Listed 5 sub titles with search on: Information about the place for destination: "METAPONTO Town ITALY".
On the Gulf of Taranto between the mouths of the Bradanus and Casuentus
rivers (modern Bradano and Basento). Famed for the fertility of its farm land,
Metapontion was settled by Achaean Greeks in 773-772 B.C. according to Eusebius,
but in the late 8th or 7th c. according to modern scholars. It was the last home
and burial place of the philosopher Pythagoras. It supported the Athenian expedition
to Sicily (415 B.C.). The city was abandoned during the second Punic war in 207
B.C.
The rectangular city plan has been reconstructed on the basis of air
photographs. It is connected to a vast subdivision system of the countryside where
Greek farmsteads, the earliest belonging to the 6th c. B.C., have been excavated.
The original urban nucleus was augmented in the 5th c. to create a new agora in
the area of the Temple of Apollo Lykeios, which previously had been outside the
walls. This area of the city, its NE section, is currently the scene of study
and excavation. The foundations of the Temple of Apollo Lykeios belong to an early
archaic building with an exterior colonnade (9 x 18 columns). It is comparable
in plan to the basilica (Temple of Hera I) at Paestum. The order was Doric. The
temple was modified on various occasions, notably with the addition of pedimental
sculpture in the late 6th c. B.C. but was already in a state of dilapidation in
the 4th c. To the W of the Temple of Apollo are the foundations of a still earlier
temple dating to the end of the 7th c. and to the E are the foundations of a third
temple. North of the city near the Bradanus river and beside the modern Taranto-Reggio
Calabria highway is the Doric temple long known as the Knights' Tables (Tavole
Paladine) but probably dedicated to Hera. It was erected in the late 6th c. B.C.
Of the colonnade (6 x 12 columns), 15 columns are still standing. West of the
temple is the extensive necropolis. Nearby is the antiquarium where material from
the new excavations is displayed. Material from early excavations, including architectural
terracottas from the Temple of Hera and the marble kouros from the Temple of Apollo
Lykeios, is in the museum at Potenza.
R. 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.
(Metapontion) and Metapontum. A celebrated Greek city in Lucania,
and on the Tarentine gulf, originally called Metabum (Metabon). It was founded
by the Greeks at an early period, was afterwards destroyed by the Samnites, and
was repeopled by a colony of Achaeans. It fell into the hands of the Romans with
the other Greek cities in the south of Italy in the war against Pyrrhus; but it
revolted to Hannibal after the battle of Cannae, and soon after disappears from
history. Pythagoras died at Metapontium, whither he had transferred his school.
Metapontum or Metapontium (Metapontion: Thuc., Strab., and all Greek
writers have this form; the Latins almost universally Metapontum: Eth. Metapontinos,
Paus., Steph. B., and on coins; but Herod. has Metapontios; in Latin, Metapontinus:
Ru. near Torre di Mare), an important city of Magna Graecia, situated on the gulf
of Tarentum, between the river Bradanus and the Casuentus. It was distant about
14 miles from Heraclea and 24 from Tarentum. Historically speaking, there is no
doubt that Metapontum was a Greek city founded by an Achaean colony; but various
traditions assigned to it a much earlier origin. Strabo ascribes its foundation
to a body of Pylians, a part of those who had followed Nestor to Troy (Strab.
v. p. 222, vi. p. 264); while Justin tells us it was founded by Epeius, the hero
who constructed the wooden horse at Troy; in proof of which the inhabitants showed,
in a temple of Minerva, the tools used by him on that occasion. (Justin, xx. 2.)
Another tradition, reported by Ephorus (ap. Strab. p. 264), assigned to it a Phocian
origin, and called Daulius, the tyrant of Crisa near Delphi, its founder. Other
legends carried back its origin to a still more remote period. Antiochus of Syracuse
said that it was originally called Metabus, from a hero of that name, who appears
to have been identified with the Metapontus who figured in the Greek mythical
story as the husband of Melanippe and father of Aeolus and Boeotus. (Antioch.
ap. Strab. l. c.; Hygin. Fab. 186; Eustath. ad Dionys. Per. 368; Diod. iv. 67.)
Whether there may have really been a settlement on the spot more ancient
than the Achaean colony, we have no means of determining; but we are told that
at the time of the foundation of this city the site was unoccupied; for which
reason the Achaean settlers at Crotona and Sybaris were desirous to colonise it,
in order to prevent the Tarentines from taking possession of it. With this view
a colony was sent from the mother-country, under the command of a leader named
Leucippus, who, according to one account, was compelled to obtain the territory
by a fraudulent treaty. Another and a more plausible statement is that the new
colonists were at first engaged in a contest with the Tarentines, as well as the
neighbouring tribes of the Oenotrians, which was at length terminated by a treaty,
leaving them in the peaceable possession of the territory they had acquired. (Strab.
vi. pp. 264, 265.) The date of the colonisation of Metapontum cannot be determined
with certainty; but it was evidently, from the circumstances just related, subsequent
to that of Tarentum, as well as of Sybaris and Crotona: hence the date assigned
by Eusebius, who would carry it back as far as B.C. 774, is wholly untenable;
nor is it easy to see how such an error can have arisen. (Euseb. Arm. Chron. p.
99.) It may probably be referred to about 700-690 B.C.
We hear very little of Metapontum during the first ages of its existence;
but it seems certain that it rose rapidly to a considerable amount of prosperity,
for which it was indebted to the extreme fertility of its territory. The same
policy which had led to its foundation would naturally unite it in the bonds of
a close alliance with the other Achaean cities, Sybaris and Crotona; and the first
occasion on which we meet with its name in history is as joining with these two
cities in a league against Siris, with the view of expelling the Ionian colonists
of that city. (Justin, xx. 2.) The war seems to have ended in the capture and
destruction of Siris, but our account of it is very obscure, and the period at
which it took place very uncertain. It does not appear that Metapontum took any
part in the war between Crotona and Sybaris, which ended in the destruction of
the latter city; but its name is frequently mentioned in connection with the changes
introduced by Pythagoras, and the troubles consequent upon them. Metapontum, indeed,
appears to have been one of the cities where the doctrines and sect of that philosopher
obtained the firmest footing. Even when the Pythagoreans were expelled from Crotona,
they maintained themselves at Metapontum, whither the philosopher himself retired,
and where he ended his days. The Metapontines paid the greatest respect to his
memory; they consecrated the house in which he had lived as a temple to Ceres,
and gave to the street in which it was situated the name of the Museum. His tomb
was still shown there in the days of Cicero. (Iambl. Vit. Pyth. 170, 249, 266;
Porphyr. Vit. Pyth. 56, 57; Plut. de Gen. Socr. 13; Diog. Laert. viii. 1, 1, §
40; Liv. i. 18; Cic. de Fin. v. 2.) The Metapontines were afterwards called in
as mediators to appease the troubles which had arisen at Crotona; and appear,
therefore, to have suffered comparatively little themselves from civil dissensions
arising from this source. (Iambl. 262.)
At the time of the Athenian expedition to Sicily, B.C. 415, the Metapontines
at first, like the other states of Magna Graecia, endeavoured to maintain a strict
neutrality; but in the following year were induced to enter into an alliance with
Athens, and furnish a small auxiliary force to the armament under Demosthenes
and Eurymedon. (Diod. xiii. 4; Thuc. vi. 44, vii. 33, 57.) It seems clear that
Metapontum was at this time a flourishing and opulent city; nor have we any reason
to suppose that its decline began until long after. From its position it was secured
from the attacks of Dionysius of Syracuse; and though it must have been endangered
in common with the other Greek cities by the advancing power of the Lucanians,
it does not appear to have taken any prominent part in the wars with that people,
and probably suffered but little from their attacks. Its name is again mentioned
in B.C. 345, when Timoleon touched there on his expedition to Sicily, but it does
not appear to have taken any part in his favour. (Diod. xvi. 66.) In B.C. 332,
when Alexander, king of Epirus, crossed over into Italy at the invitation of the
Tarentines, the Metapontines were among the first to conclude an alliance with
that monarch, and support him in his wars against the Lucanians and Bruttians.
Hence, after his defeat and death at Pandosia, B.C. 326, it was to Metapontum
that his remains were sent for interment. (Justin, xii. 2; Liv. viii. 24.) But
some years later, B.C. 303, when Cleonymus of Sparta was in his turn invited by
the Tarentines, the Metapontines, for what reason we know not, pursued a different
policy, and incurred the resentment of that leader, who, in consequence, turned
his own arms, as well as those of the Lucanians, against them. He was then admitted
into the city on friendly terms, but nevertheless exacted from them a large sum
of money, and committed various other excesses. (Diod. xx. 104.) It is evident
that Metapontum was at this period still wealthy; but its citizens had apparently,
like their neighbours the Tarentines. fallen into a state of slothfulness and
luxury, so that they were become almost proverbial for their effeminacy. (Plut.
Apophth. Lac. p. 233.)
It seems certain that the Metapontines, as well as the Tarentines,
lent an active support to Pyrrhus, when that monarch came over to Italy; but we
do not find them mentioned during his wars there; nor have we any account of the
precise period at which they passed under the yoke of Rome. Their name is, however,
again mentioned repeatedly in the Second Punic War. We are told that they were
among the first to declare in favour of Hannibal after the battle of Cannae (Liv.
xxii. 61); but notwithstanding this, we find their city occupied by a Roman garrison
some years later, and it was not till after the capture of Tarentum, in B.C. 212,
that they were able to rid themselves of this force and openly espouse the Carthaginian
cause. (Id. xxv. 11, 15; Pol. viii. 36; Appian, Annib. 33, 35.) Hannibal now occupied
Metapontum with a Carthaginian garrison, and seems to have made it one of his
principal places of deposit, until the fatal battle of the Metaurus having compelled
him to give up the possession of this part of Italy, B.C. 207, he withdrew his
forces from Metapontum, and, at the same time, removed from thence all the inhabitants
in order to save them from the vengeance of Rome. (Id. xxvii. 1, 16, 42, 51.)
From this time the name of Metapontum does not again appear in history
; and it seems certain that it never recovered from the blow thus inflicted on
it. But it did not altogether cease to exist; for its name is found in Mela (ii.
4. § 8), who does not notice any extinct places; and Cicero speaks of visiting
it in terms that show it was still a town. (Cic. de Fin. v. 2; see also Appian,
B.C. v. 93.) That orator, however, elsewhere alludes to the cities of Magna Graecia
as being in his day sunk into almost complete decay; Strabo says the same thing,
and Pausanias tells us that Metapontum in particular was in his time completely
in ruins, and nothing remained of it but the theatre and the circuit of its walls.
(Cic. de Amic. 4; Strab. vi. p. 262; Paus. vi. 19. § 11.) Hence, though the name
is still found in Ptolemy, and the ager Metapontinus is noticed in the Liber Coloniarum
(p. 262), all trace of the city subsequently disappears, and it is not even noticed
in the Itineraries where they give the line of route along the coast from Tarentum
to Thurii. The site was probably already subject to malaria, and from the same
cause has remained desolate ever since.
Though we hear much less of Metapontum than of Sybaris, Crotona, and
Tarentum, yet all accounts agree in representing it as, in the days of its prosperity,
one of the most opulent and flourishing of the cities of Magna Graecia. The fertility
of its territory, especially in the growth of corn, vied with the neighbouring
district of the Siritis. Hence we are told that the Metapontines sent to the temple
at Delphi an offering of a golden harvest (theroschrusoun, Strab. vi. p. 264),
by which we must probably understand a sheaf or bundle of corn wrought in gold.
For the same reason an ear of corn became the characteristic symbol on their coins,
the number and variety of which in itself sufficiently attests the wealth of the
city. (Millingen, Numismatique de l'Italie, p. 22.) We learn also that they had
a treasury of their own at Olympia still existing in the days of Pausanias (Paus.
vi. 19. § 11; Athen. xi. p. 479). Herodotus tells us that they paid particular
honours to Aristeas, who was said to have appeared in their city 340 years after
he had disappeared from Cyzicus. They erected to him a statue in the middle of
the forum, with an altar to Apollo surrounded by a grove of laurels. (Herod. iv.
15 ; Athen. xiii. p. 605, c.) From their coins they would appear also to have
paid heroic honours to Leucippus, as the founder of their city. (Millingen, l.
c. p. 24.) Strabo tells us, as a proof of their Pylian origin, that they continued
to perform sacrifices to the Neleidae. (Strab. vi. p. 264.)
The site and remains of Metapontum have been carefully examined by
the Due de Luynes, who has illustrated them in a special work (Metaponte, fol.
Paris, 1833). It is remarkable that no trace exists of the ancient walls or the
theatre of which Pausanias speaks. The most important of the still existing monuments
is a temple, the remains of which occupy a slight elevation near the right bank
of the Bradanus, about 2 miles from its mouth. They are now known as the Tavola
dei Paladini. Fifteen columns are still standing, ten on one side and five on
the other; but the two ends, as well as the whole of the entablature above the
architrave and the walls of the cella, have wholly disappeared. The architecture
is of the Doric order, but its proportions are lighter and more slender than those
of the celebrated temples of Paestum: and it is in all probability of later date.
Some remains of another temple, but prostrate, and a mere heap of ruins, are visible
nearly 2 miles to the S. of the preceding, and a short distance from the mouth
of the Bradanus. This spot, called the Chiesa di Sansone, appears to mark the
site of the city itself, numerous foundations of buildings having been discovered
all around it. It may be doubted whether the more distant temple was ever included
within the walls; but it is impossible now to trace the extent of the ancient
city. The Torre di Mare, now the only inhabited spot on the plain, derives its
name from a castellated edifice of the middle ages; it is situated above 1 1/2
mile from the sea, and the same distance from the river Basiento, the ancient
Casuentus. Immediately opposite to it, on the sea-shore, is a small salt-water
basin or lagoon, now called the Lago di Sta. Pelagina, which, though neither deep
nor spacious, in all probability formed the ancient port of Metapontum.
Metapontum was thus situated between the two rivers Bradanus and Casuentus,
and occupied (with its port and appurtenances) a considerable part of the intermediate
space. Appian speaks of a river between Metapontum and Tarentum of the same name,
by which he probably means the Bradanus, which may have been commonly known as
the river of Metapontum. This is certainly the only river large enough to answer
to the description which he gives of the meeting of Octavian and Antony which
took place on its banks. (Appian, B.C. v. 93, 94.)
The coins of Metapontum, as already observed, are very numerous; and
many of the later ones of very beautiful workmanship. Those of more ancient date
are of the style called incuse, like the early coins of Crotona and Sybaris. The
one in the annexed figure has on the obverse the head of the hero Leucippus, the
founder of the city. But the more common type on the obverse is the head of Ceres.
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
Total results on 22/5/2001: 82 for Metapontum, 14 for Metapontium, 23 for Metapontion.
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