Pæstum

(anc. Posidonia , It. Pesto ). Anciently a Greek city of Lucania, in the present Neapolitan province of Principato Citeriore, on the Sinus Pæstan us , now the Gulf of Salerno. It was founded by the Trœzenians and the Sybarites some time between 650 and 610 B.C. It was subdued by the Samnites of Lucania, who named it Pæstum, and slowly declined in prosperity after it fell into the hands of the Romans, who established a colony here about 273 B.C. In 210 B.C. it furnished ships to the squadron with which D. Quintus repaired to the siege of Tarentum; and in the following year it was among the eighteen colonies which still profe ed readine to furnish supplies to the Roman armies. In the 10th century it was burnt by the Saracens, and the site is now occupied by the modern village of Pesto.