Lucanians and Southern Italy 521in his description of Lucania, cites various communities (e.g., Atinates, Bantini, Eburini,
and others). As Gualtieri suggests (2000: 59), Roccagloriosa may be identified with or
connected to one of these settlements. Thus, regional communities, such as Roccaglo-
riosa or groups cited by Pliny, may have been the primary centers of identification for the
inhabitants of Lucania.
Nevertheless, during the third and later centuries, inhabitants of Lucania may have also
identified with larger groupings. Isayev (2007: 54) does note “evidence of cultural cohe-
sion” in the territory of Lucania and various wider spheres of interest or identification for
the inhabitants of the regions. This may have grown stronger as Greeks and Romans pen-
etrated inland areas and inhabitants of Lucania started to participate in wars, trade, and
international affairs. Indeed, Malkin (2001: 3) notes that an individual could participate
in many different types of collective identities, and the “identities would find expression
according to the circumstances.” Thus, while an inhabitant’s local settlement or region
may have been most significant, some of the population may have also seen themselves
as part of a wider collective.
Modern studies have shown that ethnic consciousness may develop as a reaction to
tensions with other people. For example, scholars have suggested that the Greco-Persian
conflict of 480–479 was a pivotal event that helped shape the way Hellenes viewed their
own identity, seeing themselves as Greeks in opposition to non-Greeks (J. Hall 2002:
175–89). In the following century, both Isocrates and Demosthenes tended to define
Greeks in opposition to “barbarians.” This phenomenon can, in many respects, be seen in
the Roman world too, as Roman discourse on “barbarians” in Italy owed much to Greek
ideas. During her victories in the Pyrrhic and Punic Wars, Rome increasingly promoted
herself as a Hellenic city, and this dichotomy affected the way Romans treated other Italic
people (Dench 1995: 45–53).
Among the Italic inhabitants of Lucania, relations with Greeks and Romans were com-
plex, being both peaceful and hostile, as the indigenous population of Lucania became
more Hellenized. In the fourth and third centuries, Greeks and Romans penetrated
southern Italy during the campaigns of Alexander the Molossian, Archidamus, Diony-
sius II, Pyrrhus, and Hannibal. As the Italic inhabitants of southern Italy engaged in
these conflicts and campaigned beyond their local regions, they became more aware
of other inhabitants of Lucania who spoke the same language and had other qualities
in common.
A number of coins have been found with the term “Lucanians,” some written in Oscan
(with Greek letters) and others written in Greek. (Both Oscan and Greek can be found in
inscriptions from Lucania.) These are similar to coins of the Bretti and dated to the same
period, the Hannibalic War (Rutter 2001: 129–30). Isayev (2010: 207–10), in her sur-
vey of Italic coins of southern Italy, notes that the coins usually represent “self-defining
labels” from specific settlements. Nevertheless, the coins cited in the preceding text con-
tain an ethnic label, and this suggests that those using the coins did not represent a small
settlement (such as Laos), but represented people from a wider area, although proba-
bly not as wide an area as the Lucania of our Greek and Roman sources. Thus, at this
time, certain inhabitants of Lucania used “Lucanian” as a self-appellation (particularly
considering the Oscan forms). These people no doubt continued to identify principally
with their local settlement, but further awareness of a larger group had developed among
some inhabitants.