VERETUM
VERETUM (
Οὐερητόν, Strab., Ptol.: Eth.
Veretinus:
Sta Maria di Vereto), a town of Calabria, in the district or territory of the Sallentines, and within a few miles of the Iapygian promontory. Strabo tells us that it was formerly called Baris, and describes it as if it were a seaport town; but both Pliny and Ptolemy rank it among the inland towns of the Sallentines; and there seems no doubt that its site is marked by the old church of
Sta Maria di Vereto, the name of which is found on old maps, between the villages of
Salve and
Roggiano, about 6 miles from the
Capo di Leuca, and 10 from
Ugento, the correct distance given in the Tabula from Uxentum to Veretum. (Strab. vi, p. 281;
Plin. Nat. 3.11. s. 16;
Ptol. 3.1.76;
Tab. Peut,; Galateo,
de Sit. Iapyg. p. 99; Holsten.
ad Clover. p. 283; Romanelli, vol. ii. p. 35.) The “ager Veretinus” is mentioned also in the Liber Coloniarum (p. 262) among the “civitates Calabriae,” and doubtless comprised the whole district as far as the Iapygian promontory.
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E.H.B]
