In ancient Greece, the Partheniae or Parthenians (in Greek οἱ Παρθενίαι / hoi Partheníai, literally “sons of virgins”, i.e. unmarried young girls) were a lower ranking Spartiate population which, according to tradition, left Laconia to go to Magna Graecia and founded Taras, modern Taranto, in the current region of Apulia, in southern Italy.
The oldest is that of Antiochus of Syracuse (a contemporary of Thucydides quoted by Strabo, VI, 3, 2), according to which the Spartiates, during the first Messenian war (end of the 8th century BC), had rejected like cowards those who had not fought, along with their descendants: Antiochus says that, during the Messenian war, those Lacedemonians which did not take part with the mission shall be declared as slaves and called Helots; as for the children born during the mission, we shall call them Parthenians and deny them of all legal rights.
Thereafter, Parthenians plotted against the Peers and, discovered, would have been driven out of Sparta, from which they departed for Italy and founded Taras, whose date is traditionally fixed in 706 BC - which archaeology does not deny.
Strabo ( ibid , VI, 3, 3) himself opposes the testimony of Antiochus to that of Ephorus (4th century BC), also quoted by Polybius (XII, 6b, 5), Justin (III, 4, 3) and also Dionysius of Halicarnassus (XIX, 2-4).
The discovery of ceramics from the late Geometric period in Satyrion tends to support the thesis of a temporary settlement in these places before finally founding Taras, which occupies a unique position: it offers a well protected port and good ground communications.
The purpose of the narration titled "We Tarentine people sons of Partheni" is to put the word "end" to the negative opinion about the Tarantine Spartan ancestresses, due to some filo-Attic sources (particularly Erodoto) written for a bad propaganda against Taras, colony of Sparta and enemy of Athens.
The scientific essay was published in the Revue Ribalta of Puglia in order to be spread in the high schools and among the Tarentin citizens; it became so popular that today it is told by scholars, teachers and touristic guides when they want to give account of the foundation of Taras in Magna Graecia.