|
Timoleon Vanon
Timoleon (Greek: Τιμολέων), son of Timodemus, of Corinth (–337 BC) was a Greek statesman and general. As a brilliant general, a champion of Greece against Carthage, and a fighter against despotism, he is closely connected with the history of Sicily, especially Syracuse. Early life Timoleon was a member of the Corinthian oligarchy. In the mid 360s BC, Timophanes, the brother of Timoleon, took possession of the acropolis of Corinth and effectively made himself tyrant of the city. In response, Timoleon, who had earlier heroically saved his brother's life in battle, and after repeatedly pleading with him to desist, became involved in the assassination of Timophanes. Most Corinthians approved his conduct as patriotic; however, the tragic occurrence, the actual fratricide, the curses of his mother, and the indignation of some of his fellow citizens, drove him into a self-imposed early withdrawal from politics and civic life for twenty years. Sicily Because of inner strif ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ortygia
Ortygia ( ; ; ) is a small island which is the historical centre of the city of Syracuse, Sicily. The island, also known as the (Old City), contains many historical landmarks. The name originates from the Ancient Greek (), which means " quail". Overview Ortygia is a small island and the historical heart of the city of Syracuse, Sicily. The island contains many of the city's most ancient landmarks, including the Temple of Apollo, the Fountain of Arethusa, and the Cathedral of Syracuse, which was originally a Greek temple. In 2005, Ortygia was inscribed as part of the UNESCO World Heritage Site "Syracuse and the Rocky Necropolis of Pantalica". The island represents the core of ancient Syracuse and showcases a continuous layering of cultural influences from Greek, Roman, Byzantine, Arab, and Norman periods. Its urban fabric, religious structures, and public spaces reflect the political and religious evolution of the Mediterranean region over more than two millennia. A ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Diodorus Siculus
Diodorus Siculus or Diodorus of Sicily (; 1st century BC) was an ancient Greece, ancient Greek historian from Sicily. He is known for writing the monumental Universal history (genre), universal history ''Bibliotheca historica'', in forty books, fifteen of which survive intact, between 60 and 30 BC. The history is arranged in three parts. The first covers mythic history up to the destruction of Troy, arranged geographically, describing regions around the world from Egypt, India and Arabia to Europe. The second covers the time from the Trojan War to the death of Alexander the Great. The third covers the period to about 60 BC. ''Bibliotheca'', meaning 'library', acknowledges that he was drawing on the work of many other authors. Life According to his own work, he was born in Agira, Agyrium in Sicily (now called Agira). With one exception, classical antiquity, antiquity affords no further information about his life and doings beyond his written works. Only Jerome, in his ''Ch ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Mina (unit)
The mina (; ; ; ; ; ; ) is an ancient Near Eastern unit of weight for silver or gold, equivalent to approximately , which was divided into 60 shekels. The mina, like the shekel, eventually also became a unit of currency. History Sumerian From earliest History of Sumer, Sumerian times, a mina was a unit of weight. At first, talents and shekels had not yet been introduced. By the time of Ur-Nammu (shortly before 2000 BCE), the mina had a value of Talent (weight), talent as well as 60 shekels. The weight of this mina is calculated at , or 570 grams of silver (18 troy ounces). Semitic languages The word mina comes from the ancient Semitic root / 'to count', Akkadian language, Akkadian , (), / (/), (), . It is mentioned in the Bible, where Solomon is reported to have made 300 shields, each with 3 "mina" of gold (), or later after the Edict of Cyrus II of Persia the people are reported to have donated 5000 minas of silver for the reconstruction of Solomon's Temple in Jerusalem ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Timaeus (historian)
Timaeus of Tauromenium (; born 356 or 350 BC; died ) was an ancient Greek historian. He was widely regarded by ancient authors as the most influential historian between the time of Ephorus (4th century BC) and Polybius (2nd century BC). In the words of scholar Lionel I. C. Pearson, Timaeus "maintained his position as the standard authority on the history of the Greek West for nearly five centuries." Biography Timaeus was born or in Tauromenium (modern Taormina, in eastern Sicily), to a wealthy and influential Greek family. His father, Andromachus, was a dynast who had refounded Tauromenium in 358 with former inhabitants of Naxos (destroyed by Dionysius I in 403), and ruled there with Timoleon's support. Some time after 316 BC, perhaps in 315 or 312, Timaeus is said to have been banished from Sicily by Agathocles, the tyrant of Syracuse, possibly because of Timaeus' hostility towards him after the tyrant had captured Tauromenium. Some scholars have suggested that he left ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Platani (river)
The Platani (), known in ancient Greek as the (''Lykos'', "wolf") or (''Halykos'', "Salty"), is a river in southern Sicily, Italy. It is the fifth longest in the island after Imera Meridionale, Simeto, Belice and Dittaino, with a course of 103 km, and the third for drainage basin with 1,785 km2, after the Simeto and Imera Meridionale. It flows through the provinces of Palermo and Agrigento, marking the boundary between the latter and that of Caltanissetta. left, The Platani river near Heraclea Minoa. The river generates at the confluence of Platani di Lercara and Platani di Castronuovo, which, respectively, springs in the ''comuni'' of Lercara Friddi (under the Pizzo Lanzone mountain) and Santo Stefano Quisquina (between the Serra della Moneta and Pizzo della Rondine mountains). From the confluence to the mouth it runs for c. 83 km; including the branch of Castronuovo the total length is 103 km. Along its course the Platani receives the waters of several ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Battle Of The Crimissus
The Battle of the Crimissus (also spelled ''Crimisus'' and ''Crimesus'') was fought in 339 BC between a large Carthaginian army commanded by Asdrubal and Hamilcar and an army from Syracuse led by Timoleon. Timoleon attacked the Carthaginian army by surprise near the Crimissus river in western Sicily (originally it was thought that it was the modern Belice river in southwest Sicily, but it has been recently identified with the modern Freddo river in northwest Sicily) and won a great victory. When he defeated another much smaller force of Carthaginians shortly afterwards, Carthage sued for peace. The peace allowed the Greek cities on Sicily to recover and began a period of stability. However, another war between Syracuse and Carthage erupted after Timoleon's death, not long after Agathocles seized power in 317 BC. Carthage had tried to prevent Timoleon's arrival on Sicily, where he had been invited by the citizens of Syracuse to depose the Greek tyrants and restore ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Selinus
Selinunte ( , ; ; ; ) 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 of Castelvetrano, between the of Triscina di Selinunte in the west and Marinella di Selinunte in the east. The archaeological site contains many great temples, 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. History 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 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 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Marsala
Marsala (, ; ) is an Italian comune located in the Province of Trapani in the westernmost part of Sicily. Marsala is the most populated town in its province and the fifth largest in Sicily.The town is famous for the docking of Giuseppe Garibaldi on 11 May 1860 (the ''Expedition of the Thousand'') and for its Marsala wine. A feature of the area is the Stagnone Lagoon Natural Reserve – a marine area with salt ponds. Marsala is built on the ruins of the ancient Carthaginian city of Lilybaeum, and includes in its territory the archaeological site of the island of Motya, an ancient Phoenician town. The modern name likely derived from the Arabic (''marsā ʿaliyy'', "Ali's harbor"), or possibly (''marsā llāh'', "God's harbor"). Geography Situated at the extreme western point of Sicily, the town was founded on Lilibeo Cape from where the Aegadian Islands and the Stagnone Lagoon can be seen. Territory The territory of Marsala, , has a rich cultural and landscape heritage ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Augustus
Gaius Julius Caesar Augustus (born Gaius Octavius; 23 September 63 BC – 19 August AD 14), also known as Octavian (), was the founder of the Roman Empire, who reigned as the first Roman emperor from 27 BC until his death in AD 14. The reign of Augustus initiated an Roman imperial cult, imperial cult and an era of regional hegemony, imperial peace (the or ) in which the Roman world was largely free of armed conflict. The Principate system of government was established during his reign and lasted until the Crisis of the Third Century. Octavian was born into an equites, equestrian branch of the plebeian Octavia gens, Octavia. Following his maternal great-uncle Julius Caesar's assassination of Julius Caesar, assassination in 44 BC, Octavian was named in Caesar's will as his Adoption in ancient Rome, adopted son and heir, and inherited Caesar's name, estate, and the loyalty of his legions. He, Mark Antony, and Marcus Lepidus formed the Second Triumvirat ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Zeus
Zeus (, ) is the chief deity of the List of Greek deities, Greek pantheon. He is a sky father, sky and thunder god in ancient Greek religion and Greek mythology, mythology, who rules as king of the gods on Mount Olympus. Zeus is the child of Cronus and Rhea (mythology), Rhea, the youngest of his siblings to be born, though sometimes reckoned the eldest as the others required disgorging from Cronus's stomach. In most traditions, he is married to Hera, by whom he is usually said to have fathered Ares, Eileithyia, Hebe (mythology), Hebe, and Hephaestus.Hard 2004p. 79 At the oracle of Dodona, his consort was said to be Dione (Titaness/Oceanid), Dione, by whom the ''Iliad'' states that he fathered Aphrodite. According to the ''Theogony'', Zeus's first wife was Metis (mythology), Metis, by whom he had Athena.Hesiod, ''Theogony'886900 Zeus was also infamous for his erotic escapades. These resulted in many divine and heroic offspring, including Apollo, Artemis, Hermes, Persephone, D ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Diocles Of Syracuse
Diocles of Syracuse () was a legislator, orator, and political and military leader in the Greek city-state of Syracuse, Magna Graecia, toward the end of the 5th century BC. Only a few years of his life have an historical account, from 413 to 408 BC. Orator The historian Diodorus Siculus presents Diocles as a famous and respected orator, when he proposed, on the day following the victory over the Athenians in 413 BC, a punishment of the greatest severity against the vanquished: execution of Demosthenes and Nicias, the two Athenian generals, condemnation to slavery in the stone quarries for the Athenian soldiers, and the fate of being sold into slavery for the soldiers of the allies of Athens. Reinforced by the speech of Gylippus, that emphasized that a fate so cruel was intended for the Syracusans in case of Athenian victory, the suggestion was adopted against the opinion of those favoring clemency backed by the strategist Hermocrates. (According to Plutarch and Thucydides, Gyli ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
