A journey in the footsteps of Hannibal: discovering the wonders of ancient Lucania
The Appennino Lucano National Park not only offers breathtaking scenic beauty: the endless forests and majestic mountains framing the Agri river, and its beautiful valley represent the beating heart of today's Basilicata, but they were also the scene of a millenary history, the scent of which can still be perceived among the ruins of Grumentum, the most important Roman city in ancient Lucania and one of the best-preserved Roman sites in Italy.
But the history of this landscape begins long before the arrival of the Romans. We are in Magna Graecia, more or less halfway between Poseidonia-Paestum and Metapontum, and the contacts between the local civilisation, the Oenotrians, and the Magna Greek colonial realities settled on the Tyrrhenian and Ionian coasts are clearly documented by the numerous archaeological finds. From the 5th century B.C. onwards, it was the ethnos of the Lucanians, a population of Osco-Samnite stock, that slowly gained the upper hand in the area, which was then occupied through new settlement methods: the important sites of Torre di Satriano and Serra Lustrante di Armento are emblematic.
