Paestum - Ancient Greece at its Best II

I am of the age when Australian youth clustered around ABC radio at 5 PM each weekday to catch each episode of the radio 'club' production of the Argonauts. Those of a similar background will remember the club song... lyrics made adventurers of every 6 year old lad... or lassie. 

Fifty mighty Argonauts bending to the oars,

Today will go adventuring to yet uncharted shores.

Fifty young adventurers today set forth and so

We cry with Jason "Man the boats, and Row! Row! Row!"

Row! Row! Merry oarsmen, Row!

That dangers lie ahead we know, we know.

But bend with all your might

As you sail into the night

And wrong will bow to right "Jason" cry,

Adventure know,

Argonauts Row! Row! Row! 

I mention Jason because we visited a site where he is supposed to have landed his boat and visited a remote Greek community colonising the coast of Italy. (It turns out that the 'merry oarsmen' were slaves driven by the lash to row for 10 hours each day... perhaps not so merry... upon what other falsehoods did the ABC radio corrupt my mind? ) 

How frequently do you need to venture outside a country to see it at its best... Australia in Gallipoli... the Brits in Antarctica... USA at D-Day. We spent a month in Greece pouring over its ancient sites and we marvelled at what has been preserved. However, our visit to Paestum, today, showed Greek relics from the 6th century BC that were better preserved than anything we saw in mainland Greece.

"How could that be", I hear you ask. The answer is Malaria. It's a gripping yarn... so bear with the history lesson and all will be revealed.

Back in C6th BC, the Greeks had technology that far outstripped its neighbours. They could row across the Aegean Ocean to Italy... enslave a few of the disorganised tribes living on the rich coastal plain... get them to grow some cereal food for you... much easier than trying to do the same job in the poor plains of Western Greece. They did this for a few decades... but found it easier to have a permanent presence. Over hundreds of years, they built a Greek town... it grew to cover 120 hectares... so probably had a population of some 10,000 people. The people built themselves at least 3 temples... that stand to this day... established thriving communities of artists, sculpturists, and a top quality ceramics industry.

Like all civilisations, it had to fight its share of battles... didn't lose many... until Rome got its military machine in order... falling to them in 273 BC. Rome liked the place and invested in maintaining the buildings of the city.

With the fall of the western Roman Empire, Paestum was eventually abandoned. Usually, the abandoned city is picked over by scavenger tribes until no stone is left standing on another. However, Paestum benefited from the malaria epidemics that plagued Europe in the middle ages. Paestum was built on coastal swampy ground. There were good mosquito breeding grounds around the abandoned city. The area earned a reputation for sickness and death... people steered well clear of the place... even the people wanting to scavenge building materials. The site was preserved. In the 19th century, Paestum became part of the Grand Tour... and was well supported with research funding...  much earlier than most other sites. 

Here is a tip for the tourists... who like kicking stones at ancient ruins but don't like battling the bus or boat crowds... come and visit Paestum.