The archaeological reasearch in Crotone made possibile the documentation of its foundation near the mouth of the river Esaro, towards the end of the VII century b.C.

On its foundation we have many details every single one is an interlacement of legend and history. Croton was founded by a colony of settlers coming from Achaea in the Peloponnese, and Miscello from Ripe was its ecista.

This tradition of the foundation it is also represented by Ippi from Rhegion, Antioch from Syracuse in Strabone and Diodoro Siculo.

Miscello, ordered by the Delphian oracle, came in Italy a first time to examine the site of the future colony, but having seen Sybaris already founded and considering it more advantageous he would have returned home to ask if it wouldn’t have been better to found Sybaris. But Apollo repeated his order for the selected site; and Miscello returned in Italy and would have found Crotone.

Such tradition furthermore was trying to create a contemporaneity between the foundation of Crotone and the one of Syracuse. Miscello, would have been helped in his work of founding by Archia the future ecista of Syracuse who by pure accident landed on the same place while he was in course towards Sicily. But such collaboration between ecisti of different colonies it is evident that it is a literary creation.

The tradition of Croton’s Delphic origin soon combined itself with the myth of Heracles, Ovid tells that Miscello would have gone to found Crotone to obey to an order by Heracles and in fact on the Crotonian coins of the V century b.C depict the effigy of Heracles with the legend “founder”.

The name Crotone usually it was made to derive from an eponymous the hero Crotone  who would have been the first founder of the city.

Another tradition suggests that the foundation of Sybaris and Croton was done at the same time, based on a lower dating, that is the one dated by Eusebio places the two foundations in the same year 709/708 b.C.; Dionigi from Alicarnasso reports this date saying that Crotone was founded in the third year of the XVII Olympiads. These dates from the historic tradition in the majority of the cases should be accepted: the name of the ecista  Miscello was handed down by many authors, it is not an invention, on the contrary it is legitimate to assume that the Croton’s Achaean colonizers came from Ripe native city of their ecista.

The foundation of the colony would have been dated later to the one of Sybaris, but from the whole historic tradition it emerges an evident data, it was founded immediately after.

Between the early VII and VI century b. C. the dominion of Croton expanded progressively way up to Neto, including towns like Petelia (Strongoli) e Crimisa (Cirò) or the less known Chone and Macalla; on the Ionic coasts it gave birth to the Greek town of Scillezio situated in the homonymous gulf and moved further inland towards South up to Caulonia even if source material diverge on the nature of its foundation as Achaenian or Crotonian.

On the Tyrrhenian side the Crotonians founded the colony of Terina, identified with the settlement of Sant’Eufemia Vetere; later on expanded their colonial rule also on Temesa, localized near the estuary of the Savuto river.

On the banks of the river Sagra, which flows between Locri and the old Caulonia, Strabone tells generically, that a fierce battle took place between Crotone and Locri, won by latter.

According to the accounts given by Trogo-Giustino, in a substantial agreement with Strabone and Diodoro, the Crotonians declared war to Locri, to punish them for having brought aid to the Siri that was attacked by Crotone: in the struggle Croton suffered a very resounding defeat, while prodigious was the victory by the Locresi.

After that unexpected defeat, according to Strabone, Croton would have undergone in a deep despondency: the city would have become weaker, and according to Giustino the Crotonians feeling weaker last interests in the military practices. With the arrival of  Pythagoras in Croton whom forced to leave his home town Samo, due to rise of the tyrant Policrate, marked a crucial turning of the situation. According to Giustino, his twenty year stay (529-509) Pythagoras, on his arrival, found the Cronian people depressed due to the recent defeat suffered in Sagra they were prone and were seeking consolation in pleasure activities; it is the philosopher Pythagoras whom is awarded the raise of the destiny of Crotone, bringing the city to a rapid growing ascent in the political life as well as in the cultural, religious and sports. Expression of such great economical prosperity reached by Croton, led them around the middle of the VI century, to issue coins: adopting the tripod, with a clear allusion to the cult of the Delphic Apollo, whom had aided  Miscello, the city founder; later, other symbols like the heron, the heron, the crab, the dolphin, the lyre appeared. In the 510 B.C. Crotone was the protagonist of a battle against Sibari nearby the Traente River. In fact, towards the 520 B.C. Teli took power of Sibari, whom, with the aid of the popular ranks, exiled five hundred among the richest citizens distraining their properties: the exiled where welcomed in Crotone, but Teli soon claimed them back. According to, Diodoro, it was Pythagoras above all, who influenced the decision of the Crotonians to face the war against the tyrant. In determining the defeatof Sibari, seems to be due to the break down of its numerous cavalry and by the civil revolt that soon after out broke in Sibari, with the consequent violent elimination of Teli administrate the confiscated land. Such issue caused strong contrasts between a group of people near Pythagoras, the town aristocracy and the citizens of Crotone. Toward the end of the VI and the conquered land, claimed very much by the aristocracy as by the population in need of lands: doing so a violent upraise broke out against Pythagoras followers, whom were against the parcelling out of the land. There was a sequel of events: the internal crisis, the exit of Pythagoras from the city of Crotone, the very brief tyrannical rule of Clinia, but around the middle of the V century B.C. another violent popular riot raised against the Pythagoreans, in fact, the dominant oligarchic groups had decided to accept the requests from the popular ranks of having a more moderate government and open to the needs of all the citizens, but the Pythagoreans contrasted this idea violently determining the start of the civil war with the expulsion of the Pythagorean followers from Crotone. Upon these exiled, they instituted a prosecution, which its arbitral resolution was entrusted to the rappresentatives of the city of Taranto, Metaponto; and Caulonia: according to Giamblico these became corrupted and such action allowed the Crotonians to banish the exiled and also their relatives. Hower: the internal political unrest in Crotone and surrounding area didnt’t cease, if they felt the need to mediate and too act as peace makers like the one carried out by the three Achaean cities of the Graecia Magna, Crotone, Caulonia and Sibari, from which initiated, within 430-420 B.C. the first stage of the Achaean League according to a description made by Polibio.

Polibio, in fact, describes that the three cities would have given birth to a confederation based on  the model the Greek Achaea, they adopted democratic institutions and had their religious and administrative centre in the temple dedicated to Zeus Homarios. Diodoro during the year 393 B.C. attested the passage from the Achaean League to the Italiot league, a truly military league wanted by the Italiot in order to defend themselves from the double treat represented by the Lucania expansion and by the attacks of the turant Dionysus from Syracuse I. According to Giustino Dyonisus attacked Crotone, but the Crotonians courageously resisted the attack, despite their meagre number of soldiers in front of the greater number of troops deployed by Syracuse. Such attack by Dyonisius I against Crotone in the year 387/6 B.C. has to be integrated in the course of the first war of the tyrant against the Italiot , and has to be Kept distinct from the conquest of the city occurred during the course of Dionysius’ I second war in Italy. Livio reports that Dionysius obtained it with trickery: Dionigi from Alicarnasso reports the conquest of Crotone as one of the final and gravest collapse by the Italiote city, and that the rebirth of Croton occurred under the leadership of the young tyrant Dionisio II: according Dionigi from Alicarnasso Crotone remained under Dionysius I rule for twelve years, and it’s liberation happened some year after the death of the old tyrant therefore in the very first years of the succeeding government. Diodoro reports that in the 325 B.C. takes place and attack by the Brettii to Crotone, wich asked for help to Syracuse: Agatocle, who took part in the Syracusan expedition, after the city’s victorius defence, he lived there trying to seize the city, but the tentative failed. Agatocle’s second attempt takes place in the year 295 B.C. placed the city under siege the city of Crotone unexpectedly forcing it to surrender, plundering it killing all its male citizens and placing its own garrison.

During the war between the inhabitants of Taranto  and the Romans  at the end of the years 280 B.C. a inhabitants of Campania corps was placed as a garrison in Reggio captained by Decio Vibellio, entered in Crotone with treachery and plundered the city. At the beginning of the second Punic war, the Brettii, which made an alliance with the Carthaginians enrolled an army or fifteen thousand man and kept under siege Crotone according to Livio.

There followed a surrender and almost the entire population was relocated in Locri.

In the year 212 B.C. the entire Greek coast, including Crotone, submitted to Hannibal.

Between the 206-203 B.C. the Romans reconquered the Italiot cities which were allied with Hannibal; he left Italy sailing from Crotone.

Reduced its territory, its economy, in its military power, in the population, the Romans deduced Crotone as a colony for roman citizens. According to Livio the foundation of such colony is attributed to the triumviri Gneo Ottavio, Lucio Emilio Paolo and Cairo Letorio.

Hera’s temple Lacinia was despoiled by the Romans even of its marble tiles: according to the sources Q. Fulvio Flacco, in the year 173 B.C. had selected the tiles from Hera’s temple to place them on the on he was erecting in Rome. But the divestment of the Crotonian sanctuary must have been done progressively in the years to come. Croton with its flimsy political and demographic it is in a total decline furthermore it is not attested in the list of the centres covered by Delphi embassy at the beginning of the II century B.C. up to the point to became one of the Achaean “dead” cities mentioned by Strabone in the Augustan era.     

LITERARY SOURCES

Antioco, ap. Strabone, VI, 1, 11-12.
Apollonio di Tiana, ap. Giamblico, VP 264.
Aristosseno, fr. 17 Wehrli.
Cicerone, Ad Att., IX 19, 3.
Diodoro, VIII 17, 32; X 11, 1; XI 48, 3; 90, 3; XII 9, 2-4; 11, 3; XIV 91, 1; 103, 4-5;106, 3;107-108; XIX 3, 4; 10, 3-4; XXI, 4.
Dionigi di Alicarnasso, R. A., II, 59, 3; XX 7,3.
Erodoto, V, 44-45.
Eusebio, Chron. Arm., ed. Helm, p.183; ed. Schone, p. 84.
Giamblico, V P 33; 74; 133; 177; 255; 257-262.
Giustino, XX 2, 13 ss.; 4, 1-2; 5, 1-2, 4
Ippide, ap. Zenobio, III, 42, F. H. G., II, fr. 4.
Livio, XXIV 2-3; XXX, 20; XXXIV, 45, 4-5.
Ovidio, Metam., XV, vv. 12-59.
Pausania, III 3, 1.
Petronio, Satyr., 116.
Polibio, II 39, 1-7; X 1, 4; 6.
Pseudo-Aristotele, De mir. ausc., 96.
Scholia ad Pindar., Olympica, II, 29b, d.
SGDI, 2580.
Strabone, VI 1, 10 C 261; VI 1, 11; 13 C 263.
Timeo, FGrH 566, frr. 44 e 45, ap. Athen. XII 522 a, c.
Tucidide, II 9, 2.
Zonara, VIII 6 P I 379 D.

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