Listed 7 sub titles with search on: Information about the place for destination: "TARANTO Ancient city PUGLIA".
On the N coast of the Gulf of Taranto, the city lies some 366 km SE
of Naples on a peninsula to the W of which is the main outer harbor (Marina Grande),
protected from the sea by the small islands of St. Peter and St. Paul (the ancient
Choerades), and to the E of which lies an inland lagoon (Mare Piccolo), serving
as an inner harbor. The acropolis of the city (the modern Citta Vecchia) lay at
the tip of the peninsula between the two harbors. During the Middle Ages it was
made into an island by the construction of a canal to the SE connecting the two
harbors.
The presence of stone-lined graves at Scoglio del Tonno on the mainland
to the NW of the acropolis indicates that the area was inhabited as early as Neolithic
times. Nearby, in 1899, were discovered Neolithic hut foundations with stone hearths;
above this a Bronze Age settlement of the Apennine type, consisting of a wooden
platform supported by piles, on which five huts had been built; and, above the
Apennine settlement, Late Mycenaean pottery. The earliest Iron Age inhabitants
of the site may have been Iapygians who imported Greek pottery for their own use.
There is an Early Iron Age settlement in the Citta Nuova, that portion of the
city on the mainland to the SE of the acropolis. In a well on the Via Cavour some
350 vases of native manufacture were found. These vases, both in decoration and
in shape, appear to be the ancestors of Apulian Geometric and may have been produced
by those Iapygians who occupied the site before the Greek colonists arrived.
Eusebius (Chron. 91b Helm) gives 706 B.C. for the founding of the
colony by the Spartans. The first settlement may have been a few kilometers to
the S at Satyrion (Leporano), which had been named in an oracle to Phalanthos,
the founder of the colony (Diod. Sic. 8.21). According to the legend, the city
was founded by the Parthenians, the illegitimate children of Spartan women, who
lived with Helots while their husbands were fighting in Messenia. Denied the full
rights of citizenship, these children founded a colony at Taras (Strab. 6.3.2;
Paus. 10.10.6-8).
At the end of the 6th c. B.C., Taras was ruled by Aristophilides (Hdt.
3.136), who appears to have been king according to the Spartan system. At the
beginning of the 5th c. B.C. the city won a series of victories over the neighboring
populations and dedicated at Delphi two victory monuments. But in ca. 473 B.C.
Taras suffered a severe defeat at the hands of the Iapygians, who headed a native
confederation (Hdt. 7.170; Diod. Sic. 11.52). After this defeat, a democracy was
established in the city. By the middle of the 5th c., after the decline of Kroton,
it became an extremely wealthy and powerful city. In 433-32 B.C., it founded a
colony at Heraklea (modern Policoro). During the Peloponnesian War, Taras allied
itself with the Syracusans and contributed ships to the fleet (Thuc. 8.91.2).
In the first half of the 4th c. B.C., under the administration of the philosopher-mathematician
Archytas, the city enjoyed especial fame and prestige; but later it had difficulty
in maintaining itself against pressure from the surrounding native populations
and turned first to its mother city for aid and then to foreign mercenary kings.
The city first came into contact with the Romans in 282 B.C. when
ten Roman ships sailed into the Gulf of Tarentum. The Tarentines called in Pyrrhos
of Epeiros to aid them. Pyrrhos, after two initial victories, was finally defeated
in 275 B.C., and Taras surrendered to the Romans. During the second Punic war,
the city was captured by Hannibal in 213 B.C., but was retaken three years later
by Q. Fabius Maximus and thoroughly looted (Liv. 27.16.7). In 122 B.C., C. Gracchus
attempted to revive the city by establishing a Roman colony there, but he only
transformed it into a provincial Italian town, which Horace mentions (Carm. 3.5.53-6)
as a quiet retreat suitable for a tired businessman. After the reign of Justinian
the town, together with the rest of S Italy, belonged to the Byzantine Empire.
In A.D. 927 it was completely destroyed by the Saracens, but in A.D. 967 it was
rebuilt by the emperor Nikephoros Phokas, who once again established Greek as
the common language of the city.
Little remains of either the Greek or the Roman city, since the modern
town has been built on top. Remnants of an archaic Doric temple, dating to ca.
575 B.C. and perhaps dedicated to Poseidon, survive on the acropolis (Via Maggiore).
The two surviving columns of the peristyle together with their stylobate have
now been freed from the surrounding modern buildings; the drum of a third column
and the SE corner of the temple have also been found. The columns are rather heavy
in proportion, and the intercolumniation is narrow. Nearby, at the crossroads
of the Via di Mezzo and the Vico della Pace, were found fragments of a sculptured
frieze belonging to a temple of the Corinthian order. The subject matter represents
a combat in which Tarentine warriors take part. The frieze has been dated to the
second half of the 4th c. B.C., but the style of the sculptures seems to be that
of the 1st c. B.C. The temple may have been dedicated to Pax. Also in the old
city, an Altar of Aphrodite, perhaps belonging to a temple, was found near the
church of S. Agostino.
Deposits of terracottas indicate the presence of sanctuaries going
back to the 7th and 6th c. B.C. In the region of Pizzone in the SE part of the
new city, the deposits go back to the 7th c. and identify the place as a Sanctuary
of Demeter and Persephone. At Fondo Giovinazzi, also in the new city between the
churches of S. Antonio and Santa Lucia, some 30,000 terracottas were found, the
earliest group going back to the 6th c. B.C., the latest dating to the first half
of the 3d c. B.C. The character of the terracottas seems to identify the sanctuary
as having belonged to Kore and the chthonic Dionysos. A third sanctuary, also
located in the new city, to the S near the Castello Saraceno, overlooking the
Marina Grande, was dedicated to Apollo and the Muses. The terracottas of Apollo
holding a lyre and those of the Muses date from the end of the 5th c. B.C. to
the beginning of the 3d c. B.C. A series of reliefs dedicated to the Dioskouroi
and dating from the 4th and 3d c. B.C. were found near the Chiesa del Carmine
in the SW part of the new city and may indicate the presence of a sanctuary to
the Dioskouroi in this spot.
Before the late 6th c. B.C. the city probably lay within the walls
of the acropolis, which, according to Strabo (6.3.1) was completely fortified
although no traces of the wall remain. After this date the city began to expand
towards the SE into the region now called the Citta Nuova. This new area also
received a fortification wall, only a few traces of which are now visible. On
the side of the Marina Grande, the walls have been destroyed, but become visible
in places where they leave the outer sea and turn E through the area now called
Montegranaro. About half way along, they turn N through Marmarini and Collepazzo.
On the side of the Mare Piccolo they can be found in two places under water. The
large blocks probably date to ca. 400 B.C., the greatest period of Tarentine expansion.
Nothing now remains of the cross-wall built by Hannibal in 213 B.C. in the extreme
NW end of the new city between the outer and inner harbors as a protection against
the attacks of the Romans from the acropolis. Hannibal thus completed the entire
fortification of the lower city, which comprised an area of over 3 square km.
Strabo tells us that the agora was located just outside the acropolis
and therefore may be placed in the NW end of the new city. In this area was the
main crossroad of the town, leading from the outer to the inner harbor. This can
be identified as the Broad Street mentioned by Livy (25.11.17) and Polybios (8.29.1).
No traces of this street remain, but it probably ran along the same course as
the modern Corso Due Mari. It seems likely that the street plan of the modern
city follows in many respects that of the ancient one. The Broad Street was crossed
at the N by a major E-W street called Batheia which led to the Temenid gate through
which Hannibal entered the city. A second major street, called Soteira, may have
crossed the SW part of the city, taking much the same course as the modern Lungomare
Vitt. Emanuele III. A portion of pavement 2.5 m wide discovered N of the Castello
Saraceno may well have belonged to the Sotera street. Other portions of the ancient
street system have been found to the SW of the Villa Peripato on the Via Pitagora
(here a segment 5 m wide was uncovered) and in the region of Solito.
In the new city scattered house remains have been found, but imperfectly
recorded. A rectangular foundation at Scoglio del Tonno near the pre-Greek settlement
indicates the presence of a suburb in this area. In 1880 in the grounds of the
Villa Peripato were found the remains of a Greek building, identified as a peripatos
(public lounge). Tarentum had two theaters, neither of which has been uncovered.
It has been suggested that the Roman amphitheater, situated to the SW of the Chiesa
del Carmine, was built on the site of the larger of the two Greek theaters. On
the other hand, it may have stood either on the site of the Castello Saraceno
or in the region to the E of the Villa Peripato overlooking the Mare Piccolo.
The smaller theater may have been near the agora.
Like the Spartans, the Tarentines buried within the walls of their
city. Several thousand graves have been found within the new city, spanning the
entire life of the Greek city from the 7th to the 2d c. B.C. Tombs are especially
concentrated in the areas of Santa Lucia, the Arsenal, Fondo Tesoro, and Vaccarella.
The majority of the burials consists of rectangular trenches either cut into the
native rock or constructed of blocks and covered with stone slabs. Because of
the large number of Protocorinthian vases which have come from the Via d'Aquino
in the W part of the new city, it is likely that the oldest cemetery was here.
Other Protocorinthian and Corinthian vases have been found at the Arsenal and
at Vaccarella. An especially fine archaic tomb on the Via Capotagliata has yielded
twelve Attic B-F vases, dated to the second quarter of the 6th c. B.C. A second
type of burial consists of chamber tombs with painted walls, inside of which are
funeral couches, with their fronts decorated in relief, and ornate sarcophagi
some of which have painted lids in the form of temple pediments. The walls themselves
served as the foundation for a naiskos which surmounted the tomb.
A good tomb of this type belonging to athletes was found on the Via
Crispi. It had two Doric columns supporting a gabled roof and yielded Attic B-F
pottery, including a panathenaic amphora, from the end of the 6th c. B.C. During
the 4th and 3d c. B.C., a shallow gabled naiskos became popular, such as on the
tomba a Camera no. 1 in the Via Umbnia (a second tomb was found 20 m away). This
naiskos, made from local limestone, is in the form of a small temple containing
both metope (combat scenes) and pedimental sculpture. The chamber tomb itself
is built out of stuccoed sandstone; it yielded a large quantity of Gnathia ware.
Numerous wells have been found throughout the city. These have yielded statuettes
and terracotta reliefs of the 5th and 4th c. B.C.
Remains belonging to the Roman city are few. Baths have been discovered
in two places in the new city, by the Castello Saraceno and by the church of S.
Francesco. Over the bridge connecting the acropolis with the Scoglio del Tonno
runs an aqueduct known as Il Triglio. A second aqueduct, Il Saturo, is to be found
in the SE part of the city. By the Masseria del Carmine runs a wall built in the
opus reticulatum technique. In 1960 the remains of a villa were uncovered in the
Via Nitti. A fine museum houses not only the finds from the city itself but also
objects from the neighboring provinces.
W.D.E. Coulson, 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.
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.
This text is cited Oct 2002 from The Perseus Project URL below, which contains interesting hyperlinks
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
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