RUBI
(Ruvo di Puglia) Ban, Apulia, Italy.
A
city 8 km SE of Corato and in antiquity an ancient
center of great importance, to judge by the wealth of
archaeological evidence. Almost all of it comes from its
necropolis, which extends along the base of the hill below the mediaeval and modern city. That the settlement
dates to the 7th c. B.C. is suggested by geometric pottery
and imported Corinthian vases. It is certain that between
the end of the 6th c. and the mid 4th c. B.C. the city
witnessed a period of great prosperity, documented by
imported Attic and Tarentine vases, by tomb paintings,
such as the dance scene now in the Naples Museum, and
by exceptionally beautiful jewelry produced in Italy. During the 3d c. B.C., the city began to coin its own money
in silver and bronze of the Tarentine type. These coins
indicate that the inhabitants were called Rubasteinoi, similar to the name Rubustini mentioned by Pliny (
HN
3.105) and to ager Rubustinus mentioned in the
Liber
Coloniarum (p. 262). Horace (
Sat. 1.5.94) stopped there
on his journey from Rome to Brindisi. In the Roman
period Rubi had a certain importance, particularly after
the opening of the Via Traiana of which it became a
statio (
It. Ant. 116;
Hier. It. 610). An inscription with
a dedication to Gordian III attests that the city was a
municipium and had its own group of Augustales (
CIL
IX, 312).
The Museo Jatta preserves a rich collection of pottery
coming from the necropolis.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
EAA 6 (1965) 1039 (A. M. Martini);
H. Sichtermann,
Griechische Vasen in Unteritalien aus
der Sammlung Jatta in Ruvo (1966).
F. G. LO PORTO
