Coltivare una laguna. Uomini e risorse nel Mar Piccolo di Taranto

Taranto’s history is deeply connected to the sea, particularly to two lagoons − the Mar Piccolo and the Mar Grande − and the resources they provide, which have long formed the foundation of the city’s economy and society. Aristotle, in a well- known passage from the fourth book of Politics, mentions the demos of Taranto, noting the large number of people engaged in fishing activities. The production of salt was another essential resource for the city, already significant in Classical times. It was tied both to the salting and preservation of fish and to related industries, such as the production of high-quality, re- nowned wool. At times, historical sources also refer to other sea “products”, particularly oysters. Pliny attests that they were highly prized and cultivated in the Mar Piccolo. Fishing was a major source of income and employment, strongly influencing the city’s identity throughout Antiquity. In addition to direct fishing, an essential aspect of the “harvest of the sea” was intensive fish farming, primarily conducted in the fishponds of the Mar Piccolo. A particular and lesser-known manufacturing process involved the filaments used by the pinna nobilis to attach to the sea- bed itself. These filaments, known as sea silk or byssus, were harvested to create fabric. Literary and archaeological evidence points to Taranto as one of the major centers of purple dye production, which was extracted from murices (sea snails). The popularity of Taranto’s purple dye led the imperial administration to establish a purple dye factory (bafium) in the city.