Who or what is a sybarite?

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A sybarite is a person who is devoted to luxury and pleasure. The word is related to Sybaris, an ancient Greek city in present-day southern Italy, noted for its wealth and opulence.

In 720 B.C., the ancient Greeks founded the city as a colony near the present-day city of Terranova di Sibari in southern Italy. The inhabitants of Sybaris, known as Sybarites, were very fortunate. Their land was extraordinarily fertile, and their location by the sea brought them a lucrative trade. Living was easy in Sybaris, and over time, the Sybarites became known all over the ancient world for their indulgence in pleasure and love of frivolous luxury. By the 6th century, Sybaris had attained a degree of wealth and power which was unprecedented among Greek cities and which earned them the admiration of the rest of the Hellenic world.

In 510 B.C., Sybaris was rocked by political dissensions. War broke out between Sybaris and Crotona. Although the Sybarite army was 300,000 strong and the Crotoniats were less than a third in number, the latter put the Sybarites to flight and pursued them to the gates of their city, which they then destroyed. The fall of Sybaris was viewed by many Greeks as a divine vengeance upon the Sybarites for their pride and arrogance, caused by their excessive prosperity.