Paestum
Paestum (mod. Pesto)(see map: Italy), a colony of Sybaris, founded as Posidonia c.600 BC 60 km. south-east of Naples. It grew rapidly, exploiting its agricultural resources and control of communications, and there was a period of intense urban expansion in the 6th cent., during which a series of temples was constructed . In 410, it fell to the Lucanians and gradually became Oscanized. In 273 a Latin colony was founded there (see colonization, Roman); it continued to flourish under Roman control. It retained the right to issue coins until the 1st cent. ad. A second colony was founded in AD 71, and inscriptions reveal a thriving civic body until late antiquity, when malaria (see disease) and marshy conditions became a problem. Both the Greek and Roman cities were orthogonally planned, and there are extensive remains of all phases of the city's history, and of extramural...
[The entire page is 171 words long]
Join eNotes
Over 3,500 study guides, question and answer forums, literature criticism, reference content, and much more!
Oxford University Press Titles
