Editing Magna Graecia (section)

===Roman Era===
{{See also|Roman expansion in Italy|Sicilia (Roman province)}}
[[File:Roman conquest of Italy.PNG|right|thumb|[[Roman expansion in Italy]] from 500 BC to 218 BC]]
[[File:Second Punic war (cropped).png|thumb|Italian cities and tribes who allied with Hannibal, c. 213 BC (blue)]]

The first Greek city to be absorbed into the [[Roman Republic]] was Neàpolis in 327{{nbsp}}BC.<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.73366|quote=Roman Republic Neapolis in 327{{nbsp}}BC.|title=A Short History of the Roman Republic|last=Heitland|first=William Emerton|date=1911|publisher=The University Press|pages=[https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.73366/page/n6 72]|language=en}}</ref>

At the beginning of the 3rd century, Rome was a great power but had not yet entered into conflict with most of Magna Graecia, which had been allies of the Samnites. However, the needs of the Roman populace determined their need for territorial expansion towards the south.<ref>Musti, Domenico (1990). "La spinta verso il Sud: espansione romana e rapporti "internazionali"". Storia di Roma. Vol. I. P 536. Turin: Einaudi. ISBN 978-88-06-11741-2</ref> As the Greek cities of southern Italy came under threat from the [[Bruttii]] and [[Lucanians]] from the end of the 4th century BC, they asked for help from Rome, which exploited this opportunity by sending military garrisons in the 280s BC.<ref>DMITRIEV, S. (2017). The Status of Greek Cities in Roman Reception and Adaptation. Hermes, 145(2), 195–209. http://www.jstor.org/stable/26650396</ref>

Following Rome's victory over [[Taranto|Taras]] after the [[Pyrrhic War]] in 272{{nbsp}}BC, most of the cities of southern Italy were linked to Rome with pacts and treaties (''foedera'') which sanctioned a sort of indirect control.<ref>Lane Fox, Robin (2005). The Classical World. Penguin Books. ISBN 0-14-102141-1. P 307</ref>

[[Sicilia (Roman province)|Sicily]] was conquered by Rome during the [[First Punic War]]. Only Syracuse remained independent until 212 because its king [[Hiero II of Syracuse|Hiero II]] was a devoted ally of the Romans. His grandson [[Hieronymus of Syracuse|Hieronymus]] however allied with [[Hannibal]], which prompted the Romans to [[Siege of Syracuse (213–212 BC)|besiege the city]], which fell in 212{{nbsp}}BC.

After the second Punic War, Rome pursued an unprecedented program of reorganisation in the rest of Magna Graecia, where many of the cities were annexed to the [[Roman Republic]] in 205{{nbsp}}BC, as a consequence of their defection to Hannibal.<ref name="archeologiaviva"/> Roman colonies (''civium romanorum'') were the main element of the new territorial control plan starting from the ''[[lex Atinia]]'' of 197{{nbsp}}BC. In 194{{nbsp}}BC, garrisons of 300 Roman veterans were implanted in [[Volturnum]], [[Liternum]], [[Puteoli]], [[Salernum]] and [[Buxentum]], and to [[Sipontum]] on the Adriatic. This model was replicated in the territory of the Brettii; 194{{nbsp}}BC saw the foundation of the Roman colonies of [[Crotone|Kroton]] and [[Tempsa]], followed by the Latin colonies of [[Copia (ancient city)|Copia]] (193{{nbsp}}BC) and Valentia (192{{nbsp}}BC).<ref>Giuseppe Celsi, La colonia romana di Croto e la statio di Lacenium, Gruppo Archeologico Krotoniate (GAK) https://www.gruppoarcheologicokr.it/la-colonia-romana-di-croto/</ref>

The social, linguistic and administrative changes arising from the Roman conquest only took root in this region by the 1st century AD, while Greek culture remained strong and was actively cultivated as shown by epigraphic evidence.<ref>Kathryn Lomas, Aspects of the Relationship between Rome and the Greek Cities of Southern Italy and Campania during the Republic and Early Empire, Thesis L3473, Newcastle University, 1989 http://theses.ncl.ac.uk/jspui/handle/10443/744</ref>