Calabria

Calabria, ancient city whose name applied, from the 3rd century bce to the 7th century ce, to a district in the southeastern extremity of the Italian peninsula between the Adriatic and the Gulf of Tarentum. According to the geographer Strabo (1st century bce), the region had once been the site of 13 prosperous cities, but by the 3rd century bce only the ports of Tarentum (Taranto) and Brundisium (Brindisi), famous for their wool trade, were still thriving. After Rome subjugated the area, founding a colony at Brundisium in 246 and capturing Tarentum in 209, the designation Calabria came to be used. When the Lombards seized Calabria about 668 ce, its name was transferred to the southwestern peninsula of Italy.