Greek Cities
Little is known about the city plan of Poseidonia, since the currently visible
plan is of Roman times, but it is fairly certain that the main road was the Via Sacra, which later became the cardo maximus in the Roman period. It
leads from the S. gate, the Porta Giustizia, to the N. gate, the Porta Aurea, and it makes a few turns along the way, which is rather unusual. The road was not paved.
The main square of a Greek city was the agora, and the agora of Poseidonia has
been identified about halfway along the Via Sacra. Close to the agora the bouleuterion, the circular meeting place of the city council, has been found.
In 510 BCE Sybaris, the mother city of Poseidonia, was sacked and destroyed at the hands of Croton, and it appears that sybarite refugees arrived
oseidonia at this time. These refugees have been associated with the apparent rise in building activity in the following decades.Just around 510
BCE an enigmatic construction was made on the Via Sacra, close to the agora. It is a half buried, underground shrine without an entrance. Inside
rich grave goods were found, but no inscriptions, so it is generally assumed it is a heroon, the symbolic tomb of the heroic founder of the city.