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Iapygians
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Iapygians
The Iapygians or Apulians (Latin: Iapyges, Iapygii) were an Indo-European-speaking people, dwelling in an eponymous region of the southeastern Italian Peninsula named Iapygia (modern Apulia) between the beginning of the first millennium BC and the first century BC. They were divided into three tribal groups: the Daunians, Peucetians and Messapians. They spoke Messapic, a language of Paleo-Balkan provenance.
After their lands were gradually colonized by the Romans from the late 4th century onward and eventually annexed to the Roman Republic by the early 1st century BC, Iapygians were fully Latinized and assimilated into Roman culture.
The region was known to the Greeks of the 5th century BC as Iapygía (Ἰαπυγία), and its inhabitants as the Iápyges (Ἰάπυγες). It was probably the term used by the indigenous peoples to designate themselves. The name Iapyges has also been compared to that of the Iapydes, an Illyrian tribe of northern Dalmatia.
Some ancient sources treat Iapygians and Messapians as synonymous, and several writers of the Roman period referred to them as Apuli in the north, Poediculi in the centre, and Sallentini or Calabri in the south. By the middle of the 3rd century, Iapygians were generally divided by contemporary observers among three peoples: the Daunians in the north, the Peucetians in the centre, and the Messapians in the south. This tripartite cultural division is supported by archaeological findings, such as variations in ceramics, settlement patterns, and funerary practices. Discrepancies in the names given by Greek and Roman observers may indicate that the sub-ethnic Iapygian structures were unstable and sometimes fragmented.
In the southern part of Apulia, the natives themselves divided the region into two parts: one around the Iapygian Cape inhabited by the Salentinoi and another by the Kalabroi. For central and northern Apulia, Strabo notes that while Greek sources refer to groups such as the Peuketioi (also called Poidikloi) and Daunioi, the natives collectively called the area Apulia.
Iapygia (modern-day Apulia) was located in the southeastern part of the Italian Peninsula, between the Apennine Mountains and the Adriatic Sea.
The northeast area of the region, dominated by the massif of Monte Gargano (1,055 m), was largely unsuited for agriculture and abandoned to forests. To the south and west of the Gargano stretched the largest plain of peninsular Italy, the Tavoliere delle Puglie. Although it mainly consists of sands and gravels, the plain is also crossed by several rivers. In ancient times, the land was best suited for cereal cultivation and, above all, for the pasturage of sheep in the winter. The Ofanto river, one of the longest rivers of the Italian Peninsula, marked the southern border of the plain. Despite their name, the impervious Daunian Mountains (1,152 m), west of the plain, were strongly held by the Hirpini, an Oscan-speaking Samnite tribe.
Central Iapygia was composed of the Murge Plateau (686 m), an area poor in rivers. The western half of the massif was suitable only for grazing sheep; nearer the sea, the land was more adapted to cultivation, and likely used in ancient times to produce grains.
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Iapygians
The Iapygians or Apulians (Latin: Iapyges, Iapygii) were an Indo-European-speaking people, dwelling in an eponymous region of the southeastern Italian Peninsula named Iapygia (modern Apulia) between the beginning of the first millennium BC and the first century BC. They were divided into three tribal groups: the Daunians, Peucetians and Messapians. They spoke Messapic, a language of Paleo-Balkan provenance.
After their lands were gradually colonized by the Romans from the late 4th century onward and eventually annexed to the Roman Republic by the early 1st century BC, Iapygians were fully Latinized and assimilated into Roman culture.
The region was known to the Greeks of the 5th century BC as Iapygía (Ἰαπυγία), and its inhabitants as the Iápyges (Ἰάπυγες). It was probably the term used by the indigenous peoples to designate themselves. The name Iapyges has also been compared to that of the Iapydes, an Illyrian tribe of northern Dalmatia.
Some ancient sources treat Iapygians and Messapians as synonymous, and several writers of the Roman period referred to them as Apuli in the north, Poediculi in the centre, and Sallentini or Calabri in the south. By the middle of the 3rd century, Iapygians were generally divided by contemporary observers among three peoples: the Daunians in the north, the Peucetians in the centre, and the Messapians in the south. This tripartite cultural division is supported by archaeological findings, such as variations in ceramics, settlement patterns, and funerary practices. Discrepancies in the names given by Greek and Roman observers may indicate that the sub-ethnic Iapygian structures were unstable and sometimes fragmented.
In the southern part of Apulia, the natives themselves divided the region into two parts: one around the Iapygian Cape inhabited by the Salentinoi and another by the Kalabroi. For central and northern Apulia, Strabo notes that while Greek sources refer to groups such as the Peuketioi (also called Poidikloi) and Daunioi, the natives collectively called the area Apulia.
Iapygia (modern-day Apulia) was located in the southeastern part of the Italian Peninsula, between the Apennine Mountains and the Adriatic Sea.
The northeast area of the region, dominated by the massif of Monte Gargano (1,055 m), was largely unsuited for agriculture and abandoned to forests. To the south and west of the Gargano stretched the largest plain of peninsular Italy, the Tavoliere delle Puglie. Although it mainly consists of sands and gravels, the plain is also crossed by several rivers. In ancient times, the land was best suited for cereal cultivation and, above all, for the pasturage of sheep in the winter. The Ofanto river, one of the longest rivers of the Italian Peninsula, marked the southern border of the plain. Despite their name, the impervious Daunian Mountains (1,152 m), west of the plain, were strongly held by the Hirpini, an Oscan-speaking Samnite tribe.
Central Iapygia was composed of the Murge Plateau (686 m), an area poor in rivers. The western half of the massif was suitable only for grazing sheep; nearer the sea, the land was more adapted to cultivation, and likely used in ancient times to produce grains.