The Byzantines and the Arabs: Catanzaro's Roots Between Conquest and Culture

The name of Catanzaro first appears in a document from 903, the "Codice Arabo Siculo" by Airaldi, which tells of a battle fought under the city walls.

That year, the emir Aba el Aabass captured Catanzaro, taking control with a garrison of ten thousand men.
This event testifies that Catanzaro already existed well before that date, a settlement with a solid and layered history.
Just a few years later, in 906, Catanzaro became a significant Arab emirate, as Arnulfo recounts in his "Cronaca Araba".
This period lasted for decades, deeply shaping the city's identity.
In the "Annals of the Kingdom of Naples," Francesco Antonio Grimandi reports an emblematic episode from 922: Emir Olbek was assassinated due to a military conspiracy, and upon his death, a successor was elected who took the name "Michael rex sclavorum." As a seal of power, the investiture ceremony took place in Catanzaro, then known as Qatansar, following Arab rites and traditions.
The connection with the Arab world is also evidenced by archaeological excavations: in 1846, along the "road of Santa Chiara," Marincola Pistoia identified a Saracen necropolis near Palazzo de Nobili.
Among the tombs, a ring and coins with Arabic inscriptions were found, now preserved in the Provincial Museum of Villa Margherita, precious signs of a significant cultural presence.
Some scholars, however, believe that Catanzaro was founded in the early 10th century under Byzantine rule, in response to Saracen threats raging on the coasts. General Nicephorus II Phocas chose a strategic defensive position to build an imposing hilltop fortress. The site, with its three hills protected by two lateral valleys, offered a safe natural refuge, suitable for hosting a community ready to resist incursions.
The Eastern heritage remained a fundamental pillar of the city, favored by cultural and commercial ties with the Byzantine Empire, which, with its splendor, connected Catanzaro to a world rich in tradition and exchanges. However, as the medieval era advanced, the federal Byzantine Empire began its decline. It was then that the Normans entered Calabria, marking the beginning of a new season of domination and transformation for Catanzaro and the entire region.