GOLFO DI SALERNO

Paestum was a major ancient Greek city on the coast of the Tyrrhenian Sea in Magna Graecia (southern Italy). It was established by Dorians. After its foundation by Greek colonists under the name of Poseidonia, it was eventually conquered by the local Lucanians and later the Romans. The Lucanians renamed it to Paistos and the Romans gave the city its current name. The city is famous for its Ancient Greek fresco as well as three ancient Greek temples of the Doric order, dating from about 600 to 450 BC, all of which are in a remarkable state of preservation. The city walls and amphitheater are largely intact, and the bottom of the walls of many other structures remain, as well as the cobblestone roads that still cross the city. However, the necropolis nearby holds one of the most spectacular treasures of all that are to be found in Paestum. The “Tomb of the Diver” has the only preserved fresco, or wall painting, from the Greek classical period anywhere in the entire world. The tomb may sh...

At the time of the transition between prehistory and history, the Etruscans (or Tirreni) built a high civilization in the heart of Italy, long before Rome, laying the foundations for the future rise of Europe. Starting from Tuscany, they expanded southwards until they reached Campania, colliding with the colonies of Magna Graecia. Tirreni was an exonym used by Greek authors to refer, in a generic sense, to non-Greek peoples, and to barbarian pirates. It is also the name with which the Greeks called theyr enemies Etruscans, Nuceria Alfaterna (Nocera), Marcìna (Vietri sul Mare), Irnthi (Fratte), Amina (Pontecagnano) could have formed an Etruscan urban confederation derived from the inclusion in the large area between Sorrento and Poseidonia (the Roman Paestum) to prevent its complete Greekization like the Italian southeast. Anyway, with the battle of Cuma in 474 BC (naval clash fought between the Siceliot Syracusan and the Etruscan fleets), the Syracusan put an end to the Etruscan expans...

Much has been written about the foundation of Salerno "a little above the sea", without however having certain proofs to support the various theories. Locally Salerno was born after. After Paestum (around 600 BC), after Nuceria (6th century BC), after Vietri, after Pontecagnano (between the 9th and 8th centuries BC) MAP. So the history of the city can be read only under the lens of different previous circumstances. We too will try to give our interpretation, starting from some assumptions: With all probability there were  -in the same area- italic villages and hamlets called "Salernum" older than the Roman castrum and oppidum; the Vietri/Salerno area is particularly favored by an excellent geographical position, which allowed it, in ancient times, to dominate the trade that took place in the gulf between Campania and Lucania on the sea routes connecting the Levantine markets and those of the western Mediterranean, and then ensured them; the historical city extends f...