The Gulf of Squillace ( it, Golfo di Squillace;

Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...

: Scylleticus Sinus or Scyllaceus Sinus;

Greek Greek may refer to: Greece Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group. *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family. **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor ...

: ) is a body of water, an inlet of the

Ionian Sea The Ionian Sea ( el, Ιόνιο Πέλαγος, ''Iónio Pélagos'' ; it, Mar Ionio ; al, Deti Jon ) is an elongated bay of the Mediterranean Sea. It is connected to the Adriatic Sea to the north, and is bounded by Southern Italy, including C ...

along the

Calabria , population_note = , population_blank1_title = , population_blank1 = , demographics_type1 = , demographics1_footnotes = , demographics1_title1 = , demographics1_info1 = , demographics1_title2 ...

n coast of

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...

. The gulf is part of the Ionian Sea and makes up part of the east coast of the region of Calabria. It takes its present-day name from the coastal town of

Squillace Squillace ( grc, Σκυλλήτιον ''Skylletion''; grc-x-medieval, Σκυλάκιον ''Skylakion'') is an ancient town and ''comune'', in the Province of Catanzaro, part of Calabria, southern Italy, facing the Gulf of Squillace. Squillace ...

Ancient history

Anciently known as Scylleticus Sinus, from the ancient coastal city of

Scylletium Scylletium or Scolacium was an ancient seaside city in Calabria, southern Italy. Its ruins can be found at the ''frazione'' of Roccelletta, in the ''comune'' of Borgia, near Catanzaro, facing the Gulf of Squillace. History Scylletium was situated ...

, which

Strabo Strabo''Strabo'' (meaning "squinty", as in strabismus) was a term employed by the Romans for anyone whose eyes were distorted or deformed. The father of Pompey was called "Pompeius Strabo". A native of Sicily so clear-sighted that he could see ...

mentions is situated on the east coast of

Bruttium 01 or '01 may refer to: * The year 2001, or any year ending with 01 * The month of January * 1 (number) Music * 01'' (Richard Müller album), 2001 * ''01'' (Son of Dave album), 2000 * ''01'' (Urban Zakapa album), 2011 * ''O1'' (Hiroyuki Sawa ...

(modern Calabria), situated on the shores of an extensive bay, to which it gave the name of Scylleticus Sinus. It is this bay, still known as the Gulf of Squillace, which indents the coast of Calabria on the east as deeply as that of Hipponium or Terina (the

Gulf of Saint Euphemia The Gulf of Saint Euphemia ( it, Golfo di Santa Eufemia or Golfo di Sant'Eufemia, la, Lametikos Kolpos or Vibonensis Sinus) is a gulf on the west coast of Calabria, southern Italy. It is part of the Tyrrhenian Sea and borders the province of Cosen ...

, Italian: ''Golfo di Sant'Eufemia'') does on the west, so that they leave but a comparatively narrow isthmus between them. The Scylleticus Sinus, or Gulf of Squillace, was always regarded as dangerous to mariners; hence

Virgil Publius Vergilius Maro (; traditional dates 15 October 7021 September 19 BC), usually called Virgil or Vergil ( ) in English, was an ancient Roman poet of the Augustan period. He composed three of the most famous poems in Latin literature: t ...

calls it ''navifragum Scylaceum''. There is no natural port throughout its whole extent, and into the 19th century, it still bore an evil reputation for shipwrecks. The name is found in

Aristotle Aristotle (; grc-gre, Ἀριστοτέλης ''Aristotélēs'', ; 384–322 BC) was a Greek philosopher and polymath during the Classical period in Ancient Greece. Taught by Plato, he was the founder of the Peripatetic school of phil ...

as well as

Antiochus of Syracuse Antiochus of Syracuse ( grc-gre, Ἀντίοχος ὁ Συρακούσιος) was a Greek historian, who flourished around 420 BC. Little is known of Antiochus' life, but his works, of which only fragments remain, enjoyed a high reputation because ...

, but would seem to have been unknown to

Thucydides Thucydides (; grc, , }; BC) was an Athenian historian and general. His ''History of the Peloponnesian War'' recounts the fifth-century BC war between Sparta and Athens until the year 411 BC. Thucydides has been dubbed the father of "scientifi ...

; at least it is difficult to explain otherwise the peculiar manner in which he speaks of the Terinaean gulf, while relating the voyage of Gylippus along the east coast of Bruttium.Thuc. vi. 104; Arist. ''Pol.'' vii. 10; Antioch. ''ap. Strab.'' vi. p. 254.

References

Catanzaro Landforms of Calabria Gulfs of the Ionian Sea {{Calabria-geo-stub