Greek Colonization of the Western Mediterranean: How Magna Graecia Shaped Ancient Italy and Sicily

Key facts

• Greek colonization of the Western Mediterranean occurred between the 8th and 6th centuries BC, driven by population growth and political unrest.
• The first wave was led by Euboean Greeks in the 8th century BC; Pithecusae (modern Ischia) was the oldest colony, followed by Cumae on the Italian mainland.
• The Achaeans led the second wave, founding Sybaris, Croton, Metapontion, and Poseidonia on the Ionian coast.
• Sybaris was one of the first Greek colonies to mint its own silver coins; early mints also existed at Croton, Metapontion, and later Syracuse.
• The Temple of Olympian Zeus in Agrigento was the largest Doric building in the Greek world, begun around 480 BC and never completed after Carthage sacked the city in 406 BC.
• Dionysius I ruled Syracuse from 405 to 367 BC and brutally subjugated almost the entire island of Sicily.
• The Chalcidian alphabet brought by Euboean settlers was adopted and modified by the Etruscans, influencing Old Italic scripts and the Latin alphabet.
• After the Pyrrhic War (280–275 BC), Rome gradually absorbed the Greek cities of southern Italy, but Greek culture persisted and spread across Europe.