Archaeology: A Pleasurable Find

Of all the cities of the ancient world, none was more opulent than Sybaris, which was settled by Greek colonists on the instep of the Italian boot near the Ionian coast. Wealthy Sybarites had wine piped from vineyards to their homes, dressed in fine woolens, decorated themselves with gold ornaments, enjoyed vapor rubs in their bathtubs and spent as long as a year preparing for parties. They walked on roads canopied to protect them from the sun, abhorred manual labor and so enjoyed sleeping late that they banned noisy blacksmiths, carpenters and even...