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Ancient Greek:Ὑέλη, Ελέα | |
 View of the excavations and the tower at Velia | |
  Velia Shown within Italy | |
| Alternative name | Hyele, Ele, Elea |
|---|---|
| Location | Velia,Province of Salerno,Campania, Italy |
| Region | Magna Graecia |
| Coordinates | 40°09′39″N15°09′18″E / 40.16083°N 15.15500°E /40.16083; 15.15500 |
| Type | city |
| History | |
| Builder | Settlers fromPhocaea |
| Founded | Between 538 and 535 BC |
| Associated with | Parmenides,Zeno,Statius |
| Site notes | |
| Website | Parco archeologico di Elea-Velia(in Italian) |
| Official name | Cilento and Vallo di Diano National Park with the Archaeological Sites ofPaestum and Velia, and theCertosa di Padula |
| Type | Cultural |
| Criteria | iii, iv |
| Designated | 1998 (22ndsession) |
| Reference no. | 842 |
| Region | Europe and North America |
Velia was the Roman name of an ancient city on the coast of theTyrrhenian Sea. It is located near the modern village ofAscea in theProvince of Salerno, Italy.
It was founded by Greeks fromPhocaea asHyele (Ancient Greek:Ὑέλη) around 538–535 BCE, which one scholar has suggested may be a feminine form of ὕελος "glass", an Ionic form of the usual ὕαλος.[1] The name later changed toEle and thenElea (/ˈɛliə/;Ancient Greek:Ἐλέα) before it became known by its currentLatin andItalian name during the Roman era.
The city was known for being the home of the philosophersParmenides andZeno of Elea, as well as theEleatic school of which they were a part.
The site of theacropolis of ancient Elea was once apromontory called Castello a Mare, meaning "castle on the sea" in Italian. It now lies inland and was renamed Castellammare della Bruca in theMiddle Ages. The city later developed on the coastal plain below.
According toHerodotus, in 545 BC Ionian Greeks fledPhocaea, in modern Turkey, which was being besieged by the Persians.[citation needed] After some wanderings (8 to 10 years) at sea, they stopped inReggio Calabria, where they were probably joined byXenophanes, who was at the time atMessina, and then moved north along the coast and founded the town of Hyele. According toVirgil,[2] Velia is the place where the body ofPalinurus washed ashore.[3]
Around the 5th century BC, the city was known for its flourishing trade relations. It also took on considerable cultural importance for its pre-Socratic philosophical school, known as theEleatic School, founded byParmenides and carried forward by his studentZeno, famous for his paradoxes.
In the 4th century it entered the league of cities committed to stopping the advance of theLucanians, who had already occupied nearby Poseidonia (Paestum) and were threatening Elea.
It joined an alliance with Rome in 273 BC and was included in the ancient province ofLucania.[citation needed] Elea had excellent relations with Rome: it supplied ships for the Punic wars (3rd-2nd century) and sent young priestesses for the cult ofDemeter (Ceres), coming from the local aristocratic families. It became a holiday and health resort for Roman aristocrats, perhaps also thanks to the presence of the medical-philosophical school.
In 88 BC Elea was ascribed to theRomilia tribe, becoming a Romanmunicipium with the name of Velia, but with the right to maintain the Greek language and to mint its own coins. In the second half of the 1st century BC it served as a naval base, first forBrutus (44 BC) and then forOctavian (38 BC). The prosperity of the city continued until the end of the 1st century AD, when numerous villas and small settlements were built, together with new public buildings and thermae, but the progressive silting up of the port led the city to progressive isolation and impoverishment.
From the end of the imperial age, the last inhabitants were forced to take refuge in the upper part of the Acropolis to escape the advancement of marshy land.
Remains of the city walls can be seen, with traces of one gate and several towers, of a total length of over three miles, and belong to three different periods, in all of which the local crystalline limestone is used.
Bricks with Greek brick-stamps were also employed in later times of a unique shape, each having two rectangular channels on one side.
There are remains of cisterns.[4]
In 2022, excavations led to the discovery of the archaic temple of Athena on the acropolis of Velia. The oldest temple dates to 540-530 BC, the years following thebattle of Alalia.[5] Two well-preservedbronze Greekhelmets withEtruscan design found there including metal fragments from weapons thought to be offerings to the goddess after the battle.[6]
The temple visible today on the Acropolis dates to the Hellenistic period.[7]
One or more of the preceding sentences incorporates text from a publication now in thepublic domain: Ashby, Thomas (1911). "Velia". InChisholm, Hugh (ed.).Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 27 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 978.Archaeological sites inCampania | ||
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| Province of Avellino |     | |
| Province of Benevento | ||
| Province of Caserta | ||
| Province of Naples | ||
| Province of Salerno | ||
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