The name Italia means 'inhabitants of the land of calves'. Until the beginning of the 5th century B.C., Italy referred only to Calabria, but later the name was extended to the entire southern part of the country. Between the 8th and 5th centuries BC, a massive migration wave from Greece raged in the Mediterranean.

The Calabrian coasts were a temptation for Greek colonists. They had rivers, hills, natural harbours for anchoring ships, a prosperous land rich in food and water. Many of the colonies that the Greeks founded in what came to be known as Magna Graecia became larger and more powerful than the mother cities in Greece.