Iapyges, the Pre-Roman inhabitants of Apulia

When I was student, I remember that I was due to study mainly the history of the Roman empire.

















My teachers did not even mention the civilisations which preceded the Romans in Apulia.

I acknowledge that the Roman empire was something which to be proud of.

Nevertheless, the civilisation in Apulia did not commence with Romans at all.

So, today I am going to write about the Iapyges, who inhabited Apulia since the 11th century BC.

The Iapyges had got different names according to the Apulian area in which they have developed: Daunians at north (Foggia), Peuceti at centre (Bari) and Messapians settled down in the south (Lecce and Brindisi).







According to the Roman erudite Varro, the Iapyges descend from the melting pot of Illyrians (Balkans), Cretans (Greece) and natives.

















The Illyrians were predominant, though.









What above does not apply to Taranto, funded by the Spartans in 706 BC.

Therefore, Taranto was Greek.

Recently, I have red a book written by Ettore De Julius, (Gli Iapigi, Storia e civiltà della Puglia preromana. Longanesi, 1988, Milano)

One of the main Iapygian cultural trait, can be found in the way they buried their deceased: by side, with flexed arms and legs.

Such an entombment is identical to those discovered in Dalmatia and Istria, Balkans (Illyria).

I have visited few Apulian archaeological museums: Manduria, Taranto, Latiano, Egnazia, Ruvo, Altamura, Canosa, Ascoli Satriano, Manfredonia, Foggia).

In my opinion, the most beautiful artifacts among the Iapyges belong to the Daunians.

 

Concerning the Messapians, what have struck me is their defensive system.

In other words, the Messapians had built up impressive megalithic walls to defend themselves from Taranto, the Spartan city.

Manduria provides the best example of this defensive system.

The war between Taranto and Messapians erupted in 473 BC.

Peuceti and Daunians joined the Messapians.

On the other hand, Reggio (Reggio Calabria) got allied with Taranto.

According to the Greek historian Herodotus, that was the worst defeat inflicted to Greeks: almost 3000 soldiers of Reggio and even a higher number of Tarantini had been killed.








After that, Taranto fell into a deep crisis.

The Spartan city evolved to a democratic regime, due to the massacre during the war of a tremendous number of aristocrats.







Talking about the Daunian stele, they were funerary monuments made by stone.

The Daunian stele remind me the giants of Mont'e Prana, in Sardinia.










The giants belong to the Nuragic culture, one of the most extraordinary prehistoric cultures.

John Hooper on the the guardian: The Giants of Monte Prama include statues of archers, wrestlers and boxers carved in sandstone probably between the ninth and eight centuries BC, before Rome was even founded. They belong to the Nuragic civilisation, which flourished on Sardinia for two millennia until the second century AD.

However, this is another story...