Shortly after 720 BC, a group of Greeks from Achaea, the northernmost region of the Peloponnese, landed on the Ionian coasts of southern Italy. Here, in the fertile plain between the Crati and Coscile rivers, they founded the colony of Sybaris. The birth of Sybaris represents one of the earliest episodes of Greek colonization in the West, a process that would lead to the formation of Magna Graecia—that is, a system of poleis (politically autonomous city-states) established along the coasts of southern Italy, deeply connected to the Greek homeland and to its original Hellenic culture.
Ancient literary sources celebrate Sybaris for its extraordinary wealth and refinement, qualities amply confirmed by archaeological evidence. Works of art, luxury objects, and high-quality craft productions attest
... read more >Shortly after 720 BC, a group of Greeks from Achaea, the northernmost region of the Peloponnese, landed on the Ionian coasts of southern Italy. Here, in the fertile plain between the Crati and Coscile rivers, they founded the colony of Sybaris. The birth of Sybaris represents one of the earliest episodes of Greek colonization in the West, a process that would lead to the formation of Magna Graecia—that is, a system of poleis (politically autonomous city-states) established along the coasts of southern Italy, deeply connected to the Greek homeland and to its original Hellenic culture.
Ancient literary sources celebrate Sybaris for its extraordinary wealth and refinement, qualities amply confirmed by archaeological evidence. Works of art, luxury objects, and high-quality craft productions attest to the prominent role the city succeeded in achieving within the Greek world of the West. However, this splendor lasted less than two centuries. In 510 BC, conflict with Croton, another powerful Greek colony in Calabria, ended with the destruction of Sybaris, marking the dramatic end of one of the most illustrious cities of Magna Graecia.
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