RHEGION
(Reggio di Calabria) Italy.
According to ancient sources, founded toward the middle of
the 8th c. B.C. by Chalkidian colonists, near the Calopinace river (ancient Apsias) (
Diod. 8.23.2) in an area
called Pallontion (Dion. Hal. 19.2). The city expanded
N between the right bank of the Calopinace and the
Santa Lucia. The ancient urban plan is long and narrow
on a sloping plateau between the ridges of the Aspromonte hills along the straits of Messina. Its limits have
been ascertained by the remains of the circuit wall and
by the presence of the necropolis.
Although the area of the settlement expanded in the
course of time, what is known of the circuit wall dates
from the period of expansion between the end of
the 5th c. and the beginning of the 4th c. B.C. Nothing
remains of the wall in the S sector and on that side the
determining date, for the area outside the city, is given
by the presence of the necropolis. In the E sector a section of crude-brick wall must be attributed to a building
outside the wall rather than to a preceding phase of the
walls. Some parts of the N sector are known, where the
extent of the urban area has been ascertained. The W
sector is almost entirely known as it is limited by the
coastline. The wall construction shows a double ring,
joined by transverse elements and a filling of the intervening area with earth and rubble. The lower sections
were large sandstone blocks, with brick above. The exact
location of the gates is unknown, but there must have
been one at either end of the major urban axis, at least
one toward the Aspromonte hills, and two on the seaside.
Probably the acropolis was in the high area of today's
city in the district of Reggio Campi-Cimitero. The site
of the Greek agora, and later the forum of the Roman
era, corresponds to the present-day Piazza Italia and
there the principal public buildings were constructed. No
evidence remains of the street system, and the continual
rebuilding of the city on the same site and occasional
earthquakes have made archaeological evidence scarce.
Yet, in the NE sector, a large sacred area from the archaic and Classical periods has been identified. Interesting architectural terracotta elements have come from the area as well as votive materials) from the districts of
Griso-Laboccetta, Sandicchi, and Taraschi-Barilla). Recent excavations have brought to light traces of a small
temple and of other structures that point to the existence
of a sanctuary. In the vicinity, the remains of an odeon
have also been discovered. The stereobate of another
temple has been partially unearthed beneath the modern
prefecture. An inscription from the Roman period (
CIL
X, 1) attests the existence of a temple of Isis and Serapis,
and another (
CIL X, 6) mentions the templum Apollinis maioris. The latter inscription also mentions a
prytaneum, while inscriptions provide a record of various
other buildings. The most interesting of the inscriptions,
dating to 374, mentions a porticoed basilica and a bath
building. The excavations have brought to light ruins of
bath buildings, private homes, and perhaps also public
buildings. These ruins, interesting primarily because of
their Late Empire mosaics, also include honorary column
bases and other materials, particularly in the vicinity of
Piazza Italia. Among other finds of special interest are
those pertaining to the water supply of the city, particularly the cisterns.
Outside the city, necropoleis have been identified in
the districts of Santa Lucia, Santa Caterina, and Pentimeli to the N, and Modena and Ravagnese to the S. Outside the walls toward the sea, a sanctuary of Artemis has also been discovered. Near it, the Athenian forces encamped at the time of the Sicilian expedition of 415 B.C.
(
Thuc. 6.44.3). The worship of that divinity at Rhegion
has been attested by other sources. From the Classical
sources it is known that the city was endowed with a fine
harbor, which would therefore have had to be situated
at the mouth of the Apsias river.
The city's territory was not large by comparison with
the sphere of influence of other cities of Magna Graecia.
Naturally limited by the mass of the Aspromonte hills
and by the sea, it reached on the Tyrrhenian side as far
as the Metauros river (in the archaic period perhaps even
a little beyond) and on the Ionian side it ended at the
territory of the Lokrians. At that point, in consequence
of historic changes, the line of demarcation was formed
at times by the Caecinos river and at times by the Halex
river.
The Museo Nazionale di Reggio Calabria contains
enormous documentation for the civilization of Magna
Graecia, particularly material which concerns the territory of ancient Bruttium.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
O. Axt,
Zum Topographie von Rhegion
und Messana (1887); H. Phihipp,
RE IA (1920) 487ff;
Ferrua,
BACrist (1950) 227; G. Vallet,
Rhegion et
Zancle (1958); A. de Franciscis,
Agalmata, sculture
antiche nel Museo Nazionale di Reggio Calabria (1960);
EAA 6 (1965) 644-46 (A. de Franciscis); E. Tropea
Barbaro, “Il muro di cinta occidentale e la topografia di
Reggio ellenica,”
Klearchos (1967) 5ff; A. de Franciscis,
Stato e societè in Locri Epizefiri (1972); G. Foti,
Il
Museo Nazionale di Reggio Calabria (1972).
A. DE FRANCISCIS
