View source for Sybaris

{{Short description|Important city of Magna Graecia}}
{{about|the ancient city of Magna Graecia||Sybaris (disambiguation)|and|Sibari}}
{{Infobox ancient site
  |name = Sybaris
  |native_name = Σύβαρις<br />Sibari
  |alternate_name =
  |image = Sibari-scavi-teatro.jpg
  |alt =
  |caption = Remains of the theatre of Sybaris
  |map_type = Italy
  |map_alt =
  |coordinates = {{coord|39|43|0|N|16|29|38|E|display=inline,title}}
  |location = [[Sibari]], [[Province of Cosenza]], [[Calabria]], [[Italy]]
  |region = [[Magna Graecia]]
  |type = Settlement
  |part_of =
  |length =
  |width =
  |area = Approximately {{convert|500|ha|abbr=on}}
  |height =
  |builder = [[Achaeans (tribe)|Achaean]] and [[Troezen]]ian colonists
  |material =
  |built = 720&nbsp;BC
  |abandoned = 445&nbsp;BC
  |epochs = [[Archaic Greece]] to [[Classical Greece]]
  |cultures =
  |dependency_of =
  |occupants =
  |event =
  |excavations = 1960s
  |archaeologists =
  |condition =
  |ownership =
  |management = Soprintendenza per i Beni Archeologici della Calabria
  |public_access =
  |website = [https://web.archive.org/web/20140226183334/http://www.archeocalabria.beniculturali.it/archeovirtualtour/calabriaweb/sibari1.htm ArcheoCalabriaVirtual] {{in lang|it}}
  |notes =
}}

'''Sybaris''' ({{langx|grc|Σύβαρις}}; {{langx|it|Sibari}}) was an important ancient Greek city situated on the coast of the [[Gulf of Taranto]] in modern [[Calabria]], Italy.

The city was founded around 720&nbsp;BC by [[Achaeans (tribe)|Achaean]] and [[Troezen]]ian settlers and the Achaeans also went on to found the nearby great city of [[Crotone|Kroton]] 10 years later. Sybaris amassed great wealth thanks to its fertile land and busy port so that it was known as the wealthiest colony of the Greek Archaic world. Its inhabitants became famous among the [[Greeks]] for their [[hedonism]], feasts, and excesses, to the extent that "sybarite" and "sybaritic" have become bywords for opulence, luxury, and outrageous pleasure-seeking. Sybaris also ruled over smaller colonies throughout the area, and had an ''acropolis'' at [[Timpone della Motta]] near [[Francavilla Marittima]] about 10 km distant.

The city of Sybaris was destroyed in about 510 BC by its neighbour Kroton{{cref2|A}} and its population driven out, but its colonies in the area continued to exist.<ref>Rethinking Collapse: the Fall of Sybaris (ca. 510 BC) and the Transformation of Greek Colonial Space  https://francavilla.philhist.unibas.ch/it/rethinking-collapse/</ref>

It was replaced by a new colony under Athenian leadership in 444/43 BC which became the city [[Thurii]] built partially on top of the older city. Thurii was also destroyed in 193 BC but the Romans built the city of [[Copia (ancient city)|Copia]] on the same grid as Thurii, and parts of these cities are visible today. 

The ruins of Sybaris/Thurii/Copia became forgotten as they were buried by sediment from the Crati river. The ruins were rediscovered and excavated from 1932. Today they can be found southeast of [[Sibari]] in the [[Province of Cosenza]], [[Calabria]], [[Italy]].

== Geography ==

The city was situated close to the sea and lay between the Crathis and Sybaris rivers (from which the city derives its name).{{sfnm|Strabo|1924|1loc=[https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Strab.+6.1.13 6.1.13]|Diodorus Siculus|2010|2p=189|2loc=12.9.2}} Most modern research places the city on a coastal ridge near a [[wetland]] [[lagoon]]. The rivers are now known as the Crati and Coscile. Today the Coscile feeds into the Crati about 5 km from its mouth, which passes just south of the archaeological site of the city. When Sybaris was still populated the Coscile pursued a direct course into the Gulf of Taranto, probably at a short distance to the north.{{sfn|Stanley|Bernasconi|2009|p=76, 82}} 

The city lay on the widest plain in modern Calabria that was renowned for its fertility and the origin of the city's wealth.{{sfn|Varro|1934|loc=[https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Varro/de_Re_Rustica/1*.html#44 1.44]}}

The city lay close to sea level and the plain surrounded by the two rivers was subject to periodic flooding so that today Sybaris lies some 6 m below the surface and below groundwater level. A disastrous flood in 2013 filled the excavated site and covered it with silt. Even in 2023 powerful pumps are continuously needed to remove groundwater from the site.

== History ==

=== Foundation ===

Sybaris was founded in 720&nbsp;BC<ref name=pssc1 /> by ''Is'' {{sic}} of [[Helike|Helice]],{{sfn|Strabo|1924|loc=[https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Strab.+6.1.13 6.1.13]}} a city in [[Achaea (ancient region)|Achaea]] in the northern [[Peloponnese]]. The Achaeans were accompanied by a number of [[Troezen]]ians who were eventually expelled by the more numerous Achaeans.{{sfn|Aristotle|1932|loc=[https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Aristot.+Pol.+5.1303a 5.1303a]}} The Achaean colonisation was the second great migratory wave from Greece  towards the West after that of the [[Euboea]]ns, concentrating instead on the Ionian coast (Metapontum, Poseidonia, Sibaris, Kroton).<ref>Giuseppe Celsi: Ercole, Miscello, Apollo Pizio e la fondazione di Crotone, 2020 https://www.gruppoarcheologicokr.it/ercole-miscello-apollo-pizio-e-la-fondazione-di-crotone/#footnote_10_6157</ref> The Achaeans were motivated, like others of the [[Greek colonisation]], by the lack of cultivatable land in their mountainous region and by population pressure.

The authenticity of the name of the founder ([[Oikistes|oekist]]) is uncertain as Strabo is the only source and it might be a corruption of [Sagar]is or [Sybar]is. Further complicating the issue is the appearance of the letters ''Wiis'' on coins of [[Paestum|Poseidonia]].{{sfn|Hall|2008|p=[https://books.google.com/books?id=z3C9b4FvpEwC&pg=PA411 411]}}{{cref2|B}} This has been interpreted as a confirmation of Strabo's account because Poseidonia is thought to be a colony of Sybaris.{{sfn|Greco|2011|p=238–239}}

=== Prosperity in the 7th and 6th century BC ===

[[File:SNGANS 841.jpg|thumb|[[Nummus|Noummos]] of Sybaris with characteristic bull symbol, c. 550–510&nbsp;BC]]

Sybaris amassed great wealth and a huge population as a result of its fertile farming land and its policy of admitting aliens to its citizenry. It was the largest Greek city in Italy and may have had 300,000 inhabitants{{sfn|Diodorus Siculus|2010|p=189|loc=12.9.1–2}} although others give a figure of 100,000.<ref name=pssc2 /> The circumference of the city was fifty ''[[Stadion (unit of length)|stadia]]'' (over {{convert|6|miles}}) and the area approximately {{convert|500|ha}}.{{sfn|Hansen|2004|p=[https://books.google.com/books?id=oafCBYBbMRgC&pg=PA34 34]}} 

Sybaris was also a dominant power in the region and ruled over 4 tribes and 25 cities.{{sfn|Strabo|1924|loc=[https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Strab.+6.1.13 6.1.13]}} Sybaris extended its dominion across the peninsula to the [[Tyrrhenian Sea]], where it is thought to have founded its colonies [[Paestum|Poseidonia]],{{sfn|Strabo|1924|loc=[https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Strab.+5.4.13&fromdoc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.01.0239 5.4.13]}} [[Laüs]]{{sfnm|Strabo|1924|1loc=[https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Strab.+6.1.1 6.1.1]|Herodotus|1922|2loc=[https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Hdt.+6.21.1 6.21.1]}} and [[Scidrus]].{{sfn|Herodotus|1922|loc=[https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Hdt.+6.21.1 6.21.1]}} Poseidonia was founded in approximately 600 BC,{{sfn|Cerchiai|Jannelli|Longo|2004|p=[https://books.google.com/books?id=fH32nSiCue0C&pg=PA62 62]}}{{sfn|Papadopoulos|2002|p=30}} In the second half of the 7th century BC the Sybarites took over from the Oenotrians the sanctuary of [[Athena]] on the [[Timpone della Motta]] as their acropolis, located 15 km to the northwest, where they regularly celebrated large festivals.{{sfn|Kleibrink|Jacobsen|Handberg|2004|p=63}}

Descriptions of the wealth and luxury of Sybaris are plentiful in the ancient literature. Smindyrides was a prominent citizen who is claimed by [[Herodotus]] to have surpassed all other men in refined luxury.{{sfnm|Herodotus|1922|1loc=[https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Hdt.+6.127.1 6.127.1]}} Diodorus describes him as the wealthiest suitor for the daughter of [[Cleisthenes of Sicyon]]. He sailed from Sybaris to [[Sicyon]] in a ship of fifty oars manned by his own slaves and surpassed even Cleisthenes himself in luxury.{{sfn|Diodorus Siculus|1939|loc=[https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Diodorus_Siculus/8*.html#18 8.18–19]}} [[Athenaeus]] makes the claim that his entourage consisted of a thousand slaves, fishermen, bird-catchers and cooks.{{sfn|Athenaeus|1854|loc=[https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Ath.+6.105 6.105]}} However, his information must be false because he claims to cite Herodotus, who does not mention such a number.{{sfn|Gorman|Gorman|2007|p=39–40}} [[Claudius Aelianus]] even alleges that Smyndirides could not sleep on a bed of rose petals because it gave him [[blister]]s.{{sfn|Claudius Aelianus|1665|loc=[http://penelope.uchicago.edu/aelian/varhist9.xhtml#chap24 9.24]}} Another Sybarite who is known by name is Alcimenes. A [[Pseudo-Aristotle]] mentions that it was said he dedicated a very expensive cloak as a votive offering at the temple of [[Promunturium Lacinium|Lacinian]] [[Hera]].{{sfn|Pseudo-Aristotle|1936|loc=[https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Aristotle/de_Mirabilibus*.html#96 96]}} Here Athenaeus distorts the information too: he treats the story as genuine rather than hearsay and attributes it to the real Aristotle.{{sfnm|1a1=Athenaeus|1y=1854|1loc=[https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Ath.+12.58 12.58]|2a1=Gorman|2a2=Gorman|2y=2007|2p=48–49}}

[[Justin (historian)|Justin]] mentions an alliance of Sybaris with the other Achaean colonies [[Metapontum]] and [[Crotone|Kroton]] against the [[Ionians|Ionian]] colony [[Siris (Magna Graecia)|Siris]]. This resulted in the conquest of Siris in the middle of the sixth century BC.{{sfnm|Justin|1853|1loc={{usurped|1=[https://web.archive.org/web/20030902204923/http://www.forumromanum.org/literature/justin/english/trans20.html#2 20.2]}} |Wilson|2013|2p=[https://books.google.com/books?id=8pXhAQAAQBAJ&pg=PA443 443]}} In the second half of the sixth century BC Sybaris started minting its first coins, of which the oldest have been dated to approximately 530 BC. These coins employed the Achaean weight standard which was shared with the other Achaean colonies Kroton, [[Caulonia (ancient city)|Caulonia]] and Metapontum.{{sfn|Papadopoulos|2002|p=38}}

=== Ancient patent law ===

One of the first documented intellectual property laws similar to modern patent laws is thought to have been enacted in the 6th century BC in Sybaris, to protect culinary creations of chefs or bakers for a period of 1 year.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://altlawforum.org/publications/a-history-of-patent-law/ | title=altlawforum}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.davison.com/blog/the-global-history-of-patents/ | title=davison legal blog| date=4 September 2019}}</ref>

=== Subjugation by Kroton ===
Diodorus Siculus writes that the [[oligarchy|oligarchic]] government of the city was overthrown in 510/509&nbsp;BC by a popular leader named Telys (Herodotus describes him as a [[tyrant]]{{sfn|Herodotus|1922|loc=[https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Hdt.+5.44 5.44]}}). He persuaded the Sybarites to exile the 500 richest citizens and confiscate their wealth. The exiled citizens took refuge at the altars of Kroton. Telys demanded the Krotoniates return the exiles under threat of war. The Krotoniates were inclined to surrender the exiles to avoid war, but [[Pythagoras]] convinced them to protect the suppliants. As a consequence the Sybarites marched with 300,000 men upon the Krotoniates, whose army led by [[Milo of Croton|Milo]] numbered 100,000. The army sizes given by Diodorus (shared with Strabo) must have been even more exaggerated than the population size. Even though they were greatly outnumbered, the Krotoniates won the battle and took no prisoners, killing most of the Sybarites. After their victory they plundered and razed Sybaris. According to Strabo either two months or nine days elapsed between the battle and the sack. Most likely the Sybarites executed Telys and his supporters during this time.{{sfnm|Diodorus Siculus|2010|1pp=[https://books.google.com/books?id=InAjXetbsBkC&pg=PA190 190–191]|1loc=12.9.1–12.10.1, footnote 46 and 48|Strabo|1924|2loc=[https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Strab.+6.1.13 6.1.13]}}

[[Walter Burkert]] questions the veracity of the account given by Diodorus Siculus. It would have been illogical for Telys to banish his opponents first and then to demand their return. He argues that the elements of the story resemble fictional [[tragedy|tragedies]].{{sfnm|Burkert|1972|p=[https://books.google.com/books?id=0qqp4Vk1zG0C&pg=PA116 116]|Zhmud|2012|2p=[https://books.google.com/books?id=of-ghBD9q1QC&pg=PA96 96]}} The version of Herodotus is more brief and doesn't involve Pythagoras, but does claim that the Krotoniates received help from [[Dorieus]].{{sfn|Herodotus|1922|loc=[https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Hdt.+5.44 5.44]}} 

Strabo claims that the Krotoniates diverted the course of the river Crathis to submerge Sybaris.{{sfn|Strabo|1924|loc=[https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Strab.+6.1.13 6.1.13]}} The Crati transports coarse [[sand]] and [[pebble]]s in its [[channel (geography)|channel]] and if Strabo's claim is true, that material would have been [[deposition (geology)|deposited]] as [[sediment]] above the city when the river submerged it. An analysis of [[core sample]]s taken from the site did not find such river deposits directly above the former city, and the burial of Sybaris more likely resulted from natural processes such as [[fluvial]] [[overbank]] [[alluvium|alluviation]].{{sfn|Stanley|Bernasconi|2009|p=82}}

=== Continued struggle with Kroton ===

[[File:Sybaris nomos 453 92000187.jpg|thumb|[[Nummus|Noummos]] of Sybaris, c. 452–446 BC. [[Poseidon]] with a [[trident]] is on the [[Obverse and reverse|obverse]] and the bull symbol on the reverse, suggesting a link with Poseidonia.]]
After its destruction the surviving inhabitants took refuge at their colonies Laüs and Scidrus.{{sfn|Herodotus|1922|loc=[https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Hdt.+6.21.1 6.21.1]}} It is assumed some also fled to Poseidonia, because in the early fifth century Poseidonia's coins adopted the Achaean weight standard and the bull seen on Sybarite coins. A. J. Graham thinks it was plausible that the number of refugees was large enough for some kind of [[synoecism]] to have occurred between the Poseidonians and the Sybarites, possibly in the form of a [[Sympoliteia (treaty)|sympolity]].{{sfn|Graham|1999|p=[https://books.google.com/books?id=z6XnAAAAIAAJ&pg=PA114 114]}} Sybaris was not completely destroyed, as Diodorus and Strabo claimed, but became a dependent "ally" of Kroton. "Alliance" coins show the tripod symbol of Kroton on one side and the bull symbol of Sybaris on the other side. Literary evidence from [[Aristoxenus]] attests of [[Pythagoreanism|Pythagoreans]] who apparently moved to Sybaris after its subjugation by Kroton.{{sfn|Zhmud|2012|p=[https://books.google.com/books?id=of-ghBD9q1QC&pg=PA97 97]}}

Diodorus Siculus mentions that Kroton besieged Sybaris again in 476/475&nbsp;BC. The Sybarites appealed to the tyrant [[Hiero I of Syracuse]] for help. Hiero put his brother Polyzelos in command of an army to relieve the Sybarites, expecting that he would be killed by the Krotoniates. Polyzelos suspected this, refused to lead the campaign and took refuge with the tyrant [[Theron of Acragas]].{{sfn|Diodorus Siculus|2010|pp=[https://books.google.com/books?id=InAjXetbsBkC&pg=PA107 107–108]|loc=11.48.1–5}} Diodorus makes no further mention of Hiero's plan to relieve Sybaris, indicating that the Sybarites were defeated again. However, according to [[Timaeus (historian)|Timaeus]] and two [[scholia]] Polyzelos was successful in relieving the siege of Sybaris and fled to [[Agrigento|Acragas]] later when he was accused of plotting revolution.{{sfnm|Rhodes|2006|1p=[https://books.google.com/books?id=5fkjzwJxCA4C&pg=PA9 75]|Diodorus Siculus|2010|2pp=[https://books.google.com/books?id=InAjXetbsBkC&pg=PA108 108–109]|2loc=footnote 185}}

Regardless of the results of the siege of 476&nbsp;BC, it seems the Sybarites had to leave their city at some point between that year and 452/451&nbsp;BC. Diodorus writes that the Sybarites refounded their city at its former site in 452/451&nbsp;BC under the leadership of a [[Ancient Thessaly|Thessalian]].{{sfnm|Diodorus Siculus|2010|1p=[https://books.google.com/books?id=InAjXetbsBkC&pg=PA173 173]|1loc=11.90.3|Diodorus Siculus|2010|2pp=[https://books.google.com/books?id=InAjXetbsBkC&pg=PA191 191–192]|2loc=12.10.2}} It is thought that Poseidonia had a major share in this because the coins of the new city have a great resemblance to those of Poseidonia. Possibly a treaty of friendship between Sybaris, its allies and the Serdaioi (an unknown people) dates to this new foundation, because Poseidonia was the guarantor of this treaty.{{sfn|Rutter|1970|p=173}} Ultimately the Sybarites were again driven off by the Krotoniates from their new city in 446/445&nbsp;BC.{{sfnm|Diodorus Siculus|2010|1p=[https://books.google.com/books?id=InAjXetbsBkC&pg=PA173 173]|1loc=11.90.4|Diodorus Siculus|2010|2pp=[https://books.google.com/books?id=InAjXetbsBkC&pg=PA191 191–192]|2loc=12.10.2}}

=== Final expulsion in 445&nbsp;BC ===
What happened next is again uncertain. According to Diodorus, the Sybarites requested [[Sparta]] and [[Athens]] to help them reoccupy their city. With the help of Athens and some other cities in the [[Peloponnese]] they founded the city of [[Thurii]] not far from the site of Sybaris. Soon a conflict arose between the Sybarites and the other colonists of Thurii over the privileges the Sybarites enjoyed. Practically all of the Sybarites were killed by the other colonists, who were more numerous and powerful.{{sfn|Diodorus Siculus|2010|pp=192–195|loc=12.10.2–12.11.2}} Some of the Sybarites managed to flee and founded [[Sybaris on the Traeis]] shortly after 444&nbsp;BC.{{sfnm|Diodorus Siculus|2010|1loc=12.22.1|Wonder|2012|2p=133}}

The request for help from the Sybarites must have been made after the conclusion of the [[Thirty Years' Peace]] in the early spring of 445&nbsp;BC, for it would not have made sense to ask for help while Sparta and Athens were still at war with each other.{{sfn|Diodorus Siculus|2010|pp=192|loc=footnote 50}} While Diodorus identifies only one expedition for the foundation of Thurii, Strabo writes that the Athenian and other Greek colonists first lived in Sybaris and only founded Thurii after the expulsion of the Sybarites.{{sfn|Strabo|1924|loc=[https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Strab.+6.1.13 6.1.13]}} Modern scholarship corroborates Strabo's account and identifies two expeditions. In 446/445&nbsp;BC Athens sent its expedition to reinforce the existing population of Sybaris. In the summer of 445&nbsp;BC the collision between the two groups led to the downfall of the Sybarites. In 444/443&nbsp;BC the Athenians and other new colonists then turned the city into a new foundation called Thurii. The city received a new democratic constitution which made provisions for ten tribes, but which did not include the Sybarites.{{sfnm|Diodorus Siculus|2010|1pp=192–194|1loc=footnotes 51, 54 and 57|Lewis|1992|2pp=[https://books.google.com/books?id=Nqbz8Emo3PIC&pg=PA141 141–142]}}

=== Legacy ===
Unlike Herodotus, Diodorus and earlier ancient Greek writers, later authors from the [[Ancient Rome|Roman]] period denounced the Sybarites. Aelianus, Strabo and especially Athenaeus saw the destruction of Sybaris as divine vengeance upon the Sybarites for their pride, arrogance, and excessive luxury. Athenaeus is the richest source for anecdotes about the Sybarites. According to him they invented the [[chamber pot]] and pioneered the concept of [[intellectual property]] to ensure that cooks could exclusively profit from their signature dishes for a whole year. They always travelled in [[chariots]], but would still take three days for a journey of one day. The roads to villas in the countryside were roofed over and canals transported wine from vineyards to cellars near the sea.{{sfn|Athenaeus|1854|loc=[https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Ath.+12.17 12.17], [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Ath.+12.20 12.20]}} A fragment of the comedian Metagenes he quotes has a Sybarite boasting about literal rivers of food flowing through the city.<ref>[https://www.loebclassics.com/view/metagenes-testimonia_fragments/2011/pb_LCL514.361.xml METAGENES, ''Testimonia and Fragments'']</ref>

Not only does Athenaeus provide a great deal of examples to show the decadence of Sybarites, but he also argues that their excessive luxury and sins led to their doom. According to Athenaeus ambassadors of the Sybarites (one of whom was named [[Amyris of Sybaris|Amyris]]) consulted the [[Pythia|oracle of Delphi]], who prophesied that war and internal conflict awaited them if they would honour man more than the gods.{{sfn|Athenaeus|1854|loc=[https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Ath.+12.18 12.18]}} Later he cites [[Phylarchus]], who wrote that the Sybarites invoked the anger of Hera when they murdered thirty ambassadors from Kroton and left them unburied. He also cites [[Heraclides Ponticus|Herakleides]] as attributing the divine wrath to the murder of supporters of Telys on the altars of the gods. Herakleides supposedly mentioned that the Sybarites attempted to supplant the [[Ancient Olympic Games|Olympic Games]] by attracting the athletes to their own public games with greater prizes.{{sfn|Athenaeus|1854|loc=[https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Ath.+12.21 12.21]}} The most direct link between luxury and corruption is evident in Athenaeus' anecdote about the defeat of the Sybarites: to amuse themselves the Sybarite cavalrymen trained their horses to dance to flute music. When the Krotoniate army had their flute players make music the horses of the Sybarites ran over to the Krotoniates along with their riders.{{sfn|Athenaeus|1854|loc=[https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Ath.+12.19 12.19]}} Strabo gives the "luxury and insolence" of the Sybarites as the reason for their defeat.{{sfn|Strabo|1924|loc=[https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Strab.+6.1.13 6.1.13]}} Claudius Aelianus attributes the fall of Sybaris to its luxury and the murder of a [[lute]]nist at the altar of Hera.{{sfn|Claudius Aelianus|1665|loc=[http://penelope.uchicago.edu/aelian/varhist1.xhtml#chap19 1.19], [http://penelope.uchicago.edu/aelian/varhist3.xhtml#chap43 3.43]}}

Vanessa Gorman gives no credence to these accounts because grave sins followed by divine retribution were stock elements of fiction at the time.{{sfn|Gorman|2001|p=[http://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=mdp.39015053540293;view=2up;seq=115 106]}} Furthermore, she and Robert Gorman point to Athenaeus as the origin of the embellished accounts rather than the historians he cited. He altered details of the original accounts, disguised his own contributions as those of past historians and invented new information to fit his argument that luxury leads to catastrophe. This concept was called [[tryphé]] and was a popular belief in his time, at the turn of the 2nd century AD.{{sfn|Gorman|Gorman|2007|p=47–54, 59}} Peter Green likewise argues that these accounts are most likely the inventions of moralists. He points out the vast natural wealth of the city was the more likely reason it was attacked by Kroton.{{sfn|Diodorus Siculus|2010|pp=[https://books.google.com/books?id=InAjXetbsBkC&pg=PA190 189–190]|loc=footnote 43}}

This association of Sybaris with excessive luxury transferred to the [[English language]], in which the words "sybarite" and "sybaritic" have become bywords for opulent luxury and outrageous pleasure seeking. One story, mentioned in [[Samuel Johnson]]'s ''[[A Dictionary of the English Language]]'', alludes to Aelianus' anecdote about Smindyrides. It mentions a Sybarite sleeping on a bed of rose petals, but unable to get to sleep because one of the petals was folded over.{{sfn|Johnson|1830|p=[https://books.google.com/books?id=TzZAAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA907 907]}}

== Archaeology ==

The location of the city which had been buried over time by more than 6 m of alluvial sediment from the Crati river  was found only after a massive core drilling project from the early 1960s. It also lies below present [[groundwater]] level. It was also found that the later cities of Thurii and Copia were built partially above Sybaris.{{sfn|Stanley|Bernasconi|2009|p=75–76}}

Due to these reasons only a few parts of the city have been excavated: the Stombi quarter and minor test pits in the Parco del Cavallo area. On the latter site were found wonderfully decorated architectural elements from an as yet unidentified temple. The large number of finds from so small an area gives an idea of the magnificence of the city. 

Other evidence about the city comes indirectly via the discovery of a sanctuary on the [[Timpone della Motta]] in nearby Francavilla Marittima where the highland site dominates the Crati river plain below.<ref>Scavi archeologici dell'Istituto di Archeologia Classica a Francavilla Marittima, Calabria https://francavilla.philhist.unibas.ch/it/ricerca-e-scavi/</ref>

==See also==
* [[List of ancient Greek cities]]

== Notes ==
{{cnote2 begin}}
{{cnote2|A|This article frequently makes use of [[Athens|Athenian]] [[Eponymous archon|archon years]] which were used by [[Diodorus Siculus]], who is the most important primary source for information on Sybaris. These years ran from July to June.}}
{{cnote2|B|The Greek text on the coins contains the archaic letter [[digamma]]. This letter is transliterated as "W" in English, but resembles the English letter "F", which is the reason why the text is also transliterated as ''Fiis''. By about the eighth century BC, the letter digamma had disappeared in many Greek dialects, so ''Wiis'' would become ''Is'' because the two i's would be run together.}}
{{cnote2 end}}

== References ==
{{reflist|30em|refs=
<ref name=pssc1>Pseudo-Scymnus, ''Periodos to Nicomedes'' 360</ref>
<ref name=pssc2>Pseudo-Scymnus, ''Periodos to Nicomedes'' 340f</ref>
}}

== Sources ==
{{refbegin|30em|indent=yes}}
===Primary sources===
* {{cite book | author=Aristotle | author-link=Aristotle | year=1932 | editor-last=Rackham | editor-first=H. | title=Politics | series=Aristotle | volume=21 | location=Cambridge, Massachusetts | publisher=Harvard University Press | isbn=978-0-674-99291-7 }}
* {{cite book | author=Athenaeus | author-link=Athenaeus | year=1854 | editor-last=Yonge | editor-first=C. D. | editor-link=Charles Duke Yonge | title=The Deipnosophists; or, Banquet of the learned, of Athenaeus | volume=3 | location=London | publisher=Henry G. Bohn }}
* {{cite book | author=Claudius Aelianus | author-link=Claudius Aelianus | year=1665 | editor-last=Stanley | editor-first=Thomas | editor-link=Thomas Stanley (author) | title=Ælian his Various History | location=London | publisher=Thomas Dring }}
* {{cite book | author=Diodorus Siculus | author-link=Diodorus Siculus | year=1939 | editor-last=Oldfather | editor-first=C. H. | editor-link=Charles Henry Oldfather | title=Library of History | volume=3 | location=Cambridge, Massachusetts | publisher=Harvard University Press | isbn=978-0-674-99375-4 | title-link=Bibliotheca historica }}
* {{cite book | author=Diodorus Siculus | year=2010 | editor-last=Green | editor-first=Peter | editor-link=Peter Green (historian) | title=Books 11-12.37.1: Greek History 480-431 B.C., the Alternative Version | location=Austin, Texas | publisher=University of Texas Press | isbn=978-0-292-71277-5 | author-mask=3 }}
* {{cite book | author=Herodotus | author-link=Herodotus | year=1922 | editor-last=Godley | editor-first=A. D. | editor-link=A. D. Godley | title=The Persian Wars | volume=3 | location=Cambridge, Massachusetts | publisher=Harvard University Press |isbn=978-0-674-99133-0 | title-link=Histories (Herodotus) }}
* {{cite book | author=Justin | author-link=Justin (historian) | year=1853 | editor-last=Watson | editor-first=John Selby | editor-link=John Selby Watson | title=Epitome of the Philippic History of Pompeius Trogus | location=London | publisher=Henry G. Bohn }}
* {{cite book | author=Pseudo-Aristotle | author-link=Pseudo-Aristotle | year=1936 | editor-last=Hett | editor-first=W. S. | chapter=[[On Marvellous Things Heard]] | title=Minor Works | series=Aristotle | volume=14 | location=Cambridge, Massachusetts | publisher=Harvard University Press | isbn=978-0-674-99338-9 | url-access=registration | url=https://archive.org/details/minorworksaristo01aris }}
* {{cite book | author=Solinus | author-link=Gaius Julius Solinus | year=1895 | editor-last=Mommsen | editor-first=Theodor | editor-link=Theodor Mommsen | title=De mirabilibus mundi }}
* {{cite book | author=Strabo | author-link=Strabo | year=1924 | editor-last=Jones | editor-first=H. L. | title=Geography | volume=3 | location=Cambridge, Massachusetts | publisher=Harvard University Press | isbn=978-0-674-99201-6 | title-link=Geographica }}
* {{cite book | author=Varro | author-link=Marcus Terentius Varro | year=1934 | chapter=Res Rustica | editor1-last=Hooper | editor-first=W. D. | editor2-last=Ash | editor2-first=Harrison Boyd | title=On Agriculture | location=Cambridge, Massachusetts | publisher=Harvard University Press | isbn=978-0-674-99313-6 }}
===Secondary sources===
* {{cite book | last=Burkert | year=1972 | first=Walter | title=Lore and Science in Ancient Pythagoreanism | publisher=Harvard University Press | isbn=978-0-674-53918-1 }}
* {{cite book | editor1-last=Cerchiai | editor1-first=Luca | editor2-last=Jannelli | editor2-first=Lorena | editor3-last=Longo | editor3-first=Fausto | year=2004 | others=Translated from Italian by the J. Paul Getty Trust | title=The Greek Cities of Magna Graecia and Sicily | publisher=Getty Publications | location=Los Angeles, California | isbn=978-0-89236-751-1 }}
* {{cite journal | last1=Gorman | first1=Robert J. | last2=Gorman | first2=Vanessa B. | year=2007 | title=The Tryphê of the Sybarites: A Historiographical Problem in Athenaeus | journal=The Journal of Hellenic Studies | volume=127 | pages=38–60 | doi=10.1017/S0075426900001609 | s2cid=15569550 | url=http://digitalcommons.unl.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1035&context=historyfacpub | url-access=subscription }}
* {{cite book | last=Gorman | first=Vanessa B. | year=2001 | title=Miletos, the Ornament of Ionia: A History of the City to 400 B.C.E. | location=Ann Arbor | publisher=University of Michigan Press | isbn=978-0-472-11199-2 }}
* {{cite book | last=Graham | first=A. J. | title=Colony and Mother City in Ancient Greece | year=1999 | publisher=Manchester University Press | location=Manchester, England | isbn=978-0-7190-5739-7 }}
* {{cite journal | last=Greco | first=Emanuele | year=2011 | title=On the Origin of the Western Greek Poleis | journal=Ancient West & East | volume=10 | url=http://opar.unior.it/1376/1/AWE10011.pdf | doi=10.2143/AWE.10.0.2141822 }}
* {{cite book | last=Hall |first=Jonathan M. | author-link=Jonathan M. Hall | year=2008 |chapter=Foundation Stories | editor-last=Tsetskhladze | editor-first=Gocha R. | title=Greek Colonisation: An Account of Greek Colonies and Other Settlements Overseas |volume=2 | location=Leiden | publisher=Brill | pages=383–426 | isbn=978-90-04-15576-3 }}
* {{cite book | last=Hansen | first=Mogens Herman | year=2004 | chapter=The Concept of the Consumption City Applied to the Greek Polis | editor-last=Nielsen | editor-first=Thomas Heine | title=Once Again: Studies in the Ancient Greek Polis | series=Historia Einzelschriften | volume=180 | location=Stuttgart | publisher=Franz Steiner Verlag | isbn=978-3-515-08438-3 }}
* {{cite book | last=Johnson | first=Samuel | year=1830 | title=Johnson's English Dictionary, as Improved by Todd and Abridged by Chalmers | publisher=Perkins and Marvin | location=Boston }}
* {{cite journal | last1=Kleibrink | first1=Marianne | last2=Jacobsen | first2=Jan Kindberg | last3=Handberg | first3=Søren | year=2004 | title=Water for Athena: Votive Gifts at Lagaria (Timpone della Motta, Francavilla Marittima, Calabria) | journal=World Archaeology | volume=36 | issue=1 | pages=43–67 | url=http://www.museumfrancavilla.com/data/docs/Kleibrink-M-Jacobsen-J-K-Handberg-S-2004-Water.pdf | jstor=4128302 | doi=10.1080/0043824042000192669| s2cid=162707534 }}
* {{cite book | last=Lewis | first=David Malcolm | year=1992 | chapter=The Thirty Year's Peace | editor1-last=Lewis | editor1-first=David Malcolm | editor2-last=Boardman | editor2-first=John | title=The Fifth Century B.C. | series=The Cambridge Ancient History | volume=5 | location=Cambridge, United Kingdom | publisher=Cambridge University Press | isbn=978-0-521-23347-7 }}
* {{cite journal | author-last=Papadopoulos | author-first=John K. | year=2002 | title=Minting Identity: Coinage, Ideology and the Economics of Colonization in Akhaina Magna Graecia | journal=Cambridge Archaeological Journal | volume=12 | pages=21–55 | doi=10.1017/S0959774302000021 | s2cid=162404730 }}
* {{cite book | last=Rhodes | first=P. J. | year=2006 | title=A History of the Classical Greek World: 478–323 BC | publisher=Blackwell Publishing | isbn=978-0-631-22564-5 | series=Blackwell History of the Ancient World | volume=11 }}
* {{cite journal | last=Rutter | first=N. K. | year=1970 | title=Sybaris—Legend and Reality | journal=Greece and Rome | volume=17 | issue=2 | pages=168–176 | doi=10.1017/S0017383500017836 | jstor=642759 | s2cid=163611919 }}
* {{cite journal | last1=Stanley | first1=Jean-Daniel | last2=Bernasconi | first2=Maria Pia | year=2009 | title=Sybaris-Thuri-Copia trilogy: three delta coastal sites become land-locked | journal=Méditerranée | issue=112 | pages=75–86 | doi=10.4000/mediterranee.3190 | url=http://mediterranee.revues.org/3190?lang=en | url-access=subscription }}
* {{cite book | editor-last=Wilson | editor-first=Nigel | year=2013 | title=Encyclopedia of Ancient Greece | location=New York City, New York | publisher=Routledge | isbn=978-1-136-78800-0 }}
* {{cite journal | last=Wonder | first=John W. | year=2012 | title=The Italiote League: South Italian Alliances of the Fifth and Fourth Centuries BC | journal=Classical Antiquity | volume=31 | issue=1 | pages=128–151 | doi=10.1525/CA.2012.31.1.128 }}
* {{cite book | last=Zhmud | first=Leonid | year=2012 | title=Pythagoras and the Early Pythagoreans | location=Oxford, United Kingdom | publisher=Oxford University Press | isbn=978-0-19-928931-8 }}
{{refend}}

== Further reading ==
{{refbegin|30em|indent=yes}}
* {{cite book | last=Bullitt | first=Orville H. | title=Search for Sybaris | year=1969 | publisher=Lippincott | location=Philadelphia}}
* {{cite journal | last=Cucci | first=Luigi | title=Geology versus myth: the Holocene evolution of the Sybaris Plain | journal=Annals of Geophysics | year=2005 | volume=48 | issue=6 | url=http://www.earth-prints.org/bitstream/2122/1130/1/13%20Cucci.pdf}}
* {{cite journal | last1=Ferranti | first1=Luigi | last2=Pagliarulo | first2=Rossella | last3=Antonioli | first3=Fabrizio | last4=Randisi | first4=Andrea | title="Punishment for the Sinner": Holocene episodic subsidence and steady tectonic motion at ancient Sybaris (Calabria, southern Italy) | journal=Quaternary International | year=2011 | volume=232 | issue=1–2 | pages=56–70 | doi=10.1016/j.quaint.2010.07.014| bibcode=2011QuInt.232...56F }}
* {{cite journal | last=Kleibrink | first=Marianne | title=The Search for Sybaris: An Evaluation of Historical and Archaeological Evidence | journal=Babesch | year=2001 | volume=76 | issue=1 | pages=33–70 | doi=10.2143/BAB.76.0.76}}
* {{cite book | editor1-last=Rainey | editor1-first=Froelich G. | editor2-last=Lerici | editor2-first=Carlo M. | title=The Search for Sybaris, 1960–1965 | year=1967 | publisher=University Museum Publications | series=University Museum Monographs | volume=29 | isbn=978-0-934718-21-9}}
{{refend}}

==External links==
{{Commons category|Sybaris}}
{{Wiktionary|Sybaris|sybaritic}}

*[https://web.archive.org/web/20140226183334/http://www.archeocalabria.beniculturali.it/archeovirtualtour/calabriaweb/sibari1.htm Official website] {{in lang|it}}
*[http://www.wildwinds.com/coins/greece/lucania/sybaris/t.html Coins of Sybaris on WildWinds.com]
*[http://www.magnagraecia.nl/coins/Lucania_map/Sybaris_map/Sybaris.html Coins of Sybaris on Magna Graecia Coins]

{{Magna Graecia}}
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