Przyczynek do obrazu elit południowoapulijskich

Abstract

None of Roman senator families descended from South Apulia. The reason for that should be traced in the history of those lands, originally inhabited by Messapians and conquered by Rome in the III century B.C. New Roman order led to the change of ethnical and economic structure, affecting the existing regional economy, oriented to the contacts with cities of Magna Graecia. Moreover, the character of land ownership and natural conditions of Salento Peninsula hindered both locals and new settlers from other parts of Italy wishing to grow wealthy and achieve a senator status. Prosperity through wine and olive trade, with its center in Brundisium was mainly shared by representatives of aristocratic families from outside of Apulia, i.e. Campania, Lazio or Etruria.