Misurare la terra. Considerazioni sul caso siciliano a partire dalla fondazione di Zancle in Callimaco

Abstract

This article aims to relate Callimachus’ poetry with the measurement and distribution of land in a colonial environment. Certain words used by Callimachus in his description of the foundation of Zancle and in some other episodes (for example γεωδαῖται, σπάρτον, σχοῖνος, μέτρον ἀρούρης, διαμετρέω) refer to a technical vocabulary as well as units of measurement widely attested in Ptolemaic Egypt and Southern Italy. Besides the influence of local Egyptian knowledge, these features display the diffusion of scientific and philosophical traditions (Aristotle and the Aristotelian school, Pythagoreanism, etc.) in the Greek poleis in Sicily and Magna Graecia.

Keywords

• Callimachus
• Hellenistic poetry
• Sicily
• Zankle
• foundation stories
• land distribution