Castiglione di Paludi e l'ellenizzazione dei barbari

Political conflicts and wars, as well times of truces and possible treaties of emporía, marked the hard coexistence between the Brettioi and the Greek poleis (ca. 350-250 BC). The long contacts and mixtures fostered a great and increasing cultural koiné of the two populations. The settlement of Castiglione di Paludi is a model of this Hellenization of the barbaroi that, despite “ethnic and cultural hybridism”, preserved the non-Greek political system. The massive fortification was built according to the best Greek siege techniques of the mid 4th century BC. After the death of Alexander the Molossian (331 BC) Greek architects, indigenous craftsmen and stonemasons, cooperated in the same construction site for an expensive military building, which demonstrates the resolute political patronage and advanced militar strategies of the Brettioi, aiming at rejecting every army of the Greeks and mercenaries.