Lucania (Greek: Λευκανία,
Leukania) was an ancient district of
Southern Italy, extending from the
Tyrrhenian Sea to the
Gulf of Taranto. To the north it adjoined
Campania,
Samnium and
Apulia, and to the south it was separated by a narrow
isthmus from the district of
Bruttium. It thus comprised almost all the modern region of the
Basilicata, with the greater part of the province of
Salerno (the so-called
Cilento) and a portion of that of
Cosenza. The precise limits were the river
Silarus on the north-west, which separated it from
Campania, and the
Bradanus, which flows into the
Gulf of Tarentum, on the north-east; while the two little rivers
Laus and
Crathis, flowing from the ridge of the
Apennines to the sea on the west and east, marked the limits of the district on the side of the
Bruttii.