this
class was the Murex, which furnished the celebrated purple dye. The Tarentine
purple was considered second only to the Tyrian, and for a long time was the most
valuable known to the Romans. (Corn. Nep. ap. Plin. ix. 39. s. 63.) Even in the
time of Augustus it continued to enjoy a high reputation. (Hor. Ep. ii. 1, 207.)
So extensive were the manufactories of this dye at Tarentum that considerable
mounds are still visible on the shore of the Mare Piccolo, composed wholly of
broken shells of this species. (Swinburne's Travels, vol. i. p. 239.)
The climate of Tarentum, though justly praised by Horace for its mildness,
was generally reckoned soft and enervating, and was considered as in some degree
the cause of the luxurious and effeminate habits ascribed to the inhabitants (
molle Tarentum, Hor. Sat. ii. 4. 34; imbelle Tarentum, Id. Ep. i. 7. 45.) It is
probable that this charge, as in many other cases, was greatly exaggerated; but
there is no reason to doubt that the Tarentines, like almost all the other Greeks
who became a manufacturing and commercial people, indulged in a degree of luxury
far exceeding that of the ruder nations of Central Italy. The wealth and opulence
to which they attained in the 4th century B.C. naturally tended to aggravate these
evils, and the Tarentines are represented as at the time of the arrival of Pyrrhus
enfeebled and degraded by luxurious indulgences, and devoted almost exclusively
to the pursuit of pleasure. To such an excess was this carried that we are told
the number of their annual festivals exceeded that of the days of the year. (Theopomp.
ap. Athen. iv. p. 166; Clearch. ap. Athen. xii. p. 522; Strab. vi. p. 280; Aelian,
V. H. xii. 30.) Juvenal alludes to their love of feasting and pleasure when he
calls it coronatum ac petulans madidumque Tarentum (vi. 297). But it is certain,
as already observed, that they were not incapable of war: they furnished a considerable
body of troops to the army of Pyrrhus; and in the sea-fight with the Roman fleet
off the entrance of the harbour, during the Second Punic War, they displayed both
courage and skill in naval combat. (Liv. xxvi. 39.) In the time of their greatest
power, according to Strabo, they could send into the field an army of 30,000 foot
and 3000 horse, besides a body of 1000 select cavalry called Hipparchs. (Strab.
vi. p. 280.) The Tarentine light cavalry was indeed celebrated throughout Greece,
so that they gave name to a particular description of cavalry, which are mentioned
under the name of Tarentines (Tarantinoi), in the armies of Alexander the Great
and his successors; and the appellation continued in use down to the period of
the Roman Empire. (Arrian, Anab.; Id. Tact. 4; Pol. iv. 77, xi. 12; Liv. xxxv.
28; Aelian, Tact. 2. p. 14; Suidas, s. v. Tarantinoi.) It is probable, however,
that these may have been always recruited in great part among the neighbouring
Messapians and Sallentines, who also excelled as light horsemen.
With their habits of luxury the Tarentines undoubtedly combined the
refinements of the arts usually associated with it, and were diligent cultivators
of the fine arts. The great variety and beauty of their coins is, even at the
present day, a sufficient proof of this, while the extraordinary numbers of them
which are still found in the S. of Italy attest the wealth of the city. Ancient
writers also speak of the numbers of pictures, statues, and other works of art
with which the city was adorned, and of which. a considerable number were transported
to Rome. (Flor. i. 18; Strab. vi. p. 278; Liv. xxvii. 16.) Among these the most
remarkable were the colossal statue of Jupiter, mentioned by Strabo (l. c.), and
which was apparently still standing in the Agora in his time the bronze statue
of Hercules by Lysippus already noticed; and a statue of Victory, which was also
carried to Rome, where it became one of the chief ornaments of the Curia Julia.
(Dion Cass. li. 22.) Nor were the Tarentines deficient in the cultivation of literature.
In addition to Archytas, the Pythagorean philosopher, celebrated for his mathematical
attainments and discoveries, who long held at Tarentum a place somewhat similar
to that of Pericles at Athens (Diog. Laert. viii. 4; Suid. s. v. Archutas; Athen.
xii. p. 545), Aristoxenus, the celebrated musician and disciple of Aristotle,
was a native of Tarentum; as well as Rhinthon, the dramatic poet, who became the
founder of a new species of burlesque drama which was subsequently cultivated
by Sopater and other authors. (Suid. s. v. Rinthon.) It was from Tarentum also
that the Romans received the first rudiments of the regular drama, Livius Andronicus,
their earliest dramatic poet, having been a Greek of Tarentum, who was taken prisoner
when the city fell into their hands. (Cic. Brut. 18)
Polybius tells us that Tarentum retained many traces of its Lacedaemonian
origin in local names and customs, which still subsisted in his day. Such was
the tomb of Hyacinthus already mentioned (Pol. viii. 30): the river Galaesus also
was called by them the Eurotas (Ib. 35), though the native name ultimately prevailed.
Another custom which he notices as peculiar was that of burying their dead within
the walls of the city, so that a considerable space within the walls was occupied
by a necropolis. (Ib. 30.) This custom he ascribes to an oracle, but it may have
arisen (as was the case at Agrigentum and Syracuse) from the increase of the city
having led to the original necropolis being inclosed within the walls.
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
THOURII (Ancient city) PUGLIA
Thourioi: Eth. Thourinos, Thurinus. Called also by some Latin writers
and by Ptolemy Thurium (Thourion, Ptol.). A city of Magna Graecia, situated on
the Tarentine gulf, within a short distance of the site of Sybaris, of which it
may be considered as having taken the place. It was one of the latest of all the
Greek colonies in this part of Italy, not having been founded till nearly 70 years
after the fall of Sybaris. The site of that city had remained desolate for a period
of 58 years after its destruction by the Crotoniats; when at length, in B.C. 452,
a number of the Sybarite exiles and their descendants made an attempt to establish
themselves again on the spot, under the guidance of some leaders of Thessalian
origin; and the new colony rose so rapidly to prosperity that it excited the jealousy
of the Crotoniats, who, in consequence, expelled the new settlers a little more
than 5 years after the establishment of the colony. (Diod. xi. 90, xii. 10.) The
fugitive Sybarites first appealed for support to Sparta, but without success:
their application to the Athenians was more successful, and that people determined
to send out a fresh colony, at the same time that they reinstated the settlers
who had been lately expelled from thence. A body of Athenian colonists was accordingly
sent out by Pericles, under the command of Lampon and Xenocritus; but the number
of Athenian citizens was small, the greater part of those who took part in the
colony being collected from various parts of Greece. Among them were two celebrated
names,- Herodotus the historian, and the orator Lysias, both of whom appear to
have formed part of the original colony. (Diod. xii. 10; Strab. vi. p. 263; Dionys.
Lys. p. 453; Vit. X. Orat. p. 835; Plut. Peric. 11, Nic. 5.) The new colonists
at first established themselves on the site of the deserted Sybaris, but shortly
afterwards removed (apparently in obedience to an oracle) to a spot at a short
distance from thence, where there was a fountain named Thuria, from whence the
new city derived its name of Thurii. (Diod. l. c.; Strab l. c.) The foundation
of Thurii is assigned by Diodorus to the year 446 B.C.; but other authorities
place it three years later, B.C. 443, and this seems to be the best authenticated
date. (Clinton, F. H. vol. ii. p. 54.) The protection of the Athenian name probably
secured the rising colony from the assaults of the Crotoniats, at least we hear
nothing of any obstacles to its progress from that quarter; but it was early disturbed
by dissensions between the descendants of the original Sybarite settlers and the
new colonists, the former laying claim not only to honorary distinctions, but
to the exclusive possession of important political privileges. These disputes
at length ended in a revolution, and the Sybarites were finally expelled from
the city. They established themselves for a short time upon the river Traens,
but did not maintain their footing long, being dislodged and finally dispersed
by the neighbouring barbarians. (Diod. xii. 11, 22; Arist. Pol. v. 3.) The Thurians
meanwhile concluded a treaty of peace with Crotona, and the new city rose rapidly
to prosperity. Fresh colonists poured in from all quarters, especially the Peloponnese;
and though it continued to be generally regarded as an Athenian colony, the Athenians
in fact formed but a small element of the population. The citizens were divided,
as we learn from Diodorus, into ten tribes, the names of which sufficiently indicate
their origin. They were,- the Arcadian, Achaean, Elean, Boeotian, Amphictyonic,
Dorian, Ionian, Athenian, Euboean, and Nesiotic, or that of the islanders. (Diod.
xii. 11.) The form of government was democratic, and the city is said to have
enjoyed the advantage of a well-ordered system of laws; but the statement of Diodorus,
who represents this as owing to the legislation of Charondas, and that lawgiver
himself as a citizen of Thurii, is certainly erroneous. The city itself was laid
out with great regularity, being divided by four broad streets or plateae, each
of which was crossed in like manner by three others. (Diod. xii. 10.)
Very shortly after its foundation, Thurii became involved in a war
with Tarentum. The subject of this was the possession of the fertile district
of the Siritis, about 30 miles N. of Thurii, to which the Athenians had a claim
of long standing, which was naturally taken up by their colonists. The Spartan
general, Cleandridas, who had been banished from Greece some years before, and
taken up his abode at Thurii, became the general of the Thurians in this war,
which, after various successes, was at length terminated by a compromise, both
parties agreeing to the foundation of the new colony of Heracleia in the disputed
territory. (Diod. xii. 23, 36, xiii. 106; Strab. vi. p. 264; Polyaen. Strat. ii.
10.) Our knowledge of the history of Thurii is unfortunately very scanty and fragmentary.
Fresh disputes arising between the Athenian citizens and the other colonists were
at length allayed by the oracle of Delphi, which decided that the city had no
other founder than Apollo. (Diod. xii. 35.) But the same difference appears again
on occasion of the great Athenian expedition to Sicily, when the city was divided
into two parties, the one desirous of favouring and supporting the Athenians,
the other opposed to them. The latter faction at first prevailed, so far that
the Thurians observed the same neutrality towards the Athenian fleet under Nicias
and Alcibiades as the other cities of Italy (Thuc. vi. 44); but two years afterwards
(B.C. 213) the Athenian party had regained the ascendency; and when Demosthenes
and Eurymedon touched at Thurii, the citizens afforded them every assistance,
and even furnished an auxiliary force of 700 hoplites and 300 dartmen. (Id. vii.
33, 35.) From this time we hear nothing of Thurii for a period of more than 20
years, though there is reason to believe that this was just the time of its greatest
prosperity. In B.C. 390 we find that its territory was already beginning to suffer
from the incursions of the Lucanians, a new and formidable enemy, for protection
against whom all the cities of Magna Graecia had entered into a defensive league.
But the Thurians were too impatient to wait for the support of their allies, and
issued forth with an army of 14,000 foot and 1000 horse, with which they repulsed
the attacks of the Lucanians; but having rashly followed them into their own territory,
they were totally defeated, near Laus, and above 10,000 of them cut to pieces
(Diod. xiv. 101).
This defeat must have inflicted a severe blow on the prosperity of
Thurii, while the continually increasing power of the Lucanians and Bruttians,
in their immediate neighbourhood would prevent them from quickly recovering from
its effects. The city continued also to be on hostile, or at least unfriendly,
terms with Dionysius of Syracuse, and was in consequence chosen as a place of
retirement or exile by his brother Leptines and his friend Philistus (Diod. xv.
7). The rise of the Bruttian people about B.C. 356 probably became the cause of
the complete decline of Thurii, but the statement of Diodorus that the city was
conquered by that people (xvi. 15) must be received with considerable doubt. It
is certain at least that it reappears in history at a later period as an independent
Greek city, though much fallen from its former greatness. No mention of it is
found during the wars of Alexander of Epirus in this part of Italy; but at a later
period it was so hard pressed by the Lucanians that it had recourse to the alliance
of Rome; and a Roman army was sent to its relief under C. Fabricius. That general
defeated the Lucanians, who had actually laid siege to the city, in a pitched
battle, and by several other successes to a great extent broke their power, and
thus relieved the Thurians from all immediate danger from that quarter. (Liv.
Epit. xi.; Plin. xxxiv. 6. s. 15; Val. Max. i. 8. § 6.) But shortly after they
were attacked on the other side by the Tarentines, who are said to have taken
and plundered their city (Appian, Samn. 7. § 1); and this aggression was one of
the immediate causes of the war declared by the Romans against Tarentum in B.C.
282.
Thurii now sunk completely into the condition of a dependent ally
of Rome, and was protected by a Roman garrison. No mention is found of its name
during the wars with Pyrrhus or the First Punic War, but it plays a considerable
part in that with Hannibal. It was apparently one of the cities which revolted
to the Carthaginians immediately after the battle of Cannae, though, in another
passage, Livy seems to place its defection somewhat later. (Liv. xxii. 61, xxv.
1.) But in B.C. 213, the Thurians returned to their alliance with Rome, and received
a Roman garrison into their city. (Id. xxv. 1.) The very next year, however, after
the fall of Tarentum, they changed sides again, and betrayed the Roman troops
into the hands of the Carthaginian general Hanno. (Id. xxv. 15; Appian, Hann.
34.) A few years later (B.C. 210), Hannibal, finding himself unable to protect
his allies in Campania, removed the inhabitants of Atella who had survived the
fall of their city to Thurii (Appian, Hann. 49); but it was not long before he
was compelled to abandon the latter city also to its fate; and when he himself
in B.C. 204 withdrew his forces into Bruttium, he removed to Crotona 3500 of the
principal citizens of Thurii, while he gave up the city itself to the plunder
of his troops. (Appian, l. c. 57.) It is evident that Thurii was now sunk to the
lowest state of decay; but the great fertility of its territory rendered it desirable
to preserve it from utter desolation: hence in B.C. 194, it was one of the places
selected for the establishment of a Roman colony with Latin rights. (Liv. xxxiv.
53; Strab. vi. p. 263.) The number of colonists was small in proportion to the
extent of land to be divided among them, but they amounted to 3000 foot and 300
knights. (Liv. xxxv. 9.) Livy says merely that the colony was sent in Thurinum
agrum, and does not mention anything of a change of name; but Strabo tells us
that they gave to the new colony the name of Copiae, and this statement is confirmed
both by Stephanus of Byzantium, and by the evidence of coins, on which, however,
the name is written Copia (Strab. l. c.; Steph. Byz. s. v. Thourioi; Eckhel, vol.
i. p. 164.) But this new name did not continue long in use, and Thurii still continued
to be known by its ancient appellation. It is mentioned as a municipal town on
several occasions during the latter ages of the Republic. In B.C. 72 it was taken
by Spartacus, and subjected to heavy contributions, but not otherwise injured.
(Appian, B.C. i. 117.) At the outbreak of the Civil Wars it was deemed by Caesar
of sufficient importance to be secured with a garrison of Gaulish and Spanish
horse; and it was there that M. Coelius was put to death, after a vain attempt
to excite an insurrection in this part of Italy. (Caes. B.C. iii. 21, 22.) In
B.C. 40 also it was attacked by Sextus Pompeius, who laid waste its territory,
but was repulsed from the walls of the city. (Appian, B.C. v. 56, 58.)
It is certain therefore that Thurii was at this time still a place
of some importance, and it is mentioned as a still existing town by Pliny and
Ptolemy, as well as Strabo. (Strab. vi. p. 263; Plin. iii. 11. s. 15; Ptol. iii.
1. § 12.) It was probably, indeed, the only place of any consideration remaining
on the coast of the Tarentine gulf, between Crotona and Tarentum; both Metapontum
and Heraclea having, already fallen into almost complete decay. Its name is still
found in the Itineraries (Itin. Ant. p. 114, where it is written Turios; Tab.
Peut.); and it is noticed by Procopius as still existing in the 6th century. (Procop.
B. G. i. 15.) The period of its final decay is uncertain; but it seems to have
been abandoned during the middle ages, when the inhabitants took refuge at a place
called Terranova, about 12 miles inland, on a hill on the left bank of the Crathis.
The exact site of Thurii has not yet been identified, but the neighbourhood
has never been examined with proper care. It is clear, from the statements both
of Diodorus and Strabo, that it occupied a site near to, but distinct from, that
of Sybaris (Diod. xii. 10; Strab. l. c.): hence the position suggested by some
local topographers at the foot of the hill of Terranova, is probably too far inland.
It is more likely that the true site is to be sought to the N. of the Coscile
(the ancient Sybaris), a few miles from the sea, where, according to Zannoni's
map, ruins still exist, attributed by that geographer to Sybaris, but which are
probably in reality those of Thurii. Swinburne, however, mentions Roman ruins
as existing in the peninsula formed by the rivers Crathis and Sybaris near their
junction, which may perhaps be those of Thurii. (Swinburne, Travels, vol. i. pp.
291, 292; Romanelli, vol. i. p. 236.) The whole subject is very obscure, and a
careful examination of the localities is still much needed. The coins of Thurii
are of great beauty; their number and variety indeed gives us a higher idea of
the opulence and prosperity of the city than we should gather from the statements
of ancient writers.
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
VRENDESION (Ancient city) PUGLIA
Brundisium or Brundusium (Brentesion: Eth. Brentesinos, Brundusinus
or Brundisinus: Brindisi), one of the most important cities of Calabria, situated
on the coast of the Adriatic Sea, 50 miles from Hydruntum, and 38 from Egnatia.
It was distant from Tarentum 44 miles; but the direct distance across the peninsula
to the nearest point of the Gulph of Tarentum does not exceed 30 miles. (Itin.
Ant. pp. 118, 119.) Its name was derived from the peculiar configuration of its
celebrated port, the various branches of which, united into one at the entrance,
were thought to resemble a stag's head, which was called, in the native dialect
of the Messapians, Brention or Brentesion. (Strab. vi. p. 282; Steph. B. s. v.
Brentesion.) It appears to have been in very early times one of the chief towns
of the Sallentines: hence tradition generally ascribed its foundation to a colony
from Crete, the same source from whence the origin of the Sallentines themselves
was derived. (Strab. l. c.; Lucan ii.610.) An obscure and confused tale related
by Justin (xii. 2) represents it as founded by the Aetolians under Diomed, who
were, however, expelled by the native inhabitants of the country, whom he calls
Apulians. Both legends point to the fact that it was in existence as a Messapian
or Sallentine city before the settlement of the Greek colonies in its neighbourhood.
According to Strabo, it had long been governed by its own kings, at the time of
the foundation of Tarentum by Phalanthus, and afforded a place of refuge to that
chieftain himself when expelled by civil dissensions from his newly founded city.
Hence the monument of the hero was shown at Brundusium. (Strab. l. c.; Justin.
iii. 4.) We have very little information concerning its history prior to the Roman
conquest; but it seems to have been a place of comparatively little importance,
being obscured by the greatness of its neighbour Tarentum, which, at this period,
engrossed the whole commerce of this part of Italy. (Pol. x. 1.) Brundusium, however,
appears to have retained its independence, and never received a Greek, colony.
Hence Scylax, though he notices Hydruntum, makes no mention of Brundusium, and
Scymnus Chius terms it the port or emporium of the Messapians. (Scyl. § 14; Scymn.
Ch. 363.) The name is only once mentioned incidentally by Herodotus (iv. 99),
but in a manner that shows it to have been familiar to the Greeks of his day.
But the excellence of its port, and its advantageous situation for
the purpose of commanding the Adriatic, both in a commercial and naval point of
view, appear to have early attracted the attention of the Romans; and the possession
of this important port is said to have been one of the chief objects which led
them to turn their arms against the Sallentines in B.C. 267. (Zonar. viii. 7.)
But though the city fell into their hands on that occasion, it was not till B.C.
244 that they proceeded to secure its possession by the establishment there of
a Roman colony. (Liv. Epit. xix.; Vell. Pat. i. 14; Flor. i. 20.) It is from this
period that the importance of Brundusium must be dated: the new colony appears
to have risen rapidly to wealth and prosperity, for which it was indebted partly
to the fertility of its territory, but still more to its commercial advantages;
and its importance continually increased, as the Roman arms were carried in succession,
first to the opposite shores of Macedonia and Greece, and afterwards to those
of Asia. Its admirable port, capable of sheltering the largest fleets in perfect
safety, caused it to be selected as the chief naval station of the Romans in these
seas. As early as the First Illyrian War, B.C. 229, it was here that the Romans
assembled their fleet and army for the campaign (Pol. ii. 11); and during the
Second Punic War it was again selected as the naval station for the operations
against Philip, king of Macedonia. (Liv. xxiii. 48, xxiv. 10, 11.) Hannibal, on
one occasion, made a vain attempt to surprize it; but the citizens continued faithful
to the Roman cause, and at the most trying period of the war Brundusium was one
of the eighteen colonies which came forward readily to furnish the supplies required
of them. (Id. xxv. 22, xxvii. 10.) During the subsequent wars of the Romans with
Macedonia, Greece, and Asia, the name of Brundusium continually recurs: it was
almost invariably the point where the Roman generals assembled the fleets and
armies with which they crossed the Adriatic; and where, likewise, they landed
on their return in triumph. (Id. xxxi. 14, xxxiv. 52, xxxvii. 4, xliv. 1, xlv.
14, &c.) After the Roman dominion had been permanently established over the provinces
beyond the Adriatic, the constant passage to and fro for peaceful purposes added
still more to the trade and prosperity of Brundusium, which thus rose into one
of the most flourishing and considerable cities of Southern Italy.
The position of Brundusium as the point of direct communication between
Italy and the eastern provinces, naturally rendered it the scene of numerous historical
incidents during the later ages of the republic, and under the Roman empire, of
which a few only can be here noticed. In B.C. 83 Sulla landed here with his army,
on his return from the Mithridatic war to make head against his enemies at Rome:
the citizens of Brandusium opened to him their gates and their port, a service
of the highest importance, which he rewarded by bestowing on them an immunity
from all taxation, a privilege they continued to enjoy during a long period. (Appian,
B.C. i. 79) In B.C. 57 they witnessed the peaceful return of Cicero from his exile,
who landed here on the anniversary of the foundation of the colony (natali Brundisinae
coloniae die, Cic. ad Att. iv. 1), a day which was thus rendered the occasion
of double rejoicing. During the civil war between Caesar and Pompey, Brundusium
became the scene of important military operations. Pompey had here gathered his
forces together with the view of crossing the Adriatic, and a part of them had
already sailed, when Caesar arrived, and after investing the town on the land
side endeavoured to prevent the departure of the rest. For this purpose, having
no fleet of his own, he attempted to block up the narrow entrance of the port,
by driving in piles and sinking vessels in the centre of the channel. Pompey however
succeeded in frustrating his endeavours until the return of his fleet enabled
him to make his escape to Illyricum. (Caes. B.C. i. 24-28; Cic. ad Att. ix. 3,
13, 14, 15; Lucan ii.609-735; Dion Cass. xli. 12; Appian, B.C. ii. 40.) After
the death of the dictator, it was at Brundusium that the youthful Octavius first
assumed the name of Caesar; and the veteran cohorts in garrison there were the
first that declared in his favour. (Appian, B.C. iii. 11.) Four years later (B.C.
40) it was again besieged by Antony and Domitius Ahenobarbus, and Octavian in
vain attempted to raise the siege: but its fall was averted by the intervention
of common friends, who effected a reconciliation between the two triumvirs (Id.
v. 56, 57-60; Dion Cass. xlviii. 27-30). The peace thus concluded was of short
duration, and in B.C. 41 Antony having again threatened Brundusium with a fleet
of 300 sail, Maecenas and Cocceius proceeded thither in haste from Rome, and succeeded
once more in concluding an amicable arrangement. It was on this last occasion
that they were accompanied by Horace, who has immortalised in a well-known satire
his journey from Rome to Brundusium. (Hor. Sat. i. 5; Plut. Ant. 35; Appian, B.C.
v. 93.) In B.C. 19, Virgil died at Brundusium on his return from Greece. (Donat.
Vit. Virgil.) At a later period Tacitus has left us an animated picture of the
mournful spectacle, when Agrippina landed here with the ashes of her husband Germanicus.
(Tao. Ann. iii. 1.) Under the empire we hear comparatively little of Brundusium,
though it is certain that it retained its former importance, and continued to
be the point of departure and arrival, both for ordinary travellers and for armies
on their way between Italy and the East. (Capit. M. Ant. 9, 27; Spartian. Sev.
15.) The period at which the Appian Way was continued thither, and rendered practicable
for carriages is uncertain: but the direct road from Rome to Brundusium through
Apulia, by Canusium and Egnatia, which was only adapted for mules in the time
of Strabo, was first completed as a highway by Trajan, and named from him the
Via Trajana. The common route was to cross from hence direct to Dyrrhachium, from
whence the Via Egnatia led through Illyricumn and Macedonia to the shores of the
Bosporus: but travellers proceeding to Greece frequently crossed over to Aulon,
and thence through Epeirus into Thessaly. During the later ages of the empire
Hydruntum appears to have become a frequent place of passage, and almost rivalled
Brundusium in this respect; though in the time of Pliny it was reckoned the less
safe and certain passage, though the shorter of the two. (Strab. vi. pp. 282,
283; Itin. Ant. pp. 317, 323, 497; Plin. iii. 11. s. 16; Ptol. iii. 1. § 14; Mel.
ii. 4.)
After the fall of the Western Empire Brundusium appears to have declined
in importance, and during the Gothic wars plays a subordinate part to the neighbouring
city of Hydruntum. Its possession was long retained by the Byzantine emperors,
together with the rest of Calabria and Apulia; but after they had long contested
its possession with the Goths, Lombards, and Saracens, it was finally wrested
from them by the Normans in the eleventh century.
The excellence of the port of Brundusium is celebrated by many ancient
writers. Strabo speaks of it as superior to that of Tarentum, and at a much earlier
period Ennius (Ann. vi. 53) already called it Brundisium pulcro praecinctum praepete
portu.
It was composed of two principal arms or branches, running far into
the land, and united only by a very narrow strait or outlet communicating with
the sea. Outside this narrow channel was an outer harbour or roadstead, itself
in a great degree sheltered by a small island, or group of islets, now called
the Isola di St. Andrea; the ancient name of which appears to have been Barra.
(Fest. v. Barium, p. 33.) It was occupied by a Pharos or lighthouse similar to
that at Alexandria. (Mela, ii. 7.) Pliny speaks of these islands as forming the
port of Brundusium. Hence he must designate by this term the outer harbour; but
the one generally meant and described by Caesar and Strabo was certainly the inner
harbour, which was completely landlocked and sheltered from every wind, while
it was deep enough for the largest ships; and the narrowness of the entrance rendered
it easily defensible against any attack from without. This channel is now almost
choked up with sand, and the inner port rendered in consequence completely useless.
This has been ascribed to the works erected by Caesar for the purpose of obstructing
the entrance; but the port continued in full use many centuries afterwards, and
the real origin of the obstruction dates only from the fifteenth century. Recent
attempts to clear out the channel have, however, brought to light many of the
piles driven in by Caesar, and have thus proved that these works were constructed,
as he has himself described them, at the narrowest part of the entrance. (Caes.
B.C. i. 25; Strab. vi. p. 282; Lucan. Phars. ii. 610, &c.; Swinburne's Travels,
vol. i. pp. 384-390.)
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
YDROUS (Ancient city) PUGLIA
Hydruntum called in Greek and sometimes also in Latin Hydrus (Hudrous:
Eth. Hudrountios; Hydruntinus, but an inscription has Hudrentinus: Otranto), a
city of Calabria, on the coast of the Adriatic, and a port of considerable importance,
for which it was indebted to the circumstance of its being the nearest point of
Italy to the coast of Greece, the passage being shorter even than that from Brundusium.
(Cic. ad Att. xv. 2. 1) We have very little information as to its early history;
but it seems probable that it was a Greek city, or at least had received a Greek
colony, though the tradition related by Stephanus of Byzantium (s. v. Biennos),
which represented it as founded by Cretans, is probably connected with the legends
which ascribed a Cretan origin to the Sallentines and Messapians, rather than
to any historical Greek colony. But Scylax distinctly notices the port of Hydrus,
in a passage where he is speaking only of Greek towns (Scyl. p. 5. § 14); and
though he there seems to imply that it was not an independent city like Metapontum
or Tarentum, he elsewhere (p. 11. § 27) calls it polis en tei Iapugiai: hence
it seems highly probable that it was at that time merely a dependency of Tarentum.
Nor do we hear anything of Hydruntum for some time after it had fallen, with the
rest of the Messapian peninsula, under the Roman yoke; the establishment of the
Roman colony at Brundusium and the increasing importance of that port having,
doubtless, tended to throw Hydruntum into the shade. But as early as B.C. 191
we find that it was a customary place of landing in Italy, for those who came
from Greece and crossed over from Corcyra (Liv. xxxvi. 21); and this probably
continued to be a route much frequented, while Brundusium was the point of communication
with Apollonia and the coast of Epirus. Cicero, however, recognises the fact,
that the shortest passage from Italy to the opposite coast was from Hydruntum,
which for that reason he himself seems to have preferred to Brundusium; though
Pliny tells us that the latter route, though longer, was the safer of the two.
(Cic. ad Att. xv. 2. 1, xvi. 6, ad Fam. xvi. 9; Plin. iii. 11. s. 16.) All the
ancient geographers mention Hydruntum as situated at the mouth or entrance of
the Adriatic: Pliny states the width of the strait which separated it from the
opposite coast near Apollonia at 50 M. P., which is just about the truth; and
this accords also with Strabo's statement, that it was 400 stadia (50 M. P.) from
Hydruntum to the island of Sason near the Acroceraunian Promontory. Pliny adds
a strange story, that Pyrrhus had at one time formed the project of closing up
the passage with a bridge of boats, and that the same idea had been taken up at
a later time by M. Varro, in the war against pirates. (Plin. iii. 11. s. 16; Strab.
vi. p. 281; Mel. ii. 4. § 7; Ptol. iii. 1. § 14.) Strabo speaks of Hydruntum as
in his time but a small place (polichne); but it seems to have risen into a considerable
municipal town under the Roman empire (Orell. Inscr. 2570; Lib. Col. p. 262),
and increased gradually in importance as Brundusium declined. In the fourth century
it appears to have become the usual place of passage, not only to Greece, but
to Apollonia, Dyrrhachium, and thence to Constantinople; so that the Itineraries
all give the routes of communication between Italy and the East upon this supposition.
(Itin. Ant. pp. 115, 323, 329; Itin. Marit. p. 489; Itin. Hier. p. 609.) The same
state of things continued also after the fall of the Western Empire: hence, during
the wars of the Goths with Belisarius and Narses, Hydruntum as sumes an importance
very different from what it possessed in Roman times. (Procop. B. V. i. 1, B.
G. iii. 30, &c., where the name is corruptly written Druous. It was one of the
last cities in the S. of Italy which remained in the hands of the Greek emperors,
from whom it was not finally wrested till the 11th century. The modern town of
Otranto is a poor decayed place, though still the see of a bishop: it was taken
and plundered in 1480 by the Turks; a calamity which it has never recovered. Galateo,
a local historian, who saw it previous to that event, describes it as then a flourishing
and populous place, though, like Taranto, occupying only the citadel or arx of
the ancient city: the circuit of the ancient walls could be distinctly traced,
inclosing a space of 11 stadia, and fortified with towers; but, he adds, all this
is now levelled with the ground. Recent travellers have found no vestiges of antiquity
but the pavement of the Via Trajana, and some marble columns and mosaic pavements
in the present cathedral. A ruined church of St. Nicholas is supposed to occupy
site of an ancient temple. (Galateo, de Situ Iapygiae, pp. 47--50; Romanelli,
vol. ii. pp. 110, 111; Craven, Travels, pp. 142--144.) Though in such a decayed
condition, Otranto still gives name to the province, which is known as the Terra
di Otranto, and includes the whole of the Iapygian or Calabrian peninsula.
The little river Idro, the sluggish waters of which enter the harbour
of Otranto, is evidently the stream called in ancient times the Hydrus, whose
name has been preserved to us in a line of Lucan (v. 375).
This is from: Dictionary of Greek and Roman Geography (1854) (ed. William Smith, LLD). Cited July 2004 from The Perseus Project URL below, which contains interesting hyperlinks
YRIA (Ancient city) PUGLIA
Hyria, Hyrium, or Uria (Hurie, Herod.; Huria, App.; Oupia, Strab.:
Eth. Uritanus: Oria,) an inland city of Calabria, situated nearly in the heart
of that country, on the Appian Way, about midway between Brundusium and Tarentum.
(Tab. Peut.) Strabo correctly describes it as situated in the midst of the isthmus,
as he terms it, between the two seas. (Strab. vi. p. 282.) He tells us that a
palace of one of the ancient native kings was still shown there: and Herodotus
represents it as the metropolis of the Messapians, founded by a colony of Cretans
on their return from Sicily. According to this statement, it was the most ancient
of the Messapian cities, from whence all the others were founded. (Herod. vii.
170.) But though it thus appears to have been in early times a place of importance,
we hear very little of it afterwards, though its name again appears in Appian
during the civil war between Octavian and Antony, while the latter was besieging
Brundusium. (Appian, B.C. v. 58.) The people of Hyria must also be understood
by the Urites of Livy, whom he enumerates among the allied cities that furnished
ships to the praetor C. Lucretius in B.C. 171 (Liv. xlii. 48), if the reading
be correct: but it is difficult to understand how an inland town like Hyria could
be one of those bound to furnish a naval. contingent. The Uritanus ager is mentioned
in the Liber Coloniarum (p. 262) among the Civitates Provinciae Calabriae, and
it therefore appears to have held the rank of an ordinary provincial town under
the Roman Empire: and there is little doubt that in Pliny (iii. 11. s. 16. § 100)
we should read Uria for Varia. In Ptolemy also (iii. 1. § 77) we should probably
substitute Ourion for Oureton, as Veretum (Ouereton) had been already mentioned
just before. It still retains the name of Oria, a considerable town situated on
a hill of moderate elevation, but commanding an extensive view over all. the country
round. There are no ancient remains, but inscriptions have been found there in
the Messapian dialect, and numerous coins, bearing the name of Orra, which, though
written in Roman characters, was probably the native name of the city. (Millingen,
Numism. de l'Anc. Italie, p. 281.)
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CANNAE (Ancient city) PUGLIA
Cannae. A small village of Apulia, situated about five miles from Canusium, towards the sea, and at no great distance from the Aufidus. It was celebrated for the defeat of the Romans by Hannibal. Polybius tells us that, as a town, it was destroyed the year before the battle was fought, which took place on May 21st, B.C. 216. The citadel, however, was preserved, and the circumstance of its occupation by Hannibal seems to have been regarded by the Romans of sufficient importance to cause them considerable uneasiness and annoyance. It commanded, indeed, all the adjacent country, and was their principal southern depot of stores and provisions. The Greek writers, especially Polybius, generally use the name in the singular, Kanna.
The decisive victory at Cannae was owing to three combined causes: the excellent arrangements of Hannibal, the superiority of the Numidian horse, and the skilful man?uvre of Hasdrubal in opposing only the light-armed cavalry against that of the Romans, while he employed the heavy horse, divided into small parties, in repeated attacks on different parts of the Roman rear. The Roman army contained 80,000 infantry and 6000 cavalry, the Carthaginians 40,000 infantry and 10,000 cavalry. Hannibal drew up his forces in the form of a convex crescent, having his centre thrown forward before the wings. He commanded the centre in person, and here he had purposely stationed his worst troops; the best were posted at the extremities of each wing, which would enable them to act with decisive advantage as bodies of reserve, they being, in fact, the rear of the other forces. Hasdrubal commanded the left wing, Hanno the right. On the Roman side, want of union between the two consuls, and want of spirit among the men, afforded a sure omen of the fortune of the day. Aemilius commanded the right, Varro the left wing; the proconsuls, Regulus and Servius, who had been consuls the preceding year, had command of the centre. What Hannibal foresaw took place. The charge of the Romans, and their immense superiority in numbers, at length broke his centre, which, giving way inward, his army now assumed the shape of a concave crescent. The Romans, in the ardour of pursuit, were carried so far as to be completely surrounded. Both flanks were assailed by the veterans of Hannibal, who were armed in the Roman manner; at the same time the cavalry of the Carthaginians attacked their rear, and the broken centre, rallying, attacked them in front. The consequence was that they were nearly all cut to pieces. The two proconsuls, together with Aemilius the consul, were slain. Varro escaped with seventy horse to Venusia. The Romans lost on the field of battle 70,000 men; and 10,000 who had not been present in the fight were made prisoners. The Carthaginian loss amounted to 5500 infantry and 200 cavalry. Such is the account of Polybius, whose statement of the fight is much clearer and more satisfactory than that of Livy. Hannibal has been censured for not marching immediately to Rome after the battle, in which city all was consternation. But an explanation of his conduct may be found under the article Hannibal.
CANOSA DI PUGLIA (Town) PUGLIA
Canusium (Kanusion). The modern Canosa. An important town in Apulia, on the Aufidus, founded, according to tradition, by Diomedes. It was, at all events, a Greek colony, and both Greek and Oscan were spoken there in the time of Horace. It was celebrated for its mules and its woollen manufactures, but had only a deficient supply of water. Many beautiful Greek vases have been discovered here, as well as coins and other remains. Livy states that the fugitives of the Roman army after the defeat at Cannae (q.v.) were generously received here, and treated with much kindness by Busa, a wealthy lady of the city. (See Livy, xxii. 52)
EGNATIA (Ancient city) PUGLIA
A town in Apulia on the coast of Italy. It was celebrated for
its miraculous stone or altar, which of itself set on fire frankincense and wood--a
prodigy which afforded amusement to Horace and his friends, who looked upon it
as a mere trick. Egnatia was situated on the high-road from Rome to Brundisium,
which from Egnatia to Brundisium bore the name of the Via Egnatia. The continuation
of this road on the other side of the Adriatic from Dyrrhachium to Byzantium also
bore the name of Via Egnatia. It was the great military road between Italy and
the East. Commencing at Dyrrhachium, it passed by Lychnidus, Heraclea, Lyncestis,
Edessa, Thessalonica, Amphipolis, Philippi, and traversing the whole of Thrace,
finally reached Byzantium. Egnatia is called Gnatia in Horace by a popular contraction
like that which gives us "Frisco" for San Francisco.
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IRION (Ancient city) PUGLIA
A small town in Apulia, from which the Sinus Urius took its name, being the bay on the northern side of Mount Garganus opposite the Diomedean Islands.
KALLIPOLIS (Ancient city) PUGLIA
A town on the east coast of Sicily not far from Aetna.
PUGLIA (Region) ITALY
Apulia, a district which included, in its widest signification, the whole of the southeast of Italy from the river Frento to the promontory Iapygium. In its narrower sense it was the country east of Samnium, on both sides of the Aufidus, the Daunia and Peucetia of the Greeks; the southeast part was called Calabria by the Romans. The Greeks gave the name of Daunia to the north part of the country from the Frento to the Aufidus, of Peucetia to the country from the Aufidus to Tarentum and Brundusium, and of Iapygia or Messapia to the whole of the remaining southern part; though they sometimes included under Iapygia all Apulia in its widest meaning. The country was very fertile, especially in the neighbourhood of Tarentum, and the mountains afforded excellent pasturage. The population was of a mixed nature: they were for the most part of Illyrian origin, and are said to have settled in the country under the guidance of Iapyx, Daunius, and Peucetius, three sons of an Illyrian king, Lycaon. Subsequently many towns were founded by Greek colonists. The Apulians joined the Samnites against the Romans, and became subject to the latter on the conquest of the Samnites.
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ROUDIAI (Ancient city) PUGLIA
Now Rotigliano or Rugge; a town of the Peucetii in Apulia, on the road from Brundusium to Venusia, was originally a Greek colony, and afterwards a Roman municipium. Rudiae is celebrated as the birthplace of Ennius.
SALAPIA (Ancient city) PUGLIA
Now Salpi. An ancient town of Apulia, in the district Daunia,
was situated south of Sipontum, on a lake named after it. It is not mentioned
till the Second Punic War, when it revolted to Hannibal after the battle of Cannae;
but it subsequently surrendered to the Romans, and delivered to the latter the
Carthaginian garrison stationed in the town.
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SIRIS (Ancient city) PUGLIA
Now Torre di Senna, an ancient Greek town in Lucania at the mouth of the preceding river.
SYVARIS (Ancient city) PUGLIA
A celebrated Greek town in Lucania, situated between the rivers Sybaris and Crathis,
at a short distance from the Tarentine Gulf, and near the confines of Bruttium.
It was founded B.C. 720 by Achaeans and Troezenians, and soon attained an extraordinary
degree of prosperity and wealth. Its inhabitants became so notorious for their
love of luxury and pleasure that their name was employed to indicate any voluptuary.
At the time of their highest prosperity their city was fifty stadia, or upwards
of six miles, in circumference, and they exercised dominion over twenty-five towns,
so that we are told they were able to bring into the field 300,000 men, a number,
however, which appears incredible. But their prosperity was of short duration.
The Achaeans having expelled the Troezenian part of the population, the latter
took refuge at the neighbouring city of Croton, the inhabitants of which espoused
their cause. In the war which ensued between the two States, the Sybarites were
completely conquered by the Crotoniates, who followed up their victory by the
capture of Sybaris, which they destroyed by turning the waters of the river Crathis
against the town (B.C. 510). The greater number of the surviving Sybarites took
refuge in other Greek cities in Italy; but a few remained near their ancient town,
and their descendants formed part of the town of Thurii founded in B.C. 443 near
Sybaris.
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TARANTO (Ancient city) PUGLIA
Now Taranto; a Greek city on the western coast of Calabria in
Italy with an excellent harbour, which formed a part of the Sinus Tarentinus.
The surrounding country was both fertile and picturesque. Tarentum was traditionally
said to have been built by the Iapygians, mingled with colonists from Crete, and
to have derived its name from Taras, a son of Poseidon. Its importance dates from
the year B.C. 708, when it was captured by a body of Lacedaemonians under Phalanthus,
after which it became a flourishing place, holding a sort of suzerainty over the
rest of the cities of Magna Graecia. Its commerce was extensive; it had a powerful
fleet; and could bring into the field an army of 30,000 infantry and 3000 cavalry,
including the forces of its allies; its own troops numbered 22,000 men. Its government
was different at different periods of its history. At the time of Darius Hystaspis
it was ruled by kings; but later it became a democracy. Its later law-code was
the work of Archytas, who flourished about B.C. 400. As its wealth increased,
its people became luxurious and effeminate; and being attacked by the neighbouring
Lucanians, it appealed to Sparta for help. In answer to this appeal Archidamus,
son of Agesilaus, came to their assistance in B.C. 338; and he fell in battle
fighting on their behalf. The next prince whom they invited to succour them was
Alexander, king of Epirus, and uncle to Alexander the Great. At first he met with
considerable success, but was eventually defeated and slain by the Bruttii in
326 near Pandosia on the banks of the Acheron. Shortly afterwards the Tarentines
had to encounter a still more formidable enemy. Having attacked some Roman ships,
and then grossly insulted the Roman ambassadors who had been sent to demand reparation,
war was declared against the city by the powerful Republic. The Tarentines were
saved for a time by Pyrrhus, king of Epirus, who came to their help in 281; but
two years after the defeat of this monarch and his withdrawal from Italy, the
city was taken by the Romans (272). In the Second Punic War Tarentum revolted
from Rome to Hannibal (212); but it was retaken by the Romans in 207. and was
treated by them with great severity, From this time Tarentum declined in prosperity
and wealth. It was subsequently made a Roman colony, and it still continued to
be a place of considerable importance in the time of Augustus. Its inhabitants
retained their love of luxury and ease; and it is described by Horace as molle
Tarentum and imbelle Tarentum. Even after the downfall of the Western Empire the
Greek language was still spoken at Tarentum; and it was long one of the chief
strongholds of the Byzantine Empire in the south of Italy.
The town of Tarentum consisted of two parts, viz.: a peninsula
or island at the entrance of the harbour, and a town on the mainland, which was
connected with the island by means of a bridge. On the northwest corner of the
island, close to the entrance of the harbour, was the citadel: the principal part
of the town was situated southwest of the isthmus. The modern town is confined
to the island or peninsula on which the citadel stood. The neighbourhood of Tarentum
produced the best wool in all Italy, and was also celebrated for its excellent
wine, figs, pears, and other fruits. Its purple dye was also much valued in antiquity.
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THOURII (Ancient city) PUGLIA
(Thourioi), more rarely Thurium (Thourion). Now Terra Nuova;
a Greek city in Lucania, founded B.C. 443, near the site of the ancient Sybaris,
which had been destroyed more than sixty years before. It was built by the remains
of the population of Sybaris, assisted by colonists from all parts of Greece,
but especially from Athens. Among these colonists were the historian Herodotus
and the orator Lysias. The new city, from which the remains of the Sybarites were
soon expelled, rapidly attained great power and prosperity, and became one of
the most important Greek towns in the south of Italy.
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TREMITI (Island) PUGLIA
Five small islands in the Adriatic Sea, north of the promontory Garganum in Apulia, named after Diomedes. The largest of these, called Diomedea Insula or Trimerus (Tremiti), was the place whither Iulia, the daughter of Augustus, was exiled
VRENDESION (Ancient city) PUGLIA
The modern Brindisi; a celebrated city on the coast of Apulia,
in the territory of the Calabri. By the Greeks it was called Brentesion, a word
which, in the Messapian language, signified a stag's head, from the resemblance
which its different harbours and creeks bore to antlers. Roman Pillar at Brundisium.
Herodotus speaks of it as a place generally well known. Brundisium soon became
a formidable rival to Tarentum, which had hitherto engrossed all the commerce
of this part of Italy. The Romans annexed it in B.C. 245. From this period the
prosperity of this port continued to increase in proportion with the greatness
of the Roman Empire. Large fleets were always stationed there for the conveyance
of troops into Macedonia, Greece, or Asia; and from the convenience of its harbour,
and its facility of access from every other part of Italy, it became a sort of
Dover to the Calais of Dyrrhachium. At Brundisium the Appian Way ended.
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YDROUS (Ancient city) PUGLIA
or Hydrus (Hudrous). The modern Otranto. One of the most ancient towns of Calabria, situated on the southeast coast, near a mountain of the same name. It had a good harbour, from which persons frequently crossed over to Epirus.
YRIA (Ancient city) PUGLIA
A town in Apulia.
Called Hyria by Herodotus; a town in Calabria, on the road from Brundusium to Tarentum, was the ancient capital of Iapygia, and is said to have been founded by the Cretans under Minos. It is now Oria.
SYVARIS (Ancient city) PUGLIA
Sybaris. City of southern Italy.
The city was founded in 720 by settlers from Peloponnese
and was very prosperous for a while. It retained a reputation of luxury and lush
life (hence the word “sybarite” for one living a life of pleasure
and luxury. The city was destroyed in 511 by neighboring Crotona.
After two unsuccessful attempts at reviving the city, the Panhellenic
city of Thurii was created
near the site of Sybaris in 444 at the instigation of Pericles.
Bernard Suzanne (page last updated 1998), ed.
This text is cited July 2003 from the Plato and his dialogues URL below, which contains interesting hyperlinks.
SAN PAOLO DI CIVITATE (Town) PUGLIA
SALAPIA (Ancient city) PUGLIA
On the Adriatic coast N of Trinitapolis, near the Salapina palus Lago di Salpi. The ruins of the ancient town are found along the road which leads from Zapponeta to the district of Torre Pietra. (The Princeton Encyclopedia of Classical Sites)
BRINDISI (Port) ITALY
Brindisi - called by the Romans Brundusium or Brundisium, by the Greeks Brentesion
- is a city of in the province of Lecce, in Apulia, on a rocky peninsula which
extends into the Adriatic.
In ancient times it was very important as a seaport, being accessible
in all winds. In 245 B.C. the Romans captured Brindisi without striking a blow
and established a Roman colony there. This city was one terminal of the Via Appia.
In the civil wars between Caesar and Pompey, Brindisi was the base of naval operations.
Brindisi was the birthplace of the poet Pacuvius; here also Virgil died in 19
B.C., on his return from Greece.
During the invasions of the barbarians it was taken and destroyed
several times, but was always rebuilt within a short space of time, so that as
late as the twelfth century it had a population of 60,000, which has since dwindled
to about 20,000. The harbor gradually filled up, which hindered navigation. The
Italian Government made great attempts to remedy this, but on account of an error
of judgment the beneficial results anticipated were not permanent.
According to a local legend, the first Bishop of Brindisi was St.
Leucius, about 165, who later underwent martyrdom. However, taking into consideration
the geographical position of this city, the beginnings of Christianity in Brindisi
must date back to the first century. There is no historical proof for this except
the account given by Arnobius of the fall of Simon Magus, who according to him
withdrew to Brindisi and cast himself from a high rock into the sea.
The Diocese of Brindisi at first embraced the territory comprised
within the present Diocese of Oria. In the tenth century, after Brindisi had been
destroyed by the Saracens, the bishops took up their abode at Oria, on account
of its greater security. In 1591, after the death of Bishop Bernardino di Figueroa,
Oria was made the seat of a new diocese. In the reorganization of the dioceses
of the Kingdom of Naples in 1818 Brindisi was combined with the Diocese of Ostuni,
formerly its suffragan. Brindisi has been an archiepiscopal see since the tenth
century. The ancient cathedral was located outside the city, but in 1140 Roger
II, King of Sicily and Naples, built the present cathedral in the centre of the
city.
The bishops of Brindisi worthy of mention are:
- St. Aproculus (Proculus), who died in 352 at Ardea, when returning from Rome,
and was buried at Anzio;
- St. Cyprian, who died in 364;
- Andrea, murdered by the Saracens in 979;
- Eustachio (1060), the first to bear the title of archbishop;
- Guglielmo (1173), author of a life of St. Leucius;
- Girolamo Aleandro (1524), a learned humanist, and papal nuncio in Germany in
connection with Luther's Reformation, and later Cardinal;
- Pietro Caraffa, Bishop of Chieti, and afterwards Pope Paul IV, for some time
the Apostolic administrator of this diocese;
- Franceseo Aleandro (1542);
- G. Bovio, from Bologna, who translated the works of St. Gregory of Nyssa, and
was prominent in the Council of Trent;
- Paolo de Vilanaperlas (1716), founder of the seminary;
- Andrea Maddalena (1724), who restored the cathedral after it had been damaged
by the earthquake of 1743.
In this diocese is the shrine of Mater Domini, near Mesagne. A beautiful church
was erected there in 1605 to replace the ancient rustic chapel. The diocese has
a population of 119,907, with 23 parishes, 89 churches and chapels, 181 secular
and 15 regular clergy, and 64 seminarians.
U. Benigni, ed.
Transcribed by: Joseph E. O'Connor
This text is cited October 2004 from The Catholic Encyclopedia, New Advent online edition URL below.
ARPINA (Ancient city) LAZIO
Arpinum. A city whose name (Strab. 5.1.9; 6.3.9; Ptol. 3.1.72; Plin. HN 3.104),
gave rise to the legend of its foundation by the Argive King Diomede. One of the
most important cities of the Daunii, who were Illyrian in origin, it is in the
heart of the Tavoliere, ca. 20 km E of Luceria and 30 km from Sipontum, its outlet
to the sea. During the period of the city's greatest expansion, Sipontum was included
in its territory (Livy 34.45; Dio. 20.3). The city played an important role in
the struggle between Greeks and Italici and between Oscans and Latins for supremacy
in Italy. In order to save its territory from the Sabelli during the second Samnite
war, it concluded a treaty of alliance with Rome in 326 B.C. (Livy 9.13). This
contributed to a flourishing period in the city's history, largely datable to
the 3d c. B.C. and documented by an immense coinage in silver and bronze. The
coins bore a legend in Greek and images of Greek deities, including Zeus, Athena,
Persephone, and Ares. During the Pyrrhic war the city was still allied to Rome,
but in the second Punic war it surrendered to Hannibal, who wintered there at
the end of 215 B.C. Two years later Fabius Maximus occupied its territory, reducing
its importance as a result of the loss of its outlet to the sea, where in 194
B.C. the Romans built the colony of Sipontum (Polyb. 3.118; Livy 22.61; App.,
Hann. 31). It had lost all importance by the Imperial age.
Two inscriptions from nearby Vaccarella belong perhaps to Luceria
(CIL IX, 934, 935). The site of the ancient city is easily recognizable a few
km N of Foggia. Extensive excavation during the last few years has brought to
light the remains of numerous buildings of the Hellenistic-Roman age, pit tombs
from the 6th-5th c. B.C. and grotto tombs from the 4th-3d c. B.C. The material
found is preserved in the museums at Foggia and Taranto.
F. G. Lo Porto, 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.
BARI (Town) ITALY
A city of the Peuceti of Roman times. There are virtually no remains
of the Roman city. However the port was recognized as the most important in the
area as early as 180 B.C. (Livy 40.18; Strab. 5.283). As a Roman municipium the
city was enrolled in the tribus Claudia (Tac. Ann. 16.9). An important highway
junction at the crossroads of the Via Traiana and the coast road, Ban was established
as a diocese under Bishop Gervasius (A.D. 347). The 12th-13th c. Norman castle
in Citta Vecchia has been supposed to rest on the ancient Greek acropolis. in
the Museum of Archaeology in the Palazzo dell'Ateneo the archaic and Classical
eras are represented by Apulian polychrome impasto pottery from Canosa and Ruvesta
and Attic black- and red-figure pottery; bronze arms and mirrors; cameos, gems,
earrings, and fibulae; and glass and gold objects, extending down to Roman times.
D. C. Scavone, 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.
CANNAE (Ancient city) PUGLIA
Cannae Apulia, Italy. A Roman city 8 km NE of Canosa on the right bank of the
Ofanto (ancient Aufidus) on a hill, traditionally called Monte di Canne. In its
environs have been discovered Neolithic and Bronze Age sherds, a menhir (to the
S on the road to Canusium, mod. Canosa), and Iron Age and archaic Apulian burials,
the latter furnished with Daunian geometric ware of the 6th-5th c. B.C. An antiquarium
houses these remains and also a documentation of the battle of the second Punic
war for which the city is best known, in which Hannibal's Carthaginians defeated
a larger Roman army in a classic double envelopment. On the right bank of the
Ofanto, generally thought to be the battle site, an immense necropolis of 23,000
sq. m was found in 1937 but has proved to be mediaeval.
A representative portion of the Roman town, including part of the
wall, has also been excavated. The character of the shops, columns, and inscriptions
along an uncovered ancient street indicate that the city may have served as an
emporium for more prosperous Canusium through the time of Julian
D.C. Scanone, ed.
This text is from: The Princeton encyclopedia of classical sites,
Princeton University Press 1976. Cited Dec 2005 from
Perseus Project URL below, which contains bibliography & interesting hyperlinks.
EGNATIA (Ancient city) PUGLIA
A city between Bari and Brindisi. Ancient sources place it on the
border between Messapia and Peucezia and identify it as a maritime freight station
and crossroads for land traffic (Strab. 6.282; Ptol. 3.1.15; Mela 2.4; Plin. 2.107,
3.102). Horace (Sat. 15.97ff.) passed through Gnathia in 38 B.C. on his voyage
from Rome to Brindisi.
The earliest evidence of organized life comes from the acropolis and
dates to the Bronze and Iron Ages. About the 4th-3d c. B.C. the site acquired
the appearance characteristic of a Messapian city, surrounded by powerful walls
on its three landward sides. From this period date rich tombs, often containing
painted ornaments and furnished with valuable vases.
In the Roman period, especially during the early centuries of the
Empire, the city prospered because of its location on the principal transit route
to the Orient. In A.D. 109 the Emperor Trajan, in order to facilitate communication
between the capital and Brindisi, improved the old pack road cited by Strabo and
Horace. A stretch of this paved road, the Via Traiana, and traces of the gate
of Egnatia have recently been discovered in the course of systematic excavation.
In the Christian epoch the city was the seat of a bishopric. A bishop of Egnatia,
Rufentius, participated in the Council of Rome, convened in the early years of
the 6th c. by Pope Symmachus I. The causes of the city's destruction and end at
the beginning of the Middle Ages remain unknown.
The first systematic excavations were undertaken in 1912 and 1913
and have continued at intervals since then. The city was defended on the landward
sides by a circuit wall, almost 2 km long, preceded by a wide ditch. The wall
was of double curtain construction built of large blocks of tufa in isodomic courses,
with interior rubble fill. The best-preserved stretch of this wall is visible
near the sea. The acropolis was also defended by walls. Traces of the port establishments
are preserved underwater as a result of gradual changes in the relative level
of land and sea. Between the acropolis and the Via Traiana, was the Roman forum.
It was paved with regular blocks of tufa and enclosed by a portico with Doric
columns, covered with limestone. The Hellenistic agora was also surrounded by
porticos, later turned into shops. Not far from the two forums is a large ellipsoidal
plaza, perhaps intended as a place for spectacles. A monument with a dedicatory
inscription (sacerdos Matris Magnae et Syriae deae) documents the existence of
an Oriental cult widespread in Italy at the beginning of the Empire. The Via Traiana,
which runs parallel to the sea, divides a zone of public buildings at the foot
of the acropolis from an area of rather modest private houses. They are quadrangular
in plan, occasionally show traces of white mosaic pavements, and almost always
are furnished with catch basins to collect rainwater. Among the ruins of more
recent monuments are those of two Christian basilicas with mosaic pavements that
date from the early mediaeval period when the city was the seat of a bishopric.
The earliest necropolis lay outside the acropolis in an area that
was later included in the Roman urban plan. Sumptuous chamber tombs were often
painted and richly provided with ceramics. In the Hellenistic age the ceramics
are of the overpainted type, called vases of Gnathia because they were discovered
here in abundance for the first time.
F. G. Lo Porto, 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.
IRION (Ancient city) PUGLIA
An ancient city on the N coast of the Gargano promontory. It is mentioned
by Pliny (3.103) and Ptolemy (3.1.17) among the cities of Daunia. Its position
as a maritime city at the entrance to the Adriatic Sea is affirmed by other literary
sources (Dionys. Per. 380; Strab. 6.284), but there is no historical mention of
the city. Coins with the inscription URIATINON are attributed to Uria. Ruins of
a Roman bath found near Carpino on Lago di Varano are believed to have been within
the area of the ancient city.
F. G. Lo Porto, 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.
KALLIPOLIS (Ancient city) PUGLIA
A city on the Gulf of Taranto, 48 km from the Japigio Promontory.
Considered by the ancients to be of Greek origin (Mela 2.4), it was founded by
the Lakedaimonian Leukippos, perhaps with the assistance of the Tarentines, for
whom it became an important port (Dion. 19.3). According to Pliny (HN 3.100) its
Messapian name would have been Anxa, but certainly the ancient city must have
occupied the site of modern Gallipoli. In the Roman period it had municipal regulation
and was perhaps ascribed to the tribus Fabia (CIL IX, 7-9). Archaeological finds
are in the Museo Civico.
F. G. Lo Porto, 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.
KANISION (Ancient city) PUGLIA
One of the most important cities of ancient Apulia, located on the
right bank of the Ofanto (Aufidus) river ca. 24 km from its mouth, at the boundary
between Peucezia and Daunia. Its port on the Ofanto, perhaps navigable at that
time in its lower reaches, is recorded by Strabo (6.3.9). According to legend
the city was founded by Diomedes and named for his hunting dogs (Strab. loc.cit.;
Hor. Sat. 1.5.92; Schol. Dan. Aen. 11.246). Its Greek origin seems to be confirmed
by recent archaeological finds, as well as by the minting of coins with the legend
in Greek, which was still spoken in the Augustan age. Horace (Sat. 1.10.30) says
"Canusini more bilinguis." The economic prosperity of the city, principally
based on the production and sale of wool, is mentioned by Pliny (HN 8.190) and
other ancient authors. In 318 B.C. Canusium was occupied by the Roman Consul L.
Plautius, thus falling under the domination of Rome but conserving its right to
coin money (Livy 9.26). During the second Punic war the city, remaining faithful
to the Romans, took in the survivors of the rout of Cannae (Livy 22.52-54; ValMax.
4.8.2; Polyb. 3.107). Canusium fought against Rome in the social war, together
with Venosa. It took within its walls the Samnite general Trebazio, defeated in
89 B.C. on the Ofanto by the Roman praetor C. Cosconius (App. BCiv. 1.42, 54,
84). Canusium became a Roman municipium (CIL IX, 342, 343), and was ascribed to
the tribus Oufentina (CIL IX, 336, 339, 340, 415). Under Antoninus Pius a colony
was established there which was called Colonia Aurelia Augusta Pia Canusia (CIL
IX, 344). In this period the city was enlarged by Herodes Atticus, who provided
it with an aqueduct (Philostr. VS 2.1.5).
Recently, in the course of agricultural work, a settlement of the
Neolithic Age was discovered and a necropolis with cremation burials from the
Bronze Age in the zone to the NW of the modern town in the sections called Pozzillo
and Toppicelli. In these areas there have also been found the remains of an indigenous
habitation site from the 7th-6th c. B.C., as well as archaic vases of Greek provenience.
There are indications of the city of the Hellenistic and Roman times in a number
of places in the modern city, from which come marble columns, capitals, entablatures,
and inscriptions that are recognizable in many churches in the city. Some have
been collected and placed in the municipal building. Recent excavations have brought
to light the ruins of fortifications and of a Roman road near the Early Christian
baptistery. Also recently noted are the remains of a late Hellenistic temple under
the basilica of S. Leucio and of a Roman temple in Via Imbriani. A statue of Jove,
which came from the latter, is in the museum at Taranto. The remains of a Roman
bath building are preserved in a courtyard in Via Lamarmora, while the ruins of
the mediaeval castle incorporate part of the city wall and several towers of the
ancient acropolis. At the edge of the city in the direction of Cerignola, along
the course of the Via Traiana, is a Roman arch of brick, called Porta Romana or
Porta Varrone. It is perhaps one of the many funerary monuments in the area. Among
them is the so-called Torre Casieri, quadrangular in plan and built of stone blocks
and brick, with a barrel-vaulted cella containing two niches for cinerary urns.
There is also a mausoleum of the Augustan age with a square base, which had perhaps
a circular superstructure like that of the famous tomb of Cecilia Metella on the
Via Appia at Rome. There is also the so-called Monumento Bagnoli, an interesting
mausoleum of the 2d c. A.D.
A Roman bridge spans the Ofanto; its arches were rebuilt in the mediaeval
period. From the hypogea at Canosa, especially those from the 4th-3d c. B.C.,
came rich fittings including red-figure Apulian vases, characteristic plastic
polychromed vases, and precious goldwork that may now be seen in the museums of
Naples, Taranto, and Bad.
F. G. Lo Porto, 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.
KELIA (Ancient city) PUGLIA
Strabo (6.282) places this city between Egnatia and Canusium, and
Ptolemy (3.1.73) lists it among the cities of Peucetia. The Peutinger Table confirms
the testimony of Strabo and locates it ca. 14 km from Butuntum on the Via Traiana,
a distance corresponding to the position of modern Ceglie del Campo, 8 km S of
Bari, where there are the ruins of the city walls. Coins with the legend Kailinon
are attributed to the city. A Latin inscription indicates that Caelia was ascribed
to the tribus Claudia (CIL VI, 2382b, 33); another records an Augustalis (CIL
IX, 6197). Ager Caelinus also appears in the Libri Coloniarum. Archaeological
finds from the site are in the museums at Bari and Taranto.
F. G. Lo Porto, 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.
KELIA (Ancient city) PUGLIA
An ancient center of Messapia mentioned by Pliny (HN 3.101) together
with Lupine and Brundisium. Its name is preserved in that of the modern town,
where remains of megalithic walls break the surface of the ground. The inscriptions
in the Messapian language from the necropoleis are notable and the rich funerary
material from numerous tombs, dating for the most part from the 4th-3d c. B.C.
The trozzella, a vase typical of the Messapian area, predominates. Archaeological
material from the site is in the museums at Taranto and at Brindisi.
F. G. Lo Porto, 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.
LOUPIAE (Ancient city) PUGLIA
An ancient city of Salento on the Via Traiana ca. 40 km S of Brindisi.
Strabo (6.282) places it, along with Rudiae, among the cities of the interior
as does Pliny (HN 3.101), but Ptolemy (3.1.12) considers it a coastal town, even
though it was ca. 12 km from the sea. In a passage (6.19.9) which has posed not
a few perplexing questions, Pausanias says that the city was originally called
Sybaris, perhaps confounding Lupia or Lopia with the Roman colony of Copia in
Lucania. However, it appears certain that the city now covered by modern Lecce
was originally a native center whose founding has been attributed by the ancients
to the king of the Salentini, Malennius, the son of Dasumnus (Iul. Cap. M. Ant.
1). The Romans probably founded Lupiae after the capture of Brindisi in 267 B.C.
Octavian spent some time there on his return to Italy after the death of Caesar
(App. BCiv. 3.10). The city was enrolled in the tribus Camilia, was raised to
the status of a municipium at an unknown date, and under the Antonines it had
the title of a colony. According to Pausanias (6.19.9), the harbor was most likely
constructed by Hadrian and must have been along the beach at San Cataldo where
the remains of a pier are visible.
Precise evidence for the first settlement comes especially from tombs
which date from the 5th c. to the 3d c. B.C. An Attic black-figure kylix (late
6th c. or early 5th c.) found at Lecce is, at the present stage of investigations,
the most ancient document of the commercial contacts of the city with the archaic
Greek world. Beginning in the second half of the 5th c. B.C. and particularly
in the 4th c., the city came under Tarentine influence, as attested by the relief
frieze of the well-known Palmieri hypogeum and by the frequency of the proto-Italic
and Apulian pottery finds of Tarentine workmanship. However, the language remained
Messapic, to judge from the numerous inscriptions gathered from the necropolis.
Imposing monuments of the Roman city have been preserved, such as
the amphitheater, the theater, and scattered remains of public and private buildings
from which have come marble statues, inscriptions, and mosaics. The amphitheater,
constructed between the 1st and 2d c. A.D., measured 102 by 83 m, with an arena
of 53 by 34 m. It had a seating capacity of ca. 25,000. Partially set into the
tufa and partially raised on arches in opus quadratum, it was of impressive proportions.
It had a double order of maeniana, largely restored today only on the lower order,
which was separated from the arena by a high wall with a parapet decorated in
relief (mostly preserved) with lively scenes of combat between men and animals.
Among the marbles which come from this monument, a copy of the Athena of Alkamenes
is noteworthy. It is kept in the Museo Castromediano. The theater is perhaps of
the Hadrianic period and not very large, measuring 40 m in diameter outside the
cavea. It is well preserved and had a seating capacity of 5,000. Also well-preserved
are the orchestra, paved with large, regular stone slabs, and one of the parodoi.
The stage, 7.7 m deep and 0.7 m above the orchestra floor, must have been richly
decorated. Some fragmentary marble sculptures have been found, generally copies
of Greek originals, such as the torso of an Amazon of the Berlin type, another
torso of the Borghese Ares, a likeness of Athena-Roma with a shield, and other
works collected in the Museo Provinciale.
F. G. Lo Porto, 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.
ROUDIAI (Ancient city) PUGLIA
A Messapic city ca. 2 km SW of Lupiae (Lecce), in a low-lying area
called La Cupa. Although it is frequently mentioned by ancient writers, who call
it the birthplace of the poet Ennius, nothing precise is known of its origins
(Cic. Arch. 9.22; Sil.It. 12.397). Strabo (6.281) thought it was founded by the
Rhodians, who, together with colonists from Crete, appear to have colonized the
Salentine peninsula, according to a tradition handed down by Herodotos (2.222).
The archaeological excavations have brought to light towered circuit walls and
a ditch about 4 km long. A second, inner circuit wall surrounded a zone where
the acropolis is thought to have been. The floruit of the city between the 5th
c. and the 3d c. B.C. is corroborated by the rich tomb appointments, often painted
and with Messapic inscriptions, which have been discovered in the vast necropolis
surrounding the inhabited area. The city was a municipium (CIL IX, 23) in the
Roman period and was perhaps enrolled in the tribus Fabia (CIL IX, p. 5). A series
of large public buildings, perfectly paved streets, an amphitheater, and Latin
inscriptions are among the numerous traces from that period which are visible
in the zone of recent excavations and in the Museo Castromediano at Lecce. Numerous
objects from the necropolis are also preserved there.
F. G. Lo Porto, 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.
SALAPIA (Ancient city) PUGLIA
An ancient city on the Adriatic coast N of Trinitapolis, near the
Salapina palus (Luc. 5.377) Lago di Salpi, today largely drained. According to
legend, it was founded by Diomedes or by Elpias of Rhodes (Vitr. 1.14.12; Strab.
14.654). Others attribute Trojan origins to the city (Lycoph. 1129). The city
was not, however, colonized by the Greeks in the historic period. As an important
center of Daunia with its own mint (the name Salapinon or Salpinon are found on
bronze coins), it participated actively in the second Punic war. In 214 B.C. Hannibal
seized the city and set up his winter quarters there, but M. Claudius Marcellus
reoccupied it in 210 (Livy 24.20; 26.38). During the social war (App. BCiv. 1.51),
the city was destroyed, and it gradually disappeared because the lagoon was becoming
a swamp. The ruins of the ancient town are found along the road which leads from
Zapponeta to the district of Torre Pietra.
According to Vitruvius (bc. cit.), the old city was abandoned, made
unhealthy because of malaria, and the inhabitants in the 1st B.C. moved ca. 6.4
km away to a healthier place, where a harbor was developed by joining the Lago
di Salpi with the sea. The new Salapia was a Roman municipium and is mentioned
by the writers of land survey as a colony (Grom. Vet. 210.261). Significant traces
have recently been brought to light in the zone called Monte di Salpi, where it
is believed that the second city rose.
F. G. Lo Porto, 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.
SAN PAOLO DI CIVITATE (Town) PUGLIA
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