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92-509: Paestum was established around 600 BC by settlers from Sybaris , a Greek colony in southern Italy, under the name of Poseidonia ( Ancient Greek : Ποσειδωνία ). The city thrived as a Greek settlement for about two centuries, witnessing the development of democracy. In 400 BC, the Lucanians seized the city. Romans took over in 273 BC, renaming it Paestum and establishing a Latin colony. Later, its decline ensued from shifts in trade routes and

184-533: A bishopric as the Roman Catholic Diocese of Pesto around 400 AD. By the time of Virgil the city was "known for roses that bloomed twice a year", as he mentions in Book IV of his Georgics (c. 29 BC). Then highly unusual, this is now a common feature of modern cultivars of garden roses . It started to go into decline between the fourth and seventh centuries AD, and was abandoned during

276-631: A city in Achaea in the northern Peloponnese . The Achaeans were accompanied by a number of Troezenians who were eventually expelled by the more numerous Achaeans. The Achaean colonisation was the second great migratory wave from Greece towards the West after that of the Euboeans , concentrating instead on the Ionian coast (Metapontum, Poseidonia, Sibaris, Kroton). The Achaeans were motivated, like others of

368-503: A clergyman and antiquarian , "the founder of the modern study of Magna Graecia " (the ancient Greeks in Italy), thought they were Etruscan , in line with his theories that Greek colonists merely had joined existing cultures in Italy, founded by peoples from farther east. He derived the etymology of "Poseidonia" from an invented Phoenician sea deity. The first modern published account of

460-565: A consequence it has been argued that Paestum was founded by the Troezenians referred to by Aristotle. Another hypothesis is that the Sybarites were aided by Dorians in their founding of Poseidonia. Archaeological evidence from Paestum's first centuries indicates the building of roads, temples, and other features of a growing city. Coinage, architecture, and molded votive figurines all attest to close relations maintained with Metaponto in

552-569: A feature that contributes to its pseudodipteral layout. The Basilica stands out for its unusual architecture. This is the only temple in Italy that features a naos (the central room of the temple) divided by columns, a characteristic typically observed in Greek temples located in Crete . This division has led to other unusual choices, such as the double entrance and three columns for the pronaos (front porch). The reason for this internal division, and

644-520: A highway during the 18th century that effectively cut the ancient site in two. The central area is completely clear of modern buildings and always has been largely so, since the Middle Ages. Although much stone has been stripped from the site, large numbers of buildings remain detectable by their footings or the lower parts of their walls, and the main roads remain paved. A low-built heroon or shrine memorial to an unknown local hero survived intact;

736-482: A journey of one day. The roads to villas in the countryside were roofed over and canals transported wine from vineyards to cellars near the sea. A fragment of the comedian Metagenes he quotes has a Sybarite boasting about literal rivers of food flowing through the city. Not only does Athenaeus provide a great deal of examples to show the decadence of Sybarites, but he also argues that their excessive luxury and sins led to their doom. According to Athenaeus ambassadors of

828-654: A number of collections around the world. The National Archaeological Museum of Spain in Madrid has especially rich holdings, with two important Imperial Roman statues and many, very fine vases (see below). Other pieces, mostly painted pottery, are in the Louvre , the Antikensammlung Berlin , and other museums in Europe and America. In the case of painted pottery , a number of individual artists, especially from

920-401: A number of large painted terracotta architectural fragments from the temples and other buildings, many Greek terracotta figurines , and incomplete larger terracotta statues, and pottery including painted vases. According to Strabo , the city was founded as Poseidonia (named after the Greek deity of the sea) by Greek Achaeans from Sybaris . The colonists had built fortifications close to

1012-460: A proposal was made, but not executed, to remove columns for the new Palace of Capodimonte in Naples. Initially, eighteenth-century savants doubted that the structures had been temples, and it was suggested variously, that they included a gymnasium , a public basilica or hall, or a " portico ". There also was controversy and misunderstanding of their cultural background. Alessio Simmaco Mazzocchi ,

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1104-469: A ship of fifty oars manned by his own slaves and surpassed even Cleisthenes himself in luxury. Athenaeus makes the claim that his entourage consisted of a thousand slaves, fishermen, bird-catchers and cooks. However, his information must be false because he claims to cite Herodotus, who does not mention such a number. Claudius Aelianus even alleges that Smyndirides could not sleep on a bed of rose petals because it gave him blisters . Another Sybarite who

1196-472: A wider column size and smaller intervals between columns. The temple was also used to worship Zeus and another deity, whose identity is unknown. There are visible on the east side the remains of two altars, one large and one smaller. The smaller one is a Roman addition, built when a road leading to a Roman forum was cut through the larger one. It also is possible that the temple originally was dedicated to both Hera and Poseidon; some offertory statues found around

1288-485: Is again uncertain. According to Diodorus, the Sybarites requested Sparta and Athens to help them reoccupy their city. With the help of Athens and some other cities in the Peloponnese they founded the city of Thurii not far from the site of Sybaris. Soon a conflict arose between the Sybarites and the other colonists of Thurii over the privileges the Sybarites enjoyed. Practically all of the Sybarites were killed by

1380-636: Is highly unusual in the Western Mediterranean. The open-air temenos was established at the start of Greek occupation: a temple on the site was not built until the early fifth century BC. A nude goddess is a figure alien to Greek culture before the famous Cnidian Aphrodite by Praxiteles in the fourth century: iconographic analogies must be sought in Phoenician Astarte and the Cypriote Aphrodite. "In places where

1472-418: Is known by name is Alcimenes. A Pseudo-Aristotle mentions that it was said he dedicated a very expensive cloak as a votive offering at the temple of Lacinian Hera . Here Athenaeus distorts the information too: he treats the story as genuine rather than hearsay and attributes it to the real Aristotle. Justin mentions an alliance of Sybaris with the other Achaean colonies Metapontum and Kroton against

1564-479: Is not given by ancient sources, but the archaeological evidence gives a date of approximately 600 BC. Alternatively in fact, the Sybarites may have been Troezenians . Aristotle wrote that a group of Troezenians was expelled from Sybaris by the Achaeans after their joint founding of that city. Gaius Julius Solinus calls Paestum a Dorian colony and Strabo mentions that Troezen once was called Poseidonia. As

1656-489: Is of normal Roman pattern, although much smaller than later examples. Only the western half is visible; in 1930 AD, a road was built across the site, burying the eastern half. It is said by local inhabitants that the civil engineer responsible was tried, convicted and received a prison sentence for what was described as wanton destruction of a historic site. There is also a small circular council hall ( bouleuterion ) or assembly space ( ekklesiasterion ), with seats in tiers. It

1748-497: Is on the other side of the town center. There were other temples, both Greek and Roman, which are far less well preserved. Paestum is far from any sources of good marble. Unsurprisingly, the three main temples had few stone reliefs, perhaps using painting instead. Painted terracotta was used for some detailed parts of the structure. The large pieces of terracotta that have survived are in the museum. The whole ancient city of Paestum covered an area of approximately 120 hectares. Only

1840-483: Is painted with the true fresco technique and its importance lies in being "the only example of Greek painting with figured scenes dating from the Orientalizing , Archaic , or Classical periods to survive in its entirety. Among the thousands of Greek tombs known from this time (roughly 700–400 BC), this is the only one found to have been decorated with frescoes of human subjects." The remaining four walls of

1932-476: Is the most famous. It is named after the enigmatic scene, depicted on the underside of the covering slab, of a young man diving into a stream of water. It dates to the first half of the fifth century BC (about 470 BC), the Golden Age of the Greek town. It was found, on 3 June 1968, in a small necropolis some 1.5 km south of the ancient walls. The paintings have now been transferred to the museum. The tomb

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2024-560: Is thought that Poseidonia had a major share in this because the coins of the new city have a great resemblance to those of Poseidonia. Possibly a treaty of friendship between Sybaris, its allies and the Serdaioi (an unknown people) dates to this new foundation, because Poseidonia was the guarantor of this treaty. Ultimately the Sybarites were again driven off by the Krotoniates from their new city in 446/445 BC. What happened next

2116-451: Is thought to be a colony of Sybaris. Sybaris amassed great wealth and a huge population as a result of its fertile farming land and its policy of admitting aliens to its citizenry. It was the largest Greek city in Italy and may have had 300,000 inhabitants although others give a figure of 100,000. The circumference of the city was fifty stadia (over 6 miles (9.7 km)) and the area approximately 500 hectares (1,200 acres). Sybaris

2208-499: Is thought to have been enacted in the 6th century BC in Sybaris, to protect culinary creations of chefs or bakers for a period of 1 year. Diodorus Siculus writes that the oligarchic government of the city was overthrown in 510/509 BC by a popular leader named Telys (Herodotus describes him as a tyrant ). He persuaded the Sybarites to exile the 500 richest citizens and confiscate their wealth. The exiled citizens took refuge at

2300-502: The Greek colonisation , by the lack of cultivatable land in their mountainous region and by population pressure. The authenticity of the name of the founder ( oekist ) is uncertain as Strabo is the only source and it might be a corruption of [Sagar]is or [Sybar]is. Further complicating the issue is the appearance of the letters Wiis on coins of Poseidonia . This has been interpreted as a confirmation of Strabo's account because Poseidonia

2392-517: The Greeks for their hedonism , feasts, and excesses, to the extent that "sybarite" and "sybaritic" have become bywords for opulence, luxury, and outrageous pleasure-seeking. Sybaris also ruled over smaller colonies throughout the area, and had an acropolis at Timpone della Motta near Francavilla Marittima about 10 km distant. The city of Sybaris was destroyed in about 510 BC by its neighbour Kroton and its population driven out, but its colonies in

2484-580: The Ionian colony Siris . This resulted in the conquest of Siris in the middle of the sixth century BC. In the second half of the sixth century BC Sybaris started minting its first coins, of which the oldest have been dated to approximately 530 BC. These coins employed the Achaean weight standard which was shared with the other Achaean colonies Kroton, Caulonia and Metapontum. One of the first documented intellectual property laws similar to modern patent laws

2576-492: The Middle Ages . The bishopric was suppressed in 1100. Like Naples and most of the surrounding region, the inhabitants presumably spoke a Greek dialect throughout its history. The decline and desertion were probably due to changes in local land drainage patterns, leading to swampy malarial conditions. Raids by " Saracen " pirates and slavers also may have been a deciding factor. The remaining population seems to have moved to

2668-522: The Timpone della Motta as their acropolis, located 15 km to the northwest, where they regularly celebrated large festivals. Descriptions of the wealth and luxury of Sybaris are plentiful in the ancient literature. Smindyrides was a prominent citizen who is claimed by Herodotus to have surpassed all other men in refined luxury. Diodorus describes him as the wealthiest suitor for the daughter of Cleisthenes of Sicyon . He sailed from Sybaris to Sicyon in

2760-435: The 25 hectares that contain the three main temples and the other main buildings have been excavated. The other 95 hectares remain on private land and have not been studied. The ancient city was surrounded by defensive walls, which are largely intact. The walls are approximately 4.75 km (3 mi) long in its polygonal perimeter, typically 15 m (49 ft) high, and 5–7 m (16–23 ft) thick. Corresponding with

2852-558: The Crati and Coscile. Today the Coscile feeds into the Crati about 5 km from its mouth, which passes just south of the archaeological site of the city. When Sybaris was still populated the Coscile pursued a direct course into the Gulf of Taranto, probably at a short distance to the north. The city lay on the widest plain in modern Calabria that was renowned for its fertility and the origin of

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2944-516: The Crati river. The ruins were rediscovered and excavated from 1932. Today they can be found southeast of Sibari in the Province of Cosenza , Calabria , Italy . The city was situated close to the sea and lay between the Crathis and Sybaris rivers (from which the city derives its name). Most modern research places the city on a coastal ridge near a wetland lagoon . The rivers are now known as

3036-512: The English Language , alludes to Aelianus' anecdote about Smindyrides. It mentions a Sybarite sleeping on a bed of rose petals, but unable to get to sleep because one of the petals was folded over. The location of the city which had been buried over time by more than 6 m of alluvial sediment from the Crati river was found only after a massive core drilling project from the early 1960s. It also lies below present groundwater level. It

3128-583: The Germans withdrew to the north. The Allied forces set up their Red Cross first aid tents in and around the temples, as they were regarded as "off limits" to bombing by both sides. In 2024, the Italian Ministry of Culture announced that two Doric style temples were uncovered at Paestum. The coins of Paestum date from about 550 BC. These early issues may all be festival coins; they usually depict Poseidon with an upraised trident. Issues continue until

3220-644: The Greeks and Phoenicians came in contact with one another, there is often an overlapping in the persona of the two deities." Inscriptions make clear that during Roman times the cult was reserved to Venus . Paestum also is renowned for its painted tombs, mainly belonging to the Lucanian period, while only one of them dates to the Greek period. However, this is the Tomb of the Diver (Italian: Tomba del tuffatore ), which

3312-539: The Krotoniate army had their flute players make music the horses of the Sybarites ran over to the Krotoniates along with their riders. Strabo gives the "luxury and insolence" of the Sybarites as the reason for their defeat. Claudius Aelianus attributes the fall of Sybaris to its luxury and the murder of a lutenist at the altar of Hera. Vanessa Gorman gives no credence to these accounts because grave sins followed by divine retribution were stock elements of fiction at

3404-514: The Poseidonians and the Sybarites, possibly in the form of a sympolity . Poseidonia might have had a major share in a new foundation of Sybaris, which lasted from 452/1 BC until 446/5 BC. This is suggested by the great resemblance of the coins of Sybaris to those of Poseidonia during this period. Possibly a treaty of friendship between Sybaris, its allies, and the Serdaioi (an unknown people) dates to this new foundation, because Poseidonia

3496-802: The Roman city of Paestum in 273 BC in the aftermath of the Pyrrhic War , in which the Graeco-Italian Poseidonians sided with king Pyrrhus of Epirus against the Roman Republic . During the Carthaginian invasion of Italy by Hannibal , the city remained faithful to Rome and afterward, was granted special favours such as the minting of its own coinage. The city continued to prosper during the Roman imperial period and became

3588-399: The Sybarites (one of whom was named Amyris ) consulted the oracle of Delphi , who prophesied that war and internal conflict awaited them if they would honour man more than the gods. Later he cites Phylarchus , who would have written that the Sybarites invoked the anger of Hera when they murdered thirty ambassadors from Kroton and left them unburied. He also cites Herakleides as attributing

3680-515: The Sybarites, possibly in the form of a sympolity . Sybaris was not completely destroyed, as Diodorus and Strabo claimed, but became a dependent "ally" of Kroton. "Alliance" coins show the tripod symbol of Kroton on one side and the bull symbol of Sybaris on the other side. Literary evidence from Aristoxenus attests of Pythagoreans who apparently moved to Sybaris after its subjugation by Kroton. Diodorus Siculus mentions that Kroton besieged Sybaris again in 476/475 BC. The Sybarites appealed to

3772-435: The altars of Kroton. Telys demanded the Krotoniates return the exiles under threat of war. The Krotoniates were inclined to surrender the exiles to avoid war, but Pythagoras convinced them to protect the suppliants. As a consequence the Sybarites marched with 300,000 men upon the Krotoniates, whose army led by Milo numbered 100,000. The army sizes given by Diodorus (shared with Strabo) must have been even more exaggerated than

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3864-466: The ancient ruins. After a complicated start, the rediscovery of the three relatively easily accessible, and early, Greek temples created huge interest throughout Europe. Giovanni Battista Piranesi visited to make a book of highly atmospheric but also accurate etchings , published in 1778; these and other prints were widely circulated. The complete and relatively simple form of the temples became influential in early Greek Revival architecture . In 1740

3956-484: The antae (pilasters). However, only the foundations of the external walls of the naos can be seen, as the walls have mostly disappeared, and the frieze has completely vanished. The temple has a rich history tied to its patron goddess, Hera . The dedication to Hera is confirmed by votive gifts, most of which are small female terracotta statues bearing the Greek letters ΗΡ or ΗΡΑ. These gifts, along with other artifacts, were often buried in special consecrated pits close to

4048-469: The area continued to exist. It was replaced by a new colony under Athenian leadership in 444/43 BC which became the city Thurii built partially on top of the older city. Thurii was also destroyed in 193 BC but the Romans built the city of Copia on the same grid as Thurii, and parts of these cities are visible today. The ruins of Sybaris/Thurii/Copia became forgotten as they were buried by sediment from

4140-564: The basilica plan was adopted by the Early Christians for churches.) Inscriptions and terracotta statuettes revealed that the goddess worshiped here was Hera . Later, an altar was unearthed in front of the temple, in the open-air site usual for a Greek altar. The faithful could attend rites and sacrifices without entering the cella or inner sanctuary. The columns have a very strong entasis or curvature down their length, an indication of an early date of construction. Some of

4232-404: The capitals still retain visible traces of their original paint. The temple is wider than most Greek temples, probably because there are two doors and a row of seven columns running centrally inside the cella, an unusual feature. This may reflect a dual dedication of the temple. Having an odd number of columns, here nine, across the shorter sides also is very unusual; there are eighteen columns along

4324-411: The cardinal points, there were four main openings in the wall: Porta Sirena (east to the hills); Porta Giustizia (south, now to the modern village Paestum); Porta Marina (west to the sea); and Porta Aurea (north), which was later destroyed. Positioned along the wall were 24 square or round towers. There may have been as many as 28, but some of them (and Porta Aurea) were destroyed during the construction of

4416-406: The city walls, at a site still called Santa Venera, a series of small terracotta offertory molded statuettes of a standing nude woman wearing the polos headdress of Anatolian and Syrian goddesses, which were dated to the first half of the sixth century BC, were found in the sanctuary. Other similar ones have been excavated at other Paestum sanctuaries during excavations in the 1980s. The figure

4508-462: The city's wealth. The city lay close to sea level and the plain surrounded by the two rivers was subject to periodic flooding so that today Sybaris lies some 6 m below the surface and below groundwater level. A disastrous flood in 2013 filled the excavated site and covered it with silt. Even in 2023 powerful pumps are continuously needed to remove groundwater from the site. Sybaris was founded in 720 BC by Is [ sic ] of Helice ,

4600-526: The coast of the Gulf of Taranto in modern Calabria , Italy. The city was founded around 720 BC by Achaean and Troezenian settlers and the Achaeans also went on to found the nearby great city of Kroton 10 years later. Sybaris amassed great wealth thanks to its fertile land and busy port so that it was known as the wealthiest colony of the Greek Archaic world. Its inhabitants became famous among

4692-507: The columns, only the second Temple of Hera retains most of its entablature , the other two having only the architrave in place. These were dedicated to Hera and Athena ( Juno and Minerva to the Romans), although previously they often have been identified otherwise, following eighteenth-century arguments. The two temples of Hera are right next to each other, while the Temple of Athena

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4784-533: The contents are in the museum. Numerous tombs have been excavated outside the walls. The first Temple of Hera , built around 550 BC by the Greek colonists, is the oldest surviving temple in Paestum and the one farthest south. 18th-century archaeologists named it "the Basilica" because some mistakenly believed it to be a Roman building. (The original Roman basilica was essentially a civic form of building, before

4876-504: The course of the river Crathis to submerge Sybaris. The Crati transports coarse sand and pebbles in its channel and if Strabo's claim is true, that material would have been deposited as sediment above the city when the river submerged it. An analysis of core samples taken from the site did not find such river deposits directly above the former city, and the burial of Sybaris more likely resulted from natural processes such as fluvial overbank alluviation . After its destruction

4968-449: The destruction of Sybaris as divine vengeance upon the Sybarites for their pride, arrogance, and excessive luxury. Athenaeus is the richest source for anecdotes about the Sybarites. According to him they invented the chamber pot and pioneered the concept of intellectual property to ensure that cooks could exclusively profit from their signature dishes for a whole year. They always travelled in chariots , but would still take three days for

5060-696: The divine wrath to the murder of supporters of Telys on the altars of the gods. Herakleides supposedly mentioned that the Sybarites attempted to supplant the Olympic Games by attracting the athletes to their own public games with greater prizes. The most direct link between luxury and corruption is evident in Athenaeus' anecdote about the defeat of the Sybarites: to amuse themselves the Sybarite cavalrymen trained their horses to dance to flute music. When

5152-503: The downfall of the Sybarites. In 444/443 BC the Athenians and other new colonists then turned the city into a new foundation called Thurii. The city received a new democratic constitution which made provisions for ten tribes, but which did not include the Sybarites. Unlike Herodotus, Diodorus and earlier ancient Greek writers, later authors from the Roman period denounced the Sybarites. Aelianus, Strabo and especially Athenaeus saw

5244-439: The fact that all internal columns are the same size as those of the peristyle (outer colonnade), remains unknown. Several features of the Temple of Hera I are preserved in remarkable condition. All the peristyle's 50 columns, including the architraves , have survived, some still boasting a floral decorative band beneath the echinus, the round part of a Doric column. The three columns in the pronaos are still in situ, along with

5336-451: The floor show that the temple was at one time used as a Christian church. The second Temple of Hera was built around 460–450 BC, just north of the first Hera Temple, the two both part of a Heraion , or sanctuary to the goddess. It was once thought to be dedicated to Poseidon , who may have been a secondary focus of worship there. Instead of the typical 20 flutes on each column, they have 24 flutes. The Temple of Hera II also has

5428-474: The foundation of Thurii, Strabo writes that the Athenian and other Greek colonists first lived in Sybaris and only founded Thurii after the expulsion of the Sybarites. Modern scholarship corroborates Strabo's account and identifies two expeditions. In 446/445 BC Athens sent its expedition to reinforce the existing population of Sybaris. In the summer of 445 BC the collision between the two groups led to

5520-649: The fourth century BC, have been identified and given notnames whose work has been found in tombs around the city and the region, and sometimes farther afield. It has been presumed that these artists were based in the city. The highlights of the National Archaeological Museum of Paestum are mentioned above: the Sele metopes, the Tomb of the Diver, and the contents of the Heroon. The displays also show

5612-408: The history of Pietro Summonte in 1524, who correctly identified the three Doric temples as such, its ruins only came to wide notice again in the eighteenth century, following the rediscovery of the Roman cities of Pompeii and Herculaneum , and during the construction of a new coastal road south from Naples . The modern settlement had begun to revive by at least the sixteenth century, to the side of

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5704-531: The larger altar are thought to demonstrate this identification. In the central part of the complex is the Roman Forum , thought to have been built on the site of the preceding Greek agora . On the north side of the forum is a small Roman temple, dated to 200 BC. It was dedicated to the Capitoline Triad , Jupiter , Juno and Minerva . To the north-east of the forum is the amphitheater . This

5796-433: The later group, of about 510 BC, shows pairs of running women. The earlier cycle forms the centrepiece of the Paestum museum, set in place around walls of the original height. At the site there is a museo narrante with video displays, but no original artefacts. The National Archaeological Museum of Paestum holds the largest collection, but many significant pieces were removed from the site before modern controls and are in

5888-620: The longer sides. This was possible, or necessary, because of the two doors, so that neither has a view blocked by a column. On the highest point of the town, some way from the Hera Temples and north of the center of the ancient settlement, is the Temple of Athena . It was built around 500 BC, and was for some time incorrectly thought to have been dedicated to Ceres . The architecture is transitional, being mainly built in early Doric style and partially Ionic. Three medieval Christian tombs in

5980-468: The magnificence of the city. Other evidence about the city comes indirectly via the discovery of a sanctuary on the Timpone della Motta in nearby Francavilla Marittima where the highland site dominates the Crati river plain below. First Temple of Hera (Paestum) The First Temple of Hera (Paestum) —also known as Temple of Hera I and the Basilica—is an archaic Doric order Greek temple in

6072-525: The more easily defended cliff-top settlement at Agropoli (i.e. " acropolis " or "citadel" in Greek), a few kilometres away, although this settlement became a base for Muslim raiders for a period. The Paestum site became overgrown and largely forgotten, although some stone spolia were collected and used in Salerno Cathedral by Robert Guiscard (d. 1085). Despite stray mentions such as that in

6164-474: The onset of flooding and marsh formation. As Pesto or Paestum, the town became a bishopric (now only titular ), but it was abandoned in the Early Middle Ages, and left undisturbed and largely forgotten until the eighteenth century. Today the remains of the city are found in the modern frazione of Paestum , which is part of the comune of Capaccio Paestum in the Province of Salerno in

6256-580: The other colonists, who were more numerous and powerful. Some of the Sybarites managed to flee and founded Sybaris on the Traeis shortly after 444 BC. The request for help from the Sybarites must have been made after the conclusion of the Thirty Years' Peace in the early spring of 445 BC, for it would not have made sense to ask for help while Sparta and Athens were still at war with each other. While Diodorus identifies only one expedition for

6348-402: The population size. Even though they were greatly outnumbered, the Krotoniates won the battle and took no prisoners, killing most of the Sybarites. After their victory they plundered and razed Sybaris. According to Strabo either two months or nine days elapsed between the battle and the sack. Most likely the Sybarites executed Telys and his supporters during this time. Walter Burkert questions

6440-488: The region of Campania , Italy. The modern settlement, directly to the south of the archaeological site, is a popular seaside resort with long sandy beaches. The Paestum railway station on the Naples-Salerno-Reggio Calabria railway line is directly to the east of the ancient city walls. The Greek settlers who founded the city originally named it Poseidonia ( Ancient Greek : Ποσειδωνία ). It

6532-439: The reign of Tiberius . For unknown reasons Paestum alone—of all the smaller Italian mints—was allowed to continue minting bronze coins by a Senatorial decree of about 89 BC, after minting had been centralized. Later coins carry "P. S. S. C.", standing for "Paesti Signatum Senatus Consulto" to reflect this. Sybaris Sybaris ( Ancient Greek : Σύβαρις ; Italian : Sibari ) was an important ancient Greek city situated on

6624-418: The ruins of the ancient city of Paestum , Italy. This Doric temple is considered one of the oldest Greek temples in Italy and is known for its distinctive architectural features. It was built around 550–525 BCE, within a century of the city's establishment by Greek colonists from Sybaris , who named the city Poseidonia . The temple is peripteral with 9×18 external columns on a three-step stylobate ,

6716-482: The ruins was Les Ruines de Paestum in 1764, by G. P. M. Dumont, who had been taken to the site in 1750, along with the architect Jacques-Germain Soufflot , by Count Gazzola, an engineer for the government in Naples. Gazzola had drawn or commissioned measured drawings, to which Dumont added his own, as well as, more artistic plates. There was an expanded edition in 1769, the same year when a still more extensive account

6808-409: The sea, but then decided to found the city farther inland at a higher elevation. Solinus wrote that it was established by Dorians . The fortifications might have been built to the south of Poseidonia on the promontory where Agropoli is now. According to the historical tradition the sanctuary to Poseidon was located there, after which the city would have been named. The date of Poseidonia's founding

6900-418: The sixth and fifth centuries. It is presumed that Poseidonia harbored refugees from its mother city, Sybaris, when that city was conquered by Croton in 510 BC. In the early fifth century, Poseidonia's coins adopted the Achaean weight standard and the bull seen on Sybarite coins. A. J. Graham thinks it was plausible that the number of refugees was large enough for some kind of synoecism to have occurred between

6992-402: The surviving inhabitants took refuge at their colonies Laüs and Scidrus. It is assumed some also fled to Poseidonia, because in the early fifth century Poseidonia's coins adopted the Achaean weight standard and the bull seen on Sybarite coins. A. J. Graham thinks it was plausible that the number of refugees was large enough for some kind of synoecism to have occurred between the Poseidonians and

7084-625: The temple was abandoned. Additionally, the city itself has undergone transformations, including being conquered by the Lucanians and then by the Romans. It was abandoned in Late Antiquity or the Early Middle Ages , probably for being too vulnerable to Saracen raids, the remaining population moving to the safer site of Agropoli nearby. Today, the most significant remnants of Paestum's Greek past are its temples, including

7176-496: The temple. The cult of Hera was possibly aimed at ensuring fertility for local communities. Many worshippers were, or prayed on behalf of, young, betrothed women. Despite subsequent conquests by the Lucanians and Romans, the worship of Hera remained important and continued after the construction of a second temple dedicated to the same goddess. Over time, the Temple of Hera I has witnessed significant changes. In late antiquity, as Paestum declined and pagan cults came to an end,

7268-405: The time. Furthermore, she and Robert Gorman point to Athenaeus as the origin of the embellished accounts rather than the historians he cited. He altered details of the original accounts, disguised his own contributions as those of past historians and invented new information to fit his argument that luxury leads to catastrophe. This concept was called tryphé and was a popular belief in his time, at

7360-428: The tomb are occupied by symposium -related scenes, an iconography far more familiar from Greek pottery than the diving scene. All the five frescoes are displayed in the museum, together with other cycles from Lucanian painted tombs. In contrast to earlier Greek tomb paintings, these later scenes have many figures and a high proportion of scenes including horses and equestrian sports . A few kilometres from Paestum there

7452-617: The turn of the 2nd century AD. Peter Green likewise argues that these accounts are most likely the inventions of moralists. He points out the vast natural wealth of the city was the more likely reason it was attacked by Kroton. This association of Sybaris with excessive luxury transferred to the English language , in which the words "sybarite" and "sybaritic" have become bywords for opulent luxury and outrageous pleasure seeking. One story, mentioned in Samuel Johnson 's A Dictionary of

7544-466: The tyrant Hiero I of Syracuse for help. Hiero put his brother Polyzelos in command of an army to relieve the Sybarites, expecting that he would be killed by the Krotoniates. Polyzelos suspected this, refused to lead the campaign and took refuge with the tyrant Theron of Acragas . Diodorus makes no further mention of Hiero's plan to relieve Sybaris, indicating that the Sybarites were defeated again. However, according to Timaeus and two scholia Polyzelos

7636-415: The veracity of the account given by Diodorus Siculus. It would have been illogical for Telys to banish his opponents first and then to demand their return. He argues that the elements of the story resemble fictional tragedies . The version of Herodotus is more brief and doesn't involve Pythagoras, but does claim that the Krotoniates received help from Dorieus . Strabo claims that the Krotoniates diverted

7728-544: Was a temple complex at the mouth of the Sele river ( Foce del Sele in Italian) dedicated to Hera. The temple is now all but destroyed, and little remains of several other buildings. About 70 of the sixth-century BC Archaic metope relief panels on the temple and another building at the site were recovered, however. These fall into two groups, the earlier of which shows the story of the life of Heracles in 38 surviving reliefs;

7820-529: Was also a dominant power in the region and ruled over 4 tribes and 25 cities. Sybaris extended its dominion across the peninsula to the Tyrrhenian Sea , where it is thought to have founded its colonies Poseidonia , Laüs and Scidrus . Poseidonia was founded in approximately 600 BC, In the second half of the 7th century BC the Sybarites took over from the Oenotrians the sanctuary of Athena on

7912-517: Was also found that the later cities of Thurii and Copia were built partially above Sybaris. Due to these reasons only a few parts of the city have been excavated: the Stombi quarter and minor test pits in the Parco del Cavallo area. On the latter site were found wonderfully decorated architectural elements from an as yet unidentified temple. The large number of finds from so small an area gives an idea of

8004-673: Was eventually conquered by the local Lucanians and later the Romans . The Lucanians renamed it to Paistos and the Romans gave the city its current name. Much of the most celebrated features of the site today are the three large temples in the Archaic version of the Greek Doric order , dating from about 550 to 450 BC. All are typical of the period, with massive colonnades having a very pronounced entasis (widening as they go down), and very wide capitals resembling upturned mushrooms. Above

8096-411: Was excavated in 1954 a low stone chamber with a pitched roof was discovered at the centre, half below the surrounding ground level and half above. This contained several large, rare, and splendid bronze vessels , perhaps not locally-made, and a large Athenian pottery black-figure amphora of about 520–500 BC. The bronze vessels had traces of honey inside. These are all now in the museum. Just south of

8188-447: Was probably never roofed, but had a wall around it, perhaps with a small arcade round the inside. This ceased to have a role in Roman times and was filled over. The heroön , close to the forum and the Temple of Athena, probably celebrated the founder of the city, though constructed around a century after the death of this unnamed figure. It was a low tumulus with a walled rectangular enclosure faced with large stones around it. When it

8280-555: Was published by the Englishman Thomas Major. By 1774 there were nine different illustrated publications on the site. On September 9, 1943, Paestum was the location of the landing beaches of the U.S. 36th Infantry Division during the Allied invasion of Italy . German forces resisted the landings from the outset, causing heavy fighting within and around the town. Combat persisted around the town for nine days before

8372-416: Was successful in relieving the siege of Sybaris and fled to Acragas later when he was accused of plotting revolution. Regardless of the results of the siege of 476 BC, it seems the Sybarites had to leave their city at some point between that year and 452/451 BC. Diodorus writes that the Sybarites refounded their city at its former site in 452/451 BC under the leadership of a Thessalian . It

8464-459: Was the guarantor of this treaty. It is not until the end of the fifth century BC that the city is mentioned, when according to Strabo, the city was conquered by the Lucanians. From the archaeological evidence it appears that the two cultures, Greek and Oscan, were able to thrive alongside one another. Many tomb paintings show horses and horse-racing, a passion of the Lucanian elites. It became

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