Mytistraton or Mytistratus or Myttistraton (

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 ...

: , Μυτισέρατος Steph. B., Diod.; , Zonar.; , Pol.), was an ancient town in the interior of

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

, the site of which is located at modern 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 Monte Castellazzo di Marianopoli, 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

Marianopoli Marianopoli ( Sicilian: ''Manchi'') is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Province of Caltanissetta in the Italian region Sicily, located about southeast of Palermo and about northwest of Caltanissetta. Marianopoli borders the following munici ...

, in the

Province of Caltanissetta The Province of Caltanissetta ( it, provincia di Caltanissetta; scn, pruvincia di Nissa or ; officially ''Libero consorzio comunale di Caltanissetta'') is a province in the southern part of Sicily, Italy. Following the suppression of the Sicilia ...

. It was probably but a small town, though strongly fortified, whence

Philistus Philistus ( grc-gre, Φίλιστος; c. 432 – 356 BC), son of Archomenidas, was a Greek historian from Sicily. Life Philistus was born in Syracuse around the time the Peloponnesian War began. He was a faithful supporter of the elder Di ...

(''ap.'' Steph. B. ''s. v.'') called it a fortress of Sicily. It is conspicuously mentioned during the

First Punic War The First Punic War (264–241 BC) was the first of three wars fought between Rome and Carthage, the two main powers of the western Mediterranean in the early 3rd century BC. For 23 years, in the longest continuous conflict and grea ...

, when it was in the hands of the

Carthaginians The Punic people, or western Phoenicians, were a Semitic people in the Western Mediterranean who migrated from Tyre, Phoenicia to North Africa during the Early Iron Age. In modern scholarship, the term ''Punic'' – the Latin equivalent of the ...

, and was besieged by the

Romans Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy * Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *''Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a lette ...

, but for some time without success, on account of the great strength of its position; it was at length taken by the consul

Aulus Atilius Calatinus Aulus Atilius Caiatinus (or Calatinus; 258–241 BC) was a Roman general and statesman who achieved prominence for his military activities during the First Punic War against Carthage. As consul in 258 BC, he enjoyed several successes in Sicily, ...

in 258 BCE. The inhabitants were either put to the sword or sold as slaves, and the town itself entirely destroyed. (Pol. i. 24; Diod. xxiii. 9, Exc. Hoesch. p. 503; Zonar. viii.) It was, however, again inhabited at a later period, as we find the Mutustratini mentioned by

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 ...

among the municipal towns of the interior of Sicily (Plin. iii. 8. s. 14) but no notice of its name occurs in the interval.

References

* Ancient cities in Sicily Roman towns and cities in Italy Ruins in Italy Former populated places in Italy {{sicily-geo-stub