observed on several other occasions, and leads us to a form Μεταποῦς,
analogous to Μαλοῦς. This town, which was founded under the protection
of Sybaris, may in reality not have been in a state of independence
as long as Sybaris was a powerful state; in order to preserve the
possession of its territory, Metapontum required the protection of the
Sybarites against the neighbouring Oenotrians and Apulians; but after
the fall of Sybaris, Metapontum may be regarded as an independent town.
In the traditions we have of this place, as in those of several others,
statements about its earlier Oenotrian condition are mixed up with those
about its later Hellenic character; the Pelasgian traditions about it
always refer to the Trojan legend, and hence Metapontum is mentioned as
a Pylian colony. During the period down to the time when the Lucanians
became powerful, the place, from the extraordinary fertility of its
territory, became so wealthy as to equal the richest Greek towns in
Italy. The Metapontines are said to have sent a θέρος χρυσοῦν to Delphi,
which was probably a golden sheaf, the produce of the tithes. Their great
wealth is also attested by the very numerous gold and silver coins of
Metapontum, of very beautiful workmanship, and mostly of great antiquity.
Afterwards, however, all the towns in those parts were overpowered
by the Lucanians, and Metapontum, also, which was deprived of its
territory, must have lost its greatness in consequence. Afterwards, it
suffered severely from the Greek and Epirot armies, which were called
into the country by the Tarentines. Alexander of Epirus and Cleonymus
of Sparta for a time occupied Metapontum with garrisons, and Cleonymus
in particular acted with disgraceful cruelty: he took hostages, and
plundered and pillaged the town. After that time it never recovered. In
the war of Pyrrhus, Metapontum was an insignificant place; in the second
Punic war, it attached itself to Hannibal, and afterwards it is, as if
a wave had passed over it and washed it away, though we do not know how
or when; but we hear no more of it. In the age of Strabo, it was a small
place, but in point of fact, it had perished.
The destruction of Sybaris by the Crotoniats was the death-blow to the
Greek towns in those parts, for the Crotoniats were not able to protect
the country against the invading Lucanians and Oenotrians. Some of the
surviving Sybarites withdrew to their colonies of Laos and Scidros, and
others built a small place of the name of Sybaris in a distant part; all
attempts to rebuild the ancient city failed, for Croton and the vengeance
of the emancipated serfs prevented it. In this distress they applied to
the Athenians, who in the days of their greatness appear everywhere as
the defenders of the Hellenic name: on this occasion, too, they were
ready to assist the unfortunate Sybarites, and invited colonists from
all parts of Greece to settle at Sybaris. The reason why Croton did not
oppose this new settlement may have been the fact, that the people of
the interior were advancing more and more; the Crotoniats probably felt,
that a powerful Greek colony in the neighbourhood might be very useful
to them: Posidonia, too, was probably already lost. At a deliberation
of the Spartans and their allies, a Greek said, that if Athens were
destroyed, “the spring would be taken out of Hellas,”[56]—the destruction
of Sybaris had taken the spring out of Magna Graecia. The settlement at
THURII succeeded without any opposition on the part of the Italicans.
It was called an Athenian colony; but the Athenians formed only a small
portion of the population, which consisted of Dorians and Ionians,
islanders as well as emigrants from the mainland, who had been invited by
the Athenians, without any distinction, as to a general Greek enterprise;
the Athenians did not reserve for themselves any petty advantages,
being satisfied with the consciousness that history would call them the
restorers of Sybaris. Thurii must have been a strong colony, whence
it soon rose to importance. The ancient name was probably ominous, as
Sybaris had been destroyed twice, or perhaps even three times. The name
Thurii is said to have been derived from a well. This is possible; but
the emblem of Sybaris on ancient coins (for there are some very ancient
ones) is always a bull, whence it is quite possible, that this emblem may
have been the cause of the name, for θούριος signifies _ferox_, fierce,
wild. Thurii soon became involved in constant wars with the Lucanians;
but fifty or sixty years after its foundation it was already so powerful
that it could lose more than 10,000 men in battle against the Lucanians.
This loss, however, was a blow from which it never could thoroughly
recover; it was soon after confined to its own territory, and perhaps
even obliged to pay tribute to protect itself against the devastations
of the Lucanians. In the wars of the Tarentines and the other Greeks
against the Lucanians, Thurii is indeed still mentioned, but it sank more
and more, until in the end it was taken and plundered by the Lucanians.
Afterwards, it placed itself under the protection of the Romans, who,
however, were unable to prevent its being plundered a second time by
the Tarentines. Subsequently it sank so low, that after the Hannibalian
war a Latin colony was established there; but this colony was equally
unfortunate, for during the war of Spartacus it was razed to the ground,
as we see from the fragments of Cicero’s speech for Tullius, recently
discovered by A. Mai.
The next place is CROTON, which, according to tradition, was founded
shortly after Sybaris. There exist very contradictory accounts about
this town, and it is difficult to discover any connection among them.
Heyne has written several essays on all the towns of Magna Graecia; he
ought not to be undervalued, but nearly all his works were written in too
great a hurry; he had overburdened himself with official business and his
own undertakings, and it is melancholy to see how a man of such truly
beautiful talents does not rise above mediocrity in his writings. On
the whole, he has only produced imperfect works; if he had concentrated
himself more, if he had been willing to do less, and if he had not been
possessed by an unfortunate πολυπραγμοσύνη, he would certainly have
acquired a great and lasting reputation. The best intentions in such a
case are of no avail; posterity will not heed them; for it does not ask,
What is the number of a man’s works? but, What are they? His fate may be
described in the words of Scripture: “He is gone hence, and not a trace
of him is left behind.” Heyne also founded a school which was bad, though
his followers were celebrated in Germany, as if they were great scholars.
From it, however, men proceeded, who, though outwardly belonging to it,
kept themselves independent of the school, as F. A. Wolf and others, who
are the real restorers of the sound philology which is now flourishing.
Heyne’s essays are pleasant to read; but he who is familiar with their
subjects, sees before him a man who does not take the trouble to examine
things, who is satisfied with vague conceptions, and shows the greatest
indifference as to what is possible and what is not; it is only now
and then that a bright idea reminds us of his original talent. But,
notwithstanding all this, Heyne’s essays ought not to be left unread.
Very different is the case of Bentley, and I must strongly recommend to
you every thing he has written on similar subjects.
There is great difficulty in the tradition about Croton, according to
which it was so powerful that it became insolent, and attempted to subdue
the Locrians; the Locrians, however, it is said, owing to the favour of
the gods, who took pity on the oppressed, gained quite an unexpected and
glorious victory over them. Hereupon, tradition says, the Crotoniats
renounced war and lived in effeminacy, until Pythagoras appeared among
them, and by a new religion which he taught, and by new ordinances,
introduced a fresh spirit and improved manners among them. Yet here again
the mystery is, how, during that very period of moral debasement, the
Crotoniats could stand in the same relation to Sybaris, as that in which
Locri stood to Croton. One might be inclined to place the battle on the
Sagra, according to Justin and other indications, between Olympiad 70
and 80; and I myself formerly entertained this opinion; but after the
discovery of the “Excerpta de Sententiis” from Diodorus and Polybius, it
cannot be doubted that the ancients placed it in Olymp. 50. From this,
then, it follows, that the stories of their insolence, effeminacy, and
moral debasement, must be regarded as mere arbitrary inventions. Although
no such exaggerated numbers are mentioned in the case of Croton as in
that of Sybaris, yet 100,000 armed men are said to have been arrayed
against the Locrians on the Sagra, and the circumference of the city
is said to have been twelve Roman miles; Livy, who no doubt took the
account from Polybius, states it to have been 100 stadia, and this does
not appear fabulous. The greatness of Croton belongs to an early period,
but afterwards its power must have sunk in consequence of circumstances
which are unknown to us. Traces of internal commotions occur in the
well-known account of the persecution of the Pythagoreans. This sect
went hand in hand with the aristocracy; its downfall was connected with
the development of democracy, and was not so much the consequence of its
religious as of its political character. This accounts for the fact, that
Croton had already ceased to be a powerful state, when, according to
Diodorus, Magna Graecia becomes prominent in history, that is, about the
time of the foundation of Thurii. When the Lucanians were spreading far
and wide, and Thurii received its fatal blow at Laos, the Crotoniats are
not mentioned with any degree of distinction, but are treated like the
inhabitants of the other cantons of that country. But if it had been a
town of small extent, Dionysius the elder would not have been so anxious
to gain possession of it; he besieged and conquered it in a nocturnal
surprise, by attacking it on a side where it was believed to be almost
inaccessible. This capture of Croton, which Diodorus strangely says
nothing about, must have been very destructive in its effects upon the
place. Dionysius, it is true, afterwards quitted it, and it recovered
its independence, but thenceforth its fate was always very deplorable.
Croton was obliged to submit to Alexander of Epirus, though he inflicted
no injury upon it; but Agathocles, in his undertaking against Corcyra,
besieged it in passing; the town was then governed by the tyrant
Menecrates, whom Agathocles deceived by pretending that he was anxious to
form connections with him; but he then suddenly changed the course of his
fleet which was bound for Corcyra, and having landed at Croton, captured
the town. Not quite twenty-five years later, in A.U. 450, the Romans
under P. Cornelius Rufinus took it by assault; and this catastrophe,
as we see from Livy’s account of the Hannibalian war, completely broke
its power. It now shrunk together within its ancient circumference
in the same manner as e.g., Pisa, or Leyden, which once had 100,000
inhabitants, while at present it has only 20,000. When a person walks
on the ramparts of Pisa, he sees the modern town concentrated in the
centre of its ancient circumference. Pisa is at present as desolate as
many an eastern city, such as, e.g., Basra or Ispahan; such also was the
condition of Rome in the middle ages, especially during the time when the
popes resided at Avignon. The arx of Croton was situated in the centre of
the town, and around it a few houses were still standing: all the rest
had become changed into fields. In the Hannibalian war, the Bruttians
took the town and demanded of the inhabitants to share it with them, but
the Crotoniats preferred emigrating to living together with them. The
Bruttians then established a colony there, but after the conclusion of
the war they were expelled by the Romans, who now sent a colony thither;
but this was not very successful either. At present Croton is a little
country-town.
It is remarkable that, considering the importance of the cities of Magna
Graecia, so few monuments of antiquity are found in all of them: there
are cameos and coins of Tarentum, but few statues.
In the neighbourhood of Croton there was a temple of _Juno Lacinia_
on the Lacinian promontory. This promontory on the one side, and the
Iapygian on the other, inclose the gulf of Tarentum. Lacinia is generally
taken as a proper name of Juno, and from it the name of the promontory
is derived; but this is incorrect: the adjective is an ethnic name, and
_Juno Lacinia_ and _Acra Lacinia_ are nothing else but Juno and the
Acra of the Lacinii, that is, the Latini, in the sense in which all
the Pelasgian Italiots are so called. According to the most authentic
accounts, this temple of Juno Lacinia is more ancient than the Greek
settlements on those coasts; in the remotest times it was the common
sanctuary of the Oenotrians, and afterwards it passed into the hands of
the Crotoniats. During the period of Croton’s greatness it was extremely
rich, and traces of its wealth existed as late as the Hannibalian war;
but in the course of this war it was profaned and plundered by the
Romans. Hannibal had his head-quarters there for a long time, and caused
a large tablet, containing a history of his own exploits in the Greek
and Punic languages, to be set up in the temple. How valuable would such
a document be, if it were preserved! I shall pass over the small places
south of the Lacinian promontory, and proceed to—
CAULON or CAULONIA, a small Achaean town, which had a common diet with
the other places.
LOCRI, was probably not a real Greek colony, but a Hellenized place. If
Locri was a Greek colony, this fact, too, would show, what is everywhere
probable from their very situation, that the Ozolian Locrians and those
πέραν Εὐβοίας once belonged to each other, and that they were torn
asunder only by the immigration of the Dolopians; and that accordingly
they were a much larger people. We must, therefore, be on our guard
not to blame Virgil, as he has been blamed for calling the Locrians
_Narycii_. People say, it is inconceivable that the Locrians should have
been called _Narycii_, as mount Naryx was situated opposite Euboea, while
the Italian Locrians were descended from the Ozolian Locrians (according
to Strabo). Virgil did not conceive the Locrians as divided, but as one
unbroken race, extending from the Corinthian to the Euboean sea. The
Locrians in Italy are called Ἐπιζεφύριοι, that is, ἐπὶ Ζεφυρίῳ, on the
promontory of Zephyrium. Hitherto the traditions about these Locrians
have been a curious puzzle. The ancient excerpts from the twelfth book of
Polybius contain traces of a great controversy of Timaeus, who is raving
against Aristotle on account of what he had said about the origin of the
Locrians. But what Aristotle actually had said, is not mentioned by the
epitomizer, and it could only be guessed that he had derived their origin
from slaves. Besides this, there was a passage of Dionysius Periegeta,
in which he says of the Locrians σφετέρῃς μιχθέντες ἀνάσσαις, on which
the passage of the scholiast is incomplete. But from the new “Excerpta
de Sententiis,” the whole matter has become clear. Aristotle relates the
following tradition. In the first Messenian war, the Locrians furnished
the Spartans with auxiliaries, and all their men capable of bearing arms
had taken the field. During their absence, their wives and daughters led
a licentious life with their servants; and from fear of their returning
masters, the servants with their concubines emigrated. Timaeus in saying
that this story sounds fabulous, made easy game of Aristotle, if he
supposed that Aristotle believed it to be true; but I would undertake to
answer for it that Aristotle did not give the story as a real historical
tradition, but that he mentioned it only as a legend of the Locrians.
He no doubt asserted that the Italian Locrians were not a colony of the
Greek Locrians, and that, if they were Locrians, they were so only
through the women. Timaeus might easily have investigated the matter; but
his object was only to find fault with Aristotle. But such disgraceful
conduct always receives its punishment in due time, and Polybius has
prepared it for him. If here, as everywhere else, we put aside the
mythical story, we find that the foundation of the Locrian state in Italy
belongs to the period of the decay of the constitution of the _gentes_,
when in various places illegitimate marriages between the ancient
families and the δῆμος gave rise to a mixed race, which became dangerous
to the aristocracy, and was, therefore, obliged to emigrate. The same
fact forms the basis of the story about Phalanthus and the Parthenii.
But whatever may have been the origin of the Locrians, they bore in
ancient times a very respectable character, for they defeated the
Crotoniats in the battle on the Sagra. The Greek proverb ἀληθέστερα τῶν
ἐπὶ Σάγρᾳ must probably not be taken quite literally, at least, not in
our narrative, in which it is said that the Dioscuri decided the issue
of the contest. In like manner, St. James is said to have appeared on a
white charger in the army of Ferdinand Cortez: a distinguished officer,
who had been present at every point of the battle and seen nothing, got
himself out of the difficulty by saying, that he had not been worthy to
behold the saint. Such, also, may have been the case with the Dioscuri in
the battle on the Sagra. At all events, however, the Locrians, through
that battle, secured their independence, and for a period of 150 years
thereafter, they lived in happy prosperity, which was disturbed by
Dionysius, who endeavoured to gain influence in the Greek towns of Italy
by marrying a citizen of one of them. A Rhegine maiden being refused to
him, he took a Locrian for his wife. For this reason Locri was greatly
favoured; but after Dionysius’ death, his son, on being obliged to
withdraw from Sicily, betook himself to Locri, where he raged like a Nero
or an Elagabalus. When, afterwards, he was forced to return to Sicily,
the Locrians took vengeance on his family, and then had to sustain a
siege, during which, there being no hope of pardon, they offered a most
vigorous resistance, and risked their all upon it. Their territory fell
into the hands of the Bruttians, but in the war of Pyrrhus, Locri was
still a considerable state. On that occasion, however, they acted an
unworthy part: they first requested the Romans to send them a garrison
against the Bruttians, and then betrayed it into the hands of Pyrrhus.
After this, Pyrrhus placed a garrison of Italicans and Bruttians there,
who again betrayed the town to the Romans. Sixty years later, the
Locrians delivered up a Roman garrison into the hands of Hannibal: they
then repented of their treachery—a fickleness which, often occurs among
the Greeks—and again opened their gates to the Romans. But this last act
was not set down to their credit, for Q. Pleminius, who was left behind
there by Scipio with a garrison, conducted himself like the commanders
of the troops of the League during the thirty years’ war, like Colonel
Hatzfeld at Rostock, and as the imperial commanders in general, with
their Croats, conducted themselves in Germany. Pleminius treated the town
as if it had been taken by the sword; at length, however, the Locrians
succeeded in inducing the Roman senate to interfere, and to punish the
offender; the account of his conduct gives us some idea of the manner
in which war was carried on in those times. The town continued to exist
after these events, but was quite insignificant; its greatest importance
consisted in a temple of Proserpine with a rich treasury. Pyrrhus
had plundered the sanctuary, but being warned by visions in a dream,
he restored the treasures; Q. Pleminius afterwards plundered it more
effectually.
The next town, RHEGIUM, was a Chalcidian colony, of a much more recent
date than the others, being founded about Olymp. 50. During the period
when it was the residence of Anaxilaus, it was a powerful city. At the
time of the Sicilian expedition, Rhegium, like all the other Chalcidian
towns, was allied with Athens. The Rhegines refused to give one of
their daughters in marriage to Dionysius, and were injudicious enough
to insult him, by saying that they had no other girl suited to him
except the daughter of the hangman, which was the most offensive thing
they could have done. At the time when Corsica was still independent,
no Corsican ever took the office of hangman, but from hatred of Genoa,
the Corsicans always appointed a Genoese. Dionysius laid siege to the
town, and the Rhegines defended themselves with the courage of lions,
but were overpowered; and their fate was terrible. But the situation of
the town is so fortunate, that a town will always exist there in spite
of earthquakes and other ravages. A hundred years later, Rhegium was,
if possible, still more unfortunate. In the war of Pyrrhus, a Campanian
legion, at the request of the Rhegines themselves, was sent there by the
Romans, for the purpose of cutting off the communication between Pyrrhus
and the Mamertines in Sicily. But this garrison, under the command of
Decius Jubellius, massacred the male inhabitants, and took possession of
their wives and children. At the conclusion of the war, the Romans took
the town by force, and the 300 survivors of the 4,000 who had composed
the Campanian legion, were beheaded in the Forum at Rome. The surviving
Rhegines were then called together, and their territory was restored to
them. Henceforth, Rhegium remained a prosperous little commercial town,
and experienced no further misfortunes.
HIPPONIUM, a colony of Locri, was taken and destroyed by the Bruttians,
and then rebuilt by the Carthaginians, which is the only instance of a
Carthaginian town in Italy. During the latter period of Agathocles, and
shortly before the war with Pyrrhus, the Bruttians seem again to have
been masters of the place. Afterwards the Romans established a colony
there, under the name of _Vibo Valentia_.
Proceeding along the coast in a northern direction, we come to LAOS,
on the line which subsequently formed the frontier between Lucania and
Bruttium. It was a colony of Sybaris, and is celebrated on account of
the defeat sustained by the united towns of Magna Graecia, especially
Thurii, against the Lucanians, who wanted to relieve the town from a
siege. At that time, the Lucanians had already extended themselves along
the coast, and Posidonia was their first conquest.
PYXUS or BUXENTUM, between Laos and Posidonia, was founded by the
Rhegines at the time of Anaxilaus and Micythus, who were contemporaries
of Darius Hystaspis. There can be no doubt that it was afterwards taken
by the Lucanians, but it was snatched from them by the Romans, who
surrendered it to the Campanians at the settlement they made with them,
whence Buxentum is afterwards mentioned among the Campanian towns. After
the Hannibalian war, the Romans established a colony there.
ELEA or VELIA, a town which preserved its Greek character in a wonderful
manner, was situated not far from Buxentum. It was a colony of the
Phocaeans, established in the reign of Cyrus, after they had in vain
endeavoured to form a settlement in Corsica (Olymp. 60). In the history
of literature, Elea is remarkable for the great and profound philosophers
who formed the Eleatic school. As Amalfi, though surrounded by Lombard
armies, preserved its pure Italian and Roman character, so Elea remained
a Greek place down to the latest times. The father of the poet Statius
was a Greek of Elea, and Statius’ _Graia Selle_ is nothing else than
Elea, as Markland has shown; some persons have strangely referred it to
Epirus, and some perhaps do so still. Elea was allied with Rome, and was
honoured and distinguished by her. It perished at a time which can no
longer be defined, in consequence of the ravages of barbarians.