ἐπεληλυθόσι δʼ ἡμῖν τὰ περὶ τὴν ἀρχαίαν Ἰταλίαν μέχρι Μεταποντίου τὰ συνεχῆ λεκτέον. συνεχὴς δʼ ἐστὶν ἡ Ἰαπυγία· ταύτην δὲ καὶ Μεσσαπίαν καλοῦσιν οἱ Ἕλληνες, οἱ δʼ ἐπιχώριοι κατὰ μέρη τὸ μέν τι Σαλεντίνους καλοῦσι τὸ περὶ τὴν ἄκραν τὴν Ἰαπυγίαν, τὸ δὲ Καλαβρούς. ὑπὲρ τούτους πρόσβορροι Πευκέτιοί τέ εἰσι καὶ Δαύνιοι κατὰ τὴν Ἑλλάδα διάλεκτον προσαγορευόμενοι, οἱ δʼ ἐπιχώριοι πᾶσαν τὴν μετὰ τοὺς Καλαβροὺς Ἀπουλίαν καλοῦσι· τινὲς δʼ αὐτῶν καὶ Ποίδικλοι λέγονται, καὶ μάλιστα οἱ Πευκέτιοι. ἔστι δέ τι ἐπιχερρονησιάζουσα ἡ Μεσσαπία τῷ ἀπὸ Βρεντεσίου μέχρι Τάραντος ἰσθμῷ κλειομένη σταδίων δέκα καὶ τριακοσίων. ὅ τε περίπλους ἐστὶ περὶ τὴν ἄκραν Ἰαπυγίαν σταδίων ὁμοῦ τι τετρακοσίων. τοῦ δὲ Μεταποντίου μὲν διέχει σταδίους περὶ διακοσίους καὶ , ὁ δὲ πλοῦς ἐπʼ αὐτὸν πρὸς τὰς ἀνατολάς. τοῦ δὲ κόλπου παντὸς τοῦ Ταραντίνου τὸ πλέον ἀλιμένου ὄντος, ἐνταῦθα ἐστι μέγιστος καὶ κάλλιστος γεφύρᾳ κλειόμενος μεγάλῃ, σταδίων δʼ ἐστὶν ἑκατὸν τὴν περίμετρον. ἐκ δὲ τοῦ πρὸς τὸν μυχὸν μέρους ἰσθμὸν ποιεῖ πρὸς τὴν ἔξω θάλατταν, ὥστʼ ἐπὶ χερρονήσῳ κεῖσθαι τὴν πόλιν καὶ τὰ πλοῖα ὑπερνεωλκεῖσθαι ῥᾳδίως ἑκατέρωθεν ταπεινοῦ ὄντος τοῦ αὐχένος. ταπεινὸν δὲ καὶ τὸ τῆς πόλεως ἔδαφος, μικρὸν δʼ ὅμως ἐπῆρται κατὰ τὴν ἀκρόπολιν. τὸ μὲν οὖν παλαιὸν τεῖχος κύκλον ἔχει μέγαν, νυνὶ δʼ ἐκλέλειπται τὸ πλέον τὸ πρὸς τῷ ἰσθμῷ, τὸ δὲ πρὸς τῷ στόματι τοῦ λιμένος, καθʼ ὃ καὶ ἡ ἀκρόπολις, συμμένει μέγεθος ἀξιολόγου πόλεως ἐκπληροῦν. ἔχει δὲ γυμνάσιόν τε κάλλιστον καὶ ἀγορὰν εὐμεγέθη, ἐν ᾗ καὶ ὁ τοῦ Διὸς ἵδρυται κολοσσὸς χαλκοῦς, μέγιστος μετὰ τὸν Ῥοδίων. μεταξὺ δὲ τῆς ἀγορᾶς καὶ τοῦ στόματος ἡ ἀκρόπολις μικρὰ λείψανα ἔχουσα τοῦ παλαιοῦ κόσμου τῶν ἀναθημάτων· τὰ γὰρ πολλὰ τὰ μὲν κατέφθειραν Καρχηδόνιοι λαβόντες τὴν πόλιν, τὰ δʼ ἐλαφυραγώγησαν Ῥωμαῖοι κρατήσαντες βιαίως· ὧν ἐστι καὶ ὁ Ἡρακλῆς ἐν τῷ Καπετωλίῳ χαλκοῦς κολοσσικός, Λυσίππου ἔργον, ἀνάθημα Μαξίμου Φαβίου τοῦ ἑλόντος τὴν πόλιν.
HAVING previously passed over the regions of ancient Italy as far as Metapontium, we must now proceed to describe the rest. After it Iapygia comes next in order; the Greeks call it Messapia, but the inhabitants, dividing it into cantons, call one the Salentini, that in the neighbourhood of the Cape Iapygia, and another the Calabri; above these towards the north lie the Peucetii, and those who are called Daunii in the Greek language, but the inhabitants call the whole region beyond the Calabri, Apulia. Some of these people are called Poedicli, especially the Peucetii. Messapia forms a peninsula; the isthmus extending from Brentesium to Tarentum, which bounds it, being 310 stadia, and the circumnavigation round the Iapygian promontory about [one thousand] four hundred. [Tarentum] is distant from Metapontium about two hundred and twenty] stadia. The course to it by sea runs in an easterly direction. The Gulf of Tarentum is for the most part destitute of a port, but here there is a spacious and commodious [harbour], closed in by a great bridge. It is 100 stadia in circuit. This port, at the head of its basin which recedes most inland, forms, with the exterior sea, an isthmus which connects the peninsula with the land. The city is situated upon this peninsula. The neck of land is so low that ships are easily hauled over it from either side. The site of the city likewise is extremely low; the ground, however, rises slightly towards the citadel. The old wall of the city has an immense circuit, but now the portion towards the isthmus is deserted, but that standing near the mouth of the harbour, where the citadel is situated, still subsists, and contains a considerable city. It possesses a noble gymnasium and a spacious forum, in which there is set up a brazen colossus of Jupiter, the largest that ever was, with the exception of that of Rhodes. The citadel is situated between the forum and the entrance of the harbour, it still preserves some slight relics of its ancient magnificence and gifts, but the chief of them were destroyed either by the Carthaginians when they took the city, or by the Romans when they took it by force and sacked it. Amongst other booty taken on this occasion was the brazen colossus of Hercules, the work of Lysippus, now in the Capitol, which was dedicated as an offering by Fabius Maximus, who took the city.
περὶ δὲ τῆς κτίσεως Ἀντίοχος λέγων φησὶν ὅτι τοῦ Μεσσηνιακοῦ πολέμου γενηθέντος οἱ μὴ μετασχόντες Λακεδαιμονίων τῆς στρατείας ἐκρίθησαν δοῦλοι καὶ ὠνομάσθησαν Εἵλωτες, ὅσοις δὲ κατὰ τὴν στρατείαν παῖδες ἐγένοντο, Παρθενίας ἐκάλουν καὶ ἀτίμους ἔκριναν· οἱ δʼ οὐκ ἀνασχόμενοι (πολλοὶ δʼ ἦσαν) ἐπεβούλευσαν τοῖς τοῦ δήμου. αἰσθόμενοι δʼ ὑπέπεμψάν τινας, οἳ προσποιήσει φιλίας ἔμελλον ἐξαγγέλλειν τὸν τρόπον τῆς ἐπιβουλῆς. τούτων δʼ ἦν καὶ Φάλανθος, ὅσπερ ἐδόκει προστάτης ὑπάρχειν αὐτῶν, οὐκ ἠρέσκετο δʼ ἁπλῶς τοῖς περὶ τῆς βουλῆς ὀνομασθεῖσι. συνέκειτο μὲν δὴ τοῖς Ὑακινθίοις ἐν τῷ Ἀμυκλαίῳ συντελουμένου τοῦ ἀγῶνος, ἡνίκʼ ἂν τὴν περίθηται ὁ Φάλανθος, ποιεῖσθαι τὴν ἐπίθεσιν· γνώριμοι δʼ ἦσαν ἀπὸ τῆς κόμης οἱ τοῦ δήμου. ἐξαγγειλάντων δὲ λάθρᾳ τὰ συγκείμενα τῶν περὶ Φάλανθον καὶ τοῦ ἀγῶνος ἐνεστῶτος, προελθὼν ὁ κῆρυξ εἶπε μὴ περιθέσθαι κυνῆν Φάλανθον. οἱ δʼ αἰσθόμενοι ὡς μεμηνύκασι τὴν ἐπιβουλὴν οἱ μὲν διεδίδρασκον οἱ δὲ ἱκέτευον. κελεύσαντες δʼ αὐτοὺς θαρρεῖν φυλακῇ παρέδοσαν, τὸν δὲ Φάλανθον ἔπεμψαν εἰς θεοῦ περὶ ἀποικίας· ὁ δʼ ἔχρησε Σατύριόν τοι δῶκα Τάραντά τε πίονα δῆμον / οἰκῆσαι, καὶ πῆμα Ἰαπύγεσσι γενέσθαι. / ἧκον οὖν σὺν Φαλάνθῳ οἱ Παρθενίαι, καὶ ἐδέξαντο αὐτοὺς οἵ τε βάρβαροι καὶ οἱ Κρῆτες οἱ προκατασχόντες τὸν τόπον. τούτους δʼ εἶναί φασι τοὺς μετὰ Μίνω πλεύσαντας εἰς Σικελίαν, καὶ μετὰ τὴν ἐκείνου τελευτὴν τὴν ἐν Καμικοῖς παρὰ Κωκάλῳ συμβᾶσαν ἀπάραντας ἐκ Σικελίας κατὰ δὲ τὸν ἀνάπλουν δεῦρο παρωσθέντας, ὧν τινὰς ὕστερον πεζῇ περιελθόντας τὸν Ἀδρίαν μέχρι Μακεδονίας Βοττιαίους προσαγορευθῆναι. Ἰάπυγας δὲ λεχθῆναι πάντας φασὶ μέχρι τῆς Δαυνίας ἀπὸ Ἰάπυγος, ὃν ἐκ Κρήσσης γυναικὸς Δαιδάλῳ γενέσθαι φασὶ καὶ ἡγήσασθαι τῶν Κρητῶν· Τάραντα δʼ ὠνόμασαν ἀπὸ ἥρωός τινος τὴν πόλιν.
Antiochus, speaking of the foundation of this city, says that after the Messenian war such of the Lacedaemonians as did not join the army were sentenced to be slaves, and denominated Helots; and that such as were born during the period of the war they termed Partheniae, and decreed to be base: but these not bearing the reproach, (for they were many,) conspired against the free citizens, but the chief magistrates, becoming acquainted with the existence of the plot, employed certain persons, who, by feigning friendship to the cause, should be able to give some intelligence of the nature of it. Of this number was Phalanthus, who was apparently the chief leader of them, but who was not quite pleased with those who had been named to conduct their deliberations. It was agreed that at the Hyacinthine games, celebrated in the temple of Amyclae, just at the conclusion of the contest, and when Phalanthus should put on his helmet, they should make a simultaneous attack. The free citizens were distinguishable from others by their hair. They, having been secretly warned as to the arrangements made for the signal of Phalanthus, just as the chief contest came off, a herald came forward and proclaimed, Let not Phalanthus put on his helmet. The conspirators perceiving that the plot was disclosed, some fled, and others supplicated mercy. When the chief magistrates had bid them not to fear, they committed them to prison, but sent Phalanthus to inquire after a new settlement. He received from the oracle the following response, To thee Satyrium I have given, and the rich country of Tarentum to inhabit, and thou shalt become a scourge to the Iapygians. The Partheniae accordingly accompanied Phalanthus to their destination, and the barbarians and Cretans, who already possessed the country, received them kindly. They say that these Cretans were the party who sailed with Minos to Sicily, and that after his death, which took place at Camici, in the palace of Cocalus, they took ship and set sail from Sicily, but in their voyage they were cast by tempest on this coast, some of whom, afterwards coasting the Adriatic on foot, reached Macedonia, and were called Bottiaei. They further add, that all the people who reach as far as Daunia were called Iapygians, from Iapyx, who was born to Daedalus by a Cretan woman, and became a chief leader of the Cretans. The city Tarentum was named from a certain hero.
ἔφορος δʼ οὕτω λέγει περὶ τῆς κτίσεως· ἐπολέμουν Λακεδαιμόνιοι Μεσσηνίοις ἀποκτείνασι τὸν βασιλέα Τήλεκλον εἰς Μεσσήνην ἀφικόμενον ἐπὶ θυσίαν, ὀμόσαντες μὴ πρότερον ἐπανήξειν οἴκαδε πρὶν ἢ Μεσσήνην ἀνελεῖν ἢ πάντας ἀποθανεῖν· φύλακας δὲ τῆς πόλεως κατέλιπον στρατεύοντες τούς τε νεωτάτους καὶ πρεσβυτάτους τῶν πολιτῶν. δεκάτῳ δʼ ὕστερον τοῦ πολέμου τὰς γυναῖκας τῶν Λακεδαιμονίων συνελθούσας ἐξ ἑαυτῶν πέμψαι τινὰς παρὰ τοὺς ἄνδρας τὰς μεμψομένας, ὡς οὐκ ἐπʼ ἴσοις πολεμοῖεν πρὸς τοὺς Μεσσηνίους (οἱ μὲν γὰρ μένοντες τεκνοποιοῦνται, οἱ δὲ χήρας ἀφέντες τὰς γυναῖκας ἐν τῇ πολεμίᾳ ἐστρατοπέδευον), καὶ κίνδυνος εἴη λιπανδρῆσαι τὴν πατρίδα. οἱ δʼ ἅμα καὶ τὸν ὅρκον φυλάττοντες καὶ τὸν τῶν γυναικῶν λόγον ἐν νῷ θέμενοι πέμπουσι τῆς στρατιᾶς τοὺς εὐρωστοτάτους ἅμα καὶ νεωτάτους, οὓς ᾔδεσαν οὐ μετασχόντας τῶν ὅρκων διὰ τὸ παῖδας ἔτι ὄντας συνεξελθεῖν τοῖς ἐν ἡλικίᾳ· προσέταξαν δὲ συγγίνεσθαι ταῖς παρθένοις ἁπάσαις ἅπαντας, ἡγούμενοι πολυτεκνήσειν μᾶλλον· γενομένων δὲ τούτων οἱ μὲν παῖδες ὠνομάσθησαν Παρθενίαι. Μεσσήνη δὲ ἑάλω πολεμηθεῖσα ἐννεακαίδεκα ἔτη, καθάπερ καὶ Τυρταῖός φησιν ἀμφʼ αὐτὴν δʼ ἐμάχοντʼ ἐννεακαίδεκʼ ἔτη, / νωλεμέως αἰεὶ ταλασίφρονα θυμὸν ἔχοντες, / αἰχμηταὶ πατέρων ἡμετέρων πατέρες. / εἰκοστῷ δʼ οἱ μὲν κατὰ πίονα ἔργα λιπόντες / φεῦγον Ἰθωμαίων ἐκ μεγάλων ὀρέων. / τὴν μὲν οὖν Μεσσηνίαν κατενείμαντο, ἐπανελθόντες δʼ οἴκαδε τοὺς Παρθενίας οὐχ ὁμοίως τοῖς ἄλλοις ἐτίμων ὡς οὐκ ἐκ γάμου γεγονότας· οἳ συνιστάμενοι μετὰ τῶν Εἱλώτων ἐπεβούλευσαν τοῖς Λακεδαιμονίοις καὶ συνέθεντο ἆραι σύσσημον ἐν τῇ ἀγορᾷ πῖλον Λακωνικόν, ἐπειδὰν ἐγχειρῶσι. τῶν δὲ Εἱλώτων τινὲς ἐξαγγείλαντες, τὸ μὲν ἀντεπιτίθεσθαι χαλεπὸν ἔγνωσαν· καὶ γὰρ πολλοὺς εἶναι καὶ πάντας ὁμόφρονας, ὡς ἂν ἀλλήλων ἀδελφοὺς νομιζομένους· τοὺς μέλλοντας δʼ αἴρειν τὸ σύσσημον ἐκ τῆς ἀγορᾶς ἀπιέναι προσέταξαν. οἱ μὲν δὴ μεμηνυμένην αἰσθόμενοι τὴν πρᾶξιν ἐπέσχον, οἱ δὲ διὰ τῶν πατέρων ἔπεισαν αὐτοὺς εἰς ἀποικίαν ἐξελθεῖν· κἂν μὲν κατάσχωσιν ἀρκοῦντα τὸν τόπον, μένειν, εἰ δὲ μή, τῆς Μεσσηνίας τὸ πέμπτον κατανείμασθαι μέρος ἐπανιόντας. οἱ δὲ σταλέντες κατελάβοντο τοὺς Ἀχαιοὺς πολεμοῦντας τοῖς βαρβάροις, μετασχόντες δὲ τῶν κινδύνων κτίζουσι τὴν Τάραντα.
Ephorus gives the following account of the foundation. The Lacedaemonians waged war against the Messenians, who had murdered their king, Teleclus, when he visited Messene to offer sacrifice. They took an oath that they would not return home before they had destroyed Messene, or should be all slain. They left only the youngest and oldest of the citizens to keep their own country. After this, in the tenth [year] of the war, the Lacedaemonian matrons assembled and deputed certain women to remonstrate with the citizens, and show them that they were carrying on the war with the Messenians on very disadvantageous terms, for they, abiding in their own country, procreated children, while the Lacedaemonians, leaving their wives in a state like widowhood, remained away in the war; and to expose the great peril there was of the depopulation of their country. The Lacedaemonians, being both desirous of observing their oath, and taking into consideration the representations of their wives, sent a deputation of the most vigorous, and, at the same time, most juvenile of the army, whom they considered, in a manner, not to have participated in the oath, because they had been but children when they accompanied their elders to the war, and charged them all to company with all the maidens, reckoning that by that means they would bear the more children; which having been accordingly obeyed, the children who were born were denominated Partheniae. Messene was taken after a war of nineteen years, as Tyrtaeus says, The fathers of our fathers, armed for war, / Possessing ever patient courage, fought at Messene / For nineteen years with unremitting toil. / Till on the twentieth, leaving their rich soil, / The enemy forsook the towering heights of Ithome. /
Thus then did they destroy Messenia, but returning home, they neglected to honour the Partheniae like other youths, and treated them as though they had been born out of wedlock. The Partheniae, leaguing with the Helots, conspired against the Lacedaemonians, and agreed to raise a Laconic felt hat in the market-place as a signal for the commencement of hostilities. Some of the Helots betrayed the plot, but the government found it difficult to resist them by force, for they were many, and all unanimous, and looked upon each other as brothers; those in authority therefore commanded such as were appointed to raise the signal, to depart out of the market-place; when they therefore perceived that their plot was disclosed they desisted, and the Lacedaemonians persuaded them, through the instrumentality of their fathers, to leave the country and colonize: and advised them, if they should get possession of a convenient place, to abide in it, but if not, they promised that a fifth part of Messenia should be divided amongst them on their return. So they departed and found the Greeks carrying on hostilities against the barbarians, and taking part in the perils of the war, they obtained possession of Tarentum, which they colonized.
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