Strabo, Geography, Horace Leonard Jones (Translator), 6.1.15

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[15] Next in order comes Metapontium, which is one hundred and forty stadia from the naval station of Heracleia. It is said to have been founded by the Pylians who sailed from Troy with Nestor; and they so prospered from farming, it is said, that they dedicated a golden harvest¹ at Delphi . And writers produce as a sign of its having been founded by the Pylians the sacrifice to the shades of the sons of Neleus.² However, the city was wiped out by the Samnitae. According to Antiochus: Certain of the Achaeans were sent for by the Achaeans in Sybaris and resettled the place, then forsaken, but they were summoned only because of a hatred which the Achaeans who had been banished from Laconia had for the Tarantini, in order that the neighboring Tarantini might not pounce upon the place; there were two cities, but since, of the two, Metapontium was nearer³ to Taras,⁴ the newcomers were persuaded by the Sybarites to take Metapontium and hold it, for, if they held this, they would also hold the territory of Siris , whereas, if they turned to the territory of Siris , they would add Metapontium to the territory of the Tarantini, which latter was on the very flank of Metapontium; and when, later on, the Metapontians were at war with the Tarantini and the Oenotrians of the interior, a reconciliation was effected in regard to a portion of the land—that portion, indeed, which marked the boundary between the Italy of that time and Iapygia.⁵ Here, too, the fabulous accounts place Metapontus,⁶ and also Melanippe the prisoner and her son Boeotus.⁷ In the opinion of Antiochus, the city Metapontium was first called Metabum and later on its name was slightly altered, and further, Melanippe was brought, not to Metabus, but to Dius,⁸ as is proved by a hero-temple of Metabus, and also by Asius the poet, when he says that Boeotus was brought forth

“in the halls of Dius by shapely Melanippe,”

⁹ meaning that Melanippe was brought to Dius, not to Metabus. But, as Ephorus says, the colonizer of Metapontium was Daulius, the tyrant of the Crisa which is near Delphi . And there is this further account, that the man who was sent by the Achaeans to help colonize it was Leucippus, and that after procuring the use of the place from the Tarantini for only a day and night he would not give it back, replying by day to those who asked it back that he had asked and taken it for the next night also, and by night that he had taken and asked it also for the next day.

Next in order comes Taras and Iapygia; but before discussing them I shall, in accordance with my original purpose, give a general description of the islands that lie in front of Italy ; for as from time to time I have named also the islands which neighbor upon the several tribes, so now, since I have traversed Oenotria from beginning to end, which alone the people of earlier times called Italy , it is right that I should preserve the same order in traversing Sicily and the islands round about it.

Geography. Strabo. Horace Leonard Jones (Translator). London. 1924-1929.

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Current edition Perseus

Geography (Books 6-14) (English) (Strabo. The Geography of Strabo, Vols. 3-6. Jones, Horace Leonard, translator. Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press; London: William Heinemann, Ltd., 1924-1929 (printing).)

Editions (1)

Γεωγραφικά Perseus (Strabo. Strabonis Geographica, Vols. 1-3. Meineke, August, editor. Leipzig: Teubner. 1877.) — 6.1.15 focus

[15] ἑξῆς δʼ ἐστὶ Μεταπόντιον, εἰς ἣν ἀπὸ τοῦ ἐπινείου τῆς Ἡρακλείας εἰσὶ στάδιοι τετταράκοντα πρὸς τοῖς ἑκατόν. Πυλίων δὲ λέγεται κτίσμα τῶν ἐξ Ἰλίου πλευσάντων μετὰ Νέστορος, οὓς οὕτως ἀπὸ γεωργίας εὐτυχῆσαί φασιν ὥστε θέρος χρυσοῦν ἐν Δελφοῖς ἀναθεῖναι. σημεῖον δὲ ποιοῦνται τῆς κτίσεως τὸν τῶν Νηλειδῶν ἐναγισμόν· ἠφανίσθη δʼ ὑπὸ Σαυνιτῶν. Ἀντίοχος δέ φησιν ἐκλειφθέντα τὸν τόπον ἐποικῆσαι τῶν Ἀχαιῶν τινας μεταπεμφθέντας ὑπὸ τῶν ἐν Συβάρει Ἀχαιῶν, μεταπεμφθῆναι δὲ κατὰ μῖσος τὸ πρὸς Ταραντίνους τῶν Ἀχαιῶν τῶν ἐκπεσόντων ἐκ τῆς Λακωνικῆς, ἵνα μὴ Ταραντῖνοι γειτνιῶντες ἐπιπηδήσαιεν τῷ τόπῳ. δυεῖν δʼ οὐσῶν πόλεων, τοῦ Μεταποντίου ἐγγυτέρω τῆς δὲ Σειρίτιδος ἀπωτέρω τοῦ Τάραντος, πεισθῆναι τοὺς ἀφιγμένους ὑπὸ τῶν Συβαριτῶν τὸ Μεταπόντιον κατασχεῖν· τοῦτο μὲν γὰρ ἔχοντας ἕξειν καὶ τὴν Σειρῖτιν, εἰ δʼ ἐπὶ τὴν Σειρῖτιν τράποιντο, προσθήσειν τοῖς Ταραντίνοις τὸ Μεταπόντιον ἐν πλευραῖς οὖσι. πολεμοῦντας δʼ ὕστερον πρὸς τοὺς Ταραντίνους καὶ τοὺς ὑπερκειμένους Οἰνωτροὺς ἐπὶ μέρει διαλυθῆναι τῆς γῆς, ὅπερ γενέσθαι τῆς τότε Ἰταλίας ὅριον καὶ τῆς Ἰαπυγίας. ἐνταῦθα δὲ καὶ τὸν Μετάποντον μυθεύουσι καὶ τὴν Μελανίππην τὴν δεσμῶτιν καὶ τὸν ἐξ αὐτῆς Βοιωτόν. δοκεῖ δʼ Ἀντίοχος τὴν πόλιν Μεταπόντιον εἰρῆσθαι πρότερον Μέταβον, παρωνομάσθαι δʼ ὕστερον· τήν τε Μελανίππην οὐ πρὸς τοῦτον ἀλλὰ πρὸς Δῖον κομισθῆναι ἐλέγχειν ἡρῷον τοῦ Μετάβου καὶ Ἄσιον τὸν ποιητὴν φήσαντα ὅτι τὸν Βοιωτὸν

Δίου ἐνὶ μεγάροις τέκεν εὐειδὴς Μελανίππη

¹ ὡς πρὸς ἐκεῖνον ἀχθεῖσαν τὴν Μελανίππην, οὐ πρὸς Μέταβον. οἰκιστὴς δὲ τοῦ Μεταποντίου Δαύλιος ὁ Κρίσης τύραννος γεγένηται τῆς περὶ Δελφούς, ὥς φησιν Ἔφορος. ἔστι δέ τις καὶ οὗτος λόγος ὡς ὁ πεμφθεὶς ὑπὸ τῶν Ἀχαιῶν ἐπὶ τὸν συνοικισμὸν Λεύκιππος εἴη, χρησάμενος δὲ παρὰ τῶν Ταραντίνων τὸν τόπον εἰς ἡμέραν καὶ νύκτα μὴ ἀποδοίη, μεθʼ ἡμέραν μὲν λέγων πρὸς τοὺς ἀπαιτοῦντας ὅτι καὶ εἰς τὴν ἐφεξῆς νύκτα αἰτήσαιτο καὶ λάβοι, νύκτωρ δʼ ὅτι καὶ πρὸς τὴν ἑξῆς ἡμέραν. ἐφεξῆς δʼ ἐστὶν ὁ Τάρας καὶ ἡ Ἰαπυγία, περὶ ὧν ἐροῦμεν, ὅταν πρότερον τὰς προκειμένας τῆς Ἰταλίας νήσους περιοδεύσωμεν κατὰ τὴν ἐξ ἀρχῆς πρόθεσιν· ἀεὶ γὰρ τοῖς ἔθνεσιν ἑκάστοις τὰς γειτνιώσας προσκαταλέγοντες νήσους καὶ νῦν, ἐπειδὴ μέχρι τέλους ἐπεληλύθαμεν τὴν Οἰνωτρίαν, ἥνπερ καὶ Ἰταλίαν μόνην ὠνόμαζον οἱ πρότερον, δίκαιοί ἐσμεν φυλάξαι τὴν αὐτὴν τάξιν, ἐπελθόντες τὴν Σικελίαν καὶ τὰς περὶ αὐτὴν νήσους.

Translations (1)

Geography Perseus (Strabo. The Geography of Strabo, Vols. 1-3. Hamilton, Hans Claude, translator; Falconer, William, translator. London: Henry G. Bohn, 1854-1857.) — 6.1.15 focus

[15] Next in order is Metapontium,¹ at a distance of 140 stadia from the sea-port of Heraclea. It is said to be a settlement of the Pylians at the time of their return from Ilium under Nestor; their success in agriculture was so great, that it is said they offered at Delphi a golden harvest:² they adduce, as a proof of this foundation, the offerings of the dead sacrificed periodically to the Neleïdae;³ but it was destroyed by the Samnites.⁴ Antiochus says that certain Achaeans, who had been sent for by the Achaeans of Sybaris, settled in this place when it had been desolated; he adds that these were sent for on account of the hatred of the Achaeans to the Tarentini, who had originally migrated from Laconia, in order to prevent their seizing upon the place which lay adjacent to them. Of the two cities, viz. Metapontium which was situated the nearer, [and Siris the further,⁵] from Tarentum, the new comers preferred to occupy Metapontium. This choice was suggested by the Sybarites, because, if they should make good their settlement there, they would also possess Siris, but if they were to turn to Siris, Metapontium would be annexed to the territory of the Tarentines which was conterminous. But after being engaged in war with the Tarentini and the Oenotrians, who dwelt beyond them, they came to an agreement, securing to them a portion of land, which should constitute the boundary between Italy, as it then existed, and Iapygia. This, too, is the locality which tradition assigns to the adventures of Metapontus and the captive Melanippe, and her son Boeotus. But Antiochus is of opinion that the city Metapontium was originally called Metabum, and that its name was altered at a subsequent period; and that Melanippe was not entertained here but at Dius, and thinks that the heroum of Metabus as well as the testimony of the poet Asius, who says that

The beautiful Melanippe, in the halls of Dius, bare Boeotus,

afford sufficient proof that Melanippe was led to Dius and not to Metabum. Ephorus says that Daulius, the tyrant of Crissa⁶ near Delphi, was the founder of Metapontium. There is, however, another tradition, that Leucippus was sent by the Achaeans to help to found the colony, and having asked permission of the Tarentini to have the place for a day and a night, would not give it up, replying by day to those who asked it of him, that he had asked and obtained it till the following night, and when asked by night, he said that he held it till the coming day.

Next adjoining is Tarentum and lapygia, which we will describe when we shall have first gone through the islands which lie off Italy, according to our original purpose; for we have always given the adjacent islands with every nation we have hitherto described, and since we have gone through Oenotria, which only, the people of ancient times named Italy we feel justified in keeping to the same arrangement, and shall pass on to Sicily and the surrounding islands.

Notes on the current edition

Geography

1. An ear, or sheaf, of grain made of gold, apparently.

2. Neleus had twelve sons, including Nestor. All but Nestor were slain by Heracles.

3. The other, of course, was Siris .

4. The old name of Tarentum .

5. i.e., the Metapontians gained undisputed control of their city and its territory, which Antiochus speaks of as a “boundary” (cp. 6. 1. 4 and 6. 3. 1).

6. The son of Sisyphus. His “barbarian name,” according to Stephanus Byzantinus and Eustathius, was Metabus.

7. One of Euripides’ tragedies was entitled Melanippe the Prisoner; only fragments are preserved. She was the mother of Boeotus by Poseidon.

8. A Metapontian.

9. Asius Fr.

Strabo Geography 6.1.15

Horace Leonard Jones (Translator)

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