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Casmenae
Casmenae or Kasmenai (, Casmene in Italian) was an ancient Greek colony of Magna Graecia located on the Hyblaean Mountains, founded in 644 BC by the Syracusans at a strategic position for the control of central Sicily. It was also intended as a military forward-position on the ''Via Selinuntina'' road that connected Syracuse to ''Akragas'' (modern-day Agrigento) - also on that road were Gela and Akrillai to Casmenae's west and Akrai to its east. Destroyed by the Romans in 212 BC, Casmenae was abandoned during the 3rd century BC and never inhabited again. The site was discovered by the Sicilian archeologist Paolo Orsi during the first half of the 20th century, after he had identified the most probably site at Monte Casale in Buscemi at above sea level, on an extinct volcano near Monte Lauro, from Giarratana and from Palazzolo Acreide. Remains of the defensive walls, long, are still visible along with the base of one of the temples and some dwellings. Histori ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Magna Graecia
Magna Graecia refers to the Greek-speaking areas of southern Italy, encompassing the modern Regions of Italy, Italian regions of Calabria, Apulia, Basilicata, Campania, and Sicily. These regions were Greek colonisation, extensively settled by Greeks beginning in the 8th century BC. Initially founded by their ''metropoleis'' (mother cities), the settlements evolved into independent and powerful Greek city-states (''poleis''). The settlers brought with them Ancient Greece, Hellenic civilization, which over time developed distinct local forms due to both their distance from Greece and the influence of the indigenous peoples of southern Italy. This interaction left a lasting imprint on Italy, including on Ancient Rome, Roman culture. The Greek settlers also influenced native groups such as the Sicels and the Oenotrians, many of whom adopted Greek culture and became Hellenization, Hellenized. In areas like architecture and urban planning, the colonies sometimes surpassed the achievem ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Giarratana
Giarratana is a town and ''comune'' in the province of Ragusa, Sicily, southern Italy. Its name is likely derived from Arabic. History An elaborate late-imperial Roman villa with floor mosaics was found in 1989 near Giarratana in the Orto Mosaico district along the "regia trazzera" road. Several mosaics not only on the floors but also on walls and various decorations were found. The mosaics have floral references and geometric figures that often intertwine with each other. It covered an area of about 2000 m2, with at least three building wings arranged around a central garden. The excavation campaigns brought to light the north-eastern sector of the villa consisting of seven rooms, a corridor or peristyle, and the east and west wings, added later and probably never completed. Artifacts found during the excavations include a marble relief depicting the goddess Aphrodite. Another villa was discovered a few km further south along the SS 194. Main sights *Church of San Bartolome ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
List Of Ancient Greek Cities
This is an incomplete list of ancient Greek cities, including colonies outside Greece, and including settlements that were not sovereign '' poleis''. Many colonies outside Greece were soon assimilated to some other language but a city is included here if at any time its population or the dominant stratum within it spoke Greek. Also included are some cities that were not Greek-speaking or Hellenic, but contributed to the Hellenic culture of the region. A B C D E G H I J K L M N O P R S T V Z See also * Greek colonisation Greek colonisation refers to 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 Ag ... * Adjectival and demonymic forms of regions in Greco-Roman antiquity * List of cities in ancient Epirus * Greek cities in Thrace and ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ancient Greece
Ancient Greece () was a northeastern Mediterranean civilization, existing from the Greek Dark Ages of the 12th–9th centuries BC to the end of classical antiquity (), that comprised a loose collection of culturally and linguistically related city-states and communities. Prior to the Roman period, most of these regions were officially unified only once under the Kingdom of Macedon from 338 to 323 BC. In Western history, the era of classical antiquity was immediately followed by the Early Middle Ages and the Byzantine period. Three centuries after the decline of Mycenaean Greece during the Bronze Age collapse, Greek urban poleis began to form in the 8th century BC, ushering in the Archaic period and the colonization of the Mediterranean Basin. This was followed by the age of Classical Greece, from the Greco-Persian Wars to the death of Alexander the Great in 323 BC, and which included the Golden Age of Athens and the Peloponnesian War. The u ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ancient Greek Archaeological Sites In Italy
Ancient history is a time period from the beginning of writing and recorded human history through late antiquity. The span of recorded history is roughly 5,000 years, beginning with the development of Sumerian cuneiform script. Ancient history covers all continents inhabited by humans in the period 3000 BCAD 500, ending with the expansion of Islam in late antiquity. The three-age system periodises ancient history into the Stone Age, the Bronze Age, and the Iron Age, with recorded history generally considered to begin with the Bronze Age. The start and end of the three ages vary between world regions. In many regions the Bronze Age is generally considered to begin a few centuries prior to 3000 BC, while the end of the Iron Age varies from the early first millennium BC in some regions to the late first millennium AD in others. During the time period of ancient history, the world population was exponentially increasing due to the Neolithic Revolution, which was in full progr ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Archaeological Sites In Sicily
Archaeology or archeology is the study of human activity through the recovery and analysis of material culture. The archaeological record consists of artifacts, architecture, biofacts or ecofacts, sites, and cultural landscapes. Archaeology can be considered both a social science and a branch of the humanities. It is usually considered an independent academic discipline, but may also be classified as part of anthropology (in North America – the four-field approach), history or geography. The discipline involves surveying, excavation, and eventually analysis of data collected, to learn more about the past. In broad scope, archaeology relies on cross-disciplinary research. Archaeologists study human prehistory and history, from the development of the first stone tools at Lomekwi in East Africa 3.3 million years ago up until recent decades. Archaeology is distinct from palaeontology, which is the study of fossil remains. Archaeology is particularly important for learn ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Basalt
Basalt (; ) is an aphanite, aphanitic (fine-grained) extrusive igneous rock formed from the rapid cooling of low-viscosity lava rich in magnesium and iron (mafic lava) exposed at or very near the planetary surface, surface of a terrestrial planet, rocky planet or natural satellite, moon. More than 90% of all volcanic rock on Earth is basalt. Rapid-cooling, fine-grained basalt is chemically equivalent to slow-cooling, coarse-grained gabbro. The eruption of basalt lava is observed by geologists at about 20 volcanoes per year. Basalt is also an important rock type on other planetary bodies in the Solar System. For example, the bulk of the plains of volcanism on Venus, Venus, which cover ~80% of the surface, are basaltic; the lunar mare, lunar maria are plains of flood-basaltic lava flows; and basalt is a common rock on the surface of Mars. Molten basalt lava has a low viscosity due to its relatively low silica content (between 45% and 52%), resulting in rapidly moving lava flo ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Heraclea Minoa
Heraclea Minoa (, ''Hērákleia Minṓia''; ) was an ancient Greek city of Magna Graecia situated on the southern coast of Sicily near the mouth of the river Halycus (modern Platani), 25 km west of Agrigentum (''Acragas'', modern Agrigento). It is located near the modern town of the same name in the ''comune'' Cattolica Eraclea in Italy. Excavations have revealed several parts of the city which are now open to the public. Archaeology has shown that the city was founded in the middle of the 6th century BC as an outpost of the Greek colony of Selinus (modern Selinunte) and was finally abandoned around the beginning of the 1st century AD. Site The city is situated a few hundred metres southeast of the mouth of the river Platani (the ancient Halycus) in a defendable position atop the conspicuous promontory now called Capo Bianco with gently sloping sides down to the Platani valley to the north and sheer white cliffs to the ocean on the south side. The Heraclean promontory ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Dion Of Syracuse
Dion (; ; 408–354 BC), tyrant of Syracuse in Magna Graecia, was the son of Hipparinus, and brother-in-law of Dionysius I of Syracuse. A disciple of Plato, he became Dionysius I's most trusted minister and adviser. However, his great wealth, his belief in Platonism and his ambition aroused the suspicions of Dionysius I's son and successor, Dionysius II. An indiscreet letter from Dion to the Carthaginians led to his banishment. Settling in Athens, he lived a prosperous life until Dionysius II dispossessed him of his estates and income. Landing in Sicily in 357 BC, he was successful in conquering Syracuse (other than the citadel). However, Dion soon quarrelled with the radical leader Heraclides and was forced into exile. Recalled in 355 BC, he became master of the whole city but alienated the population with his imperious behaviour and financial demands. His supporters abandoned him, and he was assassinated. Dion's attempts to liberate Sicily only brought the island political a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Gelo
Gelon also known as Gelo (Greek: Γέλων ''Gelon'', ''gen.'': Γέλωνος; died 478 BC), son of Deinomenes, was a Greek tyrant of the Sicilian cities Gela and Syracuse, Sicily, and first of the Deinomenid rulers. Early life Gelon was the son of Deinomenes. According to Herodotus, Gelon's ancestors came from the island of Telos in the Aegean Sea and were the founders of the city of Gela in southern Sicily.De Sélincourt's ''Herodotus'', p. 494. One of his later ancestors, Telines, was said to have reconciled his people after a period of civil strife through the divine rites of the Earth Goddesses; Herodotus infers that all of Telines' descendants, including Gelon, were priests of this cult. Gelon's three brothers were Hieron, Thrasybulus and Polyzalos.Bury & Meiggs, p. 189. Deinomenes consulted an oracle about the fates of his children, and was told that Gelon, Hieron and Thrasybulus were all destined to become tyrants. Gelon fought in a number of the conflicts between ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sicels
The Sicels ( ; or ''Siculī'') were an Indo-European tribe who inhabited eastern Sicily, their namesake, during the Iron Age. They spoke the Siculian language. After the defeat of the Sicels at the Battle of Nomae in 450 BC and the death of Sicel leader Ducetius in 440 BC, the Sicel state broke down and the Sicel culture merged into Magna Graecia. History Archaeological excavation has shown some Mycenean influence on Bronze Age Sicily. The earliest literary mention of Sicels is in the '' Odyssey''. Homer also mentions Sicania, but makes no distinctions: "they were (from) a faraway place and a faraway people and apparently they were one and the same" for Homer, Robin Lane Fox notes. It is possible that the Sicels and the Sicani of the Iron Age had consisted of an Illyrian population who (as with the Messapians) had imposed themselves on a native, Pre-Indo-European ("Mediterranean") population. Thucydides and other classical writers were aware of the traditions accordi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Camarina
Kamarina or Camarina () was an ancient city on the southern coast of Sicily in Magna Graecia. The ruins of the site and an archaeological museum are located south of the modern town of Scoglitti, a (borough) of the (municipality) of Vittoria in the province of Ragusa. Geography The city of Camarina was located 112 km west of Syracuse, between the rivers Hipparis and Oanis and on the south bank of Hipparis which also acted as a moat for the city. It had two harbours at the river mouths but not big enough to accommodate a large fleet and ships had to be beached on the shore. The land north of the river originally contained marshes, which would have caused difficulty for invaders. History It was founded in Magna Graecia by Syracuse in 599 BC, but after it rebelled against its mother city with the aid of the Sicels, it was sacked in 552 BC, rejoining the Syracuse domain. Camarina rebelled again in 492 BC and Hippocrates of Gela (498-491 BC) intervened to wage w ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
