Imachara (

Greek Greek may refer to: Greece Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group. *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family. **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor ...

: or , Ptol.), was an ancient city of

Sicily (man) it, Siciliana (woman) , population_note = , population_blank1_title = , population_blank1 = , demographics_type1 = Ethnicity , demographics1_footnotes = , demographi ...

repeatedly mentioned by

Cicero Marcus Tullius Cicero ( ; ; 3 January 106 BC – 7 December 43 BC) was a Roman statesman, lawyer, scholar, philosopher, and academic skeptic, who tried to uphold optimate principles during the political crises that led to the estab ...

among the municipal towns of the island. There is great discrepancy in regard to the form of the name, which is written in many manuscripts ''Macarēnsis'' or ''Macharēnsis''; and the same uncertainty is found in those of

Pliny Pliny may refer to: People * Pliny the Elder (23–79 CE), ancient Roman nobleman, scientist, historian, and author of ''Naturalis Historia'' (''Pliny's Natural History'') * Pliny the Younger (died 113), ancient Roman statesman, orator, w ...

, who also notices the town among those of the interior of Sicily. The precise location of Imachara is not known but has been and remains the subject of much scholarly debate. Even though

Mirabella Imbaccari Mirabella Imbaccari ( scn, Màcara, Latin: ''Imachara'' and ''Imacara'') is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Metropolitan City of Catania in the Italian region Sicily, located about southeast of Palermo and about southwest of Catania. Mirab ...

is still named in Sicilian as ''Màcara'' and its inhabitants are called ''macarisi'', both deriving incontrovertibly from their corrispective Latin ascendants.

History and location

From the manner in which it is spoken of by Cicero, it would seem to have been a town of some consideration, with a territory fertile in corn. That writer associates it with Herbita, Assorus, Agyrium (modern Agira), and other towns of the interior, in a manner that would lead us to suppose it situated in the same region of Sicily; and this inference is confirmed by

Ptolemy Claudius Ptolemy (; grc-gre, Πτολεμαῖος, ; la, Claudius Ptolemaeus; AD) was a mathematician, astronomer, astrologer, geographer, and music theorist, who wrote about a dozen scientific treatises, three of which were of importanc ...

, who places ''Hemichara'' or ''Himichara'' (evidently the same place) in the northeast of Sicily, between Capitium (modern Capizzi) and Centuripa (modern Centuripe). Hence Cluverius conjectured that it may have occupied the site of Traina, but this is wholly uncertain.

Fazello Tommaso Fazello (New Latin ''Fazellus'', 1498 – 8 April 1570) was an Italian Dominican friar, historian and antiquarian. He is known as the father of Sicilian history. He is the author of the first printed history of Sicily: ''De Rebus Sicu ...

and other Sicilian writers have supposed the ruins of an ancient city, which are still visible on the coast about 15 km north of Cape Pachynum, near the Porto Vindicari, in the ''

comune The (; plural: ) is a local administrative division of Italy, roughly equivalent to a township or municipality. It is the third-level administrative division of Italy, after regions ('' regioni'') and provinces (''province''). The can also ...

'' of

Noto Noto ( scn, Notu; la, Netum) is a city and in the Province of Syracuse, Sicily, Italy. It is southwest of the city of Syracuse at the foot of the Iblean Mountains. It lends its name to the surrounding area Val di Noto. In 2002 Noto and i ...

, to be those of Imachara; but though the name of Macaresa, still borne by an adjoining headland, gives some color to this opinion, it is wholly opposed to the data furnished us by ancient authors, who all agree in placing Imachara in the interior of the island. The ruins in question, which indicate the site of a considerable town, are regarded by Cluverius (but equally without authority) as those of

Ichana Ichana (Greek: ), was an ancient city of Sicily, which, according to Stephanus of Byzantium, held out for a long time against the arms of the Syracusans, whence he derives its name (from the verb , a form equivalent to ), but gives us no indication ...

.Cluver. ''Sicil.'' p. 356;

Tommaso Fazello Tommaso Fazello (New Latin ''Fazellus'', 1498 – 8 April 1570) was an Italian Dominican friar, historian and antiquarian. He is known as the father of Sicilian history. He is the author of the first printed history of Sicily: ''De Rebus Sicu ...

''de Reb. Sic.'' iv. 2, p. 217; Amico, ''Not. ad Fazell.'' pp. 417, 447; Richard Hoare, ''Classical Tour'', vol. ii. p. 301. Modern scholars still debate the location of the city. The editors of the Barrington Atlas of the Greek and Roman World tentatively place Imachara at the ''

località A ''località'' is an inhabited place in Italy that is not accorded a more significant distinction in administrative law such as a ''frazione'', ''comune'', ''municipio'', ''circoscrizione'', or ''quartiere''. The word is cognate to English ''loc ...

'' of Vaccarra di Nicosia in the ''comune'' of

Nicosia Nicosia ( ; el, Λευκωσία, Lefkosía ; tr, Lefkoşa ; hy, Նիկոսիա, romanized: ''Nikosia''; Cypriot Arabic: Nikusiya) is the largest city, capital, and seat of government of Cyprus. It is located near the centre of the Mesaor ...

References

* *{{Barrington, 47 & notes Ancient cities in Sicily Lost ancient cities and towns Roman towns and cities in Italy Former populated places in Italy