History of Naples

The history of Naples is long and varied. The first Greek settlements were established in the Naples area in the 2nd millennium BC. During the end of the Greek Dark Ages a larger mainland colony – initially known as Parthenope – developed around the 9-8th century BC, and was refounded as Neapolis in the 6th century BC: it held an important role in Magna Graecia. The Greek culture of Naples was important to later Roman society. When the city became part of the Roman Republic in the central province of the Empire, it was a major cultural center.Virgil is an example of the political and cultural freedom of Naples. Naples is a microcosm of the European history because it saw several civilizations come and go, each leaving traces also in its art and architecture. Naples was the capital of duchies, kingdoms, and one Empire, and it was a primary cultural center (especially during the Renaissance humanism, 17th, 18th, 19th centuries). Naples was an advocate for Italian unification during the Neapolitan War. Today Naples is part of the Italian Republic, and is the third largest municipality (central area) by population, with the second largest metropolitan area (after Milan).

The Naples area has been inhabited since the Stone Age.

Settlers from two cities in Euboea, Greece, jointly colonised the nearby Cumae, the earliest Greek city on mainland Italy. The earliest founding of Naples itself is claimed in legend to be the Greek colony Phaleron (Latin: Phalerum), after the hero Phaleros, one of the Argonauts.

However, the first Greek settlements were established on the site during the 2nd millennium BC. At the end of the Greek Dark Ages a larger mainland colony – initially known as Parthenope – developed around the 9-8th century BC. Parthenope was the name of the siren in Greek mythology, said to have washed ashore at Megaride, having throwing herself into the sea after she failed to bewitch Ulysses with her song. Around this time Greeks became locked in a power struggle with the Etruscans, who sought to dominate the area. Etruscans attacked Cumae (524 BC) and, although the attack failed, it signaled a growing Etruscan determination to dominate the area, the pressure of which pushed Parthenope to the commercial margins. There is evidence that the city had slid into decadence and, some argue, had virtually ceased to exist. However, literary evidence shows that the city was destroyed because the hegemony of Cumae was threatened.

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