Pæstum

Pæstum, anciently a Greek city of Lucania, in Southern Italy, on the present Gulf of Salerno. It was founded by the Sybarites some time between 650 and 600 B.C., and was originally called Posidonia. It was subdued by the Lucanians, and from them passed to the Romans, who established a colony there about 273 B.C. The Latin poets sing the praises of its roses, which bloomed twice a year. Pæstum was burned by the Saracens in the 9th century, and ravaged by Robert Guiscard in the 11th, and never recovered from these disasters. Portions of the ancient walls and three well-preserved Doric temples remain. See Labrouste, Les Temples de Pæstum (1877).