TheMessapians were anIapygian tribe who inhabitedSalento inclassical antiquity. Two other Iapygian tribes, thePeucetians and theDaunians, inhabited central and northernApulia respectively. All three tribes spoke theMessapian language, but had developed separatearchaeological cultures by the seventh century BC. The Messapians lived in the eponymous regionMessapia, which extended fromLeuca in the southeast toKailia andEgnatia in the northwest, covering most of the Salento peninsula.[1] This region includes theProvince of Lecce and parts of the provinces ofBrindisi andTaranto today.
Starting in the third century BC, Greek and Roman writers distinguished the indigenous population of the Salento peninsula differently. According toStrabo, the namesIapygians,Daunians,Peucetians andMessapians were exclusively Greek and not used by the natives, who divided the Salento in two parts. The southern andIonian part of the peninsula was the territory of theSalentinoi, ranging fromOtranto to Leuca and from Leuca toManduria. The northern part on theAdriatic belonged to theKalabroi and extended from Otranto to Egnatia with its hinterland.[2]
After the conquest of the Salento by theRoman Republic in 266 BC[3] the distinction between the Iapygian tribes blurred as they wereassimilated intoancient Roman society. Strabo makes it clear that in his time, the end of the first century BC, most people used the namesMessapia,Iapygia,Calabria andSalentina interchangeably for the Salento.[4] The nameCalabria for the entire peninsula was made official when theRoman emperorAugustus divided Italy in regions and gave the whole region of Apulia the nameRegio II Apulia et Calabria.[5] Archaeology still follows the original Greek tripartite division of tribes based on the archaeological evidence.[6]
The namesMessapii (Ancient Greek:Μεσσάπιοι) andMessapia are usually interpreted as "(the place) Amid waters",Mess- fromProto-Indo-European*medhyo-, "middle" (cf.Albanianmes- andAncient Greekμέσοςméssos "middle"), and-apia from Proto-Indo-European*ap-, "water" (cf. anothertoponym,Salapia, "salt water"). AsStrabo writes, this is the name (exonym) which the Tarentine Greeks used to refer collectively to the Iapygian communities which referred to themselves asCalabri (Ancient Greek:Καλαβροί) andSalentini (Ancient Greek:Σαλεντίνοι) (endonyms) and to their land asIapygia. The exonymMessapia in Italy corresponds to other toponyms in areas of ancient Greece (e.g.Messapio).[7][8]
TheMessapic tribal nameKalabroi/Calabri has been connected to theDardanianGalabroi/Galabri in the Balkans.[9]
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Recent archaeological evidence dating to the period between 1700 BCE and 1400 BCE in the post-Cetina horizon confirms trans-Adriatic migrations from the Western Balkans to southeastern Italy, which brought aWestern Paleo-Balkan language to Apulia. However, the way in which Proto-Messapic speakers spread in Apulia and whichpre-Indo-European languages that had existed in the region were thereby assimilated or displaced is still unknown.[10] Developing their own identity, the Messapians emerged as a sub-tribe distinct from the rest of theIapygians (Messapic-speakers) in theIron Age.
The pre-Italic settlement ofGnatia was founded in the fifteenth century BC during the Bronze Age. It was captured and settled by the Iapyges, as they occupied large tracts of territory in Apulia.Rudiae was first settled from the late ninth or early eighth centuries BC. In the late sixth century BC, it developed into a much more important settlement. It flourished under the Messapii, but after their defeat by Rome it dwindled and became a small village. The nearbyLupiae (Lecce) flourished at its expense. The Messapi did not have a centralised form of government. Their towns were independentcity-states. They had trade relationships with the Greek cities ofMagna Graecia.
In 473 BC, the Greek city ofTarentum (which was on the border with Messapia) and its ally,Rhegion, tried to seize some of the towns of the Messapii and Peucetii. However, the Iapyge tribes defeated them thanks to the superiority of their cavalry.[11] The war against Tarentum continued until 467 BC.
During the SecondPeloponnesian War betweenAthens andSparta, the Mesapii were allies of Athens. They provided archers forAthens' massive expeditionary force sent to attackSyracuse inSicily (415–13 BC). The expedition was a disaster and the entire force was destroyed.
In 356 BC, an alliance between Messapii andLucani led to the conquest ofHeraclea andMatapontus. In 342 BC, Tarentum called for the aid ofArchidamus III of Sparta. Archidamus died in battle under the walls of the Messapian city of Manduria in 338 BC.[12]
In 333 BC, Tarentum calledAlexander I of Epirus to help them in their war with theirLucani. Alexander defeated the Messapii. He died in a battle against the Lucani in 330 BC.[13]
After the campaign of Alexander I, the Messapii switched allegiance. They allied with Tarentum andCleonymus of Sparta, who campaigned in the region in 303–02 BC to help Tarentum against, again, the Lucani.[14]
During theSecond Samnite War (327–304 BC) betweenRome and theSamnites, the Messapii, Iapyges and Peucetii sided with the Samnites. Some of the cities of the Dauni sided with Rome and some of them sided with the Samnites. The city ofCanusium went over to the Romans in 318 BC. Silvium, a Peucetii frontier town, was under Samnite control, but it was captured by Rome in 306 BC.
During the Pyrrhic Wars (280–275 BC), the Messapii sided with Tarentum andPyrrhus the king ofEpirus, in Greece,[15] who landed at Tarentum, ostensibly to help this city in her conflict with the Romans. According to ancient historians, his aim was to conquer Italy. Pyrrhus fought battles against the Romans and a campaign in Sicily. He had to give up the latter and was defeated by the Romans and left Italy. The Messapii were mentioned byDionysius of Halicarnassus as fighting for Pyrrhus in theBattle of Asculum.[16]
In 272 BC, the Romans captured Tarentum. In 267 BC, Rome conquered the Messapii andBrundisium.[17][18] This city became Rome's port for sailing to the eastern Mediterranean. Subsequently, the Messapii were rarely mentioned in the historical record. They became Romanised.
DuringHannibal's invasion of Italy in theSecond Punic War (218–201 BC), the Messapii remained loyal to the Romans. TheBattle of Cannae, where Hannibal routed the forces of the Romans and theirItalic allies, was fought in the heart of the neighbouring Peucetii territory. The Roman survivors were welcomed into nearby Canusium. Part of the final stages of the war were fought out atMonte Gargano, in the northernmost part of Apulia, in the territory of the Dauni.
TheMessapian language is generally considered similar to theIllyrian languages,[19][20][21] although this has been debated as a mostly speculative grouping, as Illyrian languages are themselves poorly attested.[22]Albanian dialects are still a relatable group with Messapian, due to toponyms in Apulia, some of towns that have no etymological forms outside Albanian linguistic sources.[23] However, Messapic is to be considered as an independentIndo-European language.[24]
The language became extinct following theRoman conquest of the region,[21] which began during the late 4th century BC.[25] It has been preserved in about 300 inscriptions written in theGreek alphabet and dating from the 6th to the 1st century BC.[20]
Messapia was relatively urbanized and more densely populated compared to the rest of Iapygia. It possessed 26–28 walled settlements, while the remainder of Iapygia had 30–35 more dispersed walled settlements. The Messapian population has been estimated at 120,000 to 145,000 people before the Roman conquest.[26]The main Messapic cities included:
Other Messapic settlements have been discovered nearFrancavilla Fontana,San Vito dei Normanni and inVaste (Poggiardo).
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