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CALABRIA

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Originally appearing in Volume V04, Page 964 of the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.
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CALABRIA , a territorial See also:

district of both See also:ancient and See also:modern See also:Italy. (I) The ancient district consisted of the See also:peninsula at its See also:south-See also:east extrerity,between the Adriatic See also:Sea and the Gulf of See also:Tarentum, ending in the Iapygian promontory (See also:Lat. Promunturium Sallentinum; the See also:village upon it was called Leuca—Gr. AevKa, See also:white, from its colour—and is still named S. Maria di Leuca) and corresponding in the See also:main with the modern See also:province of See also:Lecce, See also:Brundisium and Tarentum being its most See also:north-See also:westerly cities, though the boundary of the latter extends somewhat farther See also:west. It is a See also:low See also:terrace of See also:limestone, the highest parts of which seldom reach 1500 ft.; the cliffs, though not high, are steep, and it has no See also:rivers of any importance, but despite lack of See also:water it was (and is) remarkably fertile. See also:Strabo mentions its pastures and trees, and its See also:olives, vines and See also:fruit trees (which are still the See also:principal source of prosperity) are frequently spoken of by the ancients. The See also:wool of Tarentum and Brundisium was also famous, and at the former See also:place were considerable dye-See also:works. These two towns acquired importance in very See also:early times owing to the excellence of their harbours. Traces of a prehistoric See also:population of the See also:stone and early See also:bronze See also:age are to be found all over Calabria. Especially noticeable are the menhirs (pietre fitte) and the See also:round See also:tower-like specchie or truddhi, which are found near Lecce; Gallipolli and Muro Leccese (and only here in Italy); they correspond to similar monuments, the perdas fittas and the nuraghi, of See also:Sardinia, and the inter-relation between the two populations which produced them requires careful study. In 272-266 B.C. we find six triumphs recorded in the See also:Roman See also:fasti over the Tarentini, Sallentini and See also:Messapii, while the name Calabria does not occur; but after the See also:foundation of a See also:colony at Brundisium in 246-245 B.C., and the final subjection of Tarentum in 209 B.C., Calabria became the See also:general name for the peninsula.

The population declined to some extent; Strabo (vi. 281) tells us that in earlier days Calabria had been extremely populous and had had thirteen cities, but that in his See also:

time all except Tarentum and Brundisium, which retained their commercial importance, had dwindled down to villages. The Via See also:Appia, prolonged to Brundisium perhaps as early as 190 B.C., passed through Tarentum; the shorter route by See also:Canusium, See also:Barium and Gnathia was only made into a main artery of communication by See also:Trajan (see Aim, VIA). The only other roads were the two See also:coast roads, the one from Brundisium by Lupiae, the other from Tarentum by See also:Manduria, Neretum, Aletium (with a See also:branch to Callipolis) and Veretum (hence a branch to Leuca), which met at Hydruntum. See also:Augustus joined Calabria to See also:Apulia and the territory of the See also:Hirpini to See also:form the second region of Italy. From the end of the second See also:century we find Calabria for juridical purposes associated either with Apulia or with Lucania and the district of the See also:Bruttii, while See also:Diocletian placed it under one corrector with Apulia. The loss of the name Calabria came with the Lombard See also:conquest of this district, when it was transferred to the See also:land of the Bruttii, which the See also:Byzantine See also:empire still held. (2) The modern Calabria consists of the south extremity of Italy (the " toe of the See also:boot " in the popular simile, while the ancient Calabria, with which the See also:present province of Lecce more or less coincides, is the " See also:heel "), bounded on the N. by the province of See also:Potenza (See also:Basilicata) and on the other three sides by the sea. See also:Area 5819 sq. m. The north boundary is rather farther north than that of the ancient district of the Bruttii (q.v.). Calabria acquired its present name in the time of the Byzantine supremacy, after the ancient Calabria had fallen into the hands of the See also:Lombards and been lost to the Eastern empire about A.D. 668.

The name is first found in the modern sense in See also:

Paulus Diaconus's Historia Langobardoruen (end of the 8th century). It is mainly mountainous; at the See also:northern extremity of the district the mountains still belong to the See also:Apennines proper (the highest point, the See also:Monte Pollino, 7325 ft., is on the boundary between Basilicata and Calabria), but after the See also:plain of Sibari, traversed by the Crati(anc. Crathis, a See also:river 58 m. See also:long, the only considerable one in Calabria), the See also:granite mountains of Calabria proper (though still called Apennines in See also:ordinary usage) begin. They consist of two See also:groups. The first extends as far as the See also:isthmus, about 22 M. wide, formed by the gulfs of S. Eufemia and Squillace; its highest point is the Botte Donato (6330 ft.). It is in modern times generally called the See also:Sila, in contradistinction to the second (See also:southern) See also:group, the See also:Aspromonte (6420 ft.); the ancients on the other See also:hand applied the name Sila to the southern group. The rivers in both parts of the See also:chain are See also:short and unimportant. The See also:mountain districts are in parts covered with See also:forest (though less so than in ancient times), still largely See also:government See also:property, while in much of the See also:rest there is gaod pasture. The scenery is See also:fine, though the See also:country is hardly See also:CALAH at all visited by travellers. The coast See also:strip is very fertile, and though some parts are almost deserted owing to See also:malaria, others produce See also:wine, See also:olive-oil and fruit (oranges and lemons, See also:figs, &c.) in abundance, the neighbourhood of Reggio being especially fertile. The neighbourhood of See also:Cosenza is also highly cultivated; and at the latter place a school of See also:agriculture has been founded, though the methods used in many parts of Calabria are still See also:primitive.

See also:

Wheat, See also:rice, See also:cotton, See also:liquorice, See also:saffron and See also:tobacco are also cultivated. The coast See also:fisheries are important, especially in and near the straits of See also:Messina. Commercial organization is, however, wanting. The See also:climate is very hot in summer, while See also:snow lies on the mountain-tops for at least See also:half the See also:year. Earthquakes are frequent and have done See also:great damage: that of the autumn of 1905 was very disastrous (O. Malagodi, Calabria Desolata, See also:Rome, 1905), but it was surpassed in its effects by the terrible See also:earth-quake of 1908, by which Messina (q.v.) was destroyed, and in Calabria itself Reggio and numerous smaller places ruined. The railway communications are sufficient for the coast districts; there are lines along both the east and west coasts (the latter forms See also:part of the through route by land from Italy to See also:Sicily, See also:ferry-boats traversing the Strait of Messina with the through trains on See also:board) which meet at Reggio di Calabria. They are connected by a branch from Marina di See also:Catanzaro passing through Catanzaro to S. Eufemia; and there is also a See also:line from Sibari up the valley of the Crati to Cosenza and Pietrafitta. The interior is otherwise untouched by See also:railways; indeed many of the villages in the interior can only be approached by paths; and this is one of the causes of the economic difficulties of Calabria. Another is the unequal See also:distribution of See also:wealth, there being practically no See also:middle class; a third is the injudicious disforestation which has been carried on without regard to the future. The natural check upon torrents is thus removed, and they sometimes do great damage.

The Calabrian costumes are still much worn in the remoter districts: they vary considerably in the different villages. There is, and has been, considerable See also:

emigration to See also:America, but many of the emigrants return, forming a slightly higher class, and producing a rise in the See also:rate of See also:payment to cultivators, which has increased the difficulties of the small proprietors. The smallness and large number of the communes, and the consequently large number of the professional classes and officials, are other difficulties, which, noticeable throughout Italy, are especially See also:felt in Calabria. The population of Calabria was 1,439,3 29 1111901. The See also:chief towns of the province of Catanzaro were in 1901:—Catanzaro (32,005), See also:Nicastro (18,150), Monteleone (13,481), See also:Cotrone (9545), See also:total of province (1871) 412,226; (1901) 498,791; number of communes, 152; of the province of Cosenza, Cosenza (20,857), Corigliano Calabro (15,379), See also:Rossano (13,354), S. Giovanni in Fiore (13,288), Castrovillari (9945), total of province (1871) 440,468; (1901) 503,329, number of communes, 151; of the province of Reggio, Reggio di Calabria (44,569), Palmi (13,346), Cittanova (11,782), Gioiosalonica(11,200),BagnaraCalabra (11,136), Siderno Marina (10,775), Gerace (10,572), Polistena (10,112); number of communes ro6; total of province (1871) 353,608; (1901) 437,209. A feature of modern Calabria is the existence of several Albanian colonies, founded in the 15th century by Albanians expelled by the See also:Turks, who still speak their own See also:language, See also:wear their See also:national See also:costume, and See also:worship according to the See also:Greek rite. Similar colonies exist in Sicily, notably at Piana dei Greci near See also:Palermo. (T.

End of Article: CALABRIA

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