History
Greek Italy & Sicily
Magna Graecia — 'Great Greece' — was the Roman name for the densely Greek region of southern Italy, together with the Greek cities of Sicily. Founded during the great age of colonization, cities such as Tarentum, Sybaris (a byword for luxury), Croton, Elea, Rhegium, and Neapolis (modern Naples) grew rich and populous, in places outshining the cities of the homeland.
The region was extraordinarily important for philosophy. At Croton Pythagoras founded his brotherhood, and for a time his followers governed the city; at Elea, Parmenides and Zeno founded the Eleatic school that taught the unity and changelessness of being. The philosopher Empedocles came from Sicily. These western Greeks gave the tradition some of its deepest roots.
Syracuse, the greatest city of Sicily, drew Plato himself, who made three journeys there in the hope of guiding its rulers toward philosophy — ventures that ended in disappointment and danger. In time all of Magna Graecia passed under the power of Rome.
PLATO SCROLL