San Marco d'Alunzio ( scn, San Marcu,

Ancient Greek Ancient Greek includes the forms of the Greek language used in ancient Greece and the ancient world from around 1500 BC to 300 BC. It is often roughly divided into the following periods: Mycenaean Greek (), Dark Ages (), the Archaic peri ...

: ( Ptol.) or ( Dion.),

Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...

: ''Aluntium'' or ''Haluntium'') is a city and ''

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 ...

'' (municipality) in the

Metropolitan City of Messina The Metropolitan City of Messina ( it, Città metropolitana di Messina) is a metropolitan city in Sicily, Italy. Its capital is the city of Messina. It replaced the Province of Messina and comprises the city of Messina and other 107 municipalitie ...

in the

Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, an ethnic group or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance language *** Regional Ita ...

region

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

, near the north coast of the island, located about east of

Palermo Palermo ( , ; scn, Palermu , locally also or ) is a city in southern Italy, the capital (political), capital of both the autonomous area, autonomous region of Sicily and the Metropolitan City of Palermo, the city's surrounding metropolitan ...

and about west of

Messina Messina (, also , ) is a harbour city and the capital of the Italian Metropolitan City of Messina. It is the third largest city on the island of Sicily, and the 13th largest city in Italy, with a population of more than 219,000 inhabitants in ...

. San Marco d'Alunzio borders the following municipalities: Alcara li Fusi,

Capri Leone Capri Leone ( Sicilian: ''Capri Liuni'') is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Metropolitan City of Messina in the southern Italian region Sicily, located about east of Palermo and about west of Messina. Capri Leone sits in the foothills of ...

Frazzanò Frazzanò is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Metropolitan City of Messina in the Italy, Italian region Sicily, located about east of Palermo and about west of Messina. Frazzanò borders the following municipalities: Capri Leone, Galati Mamer ...

Longi Longi ( Sicilian: ''Lonci'') is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Metropolitan City of Messina in the Italian region Sicily, located about east of Palermo and about west of Messina. Longi borders the following municipalities: Alcara l ...

Militello Rosmarino Militello Rosmarino ( Sicilian: ''Militiedddu'') is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Metropolitan City of Messina in the Italian region Sicily, located about east of Palermo and about west of Messina. Militello Rosmarino borders the followi ...

Torrenova Torrenova ( Sicilian: ''Turrinova'') is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Province of Messina in the Italian region Sicily, located about east of Palermo and about west of Messina. As of 31 December 2004, it had a population of 5,635 and an a ...

History

Aluntium or Haluntium was situated between

Tyndaris Tindari (; scn, Lu Tìnnaru ), ancient Tyndaris ( grc, Τυνδαρίς, Strab.) or Tyndarion (, Ptol.), is a small town, ''frazione'' (suburb or municipal component) in the ''comune'' of Patti and a Latin Catholic titular see. The monumenta ...

and Calacte. Its foundation was ascribed by some authors to

Acarnania Acarnania ( el, Ἀκαρνανία) is a region of west-central Greece that lies along the Ionian Sea, west of Aetolia, with the Achelous River for a boundary, and north of the gulf of Calydon, which is the entrance to the Gulf of Corinth. Today i ...

ns led by Patron, some of whom settled here after guiding

Aeneas In Greco-Roman mythology, Aeneas (, ; from ) was a Trojan hero, the son of the Trojan prince Anchises and the Greek goddess Aphrodite (equivalent to the Roman Venus). His father was a first cousin of King Priam of Troy (both being grandsons ...

across the

Ionian Sea The Ionian Sea ( el, Ιόνιο Πέλαγος, ''Iónio Pélagos'' ; it, Mar Ionio ; al, Deti Jon ) is an elongated bay of the Mediterranean Sea. It is connected to the Adriatic Sea to the north, and is bounded by Southern Italy, including C ...

from

Greece Greece,, or , romanized: ', officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the southern tip of the Balkans, and is located at the crossroads of Europe, Asia, and Africa. Greece shares land borders with ...

. If this legend is true the Acarnanian colonists probably were quickly assimilated by the Sicelian, who inhabited this area in historical times. No mention of it is found in

Diodorus Diodorus Siculus, or Diodorus of Sicily ( grc-gre, Διόδωρος ; 1st century BC), was an ancient Greek historian. He is known for writing the monumental universal history ''Bibliotheca historica'', in forty books, fifteen of which su ...

, nor is it noticed in history prior to the

Roman 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 letter ...

conquest of Sicily. But in the time of

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 ...

it appears to have been a place of some importance. He mentions it as having suffered severely from the exactions of

Verres Gaius Verres (c. 120–43 BC) was a Roman magistrate, notorious for his misgovernment of Sicily. His extortion of local farmers and plundering of temples led to his prosecution by Cicero, whose accusations were so devastating that his defence adv ...

, who, not content with ruinous extortions of corn, compelled the inhabitants to give up all their ornamental plate. We learn from inscriptions that it retained the rank of a ''municipium'', and was a flourishing town at least as late as the reign of

Augustus Caesar Augustus (born Gaius Octavius; 23 September 63 BC – 19 August AD 14), also known as Octavian, was the first Roman emperor; he reigned from 27 BC until his death in AD 14. He is known for being the founder of the Roman Pri ...

. The city sits atop a lofty hill of steep and difficult ascent, about 5 km from the

Tyrrhenian Sea The Tyrrhenian Sea (; it, Mar Tirreno , french: Mer Tyrrhénienne , sc, Mare Tirrenu, co, Mari Tirrenu, scn, Mari Tirrenu, nap, Mare Tirreno) is part of the Mediterranean Sea off the western coast of Italy. It is named for the Tyrrhenian pe ...

. This position exactly accords with that described by Cicero, who tells that Verres would not take the trouble to visit the town himself ''quod erat difficili ascensu atque arduo'', but remained on the beach below while he sent Archagathus to execute his behests. Various inscriptions also are preserved at the site, or have been discovered there, one of which begins with the words .Castell. ''Inscr. Sicil.'' p. 55; Böckh, ''C. I.'' No. 5608. Cluverius, following

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 ...

, placed Aluntium at a spot near San Filadelfo (modern

San Fratello San Fratello (Gallo-Italic: San Frareau, Sicilian: ''Santu Frateddu'', Greek and Latin: ''Apollonia'', Medieval Latin ''Castrum S. Philadelphi''), formerly San Filadelfo, is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Metropolitan City of Messina in the ...

), where the ruins of an ancient city were then visible, and regarded San Marco d'Alunzio as the site of

Agathyrna ''Agathyrna'' is a genus of seed bugs in the tribe Colpurini from Malesia and New Guinea, erected by Carl Stål Carl Stål (21 March 1833 – 13 June 1878) was a Swedish entomologist specialising in Hemiptera. He was born at Karlberg Castl ...

(now identified with modern

Capo d'Orlando Capo d'Orlando ( scn, Capu d'Orlannu) is a in the Metropolitan City of Messina, Sicily, southern Italy, one of the main centers of the mountain and coastal Nebrodi area. History After the destruction of the Greek colony of Agathyrnum ...

). Aluntium minted coins in antiquity, some of which survive. After the fall of the

Western Roman Empire The Western Roman Empire comprised the western provinces of the Roman Empire at any time during which they were administered by a separate independent Imperial court; in particular, this term is used in historiography to describe the period fr ...

, ''Aluntium'' became part of the

Byzantine Empire The Byzantine Empire, also referred to as the Eastern Roman Empire or Byzantium, was the continuation of the Roman Empire primarily in its eastern provinces during Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, when its capital city was Constantinopl ...

as Demenna. After a period under the

Emirate of Sicily The Emirate of Sicily ( ar, إِمَارَة صِقِلِّيَة, ʾImārat Ṣiqilliya) was an Islamic kingdom that ruled the island of Sicily from 831 to 1091. Its capital was Palermo (Arabic: ''Balarm''), which during this period became a ...

, it was captured by the

Normans The Normans (Norman language, Norman: ''Normaunds''; french: Normands; la, Nortmanni/Normanni) were a population arising in the medieval Duchy of Normandy from the intermingling between Norsemen, Norse Viking settlers and indigenous West Fran ...

in the 11th century, and was used by

Robert Guiscard Robert Guiscard (; Modern ; – 17 July 1085) was a Norman adventurer remembered for the conquest of southern Italy and Sicily. Robert was born into the Hauteville family in Normandy, went on to become count and then duke of Apulia and Calabri ...

as one of his main bases for the conquest of the island. As part of the Kingdom of Sicily, San Marco d'Alunzio was a fief of the Filangieri family from 1398 until 1806.

People

Scipione Rebiba Scipione Rebiba (3 February 1504 – 23 July 1577) was an Italian prelate of the Catholic Church, a protégé of Gian Pietro Carafa, who became Pope Paul IV. He held a variety of positions in the Church hierarchy, including some of the most sen ...

(1504–1577)

References

Sources

External links

Official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:San Marco D'alunzio Archaeological sites in Sicily