An archaeological investigation before redevelopment of the railway station in Manduria, 20 miles east of Taranto, southeast Italy, has uncovered a large section of a defensive wall built by the pre-Italic Messapian people in the 4th century B.C. The structure is composed of limestone blocks that were precisely worked and laid dry in an alternating pattern. It was built inside a moat that encircled the inner wall of the older Archaic-era defensive walls.
The Messapians inhabited what is now the region of Apulia (the heel of Italy’s boot) from the 9th to the 3rd century B.C. They formed highly developed independent city-states and, fiercely defended that independence against numerous attacks from the Greek colonies of southern Italy. Manduria was one of the most prosperous Messapian cities, and built elaborate defenses to protect itself: a triple ring of megalithic walls constructed between the 5th and 3rd centuries B.C.
The newly-discovered section of wall is expanding our knowledge of the complex Messapian fortification systems. Its massive defenses were put to the test repeatedly, most notably when Manduria was besieged by Taras (Taranto) and its Spartan allies in 338 B.C. That attempt failed, and the Spartan king Archidamus III lost his life outside those imposing walls. The Romans took it in 266 B.C., but Hannibal besieged it in 212 B.C. during the Second Punic War and wrested it out of their grasp. Roman legions under Quintus Fabius Maximus, former dictator and at the time consul for the fifth time, reconquered Manduria and Tarantum in 209 B.C.
In agreement with the railroad, the best-preserved section of the wall will be preserved and displayed in situ. Information panels will give rail travelers an understanding of the Messapian city and its walls, thematically linking ancient Manduria and its infrastructure and connecting visitors to the Archaeological Park of the Messapian Walls a half mile down the road.
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