Sybaris

Related Category: Ancient History, Rome

(sĭb´ərĭs), ancient city of Magna Graecia, S Italy, in Bruttium, on the Gulf of Tarentum (now Taranto). It was founded in 720 B.C. by Achaeans and people from Argolis, the Troezenians. It became a wealthy Greek city, and its inhabitants were reputed to live voluptuous lives, hence the word sybaritic. The Troezenians, ejected by the Achaeans, obtained the help of neighboring Crotona and destroyed the city in 510 B.C. Thurii was supposedly built on the site.

See O. H. Bullitt, Search for Sybaris (1969).