Editing Magna Graecia

{{Short description|Historical region of Italy}}
{{Redirect|Magna Grecia|the racehorse|Magna Grecia (horse)}}
{{use dmy dates|date=July 2023}}
{{Infobox settlement
| name               = Magna Graecia
| native_name        = {{native name|grc|Μεγάλη Ἑλλάς}}
| image_skyline      = {{multiple image|total_width=295px|perrow=2/2|border=infobox|caption_align = center
| image1 = Paestum Temples (Italy, October 2020) - 16 (50562474147).jpg
| image2 = Segesta AncientGreekTemple 0932.jpg
| image3 = Eos chariot 430-420 BC Staatliche Antikensammlungen.jpg
| image4 = Youth donkey Louvre Cp5103.jpg
| footer            = '''Clockwise from top left''': [[Second Temple of Hera (Paestum)|Second Temple of Hera]] in [[Paestum|Poseidonia]], [[Campania]]; Doric-styled temple, [[Segesta]], [[Sicily]]; [[Taranto|Taras]]' sculpture of a young man wearing ''cucullus'' and leading his donkey, [[Louvre]]; depiction of [[Eos]] riding a two-horsed chariot, on a [[krater]] from Southern Italy, [[Staatliche Antikensammlungen]].
}}
| settlement_type    = [[Historical region]]
| image_map          = Magna_Graecia_ancient_colonies_and_dialects-en.svg
| map_alt            = 
| map_caption        = Ancient Greek colonies and their dialect groupings in Magna Graecia.
| coordinates        = 
| coor_pinpoint      = 
| coordinates_footnotes = 
| subdivision_type   = Present country
| subdivision_name   = [[Italy]]
| subdivision_type1  = Present territory
| subdivision_name1  = [[Southern Italy]]
| founder            = [[Greeks]]
| established_title  = Founded
| established_date   = 8th century BC
| etymology          = from [[Ancient Greek]] and [[Latin]] ("Great[er] Greece")
| government_type    = [[city-states]] administered by the [[aristocracy]]
| seat_type          = Largest city
| seat               = [[Sybaris]]<ref name="Sybaris">{{cite web|url=https://www.calabriaportal.com/antiche-citta/4625-sybaris.html#:~:text=Sybaris%20fu%20la%20pi%C3%B9%20importante,Roma%20dei%20Cesari%2C%20molti%20secoli|title=Sybaris: la storia della più ricca città della Magna Grecia|access-date=10 July 2023|language=it}}</ref>
| population_demonym = [[Italiote]] and [[Siceliote]]
}}

'''Magna Graecia'''{{efn|{{IPAc-en|UK|ˌ|m|æ|ɡ|n|ə|_|ˈ|ɡ|r|iː|s|i|ə|,_|-|_|ˈ|ɡ|r|iː|ʃ|ə}} {{respell|MAG|nə|_|GREE|see|ə|,_-_|GREE|shə}}, {{IPAc-en|US|-|_|ˈ|ɡ|r|eɪ|ʃ|ə}} {{respell|-_|GRAY|shə}}, {{IPA|la|ˈmaŋna ˈɡrae̯ki.a|lang}}; {{lit|Great[er] Greece}}; {{langx|grc|Μεγάλη Ἑλλάς|Megálē Hellás}}, {{IPA|grc|meɡálɛː hellás|IPA}}, with the same meaning; {{langx|it|Magna Grecia}}, {{IPA|it|ˈmaɲɲa ˈɡrɛːtʃa|IPA}}.}} refers to the Greek-speaking areas of [[southern Italy]], encompassing the modern [[Regions of Italy|Italian regions]] of [[Calabria]], [[Apulia]], [[Basilicata]], [[Campania]], and [[Sicily]]. These regions were [[Greek colonisation|extensively settled]] by [[Greeks]] beginning in the 8th century BC.<ref name="Tozer2014">{{cite book |author=Henry Fanshawe Tozer |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=lsS0BAAAQBAJ&pg=PA43 |title=A History of Ancient Geography |date=30 October 2014 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn=978-1-108-07875-7 |pages=43}}</ref>

Initially founded by their ''metropoleis'' (mother cities), the settlements evolved into independent and powerful Greek [[city-states]] (''[[poleis]]''). The settlers brought with them [[Ancient Greece|Hellenic civilization]], which over time developed distinct local forms due to both their distance from Greece and the influence of the indigenous peoples of southern Italy.<ref name="dizionario">{{Citation |title=Magna Grecia |volume=VII |page=259 |year=1970 |publisher=[[Treccani]] |language=it |encyclopedia=Dizionario enciclopedico italiano}}</ref> This interaction left a lasting imprint on Italy, including on [[Ancient Rome|Roman]] culture. The Greek settlers also influenced native groups such as the [[Sicels]] and the [[Oenotrians]], many of whom adopted Greek culture and became [[Hellenization|Hellenized]]. In areas like architecture and urban planning, the colonies sometimes surpassed the achievements of the motherland.<ref name="magnagrecia" /> The ancient inhabitants of Magna Graecia are referred to as [[Italiotes]] and [[Siceliotes]].

Ruins of several cities from Magna Graecia remain visible today, including Neapolis ("New City", now [[Naples]]), Syrakousai ([[Syracuse, Italy|Syracuse]]), Akragas ([[Agrigento]]), Taras ([[Taranto]]), Rhegion ([[Reggio Calabria]]), and Kroton ([[Crotone]]). The most populous city was [[Sybaris]] (now [[Sibari]]), with an estimated population of between 300,000 and 500,000, from 600 to 510 BC.<ref name="Sybaris" />

Governments in these city-states were typically [[Aristocracy|aristocratic]],<ref name="ragazzi">{{cite web |title=Magna Grecia |url=https://www.treccani.it/enciclopedia/magna-grecia_%28Enciclopedia-dei-ragazzi%29/ |access-date=9 July 2023 |language=it}}</ref> and the cities often engaged in warfare with one another.<ref name="Lazzarini">{{cite book |last=Lazzarini |first=Mario |title=La Magna Grecia |publisher=Scorpione Editrice |year=1995 |isbn=88-8099-027-6 |page=5 |language=it}}</ref> Their independence came to an end during the [[Second Punic War]], when they were annexed by the [[Roman Republic]] in 205 BC.<ref name="archeologiaviva">{{cite web |title=Le arti di Efesto. Capolavori in metallo |url=https://www.archeologiaviva.it/4139/le-arti-di-efesto-capolavori-in-metallo/ |access-date=12 July 2023 |page=11 |language=it}}</ref>

Despite the political changes, cultural life in Magna Graecia flourished. Greek art, literature, and philosophy had a decisive influence on the region, especially in cities like Taras.<ref name="ragazzi" /> [[South Italian ancient Greek pottery|South Italian Greek pottery]], particularly from the 4th century BC, is a notable cultural contribution. Settlers from Magna Graecia also achieved great success in the [[Ancient Olympic Games]]—athletes from [[Crotone]] alone won 18 titles over 25 Olympiads.<ref name="olimpiadi" /> 

Although most Greek inhabitants of Magna Graecia were fully [[Linguistic Latinisation|Latinized]] during the [[Middle Ages]],<ref name="unina">{{cite web |title=Multilinguismo in Sicilia ea Napoli nel primo Medioevo |url=http://wpage.unina.it/sornicol/Articoli/MultilinguismoSiciliaNapoliMedioevo-BLC.pdf |access-date=15 July 2023 |language=it}}</ref> traces of Greek language and culture persisted. The [[Griko people]] of [[Calabria]] ([[Bovesia]]) and [[Salento]] ([[Grecìa Salentina]]) still maintain aspects of their Greek heritage, including the [[Griko language]].<ref name="affariregionali">{{cite web |title=Per la difesa e la valorizzazione della Lingua e Cultura Greco-Calabra |url=https://www.affariregionali.it/media/170802/13-carmelo-giuseppe-nucera-intervento-sulle-minoranze.pdf |access-date=15 July 2023 |language=it}}</ref> This language is the last living trace of the once-vibrant Greek presence in Magna Graecia.<ref name="itinerarieluoghi">{{cite web |date=25 May 2020 |title=Una lingua, un'identità: alla scoperta del griko salentino |url=https://www.itinerarieluoghi.it/una-lingua-unidentita-alla-scoperta-del-griko-salentino/ |access-date=15 July 2023 |language=it}}</ref>

==Terminology==
[[File:Napoli - Panoramica su Piazza Bellini.jpg|thumb|Remains of the ancient Greek city of Neàpolis (now [[Naples]]) in Piazza Bellini, Naples]]
[[File:Iron Age Italy.svg|thumb|Ethnolinguistic map of Italy in the [[Iron Age]], before the [[Roman conquest of Italy|Roman expansion and conquest of Italy]]]]

The original Greek expression ''Megálē Hellás'' ({{lit|Great[er] Greece}}), later translated into Latin as {{lang|la|Magna Graecia}}, is attested for the first time in a passage from the 2nd century BC by the Greek historian [[Polybius]]<ref>[[Polybius]], ''[[The Histories (Polybius)|The Histories]]'', II 39, 1-6-</ref> (written around 150 BC), where he ascribed the term to [[Pythagoras]] and his [[Pythagoreanism|philosophical school]].<ref>Polybius, [[wikisource:The Histories (Paton translation)/Book II#39|ii. 39]].</ref><ref>A. J. Graham, "The colonial expansion of Greece", in John Boardman et al., ''Cambridge Ancient History'', vol. III, part 3, p. 94.</ref>

Ancient authors use "Magna Graecia" to mean different parts of southern Italy,<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 p. 9-10</ref><ref>Calderon, S. "La Conquista Romana di Magna Grecia. " ACTH 15,1975, 30-81</ref><ref>Justin 20.1</ref> including or excluding Sicily, [[Strabo]] and [[Livy]] being the most prominent advocates of the wider definitions.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.treccani.it/enciclopedia/magna-grecia_%28Enciclopedia-Italiana%29/|title=MAGNA GRECIA|access-date=24 November 2021|language=it}}</ref> [[Strabo]] used the term to refer to the territory that had been conquered by the Greeks.<ref>Strabo 6.1.2</ref><ref name="CerchiaiJannelli2004" />

There are various hypotheses on the origin of the name ''Megálē Hellás''. The term could be explained by the prosperity and cultural and economic splendour of the region (6th–5th century BC); notably by the Achaeans of the city of [[Crotone|Kroton]], to refer to the network of colonies they founded or controlled between the end of the 6th and mid-5th centuries at the time of the [[Pythagoreanism|Pythagoreans]].<ref name="enciclopedia">{{cite web|url=https://www.treccani.it/enciclopedia/magna-grecia|title=Magna Grecia nell'Enciclopedia Treccani|language=it|access-date=18 September 2021}}</ref>

==Context==
{{main|Greek colonisation}}

There were several reasons for the Greeks to establish overseas colonies; demographic crises (famine, overcrowding, etc.), ''[[Stasis (political history)|stasis]]'', a developing need for new commercial outlets and ports, and expulsion from their homeland after wars.

During the [[Archaic Greece|Archaic period]], the Greek [[Classical demography#Ancient Greece and Greek colonies|population]] grew beyond the capacity of the limited [[arable land]] of Greece proper, resulting in the [[Greek colonisation|large-scale establishment of colonies]] elsewhere: according to one estimate, the population of the widening area of Greek settlement increased roughly tenfold from 800 BC to 400 BC, from 800,000 to as many as {{frac|7|1|2}}-10&nbsp;million.<ref>[http://www.umsystem.edu/upress/fall2006/hansen.htm Population of the Greek city-states] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070305112612/http://www.umsystem.edu/upress/fall2006/hansen.htm |date=5 March 2007 }}</ref> This was not simply for trade, but also to found settlements. These [[Greek colonies]] were not, as Roman colonies were, dependent on their mother-city, but were independent city-states in their own right.<ref name=BoardmanHammond-xiii>{{harvnb|Boardman|Hammond|1982|p=xiii}}</ref>
[[File:Greek Colonization Archaic Period.svg|thumb|upright=1.75|[[Greek colonisation|Ancient Greek colonies]]]]

Another reason was the strong economic growth with the consequent overpopulation of the motherland.<ref name="ragazzi"/> The terrain that some of these Greek city-states were in could not support a large city. Politics was also the reason as refugees from Greek city-states tended to settle away from these cities in the colonies.<ref name=":0">{{Cite journal |last=Descœudres |first=Jean-Paul |date=2013-02-04 |title=Greek colonization movement, 8th–6th centuries |url=http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/9781444351071.wbeghm260 |journal=The Encyclopedia of Global Human Migration |doi=10.1002/9781444351071.wbeghm260|isbn=9781444334890}}</ref>

Greeks settled outside of Greece in two distinct ways.  The first was in permanent settlements founded by the Greeks, which formed as independent poleis. The second form was in what historians refer to as ''[[emporium (antiquity)|emporia]]''; trading posts which were occupied by both Greeks and non-Greeks and which were primarily concerned with the manufacture and sale of goods.  Examples of this latter type of settlement are found at [[Al Mina]] in the east and [[Pithekoussai]] in the west.<ref>{{harvnb|Antonaccio|2007|p=203}}</ref>

From about 750 BC the Greeks began 250 years of expansion, settling colonies in all directions.

==History==
[[File:Reggio calabria mura greche lungomare.jpg|thumb|Remains of the ancient Greek city of Rhegium (now [[Reggio Calabria]]) along the seafront of Reggio Calabria]]
[[File:Bronzi di riace, V secolo ac. 01.jpg|thumb|''[[Riace Bronzes]]'' exhibited in the [[National Museum of Magna Graecia]] in Reggio Calabria]]
[[File:Reggio calabria museo nazionale dioscuri da locri statua destra.jpg|thumb|Right statue from the [[Dioscuri]] group from [[Locri]] exhibited in the [[National Museum of Magna Graecia]] in Reggio Calabria]]

===Greek colonisation===

According to [[Strabo]]'s ''[[Geographica]]'', the colonisation of Magna Graecia had already begun by the time of the [[Trojan War]] and lasted for several centuries.<ref name="Strabo">{{cite book|author=Strabo|title=Geographica|chapter=I, Section I|url=http://perseus.uchicago.edu/perseus-cgi/citequery3.pl?dbname=GreekFeb2011&query=Str.%201.1.3|language=el|volume=VI|access-date=5 February 2020|archive-date=22 May 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200522133218/http://perseus.uchicago.edu/perseus-cgi/citequery3.pl?dbname=GreekFeb2011&query=Str.%201.1.3|url-status=dead}}</ref>

Greeks began to settle in southern Italy in the 8th century BC.<ref name="CerchiaiJannelli2004">{{cite book |author1=Luca Cerchiai |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=fH32nSiCue0C |title=The Greek Cities of Magna Graecia and Sicily |author2=Lorena Jannelli |author3=Fausto Longo |publisher=Getty Publications |year=2004 |isbn=978-0-89236-751-1 |pages=7}}</ref> Their first great migratory wave was by the [[Euboea]]ns aimed at the Gulf of Naples ([[Pithecusae]], [[Cumae]]) and the Strait of Messina ([[Zancle]], [[Rhegium]]).<ref>STEFANIA DE VIDO 'Capitani coraggiosi'. Gli Eubei nel Mediterraneo C. Bearzot, F. Landucci, in Tra il mare e il continente: l'isola d'Eubea (2013) ISBN 978-88-343-2634-3</ref> Pithecusae on the island of [[Ischia]] is considered the oldest Greek settlement in Italy, and Cumae their first colony on the mainland of Italy.

The second wave was of the [[Achaea]]ns who concentrated initially on the Ionian coast ([[Metapontum|Metapontion]], [[Poseidonia]], [[Sybaris]], [[Crotone|Kroton]]),<ref>Strabo 6.1.12</ref><ref>Herodotus 8.47</ref> shortly before 720{{nbsp}}BC.<ref name="magna grecia">{{cite web|url=https://www.treccani.it/enciclopedia/magna-grecia_(Enciclopedia-Italiana)/|title=MAGNA GRECIA|access-date=7 July 2023|language=it}}</ref> At an unknown date between the 8th and 6th centuries BC the Athenians, of Ionian lineage, founded [[Scylletium]] (near today's [[Catanzaro]]).<ref>Strabo, ''[[Geographica]]'', 6.1.10</ref>

With colonisation, [[Greek culture]] was exported to Italy with its dialects of the [[Ancient Greek language]], its religious rites, and its traditions of the independent ''[[polis]]''. An original [[Hellenic civilization]] soon developed, and later interacted with the native [[Italic languages|Italic]] civilisations. The most important cultural transplant was the [[Chalcis|Chalcidean]]/[[Cumaean alphabet|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.

====Secondary colonisation====

Over time, due to overpopulation and other political and commercial reasons, the new cities expanded their presence in Italy by founding other Greek cities; effectively expanding the Greek civilisation to the whole territory known today as Magna Graecia.<ref name="magna grecia"/>

Remains of some of these Greek colonies can be seen today such as those of Neapolis ('new city', now [[Naples]]), Syracusae ([[Syracuse, Italy|Syracuse]]), Akragas ([[Agrigento]]), Taras ([[Taranto]]) and Rhegion ([[Reggio Calabria]]).

An intense colonisation program was undertaken by [[Syracuse, Sicily|Syracuse]],<ref>{{Cite book|first=Lorenzo|last=Braccesi|title=Grecità adriatica. Un capitolo della colonizzazione greca in Occidente|year=1979|publisher=Pàtron|edition=2nd|page=450|isbn=978-88-555-0935-0|language=it}}</ref> at the time of the tyranny of [[Dionysius I of Syracuse]], around 387–385 BC. This phenomenon affected the entire [[Adriatic Sea|Adriatic]] coast, and in particular led to the foundation in Italy of Ancon (now [[Ancona]]) and [[Adria]]; in the [[Dalmatia]]n coast he saw the foundation of Issa (current [[Vis (town)|Vis]]), Pharus ([[Stari Grad, Croatia|Stari Grad]]), Dimus ([[Hvar (town)|Hvar]]); Lissus (now [[Lezhë]]) was founded on the [[Albania]]n coast. Issa in turn then founded Tragurium (now [[Trogir]]), Corcyra Melaina (now [[Korčula]]) and Epetium (now [[Stobreč]], a suburb of [[Split, Croatia|Split]]).

Rhegium (now [[Reggio Calabria]]) founded Pyxus ([[Policastro Bussentino]]) in [[Lucania]]; [[Locri]] founded Medma ([[Rosarno]]), [[Polistena|Polyxena]] and Hipponium ([[Vibo Valentia]]) in present-day Calabria; Sybaris (now [[Sibari]]) revitalised the indigenous centres of [[Laüs]] and Scydrus in Calabria and founded Poseidonia ([[Paestum]]), in Campania; Kroton (now [[Crotone]]) founded [[Terina (ancient city)|Terina]] and participated in the foundation of [[Caulonia (ancient city)|Caulonia]] (near [[Monasterace]] marina) in Calabria; Messana (now [[Messina]]), in collaboration with Rhegium, founded Metaurus ([[Gioia Tauro]]); Taras together with [[Thurii]] founded Heracleia ([[Policoro]]) in Lucania in 434 BC, and also [[Gallipoli, Apulia|Callipolis]] ('beautiful city').<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.treccani.it/enciclopedia/gallipoli_%28Enciclopedia-Italiana%29/|title=Gallipoli|access-date=21 July 2023|language=it}}</ref>

===Expansion and conflict===
{{See also|History of Greek Sicily|Calabria}}

At the beginning of the 6th century BC, all the main cities of Magna Graecia on the Ionian Sea had achieved a high economic and cultural development, which shifted their interests towards expansion of their territory by waging war on neighbouring cities. The 6th century was therefore characterised by great clashes between the colonies. Some of the clashes that established the new balance and the new relationships of force were the [[Battle of the Sagra]] river (the clash between Locri Epizefiri and Kroton), the destruction of [[Siris, Magna Graecia|Siris]] (by Sybaris and Metapontum), and the clash between Kroton and Sybaris (which ended with the destruction of the latter).<ref>Arte seconda - la colonizzazione e il periodo Greco, capitolo III, Il VI secolo e lo scontro con Crotone, Battaglia Della Sagra, https://www.locriantica.it/storia/per_greco3.htm</ref>

As with all the events of this period precise dates are unknown, but the destruction of Sybaris may have occurred around 510 BC, while the two other clashes are placed around 580-560 BC, with the destruction of Siris before the [[Battle of the Sagra]].

===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>

===Middle Ages===
[[File:Colonne Doriche.JPG|thumb|right|[[Doric columns]] from the Temple of Poseidon in Taras (now [[Taranto]]); legacy of its Greek origins]]

During the [[Early Middle Ages]], following the disastrous [[Gothic War (535–552)|Gothic War]], new waves of [[Byzantine Greeks|Byzantine Christian Greeks]] fleeing the [[Slavic migrations to Southeastern Europe|Slavic invasion]] of [[Peloponnese]] settled in Calabria, further strengthened the Hellenic element in the region.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Slavs and nomadic populations in Greece|url=https://www2.rgzm.de/foreigners/cfm/themen/309/309_uk.cfm?Language=uk|access-date=19 June 2021|website=www2.rgzm.de|archive-date=24 June 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210624201538/https://www2.rgzm.de/foreigners/cfm/themen/309/309_uk.cfm?Language=uk|url-status=dead}}</ref> The iconoclast emperor [[Leo III the Isaurian|Leo III]] appropriated lands that had been granted to the Papacy in southern Italy and the Eastern Roman (Byzantine) Empire continued to govern the area in the form of the [[Catapanate of Italy]] (965 -1071) through the Middle Ages, well after northern Italy fell to the Lombards.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Brown |first1=T. S. |year=1979 |title=The Church of Ravenna and the Imperial Administration in the Seventh Century |journal=The English Historical Review |volume= 94|issue= 370|pages=5 |jstor=567155}}</ref>

At the time of the [[Italo-Normans|Normans]]' late medieval conquest of southern Italy and Sicily (in the late 12th century), the [[Salento]] peninsula (the "heel" of Italy), up to one-third of Sicily (concentrated in the [[Val Demone]]), and much of Calabria and Lucania were still largely Greek-speaking. Some regions of southern Italy experienced demographic shifts as Greeks began to migrate northwards in significant numbers from regions further south; one such region was [[Cilento]], which came to have a Greek-speaking majority.<ref>{{cite book |author= Loud, G. A. |title=The Latin Church in Norman Italy |publisher=Cambridge University Press |year=2007 |page=494 |isbn=978-0-521-25551-6 |quote=At the end of the twelfth century{{nbsp}}... While in Apulia Greeks were in a majority – and indeed present in any numbers at all – only in the Salento peninsula in the extreme south, at the time of the conquest they had an overwhelming preponderance in Lucania and central and southern Calabria, as well as comprising anything up to a third of the population of Sicily, concentrated especially in the north-east of the island, the Val Demone.}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |author= Oldfield, Paul |title= Sanctity and Pilgrimage in Medieval Southern Italy, 1000–1200|publisher= Cambridge University Press |year=2014 |pages=13 |isbn= 978-1-107-00028-5 |quote=However, the Byzantine revival of the tenth century generated a concomitant process Hellenization, while Muslim raids in southern Calabria, and instability in Sicily, may also have displaced Greek Christians further north on the mainland. Consequently, zones in northern Calabria, Lucania and central Apulia which were reintegrated into Byzantine control also experienced demographic shifts and the increasing establishment of immigrant Greek communities. These zones also acted as springboards for Greek migration further north, into regions such as the Cilento and areas around Salerno, which had never been under Byzantine control.}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |author= Kleinhenz, Christopher |title= Medieval Italy: an encyclopedia, Volume 1|publisher=Routledge |year=2004 |pages=444–445 |isbn=978-0-415-93930-0 |quote=In Lucania (northern Calabria, Basilicata, and southernmost portion of today's Campania){{nbsp}}... From the late ninth century into the eleventh, Greek-speaking populations and Byzantine temporal power advanced, in stages but by no means always in tandem, out of southern Calabria and the lower Salentine peninsula across Lucania and through much of Apulia as well. By the early eleventh century, Greek settlement had radiated northward and had reached the interior of the Cilento, deep in Salernitan territory. Parts of the central and northwestern Salento, recovered early, [and] came to have a Greek majority through immigration, as did parts of Lucania.}}</ref> At this time the language had evolved into medieval Greek, also known as [[Byzantine Greek]], and its speakers were known as [[Byzantine Greeks]]. The resultant fusion of local Byzantine Greek culture with Norman and Arab culture (from the Arab occupation of Sicily) gave rise to [[Norman-Arab-Byzantine culture]] in Sicily.

<gallery mode="packed" heights="120">
File:Paestum BW 2013-05-17 15-01-57.jpg|[[Second Temple of Hera (Paestum)|Greek temples]] of [[Paestum]], [[Campania]]
File:Reggio calabria museo nazionale mosaico da kaulon.jpg|Mosaic from [[Caulonia (ancient city)|Caulonia]], [[Calabria]], [[National Museum of Magna Graecia]]
File:Tavole-palatine - Hera temple.jpg|[[Ancient Greek temple|Temple of]] [[Hera]] in [[Metaponto]], [[Basilicata]]
File:Agrigent BW 2012-10-07 12-24-45.JPG|The [[Temple of Hera, Agrigento|Temple "D"]], [[Valle dei Templi]], [[Agrigento]], [[Sicily]]
File:Milo of Croton Dumont Louvre MR1839.jpg|[[Milo of Croton]]
File:Archytas of Taras.jpg|[[Archytas|Archytas of Taras]]
File:Tarentum.jpg|5th-century BC Greek coins of Taras (now [[Taranto]]) with the eponym [[Taras (mythology)|Taras]] hero riding a dolphin
File:2547 - Milano - Museo archeologico - Piatto apulo - Foto di Giovanni Dall'Orto - 1 feb 2014.jpg|The goddess [[Nike (mythology)|Nike]] riding on a two-horse [[chariot]], [[Apulia]]n [[patera]] (tray), 4th century BC, [[Archaeological Museum, Milan|Archaeological Museum of Milan]]
File:Head-Kantharos of a Female Faun or Io (?) LACMA 50.8.25.jpg|Head-[[Kantharos]] of a female faun or [[Io (mythology)|Io]], [[red-figure pottery]], 375–350 BC, [[Los Angeles County Museum of Art]]
</gallery>

== List of Greek ''poleis'' ==
=== Mainland Italy===
This is a list of the 22 [[Polis|''poleis'']] ("[[city-states]]") in Italy, according to [[Mogens Herman Hansen]].<ref>Hansen & Nielsen (eds.), ''Inventory of Archaic and Classical Poleis'', pp. 249–320.</ref> It does not list all the Hellenic settlements, only those organised around a ''polis'' structure.
{| class="wikitable width="100%"
| bgcolor="#FFEBAD" |'''Ancient name(s)'''
| bgcolor="#FFEBAD" |'''Location'''
| bgcolor="#FFEBAD" |'''Modern name(s)'''
| bgcolor="#FFEBAD" |'''Foundation date'''
| bgcolor="#FFEBAD" |'''Mother city'''
| bgcolor="#FFEBAD" |'''Founder(s)'''
|-
|[[Heraclea Lucania|Herakleia]] (Lucania)
|[[Basilicata]]
|{{Unknown|''(abandoned)''}}
|433–432 BC
|Taras (and Thourioi)
|{{Unknown}}
|-
|[[Vibo Valentia|Hipponion]]
|[[Calabria]]
|Vibo Valentia
|late 7th century BC
|Lokroi Epizephiroi
|{{Unknown}}
|-
|[[Velia|Hyele]], or Elea, Velia (Roman name)
|[[Campania]]
|{{Unknown|''(abandoned)''}}
|c.540–535 BC
|[[Phocaea|Phokaia]], Massalia
|Refugees from [[Aléria|Alalie]]
|-
|[[Caulonia (ancient city)|Kaulonia]]
|Calabria
|{{Unknown|''(abandoned)''}}
|7th century BC
|Kroton
|Typhon of [[Aigio]]n
|-
|[[Crotone|Kroton]]
|Calabria
|Crotone
|709–708 BC
|[[Rhypes]], [[Achaea (ancient region)|Achaia]]
|[[Myscellus]]
|-
|[[Cumae|Kyme]], Cumae (Roman name)
|Campania
|{{Unknown|''(abandoned)''}}
|c.750–725 BC
|[[Chalcis|Chalkis]] and [[Eretria]]
|Hippokles of [[Kymi, Greece|Euboian Kyme]] and Megasthenes of Chalkis
|-
|[[Laüs|Laos]]
|Calabria
|{{Unknown|''(abandoned)''}}
|before 510 BC
|Sybaris
|Refugees from Sybaris
|-
|[[Locri|Lokroi (Epizephiroi)]]
|Calabria
|Locri
|early 7th century BC
|[[Locris|Lokris]]
|{{Unknown}}
|-
|[[Medma]]
|Calabria
|{{Unknown|''(abandoned)''}}
|7th century BC
|Lokroi Epizephiroi
|{{Unknown}}
|-
|[[Metapontum|Metapontion]]
|Basilicata
|[[Metaponto]]
|c. 630 BC
|[[Achaea (ancient region)|Achaia]]
|Leukippos of [[Achaea|Achaia]]
|-
|[[Gioia Tauro|Metauros]]
|Calabria
|Gioia Tauro
|7th century BC
|[[Messina|Zankle]] (or possibly Lokroi Epizephiroi)
|{{Unknown}}
|-
|[[Naples|Neàpolis]]
|Campania
|Naples
|6th–5th centuries BC (previously an 8th century BC harbour of Kyme known as Parthenope)
|Kyme
|{{Unknown}}
|-
|[[Ischia|Pithekoussai]]
|Campania
|Ischia
|8th century BC
|[[Chalcis|Chalkis]] and [[Eretria]]
|{{Unknown}}
|-
|[[Paestum|Poseidonia]], Paestum (Roman name)
|Campania
|{{Unknown|''(abandoned)''}}
|c. 600 BC
|Sybaris (and perhaps [[Troezen|Troizen]])
|{{Unknown}}
|-
|[[Policastro Bussentino|Pyxous]]
|Campania
|Policastro Bussentino
|471–470 BC
|Rhegion and Messena
|Mikythos, tyrant of Rhegion and Messena
|-
|[[Reggio Calabria|Rhegion]]
|Calabria
|Reggio Calabria
|8th century BC
|Chalkis (with Zankle and [[Messinia|Messenian]] refugees)
|Antimnestos of Zankle (or perhaps Artimedes of Chalkis)
|-
|[[Siris (Magna Graecia)|Siris]]
|Basilicata
|{{Unknown|''(abandoned)''}}
|c. 660 BC (or c. 700 BC)
|[[Colophon (city)|Kolophon]]
|Refugees from Kolophon
|-
|[[Sybaris]]
|Calabria
|[[Sibari]]
|721–720 (or 709–708) BC
|Achaia and Troizen
|Is of [[Helike]]
|-
|[[Taranto|Taras]]
|[[Apulia]]
|Taranto
|c. 706 BC
|[[Sparta]]
|[[Phalanthus of Tarentum|Phalanthos]] and the [[Partheniae|Partheniai]]
|-
|[[Temesa (ancient city)|Temesa]]
|unknown, but in Calabria
|{{Unknown|''(abandoned)''}}
| colspan="3" |''no Greek founder ([[Ausones]] who became Hellenised)''
|-
|[[Terina (ancient city)|Terina]]
|Calabria
|{{Unknown|''(abandoned)''}}
|before 460 BC, perhaps c. 510 BC
|Kroton
|{{Unknown}}
|-
|[[Thurii|Thourioi]]
|Calabria
|{{Unknown|''(abandoned)''}}
|446 and 444–443 BC
|Athens and many other cities
|Lampon and Xenokrates of Athens
|}

=== Sicily ===
This is a list of the 46 [[Polis|''poleis'']] ("[[city-states]]") in Sicily, according to Mogens Herman Hansen.<ref>Hansen & Nielsen (eds.), ''Inventory of Archaic and Classical Poleis'', pp. 189–248.</ref> It does not list all the Hellenic settlements, only those organised around a ''polis'' structure.
{| class="wikitable width="100%"
| bgcolor="#FFEBAD" |'''Ancient name(s)'''
| bgcolor="#FFEBAD" |'''Location'''
| bgcolor="#FFEBAD" |'''Modern name(s)'''
| bgcolor="#FFEBAD" |'''Foundation date'''
| bgcolor="#FFEBAD" |'''Mother city'''
| bgcolor="#FFEBAD" |'''Founder(s)'''
|-
|[[Abacaenum|Abakainon]]
|[[Metropolitan City of Messina]]
|{{Unknown|''(abandoned)''}}
| colspan="3" |''no Greek founder ([[Sicels]] who became Hellenised)''
|-
|[[Adranon]]
|[[Metropolitan City of Catania]]
|[[Adrano]]
|c.400 BC
|Syrakousai
|[[Dionysius I of Syracuse|Dionysios I]]
|-
|[[Agira|Agyrion]]
|[[Province of Enna]]
|Agira
| colspan="3" |''no Greek founder (Sicels who became Hellenised)''
|-
|[[Aetna (city)|Aitna]]
|Metropolitan City of Catania
|on the site of Katane
|476 BC
|Syrakousai
|[[Hiero I of Syracuse|Hieron]]
|-
|[[Agrigento|Akragas]]
|[[Province of Agrigento]]
|Agrigento
|c.580 BC
|Gela
|Aristonoos and Pystilos
|-
|[[Akrai]]
|[[Province of Syracuse]]
|near [[Palazzolo Acreide]]
|664 BC
|Syrakousai
|{{Unknown}}
|-
|[[Halaesa|Alaisa]]
|Metropolitan City of Messina
|[[Tusa, Sicily|Tusa]]
|403–402 BC
|Herbita
|Archonides of Herbita
|-
|[[San Marco d'Alunzio|Alontion]], Haluntium (Roman name)
|Metropolitan City of Messina
|San Marco d'Alunzio
| colspan="3" |''no Greek founder (Sicels who became Hellenised)''
|-
|[[Apollonia (Sicily)|Apollonia]]
|Metropolitan City of Messina
|Monte Vecchio near [[San Fratello]]
|405–367 BC
|Syrakousai
|Possibly Dionysios I
|-
|[[Engyon]]
|Province of Enna
|[[Troina]]?
| colspan="3" |''no Greek founder (Sicels who became Hellenised)''
|-
|[[Licodia Eubea|Euboia]]
|Metropolitan City of Catania
|Licodia Eubea
|7th century BC, perhaps late 8th century BC
|Leontinoi
|{{Unknown}}
|-
|Galeria
|{{Unknown}}
|{{Unknown|''(abandoned)''}}
| colspan="3" |''no Greek founder (Sicels who became Hellenised)''
|-
|[[Gela]]
|[[Province of Caltanissetta]]
|Gela
|689–688 BC
|[[Rhodes (city)|Rhodes]] ([[Lindos]]), [[Crete|Cretans]]
|[[Antiphemus|Antiphemos of Rhodes]] and Entimos the Cretan
|-
|[[Helorus|Heloron]]
|Province of Syracuse
|{{Unknown|''(abandoned)''}}
|{{Unknown}}
|Syrakousai
|{{Unknown}}
|-
|[[Enna|Henna]]
|Province of Enna
|Enna
| colspan="3" |''no Greek founder (Sicels who became Hellenised)''
|-
|[[Heraclea Minoa|Herakleia Minoa]]
|Province of Agrigento
|[[Cattolica Eraclea]]
|after 628 BC
|Selinous, Sparta
|refounded by Euryleon after c.510 BC
|-
|Herakleia
|unlocated in Western Sicily
|{{Unknown|''(abandoned)''}}
|c.510 BC
|[[Sparta]]
|[[Dorieus]]
|-
|[[Herbessos]]
|Province of Enna
|Montagna di Marzo
| colspan="3" |''no Greek founder (Sicels who became Hellenised)''
|-
|Herbita
|{{Unknown}}
|{{Unknown|''(abandoned)''}}
| colspan="3" |''no Greek founder (Sicels who became Hellenised)''
|-
|[[Himera]]
|[[Province of Palermo]]
|[[Termini Imerese]]
|648 BC
|Zankle, exiles from Syrakousai
|Eukleides, Simos and Sakon
|-
|Hippana
|Province of Palermo
|[[:it:Monte dei Cavalli|Monte dei Cavalli]]
| colspan="3" |''no Greek founder (indigenous settlement that became Hellenised)''
|-
|[[Imachara]]
|Metropolitan City of Catania
|[[:it:Mendolito|Mendolito]]
| colspan="3" |''no Greek founder (Sicels who became Hellenised)''
|-
|Kallipolis
|{{Unknown}}
|{{Unknown|''(abandoned)''}}
|late 8th century BC
|Naxos (Sicily)
|{{Unknown}}
|-
|[[Kamarina, Sicily|Kamarina]]
|[[Province of Ragusa]]
|[[Santa Croce Camerina]]
|c.598 BC
|Syrakousai, Korinth
|Daskon of Syracuse and Menekolos of Corinth
|-
|[[Casmenae|Kasmenai]]
|Province of Syracuse
|{{Unknown|''(abandoned)''}}
|644–643 BC
|Syrakousai
|{{Unknown}}
|-
|[[Catania|Katane]]
|Metropolitan City of Catania
|Catania
|729 BC
|Naxos (Sicily)
|Euarchos
|-
|[[Centuripe|Kentoripa]]
|Province of Enna
|Centuripe
| colspan="3" |''no Greek founder (Sicels who became Hellenised)''
|-
|[[Cefalù|Kephaloidion]]
|Province of Palermo
|Cefalù
| colspan="3" |''no Greek founder (Sicels who became Hellenised)''
|-
|[[Lentini|Leontinoi]]
|Province of Syracuse
|Lentini
|729 BC
|Naxos (Sicily)
|Theokles?
|-
|[[Lipari|Lipara]]
|Metropolitan City of Messina
|Lipari
|580–576 BC
|[[Knidos]], Rhodes
|Pentathlos, Gorgos, Thestor and Epithersides
|-
|Longane
|Metropolitan City of Messina
|near [[Rodì Milici]]
| colspan="3" |''no Greek founder (Sicels who became Hellenised)''
|-
|[[Megara Hyblaea]]
|Province of Syracuse
|[[Augusta, Sicily|Augusta]]
|728 BC
|[[Megara|Megara Nisaia]]
|Theokles?
|-
|[[Morgantina]]
|Province of Enna
|near [[Aidone]]
| colspan="3" |''no Greek founder (Sicels who became Hellenised)''
|-
|[[Milazzo|Mylai]]
|Metropolitan City of Messina
|Milazzo
|700 BC?
|Zankle
|{{Unknown}}
|-
|Nakone
|{{Unknown}}
|{{Unknown|''(abandoned)''}}
| colspan="3" |''no Greek founder (Sicels who became Hellenised)''
|-
|[[Naxos (Sicily)|Naxos]]
|Metropolitan City of Messina
|[[Giardini Naxos]]
|735–734 BC
|[[Chalcis|Chalkis]], [[Naxos|Naxos (Cyclades)]]
|Theokles
|-
|Petra
|{{Unknown}}
|{{Unknown|''(abandoned)''}}
| colspan="3" |''no Greek founder (indigenous settlement that became Hellenised)''
|-
|Piakos
|Metropolitan City of Catania
|[[:it:Mendolito|Mendolito]]?
| colspan="3" |''no Greek founder (Sicels who became Hellenised)''
|-
|[[Selinunte|Selinous]]
|[[Province of Trapani]]
|[[Marinella di Selinunte]]
|628–627 BC
|Megara Hyblaea
|Pammilos
|-
|[[Sileraioi]]
|{{Unknown}}
|{{Unknown|''(abandoned)''}}
| colspan="3" |''no Greek founder (indigenous settlement that became Hellenised)''
|-
|Stielanaioi
|Metropolitan City of Catania?
|{{Unknown|''(abandoned)''}}
| colspan="3" |''no Greek founder (indigenous settlement that became Hellenised)''
|-
|[[Syracuse, Sicily|Syrakousai]]
|Province of Syracuse
|Syracuse
|733 BC
|[[Corinth|Korinth]]
|[[Archias of Corinth|Archias of Korinth]]
|-
|[[Taormina|Tauromenion]]
|Metropolitan City of Catania
|Taormina
|392 BC
|Syrakousai
|perhaps Dionysios I 
|-
|[[Tindari|Tyndaris]]
|Metropolitan City of Messina
|Tindari
|396 BC
|Syrakousai 
|Dionysios I
|-
|Tyrrhenoi
|Province of Palermo?
|[[Alimena]]?
| colspan="3" |''no Greek founder (indigenous settlement that became Hellenised)''
|-
|[[Messina|Zankle]]/Messana
|Metropolitan City of Messina
|Messina
|c.730
|Chalkis, [[Cumae|Kyme]]
|Perieres of Kyme and Krataimenes of Chalkis
|}

=== Not part of Magna Graecia ===
{| class="wikitable width="100%"
| bgcolor="#FFEBAD" |'''Ancient name(s)'''
| bgcolor="#FFEBAD" |'''Location'''
| bgcolor="#FFEBAD" |'''Modern name(s)'''
| bgcolor="#FFEBAD" |'''Foundation date'''
| bgcolor="#FFEBAD" |'''Mother city'''
| bgcolor="#FFEBAD" |'''Founder(s)'''
|-
|[[Adria|Adrìa]]
|[[Veneto]]
|Adria
|385 BC
|Syrakousai
|{{Unknown}}
|-
|[[Ancona|Ankón]]
|[[Marche]]
|Ancona
|387 BC
|Syrakousai
|{{Unknown}}
|}

==Administration==
[[File:Locri Pinax Eros Hermes And Aphrodite.jpg|thumb|[[Pinax]] of Eros, Hermes and Aphrodite exhibited in the [[National Museum of Magna Graecia]] in Reggio Calabria]]

The administrative organisation of Magna Graecia was inherited from the Hellenic poleis, taking up the concept of "[[city-states]]" administered by the [[aristocracy]].<ref name="ragazzi"/> The cities of Magna Graecia were independent like the Greek ''[[poleis]]'' of the motherland,<ref name="romanoimpero.com">{{cite web|url=https://www.romanoimpero.com/2020/03/magna-grecia-nemici-di-roma.html|title=MAGNA GRECIA|access-date=10 July 2023|language=it}}</ref> and had an army and a military fleet.<ref>[[Herodotus]], ''[[Histories (Herodotus)|Histories]]''</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.instoria.it/home/Atene_occidente.htm|title=In Storia – ATENE E L'OCCIDENTE – Relazioni con le città siceliote ed italiote in funzione della spedizione in Sicilia – Parte I|access-date=10 July 2023|language=it}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|first=Francesco Domenico|last=Guerrazzi| publisher=M. Guigoni| year= 1862| title=Scritti politici | url=https://archive.org/details/scrittipolitici00guergoog|language=it|page=226}}{{No ISBN}}</ref> There were also cases of tyranny as in Syracuse, governed by the tyrant [[Dionysius I of Syracuse|Dionysius]], who fought the Carthaginians until his death.<ref name="romanoimpero.com"/><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.treccani.it/enciclopedia/dionisio-i-il-vecchio-tiranno-di-siracusa_%28Enciclopedia-Italiana%29/|title=DIONISIO I il Vecchio (Διονύριος o πρεσβύτερος) tiranno di Siracusa|access-date=10 July 2023|language=it}}</ref>

==Economy==
In the cities of Magna Graecia, trade, agriculture and crafts developed. Initially oriented to the indigenous Italic populations, the trade was immediately an excellent channel of exchange with the Greeks of the motherland, even if today it is difficult to establish precisely the type of goods traded and the volume of these exchanges.<ref name="magna grecia"/>

==Coinage==
{{main|Greek coinage of Italy and Sicily}}
[[File:SNGANS 259.jpg|thumb|A Syracusan [[tetradrachm]] ({{circa|415}}–405&nbsp;BC), sporting [[Arethusa (mythology)|Arethusa]] and a [[quadriga]].]]

[[Greek coinage of Italy and Sicily]] originated from local [[Italiotes]] and [[Siceliotes]] who formed numerous [[city-states]]. These [[Hellenistic]] communities descended from Greek migrants. [[Southern Italy]] was so thoroughly Hellenized that it was known as the Magna Graecia. Each of the polities struck their own coinage.

[[Taranto|Taras]] (or Tarentum) was among the most prominent city-states.

By the second century BC, some of these Greek coinages evolved under Roman rule, and can be classified as the first [[Roman provincial currency|Roman provincial currencies]].

==Culture==
The Greek colonists of Magna Graecia elaborated a civilization,<ref name="dizionario"/> which had peculiar characteristics, due to the distance from the motherland and the influence of the indigenous peoples of southern Italy.<ref name="dizionario"/> From the motherland Greece, art, literature and philosophy decisively influenced the life of the colonies. In Magna Graecia much impetus was given to culture, especially in some cities, such as Taras (now [[Taranto]]).<ref name="ragazzi"/> [[Pythagoras]] moved to Crotone where he founded [[Pythagoreanism|his school in 530 BC]]. Among others, [[Aeschylus]], [[Herodotus]], [[Xenophanes]] and [[Plato]] visited Magna Graecia.

Among the illustrious characters born in Magna Graecia are the philosophers [[Parmenides]] of [[Velia|Elea]], [[Zeno of Elea|Zeno]] of Elea, [[Gorgias]] of Lentini and [[Empedocles]] of Agrigento; the Pythagoreans [[Philolaus]] of Crotone, [[Archytas]] of Taranto, [[Lysis of Taras|Lysis]] of Taranto, [[Echecrates of Phlius|Echecrates]] and [[Timaeus of Locri|Timaeus]] of Locri; the mathematician [[Archimedes]] of Syracuse; the poets [[Theocritus]] of Syracuse, [[Stesichorus]], [[Ibycus]] of Reggio Calabria, [[Nossis]] of Locri, [[Alexis (poet)|Alexis]] of Thuri and [[Leonidas of Tarentum|Leonidas]] of Taranto; the doctors [[Alcmaeon of Croton|Alcmeon]] of Crotone and [[Democedes]] of Crotone; the sculptor from Reggio [[Clearchus of Rhegium|Clearchus]]; the painter [[Zeuxis (painter)|Zeuxis]], the musicologist [[Aristoxenus]] of Taranto and the legislator [[Zaleucus]] of Locri.

===Language===

A remnant of Greek influence can be found in the survival of the Greek language in some villages of the above-mentioned Salento peninsula (the "heel" of Italy). This living dialect of Greek, known locally as [[Griko language|Griko]], is found in the Italian regions of [[Calabria]] and [[Apulia]]. ''Griko'' is considered by linguists to be a descendant of [[Byzantine Greek]], which had been the majority language of Salento through the Middle Ages, combining also some ancient [[Doric Greek|Doric]] and local [[Romance languages|romance]] elements. There is a rich [[oral tradition]] and Griko [[folklore]], limited now but once numerous, to around 30,000 people, most of them having abandoned their language in favour of Italian. Some scholars, such as [[Gerhard Rohlfs]], argue that the origins of Griko may ultimately be traced to the colonies of Magna Graecia.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Rohlfs |first1=Gerhard |year=1967 |title=Greek Remnants in Southern Italy |journal=The Classical Journal |volume=62 |issue=4 |pages=164–9 |jstor=3295569}}</ref>

===Art and architecture===
{{see also|South Italian ancient Greek pottery}}
[[File:Choregos Painter - RVAp 1-123 - the stealers of daintings - Herakles supporting the world - Milano MA A 0-9-2841 - 01.jpg|thumb|[[Apulian vase painting|Apulian pottery]] exhibited in the [[Archaeological Museum, Milan|Archaeological Museum of Milan]], 380–370 BC]]
[[File:Reperti - Museo di Monasterace Marina.JPG|thumb|Archaeological finds exhibited in the [[Monasterace Archeological Museum]]]]

Magna Graecia, in some fields such as architecture and urban planning, sometimes surpassed the mother country and the other Greek colonies.<ref name="magnagrecia">{{cite web|url=http://www.magnagrecia.it/pagare/calabria/italiano/itinerar/arte/architet.html|title=L'architettura in Grecia e nelle colonie|access-date=21 July 2023|language=it}}</ref> In Magna Graecia, as well as in the other Greek colonies, the [[Doric style]] enriched with showy decorations was adopted as the dominant architectural style. In Magna Graecia, in particular, a Doric style influenced by the [[Ionic style|Ionic]] one was also used, especially in Sicily in the Achaean colonies.<ref name="magnagrecia"/> In Magna Graecia, limestone was used as a building material due to the difficulty in finding other materials. The Doric style in Magna Graecia reached its apogee, surpassing that of the motherland and the other Greek colonies.<ref name="magnagrecia"/>

Regarding urban planning, the cities of Magna Graecia, as well as many cities of Greek colonies in other regions, were more orderly and rational in the distribution of spaces than those of the mother country, making the urban fabric more practical. The first examples of urbanistically more rational Greek cities belonged to Magna Graecia, in this case [[Taranto]], [[Metapontum]] and [[Megara Hyblaea]].<ref name="magnagrecia"/> Characteristic of this new urban concept, which later spread also in the motherland to [[Rhodes]] and [[Miletus]], was a checkerboard road network.<ref name="magnagrecia"/>

In Magna Graecia painting and sculpture also reached a notable level of quality.<ref name="bronzi50">{{cite web|url=https://www.bronzi50.it/artisti-magna-grecia/|title=Gli artisti della Magna Grecia
|access-date=21 July 2023|language=it}}</ref><ref name="fotoartearchitettura">{{cite web|url=https://www.fotoartearchitettura.it/storia-arte/pittura-vascolare-greca.html|title=La pittura vascolare greca|access-date=21 July 2023|language=it}}</ref> In Magna Graecia there were examples of excellence in sculpture, coroplastics and bronzes.<ref name="bronzi50"/> As for vase painting, many famous Athenian potters moved to Magna Graecia creating works influenced by the culture of the place, making their paintings peculiar and different from those of the motherland,<ref name="fotoartearchitettura"/> giving rise to the [[South Italian ancient Greek pottery]]. Also noteworthy are the mosaics, the goldsmith's art and wall painting.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.arte.it/notizie/napoli/riapre-la-collezione-magna-grecia-al-mann-un-passeggiata-nella-storia-tra-gli-antichi-tesori-del-sud-16027|title=Riapre la collezione Magna Grecia: al MANN un passeggiata nella storia degli antichi tesori del sud|access-date=21 July 2023|language=it}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.treccani.it/enciclopedia/manifestazioni-della-cultura-dell-occidente-greco-la-pittura-parietale_(Il-Mondo-dell'Archeologia)|title=Manifestazioni della cultura dell'Occidente greco. La pittura parietale|access-date=21 July 2023|language=it}}</ref>

Noteworthy sculptures from Magna Graecia are the [[Apollo of Gaza]], the [[Apollo of Piombino]], the [[Dancing Satyr of Mazara del Vallo]], the [[Head of a Philosopher]] and the ''[[Riace bronzes]]'', while notable vases from Magna Graecia are the [[Darius Vase]] and the [[Nestor's Cup (Pithekoussai)|Nestor's Cup]]. Noteworthy temples of Magna Graecia are the [[Temple of Concordia, Agrigento]], the [[Temple of Hera Lacinia]], the [[Temple of Heracles, Agrigento]], [[The Temple of Juno in Agrigento]], the [[Temple of Olympian Zeus, Agrigento]], the [[Temple of Apollo (Syracuse)]], the [[Temple of Athena (Syracuse)]], the [[Temple of Athena (Paestum)]], the [[Temple C (Selinus)]], the [[Temple E (Selinus)]], the [[Temple F (Selinus)]], the [[Temple of Juno Lacinia (Crotone)]], the [[Second Temple of Hera (Paestum)]], the [[Heraion at Foce del Sele]], the [[Temple of Poseidon (Taranto)]], the [[Tavole Palatine]] and the [[Temple of Victory (Himera)]].

===Theatre===
{{see also|Theatre of Italy}}
[[File:Taormina BW 2012-10-05 16-23-06.JPG|thumb|[[Ancient theatre of Taormina|Greek Theater of Taormina]], [[Sicily]]]]

The [[Sicily|Sicilian]] Greek colonists in Magna Graecia, but also from [[Campania]] and [[Apulia]], also brought theatrical art from their motherland.<ref name="melogranoarte">{{cite web|url=https://www.melogranoarte.it/storia-del-teatro-nelle-citta-ditalia/|title=Storia del Teatro nelle città d'Italia|access-date=27 July 2022|language=it}}</ref> The [[Greek Theatre of Syracuse]], the {{ill|Greek Theatre of Segesta|it|Teatro di Segesta}}, the {{ill|Greek Theatre of Tindari|it|Teatro greco di Tindari}}, the {{ill|Greek Theatre of Hippana|it|Teatro di Hippana}}, the {{ill|Greek Theatre of Akrai|it|Teatro di Akrai}}, the {{ill|Greek Theatre of Monte Jato|it|Teatro di Monte Jato}}, the {{ill|Greek Theatre of Morgantina|it|Teatro di Morgantina}} and the most famous [[Ancient theatre of Taormina|Greek Theater of Taormina]], amply demonstrate this.

Only fragments of original dramaturgical works are left, but the tragedies of the three great giants [[Aeschylus]], [[Sophocles]] and [[Euripides]] and the comedies of [[Aristophanes]] are known.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.studocu.com/it/document/liceo-italia/greco/il-teatro-eschilo-sofocle/16686977|title=Il teatro|access-date=27 July 2022|language=it}}</ref>

Some famous playwrights in the Greek language came directly from Magna Graecia. Others, such as Aeschylus and [[Epicharmus of Kos|Epicharmus]], worked for a long time in Sicily. Epicharmus can be considered Syracusan in all respects, having worked all his life with the [[List of tyrants of Syracuse|tyrants of Syracuse]]. His comedy preceded that of the more famous Aristophanes by staging the gods for the first time in comedy. While Aeschylus, after a long stay in the Sicilian colonies, died in Sicily in the colony of [[Gela]] in 456 BC. Epicarmus and [[Phormis]], both of 6th century BC, are the basis, for [[Aristotle]], of the invention of the Greek comedy, as he says in his book on ''[[Poetics (Aristotle)|Poetics]]'':<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.studocu.com/it/document/universita-degli-studi-di-torino/storia-della-critica-letteraria/aristotele-origini-della-commedia/296709|title=Aristotele – Origini della commedia|access-date=28 July 2022|language=it}}</ref>

{{blockquote|As for the composition of the stories (Epicharmus and Phormis) it came in the beginning from Sicily|Aristotle, ''Poetics''}}

Other native dramatic authors of Magna Graecia, in addition to the Syracusan Phormis mentioned, are [[Achaeus of Syracuse]], [[Apollodorus of Gela]], [[Philemon (poet)|Philemon of Syracuse]] and his son Philemon the younger. From Calabria, precisely from the colony of [[Thurii]], came the playwright [[Alexis (poet)|Alexis]]. While [[Rhinthon]], although Sicilian from Syracuse, worked almost exclusively for the colony of [[Taranto]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.treccani.it/enciclopedia/rintone|title=Rintóne|access-date=28 July 2022|language=it}}</ref>

==Sport==
[[File:Capo_Colonna2_retouched.png|thumb|right|The ruins of the [[Temple of Juno Lacinia (Crotone)|Temple of Juno Lacinia]] located on [[Capo Colonna]], a building of the ancient Greek city of Kroton (now [[Crotone]])]]

The colonies sent athletes of all disciplines to the [[Ancient Olympic Games]] which were periodically held at [[Olympia, Greece|Olympia]] and [[Delphi]] in Greece.<ref name="olimpiadi">{{cite web|url=https://www.treccani.it/enciclopedia/olimpiadi-antiche_%28Enciclopedia-dello-Sport%29/|title=Olimpiadi antiche|access-date=11 July 2023|language=it}}</ref>

The colonists of Magna Graecia were very fond of the Hellenic games where they could prove to the Greeks that they belonged to the same place of origin, their physical strength and skills in the games were also played by their ancestors dozens of generations earlier. And for this reason the greatest sovereigns demanded that teams be trained to be sent to Greece.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.storicang.it/a/gli-atleti-greci-i-campioni-delle-gare-panelleniche_15728|title=Gli atleti greci, i campioni delle gare panelleniche|date=9 August 2022 |access-date=11 July 2023|language=it}}</ref>

Sport was therefore a channel of communication with the Hellenic peninsula, a means by which the colonies of Magna Graecia showed themselves to the rest of the Hellenic world. The settlers of Magna Graecia had great success in sporting competitions in their homeland. [[Crotone]]'s athletes won 18 titles in 25 Olympics.<ref name="olimpiadi"/>

==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"/>

==Modern and contemporary Italy==
[[File:GrikoSpeakingCommunitiesTodayV4.png|thumb|Map showing the areas where the [[Griko language]] is still spoken ([[Bovesia]] and [[Grecìa Salentina]]); the last living trace of the Greek elements that once formed Magna Graecia.<ref name="itinerarieluoghi"/>]]

Greek nobles started taking refuge in Italy following the [[Fall of Constantinople]] in 1453.<ref name="ChatzēdakēCorrer1993">{{cite book|author1=Nanō Chatzēdakē|author2=Museo Correr|title=From Candia to Venice: Greek icons in Italy, 15th–16th centuries : Museo Correr, Venice, 17 September-30 October, 1993|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=nIROAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA18|year=1993|publisher=Foundation for Hellenic Culture|pages=18}}</ref> Greeks immigrated once again to the region in the 16th and 17th centuries in reaction to the conquest of the [[Peloponnese]] by the [[Ottoman Empire]]. Especially after the end of the [[Siege of Coron (1533–1534)|Siege of Coron]] (1534), large numbers of Greeks took refuge in the areas of Calabria, Salento and Sicily. Greeks from [[Koroni|Coroni]], the so-called Coronians, were nobles, who brought with them substantial movable property.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Viscardi |first=Giuseppe Maria |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=kHx2DcmptJYC&pg=PA361 |title=Tra Europa e "Indie di quaggiù". Chiesa, religiosità e cultura popolare nel Mezzogiorno (secoli XV-XIX) |publisher=Ed. di Storia e Letteratura |year=2005 |isbn=978-88-6372-349-6 |location=Rome |pages=361 |language=it}}</ref>

Other Greeks who moved to Italy came from the [[Mani Peninsula]] of the Peloponnese. The [[Maniots]] (their name originating from the Greek word ''mania'')<ref>{{cite book|title=Greece|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=qeNXAAAAYAAJ|year=2008|publisher=Lonely Planet|pages=204}}</ref> were known for their proud military traditions and for their bloody [[feud|vendettas]], many of which continue today.<ref>{{cite book|title=Time|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=hVfgAAAAMAAJ|year=1960|publisher=Time Incorporated|pages=4}}</ref> Another group of Maniot Greeks moved to [[Corsica]] in the 17th century under the protection of the [[Republic of Genoa]].<ref>{{cite book|title=Greece|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=-uVXAAAAYAAJ|year=1991|publisher=Michelin Tyre|isbn=978-2-06-701520-3|pages=142}}</ref>

Although many of the Greek inhabitants of Magna Graecia were entirely [[Linguistic Latinisation|Latinized]] during the [[Middle Ages]],<ref name="unina"/> pockets of Greek culture and language remained and have survived to the present day. One example is the [[Griko people]] in [[Calabria]] ([[Bovesia]]) and [[Salento]] ([[Grecìa Salentina]]), some of whom still maintain their Greek language ([[Griko language]]) and customs.<ref name="affariregionali"/> The Griko language is the last living trace of the Greek elements that once formed Magna Graecia.<ref name="itinerarieluoghi"/> Their working practices have been passed down through generations through storytelling and allowing the observation of work.<ref name="Agrifoglio2015">{{cite book|author=Rocco Agrifoglio|title=Knowledge Preservation Through Community of Practice: Theoretical Issues and Empirical Evidence|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=E1t4CgAAQBAJ&pg=PA49|date=29 August 2015|publisher=Springer|isbn=978-3-319-22234-9|pages=49}}</ref> The [[Italian parliament]] recognizes the Griko people as an ethnolinguistic minority under the official name of ''Minoranze linguistiche Grike dell'Etnia Griko-Calabrese e Salentina''.<ref name="MolaPennarola2014">{{cite book|author1=Lapo Mola|author2=Ferdinando Pennarola|author3=Stefano Za|title=From Information to Smart Society: Environment, Politics and Economics|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=afzYBAAAQBAJ&pg=PA108|date=16 October 2014|publisher=Springer|isbn=978-3-319-09450-2|pages=108}}</ref>

[[Messina]] in Sicily is home to a small [[Greek language|Greek-speaking]] minority, which arrived from the [[Peloponnese]] between 1533 and 1534 when fleeing the expansion of the [[Ottoman Empire]]. They were officially recognised in 2012.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.provincia.messina.it/repository/albo-pretorio/allegati/2012/Docs3047/44-C-2012.pdf|title=Delimiting the territory of the Greek linguistic minority of Messina|access-date=2016-05-12|archive-date=2013-09-03|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130903123845/http://www.provincia.messina.it/repository/albo-pretorio/allegati/2012/Docs3047/44-C-2012.pdf|url-status=dead}}</ref>

==UNESCO World Heritage Sites related to Magna Graecia==
{{see also|List of World Heritage Sites in Italy}}

===Valle dei Templi===
{{main|Valle dei Templi}}
[[File:Agrigento-Tempio della Concordia01.JPG|thumb|The [[Temple of Concordia, Agrigento|Temple of Concordia]], [[Valle dei Templi]], [[Agrigento]], [[Sicily]]]]
[[file:Agrigento Telamon.jpg|thumb|Remains of one [[atlas (architecture)|atlas]] in the ''[[Temple of Olympian Zeus, Agrigento|Olympeion]]'' field, [[Valle dei Templi]], [[Agrigento]], [[Sicily]]]]

The [[Valle dei Templi]], or Valley of the Temples, is an [[archaeological site]] in [[Agrigento]] (ancient Greek ''Akragas''), [[Sicily]]. It is one of the most outstanding examples of ancient Greek art and architecture of Magna Graecia.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.visititaly.it/info/992543-valle-dei-templi-agrigento.aspx|title=Valle dei Templi|access-date=14 July 2023|language=it}}</ref> The term "valley" is a misnomer, the site is located on a ridge outside the town of Agrigento.

Since 1997, the entire area has been included in the [[List of World Heritage Sites in Italy|UNESCO World Heritage List]]. The archaeological and landscape park of the Valle dei Templi, with its 1,300 hectares, is the largest archaeological park in Europe and the Mediterranean basin.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.parcodeitempli.net/|title=Parco Valle dei Templi|access-date=17 May 2012|language=it}}</ref>

The Valley includes remains of seven temples, all in [[Doric style]]. The ascription of the names, apart from that of the ''[[Temple of Olympian Zeus, Agrigento|Olympeion]]'', is a mere tradition established in Renaissance times. The temples are:

*[[Temple of Concordia, Agrigento|Temple of Concordia]], whose name comes from a Latin inscription found nearby, and which was built in the 5th century BC. Turned into a church in the 6th century AD, it is now one of the best preserved in the Valley.
*[[Temple of Juno, Agrigento|Temple of Juno]], also built in the 5th century BC. It was burnt in 406 BC by the [[Carthaginians]].
*[[Temple of Heracles, Agrigento|Temple of Heracles]], who was one of the most venerated deities in the ancient ''Akragas''. It is the most ancient in the Valley: destroyed by an earthquake, it consists today of only eight columns.
*[[Temple of Olympian Zeus, Agrigento|Temple of Olympian Zeus]], built in 480 BC to celebrate the city-state's victory over Carthage. It is characterized by the use of large-scale [[Atlas (architecture)|atlases]].
*Temple of [[Castor and Pollux]]. Despite its remains including only four columns, it is now the symbol of modern Agrigento.
*Temple of [[Hephaestus]] ([[Vulcan (mythology)|Vulcan]]), also dating from the 5th century BC. It is thought to have been one of the most imposing constructions in the valley; it is now however one of the most eroded.
*Temple of [[Asclepius]], located far from the ancient town's walls; it was the goal of pilgrims seeking cures for illness.

The Valley is also home to the so-called Tomb of [[Theron of Akragas|Theron]], a large [[tuff]] monument of pyramidal shape; scholars suppose it was built to commemorate the Romans killed in the [[Second Punic War]].

===Poseidonia and Elea===
{{main|Parco Nazionale del Cilento, Vallo di Diano e Alburni}}
[[File:Velia Excavation and Tower.jpg|thumb|Remains of the ancient Greek city of [[Velia|Elea]]]]

[[Parco Nazionale del Cilento, Vallo di Diano e Alburni|Cilento, Vallo di Diano and Alburni National Park]] ([[Italian language|Italian]] ''Parco Nazionale del Cilento, Vallo di Diano e Alburni'') is an [[List of National Parks of Italy|Italian national park]] in the [[Province of Salerno]], in [[Campania]] in southern Italy. It includes much of the [[Cilento]], the [[Vallo di Diano]] and the [[Monti Alburni]]. It was founded in 1991, and was formerly known as the Parco Nazionale del Cilento e Vallo di Diano. In 1998 it became a [[World Heritage Site]] of [[UNESCO]],<ref>[https://whc.unesco.org/en/list/842 Info on whc.unesco.org]</ref> along with the ancient Greek towns of [[Paestum|Poseidonia]], [[Velia|Elea]] and the [[Padula]]{{efn|Municipality not included in the park but part of Vallo di Diano region.}} [[Certosa di Padula|Charterhouse]].

Much of the most celebrated features of the [[Paestum|Poseidonia]] site today are the three large temples in the Archaic version of the Greek [[Doric order]], dating from about 550 to 450 BC. All are typical of the period,{{efn|Indeed, they very often are used to illustrate the style in architectural books.}} with massive colonnades having a very pronounced [[entasis]] (widening as they go down), and very wide capitals resembling upturned mushrooms. Above the columns, only the [[Temple of Hera (also called of Neptune), Paestum|second Temple of Hera]] retains most of its [[entablature]], the other two having only the [[architrave]] in place. These were dedicated to [[Hera]] and [[Athena]] ([[Juno (mythology)|Juno]] and [[Minerva]] to the Romans), although previously they often have been identified otherwise, following eighteenth-century arguments. The two temples of Hera are right next to each other, while the Temple of Athena is on the other side of the town centre. There were other temples, both Greek and Roman, which are far less well preserved.

Remains of [[Velia|Elea]] walls, with traces of one gate and several towers, of a total length of over three miles, still exist, and belong to three different periods, in all of which the crystalline limestone of the locality is used. Bricks were also employed in later times; their form is peculiar to this place, each having two rectangular channels on one side, and being about 1.5 inches square, with a thickness of nearly 4 inches They all bear Greek brick-stamps. There are some remains of cisterns on the site, and, various other traces of buildings.<ref name="EB1911">{{EB1911|inline=y|wstitle=Velia|volume=27|page=978|first=Thomas|last=Ashby|author-link=Thomas Ashby (archaeologist)}}</ref>

===Syracuse===
{{main|Syracuse, Sicily}}
[[File:SIRACUSA VISTA DALLAEREO CON LETNA SULLO SFONDO.FOTO Di Angelo.jpg|thumb|[[Ortygia]] island, where [[Syracuse, Sicily|Syracuse]] was founded in [[Ancient Greece|ancient Greek]] times]]

[[Syracuse, Sicily|Syracuse]] was founded in 733&nbsp;BC by Greek settlers from [[Ancient Corinth|Corinth]] and [[Tenea]], led by the ''[[oecist]]'' (colonizer) [[Archias of Corinth|Archias]]. There are many attested variants of the name of the city including {{lang|grc|Συράκουσαι}} ''Syrakousai'', {{lang|grc|Συράκοσαι}} ''Syrakosai'' and {{lang|grc|Συρακώ}} ''Syrakō''. In the modern day, the city is listed by [[UNESCO]] as a [[World Heritage Site]] along with the [[Necropolis of Pantalica]].

The buildings of Syracuse from the Greek period are:
* The city walls
* The [[Temple of Apollo (Syracuse)|Temple of Apollo]], at Piazza Emanuele Pancali, adapted to a church in Byzantine times and to a mosque under Arab rule.
* The [[Fountain of Arethusa]], on Ortygia island. According to a legend, the [[nymph]] [[Arethusa (mythology)|Arethusa]], hunted by [[Alpheus (mythology)|Alpheus]], was turned into a spring by [[Artemis]] and appeared here.<ref>{{cite book|last=Cord|first=David|title=The Spring of Arethusa |date=2023|pages=7–9}}</ref>
* The [[Greek Theatre of Syracuse]], whose [[cavea]] is one of the largest ever built by the ancient Greeks: it has 67 rows, divided into nine sections with eight aisles. Only traces of the scene and the orchestra remain. The edifice (still used today) was modified by the Romans, who adapted it to their different style of spectacles, including circus games. Near the theatre are the ''latomìe'', stone quarries, also used as prisons in ancient times. The most famous ''latomìa'' is the ''[[Ear of Dionysius|Orecchio di Dionisio]]'' ("Ear of Dionysius").
* The Tomb of Archimede, in the Grotticelli Necropolis. Decorated with two Doric columns.
* The Temple of Olympian [[Zeus]], about {{convert|3|km|0|abbr=off}} outside the city, built around the 6th century BC.

==Archaeological sites related to Magna Graecia==
{{main|Category:Ancient Greek archaeological sites in Italy|label1=Ancient Greek archaeological sites in Italy}}
[[File:Metapontum 2013.JPG|thumb|right|[[Tavole Palatine]], the remains of a [[hexastyle]] [[peripteros|peripteral]] [[Greek temple]] of the 6th century BC, dedicated to the goddess [[Hera]] and the god [[Apollo]].<ref>{{cite book|last=Canino|first=Antonio|title=Basilicata, Calabria|publisher=Touring Editore|year=1980|isbn=9788836500215|page=344|language=it}}</ref>]]
[[File:General view of the excavations - Heraclea Minoa - Italy 2015.JPG|thumb|Remains of the ancient Greek city of [[Heraclea Minoa]]]]
[[File:Kaulon 1.JPG|thumb|Remains of the ancient Greek city of [[Caulonia (ancient city)|Caulonia]]]]
[[File:Walls_at_Naxos_(71735239).jpg|thumb|Remains of the ancient Greek city of [[Naxos (Sicily)|Naxos]]]]
[[File:Laos nomos 161407.jpg|thumb|[[Stater]] of [[Laüs]] with man-headed bull, {{circa|490}}–470&nbsp;BC]]

=== Apulia ===
* [[Rudiae]]
* [[Siponto]]

=== Basilicata===
* [[Heraclea Lucania]]
* [[Metapontum]]
* [[Tavole Palatine]]

===Calabria===
* [[Caulonia (ancient city)|Caulonia]]
* [[Krimisa]]
* [[Laüs]]
* [[Scylletium|Skylletion]]
* [[Sybaris]]
* [[Terina (ancient city)|Terina]]
* [[Thurii]]
* [[Timpone della Motta]]

===Campania===
* [[Cumae]]
* [[Velia|Elea]]
* [[Heraion at Foce del Sele]]
* [[Paestum|Poseidonia]]

===Sicily===
* [[Abacaenum]]
* [[Adranon]]
* [[Aetna (city)|Aetna]]
* [[Akrai]]
* [[Akrillai]]
* [[Apollonia (Sicily)|Apollonia]]
* [[Casmenae]]
* [[Eryx (Sicily)|Eryx]]
* [[Halaesa]]
* [[Helorus]]
* [[Heraclea Minoa]]
* [[Herbessos]]
* [[Himera]]
* [[Hybla Gereatis]]
* [[Maktorion]]
* [[Megara Hyblaea]]
* [[Monte Adranone]]
* [[Morgantina]]
* [[Motya]]
* [[Naxos (Sicily)|Naxos]]
* [[Segesta]]
* [[Selinunte]]
* [[Tindari]]
* [[Valle dei Templi]]

==See also==
{{portal|Ancient Greece|Italy}}
{{Columns-list|colwidth=30em|
* [[Ancient Greek dialects]]
* [[Greek coinage of Italy and Sicily]]
* [[Greek colonisation]]
* [[Greek diaspora]]
* [[Greeks in Italy]]
* [[Italiotes]]
* [[Graia]]
* [[Graïke]]
* [[Graecus]]
* [[Griko people]]
* [[Griko language]]
* [[Hellenic civilization]]
* [[Names of the Greeks]]
}}

==Notes==
{{notelist}}

==References==
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{{Reflist}}

==Sources==
* 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.
* {{cite book|last=Antonaccio|first=Carla M.|chapter=Colonization: Greece on the Move 900–480
|year=2007
|title=The Cambridge Companion to Archaic Greece
|editor-last=Shapiro|editor-first=H.A.
|publisher=Cambridge University Press|location=Cambridge
}}
*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.
*[[John Boardman (art historian)|John Boardman]], [[N. G. L. Hammond]] (editors), ''The'' ''Cambridge Ancient History, vol. III, part 3, The Expansion of the Greek World, Eighth to Sixth Centuries B.C.'', Cambridge University Press, 1982.
* {{cite book|last1=Boardman|first1=John|last2=Hammond|first2=N.G.L.|chapter=Preface
|year=1982
|title=The Cambridge Ancient History
|editor1-last=Boardman|editor1-first=John|editor2-last=Hammond|editor2-first=N.G.L
|volume=III.iii|edition=2|location=Cambridge|publisher=Cambridge University Press
}}
*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 exhibition held in the Palazzo Grassi, Venice, March–Dec., 1996,'' Milan, Bompiani, 1976.
*[[William Smith (lexicographer)|William Smith]], [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.04.0064%3Aalphabetic+letter%3DM%3Aentry+group%3D2%3Aentry%3Dmagna-graecia-geo "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==
{{Commons category|Magna Graecia}}
{{Library resources box |by=no |onlinebooks=yes |others=yes |about=yes |label=Magna Graecia
 |viaf= |lcheading= |wikititle= }}
* {{cite EB9 |wstitle = Magna Græcia |volume= XI | pages=30–31 |short=1 }}
* {{Cite EB1911 |wstitle= Magna Graecia |volume= 17 |last= Ashby |first= Thomas |author-link=Thomas Ashby (archaeologist) |page=319 |short=1}}
* ''[http://tjbuggey.ancients.info/maggrecia.html Map].'' Ancient Coins.
* David Willey. ''[http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/4116006.stm Italy rediscovers Greek heritage].'' BBC News. 21 June 2005, 17:19 GMT 18:19 UK.
* ''[http://kallithalassa.info/ Gaze On The Sea].'' Salentine Peninsula, Greece and Greater Greece. (in Italian, Greek and English)
* ''[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xVQJ41wgYzE Oriamu pisulina].'' Traditional Griko song performed by [[Ghetonia]].
* ''[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ToZf8hWn8GE Kalinifta].'' Traditional Griko song performed by amateur local group.
* ''[http://www.archaeological.org/events/19304 Second Interdisciplinary Symposium on the Hellenic Heritage of Southern Italy].'' Archaeological Institute of America (AIA). 11 June 2015. <small>(Dates: Monday, 30 May 2016 to Thursday, 2 June 2016.)</small>
* Sergio Tofanelli et al. ''[http://www.nature.com/ejhg/journal/vaop/ncurrent/full/ejhg2015124a.html The Greeks in the West: genetic signatures of the Hellenic colonisation in southern Italy and Sicily].'' European Journal of Human Genetics, (15 July 2015).

{{Italy topics}}
{{Ancient Greece topics}}{{Campania}}{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Magna Graecia| ]]