San Marco d'Alunzio (,
Ancient Greek
Ancient Greek (, ; ) includes the forms of the Greek language used in ancient Greece and the classical antiquity, ancient world from around 1500 BC to 300 BC. It is often roughly divided into the following periods: Mycenaean Greek (), Greek ...
: (
Ptol.) or (
Dion.),
Latin
Latin ( or ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally spoken by the Latins (Italic tribe), Latins in Latium (now known as Lazio), the lower Tiber area aroun ...
: ''Aluntium'' or ''Haluntium'') is a city and ''
comune
A (; : , ) is an administrative division of Italy, roughly equivalent to a township or municipality. It is the third-level administrative division of Italy, after regions () and provinces (). The can also have the City status in Italy, titl ...
'' (municipality) in the
Metropolitan City of Messina
The Metropolitan City of Messina () is a metropolitan city in Sicily, Italy. Its capital is the city of Messina. It replaced the province of Messina and comprises Messina and 107 other ''comuni'' (: ''comune'').
It has 595,948 inhabitants as o ...
in the
Italian
Italian(s) may refer to:
* Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries
** Italians, a Romance ethnic group related to or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom
** Italian language, a Romance languag ...
region
Sicily
Sicily (Italian language, Italian and ), officially the Sicilian Region (), is an island in the central Mediterranean Sea, south of the Italian Peninsula in continental Europe and is one of the 20 regions of Italy, regions of Italy. With 4. ...
, near the north coast of the island, located about east of
Palermo
Palermo ( ; ; , locally also or ) is a city in southern Italy, the capital (political), capital of both the autonomous area, autonomous region of Sicily and the Metropolitan City of Palermo, the city's surrounding metropolitan province. The ...
and about west of
Messina
Messina ( , ; ; ; ) is a harbour city and the capital city, capital of the Italian Metropolitan City of Messina. It is the third largest city on the island of Sicily, and the 13th largest city in Italy, with a population of 216,918 inhabitants ...
.
San Marco d'Alunzio borders the following municipalities:
Alcara li Fusi
Alcara li Fusi is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Metropolitan City of Messina in the Italy, Italian region Sicily, located about east of Palermo and about west of Messina.
Alcara li Fusi borders the following municipalities: Cesarò, Longi ...
,
Capri Leone
Capri Leone ( Sicilian: ''Capri Liuni'') is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Metropolitan City of Messina in the southern Italian region Sicily, located about east of Palermo and about west of Messina.
Capri Leone sits in the foothills of th ...
,
Frazzanò,
Longi,
Militello Rosmarino
Militello Rosmarino ( Sicilian: ''Militiedddu'') is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Metropolitan City of Messina in the Italian region Sicily, located about east of Palermo and about west of Messina.
Militello Rosmarino borders the follow ...
,
Torrenova
Torrenova ( Sicilian: ''Turrinova'') is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Province of Messina in the Italian region Sicily, located about east of Palermo and about west of Messina. As of 31 December 2004, it had a population of 5,635 and an are ...
. It is one of
I Borghi più belli d'Italia
() is a non-profit private association of small Italian towns of strong historical and artistic interest, that was founded in March 2001 on the initiative of the Tourism Council of the National Association of Italian Municipalities, with the a ...
("The most beautiful villages of Italy").
History
Aluntium or Haluntium was situated between
Tyndaris
Tindari (; ), ancient Tyndaris (, Strab.) or Tyndarion (, Ptol.), is a small town, ''frazione'' (suburb or municipal component) in the ''comune'' of Patti and a Latin Catholic titular see.
The monumental ruins of ancient Tyndaris are a main ...
and
Calacte. Its foundation was ascribed by some authors to
Acarnania
Acarnania () is a region of west-central Greece that lies along the Ionian Sea, west of Aetolia, with the Achelous River for a boundary, and north of the gulf of Calydon, which is the entrance to the Gulf of Corinth. Today it forms the western part ...
ns led by Patron, some of whom settled here after guiding
Aeneas
In Greco-Roman mythology, Aeneas ( , ; from ) was a Troy, Trojan hero, the son of the Trojan prince Anchises and the Greek goddess Aphrodite (equivalent to the Roman Venus (mythology), Venus). His father was a first cousin of King Priam of Troy ...
across the
Ionian Sea
The Ionian Sea (, ; or , ; , ) is an elongated bay of the Mediterranean Sea. It is connected to the Adriatic Sea to the north, and is bounded by Southern Italy, including Basilicata, Calabria, Sicily, and the Salento peninsula to the west, ...
from
Greece
Greece, officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. Located on the southern tip of the Balkan peninsula, it shares land borders with Albania to the northwest, North Macedonia and Bulgaria to the north, and Turkey to th ...
. If this legend is true the Acarnanian colonists probably were quickly assimilated by the
Sicelian, who inhabited this area in historical times. No mention of it is found in
Diodorus
Diodorus Siculus or Diodorus of Sicily (; 1st century BC) was an ancient Greek historian from Sicily. He is known for writing the monumental universal history '' Bibliotheca historica'', in forty books, fifteen of which survive intact, b ...
, nor is it noticed in history prior to the
Roman
Roman or Romans most often refers to:
*Rome, the capital city of Italy
*Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD
*Roman people, the people of Roman civilization
*Epistle to the Romans, shortened to Romans, a letter w ...
conquest of Sicily. But in the time of
Cicero
Marcus Tullius Cicero ( ; ; 3 January 106 BC – 7 December 43 BC) was a Roman statesman, lawyer, scholar, philosopher, orator, writer and Academic skeptic, who tried to uphold optimate principles during the political crises tha ...
it appears to have been a place of some importance. He mentions it as having suffered severely from the exactions of
Verres
Gaius Verres ( 114 – 43 BC) was a Roman magistrate, notorious for his misgovernment of Sicily. His extortion of local farmers and plundering of temples led to his prosecution by Cicero, whose accusations were so devastating that his defence advo ...
, who, not content with ruinous extortions of corn, compelled the inhabitants to give up all their ornamental plate. We learn from inscriptions that it retained the rank of a ''municipium'', and was a flourishing town at least as late as the reign of
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 A ...
.
The city sits atop a lofty hill of steep and difficult ascent, about 5 km from the
Tyrrhenian Sea
The Tyrrhenian Sea (, ; or ) , , , , is part of the Mediterranean Sea off the western coast of Italy. It is named for the Tyrrhenians, Tyrrhenian people identified with the Etruscans of Italy.
Geography
The sea is bounded by the islands of C ...
. This position exactly accords with that described by Cicero, who tells that Verres would not take the trouble to visit the town himself ''quod erat difficili ascensu atque arduo'', but remained on the beach below while he sent Archagathus to execute his behests. Various inscriptions also are preserved at the site, or have been discovered there, one of which begins with the words .
[Castell. ''Inscr. Sicil.'' p. 55; Böckh, ''C. I.'' No. 5608. Greek text at]
IG. xiv. 367
/ref> Cluverius, following Fazello
Tommaso Fazello (Neo-Latin ''Fazellus'', 1498 – 8 April 1570) was an Italian Dominican Order, Dominican Dominican friar, friar, historian and antiquarian. He is known as the father of Sicilian history. He is the author of the first printed h ...
, placed Aluntium at a spot near San Filadelfo (modern San Fratello
San Fratello ( Gallo-Italic: San Frareau, Sicilian: ''Santu Frateddu'', Greek and Latin: ''Apollonia'', Medieval Latin ''Castrum S. Philadelphi''), formerly San Filadelfo, is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Metropolitan City of Messina in th ...
), where the ruins of an ancient city were then visible, and regarded San Marco d'Alunzio as the site of Agathyrna (now identified with modern Capo d'Orlando
Capo or capos, may refer to:
Designation, akin to captain
*Capo, short for ''Caporegime
A ''caporegime'' or ''capodecina'', usually shortened to ''capo'' or informally referred to as "captain", "skipper" or "lieutenant", is a leadership position ...
).
Aluntium minted coins in antiquity, some of which survive.
After the fall of the Western Roman Empire
In modern historiography, the Western Roman Empire was the western provinces of the Roman Empire, collectively, during any period in which they were administered separately from the eastern provinces by a separate, independent imperial court. ...
, ''Aluntium'' became part of the Byzantine Empire
The Byzantine Empire, also known as the Eastern Roman Empire, was the continuation of the Roman Empire centred on Constantinople during late antiquity and the Middle Ages. Having survived History of the Roman Empire, the events that caused the ...
as Demenna. After a period under the Emirate of Sicily
The island of SicilyIn Arabic, the island was known as (). was under Islam, Islamic rule from the late ninth to the late eleventh centuries. It became a prosperous and influential commercial power in the Mediterranean Sea, Mediterranean, with ...
, it was captured by the Normans
The Normans (Norman language, Norman: ''Normaunds''; ; ) were a population arising in the medieval Duchy of Normandy from the intermingling between Norsemen, Norse Viking settlers and locals of West Francia. The Norse settlements in West Franc ...
in the 11th century, and was used by Robert Guiscard
Robert Guiscard ( , ; – 17 July 1085), also referred to as Robert de Hauteville, was a Normans, Norman adventurer remembered for his Norman conquest of southern Italy, conquest of southern Italy and Sicily in the 11th century.
Robert was born ...
as one of his main bases for the conquest of the island. As part of the Kingdom of Sicily, San Marco d'Alunzio was a fief of the Filangieri family from 1398 until 1806.
People
* Scipione Rebiba
Scipione Rebiba (3 February 1504 – 23 July 1577) was an Italian prelate of the Catholic Church, a protégé of Gian Pietro Carafa, who became Pope Paul IV. He held a variety of positions in the Church hierarchy, including some of the most sen ...
(1504–1577)
* San Luca di Demenna (X century–Oct. 13th, 984)
* Bonaventura di Démena (XIV century)
References
Sources
*
External links
Official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:San Marco D'alunzio
Archaeological sites in Sicily
Borghi più belli d'Italia