CALABRIA, the name of a territorial district of both ancient and modern Italy, but not signifying the same areas in the two periods.
(I) The ancient district consisted of the peninsula at its S.E. extremity, between the Adriatic and the gulf of Tarentum, ending in the Iapygian promontory (Lat. Promunturium Sallentinum; the village upon it was called Leuca—Gr. Aanc&, white, from its colour—and is still named S. Maria di Leuca) and corresponding in the main with the modern province of Lecce, Brundisium and Tarentum being its north-westerly cities, though the boundary of the latter extends somewhat farther west. It is a low terrace of limestone, the highest parts of which seldom reach 1,5oo ft.; the cliffs, though not high, are steep, and it has no important rivers, but despite lack of water it was (and is) remarkably fertile. Strabo mentions its pastures and trees, and its olives, vines and fruit trees (still the principal source of prosperity) are frequently spoken of by the ancients. The wool of the good ports of Taren tum and Brundisium was also famous, and at the former place were considerable dye-works. Traces of a prehistoric population of the Stone and early Bronze Age are to be found all over Calabria. Specially noticeable are the menhirs (pietre fitte) and the round tower-like specchie or truddlii, which are found near Lecce, Gallipoli and Muro Leccese (and only here in Italy) ; they correspond to similar monuments, the perdas fittas and the nuraghi, of Sardinia; and there are also numerous dolmens. In 272-266 B.C. we find six triumphs recorded in the Roman fasti over the Tarentini, Sallentini and Messapii, while the name Cala bria does not occur ; but after the foundation of a colony at Brundisium in 244 B.C., and the final subjection of Tarentum in 209 B.C., Calabria became the general name for the peninsula (for the Iron Age in Messapia see APULIA: Geometric Pottery). Strabo tells us that in earlier days Calabria had been extremely populous and had had 13 cities, but that all except Tarentum and Brundi sium had dwindled to villages. The Via Appia (q.v.), prolonged to Brundisium perhaps as early as 264 B.C., passed through Ta rentum ; the shorter route by Canusium, Barium and Gnathia was only made into a main artery of communication by Trajan. The only other roads were the two coast roads, the one from Brundi sium by Lupiae, the other from Tarentum by Manduria, Nere turn, Aletium (with a branch to Callipolis) and Veretum (hence a branch to Leuca), which met at Hydruntum. Augustus joined Calabria to Apulia and the territory of the Hirpini to form the second region of Italy. From the end of the second century we find Calabria for juridicial purposes associated either with Apulia or with Lucania and the district of the Bruttii, while Diocletian placed it under one corrector with Apulia. The loss of the name Calabria came with the Lombard conquest of this district. For the archaeology of this period see P. Orsi in Boll. d'Arte ser. 1, vol. viii. 41, 337; Chron. Belle Arti. i. 65 ; Le Chiese Basiliane della Calabria (1927).
(2) The modern Calabria consists of the southern extremity of Italy, bounded on the N. by the province of Potenza (Basili cata) and on the other three sides by the sea. Area 5,819 sq.m. Calabria acquired its present name in the time of the Byzantine supremacy, after the ancient Calabria had fallen into the hands of the Lombards and been lost to the Eastern empire about A.D. 668. The name is first found in the modern sense in the 8th cen tury ; the district is mainly mountainous ; at the N. extremity the mountains still belong to the Apennines proper (the highest point, the Monte Pollino, 7,325 ft., is on the boundary between Basilicata and Calabria), but after the plain of Sibari, traversed by the Crati (anc. Crathis, a river 58 m. long, the only considerable one in Calabria), the granite mountains of Calabria proper begin. The first group extends as far as the isthmus, about 22 m. wide, formed by the gulfs of S. Eufemia and Squillace ; its highest point is the Botte Donato (6,33o ft.). It is in modern times generally called the Sila, in contradistinction to the second (southern) group, the Aspromonte (6,420 ft.); the ancients on the other hand ap plied the name Sila to the southern group. The rivers in both parts of the chain are short and unimportant. The mountain districts are in parts covered with forest (though less so than in ancient times), still largely government property, while in much of the rest there is good pasture. The scenery is fine, though the country is hardly at all visited by travellers. The fertile coast strip produces wine, olive-oil and fruit (oranges, lemons, figs, etc.), in abundance, especially near Reggio. The neighbourhood of Cosenza is also highly cultivated, though the methods used in many parts are still primitive. Coast fisheries are important near the straits of Messina. The climate is very hot in summer, while snow lies on the mountain-tops for at least half the year. Earth quakes have done great damage; that of the autumn of 1905 was disastrous, but was surpassed by the terrible earthquake of 1908, which destroyed Messina (q.v.) and ruined Reggio. Railway com munications include lines along E. and W. coasts (the latter forms part of the through route by land from Italy to Sicily, ferry-boats traversing the strait of Messina with the through trains on board) which meet at Reggio di Calabria. They are connected by a branch from Paola through Corigliano (junction for Cosenza), and Spezzano Albanese (branch to Castrovillari) to Sibari, and by another from Marina di Catanzaro through Catanzaro to S. Eufemia. There are also short branches. The interior is other wise untouched by railways; indeed many of the villages in the interior can only be approached by paths ; and this is one of the causes of the economic difficulties of Calabria. Another is injudicious deforestation. Much is, however, being done in the way of public works ; hydroelectric plants have been established in the Sila, and drainage of the plain of Sibari is being under taken.
Local costumes are still much worn in the remoter districts; they vary considerably in the different villages. The population of Calabria was 1,512,318 in 1921. Colonies, founded in the 15th century by Albanians expelled by the Turks, still speak their own language, wear their national costume and worship according to Greek rite. Similar colonies exist in Sicily, notably at Piana dei Greci near Palermo.