ABSTRACT
The death of Archytas of Tarentum at some unspecified date during the 350s BC is noted by many sources as the turning point which marked the start of the moral and political decline of Magna Graecia. After this date, the Greeks, corrupted by excessive wealth, abandoned moderate government in favour of radical democracy which led to stasis and social breakdown, and in foreign policy committed the supreme folly of opposition to the growing power of Rome. The historiographical implications of this have already been discussed in the Introduction, but will be considered again in the course of this chapter in the light of the events of the fourth and third centuries. However simplistic the ancient view may be as an historical analysis, its prevalence makes the death of Archytas a useful starting point for a study of Hellenistic and Roman Magna Graecia and also for a discussion of relations with Rome, since it marks the beginning of the expansion of Roman interests in Campania and southern Italy.
