Messapii

The Messapians (Greek: Μεσσαπιοί Messápioi; Latin: Messapii) were an Iapygian tribe which inhabited southern Apulia in classical antiquity. Together with the Peucetians and the Daunians they constituted the Iapygians. They shared the Messapian language with these two other tribes, but had developed a separate archaeological culture by the seventh century BC. They occupied a region called Messapia, which extended from the Leuca in the southeast to Kailia and Egnatia in the northwest, covering most of the Salento peninsula. This region includes the Province of Lecce and parts of the provinces of Brindisi and Taranto today.

The chief Messapian towns were Uzentum (modern Ugento), Rudiae (in the outskirts of modern Lecce), Brundisium (modern Brindisi), Hyria and Manduria.

Julius Pokorny derives their ethnonym Messapii from Messapia, interpreted as "(the place) Amid waters", Mess- from Proto-Indo-European and*mes-, "middle" cf. Albanian *medhyo-, "middle" (cf. Ancient Greek méssos "middle"), and -apia from Proto-Indo-European *ap-, "water" (cf. another toponym, Salapia, "salt water").

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