Abstract
Abstract: Historical and archaeological literature in many cases have named phrouria the ancient Sikel and Sikan towns, which were in contact with the apoikoi from the end of the 8th century B.C. But what is the meaning that the researchers attribute to this word? Is it possible that, in choosing this definition, the interpretations of the dynamics of contact were inevitably filtered through a Hellenocentric view? The purpose of this paper is to analyze different forms in which the noun “phrourion” has been and is still used in scientific production, from ancient textual sources to archaeological literature. It is an invitation to reflect on the agency of words in scientific discourse and to what extent we, scholars of Antiquity, are influenced by the vocabulary of Greek “colonialism” when interpreting material culture and societies from the past.
Highlights
Historical and archaeological literature in many cases have named phrouria the ancient Sikel and Sikan towns, which were in contact with the apoikoi from the end of the 8th century B.C
We have no intention of lingering over this matter; rather we would like to deepen the understanding of the evolution and the different aspects of a word often used to indicate the ancient indigenous towns following the encounter with the Greek apoikoi
Giuseppe Testa (1983) already pointed out that Diodorus indiscriminately alternated the words polis and phrourion when referring to indigenous settlements
Summary
Historical and archaeological literature in many cases have named phrouria the ancient Sikel and Sikan towns, which were in contact with the apoikoi from the end of the 8th century B.C. The compounds of phroureo appear – in literary sources, but rarely in epigraphic ones3 – with a certain frequency only from the beginning of the 5th century B.C. Besides, Archaeology shows that phrouria began to be systematically established beyond the borders of the chora in the Classical period4, with the function of defending the territory and the state or, in rare cases, for offensive purposes
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