ABSTRACT
By the early 3rd century BC people living in even the remotest parts of southeast Italy had seen and spoken to individuals who used a different language, wore odd clothes, behaved in unusual ways and had norms and values that differed substantially from theirs. In the coastal areas encounters between originally Greek migrants and Oscan or Messapic speakers must have occurred very frequently from the 6th century onward. Although the various ethnic groups of southeast Italy fought each other happily, 1 a certain familiarity and mutual understanding must have grown in the course of time between these people with different geographical, cultural and social backgrounds. Therefore, persons who were able to function economically, socially and mentally in both Greek contexts and in one or more indigenous groups, must have occurred much more frequently than the archaeological record reveals. Moreover – we have seen this in the preceding chapter – the Greek-barbarian antithesis was more often a rhetorical construct than an issue in daily life.
