Ancient times The history of the area before the arrival of the Greeks in the eighth century BC is not reliably known. Mythical accounts record a series of different peoples in the region, including the
Osci (sometimes referred to as
Opici),
Trojans,
Oenotrians,
Ligures,
Ausones,
Mamertines, Taureani,
Sicels,
Morgetes and
Itali. They also claim that the land around Reggio was first known as Saturnia, or Neptunia. The term 'Italia' initially referred to the area around Reggio itself, before expanding to cover present-day southern Calabria (later known as
Bruttium), and finally becoming the name of the whole Italian peninsula around the third century BC. After
Cumae, Reggio was one of the first Greek colonies in southern Italy. The colony was settled by the inhabitants of
Chalcis in 730 or 743 BC Rhegion was one of the most important cities in
Magna Graecia, reaching great economic and political power during the 5th and 6th centuries BC under
Anaxilas, who reigned as tyrant from 494 to 476 BC. Anaxilas conquered
Zancle (modern
Messina), extending Rhegian control over both shores of the Straits of Messina. He attempted to conquer
Locri as well in 477 BC but was rebuffed. When he died in 476 BC, his two sons were too young to rule, so power was held by their regent
Micythus. Under his rule, Rhegion founded a colony, Pyxous (modern
Policastro Bussentino) in
Campania in 471 BC.
Hieron I of Syracuse orchestrated Micythus' removal from power in 467 BC, after which Anaxilas' sons ruled on their own until they were deposed in 461 BC. During the
Peloponnesian War, Rhegion allied with
Athens. An Athenian inscription (
IG I3 53) reports a renewal of this alliance in 433 BC. The Athenians supported Rhegion in a war with Locri during the First Sicilian Expedition (427–425 BC). However, when the Athenians launched the much larger
Sicilian Expedition of 415–413 BC, Rhegion offered them only limited assistance. During the
Third Sicilian War, Rhegion became hostile to
Dionysius I of Syracuse. He attacked the city for the first time in 396 BC, but he was rebuffed. Dionysius destroyed the Rhegian navy in 389 BC, besieged the city again in 388 BC and, when it finally fell in 387 BC, destroyed it. His son,
Dionysius II refounded the city as 'Phoebeia' in the 360s BC. When he was expelled from Syracuse in 356 BC, he retained control of Phoebeia, but it was captured by Syracusan forces led by
Leptines and
Callippus in 351 BC. Rhegion then reverted to its original name. Roman forces deposed Decius and restored the city's independence in 271 BC. Thereafter, Rhegium was an important ally of Rome, with the status of and
socia navalis (naval ally). It retained its Greek customs and language, as well as its
mint. converting the first local Christians and, according to tradition, laying the foundations of the Christianization of Bruttium. Rhegium boasted in imperial times nine thermal baths, one of which is still visible today on the sea-front. Due to its seismic activity, the area was often damaged by earthquakes, such as in 91 BC, AD 17, 305 and 374.
Middle Ages Numerous occupying armies came to Reggio during the early Middle Ages due to the city's strategic importance. Invasions by the
Vandals, the
Lombards and the
Goths occurred in the 5th–6th centuries. Then, under
Byzantine rule, it became a metropolis of the Byzantine possessions in Italy and was also the capital of the
Duchy of Calabria several times between 536 and 1060 AD. Following wars between the Lombards and Byzantines in the 6th century, Bruttium was renamed Calabria. As a Byzantine centre of culture, certain monks there undertook scribal work, carrying out the transcription of ancient classical works. Until the 15th century, Reggio was one of the most important Greek-rite Bishoprics in Italy—even today Greek words are used and are recognisable in local speech and Byzantine terms can be found in local liturgy, in religious icons and even in local recipes. During this period, constant migrations of Greeks fleeing the Slavic invasion of Peloponnese, further strengthened the Hellenic element of the city. During this period, the Byzantines decided to move the cultivation of mulberry trees and the breeding of silkworms from Syria (constantly under threat) to Reggio, which would later prove important for the economy of Reggio and for the entire empire. The Arabs occupied Reggio in 918 and held some of its inhabitants to ransom or kept them prisoners as slaves. For brief periods in the 10th–11th centuries the city was ruled by the
Arabs and, renamed (or sometimes ), became part of the
Emirate of Sicily. During the period of Arab rule various beneficial ideas were introduced into Calabria, such as citrus fruit trees, and several ways of cooking local vegetables such as aubergines. The Arabs introduced water ices and ice cream and also greatly improved agricultural and hydraulic techniques for irrigation. The city was once again taken by the Byzantines, who made it the administrative center of southern Italy with the title of capital of the Duchy of Calabria, and Reggio became prosperous and very populous again. In 1060, the
Normans seized it permanently from the
Eastern Roman Empire, gradually bringing it into the Latin cultural sphere under
Papal influence, which sought to extend its power over the entire peninsula. In 1122, hostilities arose between
Roger II,
Count of Sicily, and his cousin
William II, the new Duke of Calabria, culminating in a conflict that was resolved only through the intervention of
Pope Callixtus II. In 1121, the Pope succeeded in reconciling the two rivals by securing an agreement whereby the Count of Sicily would provide his cousin with a cavalry squadron to suppress the revolt led by Giordano, Count of
Ariano. In exchange, William renounced his possessions in Sicily and Calabria. Roger II, already
Prince of Salerno, then travelled to Reggio, where he was recognized as Duke of Calabria and Apulia, Count of Sicily, and sovereign over
Amalfi and
Gaeta, parts of Naples, as well as
Taranto,
Capua, and the
Abruzzi. When Roger II was crowned King of Sicily in 1131, he transferred his seat from Reggio to Palermo, although Reggio remained the capital of the Justiciarate of Calabria. In 1234 the town fair was established by decree of King
Frederick II. From 1266 it was ruled by the
Angevins, under whom life in Calabria deteriorated because of their tendency to accumulate wealth in their capital, Naples, leaving Calabria in the power of local barons. In 1282, during the
Sicilian Vespers, Reggio rallied in support of
Messina and the other oriental Sicily cities because of the shared history, commercial and cultural interests. From 1147 to 1443 and again from 1465 to 1582, Reggio was the capital of the Calabrian
Giustizierato. It supported the
Aragonese forces against the House of Anjou. In the 14th century it obtained new administrative powers. even though scholars consider Rome as the city where Hebrew printing began. The Jewish community of Reggio was also considered to be among the foremost internationally, for the dyeing and the trading of
silk: silk woven in Reggio was esteemed and bought by the Spaniards, the Genoese, the Dutch, the English and the Venetians, as it was recognised as the best silk in the Kingdom of Naples. After
Barbary pirates attacked Reggio in 1558, they took most of its inhabitants as slaves to
Tripoli. In 1714, southern Italy became once more property of the Austrian Habsburgs, who remained until 1734, when they were replaced by the
Bourbons of Spain. Reggio was the capital of Calabria Ulteriore Prima from 1759 to 1860. In 1783, a disastrous
earthquake damaged Reggio, all of southern Calabria and
Messina. The precious citrus fruit,
Bergamot orange, had been cultivated and used in the Reggio area since the 15th century. By 1750 it was being grown intensively in the Rada Giunchi area of Reggio and was the first plantation of its kind in the world.
Late modern and contemporary On 21 August 1860, during the '''' (Cathedral Square Battle),
Giuseppe Garibaldi conquered the
Kingdom of the Two Sicilies. Bruno Antonio Rossi (the mayor of Reggio after the historian Domenico Spanò Bolani, who helped the citizenship during the previous turbulent years) was the first in the kingdom to proclaim the new Garibaldi Dictatorship and the end of the rule of
Francis II. On 28 December 1908, at 5:21 am, the town was hit by a heavy earthquake and shook violently for 31 seconds. Damage was even worse in Messina across the Straits. It is estimated that 25,000 people perished in Reggio and 65,000 in Messina. Reggio lost 27% of its inhabitants and Messina lost 42%. Ten minutes after the catastrophic earthquake, those who tried to escape by running towards the open spaces of the coast were engulfed by a 10-metre-high
tsunami. Three waves of 6–12 metres swept away the whole waterfront. The
1908 Messina earthquake remains one of the worst on record in modern western European history. During the World War II, due to its strategic military position, it suffered a devastating air raid and was used as the
invasion target by the
British Eighth Army in 1943, which led to the city's capture. After the war Reggio recovered considerably. During 1970–71 the city was the scene of a popular uprising—known as the
Moti di Reggio—against the government choice of
Catanzaro as capital of the newly instituted Region of Calabria. The revolt was taken over by young
neofascists of the
Italian Social Movement, backed by the
'Ndrangheta, a
Mafia-type criminal organisation based in Calabria. The Reggio Calabria protests were the expression of malcontent about
cronyism and the lack of industrial planning. In the 1970s and 1980s, Reggio went through twenty years of increasing organized crime by the 'Ndrangheta as well as urban decay. The town is home to several , such as the
Condello-
Imerti and the
De Stefano-
Tegano clans, who were involved in bloody wars against each other during this period. The 'Ndrangheta extorts protection money (
pizzo) from every shop and viable business in town and has more power than the city council in awarding licences to retailers. On 9 October 2012, the Italian government decided to dissolve the city council of Reggio Calabria for infiltration by the 'Ndrangheta. The move came after some councillors were suspected of having ties to the powerful crime syndicate, under the 10-year centre-right rule of Giuseppe Scopelliti, mayor from 2002 to 2010. His successor, the centre-right mayor Demetrio Arena and all 30 city councillors, were sacked to prevent any "mafia contagion" in the local government. It was the first time that the entire government of a provincial capital had been dismissed over suspected links to organized crime. Three commissioners ran the city for 18 months until a new
election. According to anti-mafia investigators in 2016, Scopelliti was elected thanks to votes from the 'Ndrangheta.
Earthquakes in history Reggio has been destroyed by earthquakes several times over the centuries, such as in 91 BC, after which the city was reconstructed by order of the Emperor Augustus, followed by another in the year 17 AD; yet another one in 305 AD, and again another in 374. In 1562 one destroyed the natural, medieval port of the city and brought about the submersion of the Calamizzi promontory, known in ancient times as the Pallantiòn, where, we are told, the first Greek settlers, the Calcidesi, had set foot. The particularly devastating of 1783 and that of 1908, which was the worst natural calamity to take place in Europe in human memory, both profoundly altered the urban aspect of the city, due to the successive re-building which gave the present-day layout of straight, intersecting roads, planned by Giovanbattista Mori in 1784 and by in 1911. But some town-planning policies at the time were decided upon with no respect for the architectural history of Reggio, as is shown by the demolition of the remaining Norman part of the Castle, following the last big earthquake in 1923.
European travellers who visited Reggio Although Reggio and Calabria in general were less popular destinations than
Sicily or
Naples for the first Northern European travellers, several famous names such as the Flemish
Pieter Bruegel (in c. 1550), the German (in 1767), the Frenchmen
Jean Claude Richard de Saint-Non (in 1778) and
Stendhal (in 1817), the British travellers
Henry Swinburne (in c. 1775),
Richard Keppel Craven (in c. 1820),
Craufurd Tait Ramage (in 1828), the Strutt family and
Elizabeth Byron (in 1840),
Edward Lear (in 1847),
Norman Douglas (in 1911),
D. H. Lawrence (in c. 1920) and
Eric Whelpton (in 1950s) and the Belgian
Jules Destrée (in 1915 and in 1930) visited Reggio. ==Geography==