Taras (Tarentum)

Taras was a city founded by Spartan colonists; it was the only important colony of Sparta outside of Greece during the great migration or colonisation period.

The city became a focal point of resistance against Rome's hegemony in Italy; Taras welcomed King Pyrrhus of Epeirus. In the end, Taras fell into Roman dominance after Pyrrhus' defeat and withdrawal from Italy, and the city was renamed Tarentum. Today, the city is called Taranto.

No important myth or legend is associated with Taras, though Virgil did mention it as being the town of Hercules (Heracles) in the Aeneid and Ovid mentioned Tarentum only in reference to the foundation of Croton, by Myscelus (Metamorphoses, book 15).