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MORGANTINA (Ancient city) SICILY
AGYRION (Ancient city) SICILY
Agyrium (Agurion: Eth. Agurinaios Agyrinensis), a city of the interior
of Sicily now called S. Filippo d'Argiro. It was situated on the summit of a steep
and lofty hill, between Enna and Centuripa, and was distant 18 Roman miles from
the former, and 12 from the latter. (Tab. Peut. The Itin. Ant. p. 93, erroneously
gives only 3 for the former distance.) It was regarded as one of the most ancient
cities of Sicily, and according to the mythical traditions of the inhabitants
was visited by Heracles on his wanderings, who was received by the inhabitants
with divine honours, and instituted various sacred rites, which continued to be
observed in the days of Diodorus. (Diod. iv. 24.) Historically speaking, it appears
to have been a Sicelian city, and did not receive a Greek colony. It is first
mentioned in B.C. 404, when it was under the government of a prince of the name
of Agyris, who was on terms of friendship and alliance with Dionysius of Syracuse,
and assisted him on various occasions. Agyris extended his dominion over many
of the neighbouring towns and fortresses of the interior, so as to become the
most powerful prince in Sicily after Dionysius himself, and the city of Agyrium
is said to have been at this time so wealthy and populous as to contain not less
than 20,000 citizens. (Diod. xiv. 9, 78, 95.) During the invasion of the Carthaginians
under Mago in B.C. 392, Agyris continued steadfast to the alliance of Dionysius,
and contributed essential service against the Carthaginian general. (Id. xiv.
95, 96.) From this time we hear no more of Agyris or his city during the reign
of Dionysius, but in B.C. 339 we find Agyrium under the yoke of a despot named
Apolloniades, who was compelled by Timoleon to abdicate his power. The inhabitants
were now declared Syracusan citizens: 10,000 new colonists received allotments
in its extensive and fertile territory, and the city itself was adorned with a
magnificent theatre and other public buildings. (Diod. xvi. 82, 83.)
At a later period it became subject to Phintias, king of Agrigentum:
but was one of the first cities to throw off his yoke, and a few years afterwards
we find the Agyrinaeans on friendly terms with Hieron king of Syracuse, for which
they were rewarded by the gift of half the territory that had belonged to Ameselum.
(Diod. xxii. Exc. Hoesch. pp. 495, 499.) Under the Roman government they continued
to be a flourishing and wealthy community, and Cicero speaks of Agyrium as one
of the most considerable cities of Sicily. Its wealth was chiefly derived from
the fertility of its territory in corn: which previous to the arrival of Verres
found employment for 250 farmers (aratores), a number diminished by the exactions
of his praetorship to no more than 80. (Cic. Verr. iii. 1. 8, 27--31, 51, 52.)
From this period we have little further notice of it, in ancient times. It is
classed by Pliny among the populi stipendiarii of Sicily, and the name is found
both in Ptolemy and the Itineraries. In the middle ages it became celebrated for
a church of St. Philip with a miraculous altar, from whence the modern name of
the town is derived. It became in consequence a great resort of pilgrims from
all parts of the island, and is still a considerable place, with the title of
a city and above 6000 inhabitants. (Plin. iii. 8. 14; Ptol. iii. 4. § 13; Fazell.
de Reb. Sicul. vol. i. p. 435; Ortolani, Diz. Geogr. della Sicilia, p. 111.)
The historian Diodorus Siculus was a native of Agyrium, and has preserved
to us several particulars concerning his native town. Numerous memorials were
preserved there of the pretended visit of Heracles: the impression of the feet
of his oxen was still shown in the rock, and a lake or pool four stadia in circumference
was believed to have been excavated by him. A Temenos or sacred grove in the neighbourhood
of the city was consecrated to Geryones, and another to Iolaus, which was an object
of peculiar veneration: and annual games and sacrifices were celebrated in honour
both of that hero and of Heracles himself. (Diod. i. 4, iv. 24.) At a later period
Timoleon was the chief benefactor of the city, where he constructed several temples,
a Bouleuterion and Agora, as well as a theatre which Diodorus tells us was the
finest in all Sicily, after that of Syracuse, (Id. xvi. 83.) Scarcely any remains
of these buildings are now visible, the only vestiges of antiquity being a few
undefined fragments of masonry. The ruined castle on the summit of the hill, attributed
by some writers to the Greeks, is a work of the Saracens in the tenth century.
(Amico, ad Fazell. p. 440; Lex. Topogr. Sic. vol. i. p. 22.)
This text is from: Dictionary of Greek and Roman Geography (1854) (ed. William Smith, LLD). Cited July 2004 from The Perseus Project URL below, which contains interesting hyperlinks
CENTURIPE (Town) SICILY
Centuripa or Centuripi (ta KeWtoripa, Thuc., Diod., Strab., &c.; KeWtouripai,
Ptol.: Eth. KeWtoripiWos, Centuripinus: Centorbi), a city in the interior of Sicily,
situated on a lofty hill, to the SW. of Mount Aetna, from which it was separated
by the valley of the Symaethus (Simeto), and 24 miles NW. of Catana (Strab. vi.
p. 272; Ptol. iii. 4. § 13; Itin. Ant. p. 93.) It is first mentioned by Thucydides,
from whom we learn that it was a city of the Siculi, and appears to have been
from a very early period one of the most important of the strongholds of that
people. Hence, at the time of the Athenian expedition (B.C. 414), its commanders
thought it worth while to march with their whole force against Centuripa, which
was induced to enter into a treaty of alliance with them, and subsequently rendered
them good service by attacking the auxiliaries of the Syracusans on their march
through the interior of the island. (Thuc. vi. 96, vii. 32.) We are told, indeed,
that Gellias of Agrigentum, who was sent thither as ambassador by his countrymen,
treated the Centuripans with contempt, as the people of a poor and insignificant
city; but this must be understood only with reference to the great Greek colonies,
not the Siculian cities. (Diod. xiii. 83.) Shortly after we find Dionysius the
Elder, in B.C. 396, concluding an alliance with the ruler of Centuripa, a despot
named Damon; but he does not appear to have ever reduced the city under his subjection.
(Id. xiv. 78.) In the time of Timoleon it was governed by another despot named
Nicodemus, who was expelled by the Corinthian general, and the city restored to
liberty, B.C. 339 (Id. xvi. 82): but it subsequently fell into the power of Agathocles,
who occupied it with a garrison. During the wars of that monarch with the Carthaginians
however, Centuripa, after some ineffectual attempts to throw off his yoke, succeeded
in recovering its independence, which it was thenceforth able to maintain. (Id.
xix. 103, xx. 56.) Shortly before the First Punic War we find the Centuripans
in alliance with Hieron of Syracuse, whom they assisted against the Mamertines,
and from whom they received a grant of part of the territory of Ameselum, which
that monarch had destroyed. (Id. xxii. 13, Exc. Hoesch. p. 499; Pol. i. 9.)
But this alliance had the effect of drawing upon them the Roman arms,
and in the second campaign of the war Centuripa was besieged by the consuls Otacilius
and Valerius Messala. It was during this siege that the envoys of numerous Sicilian
cities hastened to make their submission to Rome, and though not expressly mentioned,
it is evident that Centuripa itself must have early followed the example, as we
find it admitted to peculiarly favourable terms, and Cicero speaks of it as having
been the faithful ally of the Romans throughout their subsequent wars in Sicily.
(Diod. xxiii. Exc. H. p. 501; Cic. Verr. v. 3. 2) In the time of the great orator
it was one of the five cities of Sicily which enjoyed the privilege of freedom
and immunity from all taxation: and so much had it prospered under these advantages,
that it was one of the largest and most wealthy cities in the island. Its citizens
amounted to not less than 10.000 in number, and were principally occupied with
agriculture; besides the territory of the city itself which was extensive, and
one of the most fertile corn-producing tracts in the whole island, they occupied
and tilled a large part of the neighbouring territories of Aetna and Leontini,
as well as other districts in more distant quarters of the island, so that the
aratores Centuripini were the most numerous and wealthy body of their class in
the whole province. (Cic. Verr. ii. 6. 7, 69, iii. 6, 45, 48, iv. 23.) They suffered
severely from the exactions of Verres, and still more at a somewhat later period
from those of Sex. Pompeius. Their services against the latter were rewarded by
Augustus, who restored their city, and it was doubtless at this period that they
obtained the Latin franchise, of which we find them in possession in the time
of Pliny. (Strab. vi. p. 272; Plin. iii. 8. s. 14.) But it seems probable that
the prosperity of the city declined under the empire, and we hear little more
of Centuripa from this time, though the name is found in Ptolemy and the Itineraries,
and it seems to have continued to occupy the ancient site down to the 13th century,
when it was destroyed by the emperor Frederic II. The modern town of Centorbi
has, however, grown up again upon the ancient site, and still presents some ruins
of the Roman city, especially the remains of the walls that crowned the lofty
and precipitous hill, on the summit of which it stood: as well as the ruins of
cisterns, thermae, and other ancient edifices. (Ptol. iii. 4. § 13; Itin. Ant.
p. 93; Tab. Peut.; Fazell. de Reb. Sic. x. p. 429; Biscari, Viaggio per la Sicilia,
p. 53.) Numerous painted vases of pure Greek style have been discovered in sepulchres
in the immediate neighbourhood. (Biscari, l. c. p. 55; Ann. d. Inst. 1835, p.
27-47.)
Pliny speaks of the territory of Centuripa as producing excellent
saffron, as well as salt, which last was remarkable for its purple colour. (Plin.
xxi. 6. s. 17, xxxi. 7. s. 41; Solin. 5. § § 13, 19.) It was the birth-place of
the physician Appuleius Celsus. (Scriben. Larg. de Comp. Medic. c. 171.)
This text is from: Dictionary of Greek and Roman Geography (1854) (ed. William Smith, LLD). Cited August 2004 from The Perseus Project URL below, which contains interesting hyperlinks
ENNA (Ancient city) SICILY
Enna or Henna (Enna, Steph. B., Pol,, Diod., &c., but in Livy, Cicero,
and most Latin authors Henna: Eth. Ennaios, Ennensis or Hennensis: Castro Giovanni),
an ancient and important city of Sicily, situated as nearly as possible in the
centre of the island; whence Cicero calls it mediterranea maxime (Verr. iii. 83),
and tells us that it was within a day's journey of the nearest point on all the
three coasts. Hence the sacred grove of Proserpine, in its immediate neighbourhood,
was often called the umbilicus Siciliae. (Cic. Verr. iv. 4. 8; Callim. H. in Cer.
15.) The peculiar situation of Enna is described by several ancient authors, and
is indeed one of the most remarkable in Sicily. Placed on the level summit of
a gigantic hill, so lofty as almost to deserve to be called a mountain, and surrounded
on all sides with precipitous cliffs almost wholly inaccessible, except in a very
few spots which are easily defended, abundantly supplied with water which gushes
from the face of the rocks on all sides, and having a fine plain or table land
of about 3 miles in circumference on the summit, it forms one of the most remarkable
natural fortresses in the world. (Liv. xxiv. 37; Cic. Verr. iv. 4. 8; Strab. vi.
p. 272.) Stephanus of Byzantium tells us (s. v. Enna), but without citing his
authority, that Enna was a colony of Syracuse, founded 80 years after the settlement
of the parent city (B.C. 654): but the silence of Thucydides, where he mentions
the other colonies of Syracuse founded about this period (vi. 2.), tells strongly
against this statement. It is improbable also that the Syracusans should have
established a colony so far inland at so early a period, and it is certain that
when Enna first figures in history, it appears as a Siculian and not as a Greek
city. Dionysius of Syracuse seems to have fully appreciated its importance, and
repeatedly attempted to make himself master of the place; at first by aiding and
encouraging Aeimnestus, a citizen of Enna, to seize on the sovereign power, and
afterwards, failing in his object by this means, turning against him and assisting
the Ennaeans to get rid of their despot. (Diod. xiv. 14.) He did not however at
this time accomplish his purpose, and it was not till a later period that, after
repeated expeditions against the neighbouring Sicilian cities, Enna also was betrayed
into his hands. (Id. xiv. 78.) In the time of Agathocles we find Enna for a time
subject to that tyrant, but when the Agrigentines under Xenodicus began to proclaim
the restoration of the other cities of Sicily to freedom, the Ennaeans were the
first to join their standard, and opened their gates to Xenodicus, B.C. 309. (Id.
xx. 31.) In the First Punic War Enna is repeatedly mentioned; it was taken first
by the Carthaginians under Hamilcar, and subsequently recaptured by the Romans,
but in both instances by treachery and not by force. (Diod. xxiii. 9. p. 503;
Pol. i. 24.) In the Second Punic War, while Marcellus was engaged in the siege
of Syracuse B.C. 214, Enna became the scene of a fearful massacre. The defection
of several Sicilian towns from Rome had alarmed Pinarius the governor of Enna,
lest the citizens of that place should follow their example; and in order to forestal
the apprehended treachery, he with the Roman garrison fell upon the citizens when
assembled in the theatre, and put them all to the sword without distinction, after
which he gave up the city to be plundered by his soldiers. (Liv. xxiv. 37-39.)
Eighty years later Enna again became conspicuous as the head-quarters of the great
Servile War in Sicily (B.C. 134-132), which first broke out there under the lead
of Eunus, who made himself master in the first instance of Enna, which from its
central position and great natural strength became the centre of his operations,
and the receptacle, of the plunder of Sicily. It was the last place that held
out against the proconsul Rupilius, and was at length betrayed into his hands,
its impregnable strength having defied all his efforts. (Diod. xxxiv., Exc. Phot.
pp. 526-529, Exc. Vales, pp. 599, 600; Flor. iii. 19. § 8; Oros. v. 9.; Strab.
vi. p. 272.) Strabo tells us that it suffered severely upon this occasion (which,
indeed, could scarcely be otherwise), and regards this period as the commencement
of its subsequent decline. Cicero, however, notices it repeatedly in a manner
which seems to imply that it was still a flourishing municipal town: it had a
fertile territory, well-adapted for the growth of corn, and diligently cultivated,
till it was rendered almost desolate by the exactions of Verres. (Cic. Verr. iii.
1. 8, 42, 83.) From this time we hear little of Enna: Strabo speaks of it as still
inhabited, though by a small population, in his time: and the name appears in
Pliny among the municipal towns of Sicily, as well as in Ptolemy and the Itineraries.
(Strab. l. c.; Plin. iii. 8. s. 14; Ptol. iii. 4. § 14; Itin. Ant. p. 93; Tab.
Pent.) Its great natural advantages, as well as its central position, must have
secured it in all times from complete decay, and it seems to have continued to
exist throughout the middle ages. Its modern name of Castro Giovanni seems to
be merely an Italianised form of Castro Janni, the name by which it is known in
the native dialect of Sicily, and this is probably only a corruption of the name
of Castrum Ennae or Castro di Enna.
The neighbourhood of Enna is celebrated in mythological story as the
place from whence Proserpine was carried off by Pluto. (Ovid, Met. v. 385-408;
Claudian, de Rapt. Proserp. ii.; Diod. v. 3.) The exact spot assigned by local
tradition as the scene of this event was a small lake surrounded by lofty and
precipitous hills, about 5 miles from Enna, the meadows on the banks of which
abounded in flowers, while a cavern or grotto hard by was shown as that from which
the infernal king suddenly emerged. This lake is called Pergus by Ovid (Met. v.
386) and Claudian (l. c. ii. 112), but it is remarkable that neither Cicero nor
Diodorus speaks of any lake in particular as the scene of the occurrence: the
former however says, that around Enna were lacus lucique plurimi, et laetissimi
flores omni tempore anni. (Verr. iv. 48.) Diodorus, on the contrary, describes
the spot from whence Proserpine was carried off as a meadow abounding in flowers,
especially odoriferous ones, to such a degree that it was impossible for hounds
to follow their prey by the scent across this tract: he speaks of it as enclosed
on all sides by steep cliffs, and having groves and marshes in the neighbourhood,
but makes no mention of a lake (v. 3). The cavern however is alluded to by him
as well as by Cicero, and would seem to point to a definite locality. At the present
day there still remains a small lake in a basin-shaped hollow surrounded by great
hills, and a cavern near it is still pointed out as that described by Cicero and
Diodorus, but the flowers have in great measure disappeared, as well as the groves
and woods which formerly surrounded the spot, and the scene is described by modern
travellers as bare and desolate. (Hoare's Classical Tour, vol. ii. p. 252; Parthey,
Wanderungen d. Sicilien, p. 135; Marquis of Ormonde, Autumn in Sicily, p. 106,
who has given a view of the lake.)
The connection of this myth with Enna naturally led to (if it did
not rather arise from) the peculiar worship of the two goddesses Ceres and Proserpine
in that city: and we learn from Cicero that there was a temple of Ceres of such
great antiquity and sanctity that the Sicilians repaired thither with a feeling
of religious awe, as if it was the goddess herself rather than her sanctuary that
they were about to visit. Yet this did not preserve it from the sacrilegious hands
of Verres, who carried off from thence a bronze image of the deity herself, the
most ancient as well as the most venerated in Sicily. (Cic. Verr. iv. 4. 8) No
remains of this temple are now visible: according to Fazello it stood on the brink
of the precipice, and has been wholly carried away by. the falling down of great
masses of rock from the edge of the cliff. (Fazell. x. 2. p. 444; M. of Ormonde,
p. 92.) Nor are there any other vestiges of antiquity still remaining at Castro
Giovanni: they were probably destroyed by the Saracens, who erected the castle
and several other of the most prominent buildings of the modern city. (Hoare,
l. c. p. 249.) There exist coins of Enna under the Roman dominion, with the legend
Mun. (Municipium) Henna thus confirming the authority of Cicero, all the best
MSS. of which have the aspirated form of the name. (Zumpt, ad Verr. p. 392.) The
most ancient Greek coin of the city also gives the name Eennaion (Eckhel, vol.
i. p. 206): there is therefore little doubt that this form is the more correct,
though Enna is the more usual.
This text is from: Dictionary of Greek and Roman Geography (1854) (ed. William Smith, LLD). Cited September 2004 from The Perseus Project URL below, which contains interesting hyperlinks
MORGANTINA (Ancient city) SICILY
Morgantia, Murgantia, or Morgantium (Morgantion, Strab.; Morgantine,
Diod.: Eth. Morgantinos. The name is variously written by Latin writers Murgantia,
Murgentia, and Morgentia; the inhabitants are called by Cicero and Pliny, Murgentini),
a city of Sicily, in the interior of the island, to the SW. of Catana. It was
a city of the Siculi, though Strabo assigns its foundation to the Morgetes, whom
he supposes to have crossed over from the southern part of Italy. (Strab. vi.
pp. 257, 270.) But this was probably a mere inference from the resemblance of
name; Stephanus of Byzantium (s. v.), who is evidently alluding to the same tradition,
calls Morgentium, or Morgentia (as he writes the name), a city of Italy, but no
such place is known. Strabo is the only author who notices the existence of the
Morgetes in Sicily; and it is certain that when Morgantium first appears in history
it is as a Siculian town. It is first mentioned by Diodorus in B.C. 459, when
he calls it a considerable city (polin axiologon, Diod. xi. 78): it was at this
time taken by Ducetius, who is said to have added greatly to his power and fame
by the conquest; but after the fall of that leader, it became again independent.
We next hear of it in B.C. 424, when, according to Thucydides, it was stipulated,
at the peace concluded by Hermocrates, that Morgantia (or Morgantina, as he writes
the name) should belong to the Camarinaeans, they paying for it a fixed sum to
the Syracusans. (Thuc. iv. 65.) It is impossible to understand this arrangement
between two cities at such a distance from one another, and there is probably
some mistake in the names.1 It is certain that in B.C. 396, Morgantia
again appears as an independent city of the Siculi, and was one of those which
fell under the arms of Dionysius of Syracuse, at the same time with Agyrium, Menaenum,
and other places. (Diod. xiv. 78.) At a later period it afforded a refuge to Agathocles,
when driven into exile from Syracuse, and it was in great part by the assistance
of a body of mercenary troops from Morgantia and other towns of the interior,
that that tyrant succeeded in establishing his despotic power at Syracuse, B.C.
317. (Justin. xxii. 2; Diod. xix. 6.) Morgantia is repeatedly mentioned during
the Second Punic War. During the siege of Syracuse by Marcellus it was occupied
by a Roman garrison, and great magazines of corn collected there; but the place
was betrayed by the inhabitants to the Carthaginian general Himilco, and was for
some time occupied by the Syracusan leader Hippocrates, who from thence watched
the proceedings of the siege. (Liv. xxiv. 36, 39.) It was ultimately recovered
by the Roman general, but revolted again after the departure of Marcellus from
Sicily, B.C. 211; and being retaken by the praetor M. Cornelius, both the town
and its territory were assigned to a body of Spanish mercenaries, who had deserted
to the Romans under Mericus. (Id. xxvi. 21.)
Morgantia appears to have still continued to be a considerable town
under the Roman dominion. In the great Servile insurrection of B.C. 102 it was
besieged by the leaders of the insurgents, Tryphon and Athenion; but being a strong
place and well fortified, offered a vigorous resistance; and it is not clear whether
it ultimately fell into their hands or not. (Diod. xxxvi. 4, 7. Exc. Phot. pp.
533, 534.) Cicero repeatedly mentions its territory as one fertile in corn and
well cultivated, though it suffered severely from the exactions of Verres. (Cic.
Verr. iii. 18. 43) It was therefore in his time still a municipal town, and we
find it again mentioned as such by Pliny (iii. 8. s. 14); so that it must be an
error on the part of Strabo, that he speaks of Morgantium as a city that no longer
existed. (Strab. vi. p. 270.) It may, however, very probably have been in a state
of great decay, as the notice of Pliny is the only subsequent mention of its name,
and from this time all trace of it is lost. The position of Morgantia is a subject
of great uncertainty, and it is impossible to reconcile the conflicting statements
of ancient writers. Most authorities, however, concur in associating it with the
Siculian towns of the interior, that border on the valleys of the Symaethus and
its tributaries, Menaenum, Agyrium, Assorus, &c. (Diod. xi. 78, xiv. 78; Cic.
Verr. l. c.; Sil. Ital. xiv. 265); and a more precise testimony to the same effect
is found in the statement that the Carthaginian general Mago encamped in the territory
of Agyrium, by the river Chrysas, on the road leading to Morgantia. (Diod. xiv.
95.) The account of its siege during the Servile War also indicates it as a place
of. natural strength, built on a lofty hill. (Diod. xxxvi. l. c.) Hence it is
very strange that Livy in one passage speaks of the Roman fleet as lying at Morgantia,
as if it were a place on the sea-coast ; a statement wholly at variance with all
other accounts of its position, and in which there must probably be some mistake.
(Liv. xxiv. 27.) On the whole we may safely place Morgantia somewhere on the borders
of the fertile tract of plain that extends from Catania inland along the Simeto
and its tributaries; and probably on the hills between the Dittaino and the Gurna
Longa, two of the principal of those tributaries; but any attempt at a nearer
determination must be purely conjectural. There exist coins of Morgantia, which
have the name of the city at full, MOPPHANTINON this is unfortunately effaced
on the one figured in the preceding column.
1 It has been suggested that we should read Katanaiois for Kamarinaiois:
but the error is more probably in the other and less-known name. Perhaps we should
read Motukanen for Morgantinen lia the district of Motyca immediately adjoined
that of Camarina.
This text is from: Dictionary of Greek and Roman Geography (1854) (ed. William Smith, LLD). Cited August 2004 from The Perseus Project URL below, which contains interesting hyperlinks
AGYRION (Ancient city) SICILY
A Sicilian town, the birthplace of the historian Diodorus.
ENNA (Ancient city) SICILY
or Henna. An ancient town of the Siculi in Sicily, on the road
from Catana to Agrigentum, said to be the centre of the island (omphalos Sikelias).
It was surrounded by fertile plains, which bore large crops of wheat; it was one
of the chief seats of the worship of Demeter; and, according to later tradition,
it was in a flowery meadow near this place that Pluto carried off Persephone.
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MORGANTINA (Ancient city) SICILY
(Morgantion), Morgantina (Morgantine), Murgantia, Morgentia. A town in Sicily, southeast of Agyrium, and near the Symaethus, founded by the Morgetes, after they had been driven out of Italy by the Oenotrians.
AGYRION (Ancient city) SICILY
A city of ancient but uncertain origins, 25 km NE of Enna at the head
of the valley of Katane. The city occupied the slopes of a prominent hill (824
m), commanding the valley of the Kyamosoros (Salso) to the N, and the valley of
the Chrysas (Dittaino) to the S. The main road connecting inland Sicily with Katane
passed through Agyrion; another road ran S to Morgantina. The modern town overlies
the ancient site; although little is known of the physical remains, certain monuments
are mentioned by Diodoros (4.24.80; 16.83.3), who was a native. These monuments
are attributed to the benevolence of either Herakles or Timoleon. To the former,
who passed through in the course of his tenth labor, are credited the foundation
of precincts of Iolaos and of Geryon, and the creation of a nearby lake. To Timoleon,
who settled 10,000 Greeks at Agyrion after 339 B.C., Diodoros attributes a major
building program. The theater he described as being the finest in Sicily after
the one at Syracuse; it is thought to have stood near the churches of S. Pietro
and SS. Trinita. Diodoros also mentions a city wall with towers, and tombs adorned
with pyramids. The quarries that were the source of stone for the Temple of the
Meteres at Engyon are thought to be located in the Fronte district. Of the pre-Timoleonic
settlement hardly anything is known; a painted roof-tile of the second half of
the 6th c. was found on the summit of the hill and may belong to a small temple.
Our knowledge of Roman Agyrium is equally limited.
M. Bell, ed.
This text is from: The Princeton encyclopedia of classical sites,
Princeton University Press 1976. Cited Nov 2002 from
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CENTURIPE (Town) SICILY
About 35 km NW of Catania, on a strategic mountain ridge of 726 m
elevadon. The Sikel town was gradually Hellenized in the 5th and 4th c. B.C. Ruled
intermittently by Greek tyrants (Aristoxenos, fg. 17 [ed. Wehrli]; Diod. 14.78.7),
the populace was largely Sikel (Thuc. 6.94.3; Diod. 13.83.4). At other times,
the town belonged to Syracuse, against whose rule it rebelled repeatedly (Thuc.
6.94.3; 7.32 [alliance with Athenians]; Diod. 16.82.4 [liberation by Timoleon]).
In 312 B.C., and probably from 304 to 289 B.C., it belonged to Agathokles (Diod.
19.103.2; 20.56.3), in 270 to Hieron II (Diod. 22.13.1). Shortly thereafter, in
263 B.C., the town submitted to Rome (Diod. 23.4). Elevated to the status of civitas
libera atque immunis for her strategic importance and loyalty in 241 B.C. (Cic.
Verr. 2.3.6 [par. 13]; Sil. Pun. 14.240), it rose to wealth and importance; Cicero
refers to it once as civitas totius Siciliae multo maxima et locupletissima (Verr.
2.4.23 [par. 50]). But the Verrine exploitation and the war of Sextus Pompey reduced
it to a minor city again. Despite an Augustan restoration (Strab. 6.272) and sporadic
periods of reconstruction in the 2d and 3d c. A.D., it sank to insignificance.
An unimportant village throughout the Byzantine, Arab, and Norman periods, it
was partially destroyed for insubordination by Frederick II in 1232 and completely
razed by Charles of Anjou shortly thereafter. Refounded by a count of Aderno in
1548, the modern town occupies the ancient site.
The architectural remains, almost exclusively of Roman date, are scattered
among the slopes and valleys surrounding the town. Beside extensive remains of
ancient retaining and fortification walls, now incorporated into modern buildings,
the following monuments are of most interest: 1) The so-called Roman Baths, actually
an Imperial nymphaeum, NW of the town; an extensive ruin, ca. 50 m wide, containing
five vaulted apses of unequal size and orientation, and adjoining rooms to the
S. The building's date is disputed, as there is no inscriptional or brick-stamp
evidence. 2) A Hellenistic house, N of the town; in size a modest dwelling of
the 1st c. B.C., it is of interest in its unusual floor plan, with short corridors
connecting symmetrically arranged rooms. Remains of incrustation-style wall decoration
are extant in some rooms, as well as a floor mosaic of geometric motifs. Two pairs
of terracotta satyrs and maenads, now in the Siracusa Museum, served as atlantes
and caryatids in the house. 3) Remains of smaller, perhaps private, baths of Imperial
date (Acqua Amara, Stalle Antiche) on the E side of the town. 4) A building, perhaps
official, of Augustan date at the Mulino Barbagallo nearby; an example of representative,
ambitious architecture not otherwise preserved in the town, it contains a fine
marble floor and interior colonnade. In the building were found several marbles,
including fragments of a colossal Julio-Claudian portrait statue. Numerous dedicatory
inscriptions testify to the later use of the building in the 3d c. A.D. 5) Of
interest are the "Dogana," a reservoir and fountain house, and a mausoleum
(the so-called Castello di Corradino), both of the 2d c. A.D.
The town is surrounded by seven ancient necropoleis. Excavations have
concentrated on the easternmost (Contrada Casino), in use from the 3d through
1st c. B.C. Besides the usual burial gifts of unguentaria and coins, the tombs
have yielded substantial amounts of terracotta figurines of local manufacture,
attesting to a flourishing industry during the 3d and 2d c., and polychromatic
nuptial vases of the 3d c. B.C., unique testllflonia to the artistic and social
ambitions of the town. The most representative collections of terracottas and
vases are now in the Museo Nazionale of Siracusa.
P. Deussen, ed.
This text is from: The Princeton encyclopedia of classical sites,
Princeton University Press 1976. Cited Nov 2002 from
Perseus Project URL below, which contains bibliography & interesting hyperlinks.
ENNA (Ancient city) SICILY
Principal city of the province of that name located 950 m above sea
level on a wide rocky plateau in central Sicily. Cicero called it "Umbilicus
Siciliae" and accurately described the town and its environs in a famous
passage of his orations against Verres (4.107), which stresses the altitude, isolation,
abundance of water, pastures, groves, and lakes in the entire area. A few necropoleis
of the 9th-8th c. B.C. with rock-cut tombs imitating natural grottos (tombe a
grotticella) near Calascibetta and Pergusa constitute the only remains of the
original Sikel settlement. Ancient Greek sources state that Enna was founded by
Syracusans in 664 B.C. (Stephanos of Byzantium) or in 552 B.C. (Philistos). These
dates may not refer to an actual foundation; they reflect however a phase of Syracusan
penetration of the site during the 7th-6th c. B.C. In its Greek period, and even
more so in its Roman period, Enna was famous for its cult of Demeter and Kore.
Not only did Enna possess one of the most renowned sanctuaries of the two goddesses,
but according to the poetic tradition related by Cicero (loc. cit.) and Diodorus
Siculus (5.32) it was in the vicinity of Enna, on the shores of present-day Lake
Pergusa, that Hades, dashing with his chariot from a dark cave, snatched Kore-Persephone
away to the Underworld. The urban sanctuary, which contained highly revered statues
of Demeter, Kore, and Triptolemos, must have been located on the high spur of
rock still called Rock of Ceres, in front of the mediaeval Castle of Lombardy.
The only extant traces of the shrine are a few steps, cuttings, and storage pits
carved in the natural rock. Coins represent the only real archaeological evidence
for the cult; the earliest are silver litras from the middle of the 5th c. B.C.,
with a youth sacrificing at an altar on the obverse, and Demeter in a quadriga
on the reverse. In 396 B.C. Enna fell under the rule of Dionysios I of Syracuse.
It recovered its freedom when the tyrant died, but fell again under Agathokles
in 307 B.C. In 277 it must have been under Carthaginian control since it was liberated
by Pyrrhos during his brief expedition to Sicily. In the first Punic war Enna
sided with Rome against the Carthaginians, but during the second Punic war, in
214 B.C., it attempted to revolt against the Romans. The rebellion was cruelly
suppressed by Pinarius, who slaughtered the citizens gathered in assembly within
the theater. From that day Enna lost its privileges of civitas libera atque iminunis
and became civitas decumana. Between 136 and 132 B.C. Enna was the center of the
revolt of the slaves, led by Eunus of Apamea. Eunus was proclaimed king and around
him gathered slaves and freedmen from all parts of Sicily. The Roman army was
in great danger and in vain the Consul L. Calpurnius Piso attempted to capture
Enna. This was accomplished by Consul P. Rupilius in 132 B.C.; Eunus was captured
and killed. Archaeological evidence for this war is provided by the numerous lead
sling-shots, inscribed with the name of the Consul Piso or the symbols of the
slaves, which have been found around Enna. In 70 B.C., when Cicero went to Enna
to gather proof of the thefts and robberies committed by Verres, Enna must still
have been a city of notable size and importance, especially as a pan-Sicilian
religious center. The city must have declined fairly rapidly in the course of
the 1st c. B.C., since Strabo, at that time describes Enna as "a town of
few inhabitants." Enna recovered its importance only after the Arab conquest
and in the Middle Ages, when it took the name of Castrogiovanni.
P. Orlandini, ed.
This text is from: The Princeton encyclopedia of classical sites,
Princeton University Press 1976. Cited Nov 2002 from
Perseus Project URL below, which contains bibliography & interesting hyperlinks.
MORGANTINA (Ancient city) SICILY
Five km E of the commune of Aidone on a ridge known locally as Serra
Orlando. The city commanded a strategic position controlling the ancient roads
that led from Gela on the S to Messina on the NE and up from Katane on the E.
The original Sikel settlement dates from the third millennium B.C. The name of
the city reflects an influx of the Morgetes from south central Italy ca. 1200
B.C. (Strab. 6.2.4). Greek settlers from the E coast, and later from the S, merged
apparently without conflict with the local inhabitants until Morgantina became
essentially a Greek outpost at the edge of the hinterland to the W. In 459 B.C.
Ducetius, king of the Sikels, sacked the town in his campaign to wrest Sicily
from Greek domination (Diod. Sic. 11.78.5), and in 425 Morgantina was assigned
to the city of Kamarina (Thuc. 4.65.1). In 397 Dionysios of Syracuse brought the
city back into the sphere of Syracusan interests (Diod. Sic. 14.78.7). Agathokles
began an extensive renewal and building program, which continued under Hieron
II of Syracuse, and from the middle of the 3d c. Morgantina prospered as the center
of an extensive grain-producing area. It was also the center of a considerable
production of terracottas. Coincident with Marcellus' capture of Syracuse in 211
B.C. the city was sacked and all but destroyed. A senate decree granted the Hispanic
allies of Marcellus the right to issue their own coinage, but this seems not to
have been exercised until after the middle of the 2d c. Little new building exists
from that period, save for a large macellum in the center of the original agora.
Repairs to the houses converted many rich dwellings into middle class houses--centers
for small industry or makeshift apartments. Cicero (Verr. 2.3.23 §56) speaks of
the injuries to a worthy citizen of the place. Strabo (6.2.4), writing ca. 25
B.C., says that what once was a city is no more. The excavations, begun in 1955
and still continuing, have confirmed this, and the scarcity of coins found of
Julius Caesar and of Augustus are evidence for the extinction of Morgantina. Apparently
there was no final sack; the abandonment is due, rather, to the failure of the
grain market and the general impoverishment of the area.
The walled area of the town measures from E to W 2.4 km by 580 m to
as little as 140 m. Approach from N and S is very steep, but gates on those sides
gave access to the central market area. A W gate gave access to a street that
ran the length of the town. To the E on an isolated hill (Cittadella), whose walls
do not join with those of the rest of the city lay the earlier settlement, almost
an acropolis. A long narrow shrine (dedication unknown) and a substantial series
of foundations for four adjacent square rooms were perhaps the principal monuments,
and in the same area was a small hieron of Persephone and Kore.
The civic center lies not far from the mid-point of the ridge, in
a hollow between two low hills. It was flanked to E and W by stoas (the W one
never completed) and on the N lay a gymnasium with bath and running track, and
a council house. The agora was on two levels, separated by a monumental series
of steps forming a little less than half of a hexagon. On the lower level a course
of stone outlines what must have been a speaker's platform. The steps served both
as a retaining wall to prevent the erosion of the upper area and to accommodate
a standing audience for large popular assemblies. The original plan for a fourth
side of this comitium was curtailed by the presence of the area, described below,
sacred to the underworld gods. South of the W stoa is the theater, seating 2-3000.
On the E side of the agora, continuing the stoa to the southward, is a prytaneion
and a long, narrow building (92.85 x 7.60 m) designed as a granary and conveniently
located near the S gate. A large kiln for brick and tile completes the E side.
Within the agora before it had taken its final form stood a small naiskos, with
an altar, and two or three other small altars. One of these was preserved into
later times and incorporated in a rectangular macellum with shops, dating from
the 2d c. The most important sanctuary, however, was one dedicated to the gods
of the underworld: a circular altar, an abaton for the dedication of offerings,
small vases and lamps, and a small naiskos, together rooms where worshipers might
shelter. Several lead curse tablets were found here, and the sanctuary seems to
have survived well into the 1st c. B.C.
East and W of the agora the town was laid out in a grid pattern, with
blocks averaging 37.5 m by 60.0 m. Several rich houses have been excavated, with
fine cocciopesto or mosaic floors, especially two in the House of Ganymede high
above the granary E of the agora. The mosaic of Ganymede and the Eagle, which
gives the house its name, dates from the middle of the 3d c. B.C. and is one of
the earliest examples of tesselated mosaic known. The House of the Official, in
a shallow valley 250 m W of the agora, shows the Vitruvian division of a Greek
house into separate areas for men and women, with two separate peristyles. The
House of the Arched Cistern on the hill immediately W of the market is also of
the same type.
No temples properly so called have been found. Instead there are at
least four shrines of Demeter and Kore, characterized by an inner room, or adyton,
furnished with a place for ablution. The abundant remains of terracotta figurines
leave no doubt to whom the holy places were dedicated. All these sanctuaries were
violently destroyed in the sack of 211 B.C. and never rebuilt. About 400 m W of
the House of the Official are the remains of a bath of the 3d c. B.C., with circular
rooms covered by domical vaults made of hollow terracotta tubes. The extreme E
end of the ridge, before reaching the depression separating it from Cittadella,
was occupied by a large structure, either a barracks or a series of apartments
of poorer sort. Nearby lay an early shrine, long and simple, of the 6th-5th c.
Little is to be seen of the walls of the city, but they have been traced for nearly
the entire perimeter. As is to be expected they show much rebuilding of different
dates.
Three cemeteries lie just outside the town. The earliest, of the 6th
and 5th c., is on a steep slope just below the E edge of Cittadella. The tombs
were cut into the rock in the form of chambers, with sarcophagi in the walls or
graves in their floors. A second burial area lies close against the S wall, below
the depression in which was the House of the Official. These are of the Epitymbion
type, and the vases date from ca. 330 to 210 B.C. A later cemetery with rock-cut
shafts, covered by stone slabs and dating mainly from the 2d c., lies ca. 100
m W of the city, along the road leading to the W gate.
R. Stillwell, ed.
This text is from: The Princeton encyclopedia of classical sites,
Princeton University Press 1976. Cited Nov 2002 from
Perseus Project URL below, which contains 2 image(s), bibliography & interesting hyperlinks.
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