Magna Graecia

Magna Graecia (/ˌmæɡnə ˈɡriːsiə, ˈɡriːʃə/, US: /ˌmæɡnə

ˈɡreɪʃə/; Latin meaning "Great Greece", Greek: Μεγάλη Ἑλλάς,
Megálē Hellás, Italian: Magna Grecia) was the name given by the
Romans to the coastal areas of Southern Italy in the present-day
regions of Campania, Apulia, Basilicata, Calabria and Sicily; these
regions were extensively populated by Greek settlers, particularly
the Achaean settlements of Croton, and Sybaris, and to the north,
the settlements of Cumae and Neapolis.[1] The settlers who began
arriving in the 8th century BC brought with them their Hellenic
civilization, which was to leave a lasting imprint on Italy, such as
in the culture of ancient Rome. Most notably the Roman poetOvid
referred to the south of Italy asMagna Graecia in his poem Fasti.

Contents Map of the Greek colonies in Magna Graecia.

Antiquity Northwestern
List of Hellenic Poleis in Italy Achaean
Middle Ages Doric
Modern Italy Ionian
See also
References
Bibliography
External links

Antiquity
According to Strabo, Magna Graecia's colonization had already begun by the time of the Trojan War and lasted for several
centuries.[2]

In the 8th and 7th centuries BC, because of demographic crises (famine, overcrowding, etc.), stasis (political crisis), the search for
new commercial outlets and ports, and expulsion from their homeland after wars, Greeks began to settle in southern Italy.[3] Colonies
were established all over the Mediterranean and Black Seas (with the exception of Northwestern Africa, in the sphere of influence of
Carthage), including in Sicily and the southern part of theItalian Peninsula. The Romans called the area of Sicily and the foot of Italy
Magna Graecia (Latin for “Great Greece”) since it was so densely inhabited by the Greeks. The ancient geographers differed on
whether the term included Sicily or merelyApulia and Calabria, Strabo being the most prominent advocate of the wider definitions.

With colonization, Greek culture was exported to Italy, in its dialects of the Ancient Greek language, its religious rites and its
traditions of the independent polis. An original Hellenic civilization soon developed, later interacting with the native Italic
civilisations. The most important cultural transplant was the Chalcidean/Cumaean variety of the Greek alphabet, which was adopted
by the Etruscans; the Old Italic alphabet subsequently evolved into the Latin alphabet, which became the most widely used alphabet
in the world.

These Hellenic colonies became very rich and powerful, and some still stand today, like Neapolis ("New City", now Naples),
Syracuse, Akragas (Agrigento), Taras (Taranto), Rhegion (Reggio Calabria), orKroton (Crotone).
The first Greek city to be absorbed into the Roman Republic was Neapolis in 327 BC.[4] The other Greek cities in Italy followed
during the Samnite Wars and the Pyrrhic War; Taras was the last to fall in 272. Sicily was conquered by Rome during the First Punic
War. Only Syracuse remained independent until 212, because its king Hiero II was a devoted ally of the Romans. His grandson
Hieronymous however made an alliance with Hannibal, which prompted the Romans to besiege the city, which fell in 212, despite
the machines of Archimedes.

Greek temples of Paestum, Mosaic from Caulonia, Calabria Temple of Hera in

Campania Metaponto, Basilicata

The Temple of Concordia, Milo of Archimedes of Archytas of

Akragas, Sicily Croton Syracuse Tarentum

5th century BC Greek coins of Tarentum The goddess Nike riding on a

two-horse chariot, Apulian
patera (tray), 4th century BC.

Fresco of dancing Peucetian women in the

Tomb of the Dancers in Ruvo di Puglia, 4th-
5th century BC

List of Hellenic Poleis in Italy

This is a list of the 22poleis (city states) in Italy, according to Mogens Herman Hansen.[5] It does not list all the Hellenic settlements,
only those organised around a polis structure.
 Modern Foundation
Ancient name(s) Location Mother city Founder(s)
name(s) date
Herakleia
Basilicata abandoned 433-432 BC Taras (and Thourioi) ?
(Lucania)[6]
Vibo late 7th
Hipponion[7] Calabria Lokroi Epizephiroi ?
Valentia century BC
Hyele, or Elea,
Velia (Roman Campania abandoned c.540-535 BC Phokaia, Massalia Refugees from Alalie
name)[8]

Kaulonia[9] Calabria abandoned 7th century BC Kroton Typhon of Aigion

Kroton[10] Calabria Crotone 709-708 BC Rhypes, Achaia Myscellus

Kyme, Cumae Hippokles of Euboian

Campania abandoned c.750-725 BC Chalkis and Eretria Kyme and Megasthenes
(Roman name)[11]
of Chalkis

Laos[12] Calabria abandoned before 510 BC Sybaris Refugees from Sybaris

Lokroi early 7th

Calabria Locri Lokris ?
(Epizephiroi)[13] century BC

Medma[14] Calabria abandoned 7th century BC Lokroi Epizephiroi ?

Metapontion[15] Basilicata abandoned c.630 BC Achaia Leukippos of Achaia

Gioia Zankle (or possibly

Metauros[16] Calabria 7th century BC ?
Tauro Lokroi Epizephiroi)

Neapolis[17] Campania Naples c.470 BC Kyme ?

Pithekoussai[18] Campania Ischia 8th century BC Chalkis and Eretria ?

Poseidonia,
Sybaris (and
Paestum (Roman Campania abandoned c.600 BC ?
perhaps Troizen)
name)[19]
Policastro Rhegion and Mikythos, tyrant of
Pyxous[20] Campania 471-470 BC
Bussentino Messena Rhegion and Messena
Chalkis (with Zankle Antimnestos of Zankle (or
Reggio
Rhegion[21] Calabria
Calabria
8th century BC and Messenian perhaps Artimedes of
refugees) Chalkis)
c.660 BC (or
Siris[22] Basilicata abandoned Kolophon Refugees from Kolophon
c.700 BC)
721-720 (or
Sybaris[23] Calabria Sibari Achaia and Troizen Is of Helike
709-708) BC
Phalanthos and the
Taras[24] Apulia Taranto c.706 BC Sparta
Partheniai
unknown,
Temesa[25] but in abandoned no Greek founder (Ausones who became Hellenised)
Calabria
before 460
Terina[26] Calabria abandoned BC, perhaps Kroton ?
c.510 BC
446 and 444- Athens and many Lampon and Xenokrates
Thourioi[27] Calabria abandoned
443 BC other cities of Athens

Middle Ages
During the Early Middle Ages, following the disastrous Gothic War, new waves of Byzantine Christian Greeks may have come to
Southern Italy from Greece and Asia Minor, as Southern Italy remained loosely governed by the Eastern Roman Empire. Although
possible, the archaeological evidence shows no trace of new arrivals of Greek peoples, only a division between barbarian newcomers,
and Greco-Roman locals. The iconoclast emperor Leo III appropriated lands that had been granted to the Papacy in southern Italy[28]
and the Eastern Emperor loosely governed the area until the advent of the Lombards then, in the form of the Catapanate of Italy,
superseded by the Normans.

A remarkable example of the influence is the Griko-speaking minority that still exists today in the Italian regions of Calabria and
Apulia. Griko is the name of a language combining ancient Doric, Byzantine Greek, and Italian elements, spoken by few people in
some villages in the Province of Reggio Calabria and Salento. There is a rich oral tradition and Griko folklore, limited now but once
numerous, to around 30,000 people, most of them having become absorbed into the surrounding Italian element. Some scholars, such
as Gerhard Rohlfs, argue that the origins of Griko may ultimately betraced to the colonies of Magna Graecia.

Modern Italy
Although many of the Greek inhabitants of Southern Italy were entirely Italianized during the Middle Ages (for example, Paestum
was by the 4th century BC), pockets of Greek culture and language remained and survived into modernity partly because of
continuous migration between southern Italy and the Greek mainland. One example is the Griko people, some of whom still maintain
their Greek language and customs.

Greeks re-entered the region in the 16th and 17th century in reaction to the conquest of the Peloponnese by the Ottoman Empire.
Especially after the end of the Siege of Coron (1534), large numbers of Greeks took refuge in the areas of Calabria, Salento and
Sicily. Greeks from Coroni, the so-called Coronians, were nobles, who brought with them substantial movable property. They were
granted special privileges and tax exemptions.

Other Greeks who moved to Italy came from the Mani Peninsula of the Peloponnese. The Maniots were known for their proud
military traditions and for their bloody vendettas, many of which still continue today. Another group of Maniot Greeks moved to
Corsica.

See also
Ancient Greek dialects
Greek coinage of Italy and Sicily
Greeks in Italy
Italiotes
Graia
Graïke
Graecus
Griko people
Griko language
Hellenic civilization
Names of the Greeks

References
1. The Oxford Companion to Classical Literature, Paul Harvey
, 1927,1955, p258
2. [ Strabo, Geographicaοἱ δὲ τῆς Σικελίας τύραννοι καὶ μετὰ ταῦτα Καρχηδόνιοι, τοτὲ μὲν περὶ τῆς Σικελίας
πολεμοῦντες πρὸς Ῥωμαίους τοτὲ δὲ περὶ αὐτῆς τῆς Ἰταλίας, ἅπαν- τας τοὺς ταύτῃ κακῶς διέθηκαν, μάλιστα δὲ
τοὺς Ἕλληνας, πρότερον μέν γε καὶ τῆς μεσογαίας πολλὴν ἀφῄρηντο, ἀπὸ τῶν Τρωικῶν χρόνων ἀρξάμενοι, καὶ
δὴ ἐπὶ τοσοῦτον ηὔξηντο ὥστε τὴν μεγάλην Ἑλλάδα ταύτην ἔλεγον καὶ τὴν Σικελίαν· νυνὶ δὲ πλὴν Τάραντος καὶ
Ῥηγίου καὶ Νεαπόλεως ἐκβεβαρβαρῶσθαι συμβέβηκεν ἅπαντα καὶ τὰ μὲν Λευκανοὺς καὶ Βρεττίους κατέχειν τὰ δὲ
Καμπανούς, καὶ τούτους λόγῳ, τὸ δ' ἀληθὲς Ῥωμαίους· καὶ γὰρ αὐτοὶ Ῥωμαῖοι γεγόνασιν. ]
 3. Cerchiai et al., The Greek cities of Magna Graecia and Sicily, pp. 14–18.
4. Heitland, William Emerton (1911).A Short History of the Roman Republic(https://books.google.com/?id=hXpoAAAA
MAAJ&pg=PA72&dq=%22Roman+Republic%22+%22Neapolis%22+in+%22327%22+BC#v=onepage&q=%22Roma
n%20Republic%22%20%22Neapolis%22%20in%20%22327%22%20BC&f=false) . The University Press. p. 72.
5. Hansen and Nielsen, Inventory of Archaic and Classical Poleis, pp. 249-320.
6. Hansen and Nielsen, Inventory of Archaic and Classical Poleis, pp. 259-261.
7. Hansen and Nielsen, Inventory of Archaic and Classical Poleis, pp. 261-263.
8. Hansen and Nielsen, Inventory of Archaic and Classical Poleis, pp. 263-265.
9. Hansen and Nielsen, Inventory of Archaic and Classical Poleis, pp. 265, 266.
10. Hansen and Nielsen, Inventory of Archaic and Classical Poleis, pp. 266-270.
11. Hansen and Nielsen, Inventory of Archaic and Classical Poleis, pp. 270-272.
12. Hansen and Nielsen, Inventory of Archaic and Classical Poleis, pp. 272, 273.
13. Hansen and Nielsen, Inventory of Archaic and Classical Poleis, pp. 273-278.
14. Hansen and Nielsen, Inventory of Archaic and Classical Poleis, pp. 278, 279.
15. Hansen and Nielsen, Inventory of Archaic and Classical Poleis, pp. 279-282.
16. Hansen and Nielsen, Inventory of Archaic and Classical Poleis, pp. 282, 283.
17. Hansen and Nielsen, Inventory of Archaic and Classical Poleis, pp. 283-285.
18. Hansen and Nielsen, Inventory of Archaic and Classical Poleis, pp. 285-287.
19. Hansen and Nielsen, Inventory of Archaic and Classical Poleis, pp. 287-289.
20. Hansen and Nielsen, Inventory of Archaic and Classical Poleis, pp. 289, 290.
21. Hansen and Nielsen, Inventory of Archaic and Classical Poleis, pp. 290-293.
22. Hansen and Nielsen, Inventory of Archaic and Classical Poleis, pp. 293-295.
23. Hansen and Nielsen, Inventory of Archaic and Classical Poleis, pp. 295-299.
24. Hansen and Nielsen, Inventory of Archaic and Classical Poleis, pp. 299-302.
25. Hansen and Nielsen, Inventory of Archaic and Classical Poleis, pp. 302, 303.
26. Hansen and Nielsen, Inventory of Archaic and Classical Poleis, pp. 303, 304.
27. Hansen and Nielsen, Inventory of Archaic and Classical Poleis, pp. 304-307.
28. T. S. Brown, "The Church of Ravenna and the Imperial Administration in the Seventh Century
," The English
Historical Review (1979 pp 1-28) p.5.

Bibliography
Polyxeni Adam-Veleni and Dimitra Tsangari (editors), Greek colonisation: New data, current approaches;
Proceedings of the scientific meeting held in Thessaloniki (6 February 2015),
Athens, Alpha Bank, 2015.
Michael J. Bennett, Aaron J. Paul, Mario Iozzo, & Bruce M. White,Magna Graecia: Greek Art From South Italy and
Sicily, Cleveland, OH, Cleveland Museum of Art, 2002.
Giovanni Casadio & Patricia A. Johnston,Mystic Cults In Magna Graecia,Austin, University of Texas Press, 2009.
Lucia Cerchiai, Lorenna Jannelli, & Fausto Longo (editors),The Greek cities of Magna Graecia and Sicily
,
Photography by Mark E. Smith, Los Angeles,J. Paul Getty Museum, 2004.ISBN 0-89236-751-2
Giovanna Ceserani, Italy's Lost Greece: Magna Graecia and the Making of Modern Archaeology , New York, Oxford
University Press, 2012.
T. J. Dunbabin, The Western Greeks, 1948.
M. Gualtieri, Fourth Century B.C. Magna Graecia: A Case Study , Jonsered, Sweden, P. Åströms, 1993.
Mogens Herman Hansen& Thomas Heine Nielsen,An Inventory of Archaic and Classical Poleis, Oxford University
Press, 2004.
R. Ross Holloway, Art and Coinage In Magna Graecia,Bellinzona, Edizioni arte e moneta, 1978.
Margaret Ellen Mayo, The Art of South Italy: Vases From Magna Graecia, Richmond, Virginia Museum of Fine Arts,
1982.
Giovanni Pugliese Carratelli,The Greek World: Art and Civilization In Magna Graecia and Sicily
, New York: Rizzoli,
1996.
———— (editor), The Western Greeks: Catalog of an exhibitionheld in the Palazzo Grassi, Venice, March–Dec.,
1996, Milan, Bompiani, 1976.
 William Smith, "Magna Graecia." In Dictionary of Greek and Roman Geography, 1854.
A. G. Woodhead, The Greeks in the West, 1962.
Günther Zuntz, Persephone: Three Essays On Religion and Thought In Magna Graecia, Oxford, Clarendon Press,
1971.

External links
Map. Ancient Coins.
David Willey. Italy rediscovers Greek heritage. BBC News. 21 June 2005, 17:19 GMT 18:19 UK.
Gaze On The Sea. Salentine Peninsula, Greece and Greater Greece. (in Italian, Greek and English)
Oriamu pisulina. Traditional Griko song performed byGhetonia.
Kalinifta. Traditional Griko song performed by amateur local group.
Second Interdisciplinary Symposium on the Hellenic Heritage of Southern Italy . Archaeological Institute of America
(AIA). June 11, 2015. (Dates: Monday, May 30, 2016 to Thursday, June 2, 2016.)
Sergio Tofanelli et al. The Greeks in the West: genetic signatures of the Hellenic colonisation in southern Italy and
Sicily. European Journal of Human Genetics, (15 July 2015).

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