ALE´TIUM
ALE´TIUM (
Ἀλήτιον Ptol. 3.1.76; Eth.
Aletinus,
Plin. Nat. 3.11. s. 16), a town of Calabria, mentioned, both by Pliny and Ptolemy, among the inland cities which they assign to the Salentini. Its site (erroneously placed by Cluver at
Lecce) is clearly marked by the ancient church of
Sta Maria della Lizza (formerly an episcopal see) near the village of
Fisciotti, about 5 miles from
Gallipoli, on the road to
Otranto. Here many ancient remains have been discovered, among which are numerous tombs, with inscriptions in the Messapian dialect. (D'Anville,
Anal. Géogr. de l'Italie, p. 233; Mommsen,
Unter-Ital. Dialekte, p. 57.)
The name is corruptly written Baletium in the
Tab. Peut., which however correctly places it between Neretum (
Nardò) and Uxentum (
Ugento), though the distances given are inaccurate. In Strabo, also, it is probable that we should read with Kramer
Ἀλητία for
Σαληπία, which he describes as a town in the interior of Calabria, a short distance from the sea. (Strab. p. 282; and Kramer,
ad loc.)
[
E.H.B]
