From Heroes to Zeroes: The Pythagorean Refugees of the 6th and 5th Centuries

In the sixth and fifth centuries BC, Pythagorean philosophers managed to hold power in several cities of southern Italy. Subsequently, they were victims of attacks from political opponents, which killed most of them. The surviving Pythagoreans had to seek asylum elsewhere, becoming political refugees. There are several different ancient traditions and modern theories about the reasons of the violent opposition who turned the powerful Pythagoreans in exiles. However, in this paper it is argued that in, any case, the root cause of this opposition is the elitist attitude that marked Pythagorean philosophy, way of life and politics.