![]() In 342 BC, Archidamus III, king of Sparta, arrived in Italy with an army and a fleet to fight the Lucanians and their allies. In 343 BC Taranto appealed for aid against the barbarian to its mother city Sparta, in the face of aggression by the Bruttian League. However, with the death of Archytas in 347 BC, the city started a slow, but ineluctable decline the first sign of the decreased power was its inability to field an army, since the Tarantines preferred to use their large wealth to hire mercenaries, rather than leave their lucrative trades. Under the rule of its greatest statesman, strategist and army commander-in-chief, the philosopher and mathematician Archytas, Taranto reached its peak power and wealth it was the most important city of the Magna Graecia, the main commercial port of southern Italy, it produced and exported goods to and from motherland Greece, it had the biggest army and the largest fleet in southern Italy. In 367 BC Carthage and the Etruscans signed a pact to counter Taranto's power in southern Italy. In 432 BC, after several years of war, Taranto signed a peace treaty with the Greek colony of Thurii both cities contributed to the foundation of the colony of Heraclea, which rapidly fell under Taranto control. In 472 BC, Taranto signed an alliance with Rhegion, to counter the Messapi, Peucezi and Lucanians (all Italic populations), but the Tarantine and Reggian joint armies were defeated near Kailìa (modern Ceglie). In 466 BC, Taranto was defeated by Iapyges, a native population of ancient Apulia, and the monarchy fell, with the inauguration of a democracy, and the expulsion of the Pythagoreans. In its beginning, Taranto was a monarchy, probably modelled on the one ruling over Sparta. Taranto increased its power, becoming a commercial power and a sovereign city of Magna Graecia, ruling over the Greek colonies in southern Italy. Another tradition indicates Taras as the founder of the city the symbol of the Greek city (as well as of the modern city) is Taras riding a dolphin. According to other sources, Heracles founded the city. The partheniae arrived in Apulia, and founded the city, naming it Taras after the son of the Greek sea god, Poseidon, and of a local nymph, Satyrion. Phalanthus, the partheninan leader, went to Delphi to consult the oracle: the puzzling answer designed the harbour of Taranto as the new home of the exiles. It is the only Spartan colony, and its origin is peculiar: the founders are partheniae, sons of Spartan women and perioeci (free men, but not citizens of Sparta) these unions were decided by the Spartans to increase the number of soldiers (only the citizens of Sparta could become soldiers) during the bloody Messenian wars, but later they were nullified, and the sons were forced to leave. Taranto was founded in 708 BC by Spartan immigrants. Phalantus and Aihra, Silvana Galeone Centro Culturale Filonide, Taranto ( Source) The Greek colonists called the city Taras, from the name of the mythical eponymous hero Taras, while the Romans, who connected the city to Rome with an extension of the Appian way, called it Tarentum. Because of the presence of these two bays, Taranto is also called “the city of the two seas”. In addition, the islets and the coast are strongly fortified. Another bay, called Mar Piccolo (Small sea), is formed by the old city, and there fishing is flourishing Mar Piccolo is a military port with a strategic importance at the end of the XIX century, a channel was excavated to allow the military ships to enter Mar Piccolo harbour, and the ancient Greek city become an island. Paul) protect the bay (called Mar Grande, Big sea) where the commercial port is located. The ancient city was situated on a peninsula, protected by a helm the modern city has been built over the ancient Greek necropolis. Taranto history dates back to the 8th century BC when it was founded as a Greek colony. Its altitude is 15 metres above sea level, with a surface area of 217 km². Taranto is today a coastal city in Apulia, southern Italy. ![]()
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