Scidrus, also known as Skidros (), was an

ancient Greek Ancient Greek (, ; ) includes the forms of the Greek language used in ancient Greece and the classical antiquity, ancient world from around 1500 BC to 300 BC. It is often roughly divided into the following periods: Mycenaean Greek (), Greek ...

city of

Magna Graecia Magna Graecia refers to the Greek-speaking areas of southern Italy, encompassing the modern Regions of Italy, Italian regions of Calabria, Apulia, Basilicata, Campania, and Sicily. These regions were Greek colonisation, extensively settled by G ...

on the coast of

Lucania Lucania was a historical region of Southern Italy, corresponding to the modern-day region of Basilicata. It was the land of the Lucani, an Oscan people. It extended from the Tyrrhenian Sea to the Gulf of Taranto. It bordered with Samnium and ...

, on the

Tyrrhenian Sea The Tyrrhenian Sea (, ; or ) , , , , is part of the Mediterranean Sea off the western coast of Italy. It is named for the Tyrrhenians, Tyrrhenian people identified with the Etruscans of Italy. Geography The sea is bounded by the islands of C ...

, between Pyxus ( Buxentum) and

Laüs Laüs or Laus (; ) was an ancient city on the coast of the Tyrrhenian Sea. It was at the mouth of the Lao River, which formed the boundary between Lucania and Bruttium in ancient times and gave it its name. The archaeological site of the c ...

History

It is mentioned by

Herodotus Herodotus (; BC) was a Greek historian and geographer from the Greek city of Halicarnassus (now Bodrum, Turkey), under Persian control in the 5th century BC, and a later citizen of Thurii in modern Calabria, Italy. He wrote the '' Histori ...

(vi. 21), from whom we learn that it was, as well as Laüs, a colony of

Sybaris Sybaris (; ) was an important ancient Greek city situated on the coast of the Gulf of Taranto in modern Calabria, Italy. The city was founded around 720 BC by Achaeans (tribe), Achaean and Troezenian settlers and the Achaeans also went on ...

, and was one of the places to which the surviving inhabitants of that city retired, after its destruction by the Crotoniats. It does not appear from his expressions whether these towns were then first founded by the fugitives, or had been previously settled as regular colonies; but the latter supposition is much the more probable.

Stephanus of Byzantium Stephanus or Stephen of Byzantium (; , ''Stéphanos Byzántios''; centuryAD) was a Byzantine grammarian and the author of an important geographical dictionary entitled ''Ethnica'' (). Only meagre fragments of the dictionary survive, but the epit ...

(''s. v.''), calls it merely a city of

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

. It is situated in between of Velia and Pixous ( Policastro Bussentino), which nowadays is Sapri, on the Gulf of Policastro, where there are extensive remains of the ancient city, which are generally considered the site of Scidrus. They are said to consist of the remains of a theatre and other public buildings of the ancient walls, and constructions around the port. (Antonini, ''Lucania'', part ii. c. 11; Romanelli, vol. i. p. 377.) This last is a remarkable landlocked basin, though of small extent; and it is singular that, even if the town had ceased to exist, no allusion should be found to the existence of this secure port, on a coast almost wholly destitute of natural harbours. But the high mountains which shut it in and debar it from all communication with the interior probably prevented it from ever attaining any importance. Sapri is at the present day a mere fishing village, about 10 km east of Policastro.

References

* Colonies of Magna Graecia Former populated places in Italy {{AncientGreekWorld-stub

History

See also

References