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Battle Of Selinus
The Battle of Selinus, which took place early in 409 BC, is the opening battle of the so-called Second Sicilian War. The ten-day-long siege and battle was fought in Sicily between the Carthaginian forces under Hannibal Mago (a king of Carthage of the Magonid family, not the famous Hannibal of the Barcid family) and the Dorian Greeks of Selinus. The city of Selinus had defeated the Elymian city of Segesta in 415, an event that led to the Athenian invasion of Sicily in 415 and ended in the defeat of Athenian forces in 413. When Selinus again worsted Segesta in 411, Carthage, responding to the appeal of Segesta, had besieged and sacked Selinus after the Carthaginian offer of negotiations had been refused by the Greeks. This was the first step towards Hannibal's campaign to avenge the Carthaginian defeat at the first battle of Himera in 480. The city of Selinus was later rebuilt, but never regained her former status. Background The island of Sicily contained the Elymians, Sikans ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sicilian Wars
The Sicilian Wars, or Greco-Punic Wars, were a series of conflicts fought between ancient Carthage and the Greek city-states led by Syracuse, Sicily over control of Sicily and the western Mediterranean between 580 and 265 BC. Carthage's economic success and its dependence on seaborne trade led to the creation of a powerful navy to discourage both pirates and rival nations. They had inherited their naval strength and experience from their forebears, the Phoenicians, but had increased it because, unlike the Phoenicians, the Punics did not want to rely on a foreign nation's aid. This, coupled with its success and growing hegemony, brought Carthage into increasing conflict with the Greeks, the other major power contending for control of the central Mediterranean. The Greeks, like the Phoenicians, were expert sailors who had established thriving colonies throughout the Mediterranean. These two rivals fought their wars on the island of Sicily, which lay close to Carthage. From their ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Soluntum
Soluntum or Solus was an ancient city on the Tyrrhenian coast of Sicily near present-day in the comune of Santa Flavia, Italy. In antiquity, it was originally one of the three chief Phoenician settlements in the island and later flourished in the Greek and Roman periods. Names The Punic name of the town was simply ''Kapara'' (, ), meaning "Village". The Greek name appears in surviving coins as ''Solontînos'' () but appears variously in other sources as ''Solóeis'' (), ''Soloûs'' (), and ''Solountînos''. Some scholars contend that Soluntum and Solus were two different cities at close quarters, Soluntum, higher upon the hillside, being a later habitation displacing the earlier settlement of Solus, at a lower elevation. These were latinized as and , which became the modern Italian name Solunto. Geography Soluntum lay above sea level on the southeast side of Monte Catalfano (), commanding a fine view from a naturally-strong situation. It is immediately to the east of t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Leonidas
Leonidas I (; grc-gre, Λεωνίδας; died 19 September 480 BC) was a List of kings of Sparta#Heraclids, king of the Greek city-state of Sparta, and the 17th of the List of kings of Sparta#Agiad dynasty, Agiad line, a dynasty which claimed descent from the mythological demigod Heracles. Leonidas I was son of King Anaxandridas II. He succeeded his half-brother King Cleomenes I to the throne in c. 489 BC. His co-ruler was King Leotychidas. He was succeeded by his son, King Pleistarchus. Leonidas had a notable participation in the Second Persian invasion of Greece, Second Greco-Persian War, where he led the allied Greek forces to a last stand at the Battle of Thermopylae (480 BC) while attempting to defend the pass from the invading Persian army; he died at the battle and entered myth as the leader of the 300 Spartans. While the Greeks lost this battle, they were able to expel the Persian invaders in the following year. Life According to Herodotus, Leonidas' mother was not only ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Gelo
Gelon also known as Gelo (Greek: Γέλων ''Gelon'', ''gen.'': Γέλωνος; died 478 BC), son of Deinomenes, was a Greek tyrant of the Sicilian cities Gela and Syracuse, and first of the Deinomenid rulers. Early life Gelon was the son of Deinomenes. According to Herodotus, Gelon's ancestors came from the island of Telos in the Aegean Sea and were the founders of the city of Gela in southern Sicily.De Sélincourt's ''Herodotus'', p. 494. One of his later ancestors, Telines, was said to have reconciled his people after a period of civil strife through the divine rites of the Earth Goddesses; Herodotus infers that all of Telines' descendants, including Gelon, were priests of this cult. Gelon's three brothers were Hieron, Thrasybulus and Polyzalos.Bury & Meiggs, p. 189. Deinomenes consulted an oracle about the fates of his children, and was told that Gelon, Hieron and Thrasybulus were all destined to become tyrants. Gelon fought in a number of the conflicts between the va ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Cleander Of Gela
Cleander ( el, Κλέανδρος) was a tyrant who ruled the Sicilian city of Gela, which had been previously subject to an oligarchy. He founded the Pantarid dynasty, reigning for seven years, and was murdered in 498 BC by a citizen of Gela named Sabyllus who wanted to see the introduction of democracy in the city. Instead power was transferred to Cleander’s brother, Hippocrates of Gela. It has been suggested that Cleander was responsible for building Gela's first city wall due to a problematic relationship with the native Sicels, a situation thought to have been caused by Cleander himself.Dunbabin, T.J., The Western Greeks (1948) 380 although this has been disputed: Griffin, M.J., The Tyrannies in the Greek Cities of Sicily: 505-466 BC, PhD thesis, University of Leeds (2005) 108-110 Notes References * , width=25% align=center, Preceded by:— , width=25% align=center, Tyrant of Gela505 BC – 498 BC , width=25% align=center, Succeeded by:Hippocrates Hippocrates of K ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Gela
Gela (Sicilian and ; grc, Γέλα) is a city and (municipality) in the Autonomous Region of Sicily, Italy; in terms of area and population, it is the largest municipality on the southern coast of Sicily. Gela is part of the Province of Caltanissetta and is the only in Italy with a population and area that exceed those of the provincial capital. Gela was founded in 698 BC by Greek colonists from Rhodes and Crete; it was an influential ''polis'' in Sicily in the 7th and 6th centuries BC and became one of the most powerful cities until the 5th c. BC. Aeschylus, the famous playwright, lived here and died in 456 BC. In 1943, during the Invasion of Sicily, the Allied forces made their first landing on the island at Gela.La Monte, John L. & Lewis, Winston B. ''The Sicilian Campaign, 10 July17 August 1943'' (1993) United States Government Printing Office pp.56-96 History Ancient era Archaeology has shown that the acropolis of Gela was occupied during the Copper Age in ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Akragas
Agrigento (; scn, Girgenti or ; grc, Ἀκράγας, translit=Akrágas; la, Agrigentum or ; ar, كركنت, Kirkant, or ''Jirjant'') is a city on the southern coast of Sicily, Italy and capital of the province of Agrigento. It was one of the leading cities of Magna Graecia during the golden age of Ancient Greece BC. History Akragas was founded on a plateau overlooking the sea, with two nearby rivers, the Hypsas and the Acragas, after which the settlement was originally named. A ridge, which offered a degree of natural fortification, links a hill to the north called Colle di Girgenti with another, called Rupe Atenea, to the east. According to Thucydides, it was founded around 582-580 BC by Greek colonists from Gela in eastern Sicily, with further colonists from Crete and Rhodes. The founders ( ''oikistai'') of the new city were Aristonous and Pystilus. It was the last of the major Greek colonies in Sicily to be founded. Archaic period The territory under A ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Heraclea Minoa
Heraclea Minoa ( grc-gre, Ἡράκλεια Μινῴα, ''Hērákleia Minṓia''; it, Eraclea Minoa) was an ancient Greek city situated on the southern coast of Sicily near the mouth of the river Halycus (modern Platani), 25 km west of Agrigentum (''Acragas'', modern Agrigento). It is located near the modern town of the same name in the ''comune'' Cattolica Eraclea in Italy. Excavations have revealed several parts of the city which are now open to the public. Archaeology has shown that the city was founded in the middle of the 6th century BC as an outpost of the Greek colony of Selinus (modern Selinunte) and was finally abandoned around the beginning of the 1st century AD. Site The city is situated a few hundred metres southeast of the mouth of the river Platani (the ancient Halycus) in a defendable position atop the conspicuous promontory now called Capo Bianco with gently sloping sides down to the Platani valley to the north and sheer white cliffs to the ocean on t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Eryx (Sicily)
Eryx ( grc-gre, Ἔρυξ, ''Éryx''; xpu, 𐤀𐤓𐤊, ) was an ancient city and a mountain in the west of Sicily, about 10 km from Drepana (modern Trapani), and 3 km from the sea-coast. It was located at the site of modern Erice. Mount Eryx The mountain, now called Monte Erice, is a wholly isolated peak, rising in the midst of a low undulating tract, which causes its elevation to appear much more considerable than it really is, so that it was regarded in ancient as well as modern times as the most lofty summit in the whole island next to Aetna, though its real elevation does not exceed 2184 English feet. Hence we find Eryx alluded to by Virgil and other Latin poets as a mountain of the first order of magnitude, and associated with Athos, Aetna, etc. On its summit stood a celebrated temple of Venus or Aphrodite, founded, according to the current legend, by Aeneas, whence the goddess derived the surname of Venus Erycina, by which she is often mentioned by Latin writers ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Dorieus
Dorieus (died c.510 BC; grc-gre, Δωριεύς) was a Spartan prince of the Agiad dynasty who is mentioned several times in Herodotus. The second son of Anaxandridas II, he was the younger half-brother of Cleomenes I and the elder full brother of both Leonidas I and Cleombrotus. He tried to found a colony in Libya but failed. He tried again to establish a colony in western Sicily, but was killed by the Carthaginians. Family According to Herodotus, Anaxandridas II of Sparta had married his niece and was devoted to her. For a long time, the marriage was childless and Sparta's Council of the Ephors, fearing that the line of Eurysthenes would expire, asked Anaxandridas to divorce his wife and remarry. Anaxandridas refused and the Ephors then proposed that he take a second wife, even though bigamy was hitherto unknown in Sparta. Anaxandridas agreed and, shortly after his second marriage, both of his wives became pregnant. Cleomenes, who was the only child of the second wife, was the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Lilybaeum
Marsala (, local ; la, Lilybaeum) is an Italian town located in the Province of Trapani in the westernmost part of Sicily. Marsala is the most populated town in its province and the fifth in Sicily. The town is famous for the docking of Giuseppe Garibaldi on 11 May 1860 (the ''Expedition of the Thousand'') and for its Marsala wine. A feature of the area is the Stagnone Lagoon Natural Reserve – a marine area with salt ponds. Marsala is built on the ruins of the ancient Ancient Carthage, Carthaginian city of Lilybaeum, and includes in its territory the archaeological site of the island of Motya, an ancient Phoenician town. The modern name likely derived from the Arabic (''marsā ʿaliyy'', "Ali's harbor"), or possibly (''marsā llāh'', "God's harbor"). Geography Situated at the extreme western point of Sicily, the town was founded on Lilibeo Cape from where the Aegadian Islands and the Stagnone Lagoon can be seen. Territory The territory of Marsala, , has a rich cultura ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Elymian
The Elymians ( grc-gre, Ἔλυμοι, ''Élymoi''; Latin: ''Elymi'') were an ancient tribal people who inhabited the western part of Sicily during the Bronze Age and Classical antiquity. Origins According to Hellanicus of Lesbos, the Elymians were a population of Italic origin, who arrived in Sicily after having fought a war with the Oenotrians. Furthermore for the Greek historian, the Elymians would also have contributed to the formation of the Sicels. Today this thesis seems to be the most accredited and is confirmed by linguistic studies. Elymian, a language for which a different affiliation has long been sought in the past, must also be attributed to this linguistic family (Indo-European); however, the ancient tradition according to which the Elymians came from Troy is corroborated by the linguistic data but today the most authoritative opinions see in Elymian an Italic language more or less similar to Latin. Greek historian Philistus refers to the presence of a people of ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
