Crotone (ancient Crotona), city, southern Italy, in Calabria Region, on the Gulf of Taranto. It has an excellent, although small, harbor, is a center of trade in agricultural products, and has factories producing chemicals. Notable buildings include a cathedral and a 14th-century castle. Ancient Crotona was founded by the Achaean Greeks in about 710 BC near the present-day site and soon became a place of wealth and power. It gave to the Olympic games of ancient Greece many famous athletes, including Milo (flourished about 516-450 BC), famed for his great strength. About 530 BC, Pythagoras, the Greek mathematician and philosopher, established his brotherhood in the city. As early as the 5th century BC, the medical school at Crotona enjoyed great fame. The city became a Roman possession in 277 BC. Population (1997 estimate) 59,889.