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The Bruttians (alternative spelling, Brettii) ( la, Bruttii) were an ancient Italic people. They inhabited the southern extremity of Italy, from the frontiers of Lucania to the
Sicilian Straits The Strait of Sicily (also known as Sicilian Strait, Sicilian Channel, Channel of Sicily, Sicilian Narrows and Pantelleria Channel; it, Canale di Sicilia or the Stretto di Sicilia; scn, Canali di Sicilia or Strittu di Sicilia, ar, مضيق ص ...
and the promontory of Leucopetra. This roughly corresponds to the modern region of
Calabria , population_note = , population_blank1_title = , population_blank1 = , demographics_type1 = , demographics1_footnotes = , demographics1_title1 = , demographics1_info1 = , demographics1_title2 ...
. Occupying the mountains and hills of Calabria, they were the southernmost branch of the Osco-Umbrian Italic tribes, and were ultimately descended from the
Samnites The Samnites () were an ancient Italic people who lived in Samnium, which is located in modern inland Abruzzo, Molise, and Campania in south-central Italy. An Oscan-speaking people, who may have originated as an offshoot of the Sabines, they for ...
through the process of Ver Sacrum. They are remembered as pillagers and conquerors of the Calabrian-Greek poleis and brave rebels of the Romans who never fully opposed at its military campaign.


Name

The name is Indo-European. It is similar to Illyrian ethnonym Brentii from *brentos (deer). A close variant is attested in the name of the Bruttii in ancient Greek ( grc, Βρέττιοι, Bréttioi) and the name of the community on its coinage (''ΒΡΕΤΤΙΩΝ'', "of the Brettioi"). Before gaining their independence from the
Lucanians The Lucanians ( la, Lucani) were an Italic tribe living in Lucania, in what is now southern Italy, who spoke an Oscan language, a member of the Italic languages. Today, the inhabitants of the Basilicata region are still called Lucani, and so thei ...
, the Bruttii belonged to the lower social strata of Lucanian territory. After 356 BCE when the Bruttii became independent , for the Lucanians and the ancient sources of the period the name of the Bruttii became synonyms with "rebels" and "fugitive slaves".


History

Diodorus Siculus Diodorus Siculus, or Diodorus of Sicily ( grc-gre, Διόδωρος ;  1st century BC), was an ancient Greek historian. He is known for writing the monumental universal history ''Bibliotheca historica'', in forty books, fifteen of which su ...
(1st century BC) writes that the Bruttii were formed around the year 356 BC, when people of varied origins assembled in Lucania and formed this new community. These groups who are described as mostly fugitive slaves by Diodorus were considered to be "experts in affairs of war".
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 ...
describes the Bruttii as slave-shepherds of the Lucani who revolted. In these stories, because of their social conditions the name of the Bruttii acquired the meaning of "rebels" or "fugitive slaves". Justin wrote that the Bruttian community was formed when 500 youths from the Lucani joined the shepherds who lived in the forests and together fought against Italiote mercenaries. In this literary construction, they were helped by a woman named Bruttia and the new community according to the myth took as its name that of Bruttia. These myths which despite their different narratives place the foundation of the Bruttian community in the 4th century BC, actually postdate by several centuries the first archaeological-historical piece of evidence for the existence of the ethnonym of the Bruttii. The inscription "Bruties esum" (I am of Brutius) has been found on pottery in southern Campania already in the mid 6th century BCE. The Bruttii spoke a variant of Oscan and Illyrian settlement in older periods provided considerable Illyrian elements. The Italic tribal wanderings of the early Roman Republic might be compared to those of the Germanic tribes during their great migration period. Earlier tribes affiliated together and folded into new umbrella groups, which gave their names to regions, for example, the Saxons and Saxony. Thus Livy uses the term ''Bruttii provincia'' to designate then what is now modern Calabria. The Greeks used for the name of the country, reserving for that of the people.
Polybius Polybius (; grc-gre, Πολύβιος, ; ) was a Greek historian of the Hellenistic period. He is noted for his work , which covered the period of 264–146 BC and the Punic Wars in detail. Polybius is important for his analysis of the mixed ...
, in more than one passage, calls it , likely corresponding to the natives' name for their land, "Brettiōn". The land of the Bruttii was bounded on the north by Lucania, from which it was separated by a line drawn from the river
Laus Laus may refer to: * Laüs, an ancient city on the west coast of Lucania * Laus River, a river of southern Italy * Paul Laus (born 1970), former professional ice hockey player * Beatrice Kristi Laus (born 2000), Filipino-British singer-songwriter ...
near the Tyrrhenian Sea to the Crathis near the Gulf of Tarentum. On the west it was washed by the Tyrrhenian Sea, and on the south and east by that known in ancient times as the Sicilian Sea, including under that appellation the Gulf of Tarentum. As noted above, this corresponds quite approximately to modern
Calabria , population_note = , population_blank1_title = , population_blank1 = , demographics_type1 = , demographics1_footnotes = , demographics1_title1 = , demographics1_info1 = , demographics1_title2 ...
, which was named as such only during Byzantine times. The country occupied by them was inhabited, in the earliest times described by ancient historians, by the
Oenotrians The Oenotrians (Οἴνωτρες, meaning "tribe led by Oenotrus" or "people from the land of vines - Οἰνωτρία") were an ancient Italic people who inhabited a territory in Southern Italy from Paestum to southern Calabria. By the sixth ce ...
a native Italic tribe whose name refers to winemaking, of which the Conii and
Morgetes The Morgetes ( grc, Μόργητες, la, Morgetes) were an ancient Lucanian tribe, of Pelasgian descent, who occupied the region of southern Italy from Calabria to Sicily. Girolamo Marafioti, ''Croniche et antichità di Calabria. Conforme all'or ...
appear to have been subordinate divisions. It was while the Oenotrians were still masters of the land that the first Greek trading outposts were founded; and the beauty of the climate and country, as well as the rapid prosperity attained by these first settlements, proved so attractive that within a few years many Greek colonies appeared. Such appears to have been the state of things at the time of the
Peloponnesian War The Peloponnesian War (431–404 BC) was an ancient Greek war fought between Athens and Sparta and their respective allies for the hegemony of the Greek world. The war remained undecided for a long time until the decisive intervention of th ...
; but in the course of the following century a great change took place. The
Lucanians The Lucanians ( la, Lucani) were an Italic tribe living in Lucania, in what is now southern Italy, who spoke an Oscan language, a member of the Italic languages. Today, the inhabitants of the Basilicata region are still called Lucani, and so thei ...
(an Oscan people), who had been gradually extending their conquests towards the south, and had already made themselves masters of the northern parts of Oenotria, now pressed forwards into the Bruttian peninsula, and established their dominion over the interior of that country and many of the Greek outposts. This probably took place after their great victory over the Thurians, near Laus, in 390 BC; and little more than 30 years elapsed between this event and the rise of the people, properly called Bruttii. These are represented by some ancient authors as a congregation of rebellious natives. Justin describes them as headed by youths of Lucanian origin, and there appears sufficient evidence of their close connection with the Lucanians to warrant the assumption that these formed an important ingredient in their national composition, together with other predecessor Italic tribes from the area, not just the Oenotrians, but also the
Ausones "Ausones" (; ), the original Greek form for the Latin "Aurunci", was a name applied by Greek writers to describe various Italic peoples inhabiting the southern and central regions of Italy. The term was used, specifically, to denote the partic ...
,
Mamertines The Mamertines ( la, Mamertini, "sons of Mars", el, Μαμερτῖνοι) were mercenaries of Italian origin who had been hired from their home in Campania by Agathocles (361–289 BC), Tyrant of Syracuse and self-proclaimed King of Sicily. ...
, Italy, and
Sicels The Sicels (; la, Siculi; grc, Σικελοί ''Sikeloi'') were an Italic tribe who inhabited eastern Sicily during the Iron Age. Their neighbours to the west were the Sicani. The Sicels gave Sicily the name it has held since antiquity, bu ...
. The rise of the Bruttii is dated to approximately 356 BC; and this accords with the statement of Strabo that they arose at the period of the expedition of Dion against
Dionysius the Younger Dionysius the Younger ( el, Διονύσιος ὁ Νεώτερος, 343 BC), or Dionysius II, was a Greek politician who ruled Syracuse, Sicily from 367 BC to 357 BC and again from 346 BC to 344 BC. Biography Dionysius II of Syracuse was the s ...
. The wars of the latter, as well as of his father, with the Greek cities in southern Italy, and the state of confusion and weakness to which these were reduced in consequence, probably contributed in a great degree to pave the way for the rise of the Bruttian power. The name must indeed have been much more ancient, since Diodorus, in another passage, speaks of the Bruttians as having expelled the remainder of the Sybarites, who had settled
Sybaris on the Traeis Sybaris on the Traeis was an ancient city of Magna Grecia situated on the Traeis river, now known as the Trionto. It shares its name with the original city of Sybaris ( grc, Σύβαρις) which was destroyed in 510 BC. Its former inhabitants ...
after the destruction of their own city.
Stephanus of Byzantium Stephanus or Stephan of Byzantium ( la, Stephanus Byzantinus; grc-gre, Στέφανος Βυζάντιος, ''Stéphanos Byzántios''; centuryAD), was a Byzantine grammarian and the author of an important geographical dictionary entitled ''Ethni ...
, indeed, cites Antiochus of Syracuse, as using the name of Brettia for this part of Italy. The progress of the latter, after their first appearance in history, was rapid. They quickly became numerous and powerful enough to defy the arms of the Lucanians, and not only maintained their independence in the mountain districts of the interior, but attacked and made themselves masters of the Greek cities of
Hipponium Vibo Valentia (; Monteleone before 1861; Monteleone di Calabria from 1861 to 1928; scn, label= Calabrian, Vibbu Valenzia or ) is a city and ''comune'' (municipality) in the Calabria region of southern Italy, near the Tyrrhenian Sea. It is the ca ...
, Terina, and Thurii. Their independence seems to have been readily acknowledged by the Lucanians; and less than 30 years after their first revolt, the two nations united their arms as allies against their Greek neighbors. The latter applied for assistance to Alexander, king of Epirus, who crossed over into Italy with an army, and carried on the war for several successive campaigns, during which he reduced Heraclea, Consentia (modern
Cosenza Cosenza (; local dialect: ''Cusenza'', ) is a city in Calabria, Italy. The city centre has a population of approximately 70,000; the urban area counts more than 200,000 inhabitants. It is the capital of the Province of Cosenza, which has a populati ...
), and Terina; but finally perished in a battle against the combined forces of the Lucanians and Bruttii, near Pandosia, 326 BC. They next had to contend against the arms of Agathocles, who ravaged their coasts with his fleets, took the city of Hipponium, which he converted into a strong fortress and naval station, and compelled the Bruttians to conclude a disadvantageous peace. But they soon broke this treaty; and recovered possession of Hipponium. This appears to have been the period when the Bruttian nation had reached its highest pitch of power and prosperity; it was not long before they had to contend with a more formidable adversary, and as early as 282 BC they joined and the Lucanians and
Samnites The Samnites () were an ancient Italic people who lived in Samnium, which is located in modern inland Abruzzo, Molise, and Campania in south-central Italy. An Oscan-speaking people, who may have originated as an offshoot of the Sabines, they for ...
against the growing power of Rome. A few years later they are mentioned as sending auxiliaries to the army of Pyrrhus; but after the defeat of that monarch, and his expulsion from Italy, they had to bear the full brunt of the war, and after repeated campaigns and successive triumphs of the Roman generals, Gaius Fabricius Luscinus and
Lucius Papirius Lucius ( el, Λούκιος ''Loukios''; ett, Luvcie) is a male given name derived from ''Lucius'' (abbreviated ''L.''), one of the small group of common Latin forenames (''praenomina'') found in the culture of ancient Rome. Lucius derives from L ...
, they were finally reduced to submission, and compelled to purchase peace by the surrender of one-half of the great forest of Sila, so valuable for its pitch and timber. Their submission however was still but imperfect; and though they remained tranquil throughout the
First Punic War The First Punic War (264–241 BC) was the first of three wars fought between Rome and Carthage, the two main powers of the western Mediterranean in the early 3rd century BC. For 23 years, in the longest continuous conflict and grea ...
, the invasion of
Hannibal Hannibal (; xpu, 𐤇𐤍𐤁𐤏𐤋, ''Ḥannibaʿl''; 247 – between 183 and 181 BC) was a Carthaginian general and statesman who commanded the forces of Carthage in their battle against the Roman Republic during the Second Puni ...
in the
Second The second (symbol: s) is the unit of time in the International System of Units (SI), historically defined as of a day – this factor derived from the division of the day first into 24 hours, then to 60 minutes and finally to 60 seconds ...
proved difficult for the region, and some Bruttian cities supported the
Carthaginian The term Carthaginian ( la, Carthaginiensis ) usually refers to a citizen of Ancient Carthage. It can also refer to: * Carthaginian (ship), a three-masted schooner built in 1921 * Insurgent privateers; nineteenth-century South American privateers, ...
general after the
Battle of Cannae The Battle of Cannae () was a key engagement of the Second Punic War between the Roman Republic and Carthage, fought on 2 August 216 BC near the ancient village of Cannae in Apulia, southeast Italy. The Carthaginians and their allies, led by ...
. Rhegium (modern
Reggio Calabria Reggio di Calabria ( scn, label= Southern Calabrian, Riggiu; el, label= Calabrian Greek, Ρήγι, Rìji), usually referred to as Reggio Calabria, or simply Reggio by its inhabitants, is the largest city in Calabria. It has an estimated popul ...
remained firm, and was able to defy the Carthaginian arms throughout the war. In 215 BC,
Hanno Hanno may refer to: People * Hanno (given name) :* Hanunu (8th century BC), Philistine king previously rendered by scholars as "Hanno" *Hanno ( xpu, 𐤇𐤍𐤀 , '; , ''Hannōn''), common Carthaginian name :* Hanno the Navigator, Carthagi ...
, the lieutenant of Hannibal, after his defeat at Grumentum by Tiberius Gracchus, threw himself into Bruttium, where he was soon after joined by a body of fresh troops from Carthage under Bomilcar: and from this time he made that region his stronghold, from whence he repeatedly issued to oppose the Roman generals in Lucania and Samnium, while he constantly fell back upon it as a place of safety when defeated or hard pressed by the enemy. The physical character of the country rendered it necessarily a military position of the greatest strength: and after the defeat and death of
Hasdrubal Hasdrubal ( grc-gre, Ἀσδρούβας, ''Hasdroúbas'') is the Latinized form of the Carthaginian name ʿAzrubaʿal ( xpu, 𐤏𐤆𐤓𐤁𐤏𐤋 , , "Help of Baal"). It may refer to: * Hasdrubal I of Carthage was the Magonid king of Ancient ...
Hannibal himself put forces into some Bruttian territory, where he continued to maintain his ground against the Roman generals. There is very little information concerning the operations of the four years during which Hannibal retained his positions in this province: he appears to have made his headquarters for the most part in the neighbourhood of Crotona, but the name of
Castra Hannibalis In the Roman Republic and the Roman Empire, the Latin word ''castrum'', plural ''castra'', was a military-related term. In Latin usage, the singular form ''castrum'' meant 'fort', while the plural form ''castra'' meant 'camp'. The singular and ...
retained by a small town on the
Gulf of Squillace The Gulf of Squillace ( it, Golfo di Squillace; Latin: Scylleticus Sinus or Scyllaceus Sinus; Greek: ) is a body of water, an inlet of the Ionian Sea along the Calabrian coast of Italy. The gulf is part of the Ionian Sea and makes up part of the e ...
, points to his having occupied this also as a permanent station. Meanwhile, the Romans, though avoiding any decisive engagement, were continually gaining ground on him by the successive reduction of towns and fortresses, so that very few of these remained in the hands of the Carthaginian general when he was finally recalled from Italy. The ravages of so many successive campaigns inflicted a severe blow upon the prosperity of Bruttium: the measures adopted by the Romans to punish them completed their romanization. They were deprived of a great part of their territory, It was however some time before they were altogether crushed: for several years after the close of the Second Punic War, one of the praetors was annually sent with an army to watch over the Bruttians: and it was evidently with the view of more fully securing their subjection that three colonies of Roman veteran soldiers and their families were established in their territory, two of Roman citizens at Tempsa and Crotona, and a third with Latin rights at Hipponium, to which the name of Vibo Valentia was now given. A fourth was at the same time settled at Thurii on their immediate frontier. Among the settlers at the latter were some ancestors of the first Roman Emperor,
Caesar Augustus Caesar Augustus (born Gaius Octavius; 23 September 63 BC – 19 August AD 14), also known as Octavian, was the first Roman emperor; he reigned from 27 BC until his death in AD 14. He is known for being the founder of the Roman Pri ...
. So complete was the romanization of the region, that the Bruttians as a people are not mentioned separately except for a few exceptions. First, their country again became the theatre of war during the revolt of Spartacus, who after his first defeats by
Crassus Marcus Licinius Crassus (; 115 – 53 BC) was a Roman general and statesman who played a key role in the transformation of the Roman Republic into the Roman Empire. He is often called "the richest man in Rome." Wallechinsky, David & Wallace, I ...
, took refuge in the southernmost portion of Bruttium (called by Plutarch the Rhegian peninsula), in which the Roman general sought to confine him by drawing lines of intrenchment across the isthmus from sea to sea. The insurgent leader however forced his way through, and again carried the war into the heart of Lucania. Next, during the Civil Wars the coasts of Bruttium were repeatedly laid waste by the fleets of Sextus Pompeius, and witnessed several conflicts between the latter and those of Octavian, who had established the headquarters both of his army and navy at Vibo.
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 ...
speaks of the whole province as reduced in his time to a state of complete decay. It was included by Augustus in the Third Region ( Regio III), together with Lucania; and the two provinces appear to have continued united for most administrative purposes until the fall of the Roman Empire, and were governed conjointly by a magistrate termed a Corrector. The ''
Liber Coloniarum In Religion in ancient Rome, ancient Roman religion and Roman mythology, mythology, Liber ( , ; "the free one"), also known as Liber Pater ("the free Father"), was a god of viticulture and wine, male fertility and freedom. He was a patron de ...
'' however treats of the Provincia Bruttiorum as distinct from that of Lucania. Still, by the fifth century decline of the Western Empire, the region of Brettiōn was recorded as requesting help from the Roman Emperor from pirate raids on the coast, something that for years was recorded in error as occurring in Britain as the
Groans of the Britons Paralanguage, also known as vocalics, is a component of meta-communication that may modify meaning, give nuanced meaning, or convey emotion, by using techniques such as prosody, pitch, volume, intonation, etc. It is sometimes defined as relatin ...
, due to similarity of the names. The Bruttians were never fully conquered and were always the ones who rebelled the most to the Roman Empire.


The Bruttian Military System


Bruttian Warriors and Highground Defences

The Bruttians inherit the style of the Armor (Greeks and Saminites) and the use of the Javel (Greeks) in fact the Bruttians' elitè warriors were the Javel Throwers(in the Pandosia Battle Alexander 1st of Epirus was killed by one of those). During times of peace and war they usually built outposts and fortresses on the hills and / or in excavations in the tuff


Roman gentes of Bruttian origin

*
Bruttia gens The gens Bruttia was an ancient Roman family during the late Republic and into imperial times. None of the gens obtained any important magistracies until the latter half of the first century AD, when Lucius Bruttius Maximus was proconsul in Cy ...


Romans with ties to Brettiōn

The family of the emperor Augustus had ties to the Roman colony at Thurii, such that Mark Antony accused him of having Brettian blood. Cicero had a villa at Vibo Valentia, and praised
Reggio Calabria Reggio di Calabria ( scn, label= Southern Calabrian, Riggiu; el, label= Calabrian Greek, Ρήγι, Rìji), usually referred to as Reggio Calabria, or simply Reggio by its inhabitants, is the largest city in Calabria. It has an estimated popul ...
as being one of the ten most beautiful cities in the world.


See also

* List of ancient Italic peoples


References


Sources

* * *{{cite book , last1=Szemerényi , first1=Oswald , title=Scripta Minora: Latin , date=1987 , publisher=Institut für Sprachwissenschaft der Universität Insbruck , isbn=385124592X , url=https://books.google.com/books?id=WnQpAQAAIAAJ Osci Tribes conquered by Rome