The Morgetes (Ancient Greek: Μόργητες, Latin: Morgetes) were an ancient Lucanian tribe, of Pelasgian[1] descent, who occupied the region of southern Italy from Calabria to Sicily.[2]

History

The Morgetes were part of the Italic peoples, which occupied both the Ionian and Tyrrhenian shores of Calabria. According to some ancient historians, they were one of the branches of the Oenotrians, along with the Chones, the Itali and the Sicels.[3][4][5] Others hold that they inhabited Italy before the Oenotrians and were driven out by them, fleeing to Sicily.[6] Yet others identify them with the group of the Italoi who accepted the rule of the mythical king Morges [it] after the death of his father Italus.[7] A final definition claimed that they were the Sicels who moved into Sicily under the leadership of King Morges. In this version, Morges was the brother of Italus and son of Siculus, who was also the founder of Rome.[8]

In Calabria, they were said to inhabit the inland regions according to the works of Proclus, Pliny the Elder, Strabo, which describe the Morgetes and King Morges. Morges was reputed to have founded the site of San Giorgio Morgeto, which was fortified as a castle in the 9th and 10th century AD.[9][10][11][12][13]

In Sicily, the Morgetes were also meant to have settled in the interior, driving away the Sicans and establishing the city of Morgantina and other communities in the 10th century BC.[14]

References

  1. ^ "Dictionary of Greek and Roman Geography (1854), BRU´TTII".
  2. ^ Girolamo Marafioti, Croniche et antichità di Calabria. Conforme all'ordine de' testi greco, & latino, raccolte da' più famosi scrittori antichi, & moderni ..., Padova, Ad instanza de gl'Uniti, 1601, p. 21. Ristampa anastatica: editore Arnaldo Forni, 1975 e 1981. Consultabile on line in Google Libri
  3. ^ De Juliis, p. 22.
  4. ^ Giacomo Devoto. Gli antichi Italici. Firenze, Vallecchi, 1977, p. 70.
  5. ^ "Dictionary of Greek and Roman Geography (1854), OAENEUM, OENO´TRIA". www.perseus.tufts.edu. Retrieved 2022-01-01.
  6. ^ Luigi Pareti (1997). "I "Primi Italici"". In Angelo Russi (ed.). Storia della regione lucano-bruzzia nell'antichità. Ed. di Storia e Letteratura. pp. 41–42. ISBN 978-88-6372-346-5.
  7. ^ Rivista storica dell'antichità. Pàtron Editore. 32: 48. 2002. ((cite journal)): Missing or empty |title= (help)
  8. ^ Rivista storica dell'antichità. Pàtron Editore. 32: 53 & 57. 2002. ((cite journal)): Missing or empty |title= (help)
  9. ^ Girolamo Marafioti pag.114, Padova, Ad instanza de gl'Uniti, 1601. Ristampa anastatica: editore Arnaldo Forni, 1975 e 1981. Consultabile on line in Google Libri
  10. ^ STORIA - Università degli Studi di Polistena
  11. ^ Giovanni Fiore da Cropani ne "La Calabria Illustrata" (I tomo, 1691: l' opera integrale, in tre tomi, e stata pubblicata presso Rubbettino a cura di Ulderico Nisticò)
  12. ^ "La notte Morgezia" (pubblicato a Napoli nel 1842) del canonico Nicolino Amendolia, in cui il prete racconta, con un sentimento di angoscia e di terrore l'incontro fatto al castello con il re guerriero Morgete.
  13. ^ Domenico Cangemi, autore di una "Monografia di San Giorgio Morgeto" (1886)
  14. ^ Strabo 6.257 & 270)

Bibliography

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