LUCANIA

ancient territorial division of southern Italy corresponding to most of the modern region of Basilicata, with much of the province of Salerno and part of that of Cosenza. Before its conquest by the Lucanians, a Samnite tribe, about the mid-5th century BC, it formed part of the Greek-dominated region of Oenotria. Recent discoveries of elaborately painted graves at Paestum, a city taken by the Lucanians about 400, suggest that by the 4th century BC the tribe had developed a culture of great vitality and distinction. Although they allied with Rome in 298, the Lucanians opposed and were defeated by that power in the Pyrrhic War (280275), the Second Punic War (218201), and the Social War (9088). Repeated devastations of the area in these conflicts brought about its decline.