Medma

Medma
Greek: Medma
	Shown within Italy
Location	Rosarno, Province of Reggio Calabria, Calabria, Italy
Region	Magna Graecia
Coordinates	38°29′16″N 15°59′0″E / 38.48778°N 15.98333°E
Type	Settlement

Medma or Mesma (

Hipponium and the mouth of the Metaurus^[1] (probably today's River Petrace). The site is located at Rosarno, Province of Reggio Calabria

, Calabria.

It was a colony founded by the

Messana (modern Messina) by Dionysius in 396 BCE, are no other than the Medmaeans, and that we should read Μεδμαῖοι in the passage in question.^[3] Though never a very conspicuous place, Medma seems to have survived the fall of many other more important cities of Magna Graecia, and it is noticed as a still existing town both by Strabo and Pliny the Elder.^[4] But the name is not found in Ptolemy

, and all subsequent trace of it disappears. It appears from Strabo that the town itself was situated a little inland, and that it had a port or emporium on the seashore.

The name of Mesima is still borne by a river which flows into the sea a little below Nicotera, in the neighbourhood. Nicotera, the name of which is already found in the Antonine Itinerary,^[5] probably arose after the decline of Mesma.

A pair of terracotta altars from Medma with the myth of Aphrodite and Adonis dating back to the 4th century BC was probably stolen in the early 20th century and is now exhibited at the J. Paul Getty Museum of Los Angeles.^[6]^[7]^[8]

References

^ Strabo vi.1.5.; Scyl. p. 4. § 12.
^ Strab. l. c.; Scymn. Ch. 308; Steph. B. s. v.
^ Diod. xiv. 78.
^ Strab. l. c.; Plin. iii. 5. s. 10.
^ pp. 106, 111
^ Getty Museum Catalogue
^ Getty Museum Catalogue
^ "The splendor of Magna Graecia in a pair of altars from Medma exhibited at Getty Museum" (in Italian). 6 November 2020.

This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Smith, William, ed. (1854–1857). Dictionary of Greek and Roman Geography. London: John Murray. {{cite encyclopedia}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)

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[1] Strabo vi.1.5.; Scyl. p. 4. § 12.

[2] Strab. l. c.; Scymn. Ch. 308; Steph. B. s. v.

[3] Diod. xiv. 78.

[4] Strab. l. c.; Plin. iii. 5. s. 10.

[5] . 106, 111

[6] Getty Museum Catalogue

[7] Getty Museum Catalogue

[8] "The splendor of Magna Graecia in a pair of altars from Medma exhibited at Getty Museum" (in Italian). 6 November 2020.

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