"A Locris Italiae frons incipit,
Magna Graecia appellata"

From Locri starts the front of Italy,
called Magna Graecia

Locri Epizephyrii's history is a millenarian one. It begins between the VIII and VII century B.C. with the arrival of a group of settlers from Locris, a poor region of the Greece. The History of the city develops in the course of the ages, and it is studded with pregnant events: from the magnificence of the Archaic Age, to the difficult impact with the Roman world; from the new positive dimension of Municipium, to the unavoidable decline that will cause the city to drag itself along until the X century A.D., when the Saracen invasions became violenter and violenter, pushing the last inhabitants of the zone to take shelter on the near mountains and to contribute to the development of another city.

It's probably the largest section of the site, but it deserves... As a matter of fact it covers a large period of time: more than 15 centuries of history, from the VIII century B.C. to the IX-X century A.D.; and, exactly, from the age of the first Greek settlers' arrival, until the coastal zone was left behind because of the, by then, constant and unstoppable Saracen invasions.

The proper ancient city. Its Temples (with their few ruins), the Theatre, the Walls, the Craftsmen's Neighbourhood (Centocamere); but the greatest part of the city still lies underground and awaits from centuries to be brought again to light. Inside this section you will also find a short mention about the history of the archaeological activity in Locri Epizephyrii, from its discovery until nowadays, and some information regarding the National Museum of Locri Epizephyrii.

Thousands and thousands of archaeological finds were brought again to light. A lot of them can be found at the National Museum Of Locri Epizephyrii. Instead the most important, such as the greater part of the Pinakes, the acroterional group of the Dioscuri or the Small Boards of the archive of the Sanctuary of Olympian Zeus, can be found at the National Museum Of Reggio Calabria; others, such as the Persephon, lie somewhere and their origins are misinterpreted.

The Ancient Locri was the birthplace of many renowned and highly regarded people in the antiquity; we can cite as proof Zaleukos, the first western legislator, he provided that the laws should have been written to avoid the arbitraries decisions of the judges based upon oral laws. We can also cite the philosopher Timaeus or the poetess Nossis, "The Sappho's competitor", whose few epigrams, that reached our age, show us her undoubted greatness.
But Locri was, also, the birthplace of skilful athletes, winners of the Olympic Games, such as Euthymus and Hagesidamus, and of many others historical figures.

This section wants to be a showcase in which you can admire a little portion of the areas involved into the archaeological explorations of the territory of the ancient Locri and, as all the other sections of the site, it wants to be a further invite to you all to come and visit these places which still today reflect the ancient echoes of the history of the men and of the women which here made possible the thriving of an original and extraordinary culture whose memory, thousands of years weren't able to delete.

A list of books and texts connected with Locri Epizephyrii's history consulted during the building of this site and others books whose subject is Magna Graecia's history. There are also references to texts useful for the knowledge of the Greek world as a whole (history, archaeology, arts, etc.)

Links to other interesting sites whose subject is strictly connected to the ancient world, Greek and Roman. There are also links to some universities sites that started research projects upon the ancient world, with, furthermore, the web unabridged edition of the literary works of classical writers with original texts in Latin and Greek.