CAELIA
(Ceglie Messapica) Apulia, Italy.
An ancient center of Messapia mentioned by Pliny (
HN
3.101) together with Lupine and Brundisium. Its name
is preserved in that of the modern town, where remains
of megalithic walls break the surface of the ground. The
inscriptions in the Messapian language from the necropoleis are notable and the rich funerary material from
numerous tombs, dating for the most part from the 4th-3d c. B.C. The
trozzella, a vase typical of the Messapian
area, predominates. Archaeological material from the
site is in the museums at Taranto and at Brindisi.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
W. Smith,
Dictionary of Greek and
Roman Geography, I (1856) 465 (E. H. Bunbury);
RE
III.1 (1897) 1251 (Hülsen); M. Mayer,
Apulien (1914)
75; O. Parlangeli,
Studi di Messapici (1960) 77.
F. G. LO PORTO