Da guerrieri ad eroi immortali. Aristocrazie e segni del potere in Puglia e Basilicata tra VIII e V secolo a.C.

The deep relationships, already existing since the 8th century BC, with Etruscan and Greek culture have triggered in the indigenous communities of Apulia and Basilicata a series of socio-cultural dynamics that will lead to a fundamental stage of social differentiation, based no longer on the role but on the high rank. If in the previous centuries the warrior was characterized only by the presence of the bronze spear, from the end of the 9th and especially in the 8th century the element that distinguishes it is the sword, which becomes a symbol of personal prestige. In this phase, the armed people is often accompanied by instruments connected with specialized activities (chisels) or with agriculture (agricultural tools), which also express the control of the means of production and the new concept of land ownership. In very rare cases, in the funerary assemblages there are some prestige goods imported from Etruria or from Cumae, such as bronze basins, lebetes and cauldrons, connected with ceremonial practices of Euboic- Tyrrhenian influence. By the 7th century BC, when the so-called phenomenon of the "birth of the princes" is affirmed, the traditional warlike ideology of the indigenous aristocracy does not seem to undergo deep changes. The high rank of the warrior continues to be highlighted by the sword, but also by the spear and shield. However, the assemblages are enriched with numerous prestige goods that circulate along the routes that connect Basilicata and Apulia to the Etruscan Campania, especially bronze vases and other valuable objects, bearers of a new aristocratic cultural model. A different framework is offered by the tombs of warriors related to the 6th century BC, which present more articulated assemblages, in which are found many prestige goods from the Etruscan and Hellenic world, such as bronze vases and figured pottery, while the panoply is enriched with Corinthian helmets, greaves and shields with figured girders (schildband) according to the customs of the Greek hoplites. It is above all a parade armament that serves to emphasize the rank and the high social level of the deceased. Another data is given by the presence of the chariot that characterizes not only the male tombs, but also the female ones of the dominant classes. If, on the one hand, it is proposed as an instrument of war, on the other it constitutes a further sign of social distinction. The use of the horse is attested by the presence in some exceptional burials of very precious parade harnesses that protect the chest and the muzzle, often characterized by a refined figured decoration. The ceremonial and symbolic use of these elements of the panoply, as well as of figured girders of shields and swords, are emphasized by the ornamental and figured themes, but also by the presence of Black-Figure Attic pottery with mythical episodes and war scenes or gender representations through which the heroic world of the prince is expressed. Towards the end of the 6th century BC and in the subsequent one there was a substantial continuity with the warlike ideology of the Archaic period, even if the armament no longer constitutes the main element of attention for the ruling classes, now replaced by convivial practices. In some cases, figured Attic pottery and weapons constitute a complex system of images with references to the reality of combat (we can think to the labours of Heracles or the duels of Achilles), which constitute precise symbols of self-representation and recall the heroic condition of the deceased.