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Messapians, Messapia
(730 words)

[German version]

(Μεσσάπιοι/Messápioi, Μεσσαπία/Messapía). A people and region in the extreme southeast of Italy. According to Str. 6,3,1; 6,3,5, these are Greek terms for the Iapyges and Iapygia, south of the isthmus between Taras/Tarentum and Brundisium (Str. 6,3,1; 5). Their indigenous name was partly Salentinoi (on the southern tip and the Ionian coast), partly Kalabroi. According to most sources, the terms designated all of southeastern Italy, including the Daunii (or Daunia), the Peucetii (or Peucetia), and the Iapyges or Iapygia (Pol. 3,88; Nicander FGrH 271/…

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Lombardo, Mario (Lecce), “Messapians, Messapia”, in: Brill’s New Pauly, Antiquity volumes edited by: Hubert Cancik and , Helmuth Schneider, English Edition by: Christine F. Salazar, Classical Tradition volumes edited by: Manfred Landfester, English Edition by: Francis G. Gentry. Consulted online on 28 March 2024 <http://dx.doi.org/10.1163/1574-9347_bnp_e801270>
First published online: 2006
First print edition: 9789004122598, 20110510



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