Sybaris is an ancient Greek city located in Southern Italy. Founded in the 7th century BC, it became known for being a luxurious, yet hedonistic, place for their excessive lifestyle. This was largely due to their fertile lands and thriving port, and the city was said to have had up to 100,000 occupants at its peak. They were the major city in their region, controlling several smaller cities. Like much of the ancient world, slavery was an important aspect of wealth in the city, with many stories of the wealth of Sybaris's citizens involving the number of enslaved people they controlled. In Anna Laetitia Barbauld's poem, she references the "Sybarites," the citizens of Sybaris, when discussing Beauty:
"See her, in monstrous fellowship, unite
At once the Scythian, and the Sybarite2;
Blending repugnant vices, misally'd,
Which frugal nature purposed to divide..."
Parent Map
Vetted?
No