Locri

History

Epizephyrian Locris or Locri Epizephyrii (; from the plural of (, "a Locrian"), (, "on"), (, "West Wind"), thus "the Western Locrians") was founded about 680 BC on the Italian shore of the Ionian Sea, near modern Capo Zefirio, by the Locrians, apparently by Opuntii (East Locrians) from the city of Opus, but including Ozolae (West Locrians) and Lacedaemonians. Its Latin name, Locri, is the plural of the Latin Locrus, which was used both to mean an inhabitant of Locris and the eponymous ancestor of the Locrians. Strabo suggests that the Ozolian Locrians were the principal founders, while Ephorus held that the Locri was a colony of Opuntian Locris. Due to fierce winds at an original settlement, the settlers moved to the present site. After a century, a defensive wall was built. Outside the city there are several necropoleis, some of which are very large. Its renowned lawgiver Zaleucus decreed that anyone who proposed a change in the laws should do so with a noose about their neck, with which they should be hanged if the amendment did not pass. Plato called it "The flower of Italy", due to the local peoples' characteristics. Locris was the site of two great sanctuaries, that of Persephone and of Aphrodite. Perhaps uniquely, Persephone was worshiped as protector of marriage and childbirth, a role usually assumed by Hera, and Diodorus Siculus knew the temple there as the most illustrious in Italy. In the early centuries Locris was allied with Sparta, and later with Syracuse. It founded two colonies of its own, Hipponion and Medma. During the 5th century BC, votive pinakes in terracotta were often dedicated as offerings to the goddess, made in series and painted with bright colors, animated by scenes connected to the myth of Persephone. Many of these pinakes are now…

Most-observed species

• Bermuda-buttercup

  Oxalis pes-caprae L. · Magnoliopsida
  18
• Eurasian Collared-Dove

  Streptopelia decaocto (Frivaldszky, 1838) · Aves
  17
• Barn Swallow

  Hirundo rustica Linnaeus, 1758 · Aves
  17
• Common Buzzard

  Buteo buteo (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  13
• Common House-Martin

  Delichon urbicum (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  13
• Eurasian Magpie

  Pica pica (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  13
• Japanese Cheesewood

  Pittosporum tobira (Murray) Aiton fil. · Magnoliopsida
  13
• Italian Wall Lizard

  Podarcis siculus (Rafinesque-Schmaltz, 1810) · Squamata
  13