Aléria
Encyclopedia
Aléria is a commune
in the Haute-Corse
department of France
on the island of Corsica
. It includes the easternmost point in Metropolitan France
.
, Ampriani
, Campi
, Canale-di-Verde
, Chiatra
, Linguizzetta
, Matra
, Pianello
, Pietra-di-Verde
, Tallone
, Tox
, Zalana
and Zuani
.
on Route N198, in the centre of the Plaine Orientale, also called the Plaine d'Aléria, the east-central coastal plain of the island facing Italy
. It includes a number of villages and monuments. Most of the rest of the island is precipitously mountainous.
The eastern coastline is punctuated by a number of lakes connecting (but not always) to the Tyrrhenian Sea
, the remnant of an ancient system of lagoon
s behind barrier beaches
. The Corsicans refer to them under the name of Étang, "pool", although most are larger by far than an English pool. Marshland is also extensive on the coast requiring that cities be built inland from it. Malaria
has historically been a problem near the marshlands and swamps of eastern Corsica. The fine barrier beaches are a recreational attraction.
The Tavignano River enters the commune to the northwest and exits into the Tyrrhenian Sea
. Its lands include a delta, marshes to the south and the unconnected étang de Diane to the north. To the west, the étang de Terre Rosse is a lake and reservoir used to irrigate the plain.
Corsica had an indigenous population in the Neolithic
and the Bronze Age
but the east coast was subject to colonization by Mediterranean maritime powers: Greeks, Etruscans, Carthaginians, Romans. They typically built on an étang, which they used as a harbor. Alaliē (Ionic dialect) was placed between the southern end of the 3.5 kilometres (2.2 mi) long Ētang de Diane and the Tavignanu River (ancient Rhotanos), slightly inland, but controlling the entire district including the mouth of the river. The site is partly occupied today by the village of Cateraggio (Corsican U Cateraghju) at the crossroads of national routes N200 and N198. N200 follows the Vallé du Tavignano into the interior mountains of Corte
.
When the Etruscans took the district after its abandonment by the Greeks they settled further south along N198 in the vicinity of the village of Aléria, today primarily an archaeological site across the river from Cateraggio, where visitors and academics are quartered. Still south of there was the Etruscan necropolis
, in today's Casabianda. Aléria takes its name from the Roman town placed there after the defeat of the Etruscans.
The entire district, however, is wider still, following the Corsican custom of including some mountains and some beaches in every district. It incorporates the agricultural lands of Teppe Rosse (to the west), the entire Étang de Diane and the Plage de Padulone 3 kilometres (2 mi) east of Cateraggio, a former barrier beach. Since 1975 a series of laws have created the Casabianda-Aléria Nature Preserve, 1748 hectares (4,319.4 acre) between the mouth of the Tavignanu and the Étang d'Urbinu, which is 5 kilometres (3 mi) to the south.
The reserve to the south was initiated from the grounds of the former penitentiary of Casabianda in 1951. It was instituted in 1880 in a then pestilential area which it was hoped the prisoners could farm. It contained 1800 ha and 214 plots. Due to a high death rate from malaria, the agricultural experiment failed.
offer a view of an island that has been occupied continuously since about 6500 BC and has never been isolated. It was common for populations on Corsica to maintain contacts (especially trade contacts) with other communities on the mediterranean; the indigenous people of Corsica therefore might have come from anywhere on the mediterranean. The various archaeological museums on the island preserve ample remains from the Neolithic
, Chalcolithic, Bronze Age
and Iron Age
, with some interpretive or circumstantial variation in the dates. Only in the Iron Age (700 BC-) were there any historians to distinguish between the indigenes descending from previous populations and the more recent colonists.
Although no settlements of urban density preceded the first Greek colony, Aléria is unlikely to have been altogether unpopulated. A chance find of an ancient rubbish disposal pit at a location called Terrina about 2 kilometres (1.2 mi) from the Étang de Diane gives some information regarding pre-Roman habitation. The pit was excavated between 1975 and 1981 by G. Camps, who found four levels and named the site after the most important, Terrina IV.
Terrina IV features a Middle Neolithic settlement in which the use of cattle and pigs were, in contrast to the rest of the island, which kept mainly goats and sheep and grew grain. The Chalcolithic, approximately 3500-3000 BC, arrived by easy transition. The population of the site manufactured arsenical copper and copper goods.
The visible antique habitations at Aléria date to the Iron Age
and are consistent with the common history. Although ruins on the promontory were noted by Prosper Mérimée
in 1839, they were only excavated in 1955 by Jean Jehasse and Jean-Paul Boucher. By 1958 the excavators had uncovered the forum
of the Roman city of Aleria, first occupied in the 1st century BC.
A pre-Roman, Etruscan
necropolis
was then discovered 500 metres (1,640.4 ft) to the south (in Casabianda) containing more than 200 tombs. It was excavated between 1960-1981. The necropolis had been in use mainly from the 6th to the 3rd centuries BC and was abandoned altogether with the construction of the Roman city, which had a cemetery to the north. No artifacts that were identifiably Etruscan have been found to have been from before the 6th century BC; that is, the Etruscans were most likely intrusive at that time.
Systematic excavation since 1955 has revealed wide-ranging contacts in the sixth century, through pottery shards in test pits, with Ionia
n, Phocaean, Rhodian
, and Attic
black-figure ware
. The excavated necropolis of Casabianda's rock-cut tombs have revealed treasures and goods, left or placed with the buried, that include fine works of art, jewels, weapons, metalware, bronze and ceramic plates and dishes in particular, rhyton
s, distinctive krater
s decorated by some of the first rank Attic vase-painters.
Portable antiquities found in the Aléria commune are presented for public viewing in the Musée Jérôme Carcopino
in Fort Matra in the village of Aléria.
twenty years before the abandonment of Phocaea
in Ionia
, that is, in 566 BC, Phocaeans colonizing the western Mediterranean founded a city, Alaliē, on the island of Cyrnus (Corsica
). Diodorus Siculus
says that the city was named Calaris, possibly a corruption of Alaliē, or a confusion with Calaris of Sardinia
. The historical circumstances of Calaris leave no doubt that it was Aleria.
Diodorus says that Aleria had a "beautiful large harbor, called Syracusium," that Calaris and another city, Nicaea, were on it, and that Nicaea had been built by the Etruscans. Syracusium can only be the Étang de Diane, a lake exiting to the Tyrrhenian Sea
. As Aleria and Nicaea were trade rivals it seems unlikely that the Etruscans would have allowed the Phocaeans, who were ancient Greek
s, access to Étang de Diane. Nicaea is generally identified with the La Marana district further north, where the Romans later built a city, Mariana, on the Étang de Biguglia, a better harbor. Diodorus says that the cities of Corsica were subject to the Phocaeans and that the latter took slaves, resin, wax and honey from them. Alaliē was then an emporium
. Of the natives whom the Phocaeans subjugated Diodorus says only that they were "barbarians, whose language is very strange and difficult to be understood" and that they numbered more than 30,000.
At home Phocaea
was the first city of Ionia
to come under siege by the army of Cyrus
, who were Medes
commanded by Harpagus
, in 546 BC. Requesting a cease-fire the Phocaeans took to their ships, abandoning the city to Harpagus, who allowed them to escape. Refused permission to settle Oenussae in the territory of Chios
they resolved to reinforce Alaliē, but first made a surprise punitive raid on Phocaea, executing the entire Persian garrison. At this success half the Phocaeans reinhabited Phocaea; the other half settled in the vicinity of Alaliē.
In Corsica they were so troublesome to the Etruscans and to the Carthaginians of Sardinia
that the two powers sent a combined fleet of 120 ships to root them out, but this force was defeated by 60 Phocaean ships at the Battle of Alalia
in the Sardinian Sea, which Herodotus describes as a Cadmeian victory (his equivalent of a Pyrrhic victory
) because the Greeks lost 40 ships sunk and the remaining 20 so damaged as not to be battle-worthy. Now unable to defend themselves the Phocaeans took to their remaining ships and sailed off to Rhegium, abandoning Alaliē. The Etruscans landed the numerous Phocaean prisoners and executed them, leaving the bodies where they lay until the oracle compelled a proper burial. As the Carthaginians were not then interested in Corsica, the Etruscans occupied Alaliē and took over dominion of the island, which they held until the Romans took it from them.
in 259 BC. Florus
says that Lucius Cornelius Scipio
destroyed it and cleared the region of Carthaginians while Pliny
adds that Sulla much later placed two colonies, Aleria and Mariana. Evidently the Corsican Etruscans had been still cooperating with the Carthaginians. Not including them the island was divided into 32 states.
The Etruscans continued to use the necropolis. Subsequently the Etruscan population must have assimilated to a new Roman population in parallel with the assimilation of Etruscans on the mainland. The Etruscan language disappeared and it must have been starting from that time that the island began to acquire its Latin language.
Under the late Roman Republic
the Romans decided to build a major naval base on the shores of Étang de Diane. Starting in 80 BC under Sulla as dictator they rebuilt the city on the promontory at Aléria, naming it Aleria. The city rose to prominence under Augustus
, becoming the provincial capital of Corsica. Major fleets were stationed on the étang. Ptolemy
mentions it but says little about it, only mentioning "Aleria Colonia", the Rotanus River and Diana Harbor. He lists the "native races" inhabiting the island, but their geographical coordinates do not match those of Aleria; perhaps the Roman town was not considered among them.
In the later Roman Empire
the port and the city declined. It never recovered from a disastrous fire of 410 AD and in 465 was sacked by the Vandals
. Subsequently it became a small village of no interest to any major power. These events must mark the end of its classical antiquity. It was buried bit by bit by the Tavignano and the Tagnone, which also created the deadly marshes. The region became subsumed under a Christian parish.
in the late 6th century AD. Gregory the great in 597 wrote to Bishop Peter of Alaria to recover lapsed converts and to convert more pagans from the worship of trees and stones. He sent him money for baptismal robes. In 601, however, Aleria was without a bishop (see under Ajaccio
).
In the 13th century AD Aleria became of interest to the Republic of Genoa
. By that time the Latin language was gone but it had developed into Corsu on Corsica in parallel with the development of the other Romance languages
. Aleria was the see of a bishop down to the French Revolution
. At the end of the Ancien Régime, the bishop no longer lived in Aléria, but in Cervione
.
The commune of Aléria was created in 1824, but it did not truly begin to revive until after 1945, after the allies (chiefly American) had undertaken to eradicate malaria (1944). An organization, SOMIVAC (Société d'aménagement pour la mise en valeur de la Corse) was created in 1957 to resurrect agriculturally the entire eastern plain under government sponsorship. It had great success in developing the region. Meanwhile a massive archaeological effort had gotten underway in 1955.
Communes of France
The commune is the lowest level of administrative division in the French Republic. French communes are roughly equivalent to incorporated municipalities or villages in the United States or Gemeinden in Germany...
in the Haute-Corse
Haute-Corse
Haute-Corse is a French department. It constitutes the northern part of the island of Corsica.- History :The department was formed on 15 September 1975, when the department of Corse was divided into Haute-Corse and Corse-du-Sud...
department of France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
on the island of Corsica
Corsica
Corsica is an island in the Mediterranean Sea. It is located west of Italy, southeast of the French mainland, and north of the island of Sardinia....
. It includes the easternmost point in Metropolitan France
Metropolitan France
Metropolitan France is the part of France located in Europe. It can also be described as mainland France or as the French mainland and the island of Corsica...
.
Administration
Aléria shares the canton of Moïta-Verde with 13 other communes: MoïtaMoïta
Moïta is a commune in the Haute-Corse department of France on the island of Corsica.-Administration:Moïta is the chief commune of the canton of Moïta-Verde, which includes 13 other communes: Aléria, Ampriani, Campi, Canale-di-Verde, Chiatra, Linguizzetta, Matra, Pianello, Pietra-di-Verde,...
, Ampriani
Ampriani
Ampriani is a commune in the Haute-Corse department of France on the island of Corsica.-Administration:Ampriani is part of the canton of Moïta-Verde, together with 13 other communes: Aléria, Moïta, Campi, Canale-di-Verde, Chiatra, Linguizzetta, Matra, Pianello, Pietra-di-Verde, Tallone, Tox,...
, Campi
Campi, Haute-Corse
Campi is a commune in the Haute-Corse department of France on the island of Corsica.-Administration:Campi is part of the canton of Moïta-Verde, together with 13 other communes: Aléria, Moïta, Ampriani, Canale-di-Verde, Chiatra, Linguizzetta, Matra, Pianello, Pietra-di-Verde, Tallone, Tox, Zalana...
, Canale-di-Verde
Canale-di-Verde
Canale-di-Verde is a commune in the Haute-Corse department of France on the island of Corsica.-Administration:Canale-di-Verde is part of the canton of Moïta-Verde, together with 13 other communes: Aléria, Moïta, Ampriani, Campi, Chiatra, Linguizzetta, Matra, Pianello, Pietra-di-Verde, Tallone,...
, Chiatra
Chiatra
Chiatra is a commune in the Haute-Corse department of France on the island of Corsica.-Population:-References:*...
, Linguizzetta
Linguizzetta
Linguizzetta is a commune in the Haute-Corse department of France on the island of Corsica.-Population:-References:*...
, Matra
Matra, Haute-Corse
Matra is a commune in the Haute-Corse department of France on the island of Corsica.-Population:-References:*...
, Pianello
Pianello
Pianello is a commune in the Haute-Corse department of France on the island of Corsica.-Population:-References:*...
, Pietra-di-Verde
Pietra-di-Verde
Pietra-di-Verde is a commune in the Haute-Corse department of France on the island of Corsica.-Population:-References:*...
, Tallone
Tallone
Tallone is a commune in the Haute-Corse department of France on the island of Corsica.-Population:-References:*...
, Tox
Tox
Tox is a commune in the Haute-Corse department of France on the island of Corsica.-Population:-References:*...
, Zalana
Zalana
Zalana is a commune in the Haute-Corse department of France on the island of Corsica.-Geography:Zalana is in the Castagniccia region of Corsica in the Moïta-Verde canton. The village is located on the east coast of the island 22 km from the sea by road. The connecting road ends in the village....
and Zuani
Zuani
Zuani is a commune in the Haute-Corse department of France on the island of Corsica.-Population:-References:*...
.
Population
Geography
Aléria is 70 kilometres (43.5 mi) to the south of BastiaBastia
Bastia is a commune in the Haute-Corse department of France located in the northeast of the island of Corsica at the base of Cap Corse. It is also the second-largest city in Corsica after Ajaccio and the capital of the department....
on Route N198, in the centre of the Plaine Orientale, also called the Plaine d'Aléria, the east-central coastal plain of the island facing Italy
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
. It includes a number of villages and monuments. Most of the rest of the island is precipitously mountainous.
The eastern coastline is punctuated by a number of lakes connecting (but not always) to the Tyrrhenian Sea
Tyrrhenian Sea
The Tyrrhenian Sea is part of the Mediterranean Sea off the western coast of Italy.-Geography:The sea is bounded by Corsica and Sardinia , Tuscany, Lazio, Campania, Basilicata and Calabria and Sicily ....
, the remnant of an ancient system of lagoon
Lagoon
A lagoon is a body of shallow sea water or brackish water separated from the sea by some form of barrier. The EU's habitat directive defines lagoons as "expanses of shallow coastal salt water, of varying salinity or water volume, wholly or partially separated from the sea by sand banks or shingle,...
s behind barrier beaches
Shoal
Shoal, shoals or shoaling may mean:* Shoal, a sandbank or reef creating shallow water, especially where it forms a hazard to shipping* Shoal draught , of a boat with shallow draught which can pass over some shoals: see Draft...
. The Corsicans refer to them under the name of Étang, "pool", although most are larger by far than an English pool. Marshland is also extensive on the coast requiring that cities be built inland from it. Malaria
Malaria
Malaria is a mosquito-borne infectious disease of humans and other animals caused by eukaryotic protists of the genus Plasmodium. The disease results from the multiplication of Plasmodium parasites within red blood cells, causing symptoms that typically include fever and headache, in severe cases...
has historically been a problem near the marshlands and swamps of eastern Corsica. The fine barrier beaches are a recreational attraction.
The Tavignano River enters the commune to the northwest and exits into the Tyrrhenian Sea
Tyrrhenian Sea
The Tyrrhenian Sea is part of the Mediterranean Sea off the western coast of Italy.-Geography:The sea is bounded by Corsica and Sardinia , Tuscany, Lazio, Campania, Basilicata and Calabria and Sicily ....
. Its lands include a delta, marshes to the south and the unconnected étang de Diane to the north. To the west, the étang de Terre Rosse is a lake and reservoir used to irrigate the plain.
Corsica had an indigenous population in the Neolithic
Neolithic
The Neolithic Age, Era, or Period, or New Stone Age, was a period in the development of human technology, beginning about 9500 BC in some parts of the Middle East, and later in other parts of the world. It is traditionally considered as the last part of the Stone Age...
and the Bronze Age
Bronze Age
The Bronze Age is a period characterized by the use of copper and its alloy bronze as the chief hard materials in the manufacture of some implements and weapons. Chronologically, it stands between the Stone Age and Iron Age...
but the east coast was subject to colonization by Mediterranean maritime powers: Greeks, Etruscans, Carthaginians, Romans. They typically built on an étang, which they used as a harbor. Alaliē (Ionic dialect) was placed between the southern end of the 3.5 kilometres (2.2 mi) long Ētang de Diane and the Tavignanu River (ancient Rhotanos), slightly inland, but controlling the entire district including the mouth of the river. The site is partly occupied today by the village of Cateraggio (Corsican U Cateraghju) at the crossroads of national routes N200 and N198. N200 follows the Vallé du Tavignano into the interior mountains of Corte
Corte
Corte is a commune in the Haute-Corse department of France on the island of Corsica. It is the fourth-largest commune in Corsica .-Administration:Corte is a subprefecture of the Haute-Corse department.-History:...
.
When the Etruscans took the district after its abandonment by the Greeks they settled further south along N198 in the vicinity of the village of Aléria, today primarily an archaeological site across the river from Cateraggio, where visitors and academics are quartered. Still south of there was the Etruscan necropolis
Necropolis
A necropolis is a large cemetery or burial ground, usually including structural tombs. The word comes from the Greek νεκρόπολις - nekropolis, literally meaning "city of the dead"...
, in today's Casabianda. Aléria takes its name from the Roman town placed there after the defeat of the Etruscans.
The entire district, however, is wider still, following the Corsican custom of including some mountains and some beaches in every district. It incorporates the agricultural lands of Teppe Rosse (to the west), the entire Étang de Diane and the Plage de Padulone 3 kilometres (2 mi) east of Cateraggio, a former barrier beach. Since 1975 a series of laws have created the Casabianda-Aléria Nature Preserve, 1748 hectares (4,319.4 acre) between the mouth of the Tavignanu and the Étang d'Urbinu, which is 5 kilometres (3 mi) to the south.
The reserve to the south was initiated from the grounds of the former penitentiary of Casabianda in 1951. It was instituted in 1880 in a then pestilential area which it was hoped the prisoners could farm. It contained 1800 ha and 214 plots. Due to a high death rate from malaria, the agricultural experiment failed.
Economy
L'étang de Diane occupies 600 hectares (1,482.6 acre); in it the île des Pêcheurs ("Fishermans' Island") features a large mound of oyster shells accumulated from Roman times, when removed from their shells, salted oysters were exported to Rome. A company has revived with success the production of molluscs in the étang. In the commune, grapes and citrus fruits are commonly grown.Archaeology
Hundreds of archaeological sites on CorsicaCorsica
Corsica is an island in the Mediterranean Sea. It is located west of Italy, southeast of the French mainland, and north of the island of Sardinia....
offer a view of an island that has been occupied continuously since about 6500 BC and has never been isolated. It was common for populations on Corsica to maintain contacts (especially trade contacts) with other communities on the mediterranean; the indigenous people of Corsica therefore might have come from anywhere on the mediterranean. The various archaeological museums on the island preserve ample remains from the Neolithic
Neolithic
The Neolithic Age, Era, or Period, or New Stone Age, was a period in the development of human technology, beginning about 9500 BC in some parts of the Middle East, and later in other parts of the world. It is traditionally considered as the last part of the Stone Age...
, Chalcolithic, Bronze Age
Bronze Age
The Bronze Age is a period characterized by the use of copper and its alloy bronze as the chief hard materials in the manufacture of some implements and weapons. Chronologically, it stands between the Stone Age and Iron Age...
and Iron Age
Iron Age
The Iron Age is the archaeological period generally occurring after the Bronze Age, marked by the prevalent use of iron. The early period of the age is characterized by the widespread use of iron or steel. The adoption of such material coincided with other changes in society, including differing...
, with some interpretive or circumstantial variation in the dates. Only in the Iron Age (700 BC-) were there any historians to distinguish between the indigenes descending from previous populations and the more recent colonists.
Although no settlements of urban density preceded the first Greek colony, Aléria is unlikely to have been altogether unpopulated. A chance find of an ancient rubbish disposal pit at a location called Terrina about 2 kilometres (1.2 mi) from the Étang de Diane gives some information regarding pre-Roman habitation. The pit was excavated between 1975 and 1981 by G. Camps, who found four levels and named the site after the most important, Terrina IV.
Terrina IV features a Middle Neolithic settlement in which the use of cattle and pigs were, in contrast to the rest of the island, which kept mainly goats and sheep and grew grain. The Chalcolithic, approximately 3500-3000 BC, arrived by easy transition. The population of the site manufactured arsenical copper and copper goods.
The visible antique habitations at Aléria date to the Iron Age
Iron Age
The Iron Age is the archaeological period generally occurring after the Bronze Age, marked by the prevalent use of iron. The early period of the age is characterized by the widespread use of iron or steel. The adoption of such material coincided with other changes in society, including differing...
and are consistent with the common history. Although ruins on the promontory were noted by Prosper Mérimée
Prosper Mérimée
Prosper Mérimée was a French dramatist, historian, archaeologist, and short story writer. He is perhaps best known for his novella Carmen, which became the basis of Bizet's opera Carmen.-Life:...
in 1839, they were only excavated in 1955 by Jean Jehasse and Jean-Paul Boucher. By 1958 the excavators had uncovered the forum
Forum (Roman)
A forum was a public square in a Roman municipium, or any civitas, reserved primarily for the vending of goods; i.e., a marketplace, along with the buildings used for shops and the stoas used for open stalls...
of the Roman city of Aleria, first occupied in the 1st century BC.
A pre-Roman, Etruscan
Etruscan civilization
Etruscan civilization is the modern English name given to a civilization of ancient Italy in the area corresponding roughly to Tuscany. The ancient Romans called its creators the Tusci or Etrusci...
necropolis
Necropolis
A necropolis is a large cemetery or burial ground, usually including structural tombs. The word comes from the Greek νεκρόπολις - nekropolis, literally meaning "city of the dead"...
was then discovered 500 metres (1,640.4 ft) to the south (in Casabianda) containing more than 200 tombs. It was excavated between 1960-1981. The necropolis had been in use mainly from the 6th to the 3rd centuries BC and was abandoned altogether with the construction of the Roman city, which had a cemetery to the north. No artifacts that were identifiably Etruscan have been found to have been from before the 6th century BC; that is, the Etruscans were most likely intrusive at that time.
Systematic excavation since 1955 has revealed wide-ranging contacts in the sixth century, through pottery shards in test pits, with Ionia
Ionia
Ionia is an ancient region of central coastal Anatolia in present-day Turkey, the region nearest İzmir, which was historically Smyrna. It consisted of the northernmost territories of the Ionian League of Greek settlements...
n, Phocaean, Rhodian
Rhodes
Rhodes is an island in Greece, located in the eastern Aegean Sea. It is the largest of the Dodecanese islands in terms of both land area and population, with a population of 117,007, and also the island group's historical capital. Administratively the island forms a separate municipality within...
, and Attic
Attica
Attica is a historical region of Greece, containing Athens, the current capital of Greece. The historical region is centered on the Attic peninsula, which projects into the Aegean Sea...
black-figure ware
Black-figure pottery
Black-figure pottery painting, also known as the black-figure style or black-figure ceramic is one of the most modern styles for adorning antique Greek vases. It was especially common between the 7th and 5th centuries BC, although there are specimens dating as late as the 2nd century BC...
. The excavated necropolis of Casabianda's rock-cut tombs have revealed treasures and goods, left or placed with the buried, that include fine works of art, jewels, weapons, metalware, bronze and ceramic plates and dishes in particular, rhyton
Rhyton
A rhyton is a container from which fluids were intended to be drunk, or else poured in some ceremony such as libation. Rhytons were very common in ancient Persia, where they were called takuk...
s, distinctive krater
Krater
A krater was a large vase used to mix wine and water in Ancient Greece.-Form and function:...
s decorated by some of the first rank Attic vase-painters.
Portable antiquities found in the Aléria commune are presented for public viewing in the Musée Jérôme Carcopino
Departmental Museum of archaeology Gilort (Jérôme) Carcopino
The Departmental Museum of archaeology Gilort Carcopino is situated in the commune of Aleria in Corsica at around 70 kilometers from Bastia and at 120 kilometers from Ajaccio.-The Museum:...
in Fort Matra in the village of Aléria.
Pre-Roman
According to HerodotusHerodotus
Herodotus was an ancient Greek historian who was born in Halicarnassus, Caria and lived in the 5th century BC . He has been called the "Father of History", and was the first historian known to collect his materials systematically, test their accuracy to a certain extent and arrange them in a...
twenty years before the abandonment of Phocaea
Phocaea
Phocaea, or Phokaia, was an ancient Ionian Greek city on the western coast of Anatolia. Greek colonists from Phocaea founded the colony of Massalia in 600 BC, Emporion in 575 BC and Elea in 540 BC.-Geography:Phocaea was the northernmost...
in Ionia
Ionia
Ionia is an ancient region of central coastal Anatolia in present-day Turkey, the region nearest İzmir, which was historically Smyrna. It consisted of the northernmost territories of the Ionian League of Greek settlements...
, that is, in 566 BC, Phocaeans colonizing the western Mediterranean founded a city, Alaliē, on the island of Cyrnus (Corsica
Corsica
Corsica is an island in the Mediterranean Sea. It is located west of Italy, southeast of the French mainland, and north of the island of Sardinia....
). Diodorus Siculus
Diodorus Siculus
Diodorus Siculus was a Greek historian who flourished between 60 and 30 BC. According to Diodorus' own work, he was born at Agyrium in Sicily . With one exception, antiquity affords no further information about Diodorus' life and doings beyond what is to be found in his own work, Bibliotheca...
says that the city was named Calaris, possibly a corruption of Alaliē, or a confusion with Calaris of Sardinia
Sardinia
Sardinia is the second-largest island in the Mediterranean Sea . It is an autonomous region of Italy, and the nearest land masses are the French island of Corsica, the Italian Peninsula, Sicily, Tunisia and the Spanish Balearic Islands.The name Sardinia is from the pre-Roman noun *sard[],...
. The historical circumstances of Calaris leave no doubt that it was Aleria.
Diodorus says that Aleria had a "beautiful large harbor, called Syracusium," that Calaris and another city, Nicaea, were on it, and that Nicaea had been built by the Etruscans. Syracusium can only be the Étang de Diane, a lake exiting to the Tyrrhenian Sea
Tyrrhenian Sea
The Tyrrhenian Sea is part of the Mediterranean Sea off the western coast of Italy.-Geography:The sea is bounded by Corsica and Sardinia , Tuscany, Lazio, Campania, Basilicata and Calabria and Sicily ....
. As Aleria and Nicaea were trade rivals it seems unlikely that the Etruscans would have allowed the Phocaeans, who were ancient Greek
Ancient Greek
Ancient Greek is the stage of the Greek language in the periods spanning the times c. 9th–6th centuries BC, , c. 5th–4th centuries BC , and the c. 3rd century BC – 6th century AD of ancient Greece and the ancient world; being predated in the 2nd millennium BC by Mycenaean Greek...
s, access to Étang de Diane. Nicaea is generally identified with the La Marana district further north, where the Romans later built a city, Mariana, on the Étang de Biguglia, a better harbor. Diodorus says that the cities of Corsica were subject to the Phocaeans and that the latter took slaves, resin, wax and honey from them. Alaliē was then an emporium
Marketplace
A marketplace is the space, actual, virtual or metaphorical, in which a market operates. The term is also used in a trademark law context to denote the actual consumer environment, ie. the 'real world' in which products and services are provided and consumed.-Marketplaces and street markets:A...
. Of the natives whom the Phocaeans subjugated Diodorus says only that they were "barbarians, whose language is very strange and difficult to be understood" and that they numbered more than 30,000.
At home Phocaea
Phocaea
Phocaea, or Phokaia, was an ancient Ionian Greek city on the western coast of Anatolia. Greek colonists from Phocaea founded the colony of Massalia in 600 BC, Emporion in 575 BC and Elea in 540 BC.-Geography:Phocaea was the northernmost...
was the first city of Ionia
Ionia
Ionia is an ancient region of central coastal Anatolia in present-day Turkey, the region nearest İzmir, which was historically Smyrna. It consisted of the northernmost territories of the Ionian League of Greek settlements...
to come under siege by the army of Cyrus
Cyrus the Great
Cyrus II of Persia , commonly known as Cyrus the Great, also known as Cyrus the Elder, was the founder of the Achaemenid Empire. Under his rule, the empire embraced all the previous civilized states of the ancient Near East, expanded vastly and eventually conquered most of Southwest Asia and much...
, who were Medes
Medes
The MedesThe Medes...
commanded by Harpagus
Harpagus
Harpagus, also known as Harpagos or Hypargus , was a Median general from the 6th century BCE, credited by Herodotus as having put Cyrus the Great on the throne through his defection during the battle of Pasargadae.-Biography:According to Herodotus' Histories, Harpagus was a member of the Median...
, in 546 BC. Requesting a cease-fire the Phocaeans took to their ships, abandoning the city to Harpagus, who allowed them to escape. Refused permission to settle Oenussae in the territory of Chios
Chios
Chios is the fifth largest of the Greek islands, situated in the Aegean Sea, seven kilometres off the Asia Minor coast. The island is separated from Turkey by the Chios Strait. The island is noted for its strong merchant shipping community, its unique mastic gum and its medieval villages...
they resolved to reinforce Alaliē, but first made a surprise punitive raid on Phocaea, executing the entire Persian garrison. At this success half the Phocaeans reinhabited Phocaea; the other half settled in the vicinity of Alaliē.
In Corsica they were so troublesome to the Etruscans and to the Carthaginians of Sardinia
Sardinia
Sardinia is the second-largest island in the Mediterranean Sea . It is an autonomous region of Italy, and the nearest land masses are the French island of Corsica, the Italian Peninsula, Sicily, Tunisia and the Spanish Balearic Islands.The name Sardinia is from the pre-Roman noun *sard[],...
that the two powers sent a combined fleet of 120 ships to root them out, but this force was defeated by 60 Phocaean ships at the Battle of Alalia
Battle of Alalia
The naval Battle of Alalia took place between 540 BC and 535 BC off the coast of Corsica between Greeks and the allied Etruscans and Carthaginians...
in the Sardinian Sea, which Herodotus describes as a Cadmeian victory (his equivalent of a Pyrrhic victory
Pyrrhic victory
A Pyrrhic victory is a victory with such a devastating cost to the victor that it carries the implication that another such victory will ultimately cause defeat.-Origin:...
) because the Greeks lost 40 ships sunk and the remaining 20 so damaged as not to be battle-worthy. Now unable to defend themselves the Phocaeans took to their remaining ships and sailed off to Rhegium, abandoning Alaliē. The Etruscans landed the numerous Phocaean prisoners and executed them, leaving the bodies where they lay until the oracle compelled a proper burial. As the Carthaginians were not then interested in Corsica, the Etruscans occupied Alaliē and took over dominion of the island, which they held until the Romans took it from them.
Roman
The Etruscans and perhaps others in their turn occupied Alalia. There is no evidence of any other impact of theirs on the island or the indigenous population; the east coast location was simply fortuitous for them. Across the waters, however, rose a power that eventually dominated the entire island and had a lasting impact, changing the language. Alaliē was occupied by the Romans during the First Punic WarFirst Punic War
The First Punic War was the first of three wars fought between Ancient Carthage and the Roman Republic. For 23 years, the two powers struggled for supremacy in the western Mediterranean Sea, primarily on the Mediterranean island of Sicily and its surrounding waters but also to a lesser extent in...
in 259 BC. Florus
Florus
Florus, Roman historian, lived in the time of Trajan and Hadrian.He compiled, chiefly from Livy, a brief sketch of the history of Rome from the foundation of the city to the closing of the temple of Janus by Augustus . The work, which is called Epitome de T...
says that Lucius Cornelius Scipio
Lucius Cornelius Scipio (consul 259 BC)
Lucius Cornelius Scipio , consul in 259 BC during the First Punic War was a consul and censor of ancient Rome. He was the son of Lucius Cornelius Scipio Barbatus, himself consul and censor, and brother to Gnaeus Cornelius Scipio Asina, himself twice consul...
destroyed it and cleared the region of Carthaginians while Pliny
Pliny the Elder
Gaius Plinius Secundus , better known as Pliny the Elder, was a Roman author, naturalist, and natural philosopher, as well as naval and army commander of the early Roman Empire, and personal friend of the emperor Vespasian...
adds that Sulla much later placed two colonies, Aleria and Mariana. Evidently the Corsican Etruscans had been still cooperating with the Carthaginians. Not including them the island was divided into 32 states.
The Etruscans continued to use the necropolis. Subsequently the Etruscan population must have assimilated to a new Roman population in parallel with the assimilation of Etruscans on the mainland. The Etruscan language disappeared and it must have been starting from that time that the island began to acquire its Latin language.
Under the late Roman Republic
Roman Republic
The Roman Republic was the period of the ancient Roman civilization where the government operated as a republic. It began with the overthrow of the Roman monarchy, traditionally dated around 508 BC, and its replacement by a government headed by two consuls, elected annually by the citizens and...
the Romans decided to build a major naval base on the shores of Étang de Diane. Starting in 80 BC under Sulla as dictator they rebuilt the city on the promontory at Aléria, naming it Aleria. The city rose to prominence under Augustus
Augustus
Augustus ;23 September 63 BC – 19 August AD 14) is considered the first emperor of the Roman Empire, which he ruled alone from 27 BC until his death in 14 AD.The dates of his rule are contemporary dates; Augustus lived under two calendars, the Roman Republican until 45 BC, and the Julian...
, becoming the provincial capital of Corsica. Major fleets were stationed on the étang. Ptolemy
Ptolemy
Claudius Ptolemy , was a Roman citizen of Egypt who wrote in Greek. He was a mathematician, astronomer, geographer, astrologer, and poet of a single epigram in the Greek Anthology. He lived in Egypt under Roman rule, and is believed to have been born in the town of Ptolemais Hermiou in the...
mentions it but says little about it, only mentioning "Aleria Colonia", the Rotanus River and Diana Harbor. He lists the "native races" inhabiting the island, but their geographical coordinates do not match those of Aleria; perhaps the Roman town was not considered among them.
In the later Roman Empire
Roman Empire
The Roman Empire was the post-Republican period of the ancient Roman civilization, characterised by an autocratic form of government and large territorial holdings in Europe and around the Mediterranean....
the port and the city declined. It never recovered from a disastrous fire of 410 AD and in 465 was sacked by the Vandals
Vandals
The Vandals were an East Germanic tribe that entered the late Roman Empire during the 5th century. The Vandals under king Genseric entered Africa in 429 and by 439 established a kingdom which included the Roman Africa province, besides the islands of Sicily, Corsica, Sardinia and the Balearics....
. Subsequently it became a small village of no interest to any major power. These events must mark the end of its classical antiquity. It was buried bit by bit by the Tavignano and the Tagnone, which also created the deadly marshes. The region became subsumed under a Christian parish.
Medieval and modern history
There is some evidence that Corsica was being converted to ChristianityChristianity
Christianity is a monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus as presented in canonical gospels and other New Testament writings...
in the late 6th century AD. Gregory the great in 597 wrote to Bishop Peter of Alaria to recover lapsed converts and to convert more pagans from the worship of trees and stones. He sent him money for baptismal robes. In 601, however, Aleria was without a bishop (see under Ajaccio
Ajaccio
Ajaccio , is a commune on the island of Corsica in France. It is the capital and largest city of the region of Corsica and the prefecture of the department of Corse-du-Sud....
).
In the 13th century AD Aleria became of interest to the Republic of Genoa
Republic of Genoa
The Most Serene Republic of Genoa |Ligurian]]: Repúbrica de Zêna) was an independent state from 1005 to 1797 in Liguria on the northwestern Italian coast, as well as Corsica from 1347 to 1768, and numerous other territories throughout the Mediterranean....
. By that time the Latin language was gone but it had developed into Corsu on Corsica in parallel with the development of the other Romance languages
Romance languages
The Romance languages are a branch of the Indo-European language family, more precisely of the Italic languages subfamily, comprising all the languages that descend from Vulgar Latin, the language of ancient Rome...
. Aleria was the see of a bishop down to the French Revolution
French Revolution
The French Revolution , sometimes distinguished as the 'Great French Revolution' , was a period of radical social and political upheaval in France and Europe. The absolute monarchy that had ruled France for centuries collapsed in three years...
. At the end of the Ancien Régime, the bishop no longer lived in Aléria, but in Cervione
Cervione
Cervione is a commune of the Haute-Corse department of France on the island of Corsica.-Population:-External links:*...
.
The commune of Aléria was created in 1824, but it did not truly begin to revive until after 1945, after the allies (chiefly American) had undertaken to eradicate malaria (1944). An organization, SOMIVAC (Société d'aménagement pour la mise en valeur de la Corse) was created in 1957 to resurrect agriculturally the entire eastern plain under government sponsorship. It had great success in developing the region. Meanwhile a massive archaeological effort had gotten underway in 1955.
See also
- Battle of AlaliaBattle of AlaliaThe naval Battle of Alalia took place between 540 BC and 535 BC off the coast of Corsica between Greeks and the allied Etruscans and Carthaginians...
- History of CorsicaHistory of CorsicaThat the history of Corsica has been influenced by its strategic position at the heart of the western Mediterranean and its maritime routes, only from Sardinia, from the Isle of Elba, from the coast of Tuscany and from the French port of Nice, was first proposed by the 19th-century German...
- Mediæval CorsicaMedieval CorsicaThe history of Corsica in the medieval period begins with the collapse of the Western Roman Empire and the invasions of various Germanic peoples in the fifth century and ends with the complete subjection of the island to the authority of the Bank of San Giorgio in 1511.-Eastern Imperial...
- Torra di DianaTorra di DianaThe Torra di Diana is a Genoese tower in Corsica, located in the commune of Aléria .It is one of the Official Historical Monuments of France.-Notes and references:...
- Communes of the Haute-Corse department
External links
- Official website . A diaporama of the Corsican coast at Aleria.