The influx of settlers initiated during the 8th century BC, signaled by the founding of the earliest colonies: Pithecussae and Cumae established by Euboean settlers around 750 BC. Following this, Tarentum saw Spartan settlers, Metapontum, Sybaris, and Croton were colonized by Achaeans, Locri Epizephyrii by Locrians, and Rhegium (Reggio di Calabria) by Chalcidians. The subsequent Greek city-states in Italy traced their roots back to these initial settlements. After the Pyrrhic War in the 3rd century BC, the region integrated into the Roman Republic.
This process of colonization facilitated the dissemination of Greek culture into Italy, nurturing the evolution of a distinct civilization that intertwined with the native Italic and Latin cultures.
The Greek settlers of Magna Graecia established a sophisticated society with unique attributes influenced by their geographic detachment from the Greek mainland and the interactions with the native populations of southern Italy. Furthermore, Magna Graecia encompassed colonies established by the Carthaginians and various Italian tribes such as the Italiotes, Messapians, Apulians, and Samnites.
During the Early Middle Ages, fresh waves of Byzantine Christian Greeks migrated to Magna Graecia from Greece and Asia Minor. Southern Italy remained loosely under the dominion of the Eastern Roman Empire until the emergence of the Lombards, succeeded by the Normans.
The Hub of Trade and Philosophy: Magna Graecia
