The town was a Greek colony under the name of Hipponion, under the control of the powerful city of Locri, founded around the 7th century BC. Little by Little Hipponion grew in power and military force, and won independence from Locri in 422 BC thanks also to an alliance with Syracuse. It was a military base of the Carthaginians, and finally in the 2nd century BC came under Roman influence, and since then was known as Valentia.
After the fall of the western Roman empire in 476 AD it was for a period a strategically important fortress under Byzantine rule. It was attacked and destroyed by the Moors in 850 and again in 983 AD, then a second glorious period began under the Normans and subsequently the Swabians, and in 1235 the name was changed into Monteleone of Calabria.
In the following centuries it was a renowned cultural center, and in 1799 Gioacchino Murat appointed it as capital of the province of Calabria Ultra. In 1928 the name was changed back to Vibo Valentia, and in 1992 it became the capital of the newly established province, created with part of the territory of the province of Catanzaro.
