TOURING THE MODERN MAGNA GRECIA ETWINNING 2018-2019 collaborative work

Touring The Modern Magna Grecia

TOURING THE MODERN MAGNA GRECIA

ETWINNING 2018-2019

eTwinning 2018-2019

Touring The Modern Magna Grecia

This tourist guide is the product of the etwinning project “Touring the Modern Magna Grecia ” year 2018-2019 .

What you see is the result of the combined and hard work of the students and the teachers participating in this project.

MARIA LORENZA CAMPANELLA

ATHINA GARBOLA

Liceo scientifico statale

B' Arsakeio Tositseio Junior

"G. Berto" Vibo Valentia, ITALY

High School in Ekali , GREECE

JOHANNA CHARDALOUPA

ANGELA CAPEZUTTO

Experimental High School of University of Patras, GREECE

ISISS G.B.Novelli Marcianise (Caserta), ITALY

ZOE GALLOU 6th Junior High School

of Larisa (6o Gymnasio Larisas), GREECE

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GREEK COLONISATION TIMETABLE 800 BCE - 500 BCE

Greek colonization of the Mediterranean and Black Sea. c. 740 BCE - c. 433 BCE Greek poleis or city-states establish colonies in Magna Graecia. c. 740 BCE Chalcis founds the colony of Cumae in Magna Graecia

734 BCE Chalcis founds the colony of Naxos on Sicily 733 BCE Corinth founds the colony of Syracuse in Sicily. c. 720 BCE Sybaris in Magna Graecia founded by Archaean settlers. c. 720 BCE Chalcis founds the colony of Rhegium in Sicily.

720 BCE Metapontion in Magna Graecia is found by Achaeans. c. 710 BCE

Croton in Magna Graecia founded by Archaean settlers.

706 BCE Sparta founds the colony of Taras in Magna Graecia.

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GREEK COLONISATION TIMETABLE

c. 689 BCE Rhodes and Cretans found Gela in Sicily. c. 630 BCE Selinus is founded by colonists from Megara Hyblaea, Sicily. c. 630 BCE

Messana founds the colony of Himera on Sicily. c. 600 BCE Paestum is founded by colonists from Sybaris.

580 BCE - 376 BCE Carthage and Greece fight for dominance in Sicily.

c. 580 BCE Akragas in Sicily is founded by colonists from Gela, Crete and Rhodes. c. 540 BCE Phocaea founds Elea in Magna Graecia. c. 443 BCE Thurii in Magna Graecia founded by Athenian settlers.

433 BCE Taras founds Heraclea in Magna Graecia.

415 BCE Athens launches an expedition against Sicily, the pretext being protection of Segesta.

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Greeks began to settle in Southern Italy in the 8th and 7th centuries BC, exporting their culture, which would later influence the Roman world. They colonized the coastal areas of Calabria, Apulia, Basilicata, Campania and Sicily.

The Romans called the area “Magna Grecia� - Great Greece.

The reasons for colonization : The reasons for colonisation had to do with the demographic explosion of this period, the development of the emporium, the need for a secure supply of raw materials, but also with the emerging politics of the period which drove sections of the population into exile.

With this colonization, 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, later interacting with the native Italic civilisations.

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

CAMPANIA………………………………………………………………………………………….…………….……………….……8 Colony of Pithacusae………………………………………………………………………...…………………..…….……….9 Colony of Cumae………………………………………………………………………………………………………….………..11 Colony of Neapolis ……………………………………………………………………………………………………………...13 Colony of Velia …………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….15 Colony of Paestum……………………………………………………………………………………………………….……….17 APULIA…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..19

Colony of Taras……………………………………………………………………………………………………..……….…….20 CALABRIA………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….…..23 Colony of Locri …………………………………………………………………………………………………………………....24 Colony of Hipponion…………………………………………………………………………………………………….…….….27 Colony of Reggio……………………………...……………………………………………………………………….……..….30

Colony of Croton ……………………..……………………………………………………………………………………....…33 Colony of Sybaris ………………………………………………………………………………………………………….……....38 Colony of Thurii …………………………………………………………………………………………………………………...39 BASILICATA ……………………..…………………………………………………………………………………………..……...40 Colony of Heraclea ………………………………………………………………………………………………………...41 Colony of Metapontion ……………………………………………………………………………………………………....42 SICILY ……………………..………………………………………………………………………………………………..……….…43 Colony of Syracuses ……………………..…………………………………………………………………...…….….………44 Colony of Selinus ……………………..……………………………………………………………..………………..………49 Colony of Segesta………………………………………………………………………………………………………………...51 Colony of Himera ………………………………………………………………………………………………………………...53

Colony of Naxus ……………………..…………………………………………………………………………………...………54 Colony of Gela ………….…………………..…………………………………………………………………………….....…55 Colony of Akragas ……………………..…………………………………………………………………………….……...56 City of Taormina ………………………………………………………………………………………………………….……..60 GRECO AND GRIKO……………………..……………………………………………………………………………………..63 GRIKO DISHES……………………..……………………………………………………………………………………………..65 GRIKO MODERN WRITERS…………………..……………………………………………………………………………..67 STUDENTS PARTICIPATING ……………………………………………………………………………………………....68

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CAMPANIA

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COLONY OF PITHACUSAE

The first Greek colony in Italy was Pithecusae (current Ischia).

It was founded by Euboean Greeks at the beginning of the eight century. Pithecusae was one of few examples of Greek emporium colony, but the colonisation of South Italy — particularly the shores of Campania — started from Pithecusae.

Around 770BC, the island that we know today as Ischia was settled by colonisers from the Greek island of Euboea. The Euboeans used the island for trade with the Etruscans on today's Italian mainland.

The first name given to the island was Pithecusae and there are several theories as to why this name was chosen. Folklore suggests that the island was named after the ancient Greek word "Pithekos", meaning "Monkey", due to a belief that the island was inhabited by the animals at the time. However, most modern theologians will attest that the name of the island in fact derives from the ancient Greek word "Pithos", which is a type of terracotta jug that the Euboeans produced and traded with the Etruscans.

Greek artefacts at Villa Arbusto

The acropolis of Monte Vico on the North-Western part of the island was the place that the Euboean's chose to make their first settlement, probably due to the natural harbour which allowed for successful trading and offered security from would-be invaders. Archeological digs around the area have recovered artefacts from the Bronze, Mycenaean and Iron ages and it is estimated that at its peak, Pithecusae was home to around 10,000 inhabitants.

Of all the artefacts found on the island, there is no doubt that the most important was "Nestor's Cup". The cup, made of clay was found during an excavation of a tomb on the island in 1954. The cup is inscribed with the Euboean alphabet and is one of the most important archeological finds that attests to poetry of the time with its reference to "The Iliad". The inscription on the cup reads - "This is Nestor's cup from which it is pleasant to drink, but the one who drinks form this cup will suddenly fall in love with Aphrodite and her beautiful crown".

Archaeologists have found a great variety of pottery imported from different regions of Greece: Corinth, Euboea, Athens, Rhodes and others yet to be identified. Importantly, Pithecusean pottery is found elsewhere in the Mediterranean, including North Africa, Spain, southern France and the middle east, as well as in many Italian regions: Apulia, Calabria, Sardinia, Etruria, and Latium. Workshops for the working of iron have also been found. Also, the Pithecuseans worked gold and silver and minted coins.

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Nestor’s cup

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The extreme variety of artifacts on the island is seen as evidence that Pithecusae was an emporium, a port of commerce and trade in advance of the wave of Greek expansion that led to the city-states of Magna Grecia and purposely set in a favorable position for trade with non-Greek peoples in more distant parts of the Mediterranean.

ISLAND OF ISCHIA The volcanic island of Ischia is located about 17 miles to the southwest of Naples, Italy, on the western edge of the Gulf of Naples.

Its volcanic soils are fertile, and the wine, called Epomeo, that is produced on Ischia is famous. Wheat, olive oil, and citrus fruits are also economically important. The clay of Ischia is believed to have been used by the ancient potteries of Cumae and Puteoli . Well known for its mild climate, picturesque scenery, and numerous thermal mineral springs, Ischia is much frequented as a health and vacation resort.

ISCHIA PREHISTORY Ischia is of volcanic origin and linked in classical mythology to Typhon, the monstrous son of Gaea and Tartarus. As the husband of Echidna, Typhon fathered many monsters, including the dog Cerberus, Hydra, Chimaera, Orthus, Sphinx, the Nemean lion and vultures. He was one of several personifications of volcanism since flame gushed from his mouth (in addition to having a hundred dragon heads under his arms and coils of vipers under his thighs etc). This giant rebelled against Zeus and came close to winning. At one point, Typhon managed to cut through the sinews of Zeus' hands and feet so that Zeus couldn't use his thunderbolts. Zeus' son Hermes helped him out on this occasion and Typhon was finally killed by Zeus and buried under what is now Mount Etna in Sicily. Another version has him buried at the foot of the island of Pithecusae (today's Ischia) erupting flames and boiling water, and causing earthquakes by his movements.

Neolithic materials are sporadic and isolated on Ischia. The most important archaeological finds come from the locality of Cilento. Together with some ceramic fragments, archaeologists have found terracotta weights for fishing nets and a few stone tools, in particular flint and obsidian knife blades and residual tool-making flakes. During the first half of 8th century B.C. and after an eruption, the village that existed from the Bronze Age until the First Iron Age on the Hill of Castiglione, between Porto d'Ischia and Casamicciola was completely abandoned.

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COLONY OF CUMAE

Cumae is the oldest and most distant Greek colony from the motherland. It is estimated that the date of its foundation is 740 BC. at the hands of settlers from Chalcis. In a short time the center expanded into neighboring territories, imposing its dominance on almost the entire Campania coast and also culturally influencing neighboring peoples.

The ancient Greek city of Cumae is the oldest colony throughout the West. It was settled after the occupation of Ischia island. Closely linked to the myth of the Sibylla Cumana, it was a rich and prestigious center in the ancient world: Greek culture spread throughout the Italian peninsula from here carrying calciter alphabet which therefore was taken in by Etruscans and Latins.

Relatively little is known about ancient Cuma, the first Greek western colony founded in the second half of the 8th century B.C., apart from what can be learned from the Greek vases removed from its necropolises in the 19th century.

In the 20th century excavations centered mainly on the Acropolis, where it is possible to visit two large Greek temples, which were converted into churches in the Middle Ages.

The Acropolis is also home to the so-called ‘Cave of the Sibyl’, the most famous monument in Cuma.

According to Virgil, it was here that the Sibyl had given the prophecy to Aeneas, the Trojan hero, son of the prince Anchises and the goddess Aphroditis, that in Roman mythology is considered the ancestor of Romulus and Remus.

The Sibylline Books, containing the prophecies that the highest magistrates of the Roman state would consult in the most difficult days of the Republic, are said to have come from Cuma, and the priestesses of the cult of Demeter/Ceres, who followed ancient rituals, were also said to have come from here.

THE CAVE OF THE SIBYL The Cave of the Sibyl is a long tunnel dug into the rock, which runs straight until it reaches a space that acts as a vestibule to a room with three niches.

The cave has many corridors of what once was a sophisticated circuitry of stairs and passageways. Now they are no longer connected, but instead end in dirt or water.

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Going back down the main tunnel, at the very end a vast staircase leads to another cavern. This may have been a Roman restaurant, bathhouse. A body of water has a wooden plank where visitors cross to see the caverns in which the Sibyl bathed.

THE SIBYL OF CUMAE Living persons who wish to go to the underworld need a golden bough obtained from the Cumaean Sibyl.

The Cumaen Cave

The Cumaean Sibyl wrote her prophecies on leaves, which she then placed at the mouth of her cave. If no one came to collect them, they were scattered by winds and never read. Written in complex, often enigmatic verses, these "Sibylline Leaves" were sometimes bound into books.

Both the Greek and the Romans have their own ways of telling the future. The Greeks have oracles and the Romans have sibyls. The most famous oracle was the Oracle of Delphi, and the most famous sibyl was the Sibyl of Cumae both of which demonstrate similarities and differences.

The main similarity between the Sibyl of Cumae and the Oracle of Delphi is the fact that women were chosen by gods to be blessed with prophetic abilities.

The Sibyl of Cumae

However, the Oracle of Delphi and the Sibyl of Cumae share a couple of differences. The former spoke prophecies out loud, whereas the latter wrote hers in books. Most people could not interpret the prophecies spoken by the oracle, which were often incorrect, but they could interpret those in riddles, which were more accurate.

The Cumaean Sibyl was located in a Greek colony near Naples, Italy. The word sibyl comes from the ancient Greek word sibylla, meaning prophetess.

There were many sibyls in different locations throughout the ancient world, however, the cave of Sybil in Naples was the most famous among the Romans.

The oracle of Delphi

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COLONY OF NEAPOLIS

The Greek settlement of Partenope was just part of the broader colonization of Southern Italy by the Greeks during the 8th and 7th centuries BCE. Driven from their own lands by overcrowding and famine, the harshness of their own terrain, and the desire to create new trade routes, the Greeks set out in search of better shores. Heading east into the Ionian Sea and across the Straits of Messina into the Thyrrenian Sea, they founded colonies all over the area that roughly corresponds to the boot of Italy.

From as far north as Cumae to as far south as Sicily and the Aeolian Islands, and around the boot to Bari, these colonies became known as Magna Graecia – the Latin for Greater Greece.

With its mild climate, natural beauty, excellent sea ports, and abundance of fertile volcanic soil in the Campanian fields, the Greeks found the area around the Bay of Naples particularly suited to their needs. The perfect location to establish military and commercial trade ports like the settlement of Partenope.

At the same time however, these blessings would also be the region’s curse and would put Naples directly at the center of competing interests for nearly 3000 years. The first battles for control of Partenope would foretell the future, one of colonizers and conquerors who would vie for control of Naples and the fertile Campanian fields well into the 19th century CE. The early battles pitted the Greeks from Cumae against the Etruscans. An indigenous civilization, the Etruscans had major strongholds in the Po Valley and Tuscany, Latium – the area around Rome, and in the “hinterlands” of Campania where their Campanian capital was at Capua. Both seeking to expand their territories around the Bay of Naples, the Etruscans would defeat the Cumaens in a battle for the terriroty in 525 BCE. But with the aid of the Syracusians, the Cumeans defeated the Etruscans in 474 BCE and regained control of the region. Free to continue their expansion, the Cumeans quickly established a new city just east of Partenope in 470 BCE. They called it Neapolis from the Greek “Nea” for new and “polis” for “citystate” or the New City. Partenope thus became the “old city” or Paleopolis.

COINAGE didrachm of Neapolis,450 BC

The coinage of Greek Naples is examined from the beginning of minting, perhaps in the 460s BCE, to the early third century. Particular attention is given to the iconography that appears on Neapolitan coins and its relationships to local history, cults, and identity. Not only was the mint of Neapolis one of the most important in all Italy between the fifth and third centuries BCE; it also gave birth, sometime late in the fourth century BCE, to the coinage of Rome.

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Thanks to an influx of Greeks from Athens, Pithecusae and Chalcis, Neapolis grew quickly and by 450 BCE it had well surpassed Partenope, which was eventually abandoned. A major maritime center between the eastern and western Mediterranean, Neapolis became one of the richest in the Mediterranean and an important center of the Hellenistic culture that was spreading throughout Magna Graecia. Modernizing the entire region, the Greeks introduced new technologies, literacy, art, architecture, philosophy, and urban planning principles that were much more advanced than those of the Etruscans and Italic peoples.

Their legacy included two schools of philosophy in Magna Graecia, the Heliatic – medicine and the Pythagorean – mathematics. They introduced their alphabet to the Etruscans and Italic peoples. They imported grapes and olives. And, they built some of the most monumental structures in history. Though not as plentiful as the remains from the Roman period that would follow, traces of these can be found all over the Campania region today.

In Naples, the most important example of Magna Graecia by far is the urban layout of the city, which still exists today. Owed to the Greek Hippodamus of Miletos, the father of urban planning, the city was laid out in a grid pattern, with east-west oriented streets intersected at right angles by north-south oriented streets .

One of the best preserved examples of a Hippodamus plan in the Mediterranean, it is the foundation upon which all other Neapolitan civilizations have developed. But unlike in Rome where the remains of its ancient civilizations are cordoned off, in Naples they have been incorporated into the fabric of the city, something that makes Naples highly unique. And it is due in part to this stratification and in part to the Hippodamus Plan, that in 1995 the Historic Center of Naples became a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

HIPPODAMUS OF MILETUS Hippodamus of Miletus (498 – 408 BC) was an ancient Greek architect, urban planner, physician, mathematician, meteorologist and philosopher, who is considered to be "the father of European urban planning", the namesake of the "Hippodamian Plan" (grid plan) of city layout.

Hippodamus was born in Miletus and lived during the 5th century BC, on the spring of the Ancient Greece classical epoch.

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COLONY OF ELEA

Elea or Velia was the Roman name of an ancient city of Magna Graecia on the coast of the Tyrrhenian Sea. It was founded by Greeks from Phocaea as Hyele around 538–535 BC. The name later changed to Ele and then Elea before it became known by its current Latin and Italian name during the Roman era. Its ruins are located in the Cilento region near the modern village Velia, which was named after the ancient city. The village is a frazione of the comune Ascea in the Province of Salerno, Campania, Italy.

Velia was an ancient city of the so-called Magna Graecia (the part of Southern with Greek colonies such Syracuse), on the coast of the Tyrrhenian Sea. It was founded by Greeks from Phocaea around 538–535 BC. The modern village of Velia, named after the ancient city, is part of the town of Ascea in the Province of Salerno.

THE ACROPOLIS OF ELEA

Cisterns

The site of the acropolis of ancient Elea was once a promontory called Castello a Mare, meaning "castle on the sea" in Italian. It now lies inland and was renamed to Castellammare della Bruca in the Middle Ages.

The Acropolis of Elea has a variety of buildings on it. One of them is this medieval tower, built over a Greek church. It was part of a castle, but only short sections of walls remain. There is also a small theater that dates back to the 3rd century BC. Just below the acropolis are the remains of the site’s oldest houses. A bit down the hill are the thermal baths and some frescoed buildings.

Bricks were employed in later times. Their form is peculiar to this place, each having two rectangular channels on one side and bearing Greek brick-stamps.

The Porta Rosa road was

Porta Rosa Gate

The ruins at Elea show a massive system of fortifications that encircled around the hill on which the city was found, leading to a top terrace with a square bastion called the Castelluccio (Little Castle). The defensive wall is about 7 kilometres long. The Porta Rosa Gate is truly monumental, built with cut blocks of volcanic tufa, perfectly placed one upon the other without the use of lime, and is in a state of perfect preservation. It is perhaps the only intact monument of the ancient world.

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The city was known for being the home of the philosophers Parmenides and Zeno of Elea, as well as the Eleatic school of which they were a part.

PARMENIDES OF ELEA

Parmenides of Elea

Parmenides (c. 485 BCE) of Elea was a Greek philosopher from the colony of Elea in southern Italy. He is known as the founder of the Eleatic School of philosophy which taught a strict Monistic view of reality. Philosophical Monism is the belief that all of the sensible world is of one, basic, substance and being, un-created and indestructible.

THE “VISION” AND REASONING OF PARMENIDES “All things are one, and this one is Being” in the “vision” of the eleatic philosopher the cosmos is not composed of numerous entities – planets, stars, people, animals, trees, flowers, houses, mountains, clouds, etc., of different appearance and color, capable of transformation, movement, birth and death – that appear daily before our eyes, but consists of Being, which is an eternal, not generated, one, huge, limited, spherical, motionless substance, not becoming but always equal to itself, homogeneous, of the same density everywhere, not divided into multiple “things” but continuous.

ZENO OF ELEA Zeno of Elea (c. 490 - 430 B.C.) was an important PreSocratic Greek philosopher from the Greek colony of Eleain southern Italy. He was a prominent member of the Eleatic School of ancient Greek philosophy, which had been founded by Parmenides, and he subscribed to and defended the Monist beliefs of Parmenides.

Arguably he did not really attempt to add anything positive to the teachings of his master, Parmenides, and he is best known today for his paradoxes of motion. The intended aim of Zeno's paradoxes was to prove the vision of Parmenides, that there was a way of truth (logic) and a way of opinion (the senses) and how, clearly, the senses could not be trusted to lead one to an apprehension of Truth with a capital T. But Aristotle has called him the inventor of the dialectic, and no less a logician and historian who has laid the foundations of modern Logic.

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COLONY OF PAESTUM

Paestum is home to three magnificent Doric temples, which are thought to be dedicated to the city's namesake Poseidon (known to the Romans as Neptune), Hera and Ceres. The temples of Neptune and Hera are located next to each other at the southern end of the site, while the smaller Temple of Ceres is at the northern end.

THE TEMPLE OF POSEIDON The Temple of Poseidon is the biggest in the ancient Polis built around the middle of the fifth century B.C., a period in which there was an increased flowering of the centre. The temple, belonging to the so-called strict Greek art, stands out for the great imposingness of the architectonic elements that give a majestic aspect.

The massive shape of the external columns , about nine metres high, dominate in the front view and strikes the attention of the observer. Today, it shows up with an extraordinarily whole architecture, that makes it absolutely one of the best preserved Greek temples. The temple is an imposing hexastyle peripteral (with six columns on the two fronts) of Doric order that rises on a three steps crepidine (crepidoma). The building is turned towards East, in a perfect parallel position to the other two Greek temples of Paestum.

Views of the Basilica and of The interior consists of a naos (cell), with the Temple to Neptune symmetrical pronaos and opisthodomos, both framed by two columns, aligned with the two central of the fronts, to which match two colonnades that cross the cell, dividing it into three naves. These colonnades are composed of seven Doric columns each, positioned on two overlapping orders, featured by an uninterrupted thinning of the stem from the bottom to the top. Immediately after the hall of the cell, there were two rooms on the side.

Temple to Ceres

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TEMPLE OF HERA The temple of Hera dates to 550 BC, measuring 24.5m x 53.5m and it is built of local limestone It is a typical peripteral temple with two long sides of 18 columns each and two narrow sides of 9 columns each. Amazingly enough all 50 columns have survived.

Their characteristic is the optical illusion called entasis which means the columns curve in slightly at the top and lean in slightly at the bottom.

The temple of Hera

The temple is divided in a pronaos, the naos (cella) and an opisthodomos. Although the outer columns are of the Doric order those of the inner pronaos are of the Ionic. Nothing of the original roof made with wood and tiles remains nowadays while numerous fragments of terracotta decorations from nearby tombs are exhibited in the local archaeological museum. In front of the temple there was an altar where people left their offerings for the goddess of fertility and childbirth.

TEMPLE OF ATHINA The Temple of Ceres (or Athena) was built in c.500 BC in a transitional style between Ionic and early Doric. It was later used as a Christian church, as indicated by three Christian tombs discovered in the floor. (There was also a new Christian church built in Paestum in the 5th century, which still stands today.)

The temple of Athina

ARCHAEOLOGICAL MUSEUM OF PAESTUM The museum of Paestum is one of Italy's most important archeological museums. It contains one of the most valuable collections of sculptures of southern Italy, along with the amazing funerary paintings of the Lucano period (4th century B.C.). Among these there is the so-called "Tomba del Tuffatore" (Tomb of the Diver), an exceptional example of early Greek painting tradition, and the only one of its kind. It depicts a man in mid-air as he dives into the waves below, symbolic of man's passage from life to death. It is astoundingly well-preserved and beautifully painted.

Tomb of the diver

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PUGLIA

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COLONY OF TARAS

Tarentum (Sparta, 706 BCE) blessed with the best harbour on the southern coast, the presence of Tarentine coins and goods across southern Italy are testimony to the city’s prosperity and trade network.

Tarentum (Taras, modern Taranto), located on the southern coast of Apulia, Italy, was a Greek and then Roman city. Controlling a large area of Magna Graecia and heading the Italiote League, Tarentum, with its excellent harbour, was a strategically significant city throughout antiquity. Thus, it would play a pivotal role in the wars between Pyrrhus and Rome in the 3rd century BCE and again during the Second Punic War when Hannibal occupied southern Italy.

The city of Taranto sits on the sea and retains relics of its rich and glorious past as a maritime power. Founded by Greeks from Sparta in the 8th century BC, it was the richest colony of Magna Grecia, its prosperity owing to its far-reaching trade market. Its ships sailed the seven seas and transported the areas prized fabrics such as linen and purple to the entire known world. It also exported its ideas, propogated by the school of philosophy from Pythagoras.

During the time of the Greeks, the ancient city was situated on a peninsula, where the acropolis and civic buildings were constructed.

Since then the sea rose and the historic center now rests on an island, connected to the main city by a bridge .While little remains today of ancient Tarentum's buildings, the city’s museum boasts one of the largest collections of Greek pottery in the world and has many fine bronzes, gold jewellery and floor mosaics.

DORIC TEMPLE OF POSEIDON IN PIAZZA CASTELLO

Doric columns of the Temple of Poseidon

The Temple of Poseidon (or the Doric Temple) is a peripteral Doric temple located in the modern piazza Castello in the historic centre of Taranto, Italy. It is the oldest temple in Magna Graecia and the only Greek religious structure still visible in the old town of Taranto. The temple dates to the first quarter of the sixth century BC. It fell into ruin in the Middle Ages and parts of it were reused in the construction of other buildings.

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MarTA – NATIONALARCHAEOLOGICAL MUSEUM OF TARENTUM One of the most important museums in Magna Grecia territory is the National Archeological Museum of Taranto.

Known as “MarTA,” the National Archaeological Museum of Taranto, boasts one of Italy's most important archeological collections. Housing the museum is the former Convent of San Pasquale di Babylon, near the Public Garden on Piazza Garibaldi.

The rooms on the mezzanine floor are dedicated to archaeology, with over two hundred thousand artefacts, dating from Prehistoric times to the Middle Ages - the visitors' route follows the collection's chronological order, starting from the 5th millennium B.C. The first meeting between the indigenous Iapygian population and the Aegean world predates Sparta’s colonization of the Gulf of Taranto, and visitors can admire everyday objects relating to worship and funerary rituals in Greek Taranto.

The changes brought about by the arrival of the Romans reveal themselves in a series of sculptures and terracotta figurines, as well as utensils and gold objects of every type. Don’t miss the incredible Ori di Taranto (Golden Treasure of Taranto), a stunning collection of Hellenic-era gold artwork, with many grave goods.

COINAGE IN TARENTUM The various historical phases of the city, which had played a remarkable role in Magna Graecia, are evidenced by ancient coins.

Among the towns of Puglia that minted coins in ancient times, Tarentum (the present-day Taranto) is certainly the first and the most important one.

Its coinage started later than in other cities of Magna Graecia. It is characterized by a conspicuous silver production (from about 510 to 209 BC), followed by minting in gold (during the period of the military leaders: second half of the 4th / beginning of the 3rd century BC) and in bronze (3rd century BC). The most ancient phase, with the incuse technique (on the obverse the effigy is in relief, on the reverse engraved), has two coinage types: a kneeling male figure with lyre and a flower (perhaps Apollo Hayakinthios); or a youth astride a dolphin (interpreted as

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Archytas of Tarentum Archytas of Tarentum lived in the first half of the fourth century BCE. He was a mathematician and a philosopher in the Pythagorean tradition. He is famous for having sent a ship in 361 BCE to rescue Plato from Dionysius II, tyrant of Syracuse. Archytas is unique among ancient philosophers for his success in the political sphere as he was elected general seven consecutive times in a democratically governed Tarentum.

Archytas may have drowned in a shipwreck in the sea of Mattinata, where his body lay unburied on the shore until a sailor humanely cast a handful of sand on it. Otherwise, he would have had to wander on this side of the Styx for a hundred years, such the virtue of a little dust, munera pulveris, as Horace calls it in Ode 1.28 on which this information on his death is based. The poem, however, is difficult to interpret and it is not certain that the shipwrecked and Archytas are in fact the same person.

He was allegedly undefeated as a general, in Tarentine campaigns against their southern Italian neighbors. The Seventh Letter of Plato asserts that Archytas attempted to rescue Plato during his difficulties with Dionysius II of Syracuse. In his public career, Archytas had a reputation for virtue as well as efficacy. Some scholars have argued that Archytas may have served as one model for Plato's philosopher king, and that he influenced Plato's political philosophy as expressed in The Republic.

Archytas solved for the first time one of the most celebrated problems in ancient mathematics: the duplication of the cube.

One version of the problem reports that the habitants of the island of Delos were commanded by the god to build an altar double the size of the current altar, that had a cube shape.

The problem was to determine the length of the side on which to build a cube of double the volume. Archytas's solution requires one to envision the intersection of two lines drawn on the surface of a semicylinder one by a rotating semicircle and one by a rotating triangle.

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CALABRIA

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COLONY OF LOCRI

The city is renowned for the important archaeological area of Epizephyrian Locris, located near the new town and defined as the pillar of Calabrian archaeology. Zaleucus, the first lawgiver in the Western world, and Nossi, the poet known for her pleasing love poems, were both born in Lokroi. The town was a Greek colony founded at the end of the 8th century by a group of Greek refugees who settled on the coast. It was one of the most important Magna Graecia cities in Calabria. The splendid colony of Epizephyrian Locris was founded by Greek colonists between the 8th-and 7th century on a flatland along the Ionian coast. It was among the main towns that actively participated in the troubled political and artistic life of the Magna Graecia, and it survived during the Roman and Late Ancient periods, until Arab raids and malaria forced the population to leave.

Locri Epizephiri is a huge historical park with the ruins of the Ionic Temple of Maras, the Doric Marafioti, the temple of Athena Promachos, the underground sanctuary of Pan and the Nymphs, and the sanctuary of Persephone.

NOSSIDE Nosside or Nossis was a Hellenistic Greek poet from Epizephyrian Locris in southern Italy. She seems to have been active in the early third century B.C.E. as she wrote an epitaph for the Hellenistic dramatist Rhinthon. She primarily wrote epigrams for religious dedications and epitaphs.

She has been put amongst the nine earthly Muses (as opposed to the nine celestial Muses) and she is considered the most famous and respected poetess of the Greek antiquity .

Nossis is one of the best preserved Greek women poets, with twelve epigrams attributed to her preserved as part of the Greek Anthology, the majority of which are about women. “Such women with divine tongue raised with hymns the Helicon and (so did) the peak of the Macedonian Pieria, Praxilla, Moero, the mouth of Anyte, the female Homer, Sappho jewel of Lesbos' women by the beautiful hair, Erinna, the famous Telesilla and you, Corinna, who sang the fearsome shield of Athena, Nossis by the soothing female voice and the sweet song of Myrtis, all authors of immortal texts.

Nine Muses (generated) the great Uranus, and also nine

by Gaia generated, everlasting joy of mortals. �

(Antipater of Thessalonica, Palatine Anthology IX, 26)

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ZALEUCUS ZALEUCUS, of Locri Epizephyrii in Magna Graecia, Greek lawgiver, is supposed to have flourished about 660 B.C. before Dracon (624 B.C.) and Solon (594 B.C.).

He is said to have been the author of the first written code of laws amongst the Greeks. According to the common story, the Locrians consulted the Delphic oracle as to a remedy for the disorder and lawlessness that were rife amongst them. Having been ordered to make laws for themselves, they commissioned one Zaleucus, a shepherd and slave (in later tradition, a man of distinguished family) to draw up a code. The laws of Zaleucus, which he declared had been communicated to him in a dream by Athena, the patron goddess of the city, were few and simple, but so severe that, like those of Draco, they became proverbial. They remained essentially unchanged for centuries, and the Locrians subsequently enjoyed a high reputation as upholders of the law.

The importance of Zaleukos' laws (which, as it's handed down, were admired by the whole Greek world) is exceptional because for the first time the laws were written and so they were took away from the arbitrary use which the judges of the ancient ages made of them; and this fact was underlined by Strabo who said that: "While once the task to determine the punishment was entrusted to the judges, Zaleukos determined that in the codex itself". So that the punishment had to be the same for everyone and noticed to all.

Unfortunately, the corpus of the laws hasn't reached our age and nowadays we know only few of those laws thanks to their quotation in some works of the ancient writers, such as Cicero, Polybius, Stobaeus, etc.

SOME OF THE LAWS WHICH REACHED OUR AGE: 

The Locrians are not allowed to own slaves.

It is prohibited to carry arms while taking part in a Senate meeting.  

It is prohibited to start a legal action between two persons if previously it was not attempted a reconciliation.

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LOCRI EPIZEPHYRII, THE ARCHAEOLOGICAL SITE THE SANCTUARY OF MARASA Today you can see the remains of the Ionic temple in the area called Marasa', along with a sanctuary of Persephone, an impressive Greco-Roman theater, and a necropolis. The area known as "centocamere" (a hundred rooms) was the artisan quarter. Once-opulent Roman villas remain, too, with their incredible mosaic floors and archways. Most of ancient Locri Epizefiri is still underground, however, its mysteries and culture still hidden below the surface waiting to be excavated.

Locris was the site of two great sanctuaries, that of Persephone — worshipped as the protector of fertile marriage — and of Aphrodite.

Persephone opens the mystic basket

LOCRI PINAKES The pinakes are one of the highest and finest artistic examples that the ancient culture of Magna Graecia has handed down.

Unearthed in fragments (it was a ritual custom to break them) inside large votive deposits brought back to light during excavations at the Sanctuary of Mannella (the modern name of the place on whose slopes rise the Sanctuary ruins), the pinakes are terracotta relief plaques which date back to a period that ranges from 490 b.C. to 450 b.C. Persephone and Hades on the throne

Since the pinakes are tied to the worship rituals that took place at the Sanctuary, known all over the Greek world Persephone carried to as Persephoneion, it is not surprising that most of them the underworld represent scenes from the myth of Persephone, although there are examples in which are represented also other deities, such as Aphrodite.

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COLONY OF HIPPONION

THE ORIGINS OF THE NAME Over the course of its thousand-year history, Vibo Valentia has had different names, which correspond to the evolution of the city in historical times: -Veip or Veipone, pre-Hellenic settlement; -Hipponion, name of the Greek colony; -Vibo Valentia in the Roman period; -Monteleone from the Swabian period to the Unification of Italy

Vibo Valentia (Hipponion), Bruttium, Italy, c. 193 - 150 B.C.

-Monteleone di Calabria until 1928 It originated as the ancient Greek town of Hipponion and was praised in the 2nd century BC by the Roman statesman and author Cicero. There is a museum of Greek antiquities, and ruined Greek walls can be seen outside the town. Rebuilt in the 13th century after the destruction by the Arabs, Vibo Valentia was damaged by earthquakes in 1783 and 1905.

Notable ancient palaces and churches include San Michele's church, the Baroque church Collegiata di San Leone Luca, and a 13th-century Norman castle used by the Holy Roman emperor Frederick II. Monteleone was an earlier name of the town .

Scrimbia is an area of the city of Vibo Valentia, near the Duomo, where many archaeological finds have been found. A nice legend, tells the story of the nymph "Scrimbia�, who was a young girl unable to settle in peace because of the death of the young lover. She cried him uninterruptedly. The gods, saddened and moved by the continuous crying, turned it into a source of fresh and abundant water to water the whole city ".A fountain was built in his honor, of which only a few pieces remain, badly placed in an arid concrete wall located in Via A. De Gasperi.

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The colony of Hipponion is a city of Magna Grecia.Four kilometers from the coast, near Vibo Valentia, are the remains of the ancient Locrian colony of Hipponion, built near a former indigenous center called Veipo.

Hipponion was a colony of Locri Epizefiri founded at the end of the 7th century BC together with Medma, to acquire new arable land and secure a commercial outlet on the Tyrrhenian Sea.

HIPPONION HISTORY End of the VII century B.C.: the Locrians founded Hipponion and Medma 422 B. C.: Hipponion and Medma were at war against the motherland Locri 388 B.C.: Dionysius of Syracuse conquered and destroyed Hipponion 379-378 B.C.: The Carthaginians rebuilt the town 356 B.C.: Conquest of Hipponion by the Brettian people End of the IV century B.C.: Arrival of Alexander the Molossus 294 B.C.: Arrival and domination of Agatocles

NECROPOLIS OF HIPPONION

Greek Walls of Hipponion

The survey of the Hipponion necropolis was carried out in several stages because it took place in an unscheduled but occasional manner, in relation to the enormous building expansion that affected those years.

The western sector of the modern settlement where the Greek necropolis was found is located inside the walls surrounding Hipponion for defensive reasons; this position of the necropolis (inside the city wall) for a Greek polis is an exception that contrasts with the use in the Greek world of burying the dead outside the walls. The study of chronological data led to the following reconstruction: up to the 4th century A.C. the necropolis was located outside the walls, but from the fourth century onwards the necropolis moved to the locality Piercastello -acquari, the walls were enlarged and the old necropolis, now out of use, was incorporated into the walls. The burials investigated are about a thousand among which a very important is the number 19 in which was found on the chest of the deceased a thin sheet of gold folded on itself on which there is engraved a text on sixteen lines, which from a series of instructions to the deceased, regarding the behavior to be held once in the afterlife.

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ORPHIC GOLD TABLETS These were very thin Golden pieces of foil either folder or rolled and placed in the mouth or in the hands of a dead person. Their purpose was to confirm the identity and the purity of the person allowing him to move easily on his way to paradise. These Golden tablets were engraved with ritual texts and their purpose was to protect them from any evils that might haunt them along the way .

These tablets date from the fourth and third centuries BC and have most often been discovered in gravesites. Approximately 40 of them have been unearthed across the Greek speaking Mediterranean areas , from the island of Crete to the mainland of Thessaly, in central Greece and ‘’MAGNA GRECIA’’, a coastal area in the Southern Italy which was colonized by the ancient Greek.

THE HIPPONION TEXT In the early years of the last century, archaeologists sifting through the ruins of the ancient Greek city of Hipponion (located in the modern Italian province of Calabria, then in Magna Graecia) came across a remarkable find. Nestled inside of a stone chest they found a two-inch wide piece of gold foil onto which a text had been pressed with a stylus using a form of Greek that could be safely dated (as the foil and chest were) to about 400 BCE. The text, composed in an alliterative hexameter, obviously has a religious context. It can be tied to a Dionysian or Orphic cult which was clearly well established in the Greek world of that time, a cult which had a strong focus on the afterlife and which promised its initiates the path (the “Sacred Way”) to a new and better life after death.

This is sacred to Memory: when you are about to die, you will find yourself at the House of Hades; on the right there is a spring, by which stands a white cypress. Descending there, the souls of the dead seek refreshment. Do not even approach this spring; beyond you will find from the Pool of Memory cool water flowing; there are guards before it, who will ask you with cool penetration, what you seek from the shades of murky Hades. Say: “I am a son of earth and star-filled Heaven, I am dry with thirst and dying; but give me swiftly cool water flowing from the Pool of Memory.” And they will take pity on you by the will of the Queen of the Underworld, and they will give you water to drink from the Pool of Memory; and moreover, you will go on the great Sacred Way along with the other famed initiates and baccants make their way.

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COLONY OF RHEGIUM

Rhegion (present-day Reggio Calabria), one of the oldest Greek colonies in Italy, was the birthplace of Ibycus, one of the famous nine lyric poets, a group of important ancient Greek poets (Metauros, present-day Gioia Tauro, would be the birthplace of another, Stesichorus, the first lyric poet of the Western world).

Throughout classical antiquity, Rhégion remained an important maritime and commercial city as well as a cultural center, with academies of art, philosophy and science, such as the Pythagorean School, and figures such as the historian Ippys, musicologist Glaukos and sculptors Pythagoras and Klearkhos.

The famous Greek geographer, philosopher and historian Strabo described Reggio as an “illustrious city”. Reggio Calabria is home today to one of Italy’s most important archaeological museums, the National Archaeological Museum of Magna Grecia, dedicated to Ancient Greece, and the seat of the famous Bronzes of Riace, 2,500 year-old full-size statues of Greek warriors.

HISTORY OF REGGIO The ancient city of Rhegium was founded as a colony in 743 BC by Greek Aeolian Chalcidians from Euboea at the time of the first Messian war. Rhegium clearly became a powerful city, capable of sending over 3,000 men to assist the Tarentines in battle, and by the 3rd century BC it possessed over 80 warships. In the year 387 BC, it was captured by Dionysus of Syracuse, and destroyed, with its people being taken and sold into slavery.

Later on, in the third century BC, the city of Rhegium was being threatened by the forthcoming invasion of Italy by the Greek general Pyrrhus in 280 BC, and so it petitioned Rome to provide it with military assistance. In response, Rome sent a garrison of over 4,000 men. However, in 279 BC, rather than aiding the people of Rhegium, the garrison devastatingly plundered the city. The men of Rhegium were either killed or driven out, and the Roman garrison took possession of the women and children and subsequently forced them into slavery.

Rome, because it was too preoccupied with the battle against Pyrrhus, did not immediately take notice of these acts. However, in 270 BC, Rome greatly punished the garrison that committed these crimes, and returned the men who were driven out back to their city, and partially restored the city to its former state.

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SCHOOLS OF SCULPTURE The artists of Magna Graecia distinguished themselves in sculpture with their bronze statues. The most famous school of sculpture flourished in Rhegium under Clearchus and Pythagoras of Rhegium. According to Pausanias, Clearchus built a statue of Zeus which adorned the temple of Athena in Sparta and which inspired Pythagoras whom Pausanius defined as the “best sculptor who ever existed�.

He was the first to apply the laws of rhythm and symmetry, a fact that led people to think that he must have been related to his illustrious namesake from Croton. He was the first artist to represent the anatomy of the body: veins, nerves, muscles, and so on, perhaps under the influence of the medical scientist Alcmaeon.

COINAGE FROM REGGIO With the exception of the identifying ethnic, the early coinage of Rhegion is nearly identical to that of Messana in Sicily, located directly across the narrow straits from Rhegion.

Both cities were ruled by Anaxilas, a tyrant who gained control of Rhegion in 494 and subsequently in 488 seized control of Zancle, which he re-named Messana after transferring a large contingent of Messenian refugees from the Peloponnesos there.

Anaxilas won the mule biga event in the Olympic Games in 484 or 480 BC, an event celebrated by the charioteer shown on the obverse of this coin and similar issues from Messana. The significance of the hare on the reverse is ambiguous; it may have some connection with the religious beliefs of the Peloponnesians who were settled in the city by Anaxilas. Tyrants from Rhegion continued to rule both cities until 461 when they were expelled and the cities gained their freedom.

A magnificent, well provenanced and highly desirable example of this truly sculptural, rare Classical Greek coin. A large silver tetradrachm from the city of Rhegion, Southern Italy. Struck circa 420 - 410 BC, shortly before the city was captured by Tyrant Dionysios I of Syracuse.

The obverse with one of the most threedimensional, pleasing depictions to be found on any ancient Greek coin. The design is of a burly lion, shown peeking from the surface of the coin, his large eyes seem to stare out at the viewer quizically, his features are thick, fleshy and his heavy mane frames his furrowed brow like a fiery blaze.

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RIACE WARRIORS (460-420) BC The Bronzi di Riace (Italian for "Riace bronzes") are two famous full-size Greek bronzes of nude bearded warriors, cast about 460-430 BCE and currently housed by the Museo Nazionale della Magna Grecia in Reggio Calabria, Italy.

The Riace Warriors are respectively termed "A" and "B", where Riace Warrior A is thought to be a depiction of a younger man than that of Riace Warrior B. They were found by Stefano Mariottini, a chemist from Rome, on a scuba diving vacation at Monasterace, on August 16, 1972, perhaps at the site of a shipwreck, off the coast of Riace, near Reggio Calabria. They are major additions to the surviving examples of ancient Greek sculpture: most Greek sculpture is known through later Roman copies in marble.

The statues' eyes are inlaid with bone and glass, while the teeth are in silver and lips and nipples are in copper. Formerly they held spears and shields. Additionally, Riace Warrior B once wore a helmet pushed up atop his head, and it is thought that Riace Warrior A perhaps wore a wreath over his.

The Bronzi, outstanding examples of ancient Greek sculpture, belong to a transitional period from archaic Greek sculpture to the early Classic style, disguising their idealized geometry and impossible anatomy under a distracting and alluring "realistic" surface.

They are a fine example of contrapposto - the weight is on the back legs and is much more realistic than Archaic stances.

The turned head not only represents movement but also adds life to the sculptures. The asymmetrical layout of the arms and legs serves to add to the realism .

Statue B

Statue A

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COLONY OF CROTON

The ancient Greek colony of Kroton, modern-day Crotone, was one of the most important cities in southern Italy. On a cape near Crotone, the Temple of Juno Lacinia was built between the 6th and 5th century BC. According to legend, the mythical hero Hercules founded the temple here, on a promontory high above the sea, where it was easily visible from ships sailing between the Greek colonies on the Ionian Sea. The imposing temple quickly became one of the main religious structures of Magna Graecia (the Roman name for the ancient Greek colonies along the southern coast of Italy) and was described by contemporaries as the most beautiful temple in southern Italy. Originally dedicated to the Greek goddess Hera, after the Roman conquest the temple was dedicated to Roman equivalent, Juno.

In the 16th century, the temple was still completely intact, but it was later destroyed and its stones used to build various structures in nearby Crotone, such as the episcopal palace, the castle, the port, and some noble palaces. Two columns remained, until in 1638 an earthquake destroyed one of the two. Today the only remaining feature of the Temple of Juno Lacinia is a lonely, 27-foot-tall Doric column.

The cape on which the temple was located was known as Lacinium in Roman times, and later, when the temple was still intact, as Capo Colonne, meaning “Cape of the Columns.” Now, with just a single pillar remaining, it’s known as simply Capo Colonna, or “Cape of the Column.”

Capo Colonne

COINAGE Croton’s coinage is known to have been far in advance of any other in the region , both in design and manufacture. The fact that Pythagoras's father was an engraver adds credence to the idea that he had a hand in the minting of this coinage.

The tripod on the obverse is probably an allusion to Croton's many athletic successes since tripods served as victory prizes at the Olympic Games and other important athletic events. The heron, a marsh bird of good

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PYTHAGORAS FROM SAMOS Born: c. 575 B.C.E. Samos, Greece (SAMIAN)

Died: c. 495 B.C.E. Metapontum

Pythagoras emigrated to southern Italy about 532 BCE, apparently to escape Samos’s tyrannical rule, and established his ethico-political academy at Croton .

He was philosopher, scientist, mathematician, religious teacher and of course an innovative sculptor-PANEPISTIMONAS ( Greek word which means that a person has a great grasp of many scientific fields) Pythagoras and his followers became politically powerful in Croton and had rivals. In the town of Croton in southern Italy, he founded the theological brotherhood, which became widespread with time. The purpose of the Pythagorean school was the ethical renovation of society, purification of religious views, and imparting confidential methods of spiritual development to deserving students. The brotherhood was a monastic community consisting of both men and women, who regarded Pythagoras as an Incarnation of God. The activity of that great School ended due to a massacre perpetrated by primitive people.

Politically, it aimed at imposing its exclusive rule upon the entire community.

Another philosophical attribution is the dualism (that life is controlled by opposite forces)good and bad+ darkness and light. This was connected with the creation of the world.

His cosmology is that the Earth is a sphere which circles the center of the universe.

Most known for Pythagorean theorem.

He was characterized as bronze sculptor due to the fact that many of his statues are made of bronze. He was not only an innovative philosopher but also an unconventional sculptor as he made the transition between the archaic and the classical styles . His greatest innovation was the representation of hair, veins, nerves and muscles at his artefacts .He was able to represent the pain in a statue. He was the first who aimed at rhythm and symmetry in sculpture.

Pythagoras developed a school of thought that accepted the passage of the soul into another body and was proponent of metempsychosis which claims that the soul never dies and is destined to a cycle of rebirths until it is able to free itself from the cycle through the purity of its life.

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THE ATHLETES OF KROTON (ancient CROTONE) The city that had a tradition of winners at the Olympic Games was Crotone, where the practice gymnastics was widespread and widely recommended by famous local medical school as a means to join the diet to ensure the health of the body.

Milone and Kroton represented on an ancient Greek vase.

DAIPPOS

He was the first boxer athlete to win at the Olympics Peloponnesian of 672 BC.

MILO Milo of Croton was a 6th-century BC wrestler from Magna Graecian city of Croton. Milo was six-time Olympic victor. He won the boys’ wrestling and thereafter after men’s wrestling titles between 536 and 520 BCE. He also won seven crowns at the Pythian Games at Delphi, ten at the Isthmian Games and nine at the at the Nemean Games. In addition to his athletic victories, Milo is credited by the ancient commentator Diodorus Siculus with leading his fellow citizens to military triumph over neighboring Sybaris in 510 BC .

He was one of the greatest athletes from the city of Croton and one of the most famous athletes of antiquity.

The ancient writers mention many stories regarding his extraordinary strength and his achievements. Phylarchus mentions that during a festival held in honor of Zeus, Milon carried a four-year-old cow on his shoulders and later ate it alone.

During a symposium of the Pythagoreans, a member of which was himself, the hall was about to collapse and he supported the column with his bare hands enabling the others to escape.

The date of Milo’s death is unknown but according to Strabo and Pausanias, Milo was walking in a forest when he came upon a tree-trunk split with wedges. In what was probably intended as a display of strength, Milo inserted his hands into the cleft rend the tree. The wedges fell from the cleft and the tree closed upon his hands, trapping him. Unable to free himself, wrestler was devoured by wolves.

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CROTONIAN MEDICAL SCHOOL The date of the founding of the Crotonian Medical School is not known, but as early as the sixth century BC, it had achieved an excellent reputation. Herodotus (circa 484–425 BC) wrote: “the physicians of Crotona had the name of being the best, and those of Cyrêné the second best, in all Greece”.

Croton became a medical metropolis through the distinction of its medical school and the ability of its doctors, of whom Democedes is one of the best known. This famous physician came to Croton from Cnidus in 530 B .C., and remained there until 525 B.C., when his services were retained by Athens as State physician .

Crotonian physicians were considered the first in Greece. One member of the Crotonian school, Alcmaeon, achieved great distinction in both anatomy and physiology. He first recognized the brain as the organ of the mind and made careful dissections of the nerves which he traced to the brain.

THE WAR OF CROTON In the middle of the sixth century B.C. between the"polis" there was a series of wars to establish the supremancy of Kroton in the Ionian area.In the 525 B.C. there was the first conflict between the confederation of Achaean cities of Kroton,Sybaris and Metaponto against Siri,colony of Calabria.The Sirites then asked for help to the cities of Locri,Tempsa and Cleta.

Kroton's intent was to expel non-Achaeans from Magna Graecia and reduce them into slaves.

The Crotonians followed the Syrians up to their city to sack and destroy it.The booty was divided between Kroton,Metaponto and Sybaris,but the last broke the alliance enriching the wealth of the others.

Kroton wanted to punish the cities that had helped Siri.Therefore it declared war to Locri,who asked for help to Sparta,but was already in other wars and couldn't help them.Locri turned to Castor and Pollux and had another encouragement from Persephone,who urged them to fight.Even Kroton consulted the Oracle of Delphi,but it announced their defeat by divine.So during the battle of Sagra,despite the Kroton's twelve thousand soldiers,Then Kroton decided to punish the city of Tempsa,the siege lasted four months to the end of which it was sacked,destroyed and all its citizens were reduced into slaves.After Tempsa the Kroton's revent broke out against Cleta,but it wasn't destroyed.

Siro and Tempsa had been destroyed,Cleta punished,Locri had won only for the behest of the gods.Now It was Sybaris.

After thirty crotonese anbassadors were frustrated and killed,Kroton sent his soldiers under the guidance of Milone,dressed in the skin of lion and a mace in hand.According to the legend the sybarites used the battle of the trained horses to perform dance moves to the flute,so the crotonates played flutes disorienting the horses.The siege ended with Sybaris at the flames that disappear forever and with the Kroton's definitive victory. Locri won.

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HERA LACINIA SANCTUARY The ancient Greek colony of Kroton, modern-day Crotone, was one of the most important cities in southern Italy. On a cape near Crotone, the Temple of Juno Lacinia was built between the 6th and 5th century BC. According to legend, the mythical hero Hercules founded the temple here, on a promontory high above the sea, where it was easily visible from ships sailing between the Greek colonies on the Ionian Sea. Other legends claimed the temple was made by the sea nymph Thetis, who used it as a present to the great goddess Hera.

Surrounded by a garden “where everything blooms”, the sanctuary is situated in the archaeological site of Capo Colonna and it is one of the most important symbols of Magna Grecia.

Today the only remaining feature of the Temple of Juno Lacinia is a lonely, 27-foot-tall Doric column. There were 48 Doric columns under a marble roof .

The sanctuary and the temple have been built between the centuries VII-V BCE. The sanctuary has been one of the most important religious places of the colony, in fact many pilgrims came from miles around to offer

presents to Hera.

The sanctuary’s area stretched on the sides of the Sacred Way which leads to the temple, where probabily there was the altar.

The temple was composed of four buildings: building A (the temple), building K, building H, building B. Building A is considered the most important in order to be the temple and the biggest, building K was probably designed to accept travellers, building H was used for the banquets and, at the end, building B, which is the oldest, where many remains have been found, including the precious crown and the “treasure of Hera Lacinia”. Today the treasure is kept in the National Archaeological Museum in the heart of Kroton.

GOLDEN DIADEM OF HERA LACINIA (protector of herds, health and fertility) from the temple called by the Greeks Heraion Lakinion.

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COLONY OF SYBARIS

The polis (city-state) of Sybaris was founded around 720 B.C. by the Achaeans, ancient Greeks from the Peloponnese. The city was situated in the valley between the two rivers Crathis and Sybaris (today’s Crati and Coscile) on the Ionian Sea.

The favorable location and the fecundity of the Sybarite territories - bordered on the north by the Pollino Mountains and on the south by the Sila Plateau – led this colony to become so rich and powerful - in a very short time- so to gain that a hegemonic role in the Magna Graecia.

Sybaris expanded over a surface of fifty stadi, equivalent to about five hundred hectares. The Sybarite area was full of natural resources, which the colonists were capable to exploit. They took advantage from the timber of the forests and the abundant vegetation, as well as from the mines of silver and other metals. The city had a river harbor, located in a strategic position, which fostered a significant development of commercial exchanges. Emblem of the colony became its official currency: the silver coins with the symbol of a bull were exchanged over a vast geographical area.

From its foundation to its decadence, the history of Sybaris covers a time span of around two hundred years. Sybaris conquered numerous territories and founded important cities, including the colony of Poseidonia (Paestum), thus gaining a leading position over the Magna Graecia. Nevertheless, in 510 B.C. it was defeated and destroyed by Croton, the antagonist polis. Sybaris was replaced by the PanHellenic colony of Thurii, founded in 44/3 BC and, subsequently by the Latin colony of Copy, established in 194 BC and inhabited until the sixth century A.D. Currently, Sybaris is a small town in the Province of Cosenza, on the Ionian side of the Calabria region. Important sites of historical-cultural relevance are the Archaeological Park of Sybaris and the National In ancient times Sybaris was connected to wealth and this reputation has been preserved in the modern words 'sybaritic' and 'sybarite'. Sybaritic means “loving or involving expensive things and pleasure” while sybarite is “A person who is self-indulgent in their fondness for sensuous luxury".

Sybarites were renowned for their luxurious and excessive way of life. Wealth held such a significance for them that even their coins represented the two rivers Krathis and Sybaris to which the region owed its fertility.

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COLONY OF THURII

Thurii called for a time also Copia, was a city of Magna Graecia, situated on the Tarentine gulf, within a short distance of the site of Sybaris. The ruins of the city can be found in the Sybaris archaeological park near Sybaris in the Province of Cosenza, in Calabria, Italy.

Thurii was built in 444 B.C. with Athens’ aid following a project of the architect Hippodamus from Miletus and it’s the latest foundation created by Athens in the western Mediterranean.

The Archaeological Park of Sybaris keeps the remains of the three ancient cities of Sybaris, Thourioi and Roman Copia, a peculiarity that is unique in all the Western World. Excavation areas include Stombi, Casa Bianca and Parco del Cavallo.

The most important site is "Parco del Cavallo", where old Roman monuments were found: a district organized along two main roads (plateiai) and the Roman Theater. Another significant site is “Casa Bianca” that keeps a built-up area of the 4th century B.C. with a circular tower of the same period. The The archaeological site of the Stombi site includes an urban area that was only partially reconstructed ancient Sybaris in 510 B.C.: Archaic age buildings and monuments like a small building, wells and furnaces.

The sector called “Parco del Cavallo” is the best evidence of the superimposition of the three cities. Some close diggings found remains of Copia’s houses (a domus with mosaic and triclinium rooms), two wide roads crossing in a right angle (the north-south one is 13 metres wide, while the east-west one is about 7 metres wide), and house walls from the Thurii Age. In the eastern side of the trunk road we find the so called “Prolungamento Strada” sector, a route system made of perpendicular roads, also used in the Roman city.

COINS OF THURII Thurii had an active mint in antiquity. The coins of Thurii are of great beauty .Thurii created its coins by depicting significant moments of its foundation. One of them shows “the bull”, the city badge of Sybaris. The Thurian bull looks a lot more aggressive, though. They believe that it is a “play on words” from the Greek adjective thurios, which means “rushing”. On the front of the coin we can see the head of Athena, as a token of its Athenian origins.

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BASILICATA

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COLONY OF HERACLEA

Greek colony of Heraclea was founded by Tarentum and Thourioi in the 433 BC on the remains of a previous Greek colony called Siris. City's political status increased so much that in the 44 BC it even hosted an important meeting of Southern populations league.

At the beginning of the war between Rome and Tarentum in the 280 BC Heraclea had a popular victory, the so called Battle of Heraclea, when Pyrrhus took down Romans using geared elephants.

The city joined Roman Republic confederation in the 272 BC. Heraclea tables, one of the main evidence of Magna Graecia (Greater Greece), date back to this very year. Then the city was plundered by popular leaders as Hannibal and Spartacus loosing its role of importance.

THE TABLETS OF HERACLEA The Heraclean Tablets were bronze tablets found a short distance from the site of Heraclea Lucania, which was an ancient city of Magna Graecia. They are significant for the study of Roman Law. The Heraclean Tablets are one of the major documents for the knowledge of Magna Graecia. In them we find two Greek inscriptions from the 4th century BC engraved talking about the delimitation and location of land in the sanctuaries of Dionysus and Athena. On the other side of the plates was engraved a long Latin inscription relating to the basic municipal regulations of Heraclea which is part of the Lex lulia Municipalis, which is an ancient Roman law that was introduced by Julius Caesar.

According to historians and archeologists the tablets of Heraclea are because we are able to learn, from them, some characteristics of the Roman civilization and Head of Athena with inscription how the ancient colonies were organized. ΗΡΑΚΛΗΙΩΝ The flourishing state of the arts in the Lucanian Heraclea (in common with most of the neighbouring cities of Magna Graecia) is attested by the beauty and variety of its coins, some of which may deservedly be reckoned among the choicest specimens of Greek art; while their number sufficiently proves the opulence and commercial activity of the city to which they belong.

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COLONY OF METAPONTION

Once, a few kilometers from Matera, the Greeks founded Metaponto, the city where today stands the Temple of Hera or Tavole Palatine.

The remains of the 6th-century temple are Metaponto’s most impressive sight. They’re known as the Tavole Palatine (Palatine Tables),since knights, or paladins, are said to have gathered there before heading to the crusades.

This hexastyle peripteral Greek temple was dedicated by the Acheans to Hera because they were devoted to the goddess, being the wife of Zeus. The building was part of an extra-urban sacred aerial connected to the cult of the goddess. The temple, restored in 1961, was initially attributed to the cult of the goddess Athena, but a fragment of a vase found in the course of the 1926 archaeological excavations turned out to be a votive dedicated to the goddess Hera, showing that she was the actual patron of the sanctuary.

When it comes to its architecture, the temple was composed of a central naos, proceded by a pronaos and with an adyton at the rear. Fifteen columns with twenty flutes and doric columns survive. Of these fifteen columns, ten are on the north side and five on the southern side. Originally, there were thirty-two columns. The building has decayed significantly because it was built with local limestone. In the fifth century BC, it had a tiled roof with multi-coloured decoration in the Ionic tradition, with leonine protomes and gargoyles. In fact, remains of the fragments were found near the temple during the 1926 excavations and are now kept at the Museo archeologico nazionale di Metaponto.

The Palatine Tables and the sacred deluge dedicated to the Goddess Hera are still today the symbol of Metaponto, this wonderful city that Magna Grecia left as testimony to this day.

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SICILY

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COLONY OF SYRACUSES

Syracuse, the town of Archimedes, was founded by the Greeks coming from Corinth in the eighth century BC and conquered by the Romans in 212 BC. They were in turn conquered by the artistic and cultural wealth of what was, according to Cicero, “the largest and most beautiful of all Greek cities”, so that the poet Horace later stated that “Graecia capta ferum victorem cepit“, with the unquestionable meaning that sharpmindedness and beauty of arts have greater value than the power of weapons.

HISTORY THE ARCHAIC AGE Archias, a Corinthian aristocrat, founded Syracuse in 734BC. The oldest building from that era in Syracuse is the Temple of Apollo.

The elite of the original settlers was initially ruling the city. They were called “the gamoroi”.

The colony soon expanded in the nearby areas of Acrae (653BC), Casmenae (643BC), Camarina (598BC) and Morgantina (560BC).

The gamoroi were expelled from the city by the tyrants Hippocrates and Gelon (485BC).

During Gelon’s reign, the Carthaginians of West Sicily invaded, but they were defeated at Himera (480BC).

Gelon was succeeded by Hiero (478BC), who defeated an Etruscan invention at Cumae.

Hiero made Syracuse a center of Greek culture, visited by poets like Pindar, Bacchylides, Simonides and Aeschylus.

THE DEMOCRATIC AGE

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After Hiero’s death and the expulsion of his successor, Thrasybulus, (467BC), Syracuse became a democracy.

From 427 to 413BC the Athenians attacked Sicily twice, but the Sicilians, organized by the Syracusan democratic leader Hermocrates, made peace with each other to defend the island.

The Athenians were finally defeated in 413BC, with thousands of soldiers being killed and the generals Nicias and Demosthenes being executed.

In 408BC, a large Carthaginian army led by Hannibal moved against Syracuse and the Greeks appointed Dionysius as the sole tyrant.

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THE TYRANNY AND OLIGARCHY AGES Dionysius I, fortified the city and staged four wars against Carthage, being in the end successful.

The Carthaginians were confined to the western parts of Sicily and Syracuse extended its control to the “foot” of Italy.

Dionysius I was an innovative army commander, employing new combat tactics, such as the use of artillery, catapult and siege-craft.

He was also a politician and a patron of the arts, making Syracuse the most splendid and the best fortified of all Greek cities.

Dionysius I was succeeded by his son, Dionysius II in 367BC, who was a moderate man interested in philosophy, even having Plato as his teacher.

The end of the tyrants came when the Corithian Timoleon established an oligarchy in 344BC, followed by Agathocles in 317BC who reigned until 288BC. After Agathocles, a period of instability ensued and Syracuse stopped playing an important role in the Mediterranean world, essentially becoming a Roman province.

THE ROMAN AND LATER AGES In about 200BC, Syracuse became a Roman province ruled by a supreme magistrate.

The Syracusians started talking Latin During 440-535AC, Sicily and Syracuse were captured by Vandals and Ostrogoths In 535AC, Syracuse became part of the Byzantine Empire, the Greek language was reintroduced.

From 663 to 669AC Syracuse was even the seat of the Byzantine government.

In 877AC Syracuse was conquered by Arabs, ending the city’s long history as a bastion of Greek and Roman culture.

COINAGE Syracuse used the image of Arethousa with swimming dolphins to symbolise that city’s strength through maritime trade.

Arethusa on a Syracuse Dekadrachm from

“The greatest of Greek cities in Italy and the most powerful of them all ” as defined by Cicero, Syracuse was once the most powerful of all Greek colonies in Italy (known at the time as Magna Grecia, or “Greater Greece”).

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THE TEMPLE OF APOLLO The temple of Apollo is one of the most important Greek monuments of Ortigia, the first that was erected in Syracuse. It is dated to the beginning of the 6th century B.C. and is therefore the most acient Doric temple in Sicily and more or less, the first which corresponds to the model of the temple surrounded by a peripteros of stone columns that beReconstruction of the came standard in the whole Greek world. It was the Temple of Apollo first monumental structure of such dimensions erected in Syracuse and one of the first in Ancient Greek’s World made completely out of stone (only roof’s structure was still based on wood). It was initially a Byzantine church, then became an Islamic mosque, a Norman church and, finally, a Spanish barracks.

The remains allow us to understand how the temple was at the beginning.The original structure is a very elongated building surrounded by magnificent columns.

The building is conserved in good condition, and, despite having lost most of its columns, still exhibits a long stretch of the cella wall. In one corner, two columns and a fragment of an architrave give an idea of the imposing size of the ancient building.

Remains of the colonade

An inscription to Apollo has been found on the stylobate, attributed to Kleiomenes, a possible tyrant of Syracuse.

But when Cicero came to Syracuse, he wrote that the temple was dedicated to Artemis.

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THE GREEK THEATRE OF SYRACUSES Set on the slopes above Syracuse, the Greek Theatre forms part of the city’s UNESCO World Heritage Site.

The Greek theatre in Syracuse was built around 470 B.C. by Hiero I. With a capacity of 15,000 spectators and a diameter of almost 140 metres, it was the largest theatre in the ancient world.

Famous plays such as "The Persians" and "The Women of Etna" by Aeschylus were premiered here. Besides tragedies of Sophocles and Euripides, the theatre also witnessed the birth of comedy. The Sicilian playwright Epicharmos, from the nearby Megara Hyblea, was the creator of comedy.

This impressive ancient monument has seen several modifications over the course of two millennia, and has survived numerous spoliations. The design of the amphitheatre owes influence mostly to Hellenic and Roman modifications, although over the centuries the theatre also saw numerous periods of complete disrepair.

For example, after remaining abandoned for centuries, it underwent progressive spoliation at the hands of the Spanish under Charles V, who used the stone blocks to construct new fortifications on Ortygia. This process led to the destruction of the scene building and the upper part of the seating.

Fortunately, the Greek Theatre of today is restored to its impressive majesty, and opens on many nights throughout the year to stage dramatic plays and live music events. In the summer months Greek tragedies are performed here that attract many enthusiastic spectators to Syracuse.

One of the most important yearly events in Syracuse are the classical plays at the Greek theater in the Neapolis archaeological park. The theatrical performance is staged by the INDA, the Italian national institute for classical drama.

This classical tragedies festival is organized by more than hundred years, in fact, the first performance was in the year 1914. Every year thousands of tourists come to Syracuse to attend to the classical plays at the Greek theater. It's an unique experience to see the actors play the ancient tragedies of Aeschylus, Sophocles or Euripides in the same place where they were played more than 2000 years ago.

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ARCHIMEDES Archimedes was born in 287 B.C in Syracuse, Sicily.

He was an Ancient Greek mathematician, physicist, engineer, inventor, and astronomer. He was one of the greatest scientists of the ancient world. His inventions have changed the world .

The famous sentence of Archimedes is "Give me a lever long enough and a fulcrum on which to place it and I shall move the world�.

One day Archimedes while he was having a bath, he opened his legs and arms. They were floating. Because of that, he discovered that "an absorbed body in a liquid receives a push, from the lower part upward, equal to the weight of the liquid�. This discovery was called the Principle of Archimedes., After this experience he ran around the whole city shouting: EUREKA!! (I have found it) During the Roman conquest of Sicily in 214 BC Archimedes worked for the state, and several of his mechanical devices were employed in the defence of Syracuse. Among the war machines attributed to him are the catapult and - perhaps legendary - a mirror system for focusing the sun's rays on the invaders' boats and igniting them. After Syracuse was captured, Archimedes was killed by a Roman soldier. It is said that he was so absorbed in his calculations he told his killer not to disturb him.

DISCOVERIES AND INVENTIONS Archimedes has many discoveries and inventions to his credit, but he considered his theoretical work as his main triumph. Along with his inventions in mathematics and geometry, he is also known for the weapons he creatArchimedes and the ed for King Hiero II to help proburning mirrors tect Syracuse. He is credited with many inventions in the field of mathematics and physics such as "Death ray", "Archimedes claw", hydrostatics, calculus, etc.

Hydrostatics: the invention of measuring the volume of an object with an irregular shape Principle of levers: Although Archimedes did not invent the lever, he discovered the reasoning behind why it worked.

Archimedes' claw: Known as the 'ship-shaker', it is shaped like a crane arm, from which a large metal hook was balanced. When the claw was dropped on an attacking ship, it would lift the ship by swinging the arm upwards and then sink the ship.

Mostly known as inventor of mechanical devices, we cannot ignore Archimedes' contribution to Mathematics.

Being unhappy with the existing one, Archimedes is known to have invented his own Greek number system, so that he could accommodate more of his invented numbers.

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COLONY OF SELINUNTE On the southwest coast of Sicily, not far from Mazara del Vallo, lies the largest archaeological site in Europe.

Selinunte has lain abandoned for nearly 2,500 years, its numerous temples, its acropolis and its agora in dignified ruins.

HISTORY 1.BIRTH OF SELINUNTE 650-628 B.C.

The colonists of Megara Hyblea (now Augusta), guided by the ecistas Pammilo, seek new markets in western Sicily: they found the colony of Selinunte, as rich emporium. The name would stem from "Selinon", which refers to the leaves of "apio", a wild parsley that grows abundantly along the banks and in the valley of river Modione.

2. TWO CENTURIES OF PROSPERITY AND GROWTH 628 - 420 B.C.

Selinunte grows establishing itself as Apoikia and weaving political and commercial relationships with the Carthaginians, the Greeks, it builds the Acropolis, the Sanctuary of Malophoros, founds the sub-colony of Eraclea Minoa. It is the dawn of one of the most flourishing Greek colonies.

3. THE CONFLICT WITH SEGESTA 413 B.C.

The expansionist ambitions of Selinunte come to undermine the territory of Segesta.

After several battles, ended without serious consequences, it came to a confrontation between mighty alliances: Segesta, supported by Carthage and Athens, and Selinunte, supported by Syracuse, Agrigento and Gela.

4. THE DECISIVE BATTLE AND THE DEFEAT OF SELINUNTE 409 B.C.

The battle marks the decisive victory of the Carthaginian Hannibal Magone, thanks to the non arrival of the auxiliary troops from Agrigento and Syracuse. Hannibal crushes and plunders Selinunte, saving only women and children. Thus this is the end of one of the West's most glorious Greek colonies.

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5. THE TREATY OF PEACE BETWEEN SYRACUSE AND CARTHAGE III CENT. B.C. Selinunte attempts a revival, relying on the alliance with Syracuse still on. The tyrant Dionysius becomes the protagonist of several attempts to storm the promontory of Lilybaeum (now Marsala territory) and drive the Carthaginians out, but the failure of the military campaign leads to a peace agreement, and Selinunte ended up in the hands of Carthage.

6. THE PUNIC AGE III CENT. B.C.

Selinunte is rebuilt by the Carthaginians, but only in the area of the acropolis.

They settle elements of Punic civilization, spread new cults, and the old city center of Manuzza becomes necropolis.

7.THE END OF SELINUNTE III-II CENT. A.C.

During the First Punic War, Selinunte hopes in vain to break free from the yoke of Carthage with the help of the Romans. But the Carthaginians prefer to move their resources to Lilibeo, leaving Selinunte at the mercy of the Romans. Selinunte was never rebuilt and inhabited again. Thus this marks the end of one of the most glorious and important Greek colonies in Sicily.

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COLONY OF SEGESTA

Segesta (or Egesta), located in the north-west corner of Sicily, was an important trading town from the 7th century BCE onwards. Situated on the strategically advantageous slopes of Mt. Barbaro, yet still close enough to the coast to support a trading port, Segesta established itself as the most important regional town of the Elymi people. Flourishing in the 5th century BCE, Segesta continued to hold important status as a trading centre into Hellenistic and Roman times. Today, the site has two of the best-preserved Classical monuments anywhere and they are impressive testimony of Segesta's one-time prosperity - a 5th century BCE Doric temple which, at least externally, is reasonably intact and an equally well-preserved 3rd-2nd century BCE theatre which provides its audience with a stunning view towards the nearby Gulf

THE SEGESTA TEMPLE The Segesta Temple is still one of the best preserved temples in all antiquity.

It was most likely designed by an Athenian architect somewhere between 426 BC and 420 BC and construction started soon after the plans were set. It’s a typical 5th century Doric Temple with 6 columns at the facades, 14 columns at the sides, triglyphs and metopes on the architrave.

The 3rd century BC Greek Theater of Segesta still hosts a theater season from July to September. The theater once help a capacity of around 4,000 people but now just 21 of the original 29 rows of seating remain. From its position on the slope of Mount Barbaro it commands a beautiful view all the down to the Gulf of Castellamare.

The Theater was built after occupation of Agathocles, when the Elymian were killed or sold into slavery and Agathocles greekified the name of the city to Dikaiopolis (Just City).

The Greek theatre of Segesta The Segesta Temple

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THE CAVE DI CUSA The Cave Di Cusa or Rocche Di Cusa is an ancient quarry located about 10 km west of Selinunte, Italy.

Cave di Cusa was the source of stone used to build the town of Selinunte's sacred temple. Selinunte was a Greek temple that was located 13 km southwest from the quarry. That area of Sicily was inhabited mainly be the ancient Greeks. The stone found at Cave di Cusa site was very suitable for building and therefore a material of choice. Its texture and tufa resistant limestone material made it ideal and perfect for the construction of the sacred Greek temple. This quarry was mined for many years, 150 to be exact.

In 409 BC Cave di Cusa was suddenly abandoned. This was due to the unexpected and unwanted arrival of Carthaginian invader Hannibal Mago. This visit broke out into a war between the opposing forces, and ultimately Selinunte was defeated. The town was destroyed after the defeat, and no work ever occurred at the quarry again. The slaves and laborers fled the scene and escaped to safety. The blocks of stone that were currently being worked on were completely left alone and have formed the geography of the site today.

The large cylindrical masses of stone (3 x 2 m) were probably intended for Temple G in Selinunte . It is thought that wooden frames were constructed around the colums and they were transported to Selinunte on wheels of solid wood strengthened by iron bands and pulled by oxen or slaves.

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COLONY OF HIMERA Himera was founded in 648 BC by the Greeks.

Its excellent natural position allowed it easy and fast trade, becoming an important link between central Sicily.

Himera commanded the sea-lanes along the north coast of Sicily as well as a major land route leading south across the island.

In the first decades of the 5th century B.C., Gelon of Syracuse and Theron of Akragas, rulers of Greek colonies on the island, formed an alliance to gain control of and to counter the power of the Carthaginians, who had arrived from North Africa to rule Sicily.

They soon achieved their goal and exiled the city's Greek ruler, who then went to Carthage for help.

The Carthaginians saw an opportunity to seize the upper hand in the struggle for Sicily and mobilized their forces.Their leader, Hamilcar, built up a large army and navy in the far west of Sicily and started to attack Himera. Theron fought him off, and in Syracuse, Gelon prepared the army. The battle had started. The Carthaginians expected reinforcements from their Greek allies from Selinus, and understood too late that the troops they had allowed to enter in their camp were in fact their enemies.

The battle resulted in the victory of the Greeks, which built a temple to commemorate their achievement, the temple of Victory.

Gelon of Syracuse

480 BC is a year widely-celebrated in Greek history – when Leonidas and his core of 300 Spartans heroically defended against a powerful Persian army at Thermopylae and an outnumbered, Athenian-led navy defeated a mighty Persian armada at Salamis.

Yet it was not just off the coast of Athens that one of antiquity’s most determining battles was fought that year. 600 miles to the west of Salamis, supposedly on the same day the decisive naval engagement occurred, another battle was fought: the Battle of Himera .

Theron of Akragas

THE TEMPLE OF VICTORY The temple dates to the second fifth of the fifth century BC and has been identified with the temple built by the Carthaginians at the command of the tyrant Gelon of Syracuse, who commanded the Greek coalition which defeated them at the Battle of Himera in 480 BC. The temple of Victory

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COLONY OF NAXOS

Throughout antiquity the rich island of Sicily witnessed waves of people arriving on its shores from distant lands and settling – one of the earliest of which were the Greeks.

In 735 BC a group of colonists from Chalcis established the first Hellenic colony on the island. They called it Naxos.

“The first of the Greeks to organize an overseas expedition to Sicily were the Chalcidians of Euboea. Led by the founder Thoukles, they founded Naxos and erected the altar to Apollo Archeghetes, which can still be seen outside the walls of the city”. Apollo Archegetes is the divine patron of the colony.

The Greek historian Thucydides, described the foundation of Naxos in 734 BC and confirmed that it was the first of the Greek colonies to be established in Sicily. Since it derives its name from the island of Naxos, it seems likely that settlers from that island (Hellanikos), the largest of the Cyclades, also took part in the expedition, alongside Euboeans from Chalcis.

The relationship of Naxos with the navigation routes seems clear if we consider that the altar of Apollo Archegetes became the point of departure and arrival of the sacred ambassadors (theoroi) leaving Sicily for the sanctuaries and festivals of Greece.

Sicily, Naxos, Drachm, 530-510 BC

The coins of Naxos, which are of fine workmanship, may almost all be referred to the period from B.C. 460 to B.C. 403, which was probably the most flourishing in the history of the city.

“Naxos was founded in Sicily by the Chalcidians on the Euripus. Of the city not even the ruins are now to be seen, and that the name of Naxos has survived to after ages must be attributed to Tisander, the son of Cleocritus. He won the men's boxing-match at Olympia four times; he had the same number of victories at Pytho, but at this time neither the Corinthians nor the Argives kept complete records of the victors at Nemea and the Isthmus.” Pausanias

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COLONY OF GELA

Gela in southern Sicily, was a Greek colony founded c. 689 BCE and it remained an important cultural centre throughout antiquity. Prospering on trade and expanding its territory, the city-state founded Agrigento. In the 5th century BCE the tyrant Gelon reigned with success but the end of that century brought attacks and destruction by Carthage.The city revived thanks to the Corinthian general Timoleon but was destroyed in 282 BCE by Phintias, ironically the tyrant of Agrigento.

Gela is located on a long and low hill running parallel to the Mediterranean sea on the southern coast of Sicily. The first settlements in the area date back to the copper age (2800-2170 BCE) with the town of Gela being founded c. 689 BCE by Greek colonists from Rhodes and Crete, amongst whom were Antifemo of Rhodes and Entimo of Crete. The town was initially called Lindioi and then changed to Gela shortly afterwards after the nearby river.

The foundation of Gela was one of the most daring enterprises of Greek colonization in Sicily because it took possession of the island's southern coast, dangerous for the presence of the important indigenous Sicanian and Siculis centres. When the RhodiumCretans landed they reduced the local people to the servile state (except perhaps the women they took as wives in the first two generations), occupied the plains and the surrounding hills, and merged the indigenous culture with their own.

EARLY GOVERNMENT It is documented that the new community followed the Greek social model but with their own independent government. From the start, power was concentrated in the hands of a few families, gathered in clans, who they awarded themselves political, judiciary and religious control. Around 600 BCE, this led to the first incident of stasis or civil war in Western history. In this case it was limited to the mutiny of the poor who had no political rights. This marginalised group, surely the majority, at some point abandoned the polis or city-state and took refuge in Maktorion, a few kilometres north of Gela. It was then that Teline, the ancestor of the tyrant Gelon, went to the rebels and persuaded them to return to Gela. Teline, as a reward for saving the city, was awarded the priesthood of Demeter and Kore who, he said, had suggested to him the best way to prevent a civil war. The two goddesses' cult spread like wildfire throughout Sicily, and Gela became the centre of the religious initiatives undertaken by Teline and his descendants (including the tyrant Gelon).

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COLONY OF AKRAGAS HISTORY OF AKRAGAS Agrigento/Akragas was founded on a plateau overlooking the sea, with two nearby rivers, the Hypsas and the Akragas, and a ridge to the north offering a degree of natural fortification.

According to the Athenian historian Thucydides, Acragas was founded in 580 BCE by Greek settlers from Gela led

by Aristonous and Pystilus. Archaeological evidence seems that the first Greeks arrived some twenty years earlier.

The first nucleus may have been an older cult center, identified near the sanctuary of the Chthonic Deities. The port must have been important too, but the colony may have been founded in the first place to exploit the agricultural resources of the valleys of the rivers Hypsas and Acragas.

Gela was soon eclipsed by the new town, which rose to great power in the mid-sixth century, when Phalaris, the son of Leodamas of Rhodes, became its tyrant ("sole ruler"). He is credited with succesful wars against the indigenious population, the strengthening of the walls, and the construction of an aqueduct and several other buildings. He also improved trade with Carthage and organized athletic contests. In short, he changed the original settlement into a real city.

The territory of Acragas expanded. Ecnomus (modern Licata) was taken over from the Gelans. At the beginning of the fifth century, the tyrant Theron and his son-in-law Gelon of Syracuse often cooperated, for example in a big war against the Carthaginians. In 480 BCE, they were victorious in the battle of Himera. To celebrate this, Acragas ordered the Carthaginian POWs to built the temple of Zeus.

Acragas was remarkably rich. This can be deduced from the excellent coins and an unusually great number of temples.

The city was famous. The horses of the city's aristocrats were well-known, because they nearly always won at the Olympic Games. When the flutist Midas of Acragas had won a prize in the contests of Delphi, the poet Pindar called "the splendor-loving city Acragas the most beautiful on earth".On of its most famous citizen was the philosopher Empedocles.

In 264, the First Punic War broke out, a conflict between Rome and Carthage. After a long war - the longest and biggest conflict in world history, according to Polybius of Megalopolis - the Romans were victorious, and added Sicily to their growing empire.

The capital of Roman Sicily was Syracuse: easier to reach than other cities, including Acragas, which was from now on called Agrigentum. During the Second Punic War, the city was briefly used by the Carthaginians, but in 210 it became Roman, and this time for good.

Agrigentum was an agricultural center of some importance, with large, slave-run country estates in the neighborhood. It was prosperous, but it never achieved its former splendor again.

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THE VALLEY OF THE TEMPLES The Valley of The Temples is an archaeological site in Agrigento (ancient Greek Akragas), Sicily. It is one of the most outstanding examples of Greater Greece art and architecture, and is one of the main attractions of Sicily as well as a national monument of Italy.

The area was included in the UNESCO World Heritage Site list in 1997.

TEMPLE OF JUNO LACINIA It was built in the middle of the fifth century BC, about the year 450 BC, and in period and in style belongs to the Archaic Doric period. Signs of a fire which followed the Siege of Akragas of 406 BC have been detected, and long after that the temple was restored at the time of the Roman province of Sicily, with the original terracotta roof being replaced by one of marble, with a more steeply inclined slope on the eastern side. The temple was originally dedicated to the Greek god Hera, Roman Juno.

TEMPLE OF HERACLES The temple of Heracles (Hercules) is the oldest one.

The god was worshipped with special focus by the people of Akragas. Inside there was a bronze statue of Hercules himself, loved as a national hero. The temple was destroyed by an earthquake and today only eight columns remain .

But even so, the building, still visible from far away, is imposing and rises in the Valley of the Temples just like the symbol of the power and strength of Herakles, the national hero of Sicily and, in particular, Agrigento.

THE TEMPLE OF CONCORDIA Concordia is considered to be the best-preserved temple of the valley and the most magnificent piece of Greek Doric style after the famous monument of Parthenon in Athens. It has a unique structure as it has six columns at the back and the frond and thirteen in the sides. Moreover, the temple includes Greek architecture such as the central room is preceded by a porch.

The building, like the others, faces east and has incredible and brilliant dimensions. Furthermore, the temple dates back to 450440 B. C. The temple itself was constructed as a symbol of the political harmony of Rome’s citizenry.

It has been conventionally named after Concordia, the Roman goddess of harmony .

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THE TEMPLE OF THE OLYMPIAN ZEUS The Temple of Olympian Zeus (or Olympeion) in Agrigento, Sicily was the largest Doric temple ever constructed. It was probably founded to commemorate the Battle of Himera (480 BC), During the battle the Greek cities of Akragas and Syracuse defeated the Carthaginians under Hamilcar. It was built as a thanksgiving offering to Zeus and according to the historian Diodorus Siculus, the temple was built using Carthaginian slave labour, presumably defeated soldiers captured after the battle. The Temple was never completed and according to Diodorus it remained unfinished due to the Carthaginian conquest of the city in 406 BC. Unlike other temples of the time, the outer columns did not stand on their own as a freestanding peristyle but were engaged against a continuous curtain wall needed to support the immense weight of its entablature. In between the columns were colossal atlases, stone figures standing some 7.5 m high. The figures appear to have alternated between bearded and clean-shaven figures, all nude and standing with their backs to the wall and hands stretched above their heads.

The atlases are an exceptionally unusual feature, and may possibly have been unique in their time. They have been interpreted by some as symbolising the Greek enslavement of the Carthaginian invaders .

The sides of the Temple were supported by Telemones, 25′ tall sculpted male statues used in place of columns.

In the 5th century Greece, Caryatids, female statues were used for the same purpose. The most famous Caryatids held up the porch of the Erechtheion on the Acropolis Hill of Athens.

Caryatids came from Greece, Telemones came from Akragas. Both were developed at the same time, during the Golden Age of Greece in the 5th Century BC. In the 18th century, neoclassical European architecture reintroduced the Telemone, although it became known as an Atlas or Atlantes, named after the Greek Titan who held the world on his shoulders. They are popular all over the Western world but none of them are the size of the Telemones of Akragas.

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EMPEDOCLES Empedocles is a pre-socratic greek philosopher. He was born at Akragas, in Sicily around 495 BC.

Empedocles was a vegetarian who supported the doctrine of “reincarnation”. He was strongly and deeply influenced by Pythagoras and the Pythagoreans Basically, he is thought to be the last Greek philosopher who has recorded his ideas in verse.

Some of his work has survived through the ages. The surviving fragments of his teaching are from two poems, “Purifications“ and “On Nature”.

Aristotle called him “the father of rhetoric” Although he was influenced by Pythagoras, Empedocles belongs to no definite school.

He has combined many suggestions, mostly by Pythagoras, Parmenides and the Ionian schools, creating his “unique style of teaching”

Diogenes Laërtius records the legend that Empedocles died by throwing himself into Mount Etna in Sicily, so that the people would believe his body had vanished and he had turned into an immortal god; the volcano, however, threw back one of his bronze sandals, revealing the deceit.

Another legend maintains that he threw himself into the volcano to prove to his disciples that he was immortal; he believed he would come back as a god after being consumed by the fire.

Empedocles, like the Ionian philosophers and the atomists, continued the tradition of tragic thought which tried to find the basis of the relationship of the “one” and the “many”.

Each of the various philosophers, following Parmenides, derived from the Eleatics, the conviction that an existence could not pass into non-existence, and vice versa. Yet, each one had his peculiar way of describing this relation of Divine and mortal thought and thus of the relation of the “One” and the “Many”.

In order to account for change in the world, in accordance with the ontological requirements of the Eleatics, they viewed changes as the result of mixture and separation of unalterable fundamental realities.

Empedocles held that the four elements (Water, Air, Earth, and Fire) were those unchangeable fundamental realities, which were themselves transfigured into successive worlds by the powers of Love and Strife (Heraclitus had explicated the Logos or the "unity of opposites")

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COLONY OF TAORMINA

HISTORY OF TAORMINA The area around Taormina was inhabited by the Siculi even before the Greeks arrived on the Sicilian coast in 734 BC to found a town called Naxos.

The new settlement seems to have risen rapidly to prosperity, and was apparently already a considerable town at the time of Timoleon's expedition in 345 BC. It was the first place in Sicily where that leader landed, having eluded the vigilance of the Carthaginians, who were guarding the Straits of Messina, and crossed direct from Rhegium (modern Reggio di Calabria) to Tauromenium.

The city was at that time still under the government of Andromachus, whose mild and equitable administration is said to have presented a strong contrast with that of the despots and tyrants of the other Sicilian cities. He welcomed Timoleon with open arms, and afforded him a secure resting place until he was enabled to carry out his plans in other parts of Sicily.

Andromachus was not deprived of his position of power when all the other tyrants were expelled by Timoleon, but was permitted to retain it undisturbed till his death.

Little is recorded about Tauromenium for some time after this. It is probable that it passed under the authority of Agathocles, who drove the historian Timaeus into exile; and some time after this it was subject to a domestic despot of the name of Tyndarion, who was contemporary with Hicetas of Syracuse and Phintias of Agrigentum. Tyndarion was one of those who concurred in inviting Pyrrhus into Sicily (278 BC), and when that monarch landed with his army at Tauromenium, joined him with all his forces, and supported him in his march upon Syracuse. A few years later we find that Tauromenium had fallen into the power of Hieron II of Syracuse, and was employed by him as a stronghold in the war against the Mamertines. (Id. p. 497.) It was also one of the cities which was left under his dominion by the treaty concluded with him by the Romans in 263 BC .

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GREEK THEATRE IN TAORMINA The Greek theatre in Taormina is the largest in Sicily after that of Syracuse, but it is also the best known in the world and the most admired.

Probably, the origin of the Greek theatre is Hellenistic and dates back to the 3rd century B.C. one proof of this is for example the presence of some sections of masonry in squared block and some Greek inscriptions on the limestone seats. The theatre was literally carved out of the rock on Mount Tauro and had a capacity of 5,000 spectators.

The theatre is well known as “Teatro Greco” because it has Greek origins. However it is also called Greco-Roman Theatre because Romans, in the second century A.C., restructured the plant and extended it by inserting statues and ingenious covers. Therefore, the theater that was born to host dramatic or musical representations, became an amphitheater used for gladiator games and naval battles.

The greek-Roman theater is divided into three parts: the scene, the orchestra and the auditorium.

The scene, which is in front of the auditorium, is the place where the actors acted.

According to the experts’ reconstruction, this part was decorated with two rows of columns, one facing the other. The scene has also three large arched openings at a symmetric distance one another, and six niches placed three on the right and three on the left of the central arch.

On the scene there are the remains of six column bases and four Corinthian columns that were raised after 1860. The auditorium is formed by a series of steps starting from the bottom and climbing upward, spreading up to the summit, where spectators were seated.

The orchestra is the lowest level of the whole theatre. This space was intended for musicians who played during the performance. Dug directly in the hard rock of Mount Tauro, in the third century BC, it could accommodate thousands of sitting spectators.

Today the theater is not only a tourist place, but also is used for concerts.

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There are two minority Greek languages officially recognized in Italy’s south.

Greko and Griko — both spoken by the “Calabrian Greeks” — are both timeless testaments to the ancient Greeks’ colonization of southern Italy in the 8th and 7th centuries B.C., some 2,700 years ago.

Two small Italiot-speaking communities survive today in the Italian regions of Calabria (Province of Reggio Calabria) and Apulia (peninsula of Salento).

“Greko” is spoken in a very small number of villages .

These villages are located on the slopes of the Aspromonte Massif in southern Calabria. They include the towns of Bova, Bova Marina, Condofuri, Gallicianò, and Rochudi Nuovo, as well as several other small towns by the coast.

This Calabrian area is still referred to as “Area Grecanica”.

“Griko”, on the other hand, is spoken in the southern area of Salento, Apulia, and in particular in the villages of Calimera, Martignano, Martano, Sternatia, Zollino, Corigliano d’Otranto, and Castrignano.

This area is known as “Grecìa Salentina”.

In some ways, the isolation of these ethnic Greek villages, high up on the slopes of various mountain ranges, or in valleys in Calabria and Salento, served a crucial role in helping preserve these ancient Greek dialects, as well as the communities’ rich oral tradition and folklore.

On the other hand, the isolation has also proved to be detrimental to the survival of the dialects. Even after the watershed year of 1999, when the Italian parliament recognized the “Griko communities” of Calabria and Salento as a Greek ethnic and linguistic minority, the dialects continued to disappear.

The languages are simply referred to jointly as “Calabrian Greek” in the UNESCO “Red Book” of endangered languages, where it is listed as “severely endangered”.

However, Calabrian Greeks are not giving up on preserving their language and heritage.

This is a popular Griko song called Καληνύφτα (Kalinífta) or 'Good night' Sample text in the Latin alphabet Evò pànta sè sèna pensèo, jatì sèna fsikhì mou gapó, cè pù pào, pù sìrno, pù stèo stìn kardìa, mu pànta sèna vastò.

Sample text in the Greek alphabet

Ἐβὼ πάντα σὲ σένα πενσέω, γιατὶ σένα φσυχή μου γαπῶ, κ́αὶ ποῦ πάω, ποῦ σύρνω, ποῦ στέω στὴν καρδία, μου πάντα σένα βαστῶ.

Translation (Good night)

I always think of you because I love you, my soul, and wherever I go, wherever I drag myself into, wherever I stay, inside my heart I always hold you.

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MAGNA GRECIA RECIPES

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GRIKO DISHES During many centuries of cohabitation there was an exchange of knowledge between Griko and Southern Italians in the art of cooking. The Griko are traditionally producers of cereals, vegetables, olives and legumes.

Griko cuisine is a blend of Italian and Greek cuisine.

Some of them are: Pitta and Lestopitta - a traditional Greek-Calabrian bread from the Bovesia region

Ricchiteddhe cu lle rape (Orecchiette with turnip greens, a popular dish in Grecia Salentina)

Desserts/sweets Mendulata te cranu (a dessert pastry filled with cream cheese, honey, sugar and vanilla) Le Cuddhure (a traditional Griko cake made during Easter, from the Greek Koulouri ) Scardateddhi (Greek-Calabrian wedding sweets made from flour, honey and anise seeds, shaped like small doughnuts and sprinkled with brown sugar).

Aggute (a traditional Greek-Calabrian Easter bread from the Bovesia region, it is prepared with a mixture of flour, eggs and butter and the surface is decorated with painted hard boiled eggs, similar to the Greek Tsoureki) Mustaccioli (the origin is Greek, "mustacea" is in fact the name by which Theocritus remembers them in his Idylls, are typical sweets from Soriano Calabro, made with natural ingredients flour,Calabrese honey , and mulled wine, they are hard and come in various shapes )

Greek influence still pervades in eggplant, swordfish and sweets by incorporating figs, almonds and honey into the preparations. Similarly, special pastries and desserts take on a Greek flavor with many being fried and dipped in honey.

Wine is influenced by Greek varieties. Cirรณ wines are produced using the same ancient varieties of grapes, as wines produced in antiquity for local heroes of the Olympic games. The grapes are still grown primarily in the Cosenza province of Calabria and Cirรณ wines often take up to four years to reach maturity.

Calabria also turns out sweet whites, such as Greco di Bianco.

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MODERN MAGNA GRECIA WRITERS

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MODERN WRITERS Salvino Nucera was born in Chorio di Roghudi (near Reggio Calabria) in 1952. His first poetic encounters dates back to the time when he began to look inside his Grecian soul and to reinvigorate the mother tongue that was previously faint in him.

Teacher in secondary schools, he held positions of considerable responsibility by participating in cultural associations with frequent exchanges between Greeks of Hellas and Greeks of Calabria, Thessalonica, Athens, Rhodes, Crete, Reggio Calabria, but also in Lombardy. Nucera published “Agapào na graspo” ("I Love Writing") in 1987. "Greek Dialogues of Calabria" was instead an idea realized through the volume of Pietro Zavattieri who also checked the fidelity of the phonetic transcription; the most burdensome task has been reached by Salvino who has transcribed the dialogues. The publication of the book was made possible thanks also to the intervention of domenico minute which took care of the printing presses and drew up this premise.

Gioacchino Criaco was born in 1965 in Africo, a small and welcoming town on the Ionian coast of Calabria. Son of shepherds, at a young age, he began to meditate on a new literary treatise on the Aspromonte and the nearby places, because Aspromonte was not well known. The writer graduated from the Scientific High School "Zaleuco“ of Locri and graduated in law in Bologna. After years of experimentation, in 2008 he published "Anime Nere", his first novel of great socio-cultural impact which, in 2011 in Paris, was translated into French and therefore took the title "Les ames noires".

Criaco tells and describes those minor realities on the brink of civilization that seems to continue to live according to their own laws and traditions, demonstrating a physical and political distance that is perhaps irreducible. The novel deals with the events of three Aspromonte boys not affiliated with the 'Ndrangheta, but involved in a myriad of situations typical of the underworld. In addition the three protagonists will find themselves traveling far and wide to Europe because of their traffic. Black Souls is the first book of a trilogy that, together with Zefira and American taste, traces the infernal traces followed by the boys who live in particular realities.

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STUDENTS PARTICIPATING

TEAM 1 ANASTASIA

MICHALAKOPOULOU GREECE - B' Arsakeio Tositseio JUnior HIgh School

DANAE

DASKALOU

GREECE - B' Arsakeio Tositseio JUnior HIgh School

ANNA

DE GIROLAMO

ITALY- Liceo Scientifico Statale "G. Berto"

GIOVANNA

MACCARONE

ITALY- Liceo Scientifico Statale "G. Berto"

GIORGIA

RUSSO

ITALY- Liceo Scientifico Statale "G. Berto"

IRENE

CAU

ITALY- Liceo Scientifico Statale "G. Berto"

ALOUANE

SERINE

ITALY-I.S.I.S.S. GB Novelli | Marcianise

AMOROSO

GIUSY

ITALY-I.S.I.S.S. GB Novelli | Marcianise

MICHELA

NEGRO

ITALY-I.S.I.S.S. GB Novelli | Marcianise

VALENTINA

SICA

ITALY-I.S.I.S.S. GB Novelli | Marcianise

ALEXIA

TSIOURI

GREECE- 6th Junior High School of Larisa

AGGELINA

LOI

Experimental Junior High School of University of Patras

CHRYSOULA

NTEOUDI

GREECE- 6th Junior High School of Larisa

TEAM 2 CHRISTINA

KOLLIA

GREECE - B' Arsakeio Tositseio JUnior HIgh School

MYRTO

SERESSIOTI

GREECE - B' Arsakeio Tositseio JUnior HIgh School

ANTONIO

SARLO

ITALY - Liceo Scientifico Statale "G. Berto"

ANTONELLA

CASUSCELLI

ITALY- Liceo Scientifico Statale "G. Berto"

SOFIA

BARBIERE

ITALY- Liceo Scientifico Statale "G. Berto"

FRANCESCA

GARRì

ITALY- Liceo Scientifico Statale "G. Berto"

FRANCESCA

MANCO

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ANGELINO

ASJA MARIA

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ARNONE

MARIA CRISTINA

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SWAMI

PALUMBO

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ILARIA

SPINELLI

ITALY-I.S.I.S.S. GB Novelli | Marcianise

ANDREAS

PAPADIMITROPOULOS

Experimental Junior High School of University of Patras

VERA

PAIDOKOUKI

GREECE- 6th Junior High School of Larisa

POLINA

SELLA

GREECE- 6th Junior High School of Larisa

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STUDENTS PARTICIPATING

TEAM 3 NORA

MAZARAKI

GREECE - B' Arsakeio Tositseio JUnior HIgh School

JIM

STAVROU

GREECE - B' Arsakeio Tositseio JUnior HIgh School

CHIARA

LO GATTO

ITALY - Liceo Scientifico Statale "G. Berto"

OLGA

FARFAGLIA

ITALY- Liceo Scientifico Statale "G. Berto"

GABRIELE

NADILE

ITALY -Liceo Scientifico Statale "G. Berto"

ILARIA

CAFARO

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SONIA

CIPRIANO

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LUCIA PIA

PATIERNO

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ATHENA

STAIKOU

GREECE- 6th Junior High School of Larisa

APOSTOLIS IRENE

MITRELIS TRANTOU

Experimental Junior High School of University of Patras GREECE- 6th Junior High School of Larisa

TEAM 4 PHOEBE

GIANNAKOPOULOU

GREECE - B' Arsakeio Tositseio JUnior HIgh School

MARO

MANSOLA

GREECE - B' Arsakeio Tositseio JUnior HIgh School

ELENA MARIA

CHIANESE

ITALY- Liceo Scientifico Statale "G. Berto"

ROSSELLA

FIAMINGO

ITALY- Liceo Scientifico Statale "G. Berto"

ANTONIO

FRANCICA

ITALY- Liceo Scientifico Statale "G. Berto"

DORIANA

COLELLA

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MARTINA

COSTANZO

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ANNA

PATRICELLI

ITALYITALY-I.S.I.S.S. GB Novelli | Marcianise

NIKOS

SAPOUNAS

GREECE- 6th Junior High School of Larisa

AGGELOS

OGRENAI

GREECE- 6th Junior High School of Larisa

ARGIRO

KATSARAKI

Experimental Junior High School of University of Patras

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STUDENTS PARTICIPATING

TEAM 5 DIMITRIS

KOLLIAS

GREECE - B' Arsakeio Tositseio JUnior HIgh School

DIMITRIS

TSILINGIRIS

GREECE - B' Arsakeio Tositseio JUnior HIgh School

MASSIMILIANO

CALLIPO

ITALY- Liceo Scientifico Statale "G. Berto"

MARCO

MANGIALAVORI

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GIOVANNI

D'ERRICO

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RENATO

DE ROSA

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MARIANNA

PICCIRILLO

ITALY-I.S.I.S.S. GB Novelli | Marcianise

LAMPRINI

BARAKOU

GREECE- 6th Junior High School of Larisa

PENNY GEORGE

SAPOUNA BOUSIAS

GREECE- 6th Junior High School of Larisa Experimental Junior High School of University of Patras

TEAM 6 VASSILIKI

NIKOLAIDIS

GREECE - B' Arsakeio Tositseio JUnior HIgh School

KATERINA

KADARAKI

GREECE - B' Arsakeio Tositseio JUnior HIgh School

GIORGIA

MAGLIA

ITALY- Liceo Scientifico Statale "G. Berto"

GIORGIA

ANASTASIO

ITALY- Liceo Scientifico Statale "G. Berto"

DENISE

ROCCA

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FEDERICA

DI MAIO

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YOUSSEF

ERROCHDI

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ZAIRA

PICCOLO

ITALY-I.S.I.S.S. GB Novelli | Marcianise

SEVI

FILIPPOU

GREECE- 6th Junior High School of Larisa

GLYKERIA

PSARRA

GREECE- 6th Junior High School of Larisa

IOANNA

PAPATHANASIOU

Experimental Junior High School of University of Patras

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STUDENTS PARTICIPATING

TEAM 7 EVELYNA

STAVROULOPOULOU

GREECE - B' Arsakeio Tositseio Junior HIgh School

ANTRIANA

PAPAKOSTA

GREECE - B' Arsakeio Tositseio Junior HIgh School

ELEONORA

DANIELE

ITALY- Liceo Scientifico Statale "G. Berto"

LAURA

TETI

ITALY- Liceo Scientifico Statale "G. Berto"

FRANCESCA

FIORILLO

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VINCENZO

GAUDINO

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ANNA

RUSSO

ITALY-I.S.I.S.S. GB Novelli | Marcianise

MARILENA

TIMIKOGLOU

GREECE- 6th Junior High School of Larisa

ANASTASIA

HASANOUDI

GREECE- 6th Junior High School of Larisa

MARIA

KOUZELI

Experimental Junior High School of University of Patras

MARIA

NIKOLAOU

Experimental Junior High School of University of Patras

TEAM 8 DORINA

IOANNIDOU

GREECE - B' Arsakeio Tositseio JUnior HIgh School

MICHAELA

TATOGLOU

GREECE - B' Arsakeio Tositseio JUnior HIgh School

CRISTINA

TEDESCO

ITALY- Liceo Scientifico Statale "G. Berto"

ELISA

QUINTIERI

ITALY- Liceo Scientifico Statale "G. Berto"

ANTONELLA

GIONTI

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MARIA

GRAVANTE

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GABRIEL

RUSSO

ITALY- I.S.I.S.S. GB Novelli | Marcianise

MARIA

HATZIARA

GREECE- 6th Junior High School of Larisa

ELENI

STAVROTHEODOROU

GREECE- 6th Junior High School of Larisa

VINCENZO

NESCI

Italy- Liceo Scientifico Statale "G. Berto"

ASPASIA

POLITIDOU

GREECE- 6th Junior High School of Larisa

NIKOLAS MARIA

CHRISANTHAKOPOULOS POLYDOROPOULOU

Experimental Junior High School of University of Patras Experimental Junior High School of University of Patras

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STUDENTS PARTICIPATING

TEAM 9 NICK

SERESSIOTIS

GREECE - B' Arsakeio Tositseio JUnior HIgh School

EVDOXIA

TSANGARIS

GREECE - B' Arsakeio Tositseio JUnior HIgh School

ELISA

SUPPA

ITALY- LIceo Scientifico Statale "G. Berto"

MARIA TERESA

ARONE

ITALY - Liceo Scientifico Statale "G. Berto"

SARA

LO SCHIAVO

ITALY- Liceo Scientifico Statale "G. Berto"

NICOLO'

GRILLO

ITALY- Liceo Scientifico Statale "G. Berto"

ANNA

IODICE

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SOFIA

IOVINELLA

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TOMMASINA

RUSSO

ITALY- I.S.I.S.S. GB Novelli | Marcianise

IRENE

PAPPA

GREECE- 6th Junior High School of Larisa

FOTEINI

MAGGOUFI

GREECE- 6th Junior High School of Larisa

MARITINA

TRIFONOPOULOU Experimental Junior High School of University of Patras

TEAM 10 MARIA TERESA

LASCO

ITALY-I.S.I.S.S. GB Novelli | Marcianise

BENARDA

MARKECI

ITALY-I.S.I.S.S. GB Novelli | Marcianise

MARIA

SANTILLO

ITALY- I.S.I.S.S. GB Novelli | Marcianise

SILIA

PAPAKOSTA

GREECE- 6th Junior High School of Larisa

IZABELLA

KOURTI

GREECE- 6th Junior High School of Larisa

FEDERICO

MARIS

ITALY - Liceo Scientifico Statale "G. Berto"

FEDERICA

PARATORE

ITALY - Liceo Scientifico Statale "G. Berto"

ALESSANDRA

MERCATANTE

ITALY - Liceo Scientifico Statale "G. Berto"

GLORIANA

LA GROTTERIA

ITALY- Liceo Scientifico Statale "G. Berto"

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Touring The Modern Magna Grecia

Strabo was a Greek historian, geographer and philosopher. Strabo is mostly famous for his 17-volume work Geographica, which presented a descriptive history of people and places from different regions of the world known to his era.

According to Strabo, Magna Graecia's colonization had already begun by the time of the Trojan War and lasted for several centuries. [ Strabo, Geographica : οἱ δὲ τῆς Σικελίας τύραννοι καὶ μετὰ ταῦτα Καρχηδόνιοι, τοτ ὲ μὲν περὶ τῆς Σικελίας πολεμοῦντες πρὸς Ῥωμαίους τοτὲ δὲ περὶ αὐτῆς τῆς Ἰταλίας, ἅπαν- τας τοὺς ταύτῃ κακῶς διέθηκαν, μάλιστα δὲ τοὺς Ἕλληνας, πρότερον μέν γε καὶ τῆς μεσογαίας πολλὴν ἀφῄρηντο, ἀπὸ τῶν Τρωικῶν χρόνων ἀρξάμενοι, καὶ δὴ

ἐπὶ τοσοῦτον ηὔξηντο ὥστε τὴν μεγάλην Ἑλλάδα ταύτην ἔλεγον καὶ τὴν Σικελίαν· νυ νὶ δὲ πλὴν Τάραντος καὶ Ῥηγίου καὶ Νεαπόλεως ἐκβεβαρβαρῶσθαι συμβέβηκεν ἅπ αντα καὶ τὰ μὲν Λευκανοὺς καὶ Βρεττίους κατέχειν τὰ δὲ Καμπανούς, καὶ τούτους λό γῳ, τὸ δ' ἀληθὲς Ῥωμαίους· καὶ γὰρ αὐτοὶ Ῥωμαῖοι γεγόνασιν. ] TRANSLATION IN ENGLISH Later on, beginning from the time of the Trojan war, the Greeks had taken away from the earlier inhabitants much of the interior country also, and indeed had increased in power to such an extent that they called this part of Italy, together with Sicily, Magna Graecia. Later on, beginning from the time of the Trojan war, the Greeks had taken away from the earlier inhabitants much of the interior country also, and indeed had increased in power to such an extent that they called this part of Italy, together with Sicily, Magna Graecia. But today all parts of it, except Taras,9 Rhegium, and Neapolis, have become completely barbarized, and some parts have been taken and are held by the Leucani and the Brettii, and others by the Campani--that is, nominally by the Campani but in truth by the Romans, since the Campani themselves have become Romans.

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Touring The Modern Magna Grecia

TOURING THE MODERN MAGNA GRECIA

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