Ausonia

Description

In the verse of Paradiso VIII 61 Dante inserts the expression «quel corno d'Ausonia» within a periphrasis designating the Kingdom of Naples, one of the three territories that, by dynastic right, would have belonged to Charles Martel. The commentary note on the same canto clarifies that by «Ausonia» is meant ancient Italy and that the «horn» represents its southern part, which in old geographical maps took the shape of a sickle due to the two peninsulas of Puglia and Calabria that curve along the sides of the present-day Gulf of Taranto. The phrase is closely linked to the verb «s'imborga», coined by Dante with the meaning of «si incastella» (takes on castles), and refers to the castles of Bari, Gaeta, and Catona that adorned that territory. The comparison with Brunetto Latini (Tresor IV 4, 124), where Otranto is placed «sur le senestre corne d'Itaille», confirms that the Dantean image of the horn of southern Italy belongs to a well-recognized geographical tradition.