Listed 4 sub titles with search on: Information about the place for destination: "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
Perseus Project URL below, which contains bibliography & interesting hyperlinks.
A Sicilian town, the birthplace of the historian Diodorus.
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
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