Medma
Greek: Medma | |
Location | Rosarno, Province of Reggio Calabria, Calabria, Italy |
---|---|
Region | Magna Graecia |
Coordinates | 38°29′16″N 15°59′0″E / 38.48778°N 15.98333°E |
Type | Settlement |
Medma or Mesma (Greek: Μέδμη, Steph. B.; Μέδμα, Strabo, Scymn. Ch.; but Μέσμα on coins, and so Apollodorus of Damascus, cited by Steph. B.; Scylax has Μέσα, evidently a corruption for Μέσμα), was an ancient Greek city of Magna Graecia, on the west coast of the Bruttian (now Calabrian) peninsula, between Hipponium and the mouth of the Metaurus[1] (probably today's River Petrace). The site is located at Rosarno, Province of Reggio Calabria, Calabria.
It was a colony founded by the Epizephyrian Locrians, and is said to have derived its name from an adjoining fountain.[2] But though it is repeatedly noticed among the Greek cities in this part of Italy, it does not appear ever to have attained to any great power or importance. It is probable, however, that the Medimnaeans (Μεδιμναῖ
The name of Mesima is still borne by a river which flows into the sea a little below Nicotera, in the neighbourhood. Nicotera, the name of which is already found in the Antonine Itinerary,[5] probably arose after the decline of Mesma.
A pair of terracotta altars from Medma with the myth of Aphrodite and Adonis dating back to the 4th century BC was probably stolen in the early 20th century and is now exhibited at the J. Paul Getty Museum of Los Angeles.[6][7][8]
References
[edit]- ^ Strabo vi.1.5.; Scyl. p. 4. § 12.
- ^ Strab. l. c.; Scymn. Ch. 308; Steph. B. s. v.
- ^ Diod. xiv. 78.
- ^ Strab. l. c.; Plin. iii. 5. s. 10.
- ^ pp. 106, 111
- ^ Getty Museum Catalogue
- ^ Getty Museum Catalogue
- ^ "The splendor of Magna Graecia in a pair of altars from Medma exhibited at Getty Museum" (in Italian). 6 November 2020.
- This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Smith, William, ed. (1854–1857). Dictionary of Greek and Roman Geography. London: John Murray.
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