Magna Graecia

Greek or Roman?

Dear Classical Wisdom Readers,

Things really don’t sit neatly in boxes.

Especially when it comes to history.

Last week, we looked at the court of the Byzantine Empire - essentially the Eastern branch of the Roman Empire, which kept going long after what we typically think of as the Fall of Rome.

This week, though, we’re looking at the other end of the historical spectrum.

Magna Grecia - or ‘Greater Greece’ - was a series of Greek colonies in Italy, which held a substantial influence on early Roman culture, long before the Empire was formed.

It was a crucial area for trade routes, and proved to be a melting pot of various artistic and religious traditions.

So, was it Greek? Or was it Roman?

Or does it resist such straightforward labels?

Read on below to discover more about this fascinating region, which helped lay the seeds for the centuries of history, literature, and culture yet to come…

All the best,

Sean Kelly

Managing Editor

Classical Wisdom

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Magna Graecia

by Kevin Blood

The worlds of ancient Greece and Rome were, of course, deeply intertwined over the centuries. Yet this history stretches back further than some may realize, all the way to a series of city states in the south of Italy.

From the 8th century BCE, the Greeks established colonies along the coasts of Sicily and southern Italy (with the exception of the west of Sicily), from the Bay of Naples to the Bay of Tarentum, stretching to the southern coasts of Gaul. Further Greek expansion to the west and north was inhibited by the Etruscans and the Carthaginians. 

The 6th and 5th centuries were the summit of flourishing for these Greek colonies. It was through their influence on the Etruscans, with whom they had extensive trade relationships, that these Greek colonies came to indirectly influence Roman culture. This is evidenced by the amount of Greek pottery in Etruscan tombs and the presence of Greek mythic and legendary themes found on Roman and Etruscan art works. Through the Etruscans, the Romans received Greek architecture, social practices, religious cults and the art of writing.

The influence of Greek culture on the Romans strengthened with the Roman conquest of Magna Graecia in the third century. This is apparent in areas of science, philosophy, literature, education and legal and political institutions. Magna Graecia encompassed, amongst others, the city-states of Cyme (Cumae) and Posidonia. These were two centers of Greek culture that had a significant and enduring impact on Rome in the regal period as well as the early and middle republic.

The Sibyl and Cumae

Founded by Greeks from Chalcis before 750 on the northern Campanian plain, Cumae was a colony responsible for spreading Greek culture through the foundation of other settlements, such as Neapolis (Naples). In control of a significant portion of the Campanian coastline during the seventh and sixth centuries, the Greeks counted the settlements of Baiae and the port city of Puteoli among their possessions.

It was in the early religion of the Romans that Cumae would play an important role. In the late fifth century, it was home to the Cumaean Sibyl. At this time the Romans placed great stock in the oracular powers of the sibyl, and she was regularly consulted on important matters of state.

In Book VI of The Aeneid by the Roman poet Virgil, the Trojan hero Aeneas visits the sybil. It must have been a daunting experience to travel through the 137 metres long, 5 metres high stone tunnels to seek an audience with the priestess. Virgil sets the scene:

‘This rocky citadel had been colonized by Chalcidians from Euboea, and one side of it had been hollowed out to form a vast cavern into which led a hundred broad shafts, a hundred mouths, from which streamed as many voices giving responses to the Sibyl.’ 

Some scholars believe the priestess was under the influence of powerful intoxicants, perhaps coming from the thermal vents over which she sat. Her prophecies, written in Greek, were gathered by the Romans and compiled in the form of the Sibylline Books, or Books of Fate. 

These books were given into the safekeeping of one of the colleges of Roman priests (a collection of ten men whose duty to was to carry out the sacred rights). In times of crisis, it was they who would consult these scared tomes. Quite often when the books were consulted and interpreted by the priests, they suggested that some new Greek god or Greek ritual be brought in to the traditional framework of the Roman religion. Through this practice the Roman religion was changed over the centuries; this predisposed the religion to greater receptivity to the cults of the east.

Aeneas and the Cumaean Sibyl by François Perrier

Posidonia/Paestum

Posidonia was another Greek cultural and commercial center in southern Italy that had a deep cultural impact on the early Romans. It was also friendly to the Romans: its residents were willing to contribute to Rome’s protection in the form of a naval alliance.

It was the Greek city of Sybaris on the eastern coast of the toe of Italy that set out to establish a trading settlement on the western side of the peninsula, in about the middle of the 7th century BCE. The Sybarian’s founded the settlement so as to benefit from the cross-country trade from the Ionian to the Tyrrhenian Sea, while at the same time partaking in a rich trade with Latium and Etruria further north. They named the settlement Posidonia. Archaeologists have dated its foundation from a wholly Greek necropolis found there.

The fertile soil, its ideal geographical location, and the decline of Etruscan power in the 6th century saw Posidonia becoming the major center for commerce in the area.  Its prestige and wealth were boosted by the influx of refugees arriving from Sybaris, who brought with them a spirit of entrepreneurship and initiative. Scholars believe that this influx of Sybarian refugees was responsible for the dedication of the underground sanctuary at Posidonia to Is, the mythical founder of Sybaris.

Between 560 and 440, Posidionia was at its zenith, its power and prestige embodied in the building of three great temples: 550 the Temple of Ceres, the so-called Basilica in 500, and the temple of Poseidon or Neptune in 450. At its most powerful it is believed Posidionia had near 20,000 inhabitants. The material remains, beautifully preserved, of the Temple of Neptune, provide evidence for the richness and magnificence of the city. 

Temple of Neptune at Paestum

The Lucanians (from the southwest of Italy), around 410, took control of Posidonia, renaming it Paistom. Despite remaining under Lucanian control until 273, the city held on to its Greek culture and appearance –  Greek potters and artists were dominant there, and the coinage remained Greek. The richness of tomb evidence from this period suggests that Paistom did not suffer a decline under the Lucanians. It seems the Italic Lucanians adopted and imitated, as the Etruscans and Romans before them did, the Greek style of vases in both shape and decoration.

The name of the city was changed. It became the city of Paestum, after the Romans established a colony at Posidonia in 273, and it remains Paestum to the present day. Rome and Paestum kept close ties. The residents of the city became naval allies of Rome (socii navales). They showed great loyalty to Rome, and never failed to support the Romans in times of conflict, supplying the Romans with ships and sailors. Rome was able to defeat the Carthaginians during the Hannibalic War in the third century due to the loyalty and service of cities like Paestum.

The Romans improved the amenities of the city, adding a forum, amphitheater and gymnasium. They also, however, contributed to the eventual decline of the city when they built the Via Appia, a road that linked Rome with the Adriatic; Paestum was bypassed and cut off from the valuable trade from the east.

Although the Romans would eventually conquer the Greek city-states and subjugate them under Roman rule, Greek culture played an integral part in the culture, art, religion and politics of the Roman state; Greek influence was responsible for much of the later sophistication of Roman culture. Greek influences may have dismayed some advocates of traditional Roman values, but for many, if not more, they were a well-spring of valuable ideas to be tapped for the betterment of Rome.