Listed 4 sub titles with search on: Information about the place for wider area of: "MEDMA Ancient city CALABRIA" .
MEDMA (Ancient city) CALABRIA
Medma or Mesma (Medme, Steph. B.; Medma, Strab., Scymn. Ch.; but Mesma
on coins, and so Apollodorus, cited by Steph. B.; Scylax has Mesa, evidently a
corruption for Mesma: Eth. Medmaios, Mesmaios), a Greek city of Southern Italy,
on the W. coast of the Bruttian peninsula, between Hipponium and the mouth of
the Metaurus. (Strab. vi. p. 256; Scyl. p. 4. § 12.) It was a colony founded by
the Epizephyrian Locrians, and is said to have derived its name from an adjoining
fountain. (Strab. l. c.; Scymn. Ch. 308; Steph. B. s. v.) But though it is repeatedly
noticed among the Greek cities in this part of Italy, it does not appear ever
to have attained to any great power or importance, and its name never figures
in history. It is probable, however, that the Medimnaeans (Medimnaioi), who are
noticed by Diodorus as contributing a body of colonists to the repeopling of Messana
by Dionysius in B.C. 396, are no other than the Medmaeans, and that we should
read Medmaioi in the passage in question. (Diod. xiv. 78.) Though never a very
conspicuous place, Medma seems to have survived the fall of many other more important
cities of Magna Graecia, and it is noticed as a still existing town both by Strabo
and Pliny. (Strab. l. c.; Plin. iii. 5. s. 10.) But the name is not found in Ptolemy,
and all subsequent trace of it disappears. It appears from Strabo that the town
itself was situated a little inland, and that it had a port or emporium on the
sea-shore. The exact site has not been determined, but as the name of Mesima is
still borne by a river which flows into the sea a little below Nicotera, there
can be no doubt that Medma was situated somewhere in the neighbourhood of that
town, and probably its port was at the mouth of the river which still bears its
name. Nicotera, the name of which is already found in the Antonine Itinerary (pp.
106, 111), probably arose after the decline of Mesma.
This text is from: Dictionary of Greek and Roman Geography (1854) (ed. William Smith, LLD). Cited August 2004 from The Perseus Project URL below, which contains interesting hyperlinks
On the W coast, ca. 43 km N of Reggio Calabria. The history of the settlement, founded from Lokroi Epizephyrioi, is little known. Remains of several sanctuaries have been reported from the site, and recent work has revealed remains of the Hellenistic and Roman periods. Especially important is the deposit of terracotta votive statuettes found at Piano delle Vigne in 1912 and 1913.
R. Holloway, ed.
This text is from: The Princeton encyclopedia of classical sites,
Princeton University Press 1976. Cited Nov 2002 from
Perseus Project URL below, which contains bibliography & interesting hyperlinks.
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