View source for Lucania

{{short description|Historical region of Southern Italy}}
{{other uses}}
[[File:Lucania map.jpg|thumb|alt=Multi-color map of northern Italy|Map of ancient Lucania according to ''The Historical Atlas''[[File:Map of Lucania.png|frameless|275x275px]]Map of ancient Lucania according to ''Naturalis Historia''|277x277px]]
[[File:Chimera Lucana.png|thumb|Lucanian chimera, alleged to be used in Lucanian shields <ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.vulture.it/mobile/index.php/item/luoghi/melfi/castellomuseomelfi/museonazionalemelfi/percorsomuseale/tombadelcarro/ | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240224163713/https://www.vulture.it/mobile/index.php/item/luoghi/melfi/castellomuseomelfi/museonazionalemelfi/percorsomuseale/tombadelcarro/ | archive-date=2024-02-24 | title=La sala delle costituzioni e la tomba del carro &#124; Vulture mobile }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Chimera.pdf |url=https://drive.google.com/file/d/16TWG5lUgdzLScFTBQ67Emruquj0QenbP/view |access-date=2024-08-18 |website=Google Docs}}</ref>]]
'''Lucania''' was a [[historical region]] of [[Southern Italy]], named after its native [[Lucanians|Lucani]], an [[Oscan]] people. It extended from the [[Tyrrhenian Sea]] to the [[Gulf of Taranto]]. It bordered with [[Samnium]] and [[Ancient Campania|Campania]] in the north, [[Province of Apulia and Calabria|Apulia]] in the east, and [[Bruttium]] in the south-west, and was at the tip of the peninsula which is now called [[Calabria]]. It comprised almost all the modern region of [[Basilicata]], the southern part of the [[Province of Salerno]] (the [[Cilento]] area), the western part of [[Province of Taranto]] and a northern portion of the [[Province of Cosenza]]. 

The precise limits were the river [[Silarus (Sele)|Silarus]] in the north-west, which separated it from Campania, and the [[Gravina (river)|Gravina]] which flows into the Gulf of Taranto in the east. The lower tract of the river [[Lao (river)|Laus]], which flows from a ridge of the [[Apennine Mountains]] to the Tyrrhenian Sea in an east-west direction, marked part of the border with Bruttium.

==Geography==
Almost the whole area is occupied by the [[Apennine Mountains]], which here are an irregular group of lofty masses. The main ridge approaches the western sea and continues from the lofty knot of mountains on the frontiers of [[Samnium]], in a mostly southerly direction, to within a few miles of the [[Gulf of Policastro]]. From then on it is separated from the sea by only a narrow interval until it enters [[Bruttium]]. 

Just within the frontier of Lucania rises [[Monte Pollino]], {{convert|7325|ft|m|abbr=on}}, the highest peak in the southern [[Apennine Mountains|Apennines]]. The mountains descend in a much more gradual slope to the coastal plain of the [[Gulf of Taranto]]. Thus the rivers which flow to the [[Tyrrhenian Sea]] are of little importance compared with those that descend towards the Gulf of Tarentum. Of these the most important are the Bradanus ([[Bradano]]), the Casuentus ([[Basento]]), the Aciris ([[Agri River|Agri]]), and the Siris ([[Sinni (river)|Sinni]]). 

The [[Crati|Crathis]], which forms at its mouth the southern limit of the province, belongs almost wholly to the territory of the [[Bruttii]], but it receives a tributary, the [[Sybaris]] (Coscile), from the mountains of Lucania. The only considerable stream on the western side is the Silarus ([[Sele River|Sele]]), which constitutes the northern boundary, and has two important tributaries in the Calor ([[Calore Lucano]] or Calore Salernitano) and the Tanager ([[Tanagro]] or Negro) which joins it from the south.

==Etymology==
Historians at the [[University of Naples "L'Orientale"|Orientale University of Naples]] concluded that the root of the name ''Lucania'' is derived from ''luc'', the Osco-Sabellic peoples word for light, which has the same meaning in the Latin idiom ({{wikt-lang|la|lūx}} and descendants). The people that moved from the Osco-Sabellic tribes to occupy the land east of the Silarus river, which was an area associated with the "morning star", [[Venus|Lucifer]] (Latin for {{gloss|bringer of light}}). Therefore, ''Lucania'' means {{gloss|eastern land}} or {{gloss|land from which there is light}}. The study also explains that theories of a Greek origin for the name should also be rejected because the Greeks referred to this region as [[Oenotria]].<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.storiaromanaebizantina.it/come-ti-chiami-lucania/ | title=Come ti chiami? Lucania !!! | date=10 February 2016 }}</ref>

==History==

===Antiquity===
[[File:Grab der Granatäpfel heimkehrender Ritter.jpg|thumb|A mounted [[Lucanians|Lucani]] warrior, fresco from a tomb of [[Paestum]], Italy, c. 360 BC]]
The district of Lucania was so called from the people bearing the name [[Lucani (ancient people)|Lucani]] (Lucanians) by whom it was conquered about the middle of the 5th century BC. Before that period it was included under the general name of [[Oenotria]], which was applied by the Greeks to the southernmost portion of Italy. 

The mountainous interior was occupied by the tribes known as [[Oenotrians]] and Choni, while the coasts on both sides were occupied by powerful [[Greek colonies]] which doubtless exercised a protectorate over the interior (see [[Magna Graecia]]). The Lucanians were a southern branch of the [[Samnium|Samnite]] or [[Sabellic]] people, who spoke the [[Oscan]] language. They had a democratic constitution save in time of war, when a [[dictator]] was chosen from among the regular magistrates. 

A few [[Oscan inscription]]s survive, mostly in [[Greek character]]s from the 4th or 3rd century BC, and some [[coin]]s with Oscan legends of the 3rd century.<ref>see [[Robert Seymour Conway|Conway]], ''Italic Dialects'', p. II sqq.; [[Theodor Mommsen|Mommsen]], ''C.I.L.'' x. p. 2I; [[Hermann Roehl|Roehl]], Inscriptiones Graecae Antiquissimae, 547.</ref> The Lucanians gradually conquered the whole country (with the exception of the Greek towns on the coast) from the borders of [[Samnium]] and [[Campania]] to the southern extremity of [[Italy]]. Subsequently the inhabitants of the peninsula, now known as [[Calabria]], broke into insurrection, and under the name of [[Bruttians]] established their independence, after which the Lucanians became confined within the limits already described. 

After this they engaged in hostilities with the [[Taranto|Tarentines]], and with [[Alexander I of Epirus|Alexander]], king of [[Epirus]], who was called in by that people to their assistance, 334 BC. In 298 BC (Livy x. II seq.) they made alliance with [[Rome]], and Roman influence was extended by the colonies of [[Venusia]] (291 BC), [[Paestum]] (273), and above all [[Taranto|Tarentum]] (272). 

Subsequently they were sometimes in alliance, but more frequently engaged in hostilities, during the [[Samnite Wars]]. On the landing of [[Pyrrhus of Epirus|Pyrrhus]] in Italy (281 BC) they were among the first to declare in his favor, and found themselves exposed to the resentment of Rome when the departure of Pyrrhus left his allies at the mercy of the Romans. After several campaigns they were reduced to subjection (272 BC). Notwithstanding this they espoused the cause of [[Hannibal]] during the [[Second Punic War]] (216 BC), and their territory during several campaigns was ravaged by both armies. The country never recovered from these disasters, and under the Roman government fell into decay, to which the [[Social War (91–88 BC)|Social War]], in which the Lucanians took part with the [[Samnites]] against [[Rome]] (90–88 BC), gave the finishing stroke. 

In the time of [[Strabo]] the Greek cities on the coast had fallen into insignificance, and owing to the decrease of population and cultivation malaria began to obtain the upper hand. The few towns of the interior were of no importance. A large part of the province was given up to pasture, and the mountains were covered with forests, which abounded in wild boars, bears and wolves. There were some fifteen independent communities, but none of great importance.

For administrative purposes under the [[Roman Empire]], Lucania was always united with the district of the Bruttii, a practice continued by [[Theodoric the Great|Theodoric]].<ref>[http://ccat.sas.upenn.edu/jod/texts/cassbook/chap1.html ''Cassiodorus'': Chapter 1, Backgrounds and Some Dates<!-- Bot generated title -->] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20050510135935/http://ccat.sas.upenn.edu/jod/texts/cassbook/chap1.html |date=2005-05-10 }}</ref> The two together constituted the third region of [[Augustus]].

===Middle Ages===

After the fall of the [[Western Roman Empire]] in 476 CE, Lucania fell to [[Odoacer]] and became part of the [[Regnum Italicum|Kingdom of Italy]] before being turned into the [[Kingdom of the Ostrogoths]] in 493 CE. Ostrogothic rule in the region was short lived due to [[Byzantine Empire under the Justinian dynasty|Justinian’s]] reconquest of Italy in the mid-Sixth century. The [[Byzantine]] conquest reintroduced Greeks and Greek culture to the region.
In the early 7th, Byzantine rule was cut short as another Germanic people, the [[Lombards]] conquered Lucania from the Byzantines and became part of the [[Kingdom of the Lombards]]. In 774, after the [[Siege of Pavia (773–74)|Frankish invasion]], Lucania became a part of the independent [[Duchy of Benevento]] and later, under [[Holy Roman Emperor]] [[Louis II, Holy Roman Emperor|Louis II]], part of the  Duchy was turned into the independent [[Principality of Salerno]] in 851.

In the late 10th century the Byzantines began to re-enter the region of Lucania forming the [[Catapanate of Italy]] with Salerno being granted autonomy. By the early 11th century the Byzantine revival in Lucania came with both a process of [[Hellenization]] and significant Greek migrations from southern and central [[Calabria]] and [[Salento]], into regions such as [[Cilento]]. Lucania would remain largely Greek till the 12th century when a gradual process of Latinization would occur. By the 14th century, there were few Greek inhabitants as the majority had been assimilated.<ref>{{cite book |author= Loud, G. A. |title=The Latin Church in Norman Italy |url= https://archive.org/details/latinchurchnorma00loud |url-access= limited |publisher=Cambridge University Press |year=2007 |page=[https://archive.org/details/latinchurchnorma00loud/page/n512 494] |isbn=978-0-521-25551-6 |quote= At the end of the twelfth century&nbsp;... While in Apulia Greeks were in a majority – and indeed present in any numbers at all – only in the Salento peninsula in the extreme south, at the time of the conquest they had an overwhelming preponderance in Lucania and central and southern Calabria, as well as comprising anything up to a third of the population of Sicily, concentrated especially in the north-east of the island, the Val Demone. }}</ref><ref>{{cite book |author= Oldfield, Paul |title= Sanctity and Pilgrimage in Medieval Southern Italy, 1000–1200 |publisher= Cambridge University Press |year=2014 |pages=13 |isbn= 978-1-107-00028-5 |quote=However, the Byzantine revival of the tenth century generated a concomitant process of Hellenization, while Muslim raids in southern Calabria, and instability in Sicily, may also have displaced Greek Christians further north on the mainland. Consequently, zones in northern Calabria, Lucania and central Apulia which were reintegrated into Byzantine control also experienced demographic shifts, and the increasing establishment of immigrant Greek communities. These zones also acted as springboards for Greek migration further north, into regions such as the Cilento and areas around Salerno, which had never been under Byzantine control.}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |author= Kleinhenz, Christopher |title= Medieval Italy: an encyclopedia, Volume 1|publisher=Routledge |year=2004 |pages=444–445 |isbn=978-0-415-93930-0 |quote=In Lucania (northern Calabria, Basilicata, and southernmost portion of today's Campania)&nbsp;... From the late ninth century into the eleventh, Greek-speaking populations and Byzantine temporal power advanced, in stages but by no means always in tandem, out of southern Calabria and the lower Salentine peninsula across Lucania and through much of Apulia as well. By the early eleventh century, Greek settlement had radiated northward and had reached the interior of the Cilento, deep in Salernitan territory. Parts of the central and north-western Salento, recovered early, came to have a Greek majority through immigration, as did parts of Lucania. }}</ref>

In the mid-11th century, Lucania was conquered by the [[Normans]] first becoming the [[County of Apulia and Calabria]] then becoming part of the [[Kingdom of Sicily]] in 1130. In 1194, Lucania would become part of the Holy Roman Empire under the [[Hohenstaufen dynasty]]. After that the [[Capetian House of Anjou|Angevins]] would take control of Lucania in the mid-13th century before being part of the [[Kingdom of Aragon]] in the 14th century after the [[War of the Sicilian Vespers]].

==Cities and towns==
[[File:Paestum BW 2013-05-17 15-49-10 DxO.jpg|thumb|A [[Lucanians|Lucani]] man riding a [[chariot]], from a tomb in [[Paestum]], Italy, 4th century BC]]
The towns on the east coast were [[Metapontum]], a few miles south of the Bradanus; [[Heraclea (Lucania)|Heraclea]], at the mouth of the Aciris; and Sins, on the river of the same name. 

Close to its southern frontier stood [[Sybaris]], which was destroyed in 510 BC, but subsequently replaced by [[Thurii]]. On the west coast stood Posidonia, known under the Roman government as [[Paestum]]; below that came Elea ([[Velia]] under the Romans), [[Policastro Bussentino|Pyxus]], called by the Romans Buxentum, and [[Laüs]], near the frontier of the province towards [[Bruttium]]. 

Of the towns of the interior the most considerable was Potentia, still called [[Potenza]]. To the north, near the frontier of Apulia, was [[Banzi|Bantia]] ([[Acerenza|Aceruntia]] belonged more properly to Apulia); while due south from Potentia was [[Grumentum]], and still farther in that direction were Nerulum and Muranum. 

In the upland valley of the Tanagrus were [[Atena Lucana|Atina]], [[Forum Popilii]] and Consilinum (near [[Sala Consilina]]); Eburi ([[Eboli]]) and Volceii ([[Buccino]]), though to the north of the [[Sele River|Silarus]], were also included in Lucania. 

The [[Via Popilia]] traversed the district from north to south, entering it at the northwestern extremity; the {{ill|Via Herculia|it}}, coming southwards from the [[Via Appia]] and passing through Potentia and Grumentum, joined the [[Via Popilia]] near the southwestern edge of the district: while another nameless road followed the east coast and other roads of less importance ran west from Potentia to the [[Via Popilia]], northeast to the [[Via Appia]] and east from Grumentum to the coast at Heraclea.

==Later use==
{{seealso|Theme of Lucania}}
The modern name [[Basilicata]] originates from the 10th century AD, when the area was under [[Byzantine]] control. During the early 19th century, during the [[Carbonari|Carbonari revolution]] of 1820–21, the region was renamed and divided into Eastern and Western Lucania (''Lucania Orientale'' and ''Lucania Occidentale''). From the latter half of the 19th century some residents campaigned to  reinstate that name. 

In 1932 the [[Italian Fascism|Fascist regime]] changed the name to Lucania, as part of its appropriation of symbols from the Roman Empire. After the end of the war and Italy's defeat, the new government restored the name of Basilicata to the province in 1947. In the late 20th century, Lucania was still in vernacular use as a synonym to Basilicata.<ref> ''Guida d'Italia: Basilicata, Calabria''. Touring club italiano (1980) {{ISBN|978-88-365-0021-5}} p. 11</ref>

==Notes==
{{Reflist}}

==References==
*{{1911|wstitle=Lucania|volume=17|page=92}}

[[Category:Regions of Italy]]
[[Category:Lucania| ]]
[[Category:Geography of Italy]]
[[Category:Roman Italy]]
[[Category:Coloniae (Roman)]]