Uxentum
UXENTUM (Οὔξεεντον, Ptol.: Eth. Uxentinus: Ugento), a town of Calabria, in the territory of the Sallentines, situated about 5 miles from the seacoast, and 16 from the Iapygian Promontory (Capo di Leuca). It is mentioned by both Pliny and Ptolemy among the inland towns which they assign to the Sallentines, and is placed by the Tabula on the road from Tarentum to the extremity of the peninsula. (Plin. Nat. 3.11. s. 16; Ptol. 3.1.76; Tab. Peut. ) The name is corruptly written in the Tabula Uhintum, and in Pliny the MSS. give Ulentini, for which the older editors had substituted Valentini. Hence Ptolemy is the only authority for the form of the name (though there is no doubt that the place meant is in all cases the same); and as coins have the Greek legend OZAN, it is doubtful whether Uxentum or Uzentum is the more correct form. The site is clearly marked by the modern town of Ugento, and the ruins of the ancient city were still visible in the days of Galateo at the foot of the hill on which it stands. (Galateo, de Sit. Iapyg. p. 100; Romanelli, vol. 2. p. 43.) Many tombs also have been found there, in which coins, vases, and inscriptions in the Messapian dialect have been discovered. COIN OF UXENTUM.
[E.H.B]Now Ugento; a town in Calabria, northwest of the Iapygian promontory.
An ancient city in the territory of the Salentini, situated 8 km from the Ionian coast and 25 km from the Iapygean promontory (Capo di Leuca). The name of this Messapic, and later Roman, center is found in the literary sources in various forms: Ouxenton, whence Uxentum, in Ptolemy (3.1.76); Uzentini in Pliny (3.105) and Livy (22.61.12); Uzintum in the Peutinger Table along the road which led from Tarentum to the end of the peninsula. Coins with the Messapic inscription OZAN are from the 1st c. B.C.
The circuit walls ca. 4700 m long are certainly Messapic but perhaps rebuilt in the Roman period. Inside and outside the walls, numerous tombs have been discovered dating from the end of the 7th c. B.C. to the Roman period. One tomb with two successive burials, recently discovered inside the modern town, contained rich bronze furnishings (ca. 510-490 B.C.) which came from the Peloponnesos, nearly contemporary with the bronze statuette of Poseidon in the museum at Taranto. Rich grave gifts of pottery, coins, and Messapic inscriptions of the 4th-2d c. B.C. have come to light at various times. Other tombs with Latin inscriptions belong to Roman Uxentum. In the Palazzo Colosso at Ugento, an interesting collection of materials from the area is preserved.
BIBLIOGRAPHYW. Smith, Dictionary of Greek and Roman Geography, II (1857) 1332 (E. H. Bunbury); K. Miller, Itineraria Romana (1916) 362; RE 9.2 (1967) 1325-29; O. Parlangeli, Studi Messapici (1960) 215; G. Susini, Fonti per la storia greca e romana del Salento (1962) 77; N. Degrassi, “Ii Poseidon di Ugento,” La Parola del Passato (1965) 93; F. G. Lo Porto, “Tomba messapica di Ugento,” Atti e memorie della Società Magna Grecia (1970-71) 99.
F. G. LO PORTO