Editing Taranto (section)

==History==
{{main|History of Taranto|Timeline of Taranto}}
[[File:Colonne Doriche.JPG|thumb|right|200px|[[Doric columns]] from the Temple of Poseidon in Taranto, legacy of its Greek origins.]]
Taranto was founded in 706 BC by [[Dorians|Dorian Greek]] immigrants hailing from [[Sparta]]. Its origin is peculiar: the founders were [[Partheniae]] ("sons of virgins"), sons of unmarried Spartan women and ''[[Perioeci]]'' (free men, but not citizens of Sparta); these out-of-wedlock unions were permitted extraordinarily by the Spartans to increase the prospective number of soldiers (only the citizens of Sparta could become soldiers) during the bloody [[Messenian Wars]], but later they were retroactively nullified, and the sons were then obliged to leave Greece forever. Phalanthus, the Parthenian leader, went to [[Delphi]] to consult the [[Sibyl|oracle]]: the puzzling answer designated the harbour of Taranto as the new home of the exiles. The Partheniae arrived in Apulia, and founded the city, naming it ''Taras'' after the son of the Greek sea god, [[Poseidon]], and of a local [[nymph]],<ref>{{citation |author=Pausanias |title=Pausaniae Graeciae Descriptio |place=Leipzig |publisher=Teubner |year=1903 |chapter=10.10.8 |chapter-url=https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.01.0159%3Abook%3D10%3Achapter%3D10%3Asection%3D8 |language=el |access-date=21 February 2021 |archive-date=29 September 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200929125402/http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.01.0159%3Abook%3D10%3Achapter%3D10%3Asection%3D8 |url-status=live }}.</ref> {{citation needed span|text=Satyrion.|date=March 2018}} According to other sources, [[Heracles]] founded the city. Another tradition indicates Taras as the founder of the city; the symbol of the Greek city (as well as of the modern city) depicts the legend of Taras being saved from a shipwreck by riding a dolphin that was sent to him by Poseidon. Taranto increased its power, becoming a commercial power and a sovereign city of [[Magna Graecia]].<ref name="italythisway1">{{cite web |url=http://www.italythisway.com/places/articles/taranto-history.php |title=History of Taranto |publisher=Italythisway.com |access-date=16 September 2011 |archive-date=5 April 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120405090650/http://www.italythisway.com/places/articles/taranto-history.php |url-status=live }}</ref>

Its independence and power came to an end as the Romans expanded throughout Italy. Taranto won the first of two wars against Rome for the control of Southern Italy: it was helped by [[Pyrrhus of Epirus|Pyrrhus]], king of Greek [[Epirus (ancient state)|Epirus]],<ref name="italythisway1"/> who surprised Rome with the use of [[war elephant]]s in battle, a thing never seen before by the Romans. Rome won the second war in 272 BC. This subsequently cut off Taranto from the centre of Mediterranean trade, by connecting the [[Via Appia]] directly to the port of Brundisium ([[Brindisi]]).

===Ancient art===
{{see also|Apulian vase painting|Greek coinage of Italy and Sicily}}
{{Unreferenced section|date=September 2024}}
Like many Greek city states, Taras issued its own coins in the 5th and 4th centuries BC.  The denomination was a Nomos, a die-cast silver coin whose weight, size and purity were controlled by the state.  The highly artistic coins presented the symbol of the city, Taras being saved by a dolphin, with the reverse side showing the likeness of a [[hippocamp]], a horse-fish amalgam which is depicted in mythology as the beast that drew Poseidon's chariot.

Taras was also the centre of a thriving decorated [[Greek pottery]] industry during the 4th century BC.  Most of the [[South Italian]] Greek vessels known as [[Basilican]] ware were made in different workshops in the city.

Unfortunately, none of the names of the artists have survived, so modern scholars have been obliged to give the recognizable artistic hands and workshops nicknames based on the subject matter of their works, museums which possess the works, or individuals who have distinguished the works from others.  Some of the most famous of the Apulian vase painters at Taras are now called: the [[Iliupersis Painter]], the [[Lycurgus Painter]], the [[Gioia del Colle Painter]], the [[Darius Painter]], the [[Underworld Painter]], and the [[White Sakkos Painter]], among others.

The wares produced by these workshops were usually large elaborate vessels intended for mortuary use.  The forms produced included [[volute krater]]s, [[loutrophoros|loutrophoroi]], [[patera]]i, [[oinochoe|oinochoai]], [[lekythos|lekythoi]], [[fish plate]]s, etc.  The decoration of these vessels was [[red figure]] (with figures reserved in red clay fabric, while the background was covered in a black gloss), with overpainting ([[sovradipinto]]) in white, pink, yellow, and maroon slips.

Often the style of the drawings is florid and frilly, as was already the fashion in 4th-century Athens.  Distinctive South Italian features also begin to appear. Many figures are shown seated on rocks.  Floral motifs become very ornate, including spiraling vines and leaves, [[rose]]s, [[lily|lilies]], [[poppy|poppies]], sprays of [[Lauraceae|laurel]], [[Acanthus (plant)|acanthus leaves]]. Often the subject matter consists of naiskos scenes (scenes showing the statue of a deceased person in a naos, a miniature temple or shrine). Most often the naiskos scene occupies one side of the vase, while a mythological scene occupies the other. Images depicting many of the Greek myths are only known from South Italian vases, since Athenian ones seem to have had more limited repertoires of depiction.
[[file:Tarentum.jpg|Ancient coin from Taranto, with the eponym [[Taras (mythology)|Taras]] hero riding a dolphin.|thumb]]

===World War II===
The [[Battle of Taranto]] took place on the night of 11–12 November 1940 during the [[World War II|Second World War]] between British naval forces, under Admiral [[Andrew Cunningham, 1st Viscount Cunningham of Hyndhope|Andrew Cunningham]],<ref>{{Cite web |date=2007-01-08 |title=Taranto : Battles : History : Royal Navy |url=http://www.royalnavy.mod.uk/server/show/conWebDoc.1593 |access-date=2024-11-18 |archive-date=8 January 2007 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070108141316/http://www.royalnavy.mod.uk/server/show/conWebDoc.1593 |url-status=bot: unknown }}</ref> and Italian naval forces, under Admiral [[Inigo Campioni]].<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Caravaggio |first=Angelo |date=2018-04-02 |title=The Attack at Taranto |url=https://digital-commons.usnwc.edu/nwc-review/vol59/iss3/8/ |journal=Naval War College Review |volume=59 |issue=3 |issn=0028-1484}}</ref> The [[Royal Navy]] launched the first all-aircraft ship-to-ship naval attack in history, employing 21 [[Fairey Swordfish]] biplane [[torpedo bomber]]s from the [[aircraft carrier]] {{HMS|Illustrious|R87|6}} in the [[Mediterranean Sea]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=Battle of Taranto |url=https://navywings.org.uk/portfolio/battle-of-taranto/ |access-date=2024-11-18 |website=Navy Wings |language=en-GB}}</ref> The attack struck the battle fleet of the ''[[Regia Marina]]'' at anchor in the harbour of Taranto, using [[aerial torpedo]]es despite the shallowness of the water.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Taranto - The Impact and Long View of History |url=https://navywings.org.uk/portfolio/taranto-the-impact/ |access-date=2024-11-18 |website=Navy Wings |language=en-GB}}</ref>

===The Taranto Prize (Premio Taranto)===
{{Unreferenced section|date=September 2024}}
The Taranto Prize, defined as the "Biennial of the South", was a biennial cultural event that took place between 1947 and 1951.
It was born on the initiative of thirty-year-old veterans who, returning from the [[Second World War]], gathered in the «Cultural Club (Circolo della cultura)» and the newspaper 'Voce del Popolo'. The coordinator, Antonio Rizzo, was a physicist who graduated with Enrico Fermi. He intended to promote a new cultural impulse of a pacifist nature for the city.
The event was structured into two sections: literature and painting. Several artists of international calibre, such as [[Pier Paolo Pasolini]], [[Carlo Emilio Gadda]], and [[Giorgio de Chirico]], participated.
The theme of the competition was the sea.

===2006 municipal bankruptcy===
The Municipality of Taranto was declared bankrupt effective 31 December 2005, having accrued liabilities of €357 million.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Dissesto Taranto, s'insediano i liquidatori |url=https://www.lagazzettadelmezzogiorno.it/news/puglia/55821/dissesto-taranto-s-insediano-i-liquidatori.html |access-date=2023-08-10 |website=www.lagazzettadelmezzogiorno.it |date=23 November 2006 |language=it}}</ref> This was one of the biggest financial crises which has ever hit a municipality.

The bankruptcy declaration was made on 18 October 2006 by the receiver Tommaso Blonda. He was appointed following the resignation of the mayor, Rossana Di Bello, on account of her sixteen-month prison sentence for abuse of office and forgery of documents relating to investigations into the contract for the management of the city incinerator, awarded to Termomeccanica.