a district of Southern Italy, extending from the Tyrrhenian Sea on the W. to the Gulf of Tarentum on the E., was bounded on the S. by the Bruttians, on the N. by Apulia and Samnium, and on the N.W. by Campania. It derived its name from the Sicanians, a Samnite tribe, who in the third century before Christ, advancing gradually southward, waged an aggressive war with the Etruscans and the Choes, the original inhabitants of the district, until, after the lapse of less than a century, they had advanced their conquest to the southern extremity of the peninsula. The Bruttians, however, soon revolting, drove them back within the limits of the district which they afterwards occupied. Lucania was comprised in the third region of Augustus. One of the wildest parts of Italy, it sent forth from its extensive mountain forests wild swine for the markets, and numerous bears for the amphitheatres of Rome. Its chief rivers, the Silarus (Sele), the Aciris (Agri), the Lucanus, Cassius (Basiento), and the Bradanum (Bradanum), all rise in the Apennines. The first flows westward into the Tyrrhenian Sea, the rest flow eastward into the Gulf of Tarentum. Of the towns, those along the coasts were nearly all of Greek origin, and maintained their independence long after the Lucanians had subdued the rest of the district. Studding the E. shore were Metapontum, Heraclea, Siris, and Thurii. On the W. coast stood Laus Blanda (Maratea), Bicentum (Policastro), Velia or Elea, and Paestum or Posidonia (Pesto). The principal inland towns were Potentia (Potenza), Atina, Volecium or Voceutum (Buccino), Grumentum, Nerulum, Muranum (Morano), and Forum Pompilii (La Polla). The Lucanians became allies of the Romans during the Samnite wars. Yet they joined Pyrrhus when he invaded Italy B.C. 281, and after the battle of Cannae they revolted to Hannibal. Their defection on both occasions was severely punished. The Lucanians, in the time of Sulla, were raised to the rank of Roman citizens, and after that period gradually sank into obscurity.