Listed 8 sub titles with search on: Information about the place for wider area of: "PALAZZOLO Town SICILY" .
AKRES (Ancient city) SICILY
Acrae (Akrai, Thuc. et alii; Akra, Steph. B.; Akraiai, Ptol.; Akraioi,
Steph. B.; Acrenses, Plin.; Palazzolo), a city of Sicily, situated in the southern
portion of the island, on a lofty hill, nearly due W. of Syracuse, from which
it was distant, according to the Itineraries, 24 Roman miles (Itin. Ant. p. 87;
Tab. Peut.). It was a colony of Syracuse, founded, as we learn from Thucydides,
70 years after its parent city, i. e. 663 B.C. (Thuc. vi. 5), but it did not rise
to any great importance, and continued almost always in a state of dependence
on Syracuse. Its position must, however, have always given it some consequence
in a military point of view; and we find Dion, when marching upon Syracuse, halting
at Acrae to watch the effect of his proceedings. (Plut. Dion, 27, where we should
certainly read Akras for Makras.) By the treaty concluded by the Romans with Hieron,
king of Syracuse, Acrae was included in the dominions of that monarch (Diod. xxiii.
Exc. p. 502), and this was probably the period of its greatest prosperity. During
the Second Punic War it followed the fortunes of Syracuse, and afforded a place
of refuge to Hippocrates, after his defeat by Marcellus at Acrillae, B.C. 214.
(Liv. xxiv. 36.) This is the last mention of it in history, and its name is not
once noticed by Cicero. It was probably in his time a mere dependency of Syracuse,
though it is found in Pliny's list of the stipendiariae civitates, so that it
must then have possessed a separate municipal existence. (Plin. iii. 8; Ptol.
iii. 4. § 14.) The site of Acrae was correctly fixed by Fazello at the modern
Palazzolo, lofty and bleak situation of which corresponds. with the description
of Silius Italicus ( tumulis glacialibus Acrae, xiv. 206), and its distance from
Syracuse with that assigned by the Itineraries. The summit of the hill occupied
by the modern town is said to be still called Acremonte. Fazello speaks of the
ruins visible there as egregium urbis cadaver, and the recent researches and excavations
carried on by the Baron Judica have brought to light ancient remains of much interest.
The most considerable of these are two theatres, both in very fair preservation,
of which the largest is turned towards the N., while immediately adjacent to it
on the W. is a much smaller one, hollowed out in great part from the rock, and
supposed from some peculiarities in its construction to have been intended to
serve as an Odeum, or theatre for music. Numerous other architectural fragments,
attesting the existence of temples and other buildings, have also been brought
to light, as well as statues, pedestals, inscriptions, and other minor relics.
On an adjoining hill are great numbers of tombs excavated in the rock, while on
the hill of Acremonte itself are some monuments of a singular character; figures
as large as life, hewn in relief in shallow niches on the surface of the native
rock. As the principal figure in all these sculptures appears to be that of the
goddess Isis, they must belong to a late period. (Fazell. de Reb. Sic. vol. i.
p. 452; Serra di Falco, Antichita di Sicilia, vol. iv. p. 158, seq.; Judica, Antichita
di Acre.)
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
KASMENAI (Ancient city) SICILY
Casmenae (Kasmene, Herod. Steph. B., Kasmenai, Thuc.: Eth. Kasmenaios,
Steph.), a city of Sicily founded by a colony from Syracuse, 90 years after the
establishment of the parent city, or B.C. 643. (Thuc. vi. 5.) It is afterwards
mentioned by Herodotus as affording shelter to the oligarchical party called the
Gamori, when they were expelled from Syracuse; and it was from thence that they
applied for assistance to Gelon, then ruler of Gela. (Her. vii. 155.) But from
this period Casmenae disappears from history. Thucydides appears to allude to
it as a place still existing in his time, but we find no subsequent trace of its
name. It was probably destroyed by some of the tyrants of Syracuse, according
to their favourite policy of removing the inhabitants from the smaller towns to
the larger ones. Its site is wholly uncertain: Cluverius was disposed to fix it
at Scicli, but Sir R. Hoare mentions the ruins of an ancient city as existing
about 2 miles E. of Sta Croce (a small town 9 miles W. of Scicli), which may very
possibly be those of Casmenae. They are described by him as indicating a place
of considerable magnitude and importance; but do not appear to have ever been
carefully examined. (Cluver. Sicil. p. 358 ; Hoare's Class. Tour, vol. ii. p.
266.)
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
AKRES (Ancient city) SICILY
or Acra (Akrai). A town of Sicily, west of Syracuse.
AKRES (Ancient city) SICILY
An ancient city in the Province of Siracusa to the W of the modern
center of Palazzuolo Acreide. It is on the summit of a hill, almost level but
with steep and precipitous flanks except on the B side. It is between the Anapo
and the Tellaro, near the mouths of which are respectively Syracuse and Eloro.
The hill has been frequented since the Paleolithic period, as is shown by finds
during repair under the cliff of S. Corrado.
Akrai, founded by Syracuse in 664 B.C. (Thuc. 5.5.3), represents the
first of the city's three colonies. The other two were Kasmenai and Kamarina,
which were founded, according to the chronology of Thucydides, respectively in
644 and 599 B.C. Akrai was founded to protect one of the key points of access
to Syracuse in the triangle of SE Sicily. Conspicuous strategic use of the site,
however, preceded the foundation of the colony. The sources give little information
about the initial period of the subcolony's life, but it may be supposed that
it was subordinate to the mother city. Plutarch records Akrai as a stopping place
of Dion during the expedition he led against Dionysios II. It is known (Diod.
Sic. 23.4.1) that in the peace treaty between Rome and Syracuse in 263 Akrai was
one of the cities, along with Leontinoi, Megara, Heloros/Neton/Tauromemion, to
be assigned to Hieron II. Other notice of interest is that given by Pliny that
counts Akrai among the civitates stipendiariae, the cities, that is, that owed
a fixed tribute to Rome because their territory was considered property of the
Roman people. Written mention of the city is scarce during the Roman period, even
though recently acquired archaeological evidence shows continuity of life there
until the Late Imperial era. In the 4th and 5th c. Akrai was the seat of an important
Christian community. It is probable that the city was destroyed in 827 during
the first large invasion of Arabs into Sicily.
Temples in honor of Artemis, Aphrodite, and Kore (IGS 217) were built
here, and there is evidence also of the cults of Zeus Akrios and of the nymphs.
The fortification system of the city developed along the margins of the terrace
that is occupied by the urban center. Traces of the structures relating to the
city walls are evident along the NW, S, and E margins of the city. The position
of the two principal gates has also been identified. The Siracusana gate is to
the E, and the Selinuntina to the W. The latter, cited also in the inscriptions,
linked Akrai with nearby Kasmenai.
Inside the city, traces are clearly visible of the artery that crossed
the urban area in an E-W direction, almost in the middle of the plateau. This
area, which constituted the urban center, was itself situated at the midpoint
of the level summit. Its N sector, slightly sloping toward the N, contained no
archaeological remains. Apparently, although included in the circuit of the fortifications
for defensive reasons, it did not make up part of the true urban center. The actual
inhabited area in the central part of the level area shows well-regulated development.
This is in part because the city was founded at a precise historical moment as
a result of the expansionist politics of Syracuse, rather than growing gradually
from a primitive nuclear settlement. The principal artery of the city has recently
been brought to light for ca. 200 m, and it leads precisely between the two gates
of the city mentioned above. The well-preserved tract of road is paved in volcanic
rock. Excavation has also brought to light the intersections between this central
road and several others, five on its N side and two on the S. The intersections
are not at right angles, but rather slightly inclined, thus creating a singular
urban plan not previously documented in Sicily.
The archaeological documentation recovered in several stratified cuts
made in the central area of the city dates from archaic times to the Roman Imperial
period. Among the monumental urban remains is the base of a Doric peripteral temple
at the highest point of the city, on the sacred acropolis, probably dedicated
to Aphrodite. Included in a complex discovered in the 19th c. is a small theater
with a maximum diameter of 37.5 m. It dates from the 3d c. B.C. and is made up
of a cavea supported by a slope and composed of nine cunei and 12 steps, largely
rebuilt. Of the original logeion only the stylobate is preserved. The pavement
of the orchestra and the remnants of the stage are rebuildings from the Roman
era. To the W of the theater are the remains of a small bouleuterion with three
cunei that must have opened on the agora. At the rear of the theater are the two
Latomie called the Intagliata and the Intagliatella, which bear traces of defunct
cults for hero worship. In the Christian-Byzantine period they were transformed
into habitations and sepulchers.
The so-called Templi Ferali are found to the E of the city. They consist
of niches dug into the vertical wall of a Latomia, and were evidently related
to a cult of the dead. Also to be mentioned are the so-called Santoni, which are
rude sculptures relating to the cult of the Great Mother, dating to the 3d c.
B.C.
To the SE of the city are the necropoleis of Torre Iudica from the
archaic era, and of Colle Orbo from the Hellenistic-Roman period. The Sikel necropolis,
composed of burials in artificial grottos, probably dates to the Late Bronze age.
It is in the section called "Pinita" in the scenic rocky cliffs that
outline the S flank of the hill of Akrai.
The material coming from the excavations at Akrai and from its necropoleis
is in the small antiquarium near the monumental complex, in the Museo Archeologico
at Syracuse, and in the ludica collection, which Italy is in the process of acquiring.
G. Voza, 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.
KASMENAI (Ancient city) SICILY
The remains of an archaic city on the plateau of Monte Casale, ca.
12 km to the W of Palazzolo (ancient Akrai). A colony of Syracuse, it was founded,
according to Thucydides (6.5.3), 90 years after the mother city, ca. 643 B.C.
Herodotos (7.155) reports that ca. 485 B.C. Gelon removed the Syracusan Gamoroi
from this city and brought them back to their home city, from which they had been
expelled by the people in league with the slaves. A fragment of Philistos (Jacoby,
3 B.559, fr. 5), as emended by Pais, affirms that Kasmenai sided with Syracuse
during its struggle against the rebellious Kamarina and its Sikel allies in 553-552
B.C. And in 357 Dion, after landing at Heraklea Minoa, seems to have recruited
troops at Kasmenai on his way to Syracuse (Diod.Sic. 16.9.5). Insiguificant mentions
of the colony occur also in Stephanos of Byzantium and in scholia to Thucydides
(ed. Didot, p. 102).
On a plateau at the edge of Monte Casale are the ruins of a circuit
wall built with enormous blocks only roughly shaped. It was ca. 3400 m in length,
3 m thick, with external rectangular towers. Within the circuit the city comprised
at least 38 parallel streets (ca. 3 m wide), running from NW to SE, with blocks
usually no wider than 25 m. The E-W traffic utilized alleys of irregular width
since the houses were aligned only along their N side. This system appears at
first glance comparable to what is usually called per strigas, but it should be
noted that, although stenopoi are amply attested, this settlement lacked proper
orthogonal streets and especially major traffic axes, the typical plateiai of
the Hippodamian cities. The four plateiai believed to have been identified through
aerial photography have not yet been confirmed by systematic excavation. For the
present the city must be considered, on the basis of the test excavations, pre-Hippodamian
in type, with a plan that can be dated, to the second half of the 7th c. B.C.
The importance of the town's urban system for the studies of Greek
and particularly Sicilian city planning lies in the very fact that it allows us
to pinpoint between the end of the 7th and the first half of the 6th c., the transition,
at least in the W, from the system with parallel streets to the more sophisticated
Hippodamian type, such as we see it at Selinus, Akragas, Metapontion, and Poseidonia.
If in fact the Sicilian Greeks had already known the system per strigas
during the second half of the 7th c., it seems logical that they would have employed
it at Kasmenai, which started as a military colony and was therefore almost "prefabricated,"
thus offering the most favorable conditions for realizing on the ground the ideal
model for urban planning.
The colony was started here on the natural penetration route of Syracuse
toward the interior of the island purely for military reasons, as is amply attested
by the powerful wall circuit already mentioned and by the large quantity of iron
weapons from the temenos of a temple which excavations have brought to light in
the W corner of the plateau. From this early temple, part of the architectural
and sculptural decoration in polychrome terracotta have been recovered and at
least three inscriptions from the 6th c. In the necropolis the cist and chamber
tombs are typically Greek. The city's main function as a military colony ceased
rather early and it apparently ceased to exist at the end of the 4th c. B.C.
A. Di Vita, 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.
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