Paestum
called
Posidonia (
Ποσειδωνία) by the
Greeks. A city in Lucania, situated four or five miles south of the Silarus, and near the bay,
which derived its name from the town (Paestanus Sinus: Gulf of Salerno). It was colonized by
the Sybarites about B.C. 524, and soon became a powerful and flourishing city. It was captured
by the Lucanians about B.C. 430 and gradually lost its Greek characteristics. Under the Romans
it gradually sank in importance, and in the time of Augustus it is mentioned only on account
of the beautiful roses grown in its neighbourhood. The ruins of
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Ruined Temple at Paestum.
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two Doric temples at Paestum are among the most remarkable remains of antiquity. See
Labrouste, Les Temples de Paestum (1877), and
Templum.
