velia cilent o

8/12/2019 Velia Cilent o

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Copyright 2004, 2005, 2010Clopper Almon

Material not otherwise copyrighted may be reely used with attribution!

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Table of Contents

1! "eology!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!4

2! Cilento human history beore the "ree#s!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!$%! Coming o the "ree#s to &lea'Velia!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!1(

4! )he &leatic *hilosophers and Medicine at Velia!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!1+

5! Velia in oman )imes!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!2-

(! .rom /arbarians to the *resent!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!2$

-! )he Consorio Velia!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!%$

+! )he tory o Archeology at Velia!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!41

$! "eological &olution o Velia in 3istorical )imes!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!4(

10! *articular archeological indings!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!4-

eerences!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!54

cope o this Account

)his account ocuses on Velia and the area immediately around it! /ut its story cannot be told inisolation! )o understand the geology o Velia, we hae to loo# at the geological history o all o Italy,and indeed, o the Mediterranean! )o understand Velias political history, we hae to ollow eents in allo southern Italy! /ut the only archaeological site described is Velia! )hus, although *aestum, oiVelia, and other interesting sites are in the Cilento, they hae not been discussed here!

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ear the end o the *aleooic, there was a huge collision o most continental plates to create onehuge land mass called *angea! )his collision pushed up the Appalachians in America and the Vosges in&urope! )hen the plates recoiled rom one another! In the )riassic, the orth American continent pulledaway rom the &uropean! >hile there was later some big action on the American west coast, the easternhal o the continent settled into a peaceul lie o erosion and deposition o sediments! ot so or whatis now the Mediterranean! .irst, in the )riassic, the @:aw between Arica and &urope opened wider,

and out o the tear poured a material that made a green stone called ophiolite! )hese ophiolites on thebottom o the Mediterranean mar# the areas where this tearing apart o the continents too# place! Asone would e;pect, most o it is in the middle o the Mediterranean, but there is also a narrow rim in themountains o southern pain, the central Alps, the /al#an peninsula and along the northwest coast oItaly that shows how large the tear was!

)he @:aw between &urope and Arica was widest open at the end o the ?urassic! In theCretaceous, it then began closing, with the subduction o the Arican plate under the &uropean plate! Asigniicant role in this process was played by a tectonic unit called Adria, ariously interpreted as along promontory o the Arican plate and as an independent microcontinent! *resently, this leg'shapedpromontory lies under the Ionian sea, the heel o Italy, the Adriatic sea, and the *o alley! A series opaleogeographic maps showing what &urope may hae loo#ed li#e in earlier ages has been made by

on /la#ey, now *roessor o "eology &meritus at orthern Ariona 9niersity! 3e has graciouslyallowed them to be used here! )he ollowing pages show the Mediterranean area rom the last three othe maps, those or the &ocene 7said to be 50 million years ago8, the 6ligocene 725 million years ago8and the Miocene 71% million years ago8!

>e are acustomed to thin#ing o &urope and o Italy in particular as the @6ld >orld and Americaas the @ew >orld, but geologically spea#ing, the reerse is true! )he e;tract 7shown below8 o*roessor /la#eys map or orth America in the &ocene < corresponding to the oldest o the &uropeanmaps shown < reeals a shape readily recognieable! .lorida, Cape Cod, and the BelMarVa peninsulaare missing, but the upland areas are all in place!

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North America in the Eocene. Ron Blakey, ColoradoPlateau Geosystems, USA


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In the Mediterranean,irtually nothing is recogniablesae perhaps the Iberianpeninsula! witerland is on theseashore with no Alps! Arica is

still ar away rom &urope, but asort o wedge'shaped, underwatermicro continent, Adria 7shown inlight blue8 is being pushed byArica through the ocean loor!As it moes, it plows up oceanloor which piles up on eitherside!

/y the 6ligocene, theeastern end o orth Arica hasrotated signiicantly northward,driing Adria to collide with&urope! )he Alps are beingpushed up their pea#s appear inwhite on the map! outh o theAlps, the Italian peninsula, apile o ocean loor, has been

shoed against the southernside o &urope! A portion oAdria itsel < still underwater hile ob:ects actually ound in the Cilento are consistent with a picture o the neolithic as stillDuite primitie, the implication o a people capable o underta#ing open sea oyages its with othernew inds and better dating that are reDuiring a signiicant reision o our iew o this period! >e #nowthat domesticated grains were grown in *alestine as early as 15,000 /C! )he massie city walls o?ericho 7$,000 /C8 include a tower with an inside staircase o hammer'dressed steps and roo slabs thatwould hae done honor to a grand medieal castle! Around (,200 /C, when the traditional iew o theneolithic allows nothing more than simple illage, there arose in what is now )ur#ey the rich andlu;urious city o Jatal 3KyK#, uniDue in the history o city planning in haing 7in the % percent so are;caated8 no streets! *eople moed rom house to house oer roo tops! .inally, and perhaps mostsigniicantly, the enormous menhirso the Atlantic shoreline hae now been dated by radiocarbon

methods to the period (,500 ' 2,000 /Cperiod!2

All o these indings point to a much more adancedculture in the neolithic than was preiously thought! .urthermore, it has recently been shown that sealeels rose some 100 meters between 15,000 /Cand 2,000 /C,as the glaciers o the ice age retreated!)he area o the orth ea, almost certainly well aboe water when the last ice age was at its pea#, was

2 Lygmunt ra#,e"ality Euro%y7>ydawnictwo au#owe *>! >arsawa, 1$$48 A -0' page appendi; giing dates orall sites dated up to the time o publication, an e;tensie bibliography, and a long &nglish summary ma#e the boo# useul

een without a #nowledge o *olish!

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No"lio "rotto near Camerotoa. (author)s %hoto*


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looded in the course o the neolithic age! Moreoer, the looding was not steady but came in threema:or waes in about 12,200, $,500 and 5,(00 /C!%)he middle o these coincides almost e;actly withthe date o the looding o Atlantis gien by the &gyptian priest to olon and related to us by *lato inthe dialogues Timaeusand Critias! )his story, once discounted as pure imagination, now seems highlyplausible i we locate Atlantis in what is now the orth ea! )a#ing *latos story o an early, highculture in the west as a ramewor# begins to ma#e sense out o many things that do not it the

conentional model o &urope in the mesolithic and neolithic times! )his new ramewor# has beenemployed by Mary ettegast inPlato Prehistorian+ -,--- to ,---BC, yth, Reli"ion, andArchaeolo"y7Hindisarne, 3udson G, 1$$08, ar and away the most beautiul and ascinating boo# onthe prehistory o &urope #nown to me!

)he Copper age 7%,000 ' 2,000 /C8 saw a consistent human presence in the alley o the ele 7thenorthern edge or the Cilento8 at "audo, a little north'west o *aestum, where a number o graes haebeen ound e;caated into the liing roc#! tudents o these inds beliee that these people came romthe Aegean loo#ing or sources o copper or ma#ing arms! >hile the economy was originally based onhunting, it deeloped agriculture and animal husbandry! )hough they had metal points, they continuedto use also beautiully ormed stone points! )wo walled settlements o this age are ound at Haurinoob:ects are also ound at *aestum and on Monte della tella!

In the /rone age 72,000 '1,000 /C8, a group o herdsmen established themseles on the let ban#o the ele near the mouth and built the sanctuary o 3era Argia 7much o which is now in themuseum at *aestum8! At this site hae been ound many ragments o #ettles and #ettle coers orwor#ing with mil# to ma#e cheese! In ma#ing cheese, rennet rom the stomach o a cal is added tomil# and the mi;ture heated to $( o., at which point it curdles! )he curds must then be separated romthe whey! A conical coer with holes was ound which seems to hae been designed to push down onthe curdled mil# orcing the whey up through the holes while capturing curds underneath! Also oundwere cylindrical clay stoes or heating the mil#! Harge containers or ood in the same site suggest thestorage o grains or pulses 7peas and beans8! )his culture, called Appennine, appears at seeral otherplaces in the Cilento such as on the Alburni mountains at Costa *alomba, where a later age cared theimage o a warrior into a great stone!

>ere there menhirsin the Cilento= )he oicial answer seems to be @o there are, howeer,stones on Monte della tella which were clearly used as menhirs, though nature may hae been morehelpul in creating them than she was in the great menhirs o /rittany! 6ne o these is thePr/ta N$it0ta,roughly translatable as @/ride tone, meaning the stone that has the power to ma#e a girl a bride! It isabout 15 meters high and about our meters away rom the cli o which it was once part! 6n thesummit, a small basin is cut into the stone! /eore the military base was built in 1$(4, on the irstunday ater the .east o the Assumption 7August 158, a procession would come up rom the south,circle the chapel three times and proceed to the top o the cli near which thePr/ta N$it0ta stands!&ach woman who hoped to hae a child would throw nine stones on top! I all nine remained on top, itwas a sure sign the child would come within the year! Very similar traditions surround the menhirs o

/rittany, so that we may saely say that thePr/ta N$it0tawas a unctional menhir, howeer it may haebeen made!

Also on Monte tella is thePr/ta ru ulacchio, 1Stone o# the 2lle"itimate Child3where seeralstones lean together to orm a narrow passage which opens to the east towards Monte acro 7E Monte"elbison8, behind which the sun rises at the summer solstice! A woman wishing a baby wal#s through

% *aul /lanchon and ?ohn haw, @ee drowning during the last deglaciationF eidence or catastrophic sea'leel rise andice'sheet collapse, Geolo"y, ?anuary 1$$5, !2% no! 1 p! 4'+!

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the passage, necessarily scraping her abdomen on the stone! )he child that results is @illegitimatebecause its true ather is the stone or the spirit inthe stone!

)he Appennine culture is also present in theoglio grotto at Marina di Camerota! Aninteresting loor was made by putting sea pebbles

on hot embers and coering them clay, so that theclay was ba#ed by the embers! 6ther indingsincludedF two hearths, many pieces o potterywith a designs made o points, a small obsidianblade, two grind stones, and a polished stonehatchet! *erhaps een more stri#ing than thehuman artiacts are the animal remains! )hebones testiy not only to animals o classicaltimes such as the wol, o;, hare, and wild boar,but also lyn;, lion, roebuc#, wild goat, :ac#al,rhinoceros, and hippopotamus!

)his culture has been ound also at Velia, apri, *unta Hicosa, and, especially, on the Agropolipromontory! >e #now that at Agropoli the inhabitants lied in wooden cabins, stored ood supplies inlarge ceramic ases decorated with a smooth, ribbon'li#e design, and coo#ed their ood on clay stoes!)he women spun wool on drop spindles with terracotta spindle whorls and woe on looms with clayweights! )he men ished rom small boats with triangular stone anchors!

)here are many other small brone age sites in the Cilento! )hree actors seem to hae inluencedlocationF 718 on the coast, good harbors, 728 in the inland, ease o deense, and 7%8 eerywhere, theaailability o a year'round spring o good drin#ing water!

Buring the late /rone age and early Iron age 71,000 ' (00 /C8, the most stri#ing deelopment inItaly was the inasion o the *o alley by the Villanoans, 7.! /raudel,emory and the

editerranean, p!1(+!8 )he Cilento was relatiely little touched by this deelopment! ome hundredtombs o people o this culture hae been ound at ArenNsola on the right ban# o the ele north o*aestum! 6thers were ound at the springs at Capodiiume, about si; #ilometers northeast o *aestum!)hese people cremated their dead and buried the ashes in urns with an arrowhead or spearhead placedbeside the urns o men and a bowl beside the urns o women! Hater, the mens urns were accompaniedby an iron clasp or sword while those o women had spindle whorls or loom weights! )he burials werecoered with a tumulus o stones! .rom around (00 /C, there was also ound at *aestum a burialincluding a ibula or brooch o iron! It is possible that the earliest use o iron was or ornaments andthat it only later came to be used or weapons and tools! Also rom this age, there hae been ound nearthe temple called the /asilica at *aestum a number o small idols and ases, apparently oerings to thediinity o the place!

At this point, we begin moing rom prehistory to mythical history in this part o the world! )hene;t people to moe into the Cilento were the 6enotrians! 7)he Italians writeEnotrian the "ree#s,!inotrian!8 >e can ind the these people not only archaeologically, as with the early peoples, but also in"ree# tradition! 3erodotus tells us, as we shall see, that the "ree# settlers o Velia acDuired the siterom 6enotrians! >here did the 6enotrians come rom= )his tradition is relayed to us by *ausanias, a"ree# traeler writing in the second century AB! In describing Arcadia, an area in the northwest o the

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Pr/ta ru ulacchio (author)s %hoto*


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*eloponnese, he writesF

)he Arcadians say that *elasgus was the irst inhabitant o this land! It is natural to suppose thatothers accompanied *elasgus, and that he was not by himsel or otherwise he would hae been a#ing without any sub:ects to rule oer! 3oweer, in stature and in prowess, in beauty and in wisdom,*elasgus e;celled his ellows, and or this reason, I thin#, he was chosen to be #ing by them! Asiusthe poet says o himF''

)he godli#e *elasgus on the wooded mountains/lac# earth gae up, that the race o mortals might e;ist!

*elasgus on becoming #ing inented huts that humans should not shier, or be soa#ed by rain, oroppressed by heat! Moreoer he it was who irst thought o coats o sheep's#ins, such as poor ol#still wear in &uboea and *hocis! 3e too it was who chec#ed the habit o eating green leaes, grasses,and roots always inedible and sometimes poisonous! /ut he introduced as ood the nuts o trees, notthose o all trees but only the acorns o the edible oa#! ome people hae ollowed this diet soclosely since the time o *elasgus that een the *ythian priestess, when she orbade theHacedaemonians to touch the land o the Arcadians, uttered the ollowing ersesF''

In Arcadia are many men who eat acorns,

>ho will preent you though I do not grudge it you!

It is said that it was in the reign o *elasgus that the land was called *elasgia!

Hycaon the son o *elasgus deised the ollowing plans, which were more cleer than those o hisather! 3e ounded the city Hycosura on Mount Hycaeus, gae to Leus the surname Hycaeus andounded the Hycaean games!!!! My iew is that Hycaon was contemporary with Cecrops, the #ing oAthens, but that they were not eDually wise in matters o religion! .or Cecrops was the irst to nameLeus the upreme god, and reused to sacriice anything that had lie in it, but burnt instead on thealtar the national ca#es which the Athenians still call pelanoi! /ut Hycaon brought a human baby tothe altar o Hycaean Leus, and sacriiced it, pouring out its blood upon the altar, and according to thelegend immediately ater the sacriice he was changed rom a man to a wol 7Hycos8! !!!!

In the third generation ater *elasgus the land increased in the number both o its cities and o itspopulation! .or yctimus, who was the eldest son o Hycaon, possessed all the power, while theother sons ounded cities on the sites they considered best! )hus *allantium was ounded by *allas,6resthasium by 6restheus and *higalia by *higalus! OIn all, some 21 sons and cities areenumerated!P !!!! /ut 6enotrus, the youngest o the sons o Hycaon, as#ed his brother yctimus ormoney and men and crossed by sea to Italy the land o 6enotria receied its name rom 6enotruswho was its #ing! )his was the irst e;pedition despatched rom "reece to ound a colony, and i aman ma#es the most careul calculation possible he will discoer that no oreigners either emigratedto another land beore 6enotrus!

Bionysios o 3ali#arnassos is a little clearer on 6enotruss courseF

)he irst beach o Italy they reached was the promontory o Apulia but 6enotrus, with the greaterpart o the army arried at on the western shore o Italy called Ausonia Othe "ul o alernoP nowcalled the )yrrhenian ea! 3ere he ound much good land or pasture and cultiation, in partunpopulated and in part sparsely populated! 3e droe away these inhabitants, ounded many smallcities on the mountains, as was the practice o the ancients! )his ast e;tent o land was called6enotria!

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It is thought that this passage reers to a land crossing rom the @instep o the @boot o Italy upthe /asento or Agri riers into the Cilento area! )he barbarians drien away were amnites, o whomwe hear more later! Manyartiacts ound along theseroutes testiy to thepresence o the 6enotrians

rom the $

th

to the -

th

century!

Around the middle othe +thcentury, two othergroups arried! 6ne, calledthe Morgeti 7that is, @roc#dwellers8 went rom irisup the inni rier anddown the Mingardo 7in thesouthern part o theCilento8 to settle the area

along the coast! )hesecond, called Italoi withItalo as leader and the bullas the totemic animal,seems to hae gone up theAgri, down the )anagro,up the Calore, and downthe Alento to what is nowthe promontory o Velia! Itseems that Italo united allthe inhabitants o this

region that the "ree#soriginally called 6enotria and then, beginning in the -thcentury,2talia with the2tali7italiciin modernItalian8 as inhabitants! )he "ree# colonists who arried in the the area beginning in the ( thcentury werecalled, to distinguish them, the2talioti. According to Aristotle, Italo made all o his people adoptagriculture, whereas some had still been nomads! Among the laws that he gae them, the irst was thato public estials! )hese were solemn easts o a partly political, partly religious character thatculminated in a ritual banDuet in a sacred place around a totem common to neighboring people!

)he name2talia, originally designating only this area around Velia, o course, gradually spread tocoer the whole peninsula south o the Alps, and inally the modern country! According to onee;planation,2talocame rom 4itelio, the word or bull or cal 7the totemic animal8 in the 6scanlanguage o the amnites! 76scan was written in the &truscan alphabet, itsel borrowed rom the

"ree#!8 ince the "ree#s had no 5sound, they let o initial 5s so that 4itelobecame2telo, :ust as4eliabecameElea! )he modern Italian word or both cal and eal is 5itello. imilarly, the 6enotrianswould seem to be people o the ine! )radition also credits them with the introduction to the area o#ocacia, an unleaened bread coo#ed between two hot stones!

An 6enotrian illage o the (thor -thcentury was discoered at *alinuro and a second a littleurther east at Molpa on a height that would hae been an island at the time, the island, it is said, where

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6and routes #rom the 2onian Sea to the Cilento. Source+ 6a Greca, 7--


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the siren Molpa died! )he oundations o the houses were rectangular or circular and still had theremains o the carbonied wood o the sta#es that had supported, presumably, a structure o clay andstraw! un'dried clay and ases with geometrical designs were also ound! A third illage, that the"ree#s o the +thcentury called *i;oes has been ound at the mouth o the /ussento! )here are remainshere o a massie polygonal or @Cyclopian or @*elasgian wall built o closely itted non'rectangularstones!

At Velia, 3erodotus says that the "ree#s @acDuired the land rom the 6enotrians, using a wordsuggestie o a business deal rather than a seiure! .irm archaeological eidence o 6enotriansettlement at Velia, howeer, has not been ound!

.inally, we cannot leae the 6enotrians without mentioning their oremost claim to literary ame!)he island o Hicosa, *liny the &lder tells us, bears the name o the iren Heucosia! Another myth tellso the daughter o Cadmus, pursued by the :ealous 3era, who threw hersel rom the clis but waschanged into a siren, Heucothea, by the sea diinities! /oth sirens are connected with the island oHicosa! o other island is connected with twosirens! ow 3omer tells us in /oo# 12 o the !dyssey7lines 154 '1$08F

)hen erily I spo#e among my comrades, grieed at heartF QQ.riends, since it is not right that one or

two alone should #now the oracles that Circe, the beautiul goddess, told me, thereore will I tellthem, in order that #nowing them we may either die or, shunning death and ate, escape! .irst shebade us aoid the oice o the wondrous irens, and their lowery meadow! Me alone she bade tolisten to their oice but do ye bind me with grieous bonds, that I may abide ast where I am,upright in the step o the mast, and let the ropes be made ast at the ends to the mast itsel and i Iimplore and bid you to loose me, then do ye tie me ast with yet more bonds!

)hus I rehearsed all these things and told them to my comrades! Meanwhile the well'built shipspeedily came to the isle o the twoirens, or a air and gentle wind bore her on! )hen presently thewind ceased and there was a windless calm, and a god lulled the waes to sleep! /ut my comradesrose up and urled the sail and stowed it in the hollow ship, and thereater sat at the oars and madethe water white with their polished oars o ir! /ut I with my sharp sword cut into small bits a great

round ca#e o wa;, and #neaded it with my strong hands, and soon the wa; grew warm, orced bythe strong pressure and the rays o the lord 3elios 3yperion! )hen I anointed with this the ears o allmy comrades in turn and they bound me in the ship hand and oot, upright in the step o the mast,and made the ropes ast at the ends to the mast itsel and themseles sitting down smote the greysea with their oars! /ut when we were as ar distant as a man can ma#e himsel heard when heshouts, driing switly on our way, the irens ailed not to note the swit ship as it drew near, andthey raised their clear'toned songF

QQCome hither, as thou arest, renowned 6dysseus, great glory o the Achaeans stay thy ship thatthou mayest listen to the oice o us two! .or neer yet has any man rowed past this isle in his blac#ship until he has heard the sweet oice rom our lips! ay, he has :oy o it, and goes his way a wiserman! .or we #now all the toils that in wide )roy the Argies and )ro:ans endured through the will othe gods, and we #now all things that come to pass upon the ruitul earth!

)rue children o the Cilento can harbor no doubt that 6dysseus was :ust o their coast at this moment!

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3. Coming of the Greeks to Elea-Velia

)he history o Velia begins with the irst writer o anything li#e history in our sense o the word,3erodotus! 3e was born during the 4+0s in 3alicarnassus, a "ree# city near the south western cornero Asia Minor 7present day )ur#ey, but the )ur#s did not arrie or another 1500 years!8 As a youngman in the 450s he was inoled in a political uprising and was e;pelled by the tyrant o city! 3ebegan traels around the eastern end o the Mediterranean, and went on to Mesopotamia, &gypt,"reece, Ionia, the /lac# ea! As he went, he wrote about what he learned! 3e called these writingsRSTURW, or @inDuires! Around 440, he lied or a while in Athens and read in public rom his writingswith great success! 3e participated in the coloniation o )hurii, in the @instep o the Italian boot, in444X%! 3e seems to hae died not long ater 4%0, probably in )hurii! At the end o his lie, he put hiswritings together into a continuous story that comes down to us remar#ably intact! A later editor addeddiisions into boo#s and paragraphs!

)he broad theme o the boo# is the wars between the "ree#s and the *ersians, though with manyinteresting digressions, which, as he says, were part o his plan! 3e traces the rulers o western Asiaminor bac# to the descendants o 3era#les, who ruled or 505 years through twenty'two generations,beore the last o them was murdered by a certain "yges, who assumed the throne! )he ith ruler in the

line o "yges was Croesus, who became #ing o Hydia in 5(0! Croesus gradually orced nearly all othe "ree# city states along the coast to pay tribute to him! 3e amassed great wealth and apparentlyruled well enough that other "ree# settlements, such as parta, had treaties o mutual aid with him!)hen, around 54-, in ar away &cbatana 7in Modern Iran, about 200 miles southwest o )ehran8, the#ing o the Medes, Astyages, was oerthrown by his grandson, Cyrus!

Cyrus was the son o Astyagess daughter and a *ersian prince! >hen she was e;pecting him,Astyages had a dream that a ine grew rom his daughters body that coered the whole world! 3einterpreted it to mean that the child would grow up to be a mighty #ing who would oerthrow him! ohe ordered one o his nobles, 3arpagos, to #ill the child! 3arpagos could not bring himsel to themurder and gae the child to one o the #ings herdsmen! At :ust that moment, the herdsmans wie hada stillborn child! )hey #ept Cyrus and gae their own child as eidence that he had been #illed! >hen

Cyrus was ten, all this came to light, and he was sent to his parents urther east in *ersia! )o punish3arpagos, Astyages inited him to dinner, abducted his son, #illed the boy, coo#ed him and sered himto an unsuspecting 3arpagos! >hen 3arpagos had eaten heartily, the boys head was reealed to him!3arpagos mas#ed his anger at the time, but when Cyrus was o age, he engineered the oerthrow oAstyages by the young Cyrus!

Cyrus moed Duic#ly to consolidate the empire o the Medes! Croesus became apprehensie andconsidered whether he should attac# Cyrus! )he oracle at Belphi told him that i he did, he woulddestroy a great empire! Croesus ailed to note the ambiguity in the answer, gathered an army and set outrom his capital in ardis or the east! About halway across Asia Minor, he met Cyrus! )hough Cyrushad superior numbers, a daylong battle was indecisie! >hen Cyrus did not attac# on the ne;t day,Croesus decided to brea# o the engagement, march bac# to ardis, and gather orces rom his alliesthe &gyptians, /abylonians, and partans! eer dreaming that, ater so close an engagement, Cyruswould ollow him, he released the e;tra mercenaries he had hired or the e;pedition! /ut Cyrusollowed on his heels! )he armies met on the plains in ront o ardis the Hydians ought well, butwere orced to retire into the city, which, ater two wee#s o siege, ell to Cyrus! Cyrus then put3arpagos in charge o the army in Asia minor and returned to &cbatana to loo# ater other matters! Andhere begins our story!

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)his man O3arpagosP was now made general by Cyrus! >hen he came to Ionia, he too# the cities bymeans o earthwor#s he would drie the men within their walls and then build earthwor#s againstthe walls and so ta#e the cities!*hocaea was the irst Ionian town that he attac#ed! )hese *hocaeanswere the earliest o the "ree#s to ma#e long sea'oyages, and it was they who discoered theAdriatic ea, and )yrrhenia, and Iberia, and )artessus! not sailing in round reightships but in ity'oared essels! >hen they came to )artessus they made riends with the #ing o the )artessians,

whose name was Arganthonius he ruled )artessus or eighty years and lied a hundred and twenty!)he *hocaeans won this mans riendship to such a degree that he inited them to leae Ionia andsettle in his country whereer they li#ed and then, when he could not persuade them to, and learnedrom them how the Median power was increasing, he gae them money to build a wall around theircity! O4P 3e gae it generouslyF or the circuit o the wall is o not a ew stades, and all this is madeo great stones well itted together!

In such a manner the *hocaeans wall was built! 3arpagus marched against the city and besieged it,but he made oertures, and said that it would suice him i the *hocaeans would demolish onerampart o the wall and dedicate one house! /ut the *hocaeans, ery indignant at the thought oslaery, said they wanted to deliberate or a day, and then they would answer but while they weredeliberating, 3arpagus must withdraw his army rom the walls, they said! 3arpagus said that he well

#new what they intended to do, but that neertheless he would allow them to deliberate! o when3arpagus withdrew his army rom the walls, the *hocaeans launched their ity'oared ships,embar#ed their children and women and all their moable goods, besides the statues rom thetemples and eerything dedicated in them e;cept brone or stonewor# or painting, and thenembar#ed themseles and set sail or Chios and the *ersians too# *hocaea, let thus uninhabited!

>hile getting ready or their oyage, they irst sailed to *hocaea, where they destroyed the *ersianguard to whom 3arpagus had entrusted the deense o the city and when this was done, they calleddown mighty curses on any one o them who should stay behind when the rest sailed! ot only this,but they san# a mass o iron in the sea, and swore neer to return to *hocaea beore the iron shouldappear again! /ut while they prepared to sail to Corsica, more than hal o the citiens wereoercome with longing and pitiul sorrow or the city and the lie o their land, and they bro#e their

oath and sailed bac# to *hocaea! )hose o them who #ept the oath put out to sea rom the 6enussae!

And when they came to Cyrnus they lied there or ie years as one community with those who hadcome irst, and they ounded temples there! /ut they harassed and plundered all their neighbors, as aresult o which the )yrrhenians and Carthaginians made common cause against them, and sailed toattac# them with si;ty ships each! )he *hocaeans also manned their ships, si;ty in number, and metthe enemy in the sea called ardonian! )hey engaged and the *hocaeans won, yet it was only a #indo Cadmean ictory1 or they lost orty o their ships, and the twenty that remained were useless,their rams twisted awry! )hen sailing to Alalia they too# their children and women and all o theirpossessions that their ships could hold on board, and leaing Cyrnus they sailed to hegium!

1(-! As or the crews o the disabled ships, the Carthaginians and )yrrhenians drew lots or them,

and o the )yrrhenians the Agyllaioi were allotted by ar the ma:ority and these they led out andstoned to death! /ut aterwards, eerything rom Agylla that passed the place where the stoned*hocaeans lay, whether sheep or beasts o burden or men, became distorted and crippled and palsied!)he Agyllaeans sent to Belphi, wanting to mend their oense and the *ythian priestess told them todo what the people o Agylla do to this dayF or they pay great honors to the *hocaeans, withreligious rites and games and horse'races! uch was the end o this part o the *hocaeans!

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)hose o them who led to hegium set out rom there and acDuired that city in the 6enotriancountry which is now called 3yele 7and later &lea and Velia8 O4P they ounded this because theylearned rom a man o *osidonia 7*aestum8 that the *ythia 7priestess o the oracle o Belphi8 hadtold them to establish rites in memory o Cyrnos, the hero, not to colonie Cyrnos 7Corsica8, theisland!

)o ma#e sense o the last sentence, one needs to #now that Cyrnos could mean either the son o

3era#les 73ercules in Hatin8 or the island o Corsica! )he same erb, YTZSWR, has been translated asboth @to establish rites or and as @to colonie! In act, it has both meanings! )he *ythia seems tohae been up to one o her standard tric#s o ambiguous statement, here a pun on the double meaningso both Cyrnos and YTZSWR! )he man rom *aestum tells them that they had misunderstood the oraclethey should hae ounded a settlement in honor o the hero, the son o 3era#les, not colonie Corsica!Apparently, he also suggested that they ound the settlement at Velia, near his natie city where hewould hae been glad to hae other "ree# settlements!

Velia seems to hae always been the name o the place in Italic languages, but when "ree# settlersarried about 5%5 /!C!, they called it 3yele or &lea, because there was no 5sound in "ree#!

4. The Eleatic Philosohers an! "e!icine at Velia[enophanes, a "ree# rhapsode and sage, though born sometime around 5-0'5(0 /Cat Colophon

in Asia Minor, is associated with &lea! >e hae no complete wor# but only ragments Duoted by laterwriters! In some o them, spea#ing as a rhapsode, he eo#es the mood o an ancient eastF

1 .or now the loor is clean as are the cups and hands o all!6ne puts on the woen garlandsanother passes along a ragrant ointment in a bowl!)he mi;ing bowl stands ull o cheerand another wine, lower ragrant in the :ars, is at hand


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or the earsome sport they call pan#ration,he would appear more glorious to his townsmenand win the ront'row seat o honor at games!And there would be ood or him rom the citys storesand a #eepsa#e git or him!And eer i he were to win with horses he would get all these,

not being as worthy o them as I!.or our e;pertise is better than the strength o men and horses!/ut this practice ma#es no sense nor is it rightto preer strength to this good e;pertise!.or neither i there were a good bo;er among the peoplenor i there were a pentathlete or wrestlernor again i there were someone swit aoot


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2- !!! or all things are rom the earth and to the earth all things come in the end!

%4 and o course the clear and certain truth no man has seennor will there be anyone who #nows about the gods and what I say about all things!.or een i, in the best case, one happened to spea# :ust o what has been brought to pass

still he himsel would not #now! /ut opinion is the lot o all!

7\uoted rom ?ames 3! Hesher8eno%hanes o# Colo%hon 7)oronto, 1$$28! umbers to the let areragment numbers!8

Among the irst generation o "ree#s born in &lea was *armenides son o *yres whose ame as aphilosopher and lawgier made &lea #nown throughout the "ree# world! >hen *lato need a teacher orocrates, he ino#ed *armenides in the dialogue o that name! *armenides is depicted there as aenerable man o (5 and ocrates as an enthusiastic youth o 1+ or 20! ocrates is eager to tal# and*armenides leads him Duic#ly into sel contradiction! )he others then preail on *armenides to showocrates how an argument should be made! *armenides then becomes the mouthpiece o *lato as he

e;amines the idea o @the one in a long wor# which has deied translators and challenged e;egetes!>hether this meeting eer too# place or not is un#nown, but it presumably could hae!

*armenides was an astronomer o the irst ran#! >e are told that he was the irst among the "ree#sto teach that the earth was a sphere, that the morning and eening star are the same, and to gie thecorrect e;planation o the phases o the moon! In the rhymed translation by arl *opper, he wrote othe moonF

/right in the night with the git o his light,ound the earth she is erring,&ermore letting her gae)urn towards 3elios rays!

In both the eening'star'morning'star identity and the phases o the moon, *armenides saw behindthe appearance o change a constancy o &ein"! )his ision became the #eynote o his philosophy!

As with [enophanes and all the philosophers beore *lato, we hae only ragments o*armenidess wor# as Duoted by later writers! 3e seems to hae written one ma:or wor#, a poem in thestyle o 3omer calledPeri Physe9sor !n Nature. >e hae the beginningF

.ragment 1!

)he mares that carry me as ar as longing can reachrode on, once they had come and etched me onto the legendary

road o the diinity, the road that carries the man who #nowsthrough the ast and dar# un#nown! And I was carriedas the mares, aware :ust where to go, #ept carrying me,straining at the chariot and young women led the way!And the a;le in the hubs let out the sound o a pipeblaing rom the pressure o the two well'rounded wheelsat either side, as they rapidly led onF young women, girls,

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daughters o the un, who had let the mansions o ightor the light and pushed bac# the eils rom their aces with their hands!)here are the gates o the pathways o ight and Bay,held ast in place between the lintel aboe and a threshold o stoneand they reach up into the heaens, illed with gigantic doors!And the #eys < that now open, now loc# < are held ast by

?usticeF she who always demands e;act returns! And withsot seductie words the girls cunningly persuaded her topush bac# immediately, :ust or them, the bar that boltsthe gates! And as the doors lew open ma#ing the bronea;les with their pegs and nails spin < now one, now the other elcome young man, partnered by immortal charioteers,

reaching our home with the mares that carry you! .or it wasno hard ate that sent you traeling this road < so ar awayrom the beaten trac# o humans < but ightness and ?ustice!And what is needed is or you to learn all things, both the unsha#enheart o persuasie )ruth and the opinions o mortals,in which there is nothing that can truthully be trusted at all!/ut een so, this too you will learn < how belies based onappearance ought to be belieable as they trael all through all there is!7)ranslation o *eter ingsley,2n the :ark Places o# ;isdom 7Inerness, Caliornia, 1$$$, pp 5%'548

Clearly, *armenides claims to hae had a supersensible e;perience that was the source o his

teaching gien in the ollowing two parts o the poems, usually labeled )ruth and 6pinion! As we readhis words, we can almost see him, haing set out on oot rom the lower town in &lea or the temple onthe ridge, meditating as he goes, suddenly eeling pic#ed up by the chariot o the Baughters o the unand carried upward, horses straining and wheels sDuealing as they wind up the steep road to theacropolis, encountering the "uardian o the )hreshold at the top, and then coming into the presence othe Biinity! he is, o course, Athena, and needs no introduction in her own temple! .or me, thispicture combines the ery similar e;citement I eel in reading the words and in climbing the hill oVelia! 76thers, in particular ingsley whose translation I hae used, hae seen a :ourney into theunderworld and an encounter with *ersephone, but that interpretation is inconsistent with thedescription o the straining horses! Also, *ersephone does not seem to hae been otherwise connectedwith Velia!8

6 )ruth, the ne;t part o the poem, we hae e;tensie ragments o 6pinion, only scatteredsnippets, one o them being the erse on the moon Duoted aboe! *lutarch tells us that the part on6pinion was e;tensie and ery interesting and astute! )he )ruth ragments establish *armenides as theather o logical argument! Modern material monists hae claimed him as their orerunner! /ut he isclearly no materialist, or he places his whole teaching in the spiritual world, as we hae seen! /utbeore we consider those teachings, we need to put *armenides into conte;t!

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Most modern readers would probably assume that the prolog gien aboe was metaphorical and:ust designed to catch the attention o readers, or in those days, o hearers! In a most surprising way,modern archeological eidence points to a much more literal understanding! )he connection is throughhealing! trabo, the geographer o the Augustan age, gies a good account o the method o healing#nown as incubation! pea#ing o a cae near ysa in Asia Minor not ar rom *ho#aia, he saysF

)he place is Duite amaing! .or what they say is that people who all ill and are willing to submit to

the methods o healing oered by these two diinities O3ades and *ersephoneP come here and lieor a while in the illage together with the most e;perienced among the priests! And these priests liedown and sleep in the cae on behal o the sic#, then they prescribe treatments on the basis o thedreams they receie! It is these same men who also ino#e the healing power o the gods!

And oten they lead the sic# into the cae instead and settle them down, then leae them there inutter stillness 7h


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_`RS .In other words, :ust as the pope today ta#es a name dierent rom the one by which he waspreiously called, this dignitary seems to hae ta#en the name o his city or o Apollo as his own! 7)hediscussion o these inscriptions is based almost entirely on Alonso de .rancisis culture connesse conla scuola medica di &lea O*d* 1$-0, p!2(-'2+4P!8

/ut what is that word WjU= It occurs nowhere else in the "ree# world! Its second hal,archos, is a common "ree# combining orm meaning @master, chie as in @architect < master builder!

)he irst hal is clearly rom precisely the fU7%h9leos'' lair8 that we met in the Duotation romtrabo! A careul study o its use shows that it reerred to a place where animals lay in a lethargic state,e;actly as trabo describes the patients lying in the temple! )hus, these men were the @master o thelair, the chie priests o a healing temple o As#lepios, an As#lepion! )hey were dream healers!

A stone was also ound with the inscription

_`RWq]WTUWTRU

)he irst word, 6uliads, means something li#e @those o the line o 6ulis! )he middle word,iatromantis, has two rootsF iatroE healer and mantisE prophecy! )he last word is, o course, Apollo! In

other words, this line o 6ulis healers were priests o Apollo, god o healing, and healed throughprophecy, that is, by letting the diinity spea# through them!

>hat does all this hae to do with *armenides= In eptember o 1$(2, Marioapoli ound in the same building where the 6ulis inscriptions had been ound amarble base or bust! It was o similar stone and, in letters o a similar style, borethe inscription O*d* 1$((, p %%0P

WOPffRq] `]TU

_`RWq] `SRYU

*armeneides son o *yres6uliads physi#os

)he _`RWq] was clearly intended to tie *armenides to the 6ulis priest'physicians they claimedhim as one o them! )he absence o a year may well mean that he was regarded as the ounder o theline! >hat did the%hysicosmean= ome thought it meant @physicist or one concerned with theultimate nature o reality! ome thought it meant @physician, and a recent discoery near Vallosupports that reading *resumably both were right, or *armenides was all o that!

ot ar rom where the inscriptions were ound, apoli ound a statue o As#lepios clearlyidentiied by the serpent rising up the edge o his garment on his let! A headless eminine statue wasound, presumably 3ygieia, goddess o health! Close by there was also ound an idealied head o a

philosopher! Microanalysis o the connecting surace o the head and the base or *armenides has nowshown that they deinitely belong together! 9nli#e the head o 6ulis son o &u;inus, which is clearly aportrait o a particular man, the head o *armenides shows what the sculptor thought a sage should loo#li#e!

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Parmenides


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6ne may, o course, ob:ect that these dream healers may hae simplyappropriated *armenides or their own purposes! /ut it is also Duite possible thatthey honestly continued a tradition going bac# to *armenides! )hus, it is at leastworth considering the possibility o seeing *armenides as a prophet dream healer! Ihe were, then rom irst'hand e;perience, he #new not only the way into the spiritualworlds but the essence o those worlds! >hat distinguishes him rom the countless

other priests is that he thou"htabout those e;periences and tried to coney the resultin a logically way! *erhaps he would hae said that the goddess thought within him!/ut it those thoughts which he tries to coney in the sections @)ruth and@6pinion!

)he ragments o @)ruth, though airly e;tensie, do not come to us in anyparticular order! cholars hae tried to arrange them in a sensible order and haeproduced seeral! )he one they usually put irst is one o the most puling becausethe goddess uses the erb @is without a sub:ect! >hat must always be the sub:ect o@is= A being! And i none is named, then is must be /eing itsel!

I a diinity whispered the secret o e;istence to us, would we understand it= Itwould surely be ininitely simple and ininitely proound! It might be something

li#e, @/eing is! 6r to go a little urther, @/eing is and is accessible to your thin#ing! Gou canparticipate in the undamental /eing o the world with your thin#ing! 3ere then is my translation owhat the goddess says to *armenides in .ragment 2, with @/eing inserted as the sub:ect o @is!

Come now, I will tell '' and you listen and carry away my story hat routes o inDuiry alone there are or thin#ing!6ne holdsF /eing is and on'being is not!6n it, persuasion attends upon )ruth!)he other holdsF /eing is not and cannot be!)hat I point out to you is a path utterly inscrutable,.or you cannot #now nor point to what is not!

Bo you thin# that is obious= Many thin# it not only not obious but alse! *erhaps with ant theyargue that we cannot #now the @thing itsel or between it and our thin#ing are our sense organs!*erhaps they argue with the nominalists that all we #now are names, not realities! *erhaps they merelyecho *ilates cynical Duestion, @>hat is )ruth=

All o these iews amount to the second path, which might also be phrased, @nowledge is not andcannot be! )he goddess points out to *armenides that this path is sel'contradictory! )a#e the antianargument or e;ample! I we cannot #now anything e;ternal to our minds because we can access it onlythrough our sense organs, how do we #now that we hae sense organs or that they are the only way wecan #now the world=

o ar, howeer, the goddess has said nothing about thin#ing and #nowing! )hat comes in.ragment %F

!!! TU W W`TU UfR fSTR Tf YWR fRWR

)o understand this succinct and isolated ragment correctly, one needs to recall that the erb UfR,usually translated @to thin#, in early "ree# had the sense o @to #now the truth o a situation throughinstant apprehension! )he synta; is puling here are seeral recent translationsF

24

Askle%ios o#

4elia


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!!! or the same thing can be thought as can be! 7ir# and aen8

!!! because the same thing is there or thin#ing and or being! 7"allop8

!!! or what e;ists or thin#ing, and being, are one and the same 7ingsley8

!!! or the same thing can be thought and can e;ist 7)aran8

!!! denn dass man es er#ennt, ist dasselbe, wie dass es ist! 7Mannseld8

)he sense is that our perceptie thin#ing can participate in the being o the world! >e are not cuto and isolated! )here is a reality, and we can participate in it through our perceptie thin#ing! )his/eing, this eality, is continuous, eerywhere, a oneness, as *armenides illustrates in .ragment 4F

Hoo# upon things which, though ar o, are yet irmly present to the mind.or you cannot cut o /eing rom ast'clinging /eingince /eing neither disperses itsel in some orderor gathers itsel together!

In the second century, some (00 years ater *armenides, Biogenes Haertius reports that Amenias, a*ythagorean, led *armenides to practice A8Bander, two'headed, or helplessness in their

/reasts guides their distracted mind and they are all carried,Bea and blind ali#e, daed, uncritical tribes,/elieing that /eing and onbeing are both the sameAnd not the same, on a path that goes nowhere!

.ragment -F

.or neer can it be orced to happen that what is not is!6n the contrary, hold bac# your thought rom this route o inDuiryor let habit orce you along this much'e;perienced route)o ply an aimless eye and ringing ear

And tongue but :udge with reason 7UU 8 the much'contested disproo>hich I hae spo#en!

5 )he word meaning @Gou shall begin is not in the manuscripts editors usually supply a "ree#erb that means @I hold you bac#! )he result seems to me to be nonsense, since the goddesswants *armenides to e;plore both the ways o )ruth and o 6pinion, as indicated by supplying aerb that means @you shall begin!

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o ar you may well hae been wondering why *armenides is regarded as the ather o logicalargument! )he grounds are in .ragment +F

It remains only to describe the route o /eing!Along this way there are many, many signs that it is birthless and deathless,>hole,sui "eneris, steadast, without end!

or was it once, nor will it come to be, or it is now, all together!6ne and continuous! .or rom what could /eing come into being=And how could it grow= I wont let you say or thin#@.rom what is not, or @what is notIs not! And what could hae made it growHater rather than sooner i it began rom nothing=)hus, it must be completely, or not at all!either could *ersuasion allow that it came into being out oon'being alongside it! And thereore ?ustice does not allow/eing to come to be nor to perish rather, she holds it ast!!!!!

)hus coming to be is e;tinguished and perishing is unheard o!

)he power o *armenidess argument tends to get lost in translating the poetic erse in which it wase;pressed! *ut in more modern way, he argues,

/eing could not come into being, or what could it come rom= ot rom on/eing, oron/eing doesnt e;ist, and not rom /eing, or i it did, then /eing already e;isted!

/eing cannot perish, or cease to be! 7*armenides leaes the proo to the reader as an e;ercise!8

In the ne;t passage he will argueF

/eing is one and continuous! >hat could separate it= 6nly on/eing, but on/eing does note;ist!

/eing is motionless! >hither could it moe= 6nly to where on/eing is, but on/eing is not!

.ragment + continuesF

And also, there is no diiding it, or it is all ali#e!)here is nothing more here that could stop it rom holding together with itsel6r less there! /ut all o it is ull o being, o it is that&erything is continuous with eerything because/eing draws near to being! And whats moreF it is motionlessIn the bonds o great etters it has no beginning or end/ecause creation and destruction hae wandered ar, ar away!And )rue and *ersuasie eidence is what has drien them out!It stays :ust the same, in the same unaltered state,Hies by itsel on its own and so remains constantly where it is!.or mighty ecessity holds it ast in the etters o a bond that shuts it in.rom all around and this is why it is not right or it to be incomplete.or there nothing that it wants or lac#s!

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/ut non'being would lac# eerything!7)ranslation o *eter ingsley,Reality, p! 1-18

I you come at these arguments abstractly, they seem li#e the emptiest o tautologies! /ut i youhae once e;perienced onenesswith the spiritual worlds and with their maniestations in nature, thenthey become a wonderul e;pression o a most powerul eelingF Bein" isv

*armenides clearly recognied not only a world o the senses but behind it a world perceptibleby thought! I we throw a stone, our senses show us the stone in light, our thin#ing shows us theparabola it ollows! >e tend to suppose that the @ethereal parabola o our thought and the heay stoneare two dierent things! )hereore we are willing to admit, with ant, that we cannot #now die :in"an sich, the thing in itsel! >e come to suppose that we cannot%artici%atein the being o the worldwith our thin#ing! )he goddess tells *armenides that there mortals go astray at the end o the passageon )ruth, she says, O.rag +, lines 50'5$P

3ere I stop my trustworthy speech to you and thoughtAbout truth rom here onwards learn mortal belies,

Histening to the deceitul ordering o my words.or they Oi!e! mortalsP established t=o #ormsin their minds or naming,6 which it is not right to name one '' wherein they hae gone astray hich is gentle, ery light, eerywhere the same as itsel,/ut not the same as the other but on the other hand, that one too by itselIn contrast, dar# night, a dense and heay body!

he is contrasting, it seems clear, thought and physical bodies! Mortals separate them and thereby go

astray! )hey should recognie that it is not the nature o the world that ma#es the separation but onlyour way o #nowing! In the iew o the goddess, as we hae seen O.rag %PF

!!!TU W W`TU UfR fSTR Tf YWR fRWR

)hin#ing canparticipate in being!

I should add that a lot has been written about *armenides by those who proess no awareness othe oneness! )he e;isting translations are made, it seems to me, oten without an understanding o thee;perience he is trying to coney! It has been oten asserted, or e;ample, that he denied the possibilityo change or o motion! /ut we hae seen that this denial is o change or motion o /eing itsel, not tobe conused with ob:ects! As# yoursel Boes anything change as the moon wa;es and wanes or asVenus leaes the eening s#y or the morning= Gou will probably answer, @Ges, at a supericial leel

but no, not at a more proound leel! *armenides would ta#e you urther along that route to recogniecoherence in apparent change! And to realie our capacity to participate in the &ein"o the world!

#. Velia in $oman Times

/etween 4%+ and 424, the Italic people o the inland, the Hucani 7or Heucani8, a branch o the amnites,captured all the "ree# cities o the coast e;cept Velia! In %+-, it was allied with ome against

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Bionysius o yracuse! Hiy recounts briely the capture o the town by the omans about %00 /C7boo# 10, chapters 44'458! ince he says that it was ta#en in a single day, one may well imagine that itwas ta#en more by diplomacy than by siege! Hiy also spea#s o the town as belonging to the amnitessince it was certainly still "ree# spea#ing, it is more li#ely that it merely had some association with theamnites which it was happy enough to transer to the omans! In 2-5, ater the omans deeated theamnites, Velia concluded a treaty o alliance with ome! .rom the archeological eidence, this

alliance ushered in a period o prosperity and monumental building! )he city, howeer, remained"ree#'spea#ing well down into the oman empire! Velia became a oman municipality in ++ /C! Itsupplied "ree#'spea#ing priestesses or the temple o Ceres in ome! Marcus /rutus, o Et tu, Brute>,had a illa in Velia, which he used as a base ollowing the assassination o Caesar! Cicero #new thetown well, met /rutus there, and mentions it reDuently in his letters! Antonius Musa, physician toAugustus and other prominent omans, recommended cold water treatments at Velia to 3orace! 3oracewrote 7in erse8 to a riend as#ing how the weather and ood were in Velia! >e hae the letter, but whatthe answer was and whether he too# the recommended cure we #now not! trabo, writing at about thesame time, mentions &leas ame or *armenides, but says that the town was in his time reduced toishing and drying o ish! )he silting up o the port and the disappearance o the two o'shore islandswhich had sheltered it contributed to its urther decline!

)he irst site Christian worship in Velia was probably the domuso the rich and powerul"ens Ga5ina.>hat are thought to be the ruins were ound in 1$(2 near the entrance to the e;caations! "ainuscommanded the oman leet against the /ritons in %-0 and brought bac# what he had been told andbelieed to be the body o t! Matthew the &angelist and placed it in his house in Velia! Buring theirst hal o the 5thcentury, a little basilica was built where, under the altar, were placed the remains othe saint! )his soon became the goal o pilgrimages rom all o the "ree#'/yantine world and wasprobably the origin o the "ree#'Italian monasticism in the Cilento! )he irst recorded bishop o Veliawas Agnellus near the end o the (thcentury!

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%. &rom 'arbarians to the Present%

4isi"oths, 4andals, !stro"oths

Ater their sac# o ome in 410, the Visigoths o Alaric headed south, sac#ing as they went! )heyseem to hae reached *aestum, where, discouraged by the wall and by the rugged terrain alone the

coast, they turned inward along the course o the ele, Calore, and )anagro! )heir intent was to moedown the /ussento and then sac# Velia rom the south! /ut Alaric died en route legend says theydierted a rier, buried him in the rier bed, and then turned the rier bac# into its bed, thus protectingoreer his tomb! In any eent, when they were met by their leet at the mouth o the /ussento, theyheaded o to Arica and the Cilento was spared!

/ut the repriee was not or long! )he Vandals under "aiseric moed down through pain intoArica, where they too# 3ippo in 4%1 ater a two'year siege in which the bishop, Augustine, died! In4%$ they too# Carthage and began raiding the coast o icily and southern Italy! In 455 they sac#edome with a thoroughness that has made their name synonymous with senseless destruction! Many othe inhabitants o southern Italy were captured and sold as slaes! Hicosa, &rculum, apri, Velia, and/ussento were sac#ed between 440 and 4(0! )he irst three went out o e;istence Velia and /ussento,

organiing themseles around their bishops, suried at the margins o e;istence! In 4-5, omulusAugustus, who was to be the last emperor in the west, recognied icily as Vandal territory in return orthe Vandals stopping their raiding in Italy! )he ne;t year, omulus surrendered to the 3erulian chie6doacer at aenna and the oman &mpire in the >est came to an end!

)he 3erulians neer came urther than alerno beore 6doacer was deeated by )heodoric, chieo the 6strogoths in 4$%! )heodoric admired the best o what ome had been, and his rule until hisdeath in 52( brought some measure o peace to the peninsula! Velia en:oyed a brie period oprosperity! >e #now, in particular, that its shippers 7na5icularii8 carried grain or the new rulers romthe Vallo di Biano where it was abundant to "aul where there was amine! And the relics o t!Matthew continued to attract pilgrims!

By$antinesIn 5%%, ?ustinian, the new emperor in

Constantinople, as part o his dream to re'establish the empire in all its glory, dispatchedhis general /elisarius to reta#e Arica andItaly! 3e was Duic#ly successul in orthArica, but in Italy the @"othic >ar draggedon twenty years! /elisarius would win, berecalled by ?ustinian and replaced byincompetents, the "oths would reorganie,drie out the /yantines, and ?ustinian would

send /elisarius bac# and the cycle wouldbegin again! 9ltimately, the /yantines won,but country was utterly destroyed! ome, oncea city o a million, was reduced to 40,000!

()his section draws heaily on Amedeo Ha "reca,A%%unti de Storia del Cilento7Centro di*romoione Culturale per il Cilento, Acciaroli, 20018! >ill Burants Story o# Ci5ili$ationand otherstandard sources were used or the political history o aples!

2$

Cha%el o# the 4ir"in !do"itria (author)s %hoto*


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A "ree# inasion o the Cilento o an altogether dierent sort began in the 5thcentury! Mon#s andother aithul who came to shrine o t! Matthew in Velia ound the country sparsely inhabited andstayed! Many who had come as military chaplains during the "othic war remained as settlers! )heysought to lead a lie o prayer, meditation, and study! ome were married and lied in small groupssome chose a celibate lie and lied in huts connected with one another by narrow paths! All reused tobear arms! 6ne o their early centers was around the chapel o the Virgin 6dogitria 76digitria < a guide

or one who points out the way8 built by the "ree# mon#s on the south side o the acropolis o Velia,:ust below the summit!

6om&ards

Ater a scant 1% years o peace, in 5(+ a people who claimed to come rom candinaia inadedItaly rom the north! )he Italians called them Hongobardi '' long beards '' rom which the &nglish@Hombards comes! )hey Duic#ly swept down Italy as ar as /eneento! At irst, the coastal areas,including Velia, remained /yantine! /ut in the course o a century the Hombards penetrated souththrough the interior rier alleys, then to the coast ia the /ussento, and then struc# north ta#ing the/yantine ortress o Hucania on Monte Cilento, now called Monte tella, :ust north o Velia! .romthere, they too# Velia about (-0!

)hese Hombards were Arian Christians and gae no allegiance to the pope! )hey were, howeer,new to any type o Christianity, and the northern gods, warli#e igures li#e >otan and )hor, remainedalie in their souls! 6ne o the signs o this continuity was the rise o the cult o the warrior ArchangelMichael in their territories! 9p until Hombard times, the Archangel had hardly been noticed in Christianworship! 3is earliest appearances at "argano were later placed at the end o the ith century, but theearliest reerences to them all come rom later, Hombard times and Hombard areas!

)he /yantines held onto Agropoli and *aestum and a strip o coastline! /ut in the +th century, anew inader arried rom the sea, the aracens! At irst, the /yantine du#e o aples welcomed theirhelp against the Hombards and gae them bases at Camerota and Hicosa! )he alliance was short'lied,and in +4( the aracens launched their irst drie or aples! Agropoli and /ussento ell, and eenHucania, the bastion on Monte Cilento 7Monte tella8 ell in +-$! >hen Agropoli ell, the bishop in

*aestum moed inland to Capaccio! oon the aracens were threatening ome! In ++2, howeer, theChristians rallied under the bishop o aples and droe the aracens out o their base on Vesuius!)hey withdrew to Agropoli, where they constructed a ri&at, a bridgehead, and raided and plundered,putting an end to a number o illages! )he Christian counter oensie continued! /ussento wasrecaptured, ortiied, and renamed *olicastro < ortiied city! In $15, *ope ?ohn [ too# personalcommand o an army that dealt the aracens a bloody deeat at "arigliano! )hey too# reuge inAgropoli, but in the night between ?une 2% and 24, they sallied orth or one last nocturnal raid one;hausted *aestum, then turned south, :oined up with the arcens o Hicosa and Camerota, sac#ed*olicastro, and sailed away to north Arica! .rom there, they continued sporadic raids on the coast butneer again occupied territory in Italy! In $2$, the Hombards too# control o the last /yantine territoryin the Cilento!

)he rest o the tenth century was a relatiely peaceul time that saw a modest economic reial!Much o the population o the Cilento remained "ree#'spea#ing, ollowed the "ree# rite in worship,and lied in monastic communities dedicated to a simple lie and spiritual growth! As beore, some othese communities were celibate, but many o them were groups o married couples with children!

)he economic reial that then began in the tenth century is eidenced in a curious way! Amid theturmoil o the Hombard and aracen inasions, the presumed body o t! Matthew at Velia was almost

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completely orgotten! >ith the return o peace, a mon# o the area, one Atthanasius, went loo#ing or itand belieed < or at least claimed < that he ound it! )wice he tried to sail away with it to the east to sellit at great proit! /ut he was drien bac# by contrary winds and came to beliee that it was "ods willthat it should remain in the Velia area! 3e hid the body near the mouth o the Alento where he and hismother lied as anchorites! /ut the bishop o Capaccio got wind o the discoery and ordered the mon#to hand oer the body to him! >ith much estiity, the body was moed to Capaccio but the prince in

alerno learned o what was happening and sent an abbot to bring the body to alerno! It arried May(, $54 and was placed in the church o the Virgin 6dogitria! In the ne;t century, the ormans erectedthe great cathedral which stands today! It is dedicated to the eangelist and in it are enerated theremains o this body! )he economic releance o this story is that it describes a country at peace,capable o such estiities and processions and soon o building an imposing cathedral! 6n the otherhand, the name @Velia is no longer mentioned in these or subseDuent medieal documents relating tothe place! )he memory o the "ree# and oman city had anished rom the memory o the localpeople!

Normans (-?? @ *

)he year 1000 saw some degree o peaceand prosperity in the Cilento under the Hombard

prince o alerno "uaimario III! )he city was#nown throughout &urope or its celebratedmedical school! In 1001, some orty ormans illiam d 3auteille,reestablished "uaimarios son "isulo II on throne! "isulo, howeer, made the enormous mista#e onot giing the ormans the recompense due them! )hey stormed into his lands and occupied a largepart o them between 105% and 1054! )hey then proceeded to build a number o castles including theone whose ruins stand on the hill o Velia! It was reerred to, howeer, as Castellammare della /ruca,or Velia, as already noted, had been orgotten! )he whole area rom about halway between *aestumand alerno down almost to *olicastro was organied as a orman duchy under >illiam as a assal ohis older brother 9mberto, Bu#e o Apulia! It loo#ed li#e it would soon be all oer or "isulo! /ut

then in 105- 9mberto died and was succeeded by a younger brother, obert "uiscard! >illiam reusedallegiance to obert and allied himsel with "isulo by marrying "isulos sister ichelgaita!

"isulo also allied himsel strongly with the *ope and began pressing the Hatin rite on the churchesin his area which had remained largely "ree#! 3e made, and encouraged others to ma#e generous gitso estates to the recently ounded /enedictie monastery at Caa :ust north o alerno near where todaythe railroad and autostrada cut through the mountain chain that ma#es the Amali peninsula!

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6a Ca%ella Palatina, cha%el o# the medie5al court.


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Meanwhile, obert "uiscard made no secret o his designs on the lands o the *ope, and the *opereplied by e;communicating him! In 10-( < a date easily remembered by its relation to anotherorman conDuest ten years earlier < in answer to pleas by the citiens o Amali or protection against"isulo, obert laid siege to alerno with an army composed o "ree#s, aracens, and ormans! )hecity held out or nearly a year, but ell in the summer o 10--! .our centuries o Hombard rule insouthern Italy were at an end!

9nder the ormans, eudalism ater the .rench ashion, with baronies and iedoms, was spreadinto these lands o ree men who #new nothing o assals, ies, and serdom! In addition to the laybaronies, the abbey at Caa grew so rich in lands that it constituted almost a separate baronyinterpenetrating the others!

9p until this point, outhern Italy had been the relatiely richer and more prosperous part o thepeninsula! )he institution o eudalism by the ormans with its conseDuent long'term sapping oinitiatie and responsibility is oten seen as the beginning o the relatie bac#wardness o the outh!)his eect, howeer, was outweighed in the short term by the improed deenses against aracen raids!

&en beore the all o alerno, the ormans had begun the construction o watch towers along thecoast! )he irst, built about 1041, was at *aestum! 6thers ollowed at points well situated or watching

possible landing pointsF an Marco di Agropoli, )resino, Hicosa, Acciaroli, Velia, Ascea, *olinuro, andan "ioanni a *iro, almost to *olicastro! Most o these were isolated towers the one at Velia,howeer, was within the castle!

)his eectie deensie system encouraged, o course, agriculture, the clearing o new land,establishment o communities, and with them, o building churches by lay people! )he construction othe chapel o an \uirico on the acropolis at Velia, :ust aboe the theater, belongs to this period it isirst mentioned in 1144, haing been built using materials rom an earlier "ree# ediice!

The S=a&ians ( @ 7*

In 1152, in "ermany, .rederic# I, /arbarossa, rom the wabian town o 3ohenstauen, waselected 3oly oman &mperor! 3e too# seriously the idea that he was the successor o Augustus and

Charlemagne and had himsel crowned emperor in ome in1155! 3e made ie campaigns to Italy togie reality to his claims to rule the country! 3is son 3enry VI married Constance d3auteille,posthumous daughter o the orman ing oger II! >illiam II, the orman #ing but without heir,designated his aunt Constance to succeed him! 3er son by 3enry, thereore, inherited both the orman#ingdom and the 3oly oman &mpire! )his son, .rederic# II, was emperor rom 1212 to 1250! nownasstu%or mundi7>onder o the >orld8, he was an e;cellent linguist, scientist, poet, administrator, andgeneral! )he popes, howeer, were alarmed at being surrounded on both north and south by3ohenstauen power when .rederic# was haing trouble with Hombard league o cities in northernItaly in12%-, the pope e;communicated him! 3e replied by seiing the papal estates! )he pope led to.rance and declared .rederic# deposed! .rederic# died with his position against the league stillinsecure! 3is natural son, Manred, too# control o the goernment while his heir, Conrad, came rom

"ermany! )here were numerous rebellions against Manred! Conrad arried, but immediately died omalaria! )he pope too# this opportunity to inite Houis I[ o .rance to become ing o icily andsouthern Italy! Houis declined, but allowed his brother Charles o An:ou to accept!

The An"e5ins (7 @ DD*

Charles marched south with %0,000 men and deeated Manred, who was #illed in the battle at/eneento in 12((! )he "ermans sent .rederic#s 15'year'old grandson Conradin to reclaim the

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departure! Meanwhile, ?oanna had married again, but when there were still no children, the secondhusband died in mysterious circumstances! >hen a third husband ailed to produce children, ?oannaadopted an Angein relatie, Charles Bu#e o Burao 7in Albania8, as her son and successor, but onsoon alling out with him, she adopted Houis o An:ou, brother o the ing o .rance! >hen she died in1%+2, there was yet another war! )omasso anseerino, the dominant eudal lord o the Cilento,supported Houis! o when Charles won, he promptly inaded the Cilento to ta#e direct possesion o the

anseerino lands! 3e was repulsed and had to return to )omasso the lands he had won! Charles died in1%+(, and, learning o his rials death, Houis arried in aples in 1%$0 < amid much celebratingorganied by ansererino < to ta#e oer the #ingship! Charles widow, howeer, aiming to saeguardher son Hadislaos claim to the crown, secretly called together the other barons and had them attac# theCilento to punish anseerino! )he attac# was unsuccessul, but our years later Hadislao, haing comeo age, raised a large army with the popes help, too# control o aples, #illed eleen supporters o theanseerini and ed their bodies to dogs! Hadislao was succeeded by his sister ?oanna II, who, haingno children, adopted Alonso o Aragon but, suspecting that he was plotting to displace her, disownedhim and adopted en o An:ou! eedless to say, when she died in 14%5, these two went to war tobecome #ing o aples! /y 1442, Alonso was the ictor!

The Ara"onese (DD7 @ -D*

Alonso li#ed aples so well that he turned oer the rule o Aragon to his brother and moed toaples! Almost immediately, in 144%, he eliminated all old ta;es but established a new one, the#ocatico, o one ducat per year per amily, or more literally, per hearth 7#ocus in Hatin8! )his ta;remained in orce or 2$+ years! )o establish how much ta; was due rom each area, a census was ta#enand repeated eery 15 years! )he results o these censuses are a undamental source or the history othe region! >hile the one ducat was a substantial amount, the simplicity o the ta; was appreciated bythe poor! 6ther ta;es were imposed principally on the merchants! Alonso was a popular, well'li#ed#ing he wal#ed about aples unarmed, unguarded, and unharmed! 3e also caught the humanist spirito the times and employed a troop o scholars, poets, and artists, who conerred on him the epithet o)he Magnanimous! 3aing no legitimate children, he was succeeded 7145+8 by his putatie illegitimateson .erdinand I, called .errante< putatie because his mother was not be sure who his ather was!

.errantes ambiguous paternity and certain illegitimacy opened the way or Angein claims on thethrone, but with support o .rancesco oro o Milan and Cosimo deMedici o .lorence, and oer theopposition o *ope Innocent V, .errante won out! In a long reign until his death o natural causes in14$4, he employed tactics < including #illing his guests at a wedding banDuet < that mar# him as one othe most cunning and unscrupulous o princes! 3is oldest son, Alonso, succeeded him but died almostimmediately, as did Alonsos son, .erdinand II! )he throne then went bac# a generation to .errantessecond son, who became .ederigo III!

At this point, Charles VIII o .rance decided to reassert Angein rights to the crown o aples!>ith an army o 12,000 inantry and 1+,000 caalry he moed south in March o 14$4! 3e had beengranted passage through Milan *iero deMedici rushed out to meet him to surrender .lorence and

allow passage through )uscany! Charles paraded hal o his army through .lorence and continuedsouth! )he /orgia pope, Ale;ander VI, let him pass through Hatium, and so he arried at and too#aples without resistance on .ebruary 22, 14$5! 3e clearly li#ed the place and was prepared or a longstay in paradise, when he learned that the pope, and other northern princes were raising a large army tocut him o and destroy him! 6n May 21, he let aples in the hands o a cousin and headed north withan army o 10,000! ear *arma, an indecisie battle was ought with the Italians! Charles got bac# to.rance with his s#in, but realied that he could not hold aples! )he panish captain "onalo o

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Cxrdoba, put .ederigo III bac# on the throne!

In 1502, howeer, Charless cousin and successor, Houis [II, decided to try again! In secretnegotiations with .erdinand o Aragon 7the .erdinand o .erdinand and Isabella8 Houis wor#ed out adeal to split up the lands o .erdinands close relaties! )hey would unite to conDuer icily and theingdom o aples! )hen aples and Campania would go to Houis while icily, Calabria, and Apuliawould go to .erdinand! )he inasion went according to plan .ederigo was easily oerthrown! /ut

when the two allied armies met, they began sDuabbling and then openly ighting oer the e;act diisiono the spoils! At irst the .rench were winning and had the panish bottled up in one city! /ut then thepanish got the upper hand and, led by the same "onalo, droe the .rench completely out! Houis wasable to sae ace by marrying a .rench princess to .erdinand 7Isabella was deceased8 and giing heraples as a dowry!

6ur sources or understanding the economic lie o the Cilento gradually become more e;tensiein this period! >e #now, or e;ample, that eery year in ?une, ?uly, and August thousands o armwor#ers migrated rom the Cilento across the mountains to mow and harest in Apulia! )heir earningsallowed them to pay ta;es and buy the grain, especially barley, necessary or the two annual breadba#ings, namely at Christmas and &aster! )he ba#ing would be done in communal oens the use o theoens was ree, but the user had to supply the wood or uel! )he bread would be toasted and preseredin wooden barrels, somewhat in style o the American crac#er barrel! ometimes, the communitieswould hae money enough to pay the#ocatio more reDuently they would pay in #ind, sending toaples wine, olie oil, and salt ish! 6ther e;ports included sil#, cotton, dried igs, wild oranges, saltpor#, sausage, and terra cotta utensils! Accounting records that come down to us suggest that the agentswho loaded and unloaded the boats made high proits!

)he mention o sil# in the aboe list may hae been surprising! Hegend says the sil# cocoons werebrought bac# rom China in the sta o a missionary! /y the iteenth century, raw sil# was a ma:orproduct o the Cilento, where labor was cheap and the mulberry tree grew well!

>hile the new styles in painting and architecture that were appearing in .lorence did not spread atonce into aples and the Cilento, both Alonso the #ing and the anseerini, the eudal lords o the

Cilento, were great patrons o the arts and there are many ine wor#s in older styles to be ound in theCilento!

>e hae mentioned seeral waes o "ree# immigration into the Cilento! )he last came in anunusual way in these years! At the time o the oerthrow o the eastern oman empire by the )ur#s in145%, the thirteen'year'old oger *aleologos, legal heir to the throne o Constantinople, was liing inan Mauro on the western slopes o Monte tella, where he was held in pleasant conditions as hostageguaranteeing the treaty o non'aggression between the &mpire and aples! >hen the &mpire ell, hewent on liing in an Mauro, where he became Duite prosperous in the production o olies! Manywealthy "ree# amilies led Constantinople and ollowed him to an Mauro!

The S%anish (-D @ ?-* and Austria (?- @ ?D*

.or the ne;t two centuries, rom the time o .erdinand until 1-05, the ingdom o the aples andicily remained :ust an appendage o pain! )here was a panish iceroy resident in aples but not a#ing! )o distinguish this line rom the preious Aragonese line, this later period is reerred to aspanish! .erdinand and Isabella married their daughter and only child, ?oanna, to *hilip, a 3apsburg,and thus this Austrian house became the rulers o pain, aples, icily, and Milan! )he irst 3apsburgruler o pain and aples was Charles 7151( '154(8, who was soon called to be not only #ing o painbut ruler o the 3apsburg empire, as Charles V! An energetic monarch, he deoted orty years to

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seemingly ceaseless wars, mostly with .rance but also in orth Arica, beore abdicating and retiring toa monastery! )he panish crown passed to his son *hilip II 7155( ' 15$+8, remembered by the &nglishor the great Armada they destroyed in the &nglish Channel! )he si;teenth century was deinitely thehighpoint o panish inluence, wealth, and prosperity! *hilip III 715$+'1(218 was mainly interested inthe Church *hilip IV 71(21 ' 1((58 was an amiable prince uninterested in running the state! Charles II71((5 ' 1-008 came to the throne at age our! Buring most o his reign, pain was engaged in conlicts

with .rance, but nonetheless, as he was dying childless, he willed his #ingdom to his great nephew*hilip o An:ou, grandson o Houis [IV o .rance! eedless to say, there were other claimants and awar, #nown as the >ar o the panish uccession, bro#e out between Austria and .rance! In 1-0-, theAustrians occupied aples! In 1-1%, *hilip o An:ou was recognied by the Austrians as *hilip V, ingo pain, the irst o the /ourbon line, while pain ceded aples and ardinia to Austria and icily toaoy! In 1-20, Austria and aoy swapped icily or ardinia, so that Austria now controlled aplesand icily! In 1-%4, howeer, Charles o /oubon, du#e o *arma and *iacena in northern Italy, too#adantage o the >ar o the *olish uccession, in which Austria was deeply inoled, to ta#e oersouthern Italy! In 1-%5, Austria was orced to cede aples and icily to the panish /ourbons oncondition that pain and aples'icily should neer hae the same #ing!

In the Cilento, panish rule began with a smallpo; epidemic in 150+ that reduced the population o

many towns by more than a third! >hile such epidemics are certainly tragic at the time, the recoery isoten a period o prosperity because the land'labor ratio in agriculture has increased and with it, laborproductiity in agriculture! )hus, it is not surprising to see eidence o economic reial! .airs andestials are one sign o this reial! 6ne o the largest o these was held each year rom August 1 to 12at the spot on the north eastern slopes o Monte tella now called Mercato di Cilento 7Mar#et o theCilento8 precisely because o this .air! /ecause it ended at the time o the east o t! Haurence, August10, it was called the .air o t! Haurence! /ecause o its sie, it was elt that the prices preailing therewere air, so they then became the standard or transactions during the ne;t twele months!)ransactions at those prices were said to be @according to the oice o t! Haurence! 6n the eening oAugust 12, when the air had closed, there would be a great pilgrimage to the sanctuary o the Madonnadella tella at the highest point o the mountain! Hay and religious ali#e would wal# up the mountain

where they would spend three nights at the top! 6n the third night, August 14, they would build greatbonires at the edge o the little plain at the summit to signal the beginning o the .east o theAssumption to all those who, or many miles around, can see that pea#!

)here were many other airs in the Cilento! )he one at "ioi, going bac# to at least 122+, wasespecially amous or sil#! Arabic, .rench, .lorentine, ienese, "enoese, and 3ebrew merchantswould be there! )here were others specialied in agricultural products and agricultural eDuipment!

)he airs, it should be noted, were in the hills, not along the coasts! Banger arried by sea! aracenraids intensiied and let the coast o the Cilento almost uninhabited! )here were, in act, only threepopulated coastal areasF Agropoli, Castellammare della /ruca 7Velia8, and *olicastro! In 14+$, Agropolihad 24( amilies by 15%2 , they were reduced to 54! Castellammare della /ruca had 140 amilies in

14+$ ugities rom small settlements along the coast to the well'deended castle brought to numberup to 1(1 in 15%5, but the raids o the mid century reduced them by about hal! In 15%2, *olicastro stillhad 1(4 amilies by 15$5, only 5 remained! In 15%%, a commandant o the 6ttoman leet, Ariodemo,began ma#ing a regular practice o not only sac#ing the coastal towns, where there was not much let toloot, but also penetrating urther inland to the hill towns! In 15%5, he carried o 500 slaes rom a raidat Agropoli! In 15%+, the emperor Charles V too# note o the problem and made a raid on orth Arica,but without positie results! In 1544, Ariodemo was bac# at Agropoli carrying o more prisoners!

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)his e;tremely precarious situation inally induced the iceroy at aples to plan and beginconstruction 7in 15(%8 o a ma:or e;tension o the series o deensie coastal towers! In all, 5$ towerswere eentually built or restructured along the Cilento coast! )hey had arious unctions! ome were@horse towers where a horse and rider waited to carry news o approaching danger to inlandinhabitants and military bases! ome were deensie, heaily armed and capable o protecting thoseinside! ome were communication towers to #eep contact between deensie towers which were not in

iew o one another!)he best deense, o course, is a good oense! Venice organied a @Christian league against the

)ur#s and won a great naal ictory in 15-1 at Hepanto! )he news buoyed spirits across Christendombut especially in southern Italy! *iracy was sharply decreased, the resettlement o the coasts began, andthe counter'reormation gained momentum! In particular, record #eeping on parishioners < births,conirmations, marriages, and deaths < by the churches goes bac# to this time!

early a century later, these records reeal the path and the damage o the plague that sweptthrough the Cilento in 1(5(! /orne by the leas o ships rats, it struc# irst in aples, and the panishauthorities tried to preent its spread by orbidding people to leae the city! /ut e;ceptions were madeor nobles going to their homes on their country estates! Along their inland routes south came the irstoutbrea#s o the plague! )hen it struc# where those who came by sea landed, especially Castellammaredella /ruca 7Velia8 and Ascea! )he irst, li#e nine other towns, was completely wiped out and neeragain populated! Its castle remained as a shelter or e;iles and outlaws!

The Bour&ons (?D @ -*

In 1-%5, the irst /ourbon #ing, Charles IV 71-%5 '1-5$8, son o *hilip V, arried in aples as itsirst resident #ing in more than two centuries! An actie soereign, he reormed inances and ta;ation,restricted eudal priilege, reorganied prisons, reduced church wealth and power! 3e was anenthusiastic supporter o the e;caation o 3erculaneum 7begun in 1-%+8, *ompeii, tabiae, and therecoery o *aestum 71-518! In 1-5$, Charles was called to be ing o pain, and by the terms o thegrant rom Austria, he had to gie up the crown o aples! It was let to his son, .erdinand I 71-5$ '1+258, who was nine and the time! /y the time he was in command o his #ingdom, he was much under

the inluence o his wie, a daughter o Maria )heresia o Austria! he is credited with reducing theinluence o pain and increasing that o Austria in the aairs o aples! Ater a apoleonic interlude71+05 ' 1+158, during which he led to icily, .erdinand was restored by the Austrians! 3e wasollowed by his son .rancis I 71+25 ' 1+%08, who in turn was ollowed by his son .erdinand II 71+%0 '1+5$8, and he, by his son .rancis II 71+5$ '1+(08! It was .rancis II whom "aribaldi oerthrew in 1+(0to ma#e possible the uniication o Italy!

>hile that recitation o the #ingdom passing without conlict through ie /ourbon #ings oer 125years sounds peaceul enough, these years were anything but tranDuil in the Cilento! Initially, thearacen raids continued! )he last one was ?une 24, 1-$( at Marina di Ascea! )he pirates arried thenight beore and hid in a coe south o Ascea! >hen, as usual, a large merchant ship let the ne;tmorning bearing goods rom the Cilento bound or alerno, the pirates descended! )he sailors put up aierce resistance or three hours, but in the end were oercome and their ship captured! )he greatestproblem, howeer, were the bands o brigands who lied in woods but descended into the settled areasplundering houses and leading away cattle! )he armed guards sent by the central authorities were otenbought o by the brigands, who were also used as agents by the barons! &ectie policing had to beorganied locally!

)he .rench eolution had echos in the Cilento! In 1-$2, the Admiral Ha )ouche arried in aples

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to as# the recognition o the reolutionary .rench goernment by the #ing! .erdinand IV didnt want toreceie him, but there were mass demonstrations o enthusiastic support by young people! In the ne;tew years, republics were created in witerland and 3olland and then een in ome! .erdinand triedto march to the *opes rescue, but his troops were stopped, drien bac# to aples, and then in the irstdays o 1-$$, .rench troops, supported by local patriots, entered aples, and on ?anuary 2%, theRe%u&&lica %arteno%e was declared! &en some o the clergy :oined in, planting @Hiberty )rees,

accompanied by singing o the Te :eum. A moement to democratie the Cilento began! /ut at thesame time, Cardinal .abriio uo went to Calabria and began organiing a counter'campaign torestore the #ing! 3is irst supporters were the bishops o *olicastro and Capaccio in the Cilento! oonan army was raised, including many o the brig

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