A sybarite was originally a person who inhabited Sybaris – a Greek city in the south of Italy, situated on the Gulf of Tarentum, and part of a group of Greek cities on the southern coast, collectively known as the Magna Graecia. If you know the geography of Italy, these cities would have been located in what is now Calabria.
The city of Sybaris was rebuilt no fewer than four times, mostly due to the fact that their neighbours despised them. The Crotoniates (from the neighbouring city, Croton) razed the place to the ground in both 510 and 448 BC. They rebuilt it a third time with the help of the Athenians, but the original Sybarites were then expelled by the rest of the city’s population, who named the city Turii. The Sybarites, never knowing when to give up, built a new Sybaris further south.
The reason the Sybarites were so incredibly unpopular was because of their wealth and lifestyle. Sybaris had very fertile land, and was conveniently located in a bay, so trading ships could come and go with ease. This made them very rich indeed, and they embarked upon a life devoted to pleasure and the finest things available. This was to prove to be their downfall – notwithstanding the contempt their neighbours held for them. Having such a lavish and pampered lifestyle, they became legendarily sensitive and ill-at-ease with others. Lucius Seneca (a Roman philosopher and Dramatist) tells of the Sybarite who could not sleep one night. When asked why, he said that there had been a rose leaf doubled over under his bedsheet, and that it had hurt him. Another story is of the Sybarite who saw a man hoeing in a field and ‘contracted a rupture’ because of it. He related the tale to a friend, who got earache from hearing it. Fanciful stuff, indeed, but meant to illustrate what a bunch of pansies these people were.
The word sybarite (and the adverb sybaritic) now refer to anyone who lives a life devoted to pleasure and luxury. Think of Marie Antoinette, The Great Gatsby and Dorian Gray and you’d be along the right lines.
The downfall of the Sybarites came about (allegedly) because of their opulent living. They had taught their horses to dance to the tune of pipes, which must have been as much fun as you could hope for in those days. The Crotoniates discovered this, and appeared at the city with pipes of their own. Once they started playing, the horses of the cavalrymen began to dance and they simply walked in through the horsey cha-cha-cha and sacked the city.
