ERCOLANO NELLA GEOGRAFIA STRABONIANA TRA FONTI LETTERARIE E CONTESTO ARCHEOLOGICO

Abstract

In his description of the Gulf of Naples, Strabo provides one of the few pre-eruption topographical accounts of the Vesuvian area and presents Herculaneum as a promontory overlooking the sea. Further topographical information can be gleaned from the historian Sisenna, who describes Herculaneum as an oppidum perched on a hill overlooking the sea,
and from Dionysius of Halicarnassus, for whom Herculaneum is instead a polikhne, a small town located between Naples and Pompeii. Historical cartography provides further evidence to confirm the literary sources. Archaeological data paints a picture of a well-ordered city built on high ground. Current archaeological evidence dates the early stages of construction to the late 3rd - early 2nd century BC.

Key-words : Strabo, Herculaneum, oppidum, polikhne