Magna Graecia - Revision history

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Irlandos: New page: '''Magna Graecia''' (Latin for "Greater Greece," Greek:''Μεγάλη Ελλάς'') is the name of the area in Southern Italy and Sicily that was colonised by Greek sett...

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New page: '''Magna Graecia''' (Latin for "Greater Greece," Greek:''Μεγάλη Ελλάς'') is the name of the area in Southern Italy and Sicily that was colonised by Greek sett...

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'''Magna Graecia''' (Latin for "Greater Greece," [[Greek language|Greek]]:''Μεγάλη Ελλάς'') is the name of the area in Southern Italy and Sicily that was colonised by Greek settlers in the [[8th century BC]], who brought with them the lasting imprint of their Hellenic civilization.

==History==
===Antiquity===

In the [[8th century BC|eighth]] and [[7th century BC|seventh]] centuries BC, for various reasons, including demographic crisis (famine, overcrowding, climate change, etc.), the search for new commercial outlets and ports, and expulsion from their homeland, Greeks began to settle in southern Italy (Cerchiai, pp. 14-18). In this same time, Greek colonies were established in places as widely separated as the eastern coast of the Black Sea and Massalia (Marseille). They included settlements in Sicily and the southern part of the Italian peninsula. The Romans called the area of Sicily and the foot of the boot of Italy ''Magna Graecia'' (Latin, “Greater Greece”), since it was so densely inhabited by [[Greeks]]. The ancient geographers differed on whether the term included Sicily or merely Apulia and Calabria — Strabo being the most prominent advocate of the wider definitions.

With this colonization, [[Greek culture]] was exported to Italy, in its dialects of the [[Ancient Greek language]], its religious rites and its traditions of the independent ''[[polis]]''. An original [[Hellenic civilization]] soon developed, later interacting with the native Italic and Latin civilisations. The most important cultural transplant was the [[Chalcis|Chalcidean]]/[[Cumaean alphabet|Cumaean]] variety of the [[Greek alphabet]], which was adopted by the Etruscans; the Old Italic alphabet subsequently evolved into the Latin alphabet, which became the most widely used alphabet in the world.

Many of the new Hellenic cities became very rich and powerful, like ''Kapuê'' ([[Capua]]), ''Neapolis'' (Νεάπολις, Naples), [[Syracuse]], [[Akragas]], ''Subaris'' (Σύβαρις, [[Sybaris]]). Other cities in Magna Graecia included ''Taras'' (Τάρας, Taranto), ''Epizephyrioi Lokroi'' or [[Locri]] (Λοκροί), [[Rhegion]] (Ρήγιον), ''Kroton'' (Κρότων, Crotone), [[Thurii]] (Θούριοι), [[Elea]] (Ελέα) and ''Ankon'' (Αγκων, Ancona).

Following the [[Pyrrhic War]], Magna Graecia was absorbed into the Roman Republic

===The Middle Ages===

During the Early Middle Ages, following the disastrous Gothic War, new waves of [[Byzantine Empire|Byzantine Christian Greeks]] came to Magna Graecia from [[Greece]] and [[Asia Minor]], as Southern Italy remained loosely governed by the Eastern Roman Empire. The [[iconoclast]] emperor [[Leo III]] appropriated lands that had been granted to the Papacy in southern Italy<ref>T. S. Brown, "The Church of Ravenna and the Imperial Administration in the Seventh Century," ''The English Historical Review'' (1979 pp 1-28) p.5.</ref> and the Eastern Emperor loosely governed the area until the advent of the Lombards then, in the form of the Catapanate of Italy, superseded by the Normans. Moreover the Byzantines would have found in Southern Italy people of common cultural root, the Greek-speaking ''eredi ellenofoni'' of Magna Graecia.

Although most of the Greek inhabitants of Southern Italy became entirely Italianized (as [[Paestum]] had already been in the [[4th century BC]]) and no longer spoke Greek, remarkably a small [[Griko language|Griko]]-speaking minority still exists today in Calabria and mostly in Salento. ''Griko'' is the name of a language combining ancient [[Doric Greek|Doric]], [[Medieval Greek|Byzantine Greek]], and Italian elements, spoken by people in the Magna Graecia region. There is rich oral tradition and Griko folklore, limited now, though once numerous, to only a few thousand people, most of them having become absorbed into the surrounding Italian element. Records of Magna Graecia being predominantly Greek-speaking, date as late as the eleventh century (the end of Byzantine domination in Southern Italy).

===Modern Italy===

Today a small minority of around 30,000 Greeks live in the Italian regions of Calabria and Apulia; speaking the [[Griko|Grico]] language. Though Grico is closely related to the [[koine]], or common Greek, which had spread throughout the Mediterranean in [[Hellenistic civilization|Hellenistic]] times, it is said to maintain some elements of [[Doric]] Greek, and some believe its origin may ultimately be traced to the colonies of Magna Graecia.

==Citations==
{{quoted|...since the land of Italy was Greater Greece.|Ovid|Fasti, IV}}
<br clear="all">

==See also==
*[[Names of the Greeks]]
*[[Griko language]]

==Notes==

<references/>

==References==
*Luca Cerchiai, Lorena Jannelli, Fausto Longo, Lorena Janelli, 2004. ''The Greek Cities of Magna Graecia and Sicily'' (Getty Trust) ISBN 0-89236-751-2
*T. J. Dunbabin, 1948. ''The Western Greeks''
*A. G. Woodhead, 1962. ''The Greeks in the West''

==External links==
*[http://tjbuggey.ancients.info/maggrecia.html Map]
*[[http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/4116006.stm Italy rediscovers Greek heritage]]

{{Credit wikipedia}}

[[Category:Magna Graecia|*]]

[[el:Μεγάλη Ελλάδα]]

← Older revision		Revision as of 03:44, March 8, 2009
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		+	[[Image:Magna Graecia.jpg\|thumb\|250px\|Magna Graecia around 280 BC.]]
	'''Magna Graecia''' (Latin for "Greater Greece," [[Greek language\|Greek]]:''Μεγάλη Ελλάς'') is the name of the area in Southern Italy and Sicily that was colonised by Greek settlers in the [[8th century BC]], who brought with them the lasting imprint of their Hellenic civilization.		'''Magna Graecia''' (Latin for "Greater Greece," [[Greek language\|Greek]]:''Μεγάλη Ελλάς'') is the name of the area in Southern Italy and Sicily that was colonised by Greek settlers in the [[8th century BC]], who brought with them the lasting imprint of their Hellenic civilization.

@@ Line 30: / Line 30: @@
 *[[Griko language]]
 *[[Greek–Calabrian dialect]]
 ==Notes==

@@ Line 27: / Line 27: @@
 ==See also==
-*[[Names of the Greeks]]
+*[[Greek (name)]]
 *[[Griko language]]
 ==Notes==

@@ Line 8: / Line 8: @@
 With this colonization, [[Greek culture]] was exported to Italy, in its dialects of the [[Ancient Greek language]], its religious rites and its traditions of the independent ''[[polis]]''. An original [[Hellenic civilization]] soon developed, later interacting with the native Italic and Latin civilisations.  The most important cultural transplant was the [[Chalcis|Chalcidean]]/[[Cumaean alphabet|Cumaean]] variety of the [[Greek alphabet]], which was adopted by the Etruscans; the Old Italic alphabet subsequently evolved into the Latin alphabet, which became the most widely used alphabet in the world.
-Many of the new Hellenic cities became very rich and powerful, like ''Kapuê'' ([[Capua]]), ''Neapolis'' (Νεάπολις, Naples), [[Syracuse]], [[Akragas]], ''Subaris'' (Σύβαρις, [[Sybaris]]). Other cities in Magna Graecia included ''Taras'' (Τάρας, Taranto), ''Epizephyrioi Lokroi'' or [[Locri]] (Λοκροί), [[Rhegion]] (Ρήγιον), ''Kroton'' (Κρότων, Crotone), [[Thurii]] (Θούριοι), [[Elea]] (Ελέα) and ''Ankon'' (Αγκων, Ancona).
+Many of the new Hellenic cities became very rich and powerful, like ''Kapuê'' ([[Capua]]), ''Neapolis'' (Νεάπολις, Naples), [[Syracuse]], [[Akragas]], ''Subaris'' (Σύβαρις, [[Sybaris]]). Other cities in Magna Graecia included ''[[Taras]]'' (Τάρας, Taranto), ''Epizephyrioi Lokroi'' or [[Locri]] (Λοκροί), [[Rhegion]] (Ρήγιον), ''Kroton'' (Κρότων, Crotone), [[Thurii]] (Θούριοι), [[Elea]] (Ελέα) and ''Ankon'' (Αγκων, Ancona).
 Following the [[Pyrrhic War]], Magna Graecia was absorbed into the Roman Republic
 ===The Middle Ages===

@@ Line 23: / Line 23: @@
 ==Citations==
-{{quoted|...since the land of Italy was Greater Greece.|Ovid|Fasti, IV}}
+*Ovid, Fasti, IV "...since the land of Italy was Greater Greece."
 ==See also==