---

Modern Description: Roccagloriosa is a large site situated on a high plateau overlooking the valley of the Bussento River. It has commanding views over large sections of the Tyrrhenian coast. Its fortification walls lie to west of the site and have been exposed over a number of years of excavation. The eastern approaches are naturally protected by the topography of the plateau and needed no added defensive structures. Roccagloriosa is intervisibile with three other known fortified centres. This is a large amount for the region along the Tyrrhenian coastline. Most sites in this area typically are only intervisible with one (or less) know sites – a marked difference from the situation found amongst inland and Ionian coastal sites. Of these intervisibile sites the first, ‘Castelluccio’ is found at the summit of a high mountain to the west of Roccagloriosa overlooking both the Mingardo valley and ‐ importantly ‐ large stretch of the Tyrrhenian Sea to the north‐west that is not visible by Roccagloriosa itself. ‘Castelluccio’ is an extremely small site measuring under ten by ten metres but strategically important giving Roccagloriosa information on activity on a large swathe of the Tyrrhenian Sea directly in front of Velia, a similar operation performed by Torricelli for Moio Della Civitella. ‘Castelluccio’ also could observe movement to the east down the Mingardo valley towards Roccagloriosa. The second site intervisible with Roccagloriosa is ‘Caselle in Piattari’ which seems to have been more of a ‘satellite’ settlement of Roccagloriosa and given its limited viewshed is not part of any The third, ‘Policastro Bussentino’ was originally a Greek foundation (Pyxous) and its location can not have been determined by any defensive considerations of Roccagloriosa.

Info: Myers Lucania

Brett Andrew Myers, Visual Connectivity and Control in Ancient Lucania, MPhil thesis 2018, Univ. of Sydney

---