Thurii
Θούρῐοι (Thoúrioi) | |
Alternative name | Θούρῐον (Thoúrion), Thurium, Copia, Copiae |
---|---|
Location | Sibari, Province of Cosenza, Calabria, Italy |
Region | Bruttium |
Coordinates | 39°43′2″N 16°29′44″E / 39.71722°N 16.49556°E |
Type | Settlement |
Site notes | |
Website | ArcheoCalabriaVirtual (in Italian) |
Thurii (/ˈθʊəriaɪ/; Latin: Thūriī, Greek: Θούρῐοι, translit. Thoúrioi), called also by some Latin writers Thūrium (compare Greek: Θούρῐον, translit. Thoúrion, in Ptolemy), and later in Roman times also Cōpia and Cōpiae, was an ancient Greek city situated on the Gulf of Taranto, near or on the site of the great renowned city of Sybaris, whose place it may be considered as having taken. The ruins of the city can be found in the Sybaris archaeological park near Sibari in the Province of Cosenza, Calabria, Italy.
History
Foundation
Thurii was founded as a colony of
The new colonists at first established themselves on the site of the deserted Sybaris, but shortly afterwards removed (apparently in obedience to an oracle) to a spot at a short distance from thence, where there was a fountain named "Thuria", from whence the new city derived its name of Thurii.
War and conflict
Very shortly after its foundation, Thurii became involved in a war with Tarentum (modern Taranto). The subject of this was the possession of the fertile district of the Siritis, about 50 km north of Thurii, to which the Athenians had a claim of long standing, which was naturally taken up by their colonists. The Spartan general, Cleandridas, who had been banished from Greece some years before, and taken up his abode at Thurii, became the general of the Thurians in this war, which, after various successes, was at length terminated by a compromise, both parties agreeing to the foundation of the new colony of Heracleia in the disputed territory.[12]
Knowledge of the history of Thurii is very scanty and fragmentary. Fresh disputes arising between the Athenian citizens and the other colonists were at length allayed by the
But two years afterwards (413 BC) the Athenian party had regained the ascendency; and when Demosthenes and Eurymedon touched at Thurii, the citizens afforded them every assistance, and even furnished an auxiliary force of 700 hoplites and 300 dartmen.[15] From this time we hear nothing of Thurii for a period of more than 20 years, though there is reason to believe that this was just the time of its greatest prosperity. In 390 BC we find that its territory was already beginning to suffer from the incursions of the Lucanians, a new and formidable enemy, for protection against whom all the cities of Magna Graecia had entered into a defensive league. But the Thurians were too impatient to wait for the support of their allies, and issued forth with an army of 14,000 foot and 1000 horse, with which they repulsed the attacks of the Lucanians; but having rashly followed them into their own territory, they were totally defeated, near Laüs, and above 10,000 of them cut to pieces.[16]
This defeat must have inflicted a severe blow on the prosperity of Thurii, while the continually increasing power of the Lucanians and Bruttians in their immediate neighbourhood would prevent them from quickly recovering from its effects. The city continued also to be on hostile, or at least unfriendly, terms with Dionysius of Syracuse, and was in consequence chosen as a place of retirement or exile by his brother Leptines and his friend Philistus.[17] The rise of the Bruttian people about 356 BC probably became the cause of the complete decline of Thurii, but the statement of Diodorus that the city was conquered by that people[18] must be received with considerable doubt.[why?]
It reappears in history at a later period, when
Later it was so hard pressed by the Lucanians that it had recourse to alliance with Rome and a Roman army was sent to its relief under Gaius Fabricius Luscinus in 282 BC. He defeated the Lucanians and Bruttians, who had laid siege to the city, in a pitched battle and several other successes broke their power, and thus relieved the Thurians from all immediate danger from that quarter.[19] But shortly after they were attacked on the other side by the Tarentines, who are said to have taken and plundered their city;[20] and this aggression was one of the immediate causes of the war declared by the Romans against Tarentum in 282 BC.
Roman dependency
Thurii became a dependent ally of Rome, and was protected by a Roman garrison.[citation needed]
It played a considerable part in the
It is evident that Thurii was now sunk to the lowest state of decay, but the great fertility of its territory rendered it desirable to preserve it from utter desolation. Hence in 194 BC, it was one of the places selected for the establishment of a
Thurii was at this time still a place of some importance, and it is mentioned as an existing town by Pliny and Ptolemy, as well as Strabo.[31] It was probably, indeed, the only place of any consideration remaining on the coast of the Tarentine gulf between Crotona and Tarentum; both Metapontum and Heracleia having already fallen into almost complete decay. Its name is still found in the Itineraries,[32] and it is noticed by Procopius as still existing in the 6th century.[33]
Abandonment
Over time, the sediment accretion of the Crathis river caused its river delta to shift towards the sea at a long term rate of one metre a year. As a consequence the successive sites of Sybaris, Thurii, and Copia became landlocked and lost their importance because they no longer had easy access to the sea for trade.[34] It seems to have been abandoned during the Middle Ages when the inhabitants took refuge at a place called Terranova (Terranova da Sibari), about 15 km inland, on a hill on the left bank of the Crathis.[citation needed]
The exact location of Greek Thurii is not known but that of the Roman town, which probably occupied the same site, is fixed by several ruins as being about 6 km to the east of Terranova da Sibari and as occupying an area some 6 km in circuit. It is clear from the statements of Diodorus and Strabo that Thurii occupied a site near to, but distinct from, that of Sybaris.[35] It is more likely that the true site is north of the Coscile (the ancient Sybaris), a few kilometers from the sea, where ruins still exist. Roman ruins on the peninsula formed by the rivers Crathis and Sybaris may also perhaps be those of Thurii.[36]
The site
One house stands out by size and decoration: the large domus located behind the Theatre, undoubtedly one of the most sumptuous private buildings in the Roman city. It was built in the late Republican era (1st century BC) and survived until the 5th century AD through a series of expansions and transformations that gradually modified the layout. The monumentality and the splendour of the house reached their peak between the 1st and 3rd centuries AD while from the 4th are tangible signs of a decline.
Coinage
O: helmeted head of Athena left, wearing Attic helmet decorated with Skylla holding a rudder, neck guard decorated with a palmette. TIMO | R: bull butting right; above, Nike flying right, crowning bull. ΘΟΥΡΙΩΝ |
AR Stater (7.98 g, 6h) Lucania, Thourioi ~350-300 BC |
Thurii had an active mint in antiquity. The coins of Thurii are of great beauty; their number and variety indeed gives us a higher idea of the opulence and prosperity of the city than we should gather from the statements of ancient writers.
Famous people
- Alexis (ancient comic poet)
- Herodotus, who migrated to Thurii from Athens after 443 BC.
- Lysias, who migrated to Thurii from Athens c. 430 BC.
See also
References
- ^ The Princeton Encyclopedia of Classical Sites-THURII
- ^ Justin, History of the World, 20.1
- Diod.xi. 90, xii. 10.
- ^ ISBN 978-0-19-530800-6.
- ^ Diod. xii. 10; Strabo vi. p. 263; Dionys. Lys. p. 453; Vit. X. Orat. p. 835; Plutarch Peric. 11, Nic. 5.
- ^ Barrett, Harold. The Sophists (Novato, California: Chandler & Sharp Publishers, INC, 1987), 10.
- ^ Diod. l. c.; Strabo l. c.
- ^ H. F. Clinton, Fasti Hellenici. Vol. ii. p. 54.
- ^ Diod. xii. 11, 22; Arist. Pol. v. 3.
- ^ Diod. xii. 11.
- ^ Diod. xii. 10.
- ^ Diod. xii. 23, 36, xiii. 106; Strabo vi. p. 264; Polyaen. Strat. ii. 10.
- ^ Diod. xii. 35.
- ^ Thucydides vi. 44.
- ^ Id. vii. 33, 35.
- ^ Diodorus xiv. 101.
- ^ Diod. xv. 7.
- ^ xvi. 15.
- ^ Livy Epit. xi.; Pliny xxxiv. 6. s. 15; Valerius Maximus 1. 8. § 6
- ^ Appian, Samn. 7. § 1.
- ^ Liv. xxii. 61, xxv. 1.
- ^ Id. xxv. 15; Appian, Hann. 34.
- ^ Appian, Hann. 49.
- ^ Appian, l. c., 57.
- ^ Liv. xxxiv. 53; Strabo vi. p. 263.
- ^ Liv. xxxv. 9.
- Eckhel, vol. i. p. 164.
- ^ Appian, B.C. i. 117.
- ^ Julius Caesar Commentarii de Bello Civili iii. 21, 22.
- ^ Appian, B.C. v. 56, 58.
- ^ Strabo vi. p. 263; Plin. iii. 11. s. 15; Ptol. iii. 1. § 12.
- ^ Antonine Itinerary p. 114, where it is written Turios; Tabula Peutingeriana.
- ^ Procop. B. G. i. 15.
- .
- ^ Diod. xii. 10; Strab. l. c.
- ^ Henry Swinburne, Travels, vol. i. pp. 291, 292; Romanelli, vol. i. p. 236.
- 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.
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(help) - Ashby, Thomas (1911). . In Chisholm, Hugh (ed.). Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 26 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 901.
External links
- Media related to Thurii at Wikimedia Commons