Lucanians and Southern Italy 515The Term “Lucanian”
The earliest extant literary works to mention the Lucanians are Greek sources of the
fourth centuryBC(see Horsnaes 2002: 119–25; Musti 2005: 261–84; Isayev 2007:
11–21; 2010: 203–6). Isocrates, in a work dated to the mid-fourth century (De Pace
49–50), is probably the earliest known writer to cite the Lucanians, referring to them
in a general comment comparing Athenian and barbarian cultures. Writers earlier than
the fourth century, such as fifth-century historians Herodotus or Thucydides, when dis-
cussing indigenous people of southern Italy, never mention the Lucanians. In analyzing
Strabo’s work, dated to the Augustan era, Musti (2005: 261–84) deduces that two strata
of peoples are found in his southern Italian narratives: the Oenotrians, Coni, Morgeti,
and Itali represent the earliest group; and the Lucanians, Samnites, and Brettians char-
acterize the successive group. Musti notes that, whenever Strabo quotes or summarizes
the fifth-century historian Antiochus (whose works are not extant), he does not men-
tion the Lucanians or other people of the second group. Thus, Antiochus, a native of
Syracuse in Sicily, was probably unaware of Lucanians, as well as Samnites and Bret-
tians, as distinct ethnic groups. Musti concludes that, whenever Strabo mentions any
of these three Oscan speaking people, the story is derived from a source later than the
fifth century.
Authors active in the early empire or late republic (e.g., Diodorus, Dionysius of Hali-
carnassus, Livy, Strabo or Horace), writing both poetry and prose narratives, have left us
most of our references to Lucanians. In contrast to these sources, as noted by both Musti
(2005: 275–7) and Isayev (2007: 16–21; 2010: 203–6), the Lucanians are scarcely
mentioned (approximately six times) in the works of fourth- and third-century writ-
ers. Isayev (2007: 19) further suggests that, in the fourth century, the term’s use “was
not widespread, nor its implications clear.” Musti (2005: 275–7), in fact, proposes that
ancient writers began to use the term “Lucanians” (as well as “Samnites” and “Brettians”)
in a more discerning way as a result of Rome’s campaigns in southern Italy during the
third century. It is, of course, difficult to accurately ascertain the term’s early use since
most of the sources, such as Timaeus, Philistus, or Ephorus, are not extant, but the lim-
ited appearance of the name “Lucanians” in the fourth century may indicate that Isayev
and Musti are correct. In fact, the notion that occurrence of the name reflects a growing
Roman and Greek familiarity with the region may help to explain a passage of Aristoxenus
that has perplexed scholars.
Aristoxenus of Tarentum, who lived during the last part of the fourth century, is one
of the few early authors to note these people. The Tarentine writer, while discussing an
event almost 200 years before his time, states (in PorphyryVP22) that Lucanians were
among some of the indigenous people who visited Pythagoras (at the end of the sixth
century). Dench (1995: 52) suggests, however, that Aristoxenus was indiscriminate in
his use of names for south Italian people. As she states, Aristoxenus, in a different passage
(AthenaeusDeipno. 14.632), mentions the barbarization of Poseidonia by “Tyrrhenians
or Romans,” an event occurring during his own lifetime. Nevertheless, Strabo (5.4.13)
cites the Lucanians as the occupiers of Poseidonia (Pontrandolfo 1979; Bottini 1988: