Agrigento ( Italian: [aɡriˈdʒɛnto] ; Sicilian : Girgenti [dʒɪɾˈdʒɛndɪ] or Giurgenti [dʒʊɾˈdʒɛndɪ] ) is a city on the southern coast of Sicily , Italy and capital of the province of Agrigento .
149-480: Founded around 582 BC by Greek colonists from Gela , Agrigento, then known as Akragas , was one of the leading cities during the golden age of Ancient Greece . The city flourished under Theron 's leadership in the 5th century BC, marked by ambitious public works and the construction of renowned temples. Despite periods of dormancy during the Punic Wars , Agrigento emerged as one of Sicily's largest cities in
298-618: A tyranny , and about 510 BC was subject to a despot named Peithagoras, who was overthrown with the assistance of the Spartan Euryleon, one of the companions of Dorieus . Euryleon himself ruled the city, for a little while, but was speedily overthrown and put to death by the Selinuntines. The Selinuntines supported the Carthaginians during the great expedition of Hamilcar (480 BC); they even promised to send
447-623: A Greek inscription was discovered in Lumbarda on the eastern tip of the island of Korčula in modern-day Croatia which talks about the founding of another Greek settlement there in the 3rd or 4th century BC, by colonists from Issa. The artifact is known as Lumbarda Psephisma . Evidence of coinage on the Illyrian coast used for trade between the Illyrians and the Greeks can be dated to around
596-672: A Latin bishopric in the city. Normans built the Castello di Agrigento to control the area. The population declined during much of the medieval period but revived somewhat after the 18th century. According to legend, the Jewish community of Agrigento is said to be ancient. The first record of Jews mentioned in Agrigento is when, under the pontificate of Gregory the Great , several Jews in Agrigento were converted to Christianity. The community
745-493: A cistern, a closed basin protected by a portico with columns and an access staircase of four steps with a large paved area in front of it. The building is in the doric style and is dated to the middle of the sixth century mainly by the architectural terracotta discovered there. The fragments of metopes with the Amazonomachy , although found nearby, do not belong to the building, which had small, smooth metopes. Another megaron,
894-787: A city on the northern coast of Africa, founded by the Greeks after the Trojan War . On the north side of the Mediterranean, the Phokaians founded Massalia on the coast of Gaul . Massalia became the base for a series of further foundations farther away in the region of Spain. Phokaia also founded Alalia in Corsica and Olbia in Sardinia . The Phokaians arrived next on the coast of the Iberian peninsula. As related by Herodotus,
1043-580: A colony of the Teians . On the eastern shore, which was known in ancient times as Colchis , today in Georgia and the autonomous region of Abkhazia , the Greeks founded the cities of Phasis and Dioscouris. The latter was called Sebastopolis by the Romans and Byzantines and is known today as Sukhumi . Heraclea Pontica founded Callatis on the southern coast of Romania at the end of the 6th c. BC. Only
1192-757: A contingent to the Carthaginian army, but this did not arrive until after Hamilcar's defeat at the Battle of Himera . The Selinuntines are next mentioned in 466 BC, co-operating with the other cities of Sicily to help the Syracusans to expel Thrasybulus . Thucydides speaks of Selinunte just before the Athenian expedition in 416 BC as a powerful and wealthy city, possessing great resources for war both by land and sea, and having large stores of wealth accumulated in its temples. Diodorus also represents it at
1341-410: A defensive wall. There have not been systematic excavations in the area, but there have been some sondages , which have confirmed that the area was inhabited from the foundation of Selinus (seventh century BC) and therefore was not a later expansion of the city. After the destruction of Selinus in 409, this area of the city was not reinhabited. The refugees returned by Hermocrates were settled only on
1490-587: A few colonies were founded during the Greek Classical period which included Mesembria (modern Nessebar) by the Megareans in 493 BC. Heraclea Pontica founded Chersonesus Taurica in Crimea at the end of the 5th or early 4th c. BC. The ancient Greek settlement called Manitra of the 4th-3rd centuries BC near the town of Baherove in Crimea was discovered in 2018. The Greek colonies expanded as far as
1639-538: A few hundred metres to the northeast of the Sanctuary of the Malophoros, has been excavated recently. Around Selinus some areas used as necropoleis can be identified. Cave di Cusa (The Quarries of Cusa) are made up of banks of limestone near Campobello di Mazara, thirteen kilometres from Selinus. They were the stone quarries from which the material for the buildings of Selinus came. The most notable element of
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#17327726566901788-452: A force and were wholly unprepared to resist it. The city fortifications were, in many places, in disrepair, and the armed forces promised by Syracuse, Acragas (modern Agrigento ) and Gela , were not ready and did not arrive in time. The Selinuntines fought the Carthaginians on their own and continued to defend their individual houses even after the walls were breached. However, the enemy's overwhelming numbers made resistance hopeless, and after
1937-424: A form similar to that of the metropolis. Greek colonies were often established along coastlines, especially during the period of colonisation between the 8th and 6th centuries BC. Many Greek colonies were strategically positioned near coastlines to facilitate trade, communication, and access to maritime resources. These colonies played a crucial role in expanding Greek culture, trade networks, and influence throughout
2086-401: A good tyrant, but accuse his son Thrasydaeus , who succeeded him in 472 BC, of violence and oppression. Shortly after Theron's death, Hiero I of Syracuse (brother and successor of Gelon) invaded Acragas and overthrew Thrasydaeus. The literary sources say that Acragas then became a democracy, but in practice it seems to have been dominated by the civic aristocracy. The period after the fall of
2235-516: A largely Greek-speaking community for centuries thereafter. It became prosperous again under Roman rule. In the 2nd century BC, Scipio Africanus Minor bestowed upon the city a statue of Apollo by Myron , housed in the Temple of Asclepius as a symbol of their alliance during the Third Punic War . Cicero noted Agrigentum as a civitas decumana and socius, highlighting its loyal service in
2384-717: A later period they were called the Aquae Labodes or Larodes, under which name they appear in the Itineraries . The city is beside the sea, between the Modione River (the ancient Selinus) in the west and the Cottone River in the east, on two high areas connected by a narrow isthmus . The part of the city to the south, next to the sea, contains the acropolis which is based around two intersecting streets and contains many temples (A, B, C , D, O). The part of
2533-424: A local king summoned the Phokaians to found a colony in the region and rendered meaningful aid in the fortification of the city. The Phokaians founded Empuries in this region and later the even more distant Hemeroskopeion . AL1. Nymphaeum AL2. Epidamnos AL3. Apollonia AL4. Aulon AL5. Chimara AL6. Bouthroton AL7. Oricum AL8. Thronion AR1. Gerrha * Pseudo-Scymnus writes that some say that
2682-630: A mosaic pavement showing symbolic figures of the Phoenician goddess Tanit , a caduceus , the Sun , a crown , and a bull's head , which testifies to the reuse of the space as a religious or domestic area in the Punic period. Temple O was dedicated to Poseidon or perhaps Athena ; Temple A to the Dioscuri or perhaps to Apollo . 34 metres east of Temple A are the remains of the monumental entrance to
2831-436: A number of destructive bombing raids during World War II . Agrigento is a major tourist centre due to its archaeological legacy. It also serves as an agricultural centre for the surrounding region. Sulphur and potash were mined locally from Minoan times until the 1970s, and were exported worldwide from the nearby harbour of Porto Empedocle (named after the philosopher Empedocles , who lived in ancient Akragas). In 2010,
2980-535: A population of 16,000-18,000 citizens, while Franco de Angelis estimates a total population of around 30,000-40,000. When Athens undertook the Sicilian Expedition against Syracuse from 415 to 413 BC, Acragas remained neutral. However, it was sacked by the Carthaginians in 406 BC. Acragas never fully recovered its former status, though it revived following the invasion of Timoleon in
3129-399: A prostyle pronaos with four columns, with two deep antae walls ending in pilasters and three doors leading to the large naos. The naos was very large and divided into three aisles – the middle one was probably open to the air ( hypaethros ). There were two rows of ten slender columns which supported a second row of columns (the gallery) and two lateral staircases which led to the roofspace. At
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#17327726566903278-412: A rectangular enclosure (60 x 50 metres), which was entered on the east side through a rectangular propylaea in antis (built in the fifth century BC) fronted by a short staircase and a circular structure. Outside of the enclosure, the propylaea is flanked by the remains of a long portico ( stoa ) with seats for the pilgrims, who left evidence of themselves in the form of various altars and votives. Inside
3427-425: A sign that they were later adapted as Christian buildings or inhabited by Christians. Further north, before the main area of habitation, there are the grandiose fortifications for the defense of the acropolis. They are paralleled by a long gallery (originally covered) with numerous vaulted passages, followed by a deep defensive ditch crossed by a bridge, with three semicircular towers at west, north, and east. Around
3576-444: A single sacred compound ( Temenos ), since there is a wall separating Temple E from Temple F. This sacred complex has strong parallels with the western slopes of the acropolis of Megara , Selinus’ mothercity, which are useful (perhaps indispensable) for the correct attribution of the cults of the three temples. Temple E the most recent of the three, dates to 460-450 BC and has a very similar plan to that of Temples A and O on
3725-438: A ten-day siege the city was taken and most of the defenders put to death. According to sources, 16,000 of the citizens of Selinunte were killed, 5,000 were taken prisoner, and 2,600 under the command of Empedion escaped to Acragas. Subsequently, a considerable number of the survivors and fugitives were gathered together by Hermocrates of Syracuse, and established within the walls of the city. Shortly after, Hannibal destroyed
3874-648: A town in his time, but Strabo distinctly classes it with extinct cities. Ptolemy , though he mentions the river Selinus, does not mention a town of the name. The Thermae Selinuntiae (at modern Sciacca ), which derived their name from the ancient city, and seem to have been much frequented in the time of the Romans , were situated at a considerable distance, 30 km, from Selinunte: they are sulfurous springs, still much valued for their medical properties, and dedicated, like most thermal waters in Sicily, to San Calogero . At
4023-734: A trade concession to Milesian merchants for one establishment on the banks of the Nile , founding a trading post which evolved into a prosperous city by the time of the Persian expedition to Egypt in 525 B.C. 2023 archaeological findings in Thonis-Heracleion at Egypt, suggested that Greeks, who were already allowed to trade in the city, "had started to take root" there as early as during the Twenty-sixth Dynasty of Egypt and that likely Greek mercenaries were employed to defend
4172-458: Is 425 metres long, the East-West is 338 metres long). Every 32 metres they are intersected by other minor roads (5 metres wide). On the crest of the acropolis are the remains of numerous Doric temples . Multiple altars and little sanctuaries may be attributed to the first years of the colony, which were replaced around fifty years later by large, more permanent temples. The first of these is
4321-685: Is mentioned in the Cairo Geniza circa 1060. The Jewish presence in Agrigento did not survive the expulsion of the Jews in 1492 , as at the time the territory was under Spanish rule. In 1860, as in the rest of Sicily, the inhabitants supported the arrival of Giuseppe Garibaldi during the Expedition of the Thousand (one of the most dramatic events of the Unification of Italy ) which marked
4470-458: Is modern but it still retains a number of medieval and Baroque buildings. These include the 14th century cathedral and the 13th century Church of Santa Maria dei Greci ("St. Mary of the Greeks"), again standing on the site of an ancient Greek temple (hence the name). The town also has a notable archaeological museum displaying finds from the ancient city. Agrigento is twinned with: Greek colonisation Greek colonisation refers to
4619-403: Is more standardized than Temple C (The columns are slightly inclined, more slender, and have entasis , the portico is supported by a distyle pronaos in antis), but it retains some archaic features, such as variation in the length of the intercolumniation and the diameter of the columns, as well as in the number of flutes per column. As with Temple C, there are many circular and square cavities in
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4768-544: Is no evidence for this). The latter temple is remarkably intact, due to its having been converted into a Christian church in 597 AD. Both were constructed to a peripteral hexastyle design. The area around the Temple of Concordia was later re-used by early Christians as a catacomb , with tombs hewn out of the rocky cliffs and outcrops. The other temples are much more fragmentary, having been toppled by earthquakes long ago and quarried for their stones. The largest by far
4917-419: Is not easy to understand the various structures, which were built at the end of the fourth century BC. It consists of an enclosure wall surrounded by various types of column on two sides (part of a Hellenistic portico), a small prostyle temple in antis (5.22 x 3.02 m) at the back of the enclosure with monolithic Doric columns, but an ionic entablature, and two others in the centre of the enclosure. Outside, to
5066-506: Is the Temple of Olympian Zeus , built to commemorate the Battle of Himera in 480 BC : it is believed to have been the largest Doric temple ever built. Although it was apparently used, it appears never to have been completed; construction was abandoned after the Carthaginian invasion of 406 BC. The remains of the temple were extensively quarried in the 18th century to build the jetties of Porto Empedocle . Temples dedicated to Hephaestus , Heracles and Asclepius were also constructed in
5215-471: Is the oldest in this area, dating from 550 BC. In 1925-7 the fourteen of the north side's seventeen columns were re-erected, along with part of the entablature. It had a peristyle (24 x 63.7 metres) of 6 x 17 columns (8.62 metres high). The entrance is reached by eight steps and consists of a portico with a second row of columns and then the pronaos. Behind it is the naos and adyton in a single long narrow structure (an archaic characteristic). It has basically
5364-579: Is worth to mention Empedocles (5th century BC), the Ancient Greek pre-Socratic philosopher , who was a citizen of ancient Akragas , and Luigi Pirandello (1867–1936), dramatist and Nobel prize winner for literature,who was born at contrada u Càvusu in Agrigento. Akragas was founded on a plateau overlooking the sea, with two nearby rivers, the Hypsas and the Acragas, after which the settlement
5513-647: The Danube delta the Greeks colonised the islet, probably then a peninsula, of Barythmenis (modern Berezan ) which evolved into the colony of Borysthenes in the next century. The most important colony founded on the southern shore of the Black Sea was a Megaran and Boeotian foundation: Heraclea Pontica in 560-550 BC. On the north shore of the Black Sea Miletus was the first to start with Pontic Olbia and Panticapaeum (modern Kerch ). In about 560 BC
5662-455: The Doric style were constructed during the 6th and 5th centuries BC. Now excavated and partially restored, they constitute some of the largest and best-preserved ancient Greek buildings outside of Greece itself. They are listed as a World Heritage Site . The best-preserved of the temples are two very similar buildings traditionally attributed to the goddesses Hera and Concordia (though there
5811-618: The Iberian Peninsula and North Africa . In North Africa, on the peninsula of Kyrenaika , colonists from Thera founded Kyrene , which evolved into a very powerful city in the region. Other colonies in Kyrenaika later included Barca , Euesperides (modern Benghazi ), Taucheira , and Apollonia . By the middle of the 7th century, the lone Greek colony in Egypt had been founded, Naukratis . The pharaoh Psammitecus I gave
5960-643: The Mediterranean and Black Sea regions. While some colonies were established inland for various reasons, coastal locations were generally more common due to the Greeks' strong connection to the sea. The Greeks started colonising around the beginning of the 8th century BC when the Euboeans founded Pithecusae in Southern Italy and Olynthus in Chalcidice , Greece. Subsequently, they founded
6109-548: The Republican era . During the Principate , Agrigento's strategic port and diverse economic ventures, including sulfur mining , trade and agriculture, sustained its importance throughout the high and late Empire . Economic prosperity persisted in the 3rd to 4th centuries AD, but excavations show decline in activity after the 7th century. Agrigento is also the place of birth to several notable personalities, among which it
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6258-462: The archaic form of the Megaron , perhaps intended to hold votive offerings. Lacking a pronaos, the entrance at the eastern end passed directly into the naos (at the centre of which there are two bases for the wooden columns which held up the roof). At the back there was a square adyton, to which a third space was added in a later period. The Shrine was perhaps dedicated to Demeter Thesmophoros. To
6407-675: The fall of the Western Roman Empire , the city successively passed into the hands of the Vandalic Kingdom , the Ostrogothic Kingdom of Italy and then the Byzantine Empire . During this period the inhabitants of Agrigentum largely abandoned the lower parts of the city and moved to the former acropolis , at the top of the hill. The reasons for this move are unclear but were probably related to
6556-399: The sacred area , which includes a sanctuary of Demeter and Persephone (formerly known as the Temple of Castor and Pollux ); the marks of the fires set by the Carthaginians in 406 BC can still be seen on the sanctuary's stones. Many other Hellenistic and Roman sites can be found in and around the town. These include a pre-Hellenic cave sanctuary near a Temple of Demeter, over which
6705-459: The unemployment rate in Agrigento was 19.2%, almost twice the national average. Ancient Akragas covers a huge area—much of which is still unexcavated today—but is exemplified by the famous Valle dei Templi ("Valley of the Temples", a misnomer, as it is a ridge, rather than a valley). This comprises a large sacred area on the south side of the ancient city where seven monumental Greek temples in
6854-569: The 4th century BC and minted in Adriatic colonies such as Issa and Pharos. Although the Greeks had at one point called the Black Sea shore "inhospitable", according to ancient sources they eventually created 70 to 90 colonies. The colonization of the Black Sea was led by the Megarans and some of the Ionian cities such as Miletus , Phocaea and Teos . The majority of colonies in the region of
7003-523: The 6th century BC the citizens of Epidamnus constructed a Doric-style treasury at Olympia confirms that the city was among the richest of the Ancient Greek world . An ancient account describes Epidamnos as 'a great power and very populated' city. Nymphaeum was another Greek colony in Illyria. The Abantes of Euboea founded the city of Thronion at the Illyria . Further west, colonists from
7152-565: The Black Sea and Propontis were founded in the 7th century BC. In the area of Propontis, the Megarans founded the cities of Astacus in Bithynia , Chalcedonia and Byzantium which occupied a privileged position. Miletus founded Cyzicus and the Phocaeans Lampsacus . On the western shore of the Black Sea the Megarans founded the cities of Selymbria and a little later, Nesebar . A little farther north in today's Romania
7301-731: The British Museum. Now in the echoes of the activities of Lord Elgin in Athens, Angell and Harris’s shipments were diverted to Palermo by force of the Bourbon authorities and are now kept in the Palermo archeological museum . East of Temple C is its rectangular grand altar (20.4 metres long x 8 metres wide) of which the foundations and some steps remain. After that there is the area of the Hellenistic agora . A little further there are
7450-558: The Church of San Biagio was built. A late Hellenistic funerary monument erroneously labelled the "Tomb of Theron" is situated just outside the sacred area, and a 1st-century AD heroon (heroic shrine) adjoins the 13th century Church of San Nicola a short distance to the north. A sizeable area of the Greco-Roman city has also been excavated, and several classical necropoleis and quarries are still extant. Much of present-day Agrigento
7599-496: The East Hill. The peristyle was 16.2 x 40.2 m with 6 x 14 columns (6.23 metres high). Inside there was a pronaos in antis , a naos with an adyton and an opisthodomos in antis, separate from the naos. The naos was a step higher than the pronaos and the adyton was a step higher again. In the wall between the pronaos and the naos in Temple A two spiral staircases led to the gallery (or floor) above. The pronaos of Temple A has
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#17327726566907748-456: The Emmenids is not well-known. An oligarchic group called "the thousand" was in power for a few years in the mid-fifth century BC, but was overthrown - the literary tradition gives the philosopher Empedocles a decisive role in this revolution, but some modern scholars have doubted this. In 451 BC, Ducetius , leader of a Sicel state opposed to the expansion of Syracuse and other Greeks into
7897-664: The Euboeans later founded Naxos , which became the base for the founding of the cities of Leontini , Tauromenion and Catania . They were accompanied by small numbers of Dorians and Ionians; the Athenians had notably refused to take part in the colonisation. The strongest of the Sicilian colonies was Syracuse , an 8th-century BC colony of the Corinthians. Refugees from Sparta founded Taranto which evolved into one of
8046-609: The Greek city-state Paros in 385 BC founded the colony Pharos on the island of Hvar in the Adriatic, on the site of the present-day Stari Grad in Croatia. In the early 4th century BC the Greek tyrant of Syracus Dionysius I founded the colony Issa on the modern-day island of Vis , and traders from Issa then went on to found emporia in Tragurion ( Trogir ) and Epetion ( Stobreč ) on the Illyrian mainland in 3rd century BC. In 1877
8195-433: The Greek settlers and the indigenous peoples comes from Timpone Della Motta which shows influence of Greek style in Oneotroian pottery. Many cities in the region became in turn metropoleis for new colonies such as the Syracusans, who founded the city of Camarina in the south of Sicily; or the Zancleans, who led the founding of the colony of Himera . Likewise, Naxos, which founded many colonies while Sybaris founded
8344-414: The Greek settlers to farm, native slaves to work these farms, and control of the overland route from Acragas to the city of Himera on the northern coast of Sicily. This was the main land route from the Straits of Sicily to the Tyrrhenian Sea and Acragas' control of it was a key factor in its economic prosperity in the sixth and fifth centuries BC, which became proverbial. Famously, Plato , upon seeing
8493-468: The Greeks to establish colonies were strong economic growth with the consequent overpopulation of the motherland, and that the land of these Greek city states could not support a large city. The areas that the Greeks would try to colonise were hospitable and fertile. The founding of the colonies was consistently an organised enterprise by the metropolis (mother city), although in many cases it collaborated with other cities. The place to be colonised
8642-452: The Hypsas river (the modern Belice ). It was founded, according to the historian Thucydides , by a colony from the Sicilian city of Megara Hyblaea , under the leadership of a man called Pammilus , about 100 years after the foundation of Megara Hyblaea, with the help of colonists from Megara in Greece, which was Megara Hyblaea's mother city. The date of its foundation cannot be precisely fixed, as Thucydides indicates it only by reference to
8791-399: The Milesians founded Odessa in the region of modern Ukraine . On the Crimean peninsula (the Greeks then called it Tauric Chersonese or "Peninsula of the Bulls") they founded likewise the cities of Sympheropolis , Nymphaeum and Hermonassa . On the Sea of Azov (Lake Maiotis to the ancients) they founded Tanais (in Rostov), Tyritace, Myrmeceum, Cecrine and Phanagoria , the last being
8940-427: The Milesians founded the cities of Histria , Argame and Apollonia . In the south of the Black Sea the most important colony was Sinope which according to prevailing opinion was founded by Miletus some time around the middle of the 7th century BC. Sinope was founded with a series of other colonies in the Pontic region: Trebizond , Cerasus , Cytorus , Cotyora , Cromne, Pteria , Tium , etc. Further north from
9089-442: The Northern Aegean. Numerous colonies were founded in Northern Greece , chiefly in the region of Chalcidice but also in the region of Thrace . Chalcidice was settled by Euboeans, chiefly from Chalcis, who lent their name to these colonies. The most important settlements of the Euboeans in Chalcidice were Olynthos (which was settled in collaboration with the Athenians ), Torone , Mende , Sermyle , Aphytis and Cleonae in
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#17327726566909238-431: The Segestans being at war with the Lilybaeans (modern Marsala) in 454 BC, that the Selinuntines are the people really meant. The river Mazarus , which at that time appears to have formed the boundary with Segesta, was only about 25 km west of Selinunte; and it is certain that at a somewhat later period the territory of Selinunte extended to its banks, and that that city had a fort and emporium at its mouth. On
9387-526: The Segestans to seek assistance from Carthage. After some hesitation, Carthage sent a small force, with the assistance of which the Segestans defeated the Selinuntines in a battle. The Carthaginians in the following spring (409 BC) sent over a vast army containing 100,000 men, according to the lowest ancient estimate, led by Hannibal Mago (the grandson of Hamilcar that was killed at Himera ). The army landed at Lilybaeum, and directly marched from there to Selinunte. The city's inhabitants had not expected such
9536-431: The Selinuntines were engaged in hostilities with the non-Greek Elymian people of Segesta , whose territory bordered their own. A body of emigrants from Rhodes and Cnidus who subsequently founded Lipara , supported the Segestans on this occasion, leading to their victory; but disputes and hostilities between the Segestans and Selinuntines seem to have occurred frequently, and it is possible that when Diodorus speaks of
9685-413: The Third Punic War. He ranked Agrigentum among Sicily's largest cities, emphasizing its pivotal port and role in Roman governance, including hosting the governor's assize circuit. Additionally, he mentioned a sizable population of Roman citizens coexisting harmoniously with the Greek populace , likely engaged in commerce linked to the port. The city's inhabitants received full Roman citizenship following
9834-497: The absence of fluting on some of the columns and by the existence of column drums of the same dimensions ten kilometres away at Cave di Cusa , still in the process of extraction (see below). In the massive pile of ruins it is possible to make out a peristyle of 8 x 17 columns (16.27 metres high and 3.41 metres in diameter), only one of which remains standing since it was re-erected in 1832, known in Sicilian as “lu fusu di la vecchia” (the old woman's spindle). The interior consisted of
9983-502: The acropolis was fortified by a counter wall and towers from the beginning of the fourth century BC. At the entrance to the acropolis is the so-called Tower of Pollux, constructed in the sixteenth century to deter the Barbary pirates , atop the remains of an ancient tower or lighthouse. The Hippodamian urban plan dates to the fourth century BC (i.e. to the period of Punic rule) and is divided in quarters by two main streets (9 metres wide), which cross at right angles (the North-South road
10132-432: The acropolis, which was more defensible. In 1985 a tufa structure was discovered on the hill, probably a public building of the fifth century BC. Further north, beyond the housing, are two necropoleis: Manuzza and the older (seventh and sixth century) one in Galera-Bagliazzo. Starting in 2020, the outline of the largest agora of the ancient world with an area of 33000 m , more than twice that of Rome’s Piazza del Popolo,
10281-444: The acropolis. Its current appearance is the result of anastylosis (reconstruction using the original material) carried out – controversially – between 1956 and 1959. The peristyle is 25.33 x 67.82 metres with a 6 x 15 column pattern (each 10.19 metres high) with numerous traces of the stucco which originally covered it remaining. It is a temple characterised by multiple staircases creating a system of successive levels: ten steps lead to
10430-449: The archetypal tyrant , said to have killed his enemies by burning them alive inside a bronze bull. In the ancient literary sources, he is linked with the military campaigns of territorial expansion, but this is probably anachronistic. He ruled until around 550 BC. The political history of Acragas in the second half of the sixth century is unknown, except for the names of two leaders, Alcamenes and Alcander. Acragas also expanded westwards over
10579-458: The area of the sanctuary between the third and fifth centuries AD. A little further up the slopes of Gaggera Hill is the spring from which the Sanctuary of the Malophoros gets its water. Fifty metres downstream of it is a building once believed to be a temple (the so-called “Temple M”), which is actually a monumental fountain. It is rectangular in shape (26.8 metres long x 10.85 metres wide x 8 metres high), constructed of squared blocks and contained
10728-415: The area, which took the form of a propylaea with a floorplan in the shape of a T, made up of a 13 x 5.6 metre rectangle with a peristyle of 5 x 12 columns and another rectangle of 6.78 x 7.25 metres. Across the East-West street there is a second sacred area, north of the preceding. There, to the south of Temple C is a Shrine 17.65 metres long and 5.5 metres wide which dates from 580 to 570 BC and has
10877-480: The back of the central aisle was an adyton, separated from the walls of the naos and entirely contained within it. Inside the adyton, the torso of a wounded or dying giant was found as well as the very important inscription known as the “Great Table of Selinus” (see below). At the rear there was an opisthodomos in antis, which could not be accessed from the naos. Of particular interest among the ruins are some finished columns showing traces of coloured stucco and blocks of
11026-569: The basement of an archaic shrine: Temple Y , also known as the Temple of the Small Metopes . The recovered metopes have a height of 84 centimetres and can be dated to 570 BC. They depict a crouching Sphinx in profile, the Delphic triad ( Leto , Apollo , Artemis ) in rigid frontal view, and the Rape of Europa . Another two metopes can be dated to around 560 BC and were recycled in
11175-517: The central portion of Sicily, an area of around 3,500 km. A number of enormous construction projects were carried out in the Valle dei Templi at this time, including the Temple of Olympian Zeus , which was one of the largest Greek temples ever built, and the construction of a massive Kolymbethra reservoir. According to Diodorus Siculus , they were built in commemoration of the Battle of Himera, using
11324-562: The city in 262 BC and captured it after defeating a Carthaginian relief force in 261 BC and sold the population into slavery. Although the Carthaginians recaptured the city in 255 BC the final peace settlement gave Punic Sicily and with it Akragas to Rome. It suffered badly during the Second Punic War (218–201 BC) when both Rome and Carthage fought to control it. The Romans eventually captured Akragas in 210 BC and renamed it Agrigentum , although it remained
11473-426: The city and territory were again given up to the Carthaginians by the peace of 383 BC. Although Dionysius reconquered it shortly before his death, it soon returned to Carthaginian control. The Halycus River, which was established as the eastern boundary of the Carthaginian dominion in Sicily by the treaty of 383 BC, seems to have generally continued to have been the border, despite temporary interruptions; and
11622-915: The city of Bizone belongs to the barbarians, while others to be a Greek colony of Mesembria . BUL1. Mesembria BUL2. Odessos BUL3. Apollonia / Antheia BUL4. Agathopolis BUL5. Kavarna BUL6. Pomorie BUL7. Naulochos BUL8. Krounoi BUL9. Pistiros BUL10. Anchialos BUL11. Bizone * BUL12. Develtos BUL13. Heraclea Sintica BUL14. Beroe C1. Salona C2. Tragyrion C3. Aspálathos C4. Epidaurus C5. Issa C6. Dimos C7. Pharos C8. Kórkyra Mélaina C9. Epidaurum C10. Narona C11. Lumbarda C.12 Εpetion CY1. Chytri CY2. Kyrenia CY3.Golgi Selinus Selinunte ( / ˌ s ɛ l ɪ ˈ n uː n t eɪ / SEL -in- OON -tay , Italian: [seliˈnunte] ; Ancient Greek : Σελῑνοῦς , romanized : Selīnoûs [seliːnûːs] ; Latin : Selīnūs [sɛˈliːnuːs] ; Sicilian : Silinunti [sɪlɪˈnuntɪ] )
11771-538: The city on the Mannuzza Hill to the north, further inland, contained housing on the Hippodamian plan contemporary with the acropolis and two necropoleis (Galera-Bagliazzo and Manuzza). Other important remains are found on the high places across the rivers to the east and west of the city. In the east there are three temples ( E , F , G ) and a necropolis (Buffa) north of the modern village of Marinella. In
11920-447: The city walls, but gave permission to the surviving inhabitants to return and occupy it as tributaries of Carthage. A considerable part of the citizens of Selinunte took up this offer, which was confirmed by the treaty subsequently concluded between Dionysius , tyrant of Syracuse, and the Carthaginians, in 405 BC. The Selinuntines are again mentioned in 397 BC when they supported Dionysius during his war with Carthage; but both
12069-730: The city. Similar to the emporion established in the Nile Delta it is possible there was a Greek trading colony established by the Euboians along the Syrian coast on the mouth of the Orontes river at the site Al-Mina in the early 8th century BC. The Greek colony of Posideion on the promontory Ras al-Bassit was colonised just to the south of the Orontes estuary later in the 7th century BC. Diodorus Siculus mentions Meschela (Μεσχέλα),
12218-614: The colonies of Cumae , Zancle , Rhegium and Naxos . At the end of the 8th century, Euboea fell into decline with the outbreak of the Lelantine War but colonial foundation continued by other Greeks such as the Ionians and Corinthians. The Ionians started their first colonies around the 7th century in Southern Italy, Thrace and on the Black Sea . Thera founded Cyrene and Andros , and Samos founded multiple colonies in
12367-410: The colony of Poseidonia . Gela founded its own colony, Acragas . With colonisation, Greek culture was exported to Italy with its dialects of the Ancient Greek language , its religious rites, and its traditions of the independent polis . An original Hellenic civilization soon developed, and later interacted with the native Italic civilisations. One of the most important cultural transplants
12516-559: The construction of Hermocrates ’ wall. They show the quadriga of Demeter and Kore (or Helios and Selene ? Apollo ?) and an Eleusinian ceremony with three women holding ears of grain ( Demeter , Kore , and Hecate ? The Moirai ?). They are kept at the Antonino Salinas Regional Archeological Museum . Between Temples C and D are the ruins of a Byzantine village of the fifth century AD, built with recycled stone. The fact that some of
12665-709: The course of the sixth century BC, leading to a rivalry with Selinus , the next Greek city to the west. The Selinuntines founded the city of Heraclea Minoa at the mouth of the Platani river, halfway between the two settlements, in the mid-sixth century BC, but the Acragantines conquered it around 500 BC. Theron , a member of the Emmenid family, made himself tyrant of Acragas around 488 BC. He formed an alliance with Gelon , tyrant of Gela and Syracuse. Around 483 BC, Theron invaded and conquered Himera, Acragas’ neighbour to
12814-565: The current location of the "Hill 133" north of Amphipolis in Serres . Numerous other colonies were founded in the region of Thrace by the Ionians from the coast of Asia Minor . Important colonies were Maroneia , and Abdera . The Milesians also founded Abydos and Cardia on the Hellespont and Rhaedestus in Propontis . The Samians colonised the island of Samothrace , becoming
12963-544: The death of Julius Caesar in 44 BC. An inscription shows that the city was promoted to the status of colonia by Septimius Severus and renamed "Colonia Septimia Augusta Agrigentorum." A resilient Christian community endured into late antiquity, although archaeological evidence suggests a decline in activity after the 7th century, possibly due to disrupted trade routes following the Arab conquest of Carthage in AD 698. After
13112-616: The destructive coastal raids of the Saracens and other peoples around this time. In 828 AD the Saracens captured the diminished remnant of the city; the Arabic form of its name became كِركَنت ( Kirkant ) or جِرجَنت ( Jirjant ). Following the Norman conquest of Sicily , the city changed its name to the Norman version Girgenti . In 1087, Norman Count Roger I established
13261-476: The earliest dating from 550 BC, with five centred on an acropolis . At its peak before 409 BC the city may have had 30,000 inhabitants, excluding slaves. It was destroyed and abandoned in 250 BC and never reoccupied. Selinunte was one of the most important of the Greek colonies in Sicily, situated on the southwest coast of that island, at the mouth of the small river of the same name, and 6.5 km west of
13410-510: The early fifth century BC. Most other Greek settlements in Sicily experienced similar territorial expansion in this period. Excavations at a range of sites in this region inhabited by the indigenous Sican people, such as Monte Sabbucina , Gibil-Gabil , Vasallaggi , San Angelo Muxano, and Mussomeli , show signs of the adoption of Greek culture. It is disputed how much of this expansion was carried out by violence and how much by commerce and acculturation. The territorial expansion provided land for
13559-413: The enclosure, there was the large altar (16.3 metres long x 3.15 metres wide) in the centre, on top of a pile of ashes from the bones and other parts of the sacrifices. It had an extension to the southwest, while the remains of an earlier archaic altar are visible near the northwest extremity and there is a square pit on the temple side of the altar. Between the altar and the temple there is a canal carved in
13708-496: The end of Bourbon rule. In 1927, Benito Mussolini through the "Decree Law n. 159, 12 July 1927" introduced the current Italianized version of the Latin name. The decision remains controversial as a symbol of Fascism and the eradication of local history. Following the suggestion of Andrea Camilleri , a Sicilian writer of Agrigentine origin, the historic city centre was renamed to the Sicilian name "Girgenti" in 2016. The city suffered
13857-537: The entablature which have horseshoe-shaped grooves on the sides. Ropes were run through these grooves and used to lift them into place. Temple G probably functioned as the treasury of the city and epigraphic evidence suggests that it was dedicated to Apollo , though recent studies have suggested that it be attributed to Zeus . At the foot of the hill by the mouth of the River Cottone was the East Port , which
14006-414: The entrance on the eastern side, after the pronaos in antis another six steps lead into the naos and finally another six steps lead into the adyton at the rear of the naos. Behind the adyton, separated from it by a wall, was the opisthodomos in antis. A Doric frieze at the top of the walls of the naos consisted of metopes depicting people, with the heads and naked parts of the women made of Parian marble and
14155-877: The expansion of Archaic Greeks , particularly during the 8th–6th centuries BC , across the Mediterranean Sea and the Black Sea . The Archaic expansion differed from the Iron Age migrations of the Greek Dark Ages , in that it consisted of organised direction (see oikistes ) away from the originating metropolis rather than the simplistic movement of tribes, which characterised the aforementioned earlier migrations. Many colonies, or apoikiai ( Greek : ἀποικία , transl. "home away from home" ), that were founded during this period eventually evolved into strong Greek city-states , functioning independently of their metropolis . The reasons for
14304-425: The foundation level. South of the temple there is a square structure and a rectangular structure of unclear function. North of the temple, another structure from a later period with two rooms opening onto the inside and outside of the temenos forms a secondary entrance to the enclosure. The south wall of the enclosure was periodically reinforced to fight the subsidence of the hillside. South of the propylaea, attached to
14453-476: The foundation of Megara Hyblaea, which is itself not accurately known, but it may be placed about 628 BC. Diodorus places it 22 years earlier, or 650 BC, and Hieronymus still further back in 654 BC. The date from Thucydides, which is probably the most likely, is incompatible with this earlier date. The name is supposed to have been derived from quantities of wild celery ( Ancient Greek : σέλινον , romanized : (selinon) ) that grew on
14602-468: The general Nicias as proposing that the Athenians should proceed to Selinunte at once and compel the Selinuntines to surrender on moderate terms; but this advice was overruled and the expedition sailed against Syracuse instead. As a result, the Selinuntines played only a minor part in the subsequent operations. They are, however, mentioned on several occasions providing troops to the Syracusans; and it
14751-514: The great Athenian expedition to Sicily. The Selinuntines called on Syracuse for assistance, and were able to blockade the Segestans; but the Segestans appealed to Athens for help. The Athenians do not appear to have taken any immediate action to save Segesta, but no further conflict around Segesta is recorded. When the Athenian expedition first arrived in Sicily (415 BC), Thucydides presents
14900-553: The houses were crushed by the collapse of the columns of Temple C shows that the earthquake which caused the collapse of the Selinuntine temples occurred in the Medieval period . To the north, the acropolis holds two quarters of the city (one west and the other east of the main north-south street), rebuilt by Hermocrates after 409 BC. The houses are modest, built with recycled material. Some of them contain incised crosses,
15049-462: The interior of Sicily, invaded Acragantine territory and conquered an outpost called Motyum. The Syracusans defeated and captured Ducetius in 450, but subsequently allowed him to go into exile. Outraged by this comparatively light punishment, the Acragantines went to war with Syracuse. They were defeated in a battle on the Salso river, which left Syracuse the pre-eminent power in eastern Sicily. The defeat
15198-579: The late fourth century onwards and large-scale construction took place in the Hellenistic period . During the early 3rd century BC, a tyrant called Phintias declared himself king in Akragas, also controlling a variety of other cities. His kingdom was however not long-lived. The city was disputed between the Romans and the Carthaginians during the First Punic War . The Romans laid siege to
15347-401: The living standard of the inhabitants, was said to have remarked that "they build like they intend to live forever, yet eat like this is their last day." Perhaps as a result of this wealth, Acragas was one of the first communities in Sicily to begin minting its own coinage, around 520 BC. Around 570 BC, the city came under the control of Phalaris , a semi-legendary figure, who was remembered as
15496-546: The mainland, and then in the Strait of Messina, Zancle in Sicily, and nearby on the opposite coast, Rhegium . The second wave was of the Achaeans who concentrated initially on the Ionian coast ( Metapontion , Poseidonia , Sybaris , Kroton ), shortly before 720 BC. At an unknown date between the 8th and 6th centuries BC the Athenians, of Ionian lineage, founded Scylletium (near today's Catanzaro ). In Sicily
15645-560: The model of Temple C. Of the temples it has been the most severely spoliated. Its peristyle was 24.43 x 61.83 metres on a 6 x 14 column pattern (each 9.11 metres high), with stone screens (4.7 metres high) in the space between the columns, with false doors painted in with pilasters and architraves – the actual entrance was at the east end. It is not clear what the purpose of these screens, which are unique among Greek temples, was. Some think they were intended to protect votive gifts or to prevent particular rites ( Dionysian Mysteries ?) being seen by
15794-510: The most powerful cities in the area. Megara founded Megara Hyblaea and Selinous ; Phocaea founded Elea ; Rhodes founded Gela together with the Cretans and Lipari together with Cnidus ; the Locrians founded Epizephyrean Locris . According to legend, Lagaria which was between Thurii and the river Sinni River was founded by Phocians . Evidence of frequent contact between
15943-473: The north. The tyrant of Himera, Terillus joined his son-in-law, Anaxilas of Rhegium , and the Selinuntines in calling on the Carthaginians to come and restore Terillus to power. The Carthaginians did invade in 480 BC, the first of the Greco-Punic Wars , but they were defeated by the combined forces of Theron and Gelon at the Battle of Himera . As a result, Acragas was affirmed in its control of
16092-489: The only religious building that attests to the modest revival of the city after its destruction in 409. Its purpose remains obscure; in the past it was believed to be the Heroon of Empedocles , benefactor of the Selinuntine marshes, but this theory is no longer sustainable, given the building's date. Today it is thought more likely to be a strongly Hellenised Punic cult, perhaps to Demeter or Asclepius - Eshmun . Temple C
16241-463: The other side Selinunte's territory certainly extended as far as the Halycus (modern Platani ), at the mouth of which it founded the colony of Minoa , or Heracleia, as it was afterward called. It is clear, therefore, that Selinunte had already achieved great power and prosperity; but very little information survives about its history. Like most of the Sicilian cities, it passed from an oligarchy to
16390-676: The others, etc. Finds in the temple include: some fragments of red, brown, and purple polychrome terracotta from the cornice decoration, a gigantic 2.5-metre-high (8.2 ft) clay gorgon head from the pediment, three metopes representing Perseus slaying the Gorgon , Heracles with the Cercopes , and a frontal view of the quadriga of Apollo , all of which are in the Museo Archeologico di Palermo. Temple C probably functioned as an archive, since hundreds of seals have been found here and
16539-406: The outside of the north tower (which had a weapons’ store at its base) are the entrances to the east-west trench, with passages in both the walls. Only a small part of the fortifications belong to the old city – they are mostly from Hermocrates ’ reconstruction and successive repairs in the fourth and third centuries. The fact that architectural elements were recycled into it demonstrates that some of
16688-412: The pavement of the peristyle and of the naos, whose function is unknown. Temple D was dedicated to Athena according to epigraphic evidence or perhaps to Aphrodite . The large external altar is not oriented to the temple's axis, but placed obliquely near the southwest corner, which suggested that an earlier temple occupied the same site on a different axis. East of Temple D is a small altar in front of
16837-652: The peninsula of Athos . Other important colonies in Chalcidice were Acanthus , founded by colonists from Andros and Potidaea , a colony of Corinth . Thasians with the help of the Athenian Callistratus of Aphidnae founded the city of Datus . During the Peloponnesian War , the Athenians with the Hagnon, son of Nikias founded the city of Ennea Hodoi (Ἐννέα ὁδοὶ), meaning nine roads, at
16986-575: The present-day Italian regions of Calabria , Apulia , Basilicata , Campania and Sicily which were extensively settled by Greeks. Greeks began to settle in southern Italy in the 8th century BC. The first great migratory wave directed towards the western Mediterranean was that of the Euboeans aimed at the Gulf of Naples who, after Pithecusae (on the isle of Ischia ), the oldest Greek settlement in Italy, founded Cumae nearby, their first colony on
17135-678: The prisoners captured in the war as slave labour. Archaeological evidence indicates that the boom in monumental construction actually began before the battle, but continued in the period after it. A major reconstruction of the city walls on a monumental scale also took place in this period. Theron sent teams to compete in the Olympic games and other Panhellenic competitions in mainland Greece. Several poems by Pindar and Simonides commemorated victories by Theron and other Acragantines, which provide insights into Acragantine identity and ideology at this time. Greek literary sources generally praise Theron as
17284-500: The quarries is the sudden interruption of operations caused by the attack on the city in 409 BC. The sudden departure of the quarrymen, stonemasons and other workers means that today it is possible not just to reconstruct, but to see all the various stages of the quarrying process from the first deep circular cuts to the finished drums waiting to be transported. Along with the column drums, there are also some capitals and also square incisions for quarrying square blocks, all intended for
17433-438: The remains of houses and the terrace is bordered by a Doric portico (57 metres long and 2.8 metres deep) which overlooks part of the wall supporting the acropolis. Next is Temple D which is dated to 540 BC. The west face fronts directly onto the north-south street. The peristyle is 24 metres × 56 metres on a 6 × 13 column pattern (each 7.51 metres high). There is a pronaos in antis, an elongated naos, ending in an adyton. It
17582-462: The rest from local stone. Four metopes are preserved: Heracles killing the Amazon Antiope , the marriage of Hera and Zeus , Actaeon being torn apart by Artemis ’ hunting dogs, Athena killing the giant Enceladus , and another more fragmentary one perhaps depicting Apollo and Daphne . All of them are kept in the Museo Archeologico di Palermo. Recent sondages performed inside
17731-426: The right of the shrine is Temple B from the Hellenistic period, which is small (8.4 x 4.6 metres) and in bad condition. It is made up of a prostyle portico of four columns which is reached by a stairway with nine steps, followed by a pronaos and naos. In 1824 clear traces of polychrome stucco were still visible. Probably constructed around 250 BC, a short time before Selinus was abandoned for good, it represents
17880-450: The rock which, comes from the north, through the whole area, carrying water to the sanctuary from a nearby spring. Just past the canal is the Temple of Demeter itself in the form of a megaron (20.4 x 9.52 metres), lacking a crepidoma or columns, but equipped with a pronaos, naos and adyton with a niche in the back. A rectangular service room is attached to the north side of the pronaos. The megaron had an earlier phase recognisable only at
18029-414: The same floor plan as Temple F on the East Hill. Multiple elements show a certain experimentation and divergence from the pattern of the Doric temple which later became the standard: the columns are squat and massive (some are even made from a single stone), lack entasis , show variation in the number of flutes , the width of the intercolumniation varies, the corner columns have a larger diameter than
18178-406: The sea in the south, while the north end narrows to 140 m wide. The settlement was in the form of a massive trapezoid, extended to the north with a large retaining wall in terraces (about eleven metres high) and surrounded by a wall (repeatedly restored and modified) with an exterior of squared stone blocks and an interior of rough stone ( emplecton ). It had five towers and four gates. To the north,
18327-401: The seventh to fifth centuries BC; large bust-shaped censers depicting Demeter and perhaps Tanit , a great quantity of Corinthian pottery (late proto-Corinthian and early Corinthian), a bass-relief depicting the Rape of Persephone by Hades found at the entrance to the enclosure. Christian remains, especially lamps with the monogram XP , prove the presence of a Christian religious community in
18476-507: The so-called Megaron near Temples B & C. In front of Temple O there is a Punic sacrificial area from after the conquest of 409 BC, consisting of rooms built of dry masonry within which vases containing ashes were deposited along with amphorae of the Carthaginian “torpedo” type. Temple O and Temple A of which little remains except for the rocky basement and the altar which was constructed between 490 and 460 BC. They had nearly identical structures, similar to that of Temple E on
18625-457: The source of its name. Finally, the Parians colonised Thasos under the leadership of the oecist and father of the poet Archilochus , Telesicles. In 340 BC, while Alexander the Great was regent of Macedon, he founded the city of Alexandropolis Maedica after defeating a local Thracian tribe. Magna Graecia was the name given by the Romans to the coastal areas of Southern Italy in
18774-465: The spot. For the same reason, they adopted the celery leaf as the symbol on their coins. Selinunte was the most westerly of the Greek colonies in Sicily, and for this reason they soon came into contact with the Phoenicians of western Sicily and the native Sicilians in the west and northwest of the island. The Phoenicians do not at first seem to have conflicted with them; but as early as 580 BC
18923-426: The temple and under Temple E have revealed that it was preceded by two other sacred buildings, one of which was destroyed in 510 BC. Temple E was dedicated to Hera as shown by the inscription on a votive stela but some scholars deduce that it must have been dedicated to Aphrodite on the basis of structural parallels. Temple F , the oldest and smallest of the three, was built between 550 and 540 BC on
19072-514: The temples were already abandoned in 409 BC. The main residential part of the city is on the Manuzza Hill, the modern road traces the border of an area in the form of a massive trapezoid. The whole area was designed on a Hippodamian plan (reconstructed by means of aerial photography), on a slightly different orientation from the acropolis, with elongated insulae of 190 x 32 metres oriented north-south, which were originally surrounded by
19221-401: The time of the Carthaginian invasion, as having enjoyed a long period of tranquility, and possessing a numerous population. The walls of Selinunte enclosed an area of approximately 100 hectares (250 acres). The population of the city has been estimated at 14,000 to 19,000 people during the fifth century BC. In 416 BC, a renewal of the earlier disputes between Selinunte and Segesta led to
19370-572: The uninitiated. Inside, there is a portico containing a second row of columns, a pronaos, a naos, and an adyton in single long, narrow structure (an archaic characteristic). On the east side, two late archaic metopes (dated to 500 BC) were found in excavations in 1823, which depict Athena and Dionysus in the process of killing two giants . Today they are kept in the Regional Archeological Museum Antonio Salinas . Scholars have suggested that Temple F
19519-429: The wall of the enclosure, was another enclosure dedicated to Hecate . This took the form of a square, with the shrine in the east corner, near an entrance, while in the south corner there was a small square paved space of uncertain purpose. Fifteen metres north there was another square enclosure (17 x 17 metres) dedicated to Zeus Meilichios (Honey-sweet Zeus) and Pasikrateia ( Persephone ), much of which remains, but it
19668-405: The west are the most ancient remains of Selinus: the Sanctuary of the Malophoros and the archaic necropolis (Pipio, Manicalunga, Timpone Nero). The two ports of the city were in the mouths of the city's two rivers. The modern Archaeological park, which covers about 270 hectares can therefore be divided into the following areas: The acropolis is on a limestone massif with a cliff face falling into
19817-477: The west which succeeded in making them the foremost emporia of the western side of the Mediterranean. Important colonies of Corinth included Leucada , Astacus , Anactoreum , Actium , Ambracia , and Corcyra - all in modern-day western Greece. The Corinthians also founded important colonies in Illyria , which evolved into important cities, Apollonia and Epidamnus , in present-day Albania. The fact that about
19966-658: The west, the pious dedicated many small steles topped by images of the divine pair (two faces, one male and one female) made with shallow incisions. Along with them were found ashes and remains of offerings, evidence of convergence between the Greek cult of the Chthonic gods and Punic religion. A very large number of finds came from the Sanctuary of the Malophoros (all kept at the Museum in Palermo): carved reliefs of mythological scenes, around 12,000 votive figurines in terracotta from
20115-508: Was a rich and extensive ancient Greek city of Magna Graecia on the south-western coast of Sicily in Italy . It was situated between the valleys of the Cottone and Modione rivers. It now lies in the comune of Castelvetrano , between the frazioni of Triscina di Selinunte in the west and Marinella di Selinunte in the east. The archaeological site contains many great temples,
20264-444: Was again fixed as the border by the treaty with Agathocles in 314 BC. This last treaty expressly stipulated that Selinunte, as well as Heracleia and Himera, were subjects of Carthage, as before. In 276 BC, however, during the expedition of Pyrrhus to Sicily, the Selinuntines voluntarily joined Pyrrhus, after the capture of Heracleia. By the First Punic War , Selinunte was again under Carthaginian control, and its territory
20413-472: Was arranged on massive terraces on the hillslopes North of the modern village of Marinella, is the Buffa necropolis A path runs from the acropolis, over the river Modione to the west hill. On Gaggera Hill there are the remains of the very ancient Selinuntine sanctuary to the goddess of fertility, Demeter Malophoros , excavated continuously between 1874 and 1915. The complex, in varying states of preservation,
20562-491: Was at Selinunte that the large Peloponnesian force sent to support Gylippus landed in the spring of 413 BC, having been driven over to the coast of Africa by a tempest. The defeat of the Athenian armament apparently left the Segestans at the mercy of their rivals. They surrendered the frontier district that was the original subject of dispute to Selinunte. The Selinuntines, however, were not satisfied with this concession, and continued their hostility against them, leading
20711-494: Was built in the sixth century BC on the slope of the hill and probably served as a station for funerary processions, before they proceeded to the Manicalunga necropolis. Initially, the place was definitely free of buildings and provided an open area for cult practices at the altar. Later, with the erection of the temple and of the high enclosure wall ( temenos ) it was transformed into a sanctuary. This sanctuary consisted of
20860-473: Was dedicated to Apollo , according to epigraphic evidence, or perhaps Heracles. British architects Samuel Angell and William Harris excavated at Selinus in the course of their tour of Sicily , and came upon the sculptured metopes from the Archaic temple of “Temple C.” Although local Bourbon officials tried to stop them, they continued their work, and attempted to export their finds to England, destined for
21009-496: Was dedicated to either Athena or Dionysus . Temple G was the largest in Selinus (113.34 metres long, 54.05 metres wide and about 30 metres high) and was among the largest in the Greek world. This building, although under construction from 530 to 409 BC (the long period of construction is demonstrated by the variation of style: the east side is archaic, while the west side is classical), remained incomplete, as shown by
21158-586: Was more than 600 metres wide on the inside and was probably equipped with a mole or breakwater to protect the acropolis. It underwent changes in the fourth and third centuries: it was enlarged and flanked by piers (oriented north-south) and by storage areas. Of the two ports of Selinus, which are both now silted up, the West Port on the River Selinus-Modione was the main one. The extramural quarters, dedicated to trade, commerce and port activities
21307-421: Was originally named. A ridge, which offered a degree of natural fortification, links a hill to the north called Colle di Girgenti with another, called Rupe Atenea, to the east. According to Thucydides , it was founded around 582-580 BC by Greek colonists from Gela in eastern Sicily, with further colonists from Crete and Rhodes . The founders ( oikistai ) of the new city were Aristonous and Pystilus. It
21456-523: Was repeatedly the theater of military operations between the Romans and the Carthaginians. But before the close of the war (about 250 BC), when the Carthaginians were beginning to pull back, and confine themselves to the defense of as few places as possible, they removed all the inhabitants of Selinunte to Lilybaeum and destroyed the city. It seems that it was never rebuilt. Pliny the Elder mentions its name ( Selinus oppidum ), as if it still existed as
21605-415: Was selected in advance with the goal of offering business advantages, but also security from raiders. In order to create a feeling of security and confidence in the new colony, the choice of place was decided according to its usefulness. The mission always included a leader nominated by the colonists. In the new cities, the colonists parceled out the land, including farms. The system of governance usually took
21754-422: Was serious enough that Acragas ceased to mint coinage for a number of years. Ancient sources considered Acragas to be a very large city at this time. Diodorus Siculus says that the population was 200,000 people, of which 20,000 were citizens. Diogenes Laertius put the population at an incredible 800,000. Some modern scholars have accepted Diodorus' numbers, but they seem to be far too high. Jos de Waele suggests
21903-645: Was the Chalcidean / Cumaean variety of the Greek alphabet which was adopted by the Etruscans ; the Old Italic alphabet subsequently evolved into the Latin alphabet , which became the most widely used alphabet in the world. The region of the Ionian Sea and that of Illyria were colonised strictly by Corinth . The Corinthians founded important overseas colonies on the sea lanes to Southern Italy and
22052-511: Was the last of the major Greek colonies in Sicily to be founded. The territory under Akragas's control expanded to comprise the whole area between the Platani and the Salso , and reached deep into the Sicilian interior. Greek literary sources connect this expansion with military campaigns, but archaeological evidence indicates that this was a much longer-term process which reached its peak only in
22201-423: Was unearthed. The Agora, dating from the 6th century BC, was at the centre of the city, surrounded by public buildings and residential quarters. Previous excavations had revealed only one archaeological feature on the agora: an empty tomb in the middle, perhaps that of the founder. There are three temples on the East Hill, which although all in the same area on the same north-south axis seem not to have belonged to
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