History
Calabria did not exist when the Greeks first got there. The territory was called Brutium after an ancient Italic tribe who occupied the land and no doubt lived up to their tough name. Prior to that it was known as Enotria after another tribe while the 'Calabria' was applied to present day Puglia, or Salento to be precise.
The name Calabria comes from the Hebrew 'kaleb' meaning land of resin or woods. This saw a further corruption into Kalòs-Bruo meaning 'fertile land' which was adopted in the Byzantine era of the 7th century.
Greek influence first took hold between the 8th and 7th centuries BC when they founded the cities of Reggio, Sibari, Crotone and Locri. It wasn't all temples and philosophy as a century later vicious feuds between Crotone and Locri left hundreds dead and Sibari destroyed.
The Roman invasion of the 3rd century BC brought stability which was only briefly interrupted by the Second Punic War. After becoming administratively linked to neighboring Lucania by the Emperor Augustus, the region, however, declined both socially and economically.
Following the post classical period in Calabria the Byzantines gave way to the Longobards in the 7th century who united the territory of Cosenza with present day Benevento and Salerno. The Byzantines seized it back briefly in the 10th century before the Normans arrived a century later.
It was at this time western religious tradition reaffirmed itself and many holy orders and building cropped up. Yet, history starts to repeat itself with the arrival of the Aragonesi and Angioini, and the subsequent Spanish occupation (1503-1734).
A new period of decadence and social collapse followed. Over two hundred years of petty minded barony, Spanish fiscal control, coupled with an unusual spate of earthquakes, disease and famine, forced the population into rags.
The cavalry arrived in the form of the French and Napoleon's troops who abolished feudalism.
The Risorgimento of the 19th century saw many insurrectionist movements coming out of the region until Garibaldi put an end to Bourbon influence once and for all in 1860.
The immediate period after saw the irrepressible rise of brigandage and a bitter 5 year conflict to establish law and order to help the region realise its full potential. It's still going on.
The Dialect of Calabria
Language, and especially dialect, is a great way to really understand a people or a place. What may have been forgotten in the history books can survive in daily speech and tell us more than we expect. Calabria and the local Calabrese vernacular is no exception.
For example, names of typical products are often used as jokey insults. Try calling your taxi driver a 'Lattughella', ''o Ruspo', 'Paparella' or ''a Piscatrice' next time round.
The last example refers to a beautiful young girl with green eyes, so called not because she's a catch for any male but due to her long chin looking like the tail of a local frog.
Similarly, nicknames for inhabitants from certain villages still refer to trades long since disappeared from the area.
Those from Pedace are known as 'curtellari' or knife makers, while the people of San Giovanni in Fiore are known as 'patatari' as they used to cultivate potatoes.
The following proverbs in Calabrese dialect (in italics) also raise a smile.
"A fìmmina senza statu, è cumu ‘u pane senza levatu" OR 'La femmina senza stato (nubile), è come il pane senza lievito' OR 'a girl who doesn't like it is like bread without yeast".
"A figlia a quindici anni o ‘a mariti o ‘a scanni" OR 'La figlia (giunta) a quindici anni o la mariti o la uccidi' OR 'A 15 year old daughter should be married off or done away with".
"A gente senza figli, né dinari né cunsigli" OR "A gente senza figli né aiuto né consigli" OR 'Neither help nor advice to people without children'.