city state · Italy

Hipponion

650 BCE – 192 BCE (approx.) · capital Hipponion

Colony of Locri on the Tyrrhenian coast of Calabria, known for an Orphic gold tablet, which became the Roman colony of Vibo Valentia in 192 BCE.

Origins

Locri Epizephyrii founded Hipponion in the 7th century BCE on a hill above the Gulf of Sant'Eufemia, giving the Locrians a port on the Tyrrhenian Sea and a share in the trade crossing the Calabrian isthmus.

Rule and society

Hipponion depended on Locri for much of its history and shared its alliances. It had temples, a city wall and a port. A gold leaf found in a woman's grave of about 400 BCE gives Orphic instructions for the soul in the underworld and is a key text for Greek mystery religion.

Decline and legacy

Dionysius I destroyed Hipponion in 389 BCE and moved its people to Syracuse, but Carthage restored them in 379 BCE. The Bruttii captured it around 356 BCE, and Agathocles briefly held it. Rome founded the Latin colony of Vibo Valentia there in 192 BCE, today's Vibo Valentia.

Few sources survive for this state; details are uncertain.

Lineage

Locri Epizephyrii 680 BCE – 205 BCEHipponionRoman Republic 509 BCE – 27 BCE

Connections (1)

  • Hipponion was conquered by Bruttii356 BCE

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Cite this page
APA
The Epoch Institute. (2026). Hipponion. In The Epoch Institute States Register. https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/hipponion
MLA
“Hipponion.” The Epoch Institute States Register, The Epoch Institute, 2026, https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/hipponion. Accessed .
Chicago
The Epoch Institute. “Hipponion.” The Epoch Institute States Register. 2026. https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/hipponion.
Harvard
The Epoch Institute (2026) ‘Hipponion’, The Epoch Institute States Register. Available at: https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/hipponion (Accessed: ).

Last reviewed October 2026Random state ↻