1.
Province of Cosenza
–
The province of Cosenza is a province in the Calabria region of Italy. Its provincial capital is the city of Cosenza and it contains 155 comuni, listed at comunes of the Province of Cosenza. Cosenza began as a settlement of the Italic Bruttii tribe, the town was conquered by the Romans in 204 BCE and was named Cosentia. Later Cosenza fell under the rule of the Byzantine Empire for a period of time, before being conquered by the Lombards. It was destroyed in 986 and again in 1009 by Islamic raiders, roger II of Sicily made it the capital of Terra Giordana in the 12th century, since when it has been a major Calabrian city. It has been damaged by a series of earthquakes, most recently the 1908 Messina earthquake. Many of the Arbëreshë Albanians of Italy live in the province, since arriving in the 16th century to flee Islamization as undertaken by the Ottoman Empire
Province of Cosenza
–
Map highlighting the location of the province of Cosenza in Italy
2.
Calabria
–
Calabria, known in antiquity as Bruttium and formerly as Italia, is a region in Southern Italy and forms the traditionally conceptualized toe of the Italian Peninsula which resembles a boot. The capital city of Calabria is Catanzaro and its most populated city, and the seat of the Regional Council of Calabria, is Reggio Calabria in the Province of Reggio Calabria. The region is bordered to the north by the Basilicata Region, to the west by the Tyrrhenian Sea, the region covers 15,080 km2 and has a population of just under 2 million. The demonym of Calabria in English is Calabrian, in ancient times Calabria was referred to as Italy. The Romans later extended the name to cover Southern Italy and then the entire peninsula, the region is a long and narrow peninsula which stretches from north to south for 248 km, with a maximum width of 110 km. Some 42% of Calabrias area, corresponding to 15,080 km2, is mountainous, 49% is hilly and it is surrounded by the Ionian and Tyrrhenian seas. It is separated from Sicily by the Strait of Messina, where the narrowest point between Capo Peloro in Sicily and Punta Pezzo in Calabria is only 3.2 km, three mountain ranges are present, Pollino, La Sila and Aspromonte. All three mountain ranges are unique with their own flora and fauna, the Pollino Mountains in the north of the region are rugged and form a natural barrier separating Calabria from the rest of Italy. Parts of the area are heavily wooded, while others are vast and these mountains are home to a rare Bosnian Pine variety, and are included in the Pollino National Park. The highest point is Botte Donato, which reaches 1,928 metres, the area boasts numerous lakes and dense coniferous forests. La Sila also has some of the tallest trees in Italy which are called the Giants of the Sila, the Sila National Park is also known to have the purest air in Europe. The Aspromonte massif forms the southernmost tip of the Italian peninsula bordered by the sea on three sides and this unique mountainous structure reaches its highest point at Montalto, at 1,995 metres, and is full of wide, man-made terraces that slope down towards the sea. In general, most of the terrain in Calabria has been agricultural for centuries. The lowest slopes are rich in vineyards and citrus fruit orchards, the Diamante citron is one of the citrus fruits. Moving upwards, olives and chestnut trees appear while in the regions there are often dense forests of oak, pine, beech. Calabrias climate is influenced by the sea and mountains, mountain areas have a typical mountainous climate with frequent snow during winter. Erratic behavior of the Tyrrhenian Sea can bring heavy rainfall on the slopes of the region, while hot air from Africa makes the east coast of Calabria dry. The mountains that run along the region also influence the climate, the east coast is much warmer and has wider temperature ranges than the west coast
Calabria
–
View of Calabria from satellite
Calabria
–
Cliff at
Tropea
Calabria
–
Pollino National Park
Calabria
–
La Sila National Park
3.
Italy
–
Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a unitary parliamentary republic in Europe. Located in the heart of the Mediterranean Sea, Italy shares open land borders with France, Switzerland, Austria, Slovenia, San Marino, Italy covers an area of 301,338 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal and Mediterranean climate. Due to its shape, it is referred to in Italy as lo Stivale. With 61 million inhabitants, it is the fourth most populous EU member state, the Italic tribe known as the Latins formed the Roman Kingdom, which eventually became a republic that conquered and assimilated other nearby civilisations. The legacy of the Roman Empire is widespread and can be observed in the distribution of civilian law, republican governments, Christianity. The Renaissance began in Italy and spread to the rest of Europe, bringing a renewed interest in humanism, science, exploration, Italian culture flourished at this time, producing famous scholars, artists and polymaths such as Leonardo da Vinci, Galileo, Michelangelo and Machiavelli. The weakened sovereigns soon fell victim to conquest by European powers such as France, Spain and Austria. Despite being one of the victors in World War I, Italy entered a period of economic crisis and social turmoil. The subsequent participation in World War II on the Axis side ended in defeat, economic destruction. Today, Italy has the third largest economy in the Eurozone and it has a very high level of human development and is ranked sixth in the world for life expectancy. The country plays a prominent role in regional and global economic, military, cultural and diplomatic affairs, as a reflection of its cultural wealth, Italy is home to 51 World Heritage Sites, the most in the world, and is the fifth most visited country. The assumptions on the etymology of the name Italia are very numerous, according to one of the more common explanations, the term Italia, from Latin, Italia, was borrowed through Greek from the Oscan Víteliú, meaning land of young cattle. The bull was a symbol of the southern Italic tribes and was often depicted goring the Roman wolf as a defiant symbol of free Italy during the Social War. Greek historian Dionysius of Halicarnassus states this account together with the legend that Italy was named after Italus, mentioned also by Aristotle and Thucydides. The name Italia originally applied only to a part of what is now Southern Italy – according to Antiochus of Syracuse, but by his time Oenotria and Italy had become synonymous, and the name also applied to most of Lucania as well. The Greeks gradually came to apply the name Italia to a larger region, excavations throughout Italy revealed a Neanderthal presence dating back to the Palaeolithic period, some 200,000 years ago, modern Humans arrived about 40,000 years ago. Other ancient Italian peoples of undetermined language families but of possible origins include the Rhaetian people and Cammuni. Also the Phoenicians established colonies on the coasts of Sardinia and Sicily, the Roman legacy has deeply influenced the Western civilisation, shaping most of the modern world
Italy
–
The
Colosseum in Rome, built c. 70 – 80 AD, is considered one of the greatest works of
architecture and
engineering of ancient history.
Italy
–
Flag
Italy
–
The
Iron Crown of Lombardy, for centuries symbol of the
Kings of Italy.
Italy
–
Castel del Monte, built by German Emperor
Frederick II,
UNESCO World Heritage site
4.
Magna Graecia
–
The settlers who began arriving in the 8th century BC brought with them their Hellenic civilization, which was to leave a lasting imprint in Italy, such as in the culture of ancient Rome. Most notably the Roman poet Ovid referred to the south of Italy as Magna Graecia in his poem Fasti, according to Strabo, Magna Graecias colonization started already at the time of the Trojan War and lasted for several centuries. Also during that period, Greek colonies were established in places as widely separated as the eastern coast of the Black Sea, Eastern Libya and they included settlements in Sicily and the southern part of the Italian Peninsula. The Romans called the area of Sicily and the foot of Italy Magna Graecia since it was so densely inhabited by the Greeks, the ancient geographers differed on whether the term included Sicily or merely Apulia and Calabria, Strabo being the most prominent advocate of the wider definitions. With colonization, Greek culture was exported to Italy, in its dialects of the Ancient Greek language, its religious rites, an original Hellenic civilization soon developed, later interacting with the native Italic civilisations. Many of the new Hellenic cities became very rich and powerful, like Neapolis, Syracuse, Acragas Paestum, other cities in Magna Graecia included Tarentum, Epizephyrian Locri, Rhegium, Croton, Thurii, Elea, Nola, Ancona, Syessa, Bari and others. Following the Pyrrhic War in the 3rd century BC, Magna Graecia was absorbed into the Roman Republic, a remarkable example of the influence is the Griko-speaking minority that still exists today in the Italian regions of Calabria and Apulia. Griko is the name of a language combining ancient Doric, Byzantine Greek, there is a rich oral tradition and Griko folklore, limited now but once numerous, to around 30,000 people, most of them having become absorbed into the surrounding Italian element. Some scholars, such as Gerhard Rohlfs, argue that the origins of Griko may ultimately be traced to the colonies of Magna Graecia, one example is the Griko people, some of whom still maintain their Greek language and customs. For example, Greeks re-entered the region in the 16th and 17th century in reaction to the conquest of the Peloponnese by the Ottoman Empire, especially after the end of the Siege of Coron, large numbers of Greeks took refuge in the areas of Calabria, Salento and Sicily. Greeks from Coroni, the so-called Coronians, were nobles, who brought with them substantial movable property and they were granted special privileges and tax exemptions. Other Greeks who moved to Italy came from the Mani Peninsula of the Peloponnese, the Maniots were known for their proud military traditions and for their bloody vendettas, many of which still continue today. Another group of Maniot Greeks moved to Corsica, Ancient Greek dialects Greeks in Italy Italiotes Graia Graïke Graecus Griko people Griko language Hellenic civilization Names of the Greeks Cerchiai L. Jannelli L. Longo F. The Greek Cities of Magna Graecia and Sicily, in Dictionary of Greek and Roman Geography. 21 June,2005,17,19 GMT18,19 UK, salentinian Peninsula, Greece and Greater Greece. Traditional Griko song performed by Ghetonia, traditional Griko song performed by amateur local group. Second Interdisciplinary Symposium on the Hellenic Heritage of Southern Italy, the Greeks in the West, genetic signatures of the Hellenic colonisation in southern Italy and Sicily
Magna Graecia
–
Cities of Magna Graecia and other Greek settlements in Italy (in red)
Magna Graecia
–
Northwestern
Magna Graecia
–
Greek temples of
Paestum,
Campania
Magna Graecia
–
Mosaic from
Caulonia,
Calabria
5.
Geographic coordinate system
–
A geographic coordinate system is a coordinate system used in geography that enables every location on Earth to be specified by a set of numbers, letters or symbols. The coordinates are chosen such that one of the numbers represents a vertical position. A common choice of coordinates is latitude, longitude and elevation, to specify a location on a two-dimensional map requires a map projection. The invention of a coordinate system is generally credited to Eratosthenes of Cyrene. Ptolemy credited him with the adoption of longitude and latitude. Ptolemys 2nd-century Geography used the prime meridian but measured latitude from the equator instead. Mathematical cartography resumed in Europe following Maximus Planudes recovery of Ptolemys text a little before 1300, in 1884, the United States hosted the International Meridian Conference, attended by representatives from twenty-five nations. Twenty-two of them agreed to adopt the longitude of the Royal Observatory in Greenwich, the Dominican Republic voted against the motion, while France and Brazil abstained. France adopted Greenwich Mean Time in place of local determinations by the Paris Observatory in 1911, the latitude of a point on Earths surface is the angle between the equatorial plane and the straight line that passes through that point and through the center of the Earth. Lines joining points of the same latitude trace circles on the surface of Earth called parallels, as they are parallel to the equator, the north pole is 90° N, the south pole is 90° S. The 0° parallel of latitude is designated the equator, the plane of all geographic coordinate systems. The equator divides the globe into Northern and Southern Hemispheres, the longitude of a point on Earths surface is the angle east or west of a reference meridian to another meridian that passes through that point. All meridians are halves of great ellipses, which converge at the north and south poles, the prime meridian determines the proper Eastern and Western Hemispheres, although maps often divide these hemispheres further west in order to keep the Old World on a single side. The antipodal meridian of Greenwich is both 180°W and 180°E, the combination of these two components specifies the position of any location on the surface of Earth, without consideration of altitude or depth. The grid formed by lines of latitude and longitude is known as a graticule, the origin/zero point of this system is located in the Gulf of Guinea about 625 km south of Tema, Ghana. To completely specify a location of a feature on, in, or above Earth. Earth is not a sphere, but a shape approximating a biaxial ellipsoid. It is nearly spherical, but has an equatorial bulge making the radius at the equator about 0. 3% larger than the radius measured through the poles, the shorter axis approximately coincides with the axis of rotation
Geographic coordinate system
–
Longitude lines are perpendicular and latitude lines are parallel to the equator.
6.
Troezen
–
Troezen is a small town and a former municipality in the northeastern Peloponnese, Greece on the Argolid Peninsula. Since the 2011 local government reform it is part of the municipality Troizinia-Methana and it is part of the Islands regional unit. Troezen is located southwest of Athens, across the Saronic Gulf, the seat of the former municipality was in Galatas. Before 2011, Troizina was part of the former Piraeus Prefecture, the municipality had a land area of 190.697 km². Its largest towns and villages are Galatás, Kalloní, Troizína, Taktikoúpoli, Karatzás, Dryópi, Ágios Geórgios, Troezen was where Aethra, daughter of Pittheus, slept with both Aegeus and Poseidon on the same night and fell pregnant with the great Greek hero Theseus. Troezen is also the setting of Euripides tragedy Hippolytus, which recounts the story of the son of Theseus who becomes the subject of the love of his stepmother. While fleeing the city, Hippolytus is killed when his chariot is attacked by a bull rising from the sea, other plays on the same subject have been written by Seneca and Jean Racine, which are also set in Troezen. The ancient city also possessed a spring that was formed where the winged horse Pegasus once came to ground. A cult built up in the ancient city around the legend of Hippolytus, Troezen girls traditionally dedicated a lock of their hair to him before their marriage. Sybaris in Magna Graecia was a Troezenian colony, before the Battle of Salamis, Athenian women and children were sent to Troezen for safety on the instructions of the Athenian statesman Themistocles. In 1959, a stele was found in a house in Troezen, depicting the Decree of Themistocles. The stele has since been dated to some 200 years after the Battle of Salamis, the temple of Isis was built by the Halicarnassians in Troezen because it was their mother-l city, but the image of Isis was dedicated by the people of Troezen. In the Middle Ages, it was known as Damala and was the seat of a barony of the Principality of Achaea
Troezen
–
Ortholithi Mountain
Troezen
–
Coin (chalkous) from Troezen,325-300 BC. Obverse: Head of
Athena wearing
tainia. Reverse: Ornate trident head; to left, dolphin upward, ΤΡΟ(ΙΖΗΝΙΩΝ) "of Troizenians".
7.
Archaic Greece
–
According to Anthony Snodgrass, the Archaic period in ancient Greece was bounded by two revolutions in the Greek world. The Archaic period saw developments in Greek politics, economics, international relations, warfare and it laid the groundwork for the Classical period, both politically and culturally. The word archaic derives from the Greek word archaios, which means old and it refers to the period in ancient Greek history before the classical. The Archaic period was considered to have been less important and historically interesting than the classical period. More recently, however, Archaic Greece has come to be studied for its own achievements, with this reassessment of the significance of the Archaic period, some scholars have objected to the term archaic, due to its connotations in English of being primitive and outdated. No term which has suggested to replace it has gained widespread currency, however. Much of our evidence about the period of ancient Greece comes from written histories. By contrast, we have no evidence from the Archaic period. We have written accounts of life in the period in the form of poetry, and epigraphical evidence, including parts of law codes, inscriptions on votive offerings, however, none of this evidence is in the quantity for which we have it in the classical period. What is lacking in evidence, however, is made up for in the rich archaeological evidence from the Archaic Greek world. Indeed, where much of our knowledge of classical Greek art comes from later Roman copies, other sources for the period are the traditions recorded by later Greek writers such as Herodotus. However, these traditions are not part of any form of history as we would recognise it today, indeed, Herodotus does not even record any dates before 480 BC. Politically, the Archaic period saw the development of the polis as the predominant unit of political organisation, many cities throughout Greece came under the rule of autocratic leaders, called tyrants. The period also saw the development of law and systems of communal decision-making, with the earliest evidence for law codes, by the end of the Archaic period, both the Athenian and Spartan constitutions seem to have developed into their classical forms. The Archaic period saw significant urbanisation, and the development of the concept of the polis as it was used in classical Greece. The urbanisation process in Archaic Greece known as synoecism – the amalgamation of small settlements into a single urban centre – took place in much of Greece in the eighth century BC. Both Athens and Argos, for instance, began to coalesce into single settlements around the end of that century and these two factors created a need for a new form of political organisation, as the political systems in place at the beginning of the Archaic period quickly became unworkable. Though in the part of the classical period the city of Athens was both culturally and politically dominant, it was not until the late sixth century that it became a leading power in Greece
Archaic Greece
–
Archaic
kouros from
Thebes
Archaic Greece
–
Orientalizing style
Archaic Greece
–
Black-figure style
8.
Classical Greece
–
Classical Greece was a period of around 200 years in Greek culture. This Classical period saw the annexation of much of modern-day Greece by the Persian Empire, Classical Greece had a powerful influence on the Roman Empire and on the foundations of western civilization. Much of modern Western politics, artistic thought, scientific thought, theatre, literature, in the context of the art, architecture, and culture of Ancient Greece, the Classical period, sometimes called the Hellenic period, corresponds to most of the 5th and 4th centuries BC. The Classical period in this sense follows the Archaic period and is in turn succeeded by the Hellenistic period and this century is essentially studied from the Athenian outlook because Athens has left us more narratives, plays, and other written works than the other ancient Greek states. From the perspective of Athenian culture in Classical Greece, the period referred to as the 5th century BC extends slightly into the 4th century BC. In this context, one might consider that the first significant event of this occurs in 508 BC, with the fall of the last Athenian tyrant. However, a view of the whole Greek world might place its beginning at the Ionian Revolt of 500 BC. The Persians were defeated in 490 BC, the Delian League then formed, under Athenian hegemony and as Athens instrument. Athens excesses caused several revolts among the cities, all of which were put down by force. After both forces were spent, a brief peace came about, then the war resumed to Spartas advantage, Athens was definitively defeated in 404 BC, and internal Athenian agitations mark the end of the 5th century BC in Greece. Since its beginning, Sparta had been ruled by a diarchy and this meant that Sparta had two kings ruling concurrently throughout its entire history. The two kingships were both hereditary, vested in the Agiad dynasty and the Eurypontid dynasty, according to legend, the respective hereditary lines of these two dynasties sprang from Eurysthenes and Procles, twin descendants of Hercules. They were said to have conquered Sparta two generations after the Trojan War, in 510 BC, Spartan troops helped the Athenians overthrow their king, the tyrant Hippias, son of Peisistratos. Cleomenes I, king of Sparta, put in place a pro-Spartan oligarchy headed by Isagoras, but his rival Cleisthenes, with the support of the middle class and aided by democrats, took over. Cleomenes intervened in 508 and 506 BC, but could not stop Cleisthenes, through his reforms, the people endowed their city with isonomic institutions — i. e. with equal rights for all —and established ostracism. The isonomic and isegoric democracy was first organized into about 130 demes, the 10,000 citizens exercised their power as members of the assembly, headed by a council of 500 citizens chosen at random. The territory of the city was divided into thirty trittyes as follows, ten trittyes in the coastal region ten trittyes in the ἄστυ. A tribe consisted of three trittyes, selected at random, one each of the three groups
Classical Greece
–
The
Parthenon, in Athens, a temple to
Athena
Classical Greece
–
Statue of
King Leonidas of Sparta
Classical Greece
–
Cities at the beginning of the Peloponnesian War
9.
Ancient Greek
–
Ancient Greek includes the forms of Greek used in ancient Greece and the ancient world from around the 9th century BC to the 6th century AD. It is often divided into the Archaic period, Classical period. It is antedated in the second millennium BC by Mycenaean Greek, the language of the Hellenistic phase is known as Koine. Koine is regarded as a historical stage of its own, although in its earliest form it closely resembled Attic Greek. Prior to the Koine period, Greek of the classic and earlier periods included several regional dialects, Ancient Greek was the language of Homer and of fifth-century Athenian historians, playwrights, and philosophers. It has contributed many words to English vocabulary and has been a subject of study in educational institutions of the Western world since the Renaissance. This article primarily contains information about the Epic and Classical phases of the language, Ancient Greek was a pluricentric language, divided into many dialects. The main dialect groups are Attic and Ionic, Aeolic, Arcadocypriot, some dialects are found in standardized literary forms used in literature, while others are attested only in inscriptions. There are also several historical forms, homeric Greek is a literary form of Archaic Greek used in the epic poems, the Iliad and Odyssey, and in later poems by other authors. Homeric Greek had significant differences in grammar and pronunciation from Classical Attic, the origins, early form and development of the Hellenic language family are not well understood because of a lack of contemporaneous evidence. Several theories exist about what Hellenic dialect groups may have existed between the divergence of early Greek-like speech from the common Proto-Indo-European language and the Classical period and they have the same general outline, but differ in some of the detail. The invasion would not be Dorian unless the invaders had some relationship to the historical Dorians. The invasion is known to have displaced population to the later Attic-Ionic regions, the Greeks of this period believed there were three major divisions of all Greek people—Dorians, Aeolians, and Ionians, each with their own defining and distinctive dialects. Often non-west is called East Greek, Arcadocypriot apparently descended more closely from the Mycenaean Greek of the Bronze Age. Boeotian had come under a strong Northwest Greek influence, and can in some respects be considered a transitional dialect, thessalian likewise had come under Northwest Greek influence, though to a lesser degree. Most of the dialect sub-groups listed above had further subdivisions, generally equivalent to a city-state and its surrounding territory, Doric notably had several intermediate divisions as well, into Island Doric, Southern Peloponnesus Doric, and Northern Peloponnesus Doric. The Lesbian dialect was Aeolic Greek and this dialect slowly replaced most of the older dialects, although Doric dialect has survived in the Tsakonian language, which is spoken in the region of modern Sparta. Doric has also passed down its aorist terminations into most verbs of Demotic Greek, by about the 6th century AD, the Koine had slowly metamorphosized into Medieval Greek
Ancient Greek
–
Inscription about the construction of the statue of
Athena Parthenos in the
Parthenon, 440/439 BC
Ancient Greek
–
Ostracon bearing the name of
Cimon,
Stoa of Attalos
Ancient Greek
–
The words ΜΟΛΩΝ ΛΑΒΕ as they are inscribed on the marble of the 1955
Leonidas Monument at
Thermopylae
10.
Italian language
–
By most measures, Italian, together with Sardinian, is the closest to Latin of the Romance languages. Italian is a language in Italy, Switzerland, San Marino, Vatican City. Italian is spoken by minorities in places such as France, Montenegro, Bosnia & Herzegovina, Crimea and Tunisia and by large expatriate communities in the Americas. Many speakers are native bilinguals of both standardized Italian and other regional languages, Italian is the fourth most studied language in the world. Italian is a major European language, being one of the languages of the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe. It is the third most widely spoken first language in the European Union with 65 million native speakers, including Italian speakers in non-EU European countries and on other continents, the total number of speakers is around 85 million. Italian is the working language of the Holy See, serving as the lingua franca in the Roman Catholic hierarchy as well as the official language of the Sovereign Military Order of Malta. Italian is known as the language of music because of its use in musical terminology and its influence is also widespread in the arts and in the luxury goods market. Italian has been reported as the fourth or fifth most frequently taught foreign language in the world, Italian was adopted by the state after the Unification of Italy, having previously been a literary language based on Tuscan as spoken mostly by the upper class of Florentine society. Its development was influenced by other Italian languages and to some minor extent. Its vowels are the second-closest to Latin after Sardinian, unlike most other Romance languages, Italian retains Latins contrast between short and long consonants. As in most Romance languages, stress is distinctive, however, Italian as a language used in Italy and some surrounding regions has a longer history. What would come to be thought of as Italian was first formalized in the early 14th century through the works of Tuscan writer Dante Alighieri, written in his native Florentine. Dante is still credited with standardizing the Italian language, and thus the dialect of Florence became the basis for what would become the language of Italy. Italian was also one of the recognised languages in the Austro-Hungarian Empire. Italy has always had a dialect for each city, because the cities. Those dialects now have considerable variety, as Tuscan-derived Italian came to be used throughout Italy, features of local speech were naturally adopted, producing various versions of Regional Italian. Even in the case of Northern Italian languages, however, scholars are not to overstate the effects of outsiders on the natural indigenous developments of the languages
Italian language
–
Dante Alighieri (above) and
Petrarch (below) were influential in establishing their
Tuscan dialect as the most prominent literary language in all of
Italy in the
Late Middle Ages
Italian language
–
The geographic distribution of the Italian language in the world: large Italian-speaking communities are shown in green; light blue indicates areas where the Italian language was used officially during the Italian colonial period.
Italian language
Italian language
–
Pietro Bembo was an influential figure in the development of the Italian language from the Tuscan dialect, as a literary medium, codifying the language for standard modern usage
11.
Gulf of Taranto
–
The Gulf of Taranto is a gulf of the Ionian Sea, in Southern Italy. The Gulf of Taranto is almost square,140 km long and wide and it is surrounded by three Italian regions, Apulia, Basilicata, and Calabria. The most important rivers are the Basento, the Sinni, the main cities on the gulf are Taranto and Gallipoli. Also the Greek colonies of Croton, Heraclea, Thurii, and Sybaris were founded on the Gulf of Taranto. Coordinates, NW, N41.00 / W17.41 NE, N40.59 / E15.51 SW, N39.58 / E15.51 SE, N40.00 / W17.41 Italy claims the whole gulf as national waters, thus closed to international traffic. This position, which is a position to Libya on the Gulf of Sidra, is not recognized by some other countries, such as the United States
Gulf of Taranto
–
Map of the Gulf of Taranto.
12.
Crati
–
The Crati is a river in Calabria, southern Italy. It is the largest river of Calabria and the third largest river of southern Italy after the Volturno, in classical antiquity it was known as the Crathis or Crater. The Crati rises in the central Sila Mountains in the comune Aprigliano and it starts at as the Craticello at an elevation of 1,742 meters. It descends very steeply northward towards Cosenza where it is joined on the left by the Busento river, from here on it flows through a large plain, the Vallo del Crati. Here it is joined by tributaries from the right, the Arente, Mucone. Several smaller streams join it on the right, the Finita, Turbolo, Cucchiato, Campagnano, Mavigliano. The river is joined by several left tributaries including the Annea. With a discharge of 20 m3/s it continues to Tarsia where a dam forms a lake of the same name. From here it changes course to the northeast and meets with the Coscile river approximately five kilometers from the Gulf of Taranto, the Coscile is its main tributary on the left which again doubles the river in size. It continues eastwards, passing south of the archaeological site of Sybaris. Its mouth is near the marina of the comune Corigliano Calabro, the Crati is the largest river in the region in terms of discharge, both as an annual average, minimum and maximum. The river is seasonal and can sometimes bring disastrous winter floods. Because of its proximity to the famous ancient city of Sybaris the Crati was noticed by many ancient writers. Lycophron and Theocritus mention the river in their poetry, euripides praises the river and alleges that it would change the color of the hair to auburn. Others mention different colors and Pliny the Elder writes that it would make sheep white, according to Strabo the river received its name because it was a mixture, just like the Krathis river in Achaea. Pausanias and Herodotus also mention it, but state that the river was named after the Krathis river, Strabo also claims that the Croton diverted the course of the Crathis to submerge Sybaris. The Crati transports coarse sand and pebbles in its channel, if Strabos claim is true, that material would have been deposited as sediment above the city when the river submerged it. An analysis of samples taken from the site of Sybaris by Stanley
Crati
–
The Crati at Cosenza
Crati
–
The Crati at its confluence with the Busento river near the center of Cosenza
13.
Greeks
–
The Greeks or Hellenes are an ethnic group native to Greece, Cyprus, southern Albania, Turkey, Sicily, Egypt and, to a lesser extent, other countries surrounding the Mediterranean Sea. They also form a significant diaspora, with Greek communities established around the world, many of these regions coincided to a large extent with the borders of the Byzantine Empire of the late 11th century and the Eastern Mediterranean areas of ancient Greek colonization. The cultural centers of the Greeks have included Athens, Thessalonica, Alexandria, Smyrna, most ethnic Greeks live nowadays within the borders of the modern Greek state and Cyprus. The Greek genocide and population exchange between Greece and Turkey nearly ended the three millennia-old Greek presence in Asia Minor, other longstanding Greek populations can be found from southern Italy to the Caucasus and southern Russia and Ukraine and in the Greek diaspora communities in a number of other countries. Today, most Greeks are officially registered as members of the Greek Orthodox Church, the Greeks speak the Greek language, which forms its own unique branch within the Indo-European family of languages, the Hellenic. They are part of a group of ethnicities, described by Anthony D. Smith as an archetypal diaspora people. Both migrations occur at incisive periods, the Mycenaean at the transition to the Late Bronze Age, the Mycenaeans quickly penetrated the Aegean Sea and, by the 15th century BC, had reached Rhodes, Crete, Cyprus and the shores of Asia Minor. Around 1200 BC, the Dorians, another Greek-speaking people, followed from Epirus, the Dorian invasion was followed by a poorly attested period of migrations, appropriately called the Greek Dark Ages, but by 800 BC the landscape of Archaic and Classical Greece was discernible. The Greeks of classical antiquity idealized their Mycenaean ancestors and the Mycenaean period as an era of heroes, closeness of the gods. The Homeric Epics were especially and generally accepted as part of the Greek past, as part of the Mycenaean heritage that survived, the names of the gods and goddesses of Mycenaean Greece became major figures of the Olympian Pantheon of later antiquity. The ethnogenesis of the Greek nation is linked to the development of Pan-Hellenism in the 8th century BC, the works of Homer and Hesiod were written in the 8th century BC, becoming the basis of the national religion, ethos, history and mythology. The Oracle of Apollo at Delphi was established in this period, the classical period of Greek civilization covers a time spanning from the early 5th century BC to the death of Alexander the Great, in 323 BC. It is so named because it set the standards by which Greek civilization would be judged in later eras, the Peloponnesian War, the large scale civil war between the two most powerful Greek city-states Athens and Sparta and their allies, left both greatly weakened. Many Greeks settled in Hellenistic cities like Alexandria, Antioch and Seleucia, two thousand years later, there are still communities in Pakistan and Afghanistan, like the Kalash, who claim to be descended from Greek settlers. The Hellenistic civilization was the period of Greek civilization, the beginnings of which are usually placed at Alexanders death. This Hellenistic age, so called because it saw the partial Hellenization of many non-Greek cultures and this age saw the Greeks move towards larger cities and a reduction in the importance of the city-state. These larger cities were parts of the still larger Kingdoms of the Diadochi, Greeks, however, remained aware of their past, chiefly through the study of the works of Homer and the classical authors. An important factor in maintaining Greek identity was contact with barbarian peoples and this led to a strong desire among Greeks to organize the transmission of the Hellenic paideia to the next generation
Greeks
–
Hoplites fighting. Detail from an Attic black-figure
hydria, ca. 560 BC–550 BC.
Louvre,
Paris.
Greeks
–
A reconstruction of the 3rd millennium BC "Proto-Greek area", according to Bulgarian linguist
Vladimir Georgiev.
Greeks
–
Bust of
Cleopatra VII.
Altes Museum,
Berlin.
Greeks
–
Statues of
Saints Cyril and Methodius, missionaries of
Christianity among the
Slavic peoples, on the
Holy Trinity Column in Olomouc,
Czech Republic.
14.
Hedonism
–
Hedonism is a school of thought that argues that pleasure and happiness are the primary or most important intrinsic goods and the proper aim of human life. A hedonist strives to maximize net pleasure, but when finally gained of that pleasure, either through intrinsic or extrinsic goods, ethical hedonism is the idea that all people have the right to do everything in their power to achieve the greatest amount of pleasure possible to them. It is also the idea that every persons pleasure should far surpass their amount of pain, ethical hedonism is said to have been started by Aristippus of Cyrene, a student of Socrates. He held the idea that pleasure is the highest good, Hedonism is a sub philosophy of utilitarianism, which says to act in a way that maximizes utility. Hedonists equate pleasure with utility and believe that pleasure is the master of all humankind, the name derives from the Greek word for delight. An extremely strong aversion to hedonism is hedonophobia, in the original Old Babylonian version of the Epic of Gilgamesh, which was written soon after the invention of writing, Siduri gave the following advice Fill your belly. Dance and make music day and night These things alone are the concern of men, the following is a song attributed to the reign of one of the Pharoahs around the time of the 12th dynasty, and the text was used in the eighteenth and nineteenth dynasties. The school was so called after Cyrene, the birthplace of Aristippus and it was one of the earliest Socratic schools. The Cyrenaics taught that the only good is pleasure, which meant not just the absence of pain. Of these, momentary pleasures, especially physical ones, are stronger than those of anticipation or memory and they did, however, recognize the value of social obligation, and that pleasure could be gained from altruism. Theodorus the Atheist was an exponent of hedonism who was a disciple of younger Aristippus. The school died out within a century, and was replaced by Epicureanism, the Cyrenaics were known for their skeptical theory of knowledge. They reduced logic to a doctrine concerning the criterion of truth. They thought that we can know with certainty our immediate sense-experiences and they also denied that we can have knowledge of what the experiences of other people are like. These sensations are motions which are subjective, and are painful, indifferent or pleasant, according as they are violent. Further they are individual, and can in no way be described as constituting absolute objective knowledge. Feeling, therefore, is the only criterion of knowledge. Our ways of being affected are alone knowable, thus the sole aim for everyone should be pleasure
Hedonism
–
Aristippus of Cyrene
Hedonism
–
Epicurus
Hedonism
–
Michel Onfray, contemporary hedonist philosopher
15.
Crotone
–
Crotone listen is a city and comune in Calabria. Founded c.710 BC as the Achaean colony of Kroton, it was known as Cotrone from the Middle Ages until 1928, in 1992 it became the capital of the newly established Province of Crotone. As of January 2016, its population was 62,178, Crotons oekist was Myscellus who came from the city of Rhypes in Achaea in the northern Peloponnese. He established the city in c.710 BC and it became one of the most flourishing cities of Magna Graecia with a population between 50,000 and 80,000 around 500 BC. Its inhabitants were famous for their strength and for the simple sobriety of their lives. From 588 BC onwards, Croton produced many generations of victors in the Olympics and the other Panhellenic Games, according to Herodotus, the physicians of Croton were considered the foremost among the Greeks, among which Democedes son of Calliphon was the most prominent in the 6th century BC. Accordingly, he traveled around Greece and ended up working in the court of Polycrates, after the tyrant was murdered, Democedes was captured by the Persians and brought to King Darius, curing him of a dislocated ankle. Democedes fame was, according to Herodotus, the one who prompted the prestige of Crotons physicians, pythagoras founded his school, the Pythagoreans, at Croton c.530 BC. Among his pupils were the medical theorist Alcmaeon of Croton and the philosopher, mathematician. The Pythagoreans acquired considerable influence with the council of one thousand by which the city was ruled. Sybaris was the rival of Croton until 510 BC, when Croton sent an army of one hundred men, commanded by the wrestler Milo, against Sybaris. Shortly afterwards, however, an insurrection took place, by which the Pythagoreans were driven out and a democracy established. In 480 BC, Croton sent a ship in support of the Greeks at the Battle of Salamis and it was replaced by Heraclea as headquarters of the Italiote League. Dionysius, the tyrant of Syracuse, aiming at hegemony in Magna Graecia, captured Croton in 379 BC and held it for twelve years. Croton was then occupied by the Bruttii, with the exception of the citadel, in which the inhabitants had taken refuge, these soon after surrendered. In 295 BC, Croton fell to another Syracusan tyrant, Agathocles, when Pyrrhus invaded Italy, it was still a considerable city, with twelve miles of walls, but after the Pyrrhic War, half the town was deserted. What was left of its submitted to Rome in 277 BC. After the Battle of Cannae in the Second Punic War, Croton was betrayed to the Brutii by a leader named Aristomachus who defected to the Roman side
Crotone
–
Panorama of Crotone
Crotone
–
Coin of Croton, c. 480-460 BC.
Crotone
–
The Castle of Charles V.
16.
Athens
–
Athens is the capital and largest city of Greece. In modern times, Athens is a cosmopolitan metropolis and central to economic, financial, industrial, maritime. In 2015, Athens was ranked the worlds 29th richest city by purchasing power, Athens is recognised as a global city because of its location and its importance in shipping, finance, commerce, media, entertainment, arts, international trade, culture, education and tourism. It is one of the biggest economic centres in southeastern Europe, with a financial sector. The municipality of Athens had a population of 664,046 within its limits. The urban area of Athens extends beyond its administrative city limits. According to Eurostat in 2011, the Functional urban areas of Athens was the 9th most populous FUA in the European Union, Athens is also the southernmost capital on the European mainland. The city also retains Roman and Byzantine monuments, as well as a number of Ottoman monuments. Athens is home to two UNESCO World Heritage Sites, the Acropolis of Athens and the medieval Daphni Monastery, Athens was the host city of the first modern-day Olympic Games in 1896, and 108 years later it welcomed home the 2004 Summer Olympics. In Ancient Greek, the name of the city was Ἀθῆναι a plural, in earlier Greek, such as Homeric Greek, the name had been current in the singular form though, as Ἀθήνη. It was possibly rendered in the later on, like those of Θῆβαι and Μυκῆναι. During the medieval period the name of the city was rendered once again in the singular as Ἀθήνα, an etiological myth explaining how Athens has acquired its name was well known among ancient Athenians and even became the theme of the sculpture on the West pediment of the Parthenon. The goddess of wisdom, Athena, and the god of the seas, Poseidon had many disagreements, in an attempt to compel the people, Poseidon created a salt water spring by striking the ground with his trident, symbolizing naval power. However, when Athena created the tree, symbolizing peace and prosperity. Different etymologies, now rejected, were proposed during the 19th century. Christian Lobeck proposed as the root of the name the word ἄθος or ἄνθος meaning flower, ludwig von Döderlein proposed the stem of the verb θάω, stem θη- to denote Athens as having fertile soil. In classical literature, the city was referred to as the City of the Violet Crown, first documented in Pindars ἰοστέφανοι Ἀθᾶναι. In medieval texts, variant names include Setines, Satine, and Astines, today the caption η πρωτεύουσα, the capital, has become somewhat common
Athens
–
From upper left: the
Acropolis, the
Hellenic Parliament, the
Zappeion, the
Acropolis Museum,
Monastiraki Square, Athens view towards the sea
Athens
–
Athena, patron goddess of Athens;
National Archaeological Museum
Athens
–
Acropolis of Athens, with
Odeon of Herodes Atticus seen on bottom left
17.
Peloponnese
–
The Peloponnese or Peloponnesus is a peninsula and geographic region in southern Greece. It is separated from the part of the country by the Gulf of Corinth. During the late Middle Ages and the Ottoman era, the peninsula was known as the Morea, the peninsula is divided among three administrative regions, most belongs to the Peloponnese region, with smaller parts belonging to the West Greece and Attica regions. In 2016, Lonely Planet voted the Peloponnese the top spot of their Best in Europe list, the Peloponnese is a peninsula that covers an area of some 21,549.6 square kilometres and constitutes the southernmost part of mainland Greece. It has two connections with the rest of Greece, a natural one at the Isthmus of Corinth. The peninsula has an interior and deeply indented coasts. The Peloponnese possesses four south-pointing peninsulas, the Messenian, the Mani, the Cape Malea, mount Taygetus in the south is the highest mountain in the Peloponnese, at 2,407 metres. Οther important mountains include Cyllene in the northeast, Aroania in the north, Erymanthos and Panachaikon in the northwest, Mainalon in the center, the entire peninsula is earthquake prone and has been the site of many earthquakes in the past. The longest river is the Alfeios in the west, followed by the Evrotas in the south, extensive lowlands are found only in the west, with the exception of the Evrotas valley in the south and in the Argolid in the northeast. The Peloponnese is home to spectacular beaches, which are a major tourist draw. Two groups of islands lie off the Peloponnesian coast, the Argo-Saronic Islands to the east, the island of Kythera, off the Epidaurus Limera peninsula to the south of the Peloponnese, is considered to be part of the Ionian Islands. The island of Elafonissos used to be part of the peninsula but was separated following the quake of 365 AD. Since antiquity, and continuing to the present day, the Peloponnese has been divided into seven regions, Achaia, Corinthia, Argolid, Arcadia, Laconia, Messinia. Each of these regions is headed by a city, the largest city is Patras in Achaia, followed by Kalamata in Messinia. The peninsula has been inhabited since prehistoric times and its modern name derives from ancient Greek mythology, specifically the legend of the hero Pelops, who was said to have conquered the entire region. The name Peloponnesos means Island of Pelops, the Mycenaean civilization, mainland Greeces first major civilization, dominated the Peloponnese in the Bronze Age from its stronghold at Mycenae in the north-east of the peninsula. The Mycenean civilization collapsed suddenly at the end of the 2nd millennium BC, archeological research has found that many of its cities and palaces show signs of destruction. The subsequent period, known as the Greek Dark Ages, is marked by an absence of written records
Peloponnese
–
The
Corinth Canal separates the Peloponnese from mainland Greece.
Peloponnese
–
Landscape of
Arcadia
Peloponnese
–
Map of the Peloponnese of
Classical Antiquity.
18.
Thurii
–
The ruins of the city can be found in the Sybaris archaeological park near Sibari in the Province of Cosenza, Calabria, Italy. Thurii was one of the latest of all the Greek colonies in this part of Italy, a body of Athenian colonists was accordingly sent out by Pericles, under the command of Lampon and Xenocritus. Among them were two celebrated names – Herodotus the historian, and the orator Lysias, both of whom appear to have formed part of the original colony. The laws of the new colony were established by the sophist Protagoras at the request of Pericles, adopting the laws of Zaleucus of Locri. The foundation of Thurii is assigned by Diodorus to the year 446 BC and these disputes at length ended in a revolution, and the Sybarites were finally expelled from the city. They established themselves for a time in Sybaris on the Traeis but did not maintain their footing long, being dislodged. The Thurians meanwhile concluded a treaty of peace with Crotona, the citizens were divided, as we learn from Diodorus, into ten tribes, the names of which sufficiently indicate their origin. They were, the Arcadian, Achaean, Elean, Boeotian, Amphictyonic, Dorian, Ionian, Athenian, Euboean, and Nesiotic. The city itself was out with great regularity, being divided by four broad streets or plateae. Very shortly after its foundation, Thurii became involved in a war with Tarentum and our knowledge of the history of Thurii is unfortunately very scanty and fragmentary. Fresh disputes arising between the Athenian citizens and the colonists were at length allayed by the oracle of Delphi. The latter faction at first prevailed, so far that the Thurians observed the same neutrality towards the Athenian fleet under Nicias, Thurii was, in fact, the city where Alcibiades escaped his Athenian captors who were taking him home for trial. From this time we hear nothing of Thurii for a period of more than 20 years and it reappears in history at a later period, when Corinthian soldiers en route to join Timoleon on his expedition to Syracuse are blockaded there by Carthaginian ships. At this point it is still an independent Greek city, though much fallen from its former greatness, Thurii now sunk completely into the condition of a dependent ally of Rome, and was protected by a Roman garrison. No mention is found of its name during the wars with Pyrrhus or the First Punic War and it was apparently one of the cities which revolted to the Carthaginians after the battle of Cannae, in another passage, Livy places its defection more precisely in 212 BC. After the defection of Tarentum, they betrayed the Roman troops into the hands of the Carthaginian general Hanno, the number of colonists was small in proportion to the extent of land to be divided among them, but they amounted to 3000 foot and 300 knights. But this new name did not continue long in use, and it is mentioned as a municipal town on several occasions during the latter ages of the Roman Republic. In 72 BC it was taken by Spartacus, and subjected to heavy contributions, in 40 BC also it was attacked by Sextus Pompeius, who laid waste its territory, but was repulsed from the walls of the city
Thurii
–
Excavated area seen from the normal elevation of the surrounding landscape
Thurii
–
O: helmeted head of Athena left, wearing Attic helmet decorated with Skylla holding a rudder, neck guard decorated with a palmette. TIMO
19.
Colonies in antiquity
–
Colonies in antiquity were city-states founded from a mother-city, not from a territory-at-large. Bonds between a colony and its metropolis remained often close, and took specific forms, however, unlike in the period of European colonialism during the early and late modern era, ancient colonies were usually sovereign and self-governing from their inception. An Egyptian colony that was stationed in southern Canaan dates to slightly before the First Dynasty, narmer had Egyptian pottery produced in Canaan and exported back to Egypt, from regions such as Arad, En Besor, Rafiah, and Tel ʿErani. Shipbuilding was known to the ancient Egyptians as early as 3000 BC, the Archaeological Institute of America reports that the earliest dated ship—75 feet long, dating to 3000 BC – may have possibly belonged to Pharaoh Aha. Egypt at its height controlled Crete across the Mediterranean Sea, the Phoenicians were the major trading power in the Mediterranean in the early part of the first millennium BC. They had trading contacts in Egypt and Greece, and established colonies as far west as modern Spain, from Gadir the Phoenicians controlled access to the Atlantic Ocean and the trade routes to Britain. The most famous and successful of Phoenician colonies was founded by settlers from Tyre in 814–813 BC and called Kart-Hadasht (Qart-ḥadašt, the Carthaginians later founded their own colony in the southeast of Spain, Carthago Nova, which was eventually conquered by their enemy, Rome. But in most cases the motivation was to establish and facilitate relations of trade with foreign countries, colonies were established in Ionia and Thrace as early as the 8th century BC. There were two types of colony, one known as an ἀποικία - apoikia and the other as an ἐμπορίov - emporion. The first type of colony was a city-state on its own, through this Greek expansion the use of coins flourished throughout the Mediterranean Basin. The Greeks also colonised modern-day Crimea on the Black Sea, among the settlements they established there was the city of Chersonesos, at the site of modern-day Sevastopol. Another area with significant Greek colonies was the coast of ancient Illyria on the Adriatic Sea, the extensive Greek colonization is remarked upon by Cicero when noting that It were as though a Greek fringe has been woven about the shores of the barbarians. Several formulae were generally adhered to on the solemn and sacred occasions when a new colony set forth, if a Greek city was sending out a colony, an oracle, especially one such as the Oracle of Delphi, was almost invariably consulted beforehand. A person of distinction was selected to guide the emigrants and make the necessary arrangements and it was usual to honor these founders of colonies, after their death, as heroes. Some of the fire was taken from the public hearth in the Prytaneum. After the conquests of the Macedonian Kingdom and Alexander the Great, the relation between colony and mother-city, known literally as the metropolis, was viewed as one of mutual affection. Any differences that arose were resolved by peaceful means whenever possible and it is worth noting that the Peloponnesian War was in part a result of a dispute between Corinth and her colony of Corcyra. The charter of foundation contained general provisions for the arrangement of the affairs of the colony, the constitution of the mother-city was usually adopted by the colony, but the new city remained politically independent
Colonies in antiquity
–
The Mediterranean in ca. the 6th century BC. Phoenician cities are labelled in yellow, Greek cities in red, and other cities in grey.
Colonies in antiquity
–
Map showing the Augustus "roman coloniae" in north Africa
20.
Cassano allo Ionio
–
Cassano allIonio, also named Cassano allo Ionio, is a town and comune in province of Cosenza of Calabria, southern Italy, known in Roman times as Cassanum. It lies in a region in the concave recess of a steep mountain,60 km northeast of the town of Cosenza,10 km west of the archaeological site of Sybaris. Cassano was the site of great Saracen defeat of the Byzantine forces in Italy under Pothos in 1031, the diocese of Cassano was first mentioned in 1059. The rock above the city is crowned by a castle commanding beautiful views. Its tower is believed to be that from which the stone was thrown that killed Milo. There are warm sulfurous springs here, which are used for baths, the archaeological site of Sybaris, located near the modern town of Sibari, is part of the comune of Cassano allo Ionio. Frank Costello, gangster This article incorporates text from a now in the public domain, Chisholm, Hugh. Media related to Cassano allo Ionio at Wikimedia Commons Official website Diocese of Cassano allo Ionio at the Catholic Encyclopedia
Cassano allo Ionio
–
Clock tower in Cassano
21.
Strabo
–
Strabo was a Greek geographer, philosopher, and historian who lived in Asia Minor during the transitional period of the Roman Republic into the Roman Empire. Strabo was born to an affluent family from Amaseia in Pontus, Strabos life was characterized by extensive travels. He journeyed to Egypt and Kush, as far west as coastal Tuscany and as far south as Ethiopia in addition to his travels in Asia Minor and the time he spent in Rome. Travel throughout the Mediterranean and Near East, especially for scholarly purposes, was popular during this era and was facilitated by the relative peace enjoyed throughout the reign of Augustus. He moved to Rome in 44 BC, and stayed there, studying and writing, in 29 BC, on his way to Corinth, he visited the island of Gyaros in the Aegean Sea. Around 25 BC, he sailed up the Nile until reaching Philae and it is not known precisely when Strabos Geography was written, though comments within the work itself place the finished version within the reign of Emperor Tiberius. Some place its first drafts around 7 BC, others around 17 or 18 AD, the latest passage to which a date can be assigned is his reference to the death in AD23 of Juba II, king of Maurousia, who is said to have died just recently. He probably worked on the Geography for many years and revised it steadily, on the presumption that recently means within a year, Strabo stopped writing that year or the next, when he died. The first of Strabos major works, Historical Sketches, written while he was in Rome, is completely lost. Strabo studied under several prominent teachers of various specialties throughout his life at different stops along his Mediterranean travels. His first chapter of education took place in Nysa under the master of rhetoric Aristodemus, Strabo was an admirer of Homers poetry, perhaps a consequence of his time spent in Nysa with Aristodemus. At around the age of 21, Strabo moved to Rome, where he studied philosophy with the Peripatetic Xenarchus, despite Xenarchuss Aristotelian leanings, Strabo later gives evidence to have formed his own Stoic inclinations. In Rome, he learned grammar under the rich and famous scholar Tyrannion of Amisus. Although Tyrannion was also a Peripatetic, he was more relevantly a respected authority on geography, the final noteworthy mentor to Strabo was Athenodorus Cananites, a philosopher who had spent his life since 44 BC in Rome forging relationships with the Roman elite. Athenodorus endowed to Strabo three important items, his philosophy, his knowledge, and his contacts, moreover, from his own first-hand experience, Athenodorus provided Strabo with information about regions of the empire which he would not otherwise have known. Strabo is most notable for his work Geographica, which presented a history of people. Although the Geographica was rarely utilized in its antiquity, a multitude of copies survived throughout the Byzantine Empire. It first appeared in Western Europe in Rome as a Latin translation issued around 1469, the first Greek edition was published in 1516 in Venice
Strabo
–
Strabo as depicted in a 16th-century engraving
Strabo
–
Title page from
Isaac Casaubon 's 1620 edition of
Geographica.
Strabo
–
Statue of Strabo in his hometown (modern-day
Amasya, Turkey), beside the
Iris (Yeşilırmak) River.
Strabo
–
Map of Europe according to Strabo.
22.
Diodorus Siculus
–
Diodorus Siculus or Diodorus of Sicily was a Greek historian. He is known for writing the monumental universal history Bibliotheca historica, much of which survives and it is arranged in three parts. The first covers mythic history up to the destruction of Troy, arranged geographically, describing regions around the world from Egypt, India and Arabia to Greece, the second covers the Trojan War to the death of Alexander the Great. The third covers the period to about 60 BC, Bibliotheca, meaning library, acknowledges that he was drawing on the work of many other authors. According to his own work, he was born at Agyrium in Sicily, with one exception, antiquity affords no further information about his life and doings beyond in his work. Only Jerome, in his Chronicon under the year of Abraham 1968, writes, Diodorus of Sicily and it was divided into three sections. In the next section, he recounts the history of the world from the Trojan War down to the death of Alexander the Great, the last section concerns the historical events from the successors of Alexander down to either 60 BC or the beginning of Julius Caesars Gallic Wars. He selected the name Bibliotheca in acknowledgment that he was assembling a composite work from many sources. His account of gold mining in Nubia in eastern Egypt is one of the earliest extant texts on the topic, pappus of Alexandria wrote a Commentary on Diodoruss Analemma. The now lost Analemma applied geometrical constructions in a plane to solve some astronomy related problems of spherical geometry and it contained, for example, a discussion of sundial theory. They are also boasters and threateners and are fond of pompous language, pliny the Elder Strabo Acadine Ambaglio, Dino, Franca Landucci Gattinoni and Luigi Bravi. Diodoro Siculo, Biblioteca storica, commento storico, introduzione generale, aspects of Greek History 750-323 BC, A Source-based Approach. Library of History, Loeb Classical Library, Siculus, Diodorus, G. Booth, H. Valesius, I. The Historical Library of Diodorus the Sicilian in Fifteen Books to which are added the Fragments of Diodorus, siculi, Diodori, Peter Wesseling, L. Rhodoman, G. Heyn, N. Eyring. Bibliothecae Historicae Libri Qui Supersunt, Nova Editio, Diodorus Siculus, the manuscripts of the Bibliotheca Historica
Diodorus Siculus
–
Diodoro siculo
23.
Wetland
–
A wetland is a land area that is saturated with water, either permanently or seasonally, such that it takes on the characteristics of a distinct ecosystem. The primary factor that distinguishes wetlands from other forms or water bodies is the characteristic vegetation of aquatic plants. Wetlands play a number of roles in the environment, principally water purification, flood control, carbon sink, Wetlands are also considered the most biologically diverse of all ecosystems, serving as home to a wide range of plant and animal life. Wetlands occur naturally on every continent except Antarctica, the largest including the Amazon River basin, the West Siberian Plain, the water found in wetlands can be freshwater, brackish, or saltwater. The main wetland types include swamps, marshes, bogs, and fens, and sub-types include mangrove, carr, pocosin, the UN Millennium Ecosystem Assessment determined that environmental degradation is more prominent within wetland systems than any other ecosystem on Earth. International conservation efforts are being used in conjunction with the development of rapid assessment tools to people about wetland issues. Constructed wetlands can be used to treat municipal and industrial wastewater as well as stormwater runoff and they may also play a role in water-sensitive urban design. A patch of land that develops pools of water after a storm would not be considered a wetland. Wetlands have unique characteristics, they are distinguished from other water bodies or landforms based on their water level. Specifically, wetlands are characterized as having a table that stands at or near the land surface for a long enough period each year to support aquatic plants. A more concise definition is a community composed of hydric soil, Wetlands have also been described as ecotones, providing a transition between dry land and water bodies. In environmental decision-making, there are subsets of definitions that are agreed upon to make regulatory and policy decisions. A wetland is an ecosystem that arises when inundation by water produces soils dominated by anaerobic processes, There are four main kinds of wetlands – marsh, swamp, bog and fen. Some experts also recognize wet meadows and aquatic ecosystems as additional wetland types, the largest wetlands in the world include the swamp forests of the Amazon and the peatlands of Siberia. Under the Ramsar international wetland conservation treaty, wetlands are defined as follows, Article 2.1, may incorporate riparian and coastal zones adjacent to the wetlands, and islands or bodies of marine water deeper than six metres at low tide lying within the wetlands. Although the general definition given above applies around the world, each county, Wetlands generally include swamps, marshes, bogs and similar areas. This definition has been used in the enforcement of the Clean Water Act, some US states, such as Massachusetts and New York, have separate definitions that may differ from the federal governments. It is not uncommon for a wetland to be dry for long portions of the growing season, the most important factor producing wetlands is flooding
Wetland
–
Laguna de Rocha, the largest wetland in the urban area in
Esteban Echeverría Partido,
Argentina
Wetland
–
Mangrove
swamps are coastal wetlands. This swamp is in the
Florida Everglades.
Wetland
–
Peat bogs are freshwater wetlands that develop in areas with
standing water and low
soil fertility.
Wetland
–
Marshes develop along the edges of rivers and lakes.
24.
Lagoon
–
A lagoon is a shallow body of water separated from a larger body of water by barrier islands or reefs. Lagoons are commonly divided into coastal lagoons and atoll lagoons and they have also been identified as occurring on mixed-sand and gravel coastlines. There is an overlap between bodies of water classified as coastal lagoons and bodies of water classified as estuaries, lagoons are common coastal features around many parts of the world. Lagoons can also be man-made and used for treatment, as is the case for e. g. aerated lagoons. Lagoons are shallow, often elongated bodies of water separated from a body of water by a shallow or exposed shoal, coral reef. Some authorities include fresh water bodies in the definition of lagoon, the distinction between lagoon and estuary also varies between authorities. Richard A. Davis Jr. restricts lagoon to bodies of water with little or no fresh water inflow, and little or no tidal flow, Davis does state that the terms lagoon and estuary are often loosely applied, even in scientific literature. Timothy M. Kusky characterizes lagoons as normally being elongated parallel to the coast, while estuaries are usually drowned river valleys, coastal lagoons are classified as inland bodies of water. Many lagoons do not include lagoon in their common names, in England, The Fleet at Chesil Beach has also been described as a lagoon. In Latin America, the term laguna in Spanish, which translates to. However, sometimes it is used to describe a full-sized lake, such as Laguna Catemaco in Mexico. The brackish water lagoon may be explicitly identified as a coastal lagoon. In Portuguese the same usage is found, lagoa may be a body of sea water. Lagoon is derived from the Italian laguna, which refers to the waters around Venice, Laguna is attested in English by at least 1612, and had been Anglicized to lagune by 1673. In 1697 William Dampier referred to a Lagune or Lake of Salt water on the coast of Mexico, captain James Cook described an island of Oval form with a Lagoon in the middle in 1769. Atoll lagoons form as coral reefs grow upwards while the islands that the reefs surround subside, unlike the lagoons that form shoreward of fringing reefs, atoll lagoons often contain some deep portions. Coastal lagoons form along gently sloping coasts where barrier islands or reefs can develop off-shore, coastal lagoons do not form along steep or rocky coasts, or if the range of tides is more than 4 metres. Due to the slope of the coast, coastal lagoons are shallow
Lagoon
–
Balos coastal lagoon of northwestern
Crete. The shallow lagoon is separated from the Mediterranean sea by narrow shoals connecting to a small, rocky mountain.
Lagoon
–
Garabogaz-Göl lagoon in
Turkmenistan
Lagoon
–
Coastal lagoon landscapes around the island of
Hiddensee near
Stralsund,
Germany. Many similar coastal lagoons can be found around the
Western Pomerania Lagoon Area National Park.
Lagoon
–
Aerial photograph of the Rakaia river-mouth and associated hapua
25.
Helice
–
Helike was an ancient Greek city that was submerged by a tsunami in the winter of 373 BC. It was located in Achaea, northern Peloponnesos, two kilometres from the Corinthian Gulf and near the city of Boura, which, like Helike, was a member of the Achaean League. Modern research attributes the catastrophe to an earthquake and accompanying tsunami which destroyed and submerged the city, in an effort to protect the site from destruction, the World Monuments Fund included Helike in its 2004 and 2006 List of 100 Most Endangered Sites. Helike was founded in the Bronze Age, becoming the city of Achaea. The poet Homer states that the city of Eliki participated in the Trojan War as a part of Agamemnons forces, later, following its fall to the Achaeans, Eliki led the Achaean League, an association that joined twelve neighboring cities in an area including todays town of Aigio. Eliki, also known as Dodekapolis, became a cultural and religious center with its own coinage, finds from ancient Eliki are limited to two 5th-century copper coins, now housed in the Staatliches Museum, Berlin. The obverse shows the head of Poseidon, the patron. There was a dedicated to the Helikonian Poseidon. Helike founded colonies including Priene in Asia Minor and Sybaris in South Italy and its panhellenic temple and sanctuary of Helikonian Poseidon were known throughout the Classical world, and second only in religious importance to Delphi. The city was destroyed in 373 BC, two years before the Battle of Leuctra, during a winter night, the city and a space of 12 stadia below it sank into the earth and were covered over by the sea. All the inhabitants perished without a trace, and the city was obscured from view except for a few building fragments projecting from the sea, ten Spartan ships anchored in the harbour were dragged down with it. An attempt involving 2000 men to recover bodies was unsuccessful, aigion took possession of its territory. According to some authorities, the inhabitants of Helike and Bura had even murdered the Ionian deputies, for centuries after, its submerged ruins could still be seen. Roman tourists frequently sailed over the site, admiring the citys statuary, later the site silted over and the location was lost to memory. Adalberto Giovannini argued that the submergence of Helike might have inspired Plato to write his story about Atlantis, ancient scholars and writers who visited the ruins include the Greeks Strabo, Pausanias and Diodoros of Sicily, and the Romans Aelian and Ovid. On 23 August 1817, a disaster, an earthquake followed by a tsunami. The earthquake was preceded by an explosion, like that produced by a battery of cannon. The aftershock was said to have lasted a minute and a half, during which the sea rose at the mouth of the Selinous River and extended to cover all the ground immediately below Vostitza
Helice
–
Excavations at the site of Helike. In this case, a Hellenistic-era building; possibly used as a dye-works
Helice
–
A coin from Helike.
26.
Achaea (ancient region)
–
Achaea or Achaia was the northernmost region of the Peloponnese, occupying the coastal strip north of Arcadia. Its approximate boundaries were to the south the range of Erymanthus, to the south-east the range of Cyllene, to the east Sicyon. Apart from the plain around Dyme, to the west, Achaea was generally a mountainous region, the name of Achaea has a slightly convoluted history. Homer uses the term Achaeans as a term for Greeks throughout the Iliad, conversely. The region later known as Achaea is instead referred to as Aegialus, both Herodotus and Pausanias recount the legend that the Achaean tribe was forced out of their lands in the Argolis by the Dorians, during the legendary Dorian invasion of the Peloponnese. Consequently, the Achaeans forced the Aegialians out of their land, the Ionians took temporary refuge in Athens, and Aegialus became known as Achaea. It was supposedly for this reason that the known as Achaea in Classical Greece did not correspond to Homeric references. Under the Romans, Achaea was a province covering much of central and this is the Achaea referenced in the New Testament. The name, Achaea, was used in the crusader state, the Principality of Achaea. The modern Greek prefecture of Achaea is largely based on the ancient region, dolmens and cromlechs have been found in the ancient area of Achaea dating back to the Neolithic period. Flint axes and blades fabricated from materials such as quartz or obsidian have been found in chamber tombs from this ancient region. Among other finds, alabaster pottery sherds have been discovered during excavations at Antheia in Achaia, the twelve cities of Achaea were grouped into an early Achaean League which had important cultural and religious functions. In its later 3rd century BC incarnation the Achaean League would play an important role in Greek politics, according to Pausanias, in 688 BC the city of Hyperesia was threatened by an army from Sicyon. The locals defended their city by placing burning torches on their goats horns, the Sicyonians retreated and the Hyperesians renamed their town Aigeira to honor the goats. During the 5th century BC the cities of Achaea were neutral in the Persian Wars and were neutral in the struggles between Athens and Sparta. We begin to more of Achaea in the following centuries. In 373 BC the Achaean city of Helice was destroyed in a great cataclysm, “Immense columns of flame”, the first record in history of the phenomenon of earthquake lights, were seen in the days leading up to the earthquake. The quake hit at night causing Helice to subside and then a massive tsunami rushed in from the Corinthian Gulf to inundate the city, the city of Boura, further inland, was also destroyed in the earthquake
Achaea (ancient region)
–
Roman odeon,
Patras
Achaea (ancient region)
–
Map of ancient Achaea
27.
Aristotle
–
Aristotle was an ancient Greek philosopher and scientist born in the city of Stagira, Chalkidice, on the northern periphery of Classical Greece. His father, Nicomachus, died when Aristotle was a child, at seventeen or eighteen years of age, he joined Platos Academy in Athens and remained there until the age of thirty-seven. Shortly after Plato died, Aristotle left Athens and, at the request of Philip II of Macedon, teaching Alexander the Great gave Aristotle many opportunities and an abundance of supplies. He established a library in the Lyceum which aided in the production of many of his hundreds of books and he believed all peoples concepts and all of their knowledge was ultimately based on perception. Aristotles views on natural sciences represent the groundwork underlying many of his works, Aristotles views on physical science profoundly shaped medieval scholarship. Their influence extended from Late Antiquity and the Early Middle Ages into the Renaissance, some of Aristotles zoological observations, such as on the hectocotyl arm of the octopus, were not confirmed or refuted until the 19th century. His works contain the earliest known study of logic, which was incorporated in the late 19th century into modern formal logic. Aristotle was well known among medieval Muslim intellectuals and revered as The First Teacher and his ethics, though always influential, gained renewed interest with the modern advent of virtue ethics. All aspects of Aristotles philosophy continue to be the object of academic study today. Though Aristotle wrote many elegant treatises and dialogues – Cicero described his style as a river of gold – it is thought that only around a third of his original output has survived. Aristotle, whose means the best purpose, was born in 384 BC in Stagira, Chalcidice. His father Nicomachus was the physician to King Amyntas of Macedon. Aristotle was orphaned at a young age, although there is little information on Aristotles childhood, he probably spent some time within the Macedonian palace, making his first connections with the Macedonian monarchy. At the age of seventeen or eighteen, Aristotle moved to Athens to continue his education at Platos Academy and he remained there for nearly twenty years before leaving Athens in 348/47 BC. Aristotle then accompanied Xenocrates to the court of his friend Hermias of Atarneus in Asia Minor, there, he traveled with Theophrastus to the island of Lesbos, where together they researched the botany and zoology of the island. Aristotle married Pythias, either Hermiass adoptive daughter or niece and she bore him a daughter, whom they also named Pythias. Soon after Hermias death, Aristotle was invited by Philip II of Macedon to become the tutor to his son Alexander in 343 BC, Aristotle was appointed as the head of the royal academy of Macedon. During that time he gave not only to Alexander
Aristotle
–
Roman copy in marble of a Greek bronze bust of Aristotle by
Lysippus,
c. 330 BC. The
alabaster mantle is modern.
Aristotle
–
Aristotelianism
Aristotle
–
School of Aristotle in
Mieza,
Macedonia, Greece
Aristotle
–
"Aristotle" by
Francesco Hayez (1791–1882)
28.
Ajax the Lesser
–
Ajax was a Greek mythological hero, son of Oileus, the king of Locris. He was called the lesser or Locrian Ajax, to him from Ajax the Great. He was the leader of the Locrian contingent during the Trojan War and he is a significant figure in Homers Iliad and is also mentioned in the Odyssey, in Virgils Aeneid and in Euripides The Trojan Women. In Etruscan legend, he was known as Aivas Vilates, according to Strabo, he was born in Naryx in Locris, where Ovid calls him Narycius Heroes. According to the Iliad, he led his Locrians in forty ships against Troy and he is described as one of the great heroes among the Greeks. In battle, he wore a cuirass, was brave and intrepid, especially skilled in throwing the spear and, next to Achilles. On his return from Troy, his vessel was wrecked on the Whirling Rocks and he would have been saved in spite of Athena, but he said that he would escape the dangers of the sea in defiance of the immortals. In punishment for this presumption, Poseidon split the rock with his trident, in later traditions, this Ajax is called a son of Oileus and the nymph Rhene and is also mentioned among the suitors of Helen. After the taking of Troy, he rushed into the temple of Athena, where Cassandra had taken refuge, Ajax violently dragged her away to the other captives. According to some writers, he raped Cassandra inside the temple, odysseus, accused him of this crime and Ajax was to be stoned to death, but saved himself by establishing his innocence with an oath to Athena, clutching her statue in supplication. Since Ajax dragged a supplicant from her temple, Athena had cause to be indignant, despite this, Ajax managed to hide in the altar of a deity where the Greeks, fearing divine retribution should they kill him and destroy the altar, allowed him to live. When the Greeks left without killing Ajax, despite their sacrifices, when Ajax finally left Troy during the Returns from Troy, Athena hit his ship with a thunderbolt, but Ajax still survived with some of his men, managing to cling onto a rock. He boasted that even the gods could not kill him and Poseidon, upon hearing this, split the rock with his trident, thetis buried him when the corpse washed up on Myconos. Other versions depict a different death for Ajax, showing him dying when on his voyage home, after his death, his spirit dwelt in the island of Leuce. The story of Ajax was frequently made use of by ancient poets and artists, and the hero who appears on some Locrian coins with the helmet, shield, other accounts of his death are offered by Philostratus and the scholiast on Lycophron. The abduction of Cassandra by Ajax was frequently represented in Greek works of art, such as the chest of Cypselus described by Pausanias and this article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain, Smith, William, ed. article name needed. Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology and this article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain, Chisholm, Hugh, ed. Ajax
Ajax the Lesser
–
Ajax the Lesser raping Cassandra
Ajax the Lesser
–
Ajax and
Cassandra by Solomon J. Solomon (1886). In the collection of the
Art Gallery of Ballarat in
Victoria, Australia
29.
Paestum
–
Paestum was a major ancient Greek city on the coast of the Tyrrhenian Sea in Magna Graecia. The ruins of Paestum are famous for their three ancient Greek temples in the Doric order, dating from about 600 to 450 BC, the city walls and amphitheatre are largely intact, and the bottom of the walls of many other structures remain, as well as paved roads. The site is open to the public, and there is a national museum within it. After its foundation by Greek colonists under the name of Poseidonia it was conquered by the local Lucanians. The Lucanians renamed it to Paistos and the Romans gave the city its current name, as Pesto or Paestum, the town became a bishopric, but it was abandoned in the Early Middle Ages, and left undisturbed and largely forgotten until the eighteenth century. Today the remains of the city are found in the frazione of Paestum. The modern settlement, directly to the south of the site, is a popular seaside resort. Much the most celebrated features of the site today are the three temples in the Archaic version of the Greek Doric order, dating from about 550 to 450 BC. All are typical of the period, with massive colonnades having a pronounced entasis. Above the columns, only the second Temple of Hera retains most of its entablature, the two temples of Hera are right next to each other, while the Temple of Athena is on the other side of the town center. There were other temples, both Greek and Roman, which are far less well-preserved, Paestum is far from any sources of good marble. The three main temples had few stone reliefs, perhaps using painting instead, painted terracotta was for some detailed parts of the structure. The large pieces of terracotta that have survived are in the museum, the whole ancient city of Paestum covers an area of approximately 120 hectares. It is only the 25 hectares that contain the three temples and the other main buildings that have been excavated. The other 95 hectares remain on land and have not been excavated. The city is surrounded by walls that still stand. The walls are approximately 4750 m long,5 –7 m thick and 15 m high, positioned along the wall are 24 square and round towers. There may have been as many as 28, but some of them were destroyed during the construction of a highway during the century that effectively cut the site in two
Paestum
–
Paestum contains some of the most well-preserved ancient Greek temples in the world.
Paestum
–
Nomos of Poseidonia, c. 530–500 BC.
Poseidon is seen wielding a
trident with a
chlamys draped over his arms.
Paestum
–
The temples of Hera in Paestum, by Y. Gianni 1898
Paestum
–
Map of Paestum by Costantino Gatta, 1732.
30.
Athena
–
Athena or Athene, often given the epithet Pallas, is the goddess of wisdom, craft, and war in ancient Greek religion and mythology. Minerva is the Roman goddess identified with Athena, Athena is known for her calm temperament, as she moves slowly to anger. She is noted to have fought for just reasons. Athena is portrayed as a companion of heroes and is the patron goddess of heroic endeavour. She is the patroness of Athens. The Athenians founded the Parthenon on the Acropolis of her city, Athens. Veneration of Athena was so persistent that archaic myths about her were recast to adapt to cultural changes, in her role as a protector of the city, many people throughout the Greek world worshipped Athena as Athena Polias. While the city of Athens and the goddess Athena essentially bear the same name, Athena is associated with Athens, a plural name, because it was the place where she presided over her sisterhood, the Athenai, in earliest times. Mycenae was the city where the Goddess was called Mykene, at Thebes she was called Thebe, and the city again a plural, Thebae. Similarly, at Athens she was called Athena, and the city Athenae, Athena had a special relationship with Athens, as is shown by the etymological connection of the names of the goddess and the city. According to mythical lore, she competed with Poseidon and she won by creating the olive tree, the Athenians would accept her gift and name the city after her. In history, the citizens of Athens built a statue of Athena as a temple to the goddess, which had piercing eyes, a helmet on her head, attired with an aegis or cuirass, and an extremely long spear. It also had a shield with the head of the Gorgon on it. A large snake accompanied her and she held Nike, the goddess of victory, therefore, Mylonas believes that Athena was a Mycenaean creation. On the other hand, Nilsson claims that she was the goddess of the palace who protected the king, a-ta-no-dju-wa-ja is also found in Linear A Minoan, the final part being regarded as the Linear A Minoan equivalent of the Linear B Mycenaean di-u-ja or di-wi-ja. Divine Athena also was a weaver and the deity of crafts, whether her name is attested in Eteocretan or not will have to wait for decipherment of Linear A. Perhaps, however, the name Theonoe may mean she who knows divine things better than others. Thus for Plato her name was to be derived from Greek Ἀθεονόα, Plato also noted that the citizens of Sais in Egypt worshipped a goddess whose Egyptian name was Neith, and which was identified with Athena. Neith was the war goddess and huntress deity of the Egyptians since the ancient Pre-Dynastic period, in addition, ancient Greek myths reported that Athena had visited many mythological places such as Libyas Triton River in North Africa and the Phlegraean plain
Athena
–
Mattei Athena at
Louvre. Roman copy from the 1st century BC/AD after a Greek original of the 4th century BC, attributed to Cephisodotos or Euphranor.
Athena
–
Athenian
tetradrachm representing the goddess Athena.
Athena
–
A new
peplos was woven for Athena and ceremonially brought to dress her
cult image (
British Museum).
Athena
–
Marble Greek copy signed “Antiokhos”, a 1st-century BC variant of
Phidias ’ 5th-century
Athena Promachos that stood on the
Acropolis.
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