v51_0005 - LUCANIA - METAPONTUM Nomos ou Didrachme

LUCANIA - METAPONTUM

(340-281 BC)

Metaponte, an Achaean colony located in the Gulf of Taranto, is said to have been founded in 773 BC. First allied with the Sybarites and the Crotoniates, it then took possession of the territories of Siris. After the destruction of Sybaris by Crotone in 510 BC, the city welcomed Pythagoras. It played an important role until the end of the Punic Wars. Metaponte took part in the Pan-Hellenic foundation of Thurium in 443 BC. During the Peloponnesian War, she supported Athens against Syracuse. Alexander the Molossian, brother-in-law of Alexander the Great was called by the Tarentines in 334 BC to fight against the tribes of southern Italy. Alexander establishes a workshop in Métaponte. He died at the battle of Pandosia in 330 BC, fighting against the Lucanians and the Bruttians. During the war between Rome and Pyrrhus, she sided with the latter. Finally, during the Second Punic War (221-201 BC). it favored Hannibal who established his headquarters there in 210 BC after the loss of Capua. It definitely lost its independence after 201 BC..