Magna Græcia is the name of the coastal areas of Southern Italy on the Tarentine Gulf that are extensively colonized by Greek settlers; particularly the Achaean colonies of Tarentum, Crotone, and Sybaris, but also, more loosely, the cities of Cumae and Neapolis to the north.
The colonists, who begin arriving in the eighth century BCE, bring with them their Hellenic civilization, which is to leave a lasting imprint in Italy, particularly on the culture of ancient Rome.
The Romans called the area of Sicily and the heel of the boot of Italy Magna Graecia (Latin, “Great Greece”), since it was so densely inhabited by the Greeks.
The ancient geographers differed on whether the term included Sicily or merely Apulia and Calabria — Strabo being the most prominent advocate of the wider definitions.
