city state · Italy

Kaulonia

675 BCE – 389 BCE (approx.) · capital Kaulonia

Achaean Greek city on the Calabrian coast, a dependency of Croton, destroyed by Dionysius I of Syracuse in 389 BCE.

Origins

Kaulonia was founded in the 7th century BCE on the Ionian coast of Calabria, near modern Monasterace Marina, by Achaean settlers, probably sent out by Croton, to secure its southern border against Locri.

Rule and society

Kaulonia remained closely tied to Croton. Its silver coins, showing Apollo carrying a small running figure and a deer, are among the finest of Magna Graecia. Excavations have uncovered a Doric temple, walls and houses, and a large floor mosaic with a dragon of the 3rd century BCE. Little is known of its government.

Decline and legacy

After defeating the Italiote League at the Elleporus river in 389 BCE, Dionysius I took Kaulonia, moved its people to Syracuse and gave its land to Locri. A smaller town revived later but was destroyed during the wars with Pyrrhus and Hannibal, and by the Roman period the site was deserted.

Few sources survive for this state; details are uncertain.

Lineage

Croton 710 BCE – 277 BCEKaulonia

Connections (1)

Kaulonia was conquered by Syracuse389 BCE

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Cite this page

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

Last reviewed October 2026Random state ↻