Note 2160 — Chapter I

Although Strabo ascribes Mamertium to the Bruttii, it is more probable that it was a colony of Campanian mercenaries, deriving their name from Mamers, the Oscan Mars, who served under Agathocles, and other princes of Sicily. The Mamertini were employed by the Romans against Pyrrhus, whom they attacked in the woods and defiles about Rhegium. Barrio (lib. ii. c. 10) and Maraf. (lib. iii. c. 25, f. 222) have identified the site of this ancient town with Martorano, but it seems too distant from Locri and Rhegium to accord with Strabo’s description. Cluverius, D’Anville, and Romanelli place it at Oppido, a bishop’s see above Reggio, and Gerace, where old coins are said to have been discovered. Cramer (vol. ii. p. 439) thinks that the Melæ mentioned by Thucydides may have been identical with Mamertium. Several remains of antiquity exist on the site called Mela, in the vicinity of Oppido.