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the Peloponnese, which sailors had to pass during their voyages. Sailors coming from the
East, having reached Santa Maria di Leuca in Apulia (known in antiquity
as a[kra ∆Iapugiva or Promontorium Iapigium) and crossed the Gulf of Tarentum,
headed towards Capo Colonna (Fig. 3). On the tip of this cape, isolated on the long
promontory that stretches into the Ionian Sea, lies the temple of Hera, the main goddess
of the local pantheon. A solitary Doric column of Hera’s temple still stands on the
promontory and gives it its present name of Capo Colonna, or “Cape of the Column”
(Fig. 4).
A general review of the geographical location of both Croton and the
surrounding province of Calabria will be useful to better understand the physical setting
with which ancient seafarers had to cope, what has changed over time, and what natural
factors caused so many ships to be lost south of Capo Colonna, only 9 km south of the
well-sheltered harbor of Croton. Petrographic analyses of the marble cargoes suggest
that the Punta Scifo A and Capo Cimiti shipwrecks came from the East, and the same
conclusion may be drawn for the Punta Scifo B merchantman.
If an Eastern origin is correct, then the vessels’ captains must have seen the
harbor on their starboard side before reaching Capo Colonna. Why, then, would they
have chosen not to stop in the harbor but instead make the ill-fated decision of looking
for shelter behind stormy Capo Colonna? In the following pages, I will try to provide an
answer, starting with a reconstruction of the ancient environment of Croton and modern
Calabria, which has changed considerably during the last 25 centuries. The natural
features sailors saw in Roman times differed significantly from the present.
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