Misplaced Pages

#597402

59-596: Starting in the third century BC, Greek and Roman writers distinguished the indigenous population of the Salento peninsula differently. According to Strabo , the names Iapygians , Daunians , Peucetians and Messapians were exclusively Greek and not used by the natives, who divided the Salento in two parts. The southern and Ionian part of the peninsula was the territory of the Salentinoi , ranging from Otranto to Leuca and from Leuca to Manduria . The northern part on

118-623: A consequence of his time spent in Nysa with Aristodemus. At around the age of 21, Strabo moved to Rome, where he studied philosophy with the Peripatetic Xenarchus , a highly respected tutor in Augustus's court. Despite Xenarchus's Aristotelian leanings, Strabo later gives evidence to have formed his own Stoic inclinations. In Rome, he also learned grammar under the rich and famous scholar Tyrannion of Amisus . Although Tyrannion

177-757: A descriptive history of people and places from different regions of the world known during his lifetime. Although the Geographica was rarely used by contemporary writers, a multitude of copies survived throughout the Byzantine Empire . It first appeared in Western Europe in Rome as a Latin translation issued around 1469. The first printed edition was published in 1516 in Venice . Isaac Casaubon , classical scholar and editor of Greek texts, provided

236-947: A gloria recare. Platone il Dio de’ filosofi costumava sovente di ringraziare i Numi per queste tre cose: che Uomo e non bruto, che Maschio, e non Donna, che Greco e non barbaro fusse nato, e cresciuto. Il suo servidore, Eccellenza, che la Giapiggia descrive non da’ Mauri, non dalli Ethiopi, non dalli Allobrogi, o Sicambri, ma dalla Greca Nazione sorge, e deriva. Il Progenitore di chi tal dettaglio della Giapiggia li porge, non ignorò il Greco, e molto meno l’idioma Latino. Fù celebre non per valore dell’armi, ma fù difeso, e scortato dall’integrità della vita, e dalla bontà de’ costumi. Mi vergogno, Eccellenza, parlando seco lei senz’Arbitri dirle, come io nell’Italia abbia tratta la mia origine, e derivati i miei natali, sebbene alcuni scrittori posero il suolo Giapiggio fuor dell’Italia. Strabo Strabo ( / ˈ s t r eɪ b oʊ / ; Greek : Στράβων Strábōn ; 64 or 63 BC – c.  24 AD )

295-508: A relatable group with Messapian, due to toponyms in Apulia, some of towns that have no etymological forms outside Albanian linguistic sources. However, Messapic is to be considered as an independent Indo-European language . The language became extinct following the Roman conquest of the region, which began during the late 4th century BC. It has been preserved in about 300 inscriptions written in

354-491: A valuable source of information on the ancient world of his day, especially when this information is corroborated by other sources. He travelled extensively, as he says: "Westward I have journeyed to the parts of Etruria opposite Sardinia; towards the south from the Euxine [Black Sea] to the borders of Ethiopia; and perhaps not one of those who have written geographies has visited more places than I have between those limits." It

413-527: A very rocky mountain, called the Trojan mountain; beneath it there are caves, and near the caves and the river a village called Troy, an ancient settlement of the captive Trojans who had accompanied Menelaus and settled there. Strabo commented on volcanism ( effusive eruption ) which he observed at Katakekaumene (modern Kula , Western Turkey). Strabo's observations predated Pliny the Younger who witnessed

472-582: Is "... pro-Roman throughout the Geography. But while he acknowledges and even praises Roman ascendancy in the political and military sphere, he also makes a significant effort to establish Greek primacy over Rome in other contexts." In Europe , Strabo was the first to connect the Danube (which he called Danouios) and the Istros – with the change of names occurring at "the cataracts," the modern Iron Gates on

531-776: Is also possible that the Messapians were the result of the fusion between Cretans and, subsequently, Illyrians. According to this hypothesis, the Cretans arrived in Italy in 3300 BC. and the Illyrians would conquer them centuries later. The Cretan origin was essentially based on tradition and derived from a famous passage by Herodotus on the origins of the Iapygians : «It is said, in fact, that Minos, who arrived in Sicania (which

590-513: Is little record of his travels until AD 17. It is not known precisely when Strabo's Geography was written, though comments within the work itself place the finished version within the reign of Emperor Tiberius . Some place its first drafts around 7 BC, others around AD 17 or AD 18. The latest passage to which a date can be assigned is his reference to the death in AD ;23 of Juba II , king of Maurousia ( Mauretania ), who

649-490: Is not known when he wrote Geographica , but he spent much time in the famous library in Alexandria taking notes from "the works of his predecessors". A first edition was published in 7 BC and a final edition no later than 23 AD, in what may have been the last year of Strabo's life. It took some time for Geographica to be recognized by scholars and to become a standard. Alexandria itself features extensively in

SECTION 10

#1732772301598

708-461: Is now called Sicily) in search of Daedalus, died there by a violent death. After some time had passed, at the incitement of a god, all the Cretans, en masse, except those of Polychne and Praesus, who came with a large fleet to Sicania, besieged the city of Camicus for five years, which, at in my time, it was inhabited by Agrigentines. In the end, however, not being able to conquer it, nor to stay longer to fight against hunger, they would leave, abandoning

767-431: Is proper,' he observes in continuation, ' to derive our explanations from things which are obvious, and in some measure of daily occurrences, such as deluges, earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, and sudden swellings of the land beneath the sea; for the last raise up the sea also, and when the same lands subside again, they occasion the sea to be let down. And it is not merely the small, but the large islands also, and not merely

826-745: Is said to have died "just recently". He probably worked on the Geography for many years and revised it steadily, but not always consistently. It is an encyclopaedic chronicle and consists of political, economic, social, cultural, and geographic descriptions covering almost all of Europe and the Mediterranean: Britain and Ireland, the Iberian Peninsula, Gaul, Germania, the Alps, Italy, Greece, Northern Black Sea region, Anatolia, Middle East, Central Asia and North Africa. The Geography

885-561: Is the name (exonym) which the Tarentine Greeks used to refer collectively to the Iapygian communities which referred to themselves as Calabri (Ancient Greek: Καλαβροί ) and Salentini (Ancient Greek: Σαλεντίνοι ) (endonyms) and to their land as Iapygia . The exonym Messapia in Italy corresponds to other toponyms in areas of ancient Greece (e.g. Messapio ). The Messapic tribal name Kalabroi/Calabri has been connected to

944-445: Is the only extant work providing information about both Greek and Roman peoples and countries during the reign of Augustus. On the presumption that "recently" means within a year, Strabo stopped writing that year or the next (AD 24), at which time he is thought to have died. He was influenced by Homer , Hecataeus and Aristotle . The first of Strabo's major works, Historical Sketches ( Historica hypomnemata ), written while he

1003-626: The Adriatic belonged to the Kalabroi and extended from Otranto to Egnatia with its hinterland. After the conquest of the Salento by the Roman Republic in 266 BC the distinction between the Iapygian tribes blurred as they were assimilated into ancient Roman society. Strabo makes it clear that in his time, the end of the first century BC, most people used the names Messapia , Iapygia , Calabria and Salentina interchangeably for

1062-668: The Dardanian Galabroi/Galabri in the Balkans. The origin of the Messapians is uncertain; it is probably due to uncertain and never clearly demonstrated migratory flows of Illyrian or Aegean-Anatolian origin that arrived in Salento on the threshold of the Iron Age around the 9th century BC. The Illyrian hypothesis, today the most accepted by scholars, is supported above all by linguistic considerations. It

1121-855: The Greek alphabet and dating from the 6th to the 1st century BC. Messapia was relatively urbanized and more densely populated compared to the rest of Iapygia. It possessed 26–28 walled settlements, while the remainder of Iapygia had 30–35 more dispersed walled settlements. The Messapian population has been estimated at 120,000 to 145,000 people before the Roman conquest. The main Messapic cities included: Other Messapic settlements have been discovered near Francavilla Fontana , San Vito dei Normanni and in Vaste ( Poggiardo ). Non mi vergogno punto di propalare l’origine de’ nostri Maggiori. Siam Greci ed ognuno lo si deve

1180-583: The Mithridatic Wars . As the war drew to a close, Strabo's grandfather had turned several Pontic fortresses over to the Romans. Strabo wrote that "great promises were made in exchange for these services", and as Persian culture endured in Amaseia even after Mithridates and Tigranes were defeated, scholars have speculated about how the family's support for Rome might have affected their position in

1239-524: The Aristotelian Xenarchus and Tyrannion who preceded him in teaching Strabo, Athenodorus was a Stoic and almost certainly the source of Strabo's diversion from the philosophy of his former mentors. Moreover, from his own first-hand experience, Athenodorus provided Strabo with information about regions of the empire which Strabo would not otherwise have known about. Strabo is best known for his work Geographica ("Geography"), which presented

SECTION 20

#1732772301598

1298-561: The Euxine [Black Sea] was so great, that its bed must be gradually raised, while the rivers still continued to pour in an undiminished quantity of water. He therefore conceived that, originally, when the Euxine was an inland sea, its level had by this means become so much elevated that it burst its barrier near Byzantium, and formed a communication with the Propontis [Sea of Marmara], and this partial drainage had already, he supposed, converted

1357-631: The Herodotean one regarding the Cretan origin of the Messapians is provided by Marcus Terentius Varro from Rieti (116 BC – 27 BC). In fact, the Latin author tells of how the monarch Idomeneus, expelled from Crete following a civil uprising, had sought refuge together with his army in the Illyrian kingdom of King Divitius. From here, joining a further army generously offered by the Illyrian monarch, to which

1416-542: The Messapii and Brundisium . This city became Rome's port for sailing to the eastern Mediterranean. Subsequently, the Messapii were rarely mentioned in the historical record. They became Romanised. During Hannibal 's invasion of Italy in the Second Punic War (218–201 BC), the Messapii remained loyal to the Romans. The Battle of Cannae , where Hannibal routed the forces of the Romans and their Italic allies,

1475-495: The Messapii, but after their defeat by Rome it dwindled and became a small village. The nearby Lupiae (Lecce) flourished at its expense. The Messapi did not have a centralised form of government. Their towns were independent city-states . They had trade relationships with the Greek cities of Magna Graecia . In 473 BC, the Greek city of Tarentum (which was on the border with Messapia) and its ally, Rhegion , tried to seize some of

1534-578: The Messapii. He died in a battle against the Lucani in 330 BC. After the campaign of Alexander I, the Messapii switched allegiance. They allied with Tarentum and Cleonymus of Sparta , who campaigned in the region in 303–02 BC to help Tarentum against, again, the Lucani. During the Second Samnite War (327–304 BC) between Rome and the Samnites , the Messapii, Iapyges and Peucetii sided with

1593-661: The Romanian/Serbian border. In India , a country he never visited, Strabo described small flying reptiles that were long with snake-like bodies and bat-like wings (this description matches the Indian flying lizard Draco dussumieri ), winged scorpions, and other mythical creatures along with those that were actually factual. Other historians, such as Herodotus , Aristotle , and Flavius Josephus , mentioned similar creatures. Charles Lyell , in his Principles of Geology , wrote of Strabo: He notices, amongst others,

1652-504: The Romans. According to ancient historians, his aim was to conquer Italy. Pyrrhus fought battles against the Romans and a campaign in Sicily. He had to give up the latter and was defeated by the Romans and left Italy. The Messapii were mentioned by Dionysius of Halicarnassus as fighting for Pyrrhus in the Battle of Asculum . In 272 BC, the Romans captured Tarentum. In 267 BC, Rome conquered

1711-715: The Salento. The name Calabria for the entire peninsula was made official when the Roman emperor Augustus divided Italy in regions and gave the whole region of Apulia the name Regio II Apulia et Calabria . Archaeology still follows the original Greek tripartite division of tribes based on the archaeological evidence. The names Messapii (Ancient Greek: Μεσσάπιοι ) and Messapia are usually interpreted as "(the place) Amid waters", Mess- from Proto-Indo-European *medhyo- , "middle" (cf. Albanian mes- , "middle") (cf. Ancient Greek μέσος méssos "middle"), and -apia from Proto-Indo-European *ap- , " water " (cf. another toponym , Salapia , "salt water"). As Strabo writes, this

1770-678: The Samnites. Some of the cities of the Dauni sided with Rome and some of them sided with the Samnites. The city of Canusium went over to the Romans in 318 BC. Silvium, a Peucetii frontier town, was under Samnite control, but it was captured by Rome in 306 BC. During the Pyrrhic Wars (280–275 BC), the Messapii sided with Tarentum and Pyrrhus the king of Epirus , in Greece, who landed at Tarentum, ostensibly to help this city in her conflict with

1829-456: The camp. When, during the navigation, they found themselves near the coast of Iapygia, a violent storm would have surprised them and slammed them against the land: so, the ships having broken, and no longer seeing any way to return to Crete, the city of Iria was founded in that place. , they remained there and became Iapygians-Messapians (changing their name) rather than Cretans and continentals rather than islanders. From Iria, they say, they founded

Messapians - Misplaced Pages Continue

1888-586: The eruption of Mount Vesuvius on 24 August AD 79 in Pompeii : …There are no trees here, but only the vineyards where they produce the Katakekaumene wines which are by no means inferior from any of the wines famous for their quality. The soil is covered with ashes, and black in colour as if the mountainous and rocky country was made up of fires. Some assume that these ashes were the result of thunderbolts and subterranean explosions, and do not doubt that

1947-548: The ethnogenesis of the Messapian people in the mixing between the Cretan settlers and the local indigenous people Salento. The sallentine humanist Antonio de Ferrariis , referring to the ancient Messapic language, defines it as "the language used by the Sallentines before the coming of Idomeneus", thus using the figure of the latter as a symbol of Greek Salento of which he himself boasted belonging. This additional version to

2006-539: The explanation of Xanthus the Lydian, who said that the seas had once been more extensive, and that they had afterwards been partially dried up, as in his own time many lakes, rivers, and wells in Asia had failed during a season of drought. Treating this conjecture with merited disregard, Strabo passes on to the hypothesis of Strato , the natural philosopher, who had observed that the quantity of mud brought down by rivers into

2065-448: The first critical edition in 1587. Although Strabo cited the classical Greek astronomers Eratosthenes and Hipparchus , acknowledging their astronomical and mathematical efforts covering geography, he claimed that a descriptive approach was more practical, such that his works were designed for statesmen who were more anthropologically than numerically concerned with the character of countries and regions. As such, Geographica provides

2124-593: The first stable settlements were identified in the cities of Oria , Cavallino , Vaste and Muro Leccese and can be dated back to the 8th century BC).. Around the 7th-6th century BC. we move from constructions in huts with a plinth in irregular stones, elevation in raw bricks (clay and straw) and roofing with intertwined branches (one was rebuilt in Vaste for educational purposes) to constructions with multiple rooms, quadrangular in shape, with low walls dry stone and brick and tile roofing. The pre-Italic settlement of Gnatia

2183-503: The hot masses burst out from the ground as estimated by a logical reasoning. Such type of soil is very convenient for viniculture , just like the Katanasoil which is covered with ashes and where the best wines are still produced abundantly. Some writers concluded by looking at these places that there is a good reason for calling Dionysus by the name ("Phrygenes"). Idomeneus of Crete Too Many Requests If you report this error to

2242-412: The islands, but the continents, which can be lifted up together with the sea; and both large and small tracts may subside, for habitations and cities, like Bure, Bizona, and many others, have been engulfed by earthquakes.' Strabo commented on fossil formation mentioning Nummulite (quoted from Celâl Şengör ): One extraordinary thing which I saw at the pyramids must not be omitted. Heaps of stones from

2301-464: The last book of Geographica , which describes it as a thriving port city with a highly developed local economy. Strabo notes the city's many beautiful public parks, and its network of streets wide enough for chariots and horsemen. "Two of these are exceeding broad, over a plethron in breadth, and cut one another at right angles ... All the buildings are connected one with another, and these also with what are beyond it." Lawrence Kim observes that Strabo

2360-753: The left side into marshy ground, and that, at last, the whole would be choked up with soil. So, it was argued, the Mediterranean had once opened a passage for itself by the Columns of Hercules into the Atlantic, and perhaps the abundance of sea-shells in Africa, near the Temple of Jupiter Ammon , might also be the deposit of some former inland sea, which had at length forced a passage and escaped. But Strabo rejects this theory as insufficient to account for all

2419-458: The legendary story of Typhon takes place in this region. Ksanthos adds that the king of this region was a man called Arimus. However, it is not reasonable to accept that the whole country was burned down at a time as a result of such an event rather than as a result of a fire bursting from underground whose source has now died out. Three pits are called "Physas" and separated by forty stadia from each other. Above these pits, there are hills formed by

Messapians - Misplaced Pages Continue

2478-521: The local community, and whether they might have been granted Roman citizenship as a reward. Strabo's life was characterized by extensive travels. He journeyed to Egypt and Kush , as far west as coastal Tuscany and as far south as Ethiopia in addition to his travels in Asia Minor and the time he spent in Rome . Travel throughout the Mediterranean and Near East, especially for scholarly purposes,

2537-515: The master of rhetoric Aristodemus , who had formerly taught the sons of the Roman general who had taken over Pontus. Aristodemus was the head of two schools of rhetoric and grammar, one in Nysa and one in Rhodes . The school in Nysa possessed a distinct intellectual curiosity in Homeric literature and the interpretation of the ancient Greek epics. Strabo was an admirer of Homer 's poetry, perhaps as

2596-479: The other colonies, which the Tarentines long after attempted to destroy, but suffered such a terrible defeat that there then occurred the most serious massacre of Greeks of all those we know of; not only of Tarentines, but also of citizens of Reggio: of the latter, who had come to give aid to the Tarentines forced by Micito son of Chero, 3000 died; the losses of the Tarentines could not even be counted. Micitus, who

2655-401: The phenomena, and he proposes one of his own, the profoundness of which modern geologists are only beginning to appreciate. 'It is not,' he says, 'because the lands covered by seas were originally at different altitudes, that the waters have risen, or subsided, or receded from some parts and inundated others. But the reason is, that the same land is sometimes raised up and sometimes depressed, and

2714-417: The quarries lie in front of the pyramids. Among these are found pieces which in shape and size resemble lentils. Some contain substances like grains half peeled. These, it is said, are the remnants of the workmen's food converted into stone; which is not probable. For at home in our country (Amaseia), there is a long hill in a plain, which abounds with pebbles of a porous stone, resembling lentils. The pebbles of

2773-401: The sea also is simultaneously raised and depressed so that it either overflows or returns into its own place again. We must, therefore, ascribe the cause to the ground, either to that ground which is under the sea, or to that which becomes flooded by it, but rather to that which lies beneath the sea, for this is more moveable, and, on account of its humidity, can be altered with great celerity. It

2832-453: The sea-shore and of rivers suggest somewhat of the same difficulty [respecting their origin]; some explanation may indeed be found in the motion [to which these are subject] in flowing waters, but the investigation of the above fact presents more difficulty. I have said elsewhere, that in sight of the pyramids, on the other side in Arabia, and near the stone quarries from which they are built, is

2891-646: The towns of the Messapii and Peucetii. However, the Iapyge tribes defeated them thanks to the superiority of their cavalry. The war against Tarentum continued until 467 BC. During the Second Peloponnesian War between Athens and Sparta , the Mesapii were allies of Athens. They provided archers for Athens' massive expeditionary force sent to attack Syracuse in Sicily (415–13 BC). The expedition

2950-453: The writings of other authors. Strabo was born to an affluent family from Amaseia in Pontus (in present-day Cappadocia ) in around 64   BC. His family had been involved in politics since at least the reign of Mithridates V . Strabo was related to Dorylaeus on his mother's side. Several other family members, including his paternal grandfather, had served Mithridates VI during

3009-508: Was a Greek geographer , philosopher , and historian who lived in Asia Minor during the transitional period of the Roman Republic into the Roman Empire . He is best known for his work Geographica ("Geography"), which presented a descriptive history of people and places from different regions of the world known during his lifetime. Additionally, Strabo authored historical works, but only fragments and quotations of these survive in

SECTION 50

#1732772301598

3068-433: Was a disaster and the entire force was destroyed. In 356 BC, an alliance between Messapii and Lucani led to the conquest of Heraclea and Matapontus . In 342 BC, Tarentum called for the aid of Archidamus III of Sparta. Archidamus died in battle under the walls of the Messapian city of Manduria in 338 BC. In 333 BC, Tarentum called Alexander I of Epirus to help them in their war with their Lucani . Alexander defeated

3127-533: Was added a large group of Locrian refugees, he set sail for Salento and settled there, displacing his army in twelve cities and thus giving life to the Messapic dodecapolis. The Cretan, Illyrian and Locrian refugees led by King Idomeneus, who became permanent inhabitants of the Salento districts, would finally collectively recognize themselves with the ethnonym of "Sallentines", since they had made friends "in salo", at sea". The oldest findings were made in archaeological excavations in some caves near Otranto and Roca ;

3186-427: Was also a Peripatetic, he was more relevantly a respected authority on geography, a fact of some significance considering Strabo's future contributions to the field. The final noteworthy mentor to Strabo was Athenodorus Cananites , a philosopher who had spent his life since 44 BC in Rome forging relationships with the Roman elite. Athenodorus passed onto Strabo his philosophy, his knowledge and his contacts. Unlike

3245-550: Was fought in the heart of the neighbouring Peucetii territory. The Roman survivors were welcomed into nearby Canusium. Part of the final stages of the war were fought out at Monte Gargano , in the northernmost part of Apulia, in the territory of the Dauni. The Messapian language is generally considered similar to the Illyrian languages , although this has been debated as a mostly speculative grouping, as Illyrian languages are themselves poorly attested. Albanian dialects are still

3304-514: Was founded in the fifteenth century BC during the Bronze Age. It was captured and settled by the Iapyges, as they occupied large tracts of territory in Apulia. The Messapii developed a distinct identity from the Iapyges. Rudiae was first settled from the late ninth or early eighth centuries BC. In the late sixth century BC, it developed into a much more important settlement. It flourished under

3363-642: Was from the house of Anassilaus, had been left by him as regent of Rhegium and is the same one who, driven out from Rhegium and settled in Tegea in Arcadia, consecrated the numerous statues in Olympia, which everyone knows.» In addition to the Herodothean story, there is the story of the Cretan king Idomeneus , another piece of what we could define as the "Minoan cycle", that is, that literary tradition which sees

3422-734: Was in Rome ( c.  20 BC ), is nearly completely lost. Meant to cover the history of the known world from the conquest of Greece by the Romans, Strabo quotes it himself and other classical authors mention that it existed, although the only surviving document is a fragment of papyrus now in the possession of the University of Milan (renumbered [Papyrus] 46). Strabo studied under several prominent teachers of various specialities throughout his early life at different stops during his Mediterranean travels. The first chapter of his education took place in Nysa (modern Sultanhisar , Turkey) under

3481-461: Was popular during this era and was facilitated by the relative peace enjoyed throughout the reign of Augustus (27 BC – AD 14). He moved to Rome in 44 BC, and stayed there, studying and writing, until at least 31 BC. In 29 BC, on his way to Corinth (where Augustus was at the time), he visited the island of Gyaros in the Aegean Sea. Around 25 BC, he sailed up the Nile until he reached Philae , after which point there

#597402