city state · Italy
Elea
Origins
Around 540 BCE Phocaean Greeks, who had fled their city in Asia Minor before the Persians and then lost much of their fleet at the battle of Alalia off Corsica, founded Elea (later Roman Velia) on a headland south of Poseidonia with help from Rhegion.
Rule and society
Elea lived by the sea: fishing, trade and shipping rather than farming, as its hilly territory was poor. It is best known for philosophy: Parmenides, said to have written the city's laws, and his pupil Zeno founded the Eleatic school, which shaped Greek thinking about being and change. The Porta Rosa, a 4th-century BCE arched gateway, is an early true arch in a Greek city. Elea resisted Lucanian pressure while other Greek cities fell.
Decline and legacy
Elea allied with Rome in the early 3rd century BCE and supplied ships in the Punic Wars; Rome recruited priestesses of Ceres from Velia. It kept Greek speech and became a Roman municipium after 89 BCE. Silting of its harbour led to decline, and its remains are a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
On the connections map
Open the full map →Connections (1)
- Elea was a vassal of Roman Republic273 BCE – 89 BCE
Cite this page
- APA
- The Epoch Institute. (2026). Elea. In The Epoch Institute States Register. https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/elea
- MLA
- “Elea.” The Epoch Institute States Register, The Epoch Institute, 2026, https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/elea. Accessed .
- Chicago
- The Epoch Institute. “Elea.” The Epoch Institute States Register. 2026. https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/elea.
- Harvard
- The Epoch Institute (2026) ‘Elea’, The Epoch Institute States Register. Available at: https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/elea (Accessed: ).
Last reviewed October 2026Random state ↻