La storia dei LUCANI

The Lucanians were a proud warrior people of Samnite origins. According to sources, they originated with the Samnites through the ritual of the sacred spring, ver sacrum, in which an entire generation was sent to conquer new territories. The origins of their name remain obscure; some believe it derives from the Latin lucus "sacred grove," others from the Greek λυκος "wolf," and still others from leukòs "luminous." Belonging to the Oscan-speaking Italic tribe, they arrived in present-day Basilicata around the 6th century BC. Their land, known as Lucania, extended from Cilento to the Gulf of Taranto and the Lao and Crati rivers in Calabria. The Lucanians inhabited hilltop towns and lived primarily from pastoralism and later agriculture. They soon clashed with the various cities of Magna Graecia, conquering, for example, Poseidonia, which they renamed Paistom, and numerous other cities on the Ionian Sea and in Calabria. Politically, Lucania was a confederation of twelve autonomous poleis, governed by democratic institutions, according to Strabo, headed by magistrates. A dictator was appointed only in times of war. The principal ones were Potentia, Grumentum, Atina, Cosilinum, Eburi, and Volcei. Religiously, they had a diverse pantheon, dominated by the cults of Mamers (the Roman Mars), god of the earth, fertility, and thunder, and the goddess Mephite, goddess of water. In 356 BC, an internal revolt, supported by powerful Syracuse, led to the birth of a new people, the Brettii, "rebels" in Oscan, corresponding to the Bruttii, who settled around present-day Cosenza and the Sila mountains, depriving the Lucanians of Calabria. With the rise of the Brettii interrupting any possibility of expansion southward, the Lucanians, aided by the Samnites, turned their attention to the Ionian Sea, entering into conflict with Taranto, which was aided by the Spartans and Macedonians in numerous wars. Meanwhile, a new power was emerging: Rome, whose interference interrupted Lucania's long period of stability. During the Second Samnite War, the Lucanians oscillated between the aristocrats who wanted an alliance with Rome and the democrats who wanted one with the Samnites. In 302, the Lucanians allied with Rome both against yet another Greek leader, Cleonymus, king of Sparta summoned from Taranto, and during the Third Samnite War, at the end of which the Romans founded the Latin colony of Venusia. Subsequently, with the advent of the democratic faction, the Lucanians allied with the Bruttii and, with the support of Taranto, attacked the Roman-allied city of Thurii, but were defeated. This episode marked the beginning of the Tarentine War, which pitted Rome on one side against Taranto, the Lucanians, Samnites, Bruttians, and, most importantly, Pyrrhus, king of Epirus, on the other. At Heraclea in 280 BC, in Lucanian territory, the Roman and Pyrrhic armies clashed. The battle favored Pyrrhus thanks to the use of war elephants, unknown to the Romans, who called them "Lucanian oxen." However, the war ended favorably for the Romans, who extended their hegemony throughout southern Italy. In 275 BC, the Lucanians, defeated by the Romans, became allies of the Romans, maintaining their customs and institutions like all the peoples of the peninsula. During the Second Punic War, after the Battle of Cannae in 216 BC, the Lucanians, like many of the southern peoples and cities, sided with Hannibal, more to avoid the invaders' plunder than out of rivalry with Rome. In 90 BC, the Lucanians, after requesting Roman citizenship, which was rejected by the Senate, once again went to war against Rome. During the civil war between Marius and Sulla, they sided with the former and suffered ferocious reprisals from the Romans and Sulla, who destroyed any vestiges of autonomy. From that moment, their territory was organized with that of the Bruttii into Regio III Lucania et Bruttii. The Romans, despite their victory, never ceased to fear those ancient warriors, ready to fight to the death for their land. (Sources: Pliny the Elder, Strabo, Livy, Padavida on Repubblica, Blog Libero, Wikipedia, Alfonso Mele "Poseidonia and the Lucanians", Giuseppe Micali "History of the Ancient Italian Peoples")