Lucanians and Southern Italy 519or at least utilized as a factor to delineate ethnicity. This would be true as a means of
self-identification or external identification. Thus, Strabo and Pliny would have consid-
ered the central Apennines as the Lucanian ancestral homeland.
The term “Lucanian” meant something to ancient historians, and there were certainly
other features besides territory and origins that Greeks and Romans used to distinguish
these people. Strabo may provide some further clues. The geographer (6.1.2) notes that,
in his day, the Lucanians (as well as the Bretti and the Samnites) had deteriorated to
such a degree that “it is difficult to distinguish their settlements. The reason is that the
common, organized government for each of the tribes has disappeared and the languages,
war accoutrements, clothing and other similar matters no longer exist.” Thus, according
to Strabo, language, armor, or war gear and characteristic clothing were once ways that
many Greeks and Romans distinguished the Lucanians. Their government organizations
and settlements may also have been important in this regard.
Archaeological evidence should thus be important in shedding further light on the
Lucanians and the ways in which Greeks and Romans identified the people of Lucania.
Much work has been done with indigenous material remains in ancient Lucania dated
from the fourth century to the early empire. In fact, the second half of the fourth century
and first part of the third witnessed not only the height of material culture and settle-
ments in Lucania but also a time of great activity for Lucanians, according to ancient
sources. Although most scholars agree that an archaeological culture, in and of itself,
does not identify an ethnic group, a group’s identity from within or from without could
be manifested through material discourse, and evidence of this material discourse may
survive in the archaeological record. Interpretations of material evidence, used prudently,
should thus be a useful tool in furthering our understanding of an ethnic group (Mor-
gan 2003: 16–18; Isayev 2007: 10–11, but,contra, see J. M. Hall 1997: 128–31). In
an analysis of vase paintings and sculpture in Athens, Beth Cohen (2001: 235–74) has
noted the importance of clothing in interpreting and recognizing ethnicity in the ancient
city. Burial remains, iconographical information from tomb paintings, and inscriptions
from ancient Lucania may provide an idea of some of the characteristics that Strabo
had in mind.^2
Two examples of the type of accoutrements Strabo possibly considered are the “Sam-
nite belt” and the triple-disc breastplate. The wide belt known as a “Samnite belt” appears
to have been particularly characteristic of Oscan people in general. These belts have been
found in tombs throughout ancient Lucania and places beyond, such as in Apulia. Many
are dated to the fourth and third centuries (Guzzo 1994: 157–76; von Kaenel 1994:
177–79; Horsnaes 2002: 83–5). Scholars have debated whether these belts were a nec-
essary part of a warrior’s military equipment or a sign of status. Horsnaes (2002: 84)
does not regard the belts as part of the warrior’s equipment, noting that they have often
been found with a long cuirass (with which they would not have been needed), and that
many belts were also found in tombs without weapons.
The triple-disc breastplate was certainly a distinguishing feature of an Oscan warrior’s
equipment. Many are found in non-Greek tombs of Lucania and date to the end of the
fifth to the first half of the fourth century. Most triple-disc breastplates (along with short
rectangular anatomical breastplates) are found in Paestum and the surrounding areas
(Guzzo 1994: 157–76, von Kaenel 1994: 177–79; Horsnaes 2002: 80–1). Tomb paint-
ings from Paestum often depict warriors either on horseback or in war scenes. Although