Editing Magna Graecia (section)

==Essential timeline==
{{History of Italy}}
{{see also|Timeline of Italian history}}
[[File:Sibari-scavi-teatro.jpg|thumb|Remains of the ancient Greek city of [[Sybaris]] (now [[Sibari]])]]
[[File:Darius Painter - RVAp 18-138 - Dareios - Bellerophon and the Chimaira - Napoli MAN 3253 - 04.jpg|thumb|Combat scene between Greeks and Persians, on the neck of the [[Darius Vase]], exhibited in the [[National Archaeological Museum, Naples|National Archaeological Museum of Naples]], 340–320 BC]]

* 8th century BC: the first historical colony of Magna Graecia was that of Pithekoussai (current island of [[Ischia]]) founded in the 8th century BC by settlers from [[Chalcis]] and [[Eretria]] in [[Euboea]]. Probably, the island settlement of Pithekoussai was only a commercial establishment where the Greeks dealt with other peoples, especially with the Phoenician merchants, even if the issue is controversial.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.academia.edu/25825355|title=Ipotesi sulla definizione di Pithekoussai come emporion o apoikia|access-date=12 July 2023|language=it |last1=Nestoros1988 |first1=Francesco Castagna}}</ref> 
* 720 BC: the first Greek colony in mainland Italy, [[Cumae|Kyme]], is founded.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.archeoflegrei.it/cuma/|title=Cuma, la prima città greca in Italia|date=29 June 2016 |access-date=12 July 2023|language=it}}</ref>
* 7th–6th century BC: maximum splendor of [[Sibari]].<ref name="magna grecia"/>
* 6th century BC: maximum splendor of [[Crotone]].<ref name="ragazzi"/>
* 6th–3rd century BC: minting of coins by the cities of Magna Graecia.<ref name="enciclopedia"/>
* 6th–5th century BC: maximum splendour of Magna Graecia due to the Pythagorean reforms and institutions.<ref name="magna grecia"/>
* 510 BC: [[Sibari]] was defeated by [[Crotone]] whose troops were commanded by the famous athlete [[Milo of Croton]]. The city of Sibari was destroyed and its population was condemned to exile.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.pugliadigitallibrary.it/media/00/00/91/2869.pdf|title=Sibari e la sibaritide|access-date=12 July 2023|language=it|page=10}}</ref>
* 5th century BC: maximum splendor of [[Syracuse, Sicily|Syracuse]].<ref name="ragazzi"/>
* 480 BC: [[Gelon]], tyrant of [[Syracuse, Sicily|Syracuse]], defeated the troops of [[Carthage]] at [[Himera]], in the north of Sicily.
* 474 BC: The fleet led by [[Hiero I of Syracuse|Hiero I]], tyrant of Syracuse, assisted Kyme threatened by the [[Etruscans]]. This victory marked the end of the Etruscan extension in [[Campania]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.visitquarto.it/i-greci-in-campania-la-prima-citta-cuma/|title=I GRECI IN CAMPANIA – LA PRIMA CITTÀ: CUMA|access-date=12 July 2023|language=it}}</ref>
* 459–454 BC: after an internal civil war in [[Crotone]], the cities of Magna Graecia once linked to it, dissolve the bond of subjection.<ref name="magna grecia"/>
* 444–443 BC: foundation of [[Thurii|Thourioi]]. An Athenian expedition, officially Panhellenic because it was made up of Greeks from the islands of the Aegean Sea, founded the city of Thourioi. In reality, the cities of the Aegean Sea were part of the [[Delian League]], a military league under the rule of Athens. The city of Thourioi hosted important people such as [[Herodotus]], [[Protagoras]], [[Hippodamus of Miletus]] and [[Lysias]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://iris.unipv.it/retrieve/e1f104fb-9f3d-8c6e-e053-1005fe0aa0dd/Turi%20una%20polis%20magnogreca%20tra%20tradizioni%20storiografiche%20e%20modelli%20politicourbanistici.pdf|title=Turi: una polis magnogreca tra tradizioni storiografiche e modelli politico-urbanistici|access-date=12 July 2023|language=it|page=11}}</ref>
* 415–413 BC: The [[Sicilian Expedition]] occurred. It was an [[Classical Athens|Athenian]] military expedition to [[Sicily]], which took place from 415 to 413 BC, during the [[Peloponnesian War]], between [[Classical Athens|Athens]] on one side and [[Sparta]], [[Syracuse, Sicily|Syracuse]] and [[Corinth]] on the other. The expedition ended in a devastating defeat for the Athenian forces, severely impacting Athens. After the first Athenian victories, which put the Syracusan army in serious difficulty, the tide of the war was turned upside-down due to the Spartan reinforcements under the command of [[Gylippus]]. The defeat of the Athenian army led to the imprisonment of its soldiers in the Syracusan latomies, where they were forced to live in hardship and suffering until their death; few were the survivors who managed to return to their homeland. The failure of the expedition marked the beginning of the military and political decline of Athens, followed by the [[Athenian coup of 411 BC|aristocratic coup d'état of 411 BC]]; it also marked Athens' definitive defeat in the [[Peloponnesian War]] (404 BC). [[Thucydides]], an Athenian historian, dedicates two books of his work ''[[History of the Peloponnesian War]]'' to the Athenian expedition, to underline the magnitude and exceptionality of the event.<ref>{{cite book|first=Ugo|last=Fantasia|title=La guerra del Peloponneso|publisher=Carocci editore|year=2012|isbn=978-88-430-6638-4|language=it|page=127}}</ref> Thus he began "a new work, a work on Sicily"<ref>{{cite book|author=[[Edward Augustus Freeman]]|title=History of Sicily from the earliest time|url=https://archive.org/details/historyofsicilyf03free|year=1892|volume=3|page=80}}</ref> which became the background of the Peloponnesian War (431–404 BC). The ''[[Parallel Lives]]'' of [[Plutarch]] (in particular the ''Life of Nicias'') and the ''[[Bibliotheca historica]]'' of [[Diodorus Siculus]] are other important sources on the expedition to Sicily.<ref>[[Gaetano De Sanctis]], ''Scritti minori'', 1970, p. 115. (In Italian).</ref>
* 400 BC: the cities of Magna Graecia overlooking the [[Tyrrhenian Sea]] begin to fall into the hands of the [[Italic peoples]].<ref name="magna grecia"/>
* 4th century BC: the cultural decline of the cities of Magna Graecia begins.<ref name="magna grecia"/>
* 387 BC: [[Reggio Calabria|Reggio]] is destroyed by Syracuse.<ref name="magna grecia"/>
* 303 BC: peace between Taranto and [[Lucanians]], who had attempted to conquer the city.<ref name="magna grecia"/>
* 285 BC: Roman garrisons settle in [[Thurii|Thourioi]].<ref name="magna grecia"/>
* 282–272 BC: [[Taranto]] was conquered by the Romans despite the intervention of [[Pyrrhus of Epirus|Pyrrhus]] ([[Pyrrhic War]] in Italy).
* 264–241 BC: [[First Punic War]], Rome takes control of Sicily, with the exception of Syracuse, which becomes Rome's ally.
* 215–205 BC: during the [[Second Punic War]] Syracuse and then Taranto sided with Carthage. The two cities were conquered by the Romans in 211 after a three-year siege. These events put an end to the independence of all the cities of Magna Graecia, which were annexed to the [[Roman Republic]] in 205 BC.<ref name="archeologiaviva"/>