Magna Graecia

A group of ancient Greek cities along the coast of southern Italy; a general term for the Greek cities of southern Italy and Sicily. An important center of the Greek civilization, it was the site of extensive trade and commerce and the seat of the Pythagorean and Eleatic systems of philosophy. Euboeans founded the first colonies, Pithecussae and Cumae, about 750 BC, and subsequently Spartans settled at Tarentum; Achaeans at Metapontum, Sybaris, and Croton; Locrians at Locri Epizephyrii; and Chalcidians at Rhegium (Reggio di Calabria). After the 5th century, attacks by neighboring Italic peoples, strife among cities, and malaria caused most of the cities to decline in importance.

General term applied to the Greek cities of southern Italy and Sicily. Two of the earliest are probably Pithekoussai (modem Ischia) and neighbouring Cumae, both of whose foundations are normally attributed to the 8th century BC. This very prosperous ‘New World’, often more prosperous than their founder cities, consisted almost entirely of commercial ports. Their Greek culture, which is well documented in Greek and Roman sources, seems to have remained localized to a considerable extent in the cities themselves. The whole question of their relationship with the indigenous peoples of the peninsula, whom they must have permanently displaced in many instances, lacks good evidence and is under-researched.