Tristan Hughes

With Pyrrhus gone, the writing was on the wall for cities like Pestum.

The Romans took control of the city soon after in around 273 BC, marking the beginning of the next stage in Pestum's story.

The Romans established a colony at Pestum and were quick to leave their mark on the city.

They built a forum, as well as baths, law courts, a treasury, marketplaces, and more, building over Pestum's original Greek heart of the city, its meeting place, its agora, and main political building, its ecclesiasterion, in the process.

Like the Greeks and the Lucanians, the Romans realised that Pestum was a key city in the southern part of Italy, helping them solidify their control over this area.

When the great Carthaginian general Hannibal came knocking in the late 3rd century BC, during his decade-long campaign in Italy, Pestum didn't switch sides.

They remained a Roman ally, a wise decision in hindsight given Rome's ultimate victory in that war.

Over time, new, noticeably Roman buildings would be built at Pestum, including lavish townhouses and an amphitheatre for gladiatorial games.

It remained an important city under Roman rule, famous for its sweet-smelling roses that flowered twice a year according to the Roman poet Virgil, and its great temples remained in use.

There was, almost certainly for centuries, a Greek population that remained at Pestum.

But Pestum did ultimately decline.

More than a millennia later, in the Middle Ages, flooding and climate shifts turned Pestum into a malarial swamp.

The site was abandoned and its magnificent temples fell into obscurity for centuries, marking the spot of a once mighty city.

Only in the 18th century was Pestum's story revived.

Since then, Pestum and its great temples have continued to inspire.

From painters and young aristocrats on their grand tours in the Georgian period, to Allied soldiers invading Italy in World War II, to filming the 1963 sword and sandal epic Jason and the Argonauts, to people visiting the site today.

When you think of ancient Italy, you naturally think of Rome.

But coming to a site like Pestum makes you realise that the Romans didn't live in a vacuum.

They shared Italy with a huge range of extraordinary cultures – Etruscans, Samnites, Lucanians, and of course, the Greeks.

And Pestum is the greatest place where you can see that today.