Life
He was a Corinthian nobleman of the House of Bacchis who fled charges of sedition in Corinth, to Italy in 655 B.C. Demaratus settled in the Etruscan city of Tarquinii and married an Etruscan noblewoman from Tarquinii. They had two sons, Lucumo and Aruns. Aruns died before his father, Demaratus, and left a pregnant wife. Demaratus (who died soon afterwards and not knowing he had a future grandchild) left nothing for him in his inheritance. His name was Egerius ("The Needy One"), on account of his poverty since he inherited nothing. Egerius was the father to Tarquinius Collatinus, the husband to Lucretia. Demaratus' son, Lucumo, inherited his entire fortune.
When Demaratus migrated to Western mainland Italy, he took all of his wealth and introduced Greek culture and Greek pottery. He supposedly brought potters with him from Corinth. These potters were responsible for the development of Greek pottery in Western mainland Italy. There were Greek potters in Tarquinii and in the Greek trading post of Gravisca. According to the Greek traveller Pausanias, it was either his son or grandson who was the first foreigner to visit Olympia and make a dedication.
According to Tacitus, he taught the Etruscans literacy.
Read more about this topic: Demaratus The Corinthian
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