Εμφανίζονται 26 τίτλοι με αναζήτηση: Πληροφορίες για τον τόπο στην ευρύτερη περιοχή: "ΣΑΛΕΡΝΟ Πόλη ΚΑΜΠΑΝΙΑ" .
ΕΛΕΑ (Αρχαία πόλη) ΙΤΑΛΙΑ
Velia (Huele or Elea: Eth. Hueletes or Eleates, Veliensis: Castell‘
a Mare della Brucca), one of the principal of the Greek colonies in Southern Italy,
situated on the shores of the Tyrrhenian sea, about midway between Posidonia and
Pyxus. There is some uncertainty respecting the correct form of the name. Strabo
tells us that it was originally called Hyele (Uele), but was in his day called
Elea (Elea), and Diogenes Laertius also says that it was at first called Hyele
and afterwards Elea. (Strab. vi. p. 252; Diog. Laert. ix. 5. § 28; Steph. B. s.
v.) But it is certain from the evidence of its coins, which uniformly bear the
legends HuELE and HuELETON, that the name of Hyele continued in use among the
people themselves as long as the city continued; while,on the other hand, the
name of Elea is already found in Scylax (p. 4. § 12), and seems to have been certainly
that in use among Attic writers from an early period, where the Eleatic school
of philosophy rendered the name familiar. Strabo also tells us that some authors
wrote the name Ele (Ele), from a fountain of that name; and this form, compared
with Huele and the Latin form Velia, seems to show clearly that the diversity
of names arose from the Aeolic Digamma, which was probably originally prefixed
to the name, and was retained in the native usage and in that of the Romans, while
it was altogether dropped by the Attics. (Munter, Velia, p. 21.) It is not improbable
that the name was derived from that of the neighbouring river, the Hales of Cicero
(Alento), of which the name is written Elees by Strabo and Belea by Stephanus
of Byzantium. (Cic. ad Fam. vii. 2. 0; Strab. vi. p. 254.) Others, however, derived
it from the marshes (hele) at the mouth of the same river.
There is no trace of the existence of any town on the site of Velia
before the establishment of the Greek colony there, and it is probable that this,
like most of the Greek colonies in Southern Italy, was founded on a wholly new
site. It was a colony from Phocaea in Ionia, and derived its origin from the voluntary
expatriation of the inhabitants of that city in order to avoid falling under the
Persian yoke, at the time of the conquest of Ionia by Harpagus, B.C. 544. The
Phocaean emigrants proceeded in a body to Corsica, where they had already founded
the colony of Alalia about 20 years before; and in the first instance established
themselves in that island, but, having provoked the enmity of the Tyrrhenians
and Carthaginians by their piracies, they sustained such severe loss in a naval
action with the combined fleets of these two powers, that they found themselves
compelled to abandon the colony. A part of the emigrants then repaired to Massilia
(which was also a Phocaean colony), while the remainder, after a temporary halt
at Rhegium, proceeded to found the new colony of Hyele or Velia on the coast of
Lucania. This is the account given by Herodotus (i. 164-167), with which that
cited by Strabo from Antiochus of Syracuse substantially agrees. (Strab. vi. p.
254.) Later writers have somewhat confused the narrative, and have represented
the foundation of Massilia and Velia as contemporaneous (Hygin. ap. A. Gell. x.
16; Ammian. Marc. xv. 9. § 7); but there is no doubt that the account above given
is the correct one. Scylax alone represents Velia as a colony of Thurii. (Scyl.
p. 4. § 12.) If this be not altogether a mistake it must refer to the admission
at a later period of a body of fresh colonists from that city; but of this we
find no trace in any other author. The exact date of the foundation of Velia cannot
be determined, as we do not know how long the Phocaeans remained in Corsica, but
it may be placed approximately at about 540 B.C.
There is no doubt that the settlers at Velia, like those of the sister
colony of Massilia, followed the example of their parent city, and devoted themselves
assiduously to the cultivation of commerce; nor that the city itself quickly became
a prosperous and flourishing place. The great abundance of the silver coins of
Velia still in existence, and which are found throughout the S. of Italy, is in
itself sufficient evidence of this fact; while the circumstance that it became
the seat of a celebrated school of philosophy, the leaders of which continued
through successive generations to reside at Velia, proves that it must have been
a place of much intellectual refinement and cultivation. But of its history we
may be said to know absolutely nothing. Strabo tells us that it was remarkable
for its good government, an advantage for which it was partly indebted to Parmenides,
who gave his fellow-citizens a code of laws which the magistrates from year to
year took an oath to obey. (Strab. vi. p. 254; Diog. Laert. ix. 3. § 23.) But
the obscure story concerning the death of Zeno, the disciple of Parmenides, who
was put to death by a tyrant named Nearchus or Diomedon, would seem to show that
it was not free from the same kind of violent interruptions by the rise of despotisms
as were common to most of the Greek cities. (Diog. Laert. ix. 5; Cic. Tusc. ii.
2. 2) Strabo also tells us that the Eleans came off victorious in a contest with
the Posidonians, but of the time and circumstances of this we are wholly ignorant;
and he adds that they maintained their ground against the Lucanians also. (Strab.
l. c.) If this is correct they would have been one of the few Greek cities which
preserved their national existence against those barbarians, but their name is
not found in the scanty historical notices that we possess of the wars between
the Lucanians and the cities of Magna Graecia. But the statement of Strabo is
in some degree confirmed by the fact that Velia was certainly admitted at an early
period (though on what occasion we know not) to the alliance of Rome, and appears
to have maintained very friendly relations with that city. It was from thence,
in common with Neapolis, that the Romans habitually derived the priestesses of
Ceres, whose worship was of Greek origin. (Cic. pro Balb. 24; Val. Max. i. 1.
§ 1.) Cicero speaks of Velia as a well-known instance of a foederata civitas,
and we find it mentioned in the Second Punic War as one of those which were bound
by treaty to contribute their quota of ships to the Roman fleet. (Cic. l. c.;
Liv. xxvi. 39.) It eventually received the Roman franchise, apparently in virtue
of the Lex Julia, B.C. 90. (Cic. l. c.) Under the Roman government Velia continued
to be a tolerably flourishing town, and seems to have been from an early period
noted for its mild and salubrious climate. Thus we are told that P. Aemilius was
ordered to go there by his physicians for the benefit of his health, and we find
Horace making inquiries about it as a substitute for Baiae. (Plut. Aemil. 39;
Hor. Ep. i. 15. 1.) Cicero's friend Trebatius had a villa there, and the great
orator himself repeatedly touched there on his voyages along the coast of Italy.
(Cic. Verr. ii. 4. 0, v. 17, ad Fam. vii. 19, 20, ad Att. xvi. 6, 7.) It appears
to have been at this period still a place of some trade, and Strabo tells us that
the poverty of the soil compelled the inhabitants to turn their attention to maritime
affairs and fisheries. (Strab. vi. p. 254.) It is probable that the same cause
had in early times co-operated with the national disposition of the Phocaean settlers
to direct their attention especially to maritime commerce. We hear nothing more
of Velia under the Roman Empire. Its name is found in Pliny and Ptolemy, but not
in the Itineraries, which may, however, probably proceed from its secluded position.
It is mentioned in the Liber Coloniarum (p. 209) among the Praefecturae of Lucania;
and its continued existence as a municipal town is proved by inscriptions. (Mommsen,
Inscrip. R. N. 190, App. p. 2.) It became an episcopal see in the early ages of
Christianity, and still retained that dignity as late as the time of Gregory the
Great (A.D. 599). It is probable that the final decay of Velia, like that of Paestum,
was owing to the ravages of the Saracens in the 8th and 9th centuries. The bishopric
was united with that of Capaccio, which had succeeded to that of Paestum. (Munter,
Velia, pp. 69-73.) During the middle ages there grew up on the spot a fortress
which was called Castell‘ a Mare della Brucca, and which still serves to mark
the site of the ancient city.
The ruins of Velia are situated on a low ridge of hill, which rises
about a mile and a half from the mouth of the river Alento (the ancient Hales),
and half a mile from the coast, which here forms a shallow but spacious bay, between
the headland formed by the Monte della Stella and the rocky point of Porticello
near Ascea. The mediaeval castle and village of Castell‘ a Mare della Brucca occupy
the point of this hill nearest the sea. The outline of the ancient walls may be
traced at intervals round the hill for their whole extent. Their circuit is not
above two miles, and it is most likely that this was the old city or acropolis,
and that in the days of its prosperity it had considerable suburbs, especially
in the direction of its port. It is probable that this was an artificial basin,
like that of Metapontum, and its site is in all probability marked by a marshy
pool which still exists between the ruins of the ancient city and the mouth of
the Alento. This river itself, however, was sufficient to afford a shelter and
place of anchorage for shipping in ancient times (Cic. ad Att. xvi. 7), and is
still resorted to for the same purpose by the light vessels of the country. No
other ruins exist on the site of the ancient city except some masses of buildings,
which, being in the reticulated style, are unquestionably of Roman date: portions
of aqueducts, reservoirs for water, &c. are also visible. (The site and existing
remains of Velia are described by Munter, Velia in Lucanien, 8vo. Altona, 1818,
pp. 15-20, and by the Duc de Luynes, in the Annali dell' Instituto, 1829, pp.
381-386.)
It is certain that as a Greek colony Velia never rose to a par with
the more opulent and flourishing cities of Magna Graecia. Its chief celebrity
in ancient times was derived from its celebrated school of philosophy, which was
universally known as the Eleatic school. Its founder Xenophanes was indeed a native
of Colophon, but had established himself at Velia, and wrote a long poem, in which
he celebrated the foundation of that city. (Diog. Laert. ix. 2. § 20.) His distinguished
successors Parmenides and Zeno were both of them born at Velia, and the same thing
is asserted by some writers of Leucippus, the founder of the atomic theory, though
others represent him as a native of Abdera or Melos. Hence Diogenes Laertius terms
Velia an inconsiderable city, but capable of producing great men (ix. 5. § 28).
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
ΠΟΣΕΙΔΩΝΙΑ (Αρχαία πόλη) ΚΑΜΠΑΝΙΑ
Paiston, Ptol.; Paistos, Strab.: Eth. Paistanos, Paestanus: Ruins
at Pesto), a city of Lucania, on the Tyrrhenian sea, about 5 miles S. of the mouth
of the Silarus. It was originally a Greek colony, named Posidonia (Poseidonia:
Eth. Poseidoniates), and was founded by a colony from Sybaris, on the opposite
coast of Lucania. (Strab. v. p. 251; Scymn. Ch. 245; Scyl. p. 3. § 12.) The date
of its foundation is uncertain, but it may probably be referred to the period
of the chief prosperity of Sybaris, when that city ruled over the whole of Lucania,
from one sea to the other, or from 650 to 510 B.C. It may be observed, also, that
Solinus calls Posidonia a Dorio colony; and though his authority is worth little
in itself, it is confirmed by the occurrence of Doric forms on coins of the city:
hence it seems probable that the Doric settlers from Troezen, who formed part
of the original colony of Sybaris, but were subsequently expelled by the Achaeans
(Arist. Pol. v. 3), may have mainly contributed to the establishment of the new
colony. According to Strabo it was originally founded close to the sea, but was
subsequently removed further inland (Strab. l.c.); the change, however, was not
considerable, as the still existing ruins of the ancient city are little more
than half a mile from the coast.
We know scarcely anything of the early history of Posidonia. It is
incidentally mentioned by Herodotus (i. 167) in a manner that proves it to have
been already in existence, and apparently as a considerable town, at the period
of the foundation of the neighbouring Velia, about B.C. 540. But this is the only
notice of Posidonia until after the fall of its parent city of Sybaris, B.C. 510.
It has been supposed by some modern writers that it received a great accession
to its population at that period; but Herodotus, who notices the Sybarites as
settling on that occasion at Laiis and Scidrus, does not allude to Posidonia.
(Herod. vi. 21.) There are, indeed, few among the cities of Magna Graecia of which
we hear less in history; and the only evidence of the flourishing condition and
prosperity of Posidonia, is to be found in the numbers of its coins and in the
splendid architectural remains, so well known as the temples of Paestum. From
its northerly position, it must have been one of the first cities that suffered
from the advancing power of the Lucanians, as it was certainly one of the first
Greek colonies that fell into the hands of that people. (Strab. v. p. 251.) The
date of this event is very uncertain; buit it is probable that it must have taken
place before B.C. 390, when the city of Laus was besieged by the Lucanians, and
had apparently become the bulwark of Magna Graecia on that side. We learn from
a curious passage of Aristoxenus (ap. Athen. xiv. p. 632) that the Greek inhabitants
were not expelled, but compelled to submit to the authority of the Lucanians,
and receive a barbarian colony within their walls. They still retained many of
their customs, and for ages afterwards continued to assemble at a certain festival
every year with the express purpose of bewailing their captivity, and reviving
the traditions of their prosperity. It would appear [p. 513] from Livy (viii.
17), though the passage is not quite distinct, that it was recovered by Alexander,
king of Epirus, as late as B.C. 330; but if so, it certainly soon fell again into
the hands of the barbarians.
Posidonia passed with the rest of Lucania into the hands of the Romans.
We find no mention of it on this occasion; but in B.C. 273, immediately after
the departure of Pyrrhus from Italy, the Romans established a colony there for
the security of their newly acquired territory on this side. (Liv. Epit. xiv.;
Veil. Pat. i. 14; Strab. v. p. 251.) It was probably at, this period that the
name was changed, or corrupted, into Paestum though the change may have already
taken place at the time when the city fell into the hands of the Lucanians. But,
from the time that it became a Roman colony, the name of Paestum seems to have
exclusively prevailed; and even its coins, which are inscribed with Greek characters,
have the legend Pais and Paistano. (Eckhel, vol. i. p. 158.) We hear but little
of Paestum as a Roman colony: it was one of the Coloniae Latinae, and distinguished
itself by its unshaken fidelity throughout the Second Punic War. Thus the Paestani
are mentioned as sending golden paterae as a present to the Roman senate just
before the battle of Cannae (Liv. xxii. 36). Again in B.C. 210 they furnished
ships to the squadron with which D. Quintius repaired to the siege of Tarentum;
and the following year they were among the eighteen colonies which still professed
their readiness to furnish supplies and recruits to the Roman armies, notwithstanding
the long-continued pressure of the war (Liv. xxvi. 39, xxvii. 10.) Paestum was
therefore at this period still a flourishing and considerable town, but we hear
little more of it during the Roman Republic. It is incidentally mentioned by Cicero
in one of his letters (Ep. ad Att. xi. 17); and is noticed by all the geographers
as a still subsisting municipal town. Strabo, however, observes that it was rendered
unhealthy by the stagnation of a small river which flowed beneath its walls (v.
p. 251); and it was probably, therefore, already a declining place. But it was
still one of the eight Praefecturae of Lucania at a considerably later period
; and inscriptions attest its continued existence throughout the Roman Empire.
(Strab. l. c.; Plin. iii, 5. s. 10; Ptol. iii. 1. § 8; Lib. Colon. p. 209; Orell.
Inscr. 135, 2492, 3078: Bull. d. Inst. Arch. 1836, p. 152.) In some of these it
bears the title of a Colonia; but it is uncertain at what period it attained that
rank: it certainly cannot refer to the original Latin colony, as that must have
become merged in the municipal condition by the effect of the Lex Julia. We learn
from ecclesiastical authorities that it became a bishopric at least as early as
the fifth century; and it is probable that its final decay and desolation was
owing to the ravages of the Saracens in the tenth century. At that time the episcopal
see was removed to the neighbouring town of Capaccio, in an elevated situation
a few miles inland.
Paestum was chiefly celebrated in ancient times for its roses, which
possessed the peculiarity of flowering twice a year, and were considered as surpassing
all others in fragrance. (Virg. Georg. iv. 118; Ovid, Met. xv. 708; Propert. iv.
5. 59; Martial, iv. 41. 10, vi. 80. 6; Auson. Idyll. 14. 11.) The roses that still
grow wild among the ruins are said to retain their ancient property, and flower
regularly both in May and November.
The site of Paestum appears to have continued wholly uninhabited from
the time when the episcopal see was removed till within a very recent period.
It was not till the middle of the last century that attention was drawn to the
ruins which are now so celebrated. Though they can hardly be said to have been
then first discovered, as they must always have been a conspicuous object from
the Bay of Salerno, and could not but have been known in their immediate neighbourhood,
they were certainly unknown to the rest of Europe. Even the diligent Cluverius,
writing in 1624, notices the fact that there were ruins which bore the name of
Pesto, without any allusion to their character and importance. (Cluver. Ital.
p. 1255.) They seem to have been first visited by a certain Count Gazola, in the
service of Charles VII., King of Naples, before the middle of the last century,
and were described by Antonini, in his work on the topography of Lucania (Naples,
1745), and noticed by Mazzocchi, who has inserted a dissertation on the history
of Paestum in his work on the Heraclean Tables (pp. 499-515) published in 1754.
Before the end of the century they became the subject of the special works of
Magnoni and Paoli, and were visited by travellers from all parts of Europe. Among
these, Swinburne in 1779, has left a very accurate description of the ruins; and
their architectural details are given by Wilkins in his Magna Graecia (fol. Cambr.
1807).
The principal ruins consist of the walls, and three temples standing
within the space enclosed by them. The whole circuit of the walls can be clearly
made out, and they are in many places standing to a considerable height; several
of the towers also remain at the angles, and vestiges of the ancient gates, which
were four in number; one of these, on the E. side of the town, is nearly perfect,
and surmounted by a regularly constructed arch. The whole circuit of the walls
forms an irregular polygon, about 3 miles in circumference. The two principal
temples stand not far from the southern gate of the city. The finest and most
ancient of these is commonly known as the temple of Neptune; but there is no authority
for the name, beyond the fact that Neptune, or Poseidon, was unquestionably the
tutelary deity of the city which derived from him its ancient name of Posidonia.
The temple was hypaethral, or had its cella open to the sky, and is 195 feet long
by 79 wide: it is remarkably perfect; not a single column is wanting, and the
entablature and pediments are almost entire. The style of architecture is Doric,
but its proportions are heavier, and the style altogether more massive and solid
than any other extant edifice of the kind. On this account some of the earlier
antiquarians disputed the fact of its Greek origin, and ascribed it to the Phoenicians
or Etruscans: but there is not a shadow of foundation for this; we have no trace
of any settlement on the spot before the Greek colony; and the architecture is
of pure Greek style, though probably one of the most ancient specimens of the
Doric order now remaining. About 100 yards from the temple of Neptune, and nearer
to the south gate, is the second edifice, which on account of some peculiarities
in its plan has been called a Basilica, but is unquestionably also a temple. It
is of the kind called pseudo-dipteral; but differs from every other ancient building
known in having nine columns at each end, while the interior is divided into two
parts by a single range of columns running along the centre of the building. It
was probably a temple consecrated to two different divinities, or rather, in fact,
two temples united in one. It has 18 columns in each side, and is 180 feet long
by 80 in width. The third temple, which is at some distance from the other two,
nearer to the N. gate of the town, and is commonly known as the Temple of Ceres
or Vesta (though there is no reason for either name), is much smaller than the
other two, being only 108 feet in length by 48 in breadth: it presents no remarkable
architectural peculiarities, but is, as well as the so-called Basilica, of much
later date than the great temple. Mr. Wilkins, indeed, would assign them both
to the Roman period: but it is difficult to reconcile this with the history of
the city, which never appears to have been a place of much importance under the
Roman rule. (Swinburne's Travels, vol. ii. pp. 131-138; Wilkins's Magna Graecia,
pp. 55-67.)
The other remains are of little importance. The vestiges of an amphitheatre
exist near the centre; of the city; and not far from them are the fallen ruins
of a fourth temple, of small size and clearly of Roman date. Excavations have
also laid bare the foundations of many houses and other buildings, and the traces
of a portico, which appear to indicate the site of the ancient forum. The remains
,of an aqueduct are. also visible outside the walls; and numerous tombs (some
of which are said to be. of much interest) have been recently brought to light.
The small river which (as already noticed by Strabo), by stagnating
under the walls of Paestum, rendered its situation so unhealthy, is now called
the Salso: its ancient name is not mentioned. It forms extensive deposits of a
calcareous stone, resembling the Roman travertin, which forms an excellent building
material, with which both the walls and edifices of the city have been constructed.
The malaria, which caused the site to be wholly abandoned during the middle ages,
has already sensibly diminished, since the resort of travellers has again attracted
a small population to the spot, and given rise to some cultivation. About five
miles from Paestum, at the mouth of the Silarus or Sele, stood, in ancient times,
a celebrated temple of Juno, which, according to the tradition adopted both by
Strabo and Pliny, was founded by the Argonauts under Jason (Strab, vi, p. 252.;
Plin. iii. 5. s. 10). It is probable that the worship of the Argive Hera, or Juno,
was brought hither by the Troezenian colonists of Posidonia. Pliny places the
temple on the N. bank of the. Silarus.; Strabo, probably more correctly, on the
S. The extensive gulf which extends from the promontory of Minerva (the Punta
della Campanella) to the headland called Posidium (the Punta di Licosa), and is
now known as the Gulf of Salerno. derived its ancient name from the city of Paestum,
being called by the Romans Paestanus Sinus and by the Greeks the gulf of Posidonia
(Poseidoniates kolpos). (Strab. v. p, 251; Sinus Paestanus, Plin. iii. 5. s. 10;
Mel. ii. 4. § 9; Cic. ad Att. xvi. 6)
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
ΣΑΛΕΡΝΟ (Πόλη) ΚΑΜΠΑΝΙΑ
Salernum (Salernon. Eth. Salernitanus: Salerno), a city of Campania,
but situated in the territory of the Picentini, on the N. shore of the gulf of
Posidonia, which now derives from it the name of the Gulf of Salerno. We have
no account of its origin or early history; it has been supposed that it was like
the neighbouring Marcina a Tyrrhenian or Pelasgic settlement; but there is no
authority for this, and its name is never mentioned in history previous to the
settlement of a Roman colony there. But when this was first decreed (in B.C. 197,
it was not actually founded till B.C. 194), Livy speaks of the place as Castrum
Salerni, whence we may infer that there was at least a fortress previously existing
there (Liv. xxxii. 29, xxxiv. 45; Vell. Pat. i. 14: Strab. v. p. 251.) The Roman
colony was established, as we are expressly told by Strabo, for the purpose of
holding the Picentines in check, that people having actively espoused the cause
of Hannibal during the Second Punic War (Strab. l. c.) Their town of Picentia
being destroyed, Salernum became the chief town of the district; but it does not
appear to have risen to any great importance. In the Social War it was taken by
the Samnite general C. Papius (Appian, B.C. i. 42): but this is the only occasion
on which its name is mentioned in history. Horace alludes to it as having a mild
climate, on which account it had apparently been recommended to him for his health
(Hor. Ep. i. 15. 1.) It continued to be a municipal town of some consideration
under the Roman Empire, and as we learn from inscriptions retained the title of
a Colonia (Plin. iii. 5. s. 9; Ptol. iii. 1. § 7; Itin. Ant.; Tab. Pent.; Mommsen,
Inscr. R. N. pp. 9-12) But it was not till after the Lombard conquest that it
became one of the most flourishing cities in this part of Italy; so that it is
associated by Paulus Diaconus with Caprea and Neapolis among the opulentissimae
urbes of Campania (P. Diac. Hist. Lang. ii. 17). It retained this consideration
down to a late period of the middle ages, and was especially renowned for its
school of medicine, which, under the name of Schola Salernitana, was long the
most celebrated in Europe. But it seems certain that this was derived from the
Arabs in the 10th or 11th century, and was not transmitted from more ancient times.
Salerno is still the see of an archbishop, with a population of about 12,000 inhabitants,
though greatly fallen from its mediaeval grandeur.
The ancient city, as we learn from Strabo (v. p. 251), stood on a hill
at some distance from the sea, and this is confirmed by local writers, who state
that many ancient remains have been found on the hill which rises at the back
of the modern city, but no ruins are now extant. (Romanelli, vol. iii. p. 612.)
From the foot of this hill a level and marshy plain extends without interruption
to the mouth of the Silarus, the whole of which seems to have been included in
the municipal territory of Salernum, as Lucan speaks of the Silarus as skirting
the cultivated lands of that city (Lucan ii.425.) The distance from Salernum itself
to the mouth of the Silarus is not less than 18 miles, though erroneously given
in the Tabula at only 9. (Tab.Peut.)
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
ΕΛΕΑ (Αρχαία πόλη) ΙΤΑΛΙΑ
or Elea (Elea), also called Hyele (Huele). Now Castellamare;
a Greek town of Lucania, on the western coast between Paestum and Buxentum, was
founded by the Phocaeans, who had abandoned their native city to escape from the
Persian sovereignty, about B.C. 543. It was situated about three miles east of
the river Hales, and possessed a good harbour. It is celebrated as the birthplace
of the philosophers Parmenides and Zeno, who founded a school of philosophy usually
known under the name of the Eleatic. The different forms of the name of the town
arise from the fact that the Romans preserve the original Aeolic digamma, representing
it by their semi-consonantal V.
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ΠΑΛΙΝΟΥΡΟ (Πόλη) ΚΑΜΠΑΝΙΑ
Now Cape Palinuro; a promontory on the west coast of Lucania, said to have derived its name from Palinurus, pilot of the ship of Aeneas, who fell into the sea, and was murdered on the coast by the natives.
ΠΟΣΕΙΔΩΝΙΑ (Αρχαία πόλη) ΚΑΜΠΑΝΙΑ
called Posidonia (Poseidonia) by the Greeks. A city in Lucania,
situated four or five miles south of the Silarus, and near the bay, which derived
its name from the town (Paestanus Sinus: Gulf of Salerno). It was colonized by
the Sybarites about B.C. 524, and soon became a powerful and flourishing city.
It was captured by the Lucanians about B.C. 430 and gradually lost its Greek characteristics.
Under the Romans it gradually sank in importance, and in the time of Augustus
it is mentioned only on account of the beautiful roses grown in its neighbourhood.
The ruins of two Doric temples at Paestum are among the most remarkable remains
of antiquity.
This text is cited Oct 2002 from The Perseus Project URL below, which contains interesting hyperlinks
ΣΑΛΕΡΝΟ (Πόλη) ΚΑΜΠΑΝΙΑ
Now Salerno. An ancient town in Campania, at the innermost corner of the Sinus Paestanus, situated on a hill near the coast. It was made a Roman colony B.C. 194; but it attained its greatest prosperity in the Middle Ages, after it had been fortified by the Lombards.
ΠΟΣΕΙΔΩΝΙΑ (Αρχαία πόλη) ΚΑΜΠΑΝΙΑ
ΕΛΕΑ (Αρχαία πόλη) ΙΤΑΛΙΑ
A city of the Ionian Phokaians on the coast of Lucania, founded 540-535
B.C. Following their mass flight from submission to Persia, the Phokaians first
sought refuge in their colonies of Alalia (on Corsica) and Massalia (Marseilles),
but the sea battle of Alalia, in which they triumphed over a combined force of
Etruscans and Carthaginians, led them to abandon Alalia for a place in Magna Graecia.
After a stop and reinforcement at Rhegion they sailed N along the coast to Elea,
a site in the mountainous country between Cape Palinurus and Poseidonia (Hdt.
1.163-67). The foundation prospered and eventually counted among its ornaments
Parmenides, the 5th c. philosopher and statesman who gave the city its constitution,
and the Eleatic school of philosophy. Like Naples and Tarentum it never fell to
the assault of Italic tribes (Strab. 6.254). In 387 B.C. it was a member of the
Italian league against Dionysios I of Syracuse and subsequently became a faithful
ally of Rome, furnishing her with ships in the Punic wars and affording a stronghold
in S Italy against Hannibal. Cicero tells us that the cult of Ceres, Liber, and
Libera at Rome was Greek, and that Velia was one of two cities that furnished
priestesses for it (Balb. 55). In 88 B.C. it became a municipium and was inscribed
in the tribus Romilia. In the civil war of 44 B.C. Brutus, who had a villa there,
made it one of his bases. Thereafter we know of it only as the native city of
the father of Statius and the grammarian Palamedes and famous for its school of
medicine founded on Parmenides' principles. It was always fiercely independent
and determinedly Greek, as the archaeological record also attests, and persisted
in writing Greek well into the Imperial period. Its decline was due to isolation
from the main routes inland and the silting up of its ports. Its economy had probably
always been fragile, dependent on the sea traffic and fishing; there is little
good agriculture in the vicinity.
The city occupied the end of a spur of the Apennines between two rivers,
the Palistro and the Fiumarella S. Barbara, with an acropolis overlooking a considerable
bay. Landward from this the city spread to either side over the slopes descending
to the plain and the river ports, the S quarter much more important than the N.
The fortifications are extremely complicated and confusing, the walls with a base
in blocks of the local limestone and sandstone and upper parts in two- and three-ribbed
construction bricks that are a characteristic of the city. The walls made at least
two, and probably three, circuits that could be separated from one another in
emergency, the largest circuit embracing the S and E quarters of the city, another
around the N quarter, and probably a third enclosing the acropolis and the slope
SE of it, the heart of the old city. There are some scant remains of polygonal
masonry of "Lesbian" type, presumably of an early fortification, to
be seen at places along the crest of the spur, but most of what can be seen today
is work of the Hellenistic period, with towers protecting the gates and at fairly
regular intervals along vulnerable stretches of the curtain, and a fortress at
the high point inland that pains were taken to include. But the setting of certain
towers still wants explanation; and the function of Porta Rosa, Velia's most conspicuous
monument--both a gate between the N and S quarters and a viaduct connecting the
acropolis with the inland fortifications--needs further clarification.
Excavations have been carried out on the acropolis and its adjacencies,
in an area known as the agora, and in the neighborhood of Porta Marina Sud, as
well as around Porta Rosa and its approaches and at scattered points in the S
and E quarters. On the acropolis the most important remains are those of a large
Ionic temple, now reduced to its foundations (32.50 x 18.35 m) partially covered
by a mediaeval castle. This dominated the view, and around it were later constructed
the terraces and porticos of an extensive sanctuary. The earliest material is
of the 6th c., but the temple building is early 5th. Under it is a stretch of
fine archaic work.
On the S slope of the acropolis, in part buried by a terrace wall
of the early 5th c., are foundations of small buildings in "Lesbian"
polygonal masonry. These seem to be remains of the first settlement, or possibly
(on the evidence of pottery found here) a still more ancient station going back
to the early 6th c. It is interesting that these all seem to have faced E and
were aligned with a regular grid of streets.
Along the crest of the main spur a number of temples and sanctuaries
of a wide range of dates have been explored. The most important are a long, narrow
temenos on the minor acropolis where a stele to Poseidon Asphaleios was found
and a vast terrace (ca. 110 x 100 m) near the summit of the city with a long altar
(25.35 x 7 m) reminiscent of that of Hieron at Syracuse.
The agora area, on the slope S of Porta Rosa, consists of a small
public square surrounded by colonnades under which passes an elaborate channel,
best examined uphill from the square, that drained the surrounding slopes, taking
the water to the sea. To the E are remains of a series of buildings that may be
dependencies of the agora. The terrain here is steep and broken, and the area
was repeatedly rebuilt, but the original plan seems to have been of high antiquity,
though what can be seen today is for the most part Hellenistic and Roman. The
drain is dated to the beginning of the 3d c. B.C.
In the vicinity of Porta Marina Sud a considerable area has been cleared.
Here the most interesting remains are a building with cryptoporticus that fills
a whole insula, apparently headquarters of a medical association, where a number
of sculptures and inscriptions were recovered, and a bothros which was found full
of votive material, possibly dedicated to Eros. A number of small houses belonging
to the Roman period have been found in this area; these are all of peristyle plan,
no atrium house being known on the site.
The excavators believe that the city was devastated by catastrophes
toward the beginning of the 3d c. B.C., toward the middle of the 1st c. A.D.,
and toward the end of the 5th c. After the first two the city was rebuilt along
its original pattern, but after the last no rebuilding was undertaken.
L.Richardson, Jr., 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.
ΗΡΑΙΟΝ (Αρχαίο ιερό) ΚΑΜΠΑΝΙΑ
Near the mouth of the Sele, which flows through the plain N of Paestum,
a sanctuary of the archaic period dedicated to Argive Hera (Strab. 6.252; Plin.
HN 3.70; Solin. 2.12; Plut. Vit.Pomp. 24.3). Since the sources are unanimous in
attributing the foundation of the sanctuary to Jason, it has been conjectured
that the Heraion may have been founded by Thessalians, as was Posidonia. However,
this hypothesis fails to find confirmation in more recent archaeological evidence
(Treasury I) on the basis of which rapport with Sybaris is apparent as far back
as the archaic period. The Heraion was abandoned in late antiquity and became
a source of limestone for mediaeval buildings.
The numerous terracotta votive objects permit a reconstruction of
the type of Hera of the sanctuary. At the end of the 7th c. or at the beginning
of the 6th the goddess is already represented seated, with a polos, supporting
a child with her left arm, and carrying a pomegranate in her right hand.
The sanctuary flowered mainly in the archaic period, specifically
during the 6th c. Treasury I was constructed between 570 and 550, and at that
time the first series of metopes was made. The octastyle temple was erected toward
the end of the century.
Between the end of the 5th c. and the second half of the 4th the buildings
were gravely damaged and the treasury was probably destroyed. The architectural
elements and the metopes were reused in a stoa of the 4th c. The finding of numerous
votive objects indicates that the sanctuary flourished at the end of the 4th c.
and during the Hellenistic age. Between the end of the Republican epoch and the
1st c. A.D. the sanctuary declined rapidly. An earthquake, perhaps in 63, probably
destroyed the octastyle temple. The eruption of Vesuvius in 79 buried the Heraion,
and every trace of life seems to have disappeared from the area by the beginning
of the 4th c.
Treasury I: Few elements of the building are preserved in situ. Of
the naos there remains the end wall to the W and the long walls to a maximum height
of four courses. There is no trace of a pronaos nor of a wall between it and the
naos. Thus reconstruction remains substantially hypothetical. Of 38 metopes belonging
to the treasury, three are illegible. On the basis of material discovered within
the foundation of the building, and from a stylistic examination of the reliefs,
it has been possible to date the metopes to ca. 570. The erection of the treasury
has been attributed to the Sybarites, and its incompleteness to the destruction
of their city. Two metopes and various fragments have been ascribed to two different
buildings called Treasury II and Treasury III, the foundations of which have not
yet been traced.
Heraion: An octastyle temple (18.7 x 38.9 m) with 17 columns on the
long sides. The stereobate is preserved to its entire height in a few places.
The instability of the terrain dictated the placing of four courses under the
peristasis and two under the cella in the points of greatest pressure by the superstructure.
The axes of the cella walls are aligned with those of the corresponding columns
of the peristasis, following the Ionic usage. The cella is composed of a pronaos,
naos, and adyton. The lateral walls had columns instead of antae. The pteroma
widens greatly on the E side, equaling the dimensions of three interaxials. The
remains of the columns are constructed of drums of sandstone conglomerate, all
with eighteen flutes, to which correspond two groups of capitals, diverse in profile.
A multiple molding crowned the architrave with neither taeniae nor regulae. On
both sides of the course there was a Doric cyma in place of the Ionic. The moldings
of the external faces bear a plastic decoration with Lesbian leaves, egg and dart,
and bead and reel. The normal Doric geison was formed above the frieze by a multiple
molding bearing from top to bottom a Lesbian leaf, an Ionic leaf, and a small
cyma reversa surmounted by an astragal. Above runs a cyma ornamented with lions'
heads. Of the frieze there remain three fragments of triglyphs and twelve figured
metopes of unequal height and tapering toward the bottom.
The temple was entered by means of a ramp abutting the crepidoma on
the E front. The altar is situated at a distance of 34.1 m from the E front.
The sacred area was delineated at the N by two stoas of rectangular
plan. The NW stoa seems to be, from the discovery of proto-Corinthian oinochoai
under the floor level, the most ancient building of those yet explored. The NE
stoa dates to the epoch succeeding the construction of the sanctuary, between
the first and the fourth quarter of the 4th c. B.C. Almost contemporary with the
NE stoa, and connected with it, is a third stoa to the E. This one is a more irregular
structure built with reused material from Treasury I and from the octastyle temple.
In the area between Treasury I and the octastyle temple, and S of
them, bases have been found for donations, for votive columns, and for a bronze
lebes. To the SE of the octastyle temple area a square tower has been found, constructed
in the 3d c. exclusively of reused material, including many metopes.
The most recent discovery at the mouth of the Sele is a building situated
to the E of the Heraion. It was constructed a little after 400 B.C. in the center
of a larger space on a ditch dug for the laying of the foundation and serving
also as a dump for votive objects, datable between 575 and 425, coming from the
destroyed treasury. In spite of the square plan and the opening to the S, it appears
to have been a cult building, destroyed in connection with the sending out of
the colony from Paestum and not intended to be used again.
F. Parise Badoni - P. H. Schlager-Stoops, 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 24 image(s), bibliography & interesting hyperlinks.
ΠΟΣΕΙΔΩΝΙΑ (Αρχαία πόλη) ΚΑΜΠΑΝΙΑ
On the E coast 96 km S of Naples, the site stands in the center of
the Sele plain between the sea and the W ridges of the Monte Alburno. Discoveries
of handmade tools indicate that the site was inhabited in Palaeolithic and Neolithic
times. Fragments of Protocorinthian pottery make it possible to date the founding
of the Greek city to the middle of the 7th c. B.C. According to Strabo (5.4.13)
the city was established by colonists from Sybaris, who built a fortified town
by the sea, forcing the settlers already inhabiting the area to move inland; the
Sybarite city was called Poseidonia. The fertility of the plain surrounding it,
as well as its advantageous position for trade enabled it to become extremely
prosperous. Around 400 B.C. this prosperity was shattered when the Lucanians,
who had lived in the hills behind, captured the city, renaming it Paiston or Paistos.
It enjoyed a brief period of freedom from 332 to 326 B.C. when Alexander the Molossian
united the Greek peoples of S Italy against the Lucanians. In 273 B.C., the Romans
established a colony on the site, renaming it Paestum. During the Roman period
the city prospered, but in the 1st c. A.D. the silting up of the river Sele (Salso)
caused the area to become infested with malaria. At the beginning of the Middle
Ages the site consisted simply of a small community centered around the northernmost
of the temples, which had been turned into a church. In the 9th c. A.D. the site
was finally abandoned and subsequently hidden by forest and swamp, not to be rediscovered
again until the middle of the 18th c. when a road was built through the area.
The entire Greek city was surrounded by a fortification wall, some
4750 m in length with an average thickness of 5 m. The present walls date to the
Lucanian and Roman periods; the W section is the best preserved. The entire circuit
was surrounded by a moat crossed by bridges at the points of the four major gates:
the Porta della Sirena to the E, the Porta Aurea to the N, the Porta della Giustizia
to the S, and to the W the Porta Marina, which consists of round and square towers
forming a vestibule with guard rooms.
The major part of the modern excavations have been conducted in the
central part of the city. Two major precincts flank a central agora. To the N
is the area sacred to Athena, and to the S that dedicated to Hera. The S sanctuary
includes two major temples, the southernmost of which is the older dating to the
middle of the 6th c. B.C. Because of its resemblance to a civic building, it has
been called the Basilica, but it is actually a Temple to Hera. It is of the Doric
order, facing E (enneastyle x 18; 24.5 x 54.3 m on its stylobate). The columns
have a pronounced entasis, tapering at the top. The capitals have very flat echini,
the bases of which are decorated with carved leaf designs (anthemion). Nothing
remains above the architrave except part of the antithema of the frieze course.
The temple probably did not contain sculptural decoration. The pronaos is tristyle
in antis; the cella is divided into two aisles by a single row of eight columns
down the center, three of which are still standing, their capitals carved with
anthemion designs, and there probably was an adyton at the back. The interior
columns are of the same height as those of the pronaos, but the level of the floor
of the cella was higher than that of the pteron and was paved with limestone slabs,
some still visible on the S side. In front of the temple stands a rectangular
limestone altar with a bothros near its S side. To the S of the temple are the
foundations of what was probably a small treasury distyle in antis (15.25 x 7.15
m). To the N of the altar are the remains of another treasury, of the Doric order,
distyle in antis, and dating to ca. 450 B.C. Two smaller archaic altars in this
area have also been found.
To the N of the Basilica stands the second temple of the S sanctuary,
formerly called a temple of Poseidon (Neptune); but because of the votive offerings
found, it is now considered a temple dedicated to Hera. This excellently preserved
Doric temple faces E (hexastyle x 14; 24.3 x 59.9 m on its stylobate). It is variously
dated to 460 B.C. and to 440 B.C. The columns of the peristyle have a slight entasis
and are unusual in that they contain 24 flutes. The entablature is well-preserved,
but nothing remains of the timber roof. This temple exhibits a number of refinements:
all horizontal lines have a curvature of 0.02 m, the corner columns are elliptical
in shape instead of round, and the columns of the E and W sides are wider in diameter
than those of the flanks. The principle of double contraction has also been used.
The pronaos is distyle in antis. The door of the cella is flanked by two smaller
doors. The one to the N leads to a stone stairway which originally went to the
wooden roof for repairs and for storage; the one to the S simply leads to a small
closet. The cella itself is divided into three aisles by two rows of columns (7
on each side), which support a second tier of smaller columns, containing only
16 flutes each. These interior columns simply supported the wooden roof since
there is no evidence for a gallery. At its W end, the temple contains an opisthodomos
also distyle in antis. Much of the limestone paving of the pteron and cella still
exists, and remains of stucco are visible on the walls. Neither the inetopes nor
the pediments contained sculptural decoration. Two altars belonged to this temple.
The original one of the 5th c. B.C. stood in line with that of the Basilica. It
was cut through in Roman times by a road to the forum and replaced by a smaller
one to the W, nearer the temple, the podium of which still survives.
Several small sacred buildings have been located between the later
Temple of Hera and the Roman forum. Near the NE end of the temple are the remains
of a small temple distyle in antis with altar, both dating to the end of the 5th
c. or the beginning of the 4th c. B.C. Six other small temples have been found
in this area, one of which is an amphiprostyle temple dating to the 4th c. B.C.
and standing on a podium (30 x 8 m). The temple contained four columns at each
end and one at the sides. All these buildings were dedicated to Hera Argiva, the
goddess of fertility. In the very NE corner of the S sanctuary dedicated to Hera
are the remains of a four-sided portico, probably a palaestra.
To the N of the Sanctuary of Hera stands the Roman forum, a rectangular
structure (57 x 150 m) occupying the site of the Greek agora. It was surrounded
by a portico of reused Doric columns, probably carrying a second story.
The S side of the forum contains tabernae, a square building with
an apse in the center of its S side built on the foundations of a Greek temple,
and a rectangular building identified as the curia with walls decorated with engaged
columns having composite capitals. On the SW side are the baths, built by M. Tullius
Venneianus at his own expense. On the W side is a structure with three podia,
probably serving as the lararium. On the N side are more shops and in the center
stands a prominent temple, which, when it was found in 1830, was called the "temple
of Peace." It probably served as the Capitolium of the Latin colony. It was
begun in 273 B.C. (14.5 x 26.5 m on its stylobate, with a N-S orientation). It
stood on a high podium with a deep porch and three cellae. There were six columns
on the front (S) and eight on both sides, but none at the back (N). This plan
was never completed. In 80 B.C., building on the temple resumed and changes in
the original plan were made: only one cella was built, and the columns in the
front were reduced to four. The entablature of the temple is basically Doric but
with Ionic influences. The columns have four-sided capitals resembling the old
Aeolic type with female heads projecting from each face.
There is a sculptural triglyph-metope frieze, above which runs a row
of dentils. Adjacent to the E side of this temple are the remains of a circular
structure with tiers of seats, variously identified as the Greek bouleuterion
or the Roman comitium, but probably serving as a small amphitheater for the gladiatorial
games of the Lucanian period. To the E of this building is another row of tabernae
and to the NE stands the large Roman amphitheater, of which only the W half has
been excavated because the national highway intersects it.
The main N-S street of the Roman city, the cardo maximus, runs along
the same course as the Greek sacred way, passing by the W side of the forum. At
the forum it meets the main E-W street, the decumanus maximus, at a crossroads
(coinpitum) which is indicated by two columns. After it goes by the forum, the
cardo passes on its E side the remains of a large building, identified as the
gymnasium, having in its center a large swimming pool of Greek construction. Sometime
before A.D. 79 this pool was partially filled in and converted to a cistern to
help with the drainage of the area. After the gymnasium, the cardo turns sharply
E for a short while and then turns N again to the Porta Aurea.
To the E and W of the cardo are the remains of Roman houses of the
Samnite type with deep wells. Among these houses, to the E of the cardo, is a
square temenos within which stands a small rectangular underground shrine (hypogaeum)
to Hera (4.4 x 3.3 m). It was built of limestone blocks and had a gabled roof
with clay tiles. The top of the roof stood below the road level, so that the entire
shrine could be covered with earth. The interior walls were covered by white plaster
but otherwise remained undecorated. In the center of the interior was found a
stone bench on which were the remains of five iron rods wrapped in cloth. Similar
rods were found under the Altar of Hera at Samos. The shrine dates to the end
of the 6th c. B.C.
To the N of the Roman houses is the Sanctuary of Athena in which stands
the third large temple at Paestum. It was formerly called a temple to Ceres but
on the basis of the clay statuettes of Athena that have been found nearby, it
is now identified as belonging to Athena. It is of the Doric order (hexastyle
x 13; 32.8 x 14.5 m on its stylobate). The Doric columns recall those of the Basilica,
having a pronounced entasis with capitals decorated with anthemion designs. The
temple has a tetrastyle prostyle porch, but no opisthodomos. The columns of this
porch, however, were Ionic, with simple bases; two of the sandstone capitals also
remain. The cella contains no interior columns. Above the architrave runs another
Ionic feature, a sandstone egg-and-dart molding, replacing the conventional regulae
and guttae. The pediment is of unusual construction: on the flanks, the horizontal
cornice, instead of having the usual mutules and guttae, was decorated with a
series of coffered sinkings. On the facades, there is no horizontal cornice, thus
omitting the pediment floor which has been replaced by an egg-and-dart molding.
The slanting cornice is also decorated with a series of coffered sinkings which
join those of the flanks. To the E of the temple stands its altar, and to the
S are the remains of a small temple dating back to the first half of the 6th c.
B.C. To the NE of the temple stands a Doric votive column on a three-stepped base,
also dating to the first half of the 6th c. B.C.
About 1.6 km N of the city at Contrada Gaudo a prehistoric necropolis
has been found, yielding spherical vases, beakers, and askoi dating to between
B.C. 2400 and 1900. Nearby, painted tombs of a 4th c. B.C. Lucanian necropolis
have recently been discovered. The pottery from these tombs dates them to between
340 and 310 B.C. To the S of the city is a third necropolis. The most important
of the tombs here is the Tomb of the Diver, discovered in 1968. The vertical sides
of the tomb have been painted with symposium scenes and the underside of the cover
slab has the representation of a boy diving from a tower into the sea. An attic
lekythos in the tomb dates it to between 480-470 B.C. The paintings, as well as
other finds from the area, are located in the museum at the site.
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 146 image(s), bibliography & interesting hyperlinks.
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