In memory of the friend Kroton Legend has it that the name Crotone derives from “Kroton”, son of Aeacus, who was accidentally killed by his friend Heracles. The latter, to correct the mistake made and to honour his friend who had hosted him, buried him with a solemn ceremony on the banks of the river Esaro and then, near the tomb, he gave rise to the city to which he gave his name. The response of the oracle Leaving aside the many myths include in its foundation this and other Greek characters, historians agree on attributing its foundation to the Achaeans, who would have built it unwillingly abiding by the oracle of Delphi. The splendour of the ancient Greek colony Its heyday was surely the Greek period, when the colony maintained close ties with the homeland, the only one to help during the Persian invasion. The Greek city was much larger and had a the twelve-mile wall fence. The last among the Crotonesi is the first among the Greeks All ancient sources refer to the physical and athletic strength of its inhabitants, winner of many Olympic Games, probably due to the healthiness of the place. Here Pythagoras, before being cast away together with its initiates, founded a school of scientific philosophy and tried to experiment a technocratic government whose selective principle was based on intelligence and virtue. Squalor and poverty When the Romans came, Croton was already in decline: the town shrank and lost more and more importance. In the Byzantine period it became even bleaker and poorer due to the constant barbarian raids. Greatness and prosperity Only with the advent of Frederick II the city regained its former prosperity, becoming imperial property and confirming itself as one of the biggest cities in Calabria.
