5/17/2023 0 Comments Southern italy magna graecia![]() ![]() This figure of a woman with a lotus flower dates from about 500BC Mr Settis told me that as a native of Calabria, he had first become fascinated by an unexpected legacy of Magna Graecia - the large number of ancient Greek words that have survived more than 2,000 years in his local dialect. They provided some of the first documentary evidence about the lives of the Greek-speaking ancient inhabitants of this part of the Mediterranean. They bear ancient inscriptions on one side in Greek and, on the other, a text dating from several hundred years later in Latin. Two large sheets of bronze, known as the Tablets of Heraclea, dug up in 1732 and now in the Naples museum, are also on show in Catanzaro. The area around them has delivered up some stunning archaeological discoveries, including wall paintings, elaborate bronze containers for honey, wine and oil, and inscriptions which provide important clues about this now almost vanished world. Some of Europe's finest Greek temples are still to be seen at Paestum, south of Naples. There are also gold and silver coins, ancient maps, books, inscriptions and Greek vases, as well as portrait busts and votive offerings to Greek gods whose shrines once dotted the Italian landscape. They were originally dug up or recovered from the sea all around the coasts of southern Italy, but are now scattered in museums and private collections around Europe.Ĭities began to decline after 5th Century Salvatore Settis of the University of Pisa, one of Italy's leading archaeologists, has brought together in Catanzaro, Calabria's regional capital, more than 800 pieces of sculpture in marble and terracotta from Magna Graecia. It is a jigsaw puzzle with many pieces still missing. Only very recently have archaeologists been able to reconstruct their history. However, their cities and culture were later destroyed by the Romans. They settled around the hospitable coastline of Calabria and Sicily, dominating local tribes, building huge temples to their gods and founding Greek-speaking colonies. Long before the Roman empire flourished, they sailed west in search of new lands. ![]() ![]() The migrations of modern Europe are nothing new.īut for the ancient Greeks, southern Italy was their America. Its subject is Magna Graecia, or Greater Greece - the name given to parts of southern Italy colonised by the ancient Greeks 2,500 years ago. Hundreds of rare and beautiful pieces are on displayĪ world-class archaeological exhibition opened this week in Calabria, in the toe of Italy. ![]()
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |