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forward a law to admit them without distinction to the Roman franchise (Cic. ad Att. xiv. 2), but neither of these measures was accomplished; and we learn from Pliny that Messana was in his day the only city in the island of which the inhabitants possessed the Roman citizenship: three others, Centuripa, Netum, and Segesta enjoyed the Jus Latii, while all the others (except the colonies already mentioned) were in the ordinary condition of "civitates stipendiariae" (Plin. iii. 8. s. 14). We hear very little of Sicily under the Empire; but it is probable that it never really recovered from the state of decay into which it had fallen in Strabo's time. Almost the only mention of it in history is that of an outbreak of slaves and banditti in the reign of Gallienus which seems to have resembled on a smaller scale the Servile wars that had formerly devastated it (Treb. Poll. Gallien, 4). The increasing importance of the supply of corn from Africa and Egypt renders it probable that that from Sicily had fallen off, and the small number of remains of the imperial period still existing in the island, though so many are preserved from a much earlier date, seems to prove that it could not then have been very flourishing. At a late period of the Empire, also, we find very few names of towns in the Itineraries, the lines of road being carried through stations or "mansiones" otherwise wholly unknown, a sufficient proof that the neighbouring towns had fallen into decay. (Itin. Ant. pp. 86-98.) In the division of the provinces under Augustus, Sicily was assigned to the senate, and was governed by a proconsul; at a later period it was considered as a part of Italy, and was governed by a magistrate named a Consularis, subject to the authority of the Vicarius Urbis Romae. (Notit. Dign. ii. p. 64; and Böcking, ad loc.)

535.

Its insular position must have for a considerable time preserved Sicily from the ravages of the barbarians who devastated Italy towards the close of the Western Empire. Alaric indeed attempted to cross over the straits, but was foiled by a tempest. (Hist. Miscell. xiii. p. 535.) But Genseric, being master of a powerful fleet, made himself master of the whole island, which was held by the Vandals for a time, but subsequently passed into the hands of the Goths, and continued attached to the Gothic kingdom of Italy till it was conquered by Belisarius in A. D. It was then united to the Eastern Empire, and continued to be governed as a dependency by the Byzantine emperors till the ninth century, when it fell into the hands of the Saracens or Arabs. That people first landed at Mazara, in the W. of the island in A. D. 827, and made themselves masters of Agrigentum; but their progress was vigorously opposed. They took Messana in 831, and Panormus in 835, but it was not till 878 that Syracuse, the last fortress in the island, fell into their hands. The island continued in the possession of the Saracens till the middle of the eleventh century, when it was partially recovered by the Byzantine emperors with the assistance of the Normans. But in 1061 the Norman Roger Guiscard invaded Sicily on his own account, and, after a long struggle, wholly reduced the island under his dominion. It has since remained attached, with brief exceptions, to the crown of Naples, the monarch of which bears the title of King of the Two Sicilies.

The extant remains of antiquity in Sicily fully confirm the inference which we should draw from the statements of ancient historians, as to the

prosperity and opulence of the island under the Greeks, and its comparatively decayed condition under the Romans. The ruins of the latter period are few, and for the most part unimportant, the exceptions being confined to the three or four cities which we know to have received Roman colonies : while the temples, theatres, and other edifices from the Greek period are numerous and of the most striking character. No city of Greece, with the exception of Athens, can produce structures that vie with those of which the remains are still visible at Agrigentum, Selinus and Segesta. At the same time the existing relics of antiquity, especially coins and inscriptions, strongly confirm the fact that almost the whole population of the island had been gradually Hellenised. It is evident that the strong line of demarcation which existed in the days of Thucydides between the Greek cities and those of non-Hellenic or barbarian origin had been to a great degree effaced before the island passed under the dominion of Rome. The names of Sicilian citizens mentioned by Cicero in his Verrine orations are as purely Greek where they belong to cities of Siculian origin, such as Centuripa and Agyrium, or even to Carthaginian cities like Panormus and Lilybaeum, as are those of Syracuse or Agrigentum. In like manner we find coins with Greek legends struck by numerous cities which undoubtedly never received a Greek colony, such as Alaesa, Menaenum, and many others. It is probable indeed that during the Roman Republic the language of the whole island (at least the written and cultivated language) was Greek, which must, however, have gradually given way to Latin under the Empire, as the Sicilian dialect of the present day is one of purely Latin origin, and differs but slightly from that of the south of Italy. Of the language of the ancient Sicels we have no trace at all, and it is highly probable that it was never used as a written language.

III. TOPOGRAPHY.

The general description of the physical features of Sicily has been already given. But it will be necessary here to describe its coasts in somewhat more detail. The E. coast extending from Cape Pelorus to Pachynus, consists of three portions of a very different character. From Pelorus to Tauromenium, a distance of about 40 miles, it is closely bordered by the chain of mountains called the Mons Neptunius, the slopes of which descend steeply to the sea, forming a very uniform line of coast, furrowed by numerous small torrents. Two of the small headlands between these valleys appear to have borne the names of Drepanum (Plin.) and Argennum (Ptol.), but their identification is quite uncertain. S. of Tauromenium, from the mouth of the Acesines to that of the Symaethus, the whole coast is formed by beds of lava and other volcanic matters, which have flowed down from Aetna. Off this coast, about midway between Acium and Catana are some rocky islets of volcanic origin, called by Pliny the Cyclopum Scopuli: the name of Portus Ulyssis is given by the same author to a port in this neighbourhood, but it is impossible so say which of the many small sheltered coves on this line of coast he means to designate. S. of the Symaethus the coast is much varied, being indented by several deep bays and inlets, separated by projecting rocky headlands. The principal of these is the bay of Megara (Sinus Megarensis) so called from the Greek city of that name; it was bounded on the N. by the Xiphonian

promontory, now Capo di Sta Croce (Eipwvias | be no other than the northern or main branch of the akрwτhρiov, Strab. vi. p. 267), within which was Symaethus itself. The Cyamosorus (Kvaμóσ∞pos) the XIPHONIAN PORT (Any Eipάveios, Scyl. p. of Polybius, which appears to have been in the 4), evidently the harbour of Augusta, one of the neighbourhood of Centuripa, must probably be the finest natural harbours in the island. Between this branch now called Fiume Salso, which joins the and Syracuse is the remarkable peninsular promon- Simeto just below Centorbi. 2. The ACESINES or tory of THAPSUs (Magnisi), while immediately S. ASINES (F..Cantara), which rises very near the of Syracuse occurs the remarkable landlocked bay Symaethus, but flows along the northern foot of called the Great Harbour of that city, and the rocky Aetna, and falls into the sea just below Tauromeheadland of PLEMMYRIUM which bounds it on the nium. 3. The HIMERA (F. Salso), the most consiS. From this point to Cape Pachynus no ancient derable of two rivers which bore the same name, names have been preserved to us of the headlands rising in the Monte Madonia (Mons Nebrodes) or harbours. From Cape Pachynus to the site of only about 15 miles from the N. coast, and flowing Gela the coast is low but rocky. Along this line due S.; so that it traverses nearly the whole breadth must be placed the port of Ulysses (Portus Odysseae) of Sicily, and falls into the sea at Alicata (Phintias). mentioned by Cicero, and the promontory of Ulysses 4. The HALYCUs (Platani), so long the boundary of Ptolemy, both apparently in the immediate neigh- between the Carthaginian and Greek territories in bourhood of Cape Pachynus [PACHYNUS.] The the island, is also a considerable stream; it rises not Bucra promontory (Воúкρа ǎкрa) of Ptolemy, which far from the Himera, but flows to the SW., and he places further W., is wholly unknown, as is also enters the sea between Agrigentum and Selinus, the port of Caucana of the same author (Kavкáva close to the site of Heraclea Minoa. 5. The HYPλhy, Ptol. iii. 4. § 7). The remainder of the SAS (Belici), falling into the sea on the S. coast, a S. coast of Sicily from Gela to Lilybaeum presents few miles E. of Selinus; and 6, the ANAPUS (Anapo), on the whole a very uniform character; it has few which flows under the walls of Syracuse and falls or no natural ports, and no remarkable headlands. into the great harbour of that city. It is unlike It is bounded for the most part by hills of clay or most of the rivers of Sicily, being a full clear stream, soft limestone, generally sloping gradually to the supplied from subterranean sources. The same sea, but sometimes forming cliffs of no great eleva- character belongs still more strongly to its tributary tion. The celebrated promontory of LILYBAEUM the CYANE, which has a considerable volume of is a low rocky point, and its famous port, though water, though its whole course does not exceed two secure, is of small extent. N. of Lilybaeum was miles in length. the promontory of AEGITHALLUS, with the adjacent low islands, on one of which the city MOTYA was built; while the more considerable islands of the AEGATES lay a few miles further to the W., and the promontory of DREPANUM adjoining the city of the same name formed the NW. point of Sicily. It is remarkable that no ancient name is preserved to us for the deep gulf of Castellamare which occurs on the coast between Trapani and Palermo, though it is one of the most remarkable features of the N. coast of Sicily; nor are the two striking headlands that bound the Bay of Palermo itself known to us by their ancient names. The bold and insulated hill of Monte Sta Rosalia is, however, the ancient ERCTE. The northern coast of Sicily is bold and varied, formed by offshoots and ridges of the northern chain of mountains descending abruptly to the sea; hence it was always a rugged and difficult line of communication. But none of the rocky headlands that interrupt it are mentioned to us by their ancient names, till we come to that of Mylae adjoining the town of the same name (Milazzo), and the PHALACRIAN PROMONTORY (Ptol. iii. 4. § 2), apparently the Capo di Rasocolmo within a few miles of Cape Pelorus.

From the triangular form of Sicily and the configuration of the mountain chains which traverse it, it is evident that it could not have any rivers of importance. Most of them indeed are little more than mere mountain torrents, swelling with great rapidity after violent storms or during the winter rains, but nearly, if not wholly, dry during the summer months. The most important rivers of the island are: 1. The SYMAETHUS (Simeto or Giarretta), which rises in the northern chain of mountains (the Mons Nebrodes), and flows to the S. and SE. round the foot of Aetna, falling into the sea about 6 miles S. of Catania. It receives several tributaries, of which the Dittaino is certainly the ancient CHRYSAS, that flowed near the

The minor rivers of Sicily which are mentioned either in history or by the geographers are numerous, but in many cases are very difficult to identify. Beginning at Cape Pachynus and proceeding along the coast westward, we find: 1, the Motychanus (Morúxavos, Ptol. iii. 4. § 7), evidently so called from its flowing near Motyca, and therefore probably the stream now called Fiume di Scicli; 2, the Hirminius of Pliny, probably the Fiume di Ragusa, very near the preceding; 3, the HIPPARIS; and 4, the OANUS, two small streams which flowed under the walls of Camarina, now called the F. di Camarana and Frascolari; 5, the GELA or GELAS, which gave name to the city of Gela, and must therefore be the Fiume di Terranova; 6, the ACRAGAS, a small stream flowing under the walls of Agrigentum, to which it gave name, and receiving a tributary called the HYSAS (Drago), which must not be confounded with the more important river of the same name already mentioned; 7, the CAMICUS, probably the Fiume delle Canne, about 10 miles W. of Girgenti; 8, the SELINUS, flowing by the city of that name, now the Madiuni; 9, the MAZARA or MAZARUS, flowing by the town of the same name, and still called Fiume di Mazzara. Besides these Ptolemy mentions the Isburus and Sosias or Sossius, two names otherwise wholly unknown, and which cannot be placed with any approach to certainty. Equally uncertain is the more noted river ACHATES, which is placed by Pliny in the same part of Sicily with the Mazara and Hypsas; but there is great confusion in his enumeration as well as that of Ptolemy. It is generally identified with the Dirillo, but this is situated in quite a different part of Sicily. The Acithius of Ptolemy, which he places between Lilybaeum and Selinus, may be the Fiume di Marsala.

Along the N. coast, proceeding from Lilybaeum to Cape Pelorus, we meet with a number of small

like course, from the mountains to the sea. Their identification is for the most part very obscure and uncertain. Thus we find three rivers mentioned in connection with Segesta, and all of them probably flowing through its territory, the Porpax, Telmessus, and CRIMESSUS or CRIMISUS. The last of these is

probably the Fiume di S. Bartolomeo, about 5 miles E. of Segesta: the other two, which are mentioned only by Aelian (. H. ii. 33), cannot be identified, though one of them is probably the Fiume Gaggera, which flows beneath Segesta itself, and falls into the F. di S. Bartolomeo near its mouth. But, to complicate the question still more, we are told that the names of Scamander and Simois were given by the Trojan colonists to two rivers near Segesta; and the former name at least seems to have been really in use. (Strab. xiii. p. 608; Diod. xx. 71.) Proceeding eastward we find: 1, the Orethus (Vib. Sequest. p. 15), still called the Oreto, a small stream flowing under the walls of Panormus; 2, the Eleutherus ('EXEú0epos, Ptol. iii. 4. § 3), placed by Ptolemy between Panormus and Soluntum, and which must therefore be the Fiume di Bagaria; 3,the northern HIMERA, commonly identified with the Fiume di S. Leonardo, near Termini, but more probably the Fiume Grande, about 8 miles further E. [HIMERA]; 4, the Monalus (Móvaλos, Ptol.), between Cephaloedium and Alaesa, now the Pollina; 5, the Halesus or Alaesus, flowing beneath the city of Alaesa, now the Pettineo; 6, the Chydas (Xúdas, Ptol.), between Alaesa and Aluntium; 7, the Timethus (Tiuneos, Id.), between Agathyrna and Tyndaris; 8, the Helicon ('EXkáv, Id.), between Tyndaris and Mylae; 9, the Phacelinus (Vib. Sequest.), which was near Mylae, or between that city and Messana (the nearer determination of these four last is wholly uncertain); 10, the Melas of Ovid (Fast. iv. 476) is generally placed in the same neighbourhood, though without any obvious reason.

Along the E. coast the names may be more clearly identified. 1. The ONOBALAS of Appian (B. C. v. 109) is probably identical with the Acesines already noticed; 2, the ACIS, a very small stream, is the Fiume di Jaci; 3, the AMENANUS, flowing through the city of Catana, is the Giudicello; 4, the TERIAS is the Fiume di S. Leonardo, which flows from the Lake of Lentini; 5, the PANTAGIAS is the Porcari; 6, the ALABUS is the Cantaro, a small stream flowing into the bay of Augusta. The Anapus and its confluent the Cyane have been already mentioned. S. of Syracuse occur three small rivers, memorable in the retreat of the Athenians: these are, 1, the CACYPARIS (Cassibili); 2, the ERINEUS (Fiume di Avola); and 3, the ASINARUS (Falconara). A few miles S. of this was the HELORUS, now called the Abisso, flowing by the city of the same name. No other stream occurs between this and Cape Pachynum.

The Greek colonies and their offshoots or dependencies have been already mentioned in relating the history of their settlement; but the names of all the towns so far as they can be ascertained will be here enumerated in geographical order, without reference to their origin, omitting only the places mentioned in the Itineraries, which were probably mere villages or stations. 1. Beginning from Cape Pelorus and proceeding along the E. coast towards Cape Pachynus, were: MESSANA, TAUROMENIUM, NAXOS, ACIUM, CATANA and SYRACUSE. TROTILUM, destroyed at an early period, as well as MEGARA HYBLAEA, were si. tuated between Catana and Syracuse. The Chalcidic colonies of CALLIPOLIS and EUBOEA, both of which disappeared at an early period, must have been situated on or near the E. coast of the island, and to the N. of Syracuse, but we have no further clue to their situation. S. of Syracuse, between it and Cape Pachynus, was HELORUS, at the mouth of the river of the same name. 2. W. of Cape Pachynus, proceeding along the S. coast, were CAMARINA, GELA, PHINTIAS, AGRIGENTUM, HERACLEA MINOA, THERMAE SELINUNTIAE, SELINUS, MAZARA, and LILYBAEUM. Besides these the more obscure towns of CAMICUS, CAENA, and INYCUM, the two former dependencies of Agrigentum, the latter of Selinus, must be placed on or near the S. coast of the island. 3. N. of Lilybaeum was MoTYA, which ceased to exist at a comparatively early period, and DREPANUM (Trapani) at the NW. angle of the island. Between this and Panormus, were ERYX at the foot of the mountain of the same name, and a short distance from the coast, the Emporium of Segesta, HYCCARA, and CETARIA. Proceeding eastward from PANORMUS, along the N. coast of the island, were SOLUNTUM, THERMAE, HIMERA, CEPHALOEDIUM, ALAESA, CALACTA, AGATHYRNA, ALUNTIUM, TYNDARIS, and MYLAE.

The towns in the interior are more difficult to enumerate: with regard to some of them indeed we are at a loss to determine, even in what region of the island they were situated. For the purpose of enumeration it will be convenient to divide the island into three portions; the first comprising the western half of Sicily as far as the river Himera, and a line drawn from its sources to the N. coast: the other two, the NE. and SE. portions, being sepa. rated by the course of the river Dittaino and that of the Symaethus to the sea. 1. In the western district were SEGESTA and HALICYAE, the most westerly of the inland cities; ENTELLA, on the river Hypsas, about midway between the two seas; ΙΑΕΤΑ and MACELLA, both of which may probably be placed in the mountainous district between Entella and Panormus; TRIOCALA, near Calatabellotta, in the mountains inland from the Thermae Selinuntiae; SCHERA, of very uncertain site, but probably situated in the same part of Sicily; HERBESSUs, in the neighbourhood of Agrigentum; PETRA, near the sources of the W. branch of the Himera in the Madonia mountains; and ENGYUM (Gangi), at the head of the Fiume Grande, the E. branch of the same river. PAROPUS must apparently be placed on the northern declivity of the same mountains, but further to the W.

Sicily contains no lakes that deserve the name; but there are a few pools or marshy lagoons, of which the names have been preserved to us. Of the latter description were the LYSIMELIA PALUS near Syracuse, and the CAMARINA PALUS adjoining the city of the same name. The LACUS PALICORUM, on the contrary, was a deep pool or basin of volcanic origin: while the small lake called by the poets A little to the E. of the Himera and as nearly as Pergus or Pergusa is still extant in the neighbour-possible in the centre of the island, was situated the hood of Enna. The Lago di Lentini, though much the most considerable accumulation of waters in Sicily, is not mentioned by any ancient author.

The towns and cities of Sicily were very numerous.

fortress of ENNA (Castro Giovanni), so that the boundary line between the NE. and NW. regions may be conveniently drawn from thence. 2. In the NE. region were: ASSORUS and AGYRIUM.

|

Travels in the Two Sicilies, 2 vols. 4to. Lond. 1783; Sir R. Hoare's Classical Tour through Italy and Sicily, 2 vols. 8vo. Lond. 1819; St. Non, Voyage Pittoresque de Naples et de la Sicile, 5 vols. fol. Paris, 1781; Biscari, Principe di, Viaggio per le Antichità della Sicilia, 8vo. Palermo, 1817, &c.): but the island has never been thoroughly explored by an antiquarian traveller, like those to whom we are indebted for our knowledge of Greece and Asia Minor. The valuable work of Cluverius (Sicilia Antiqua, fol. Lugd. Bat. 1619) must here, as well as for Italy, be made the foundation of all subsequent researches. But much valuable information is found in the more ancient work of Fazello, a Sicilian monk of the sixteenth century, as well as of his commentator Amico, and in the Topographical Dictionary of the latter author. (Thomae Fazelli de Rebus Siculis Decades Duo, first edit. in fol. Panormi, 1558, republished with copious notes by Amico, 3 vols. fol. Catanae, 1749-1753; Amico, Lexicon Topographicum Siculum, 3 vols. 4to. Catanae, 1759). Much, however, still remains to be done. Many localities indicated by Fazello in the sixteenth century as presenting ancient remains have never (so far as we are aware) been visited by any modern traveller: no good map of the island exists, which can be trusted for topographical details, and there can be little doubt that a minute and careful examination of the whole country, such as has been made of the neigh

NE. of Enna, but W. of the valley of the Symaethus; CENTURIPA (Centorbi), nearly due E. of Enna; ADRANUM (Aderno), on the E. bank of the Symaethus, at the foot of Mount Aetna; HYBLA MAJOR (which must not be confounded with the city of the same name near Syracuse), and AETNA, previously called INESSA, both situated on the southern slope of the same mountain. N. of Agyrium, on the southern slopes of the Mons Nebrodes were situated HERBITA, CAPITIUM, and probably also GALARIA: while on the northern declivities of the same mountains, fronting the sea, but at some distance inland, were placed APOLLONIA (probably Pollina), AMESTRATUS (Mistretta), ABACAENUM, a few miles inland from Tyndaris, and NOAE, probably Noara. Three other towns, IMACHARA, ICHANA, and TISSA, may probably be assigned to this same region of Sicily, though their exact position cannot be determined. 3. In the SE. portion of Sicily, S. of the Symaethus and its tributary the Chrysas or Dittaino, were situated ERGETIUM, MORGANTIA, LEONTINI, and HYBLA: as well as MENAENUM and HERBESSUS: but of all these names Leontini (Lentini) and Menaenum (Mineo) are the only ones that can be identified with anything like certainty. In the hills W. of Syracuse were ACRAE (Palazzolo), BIDIS (S. Gio. di Bidino), and CACYRUM (Cassaro); and W. of these again, in the direction towards Gela, must be placed the Heraean HYBLA, as well as ECHETLA, in the neighbouring island of Sardinia by the Chev. De la Marbourhood of Gran Michele. SW. of Syracuse, in the interior, were NETUM or NEETUM (Noto Vecchio), and MOTYCA (Modica), both of which are well known. The Syracusan colony of CASMENAE must probably have been situated in the same district but its site has never been identified.

After going through this long list of Sicilian towns, there remain the following, noticed either by Cicero or Pliny, as municipal towns, to the position of which we have no means of even approximating. The ACHERINI (Cic.), TYRACINI (Cic.; Tyracienses, Plin.), Acestaei (Plin.), Etini (Id.), Herbulenses (Id.), Semellitani (Id.), Talarenses (Id.). Many of the above names are probably corrupt and merely false readings, but we are at a loss what to substitute. On the other hand, the existence of a town called MUTISTRATUM or Mytistratum is attested by both Cicero and Pliny, and there seems no sufficient reason for rejecting it as identical with Amestratus, as has been done by many modern geographers, though its site is wholly uncertain. Equally unknown are the following names given by Ptolemy among the inland towns of the island: Aleta (Aλnra), Hydra or Lydia ("Tôpa or Audía), Patyorus (Пariwpos), Coturga or Cortuga (Kórupya or Kópruya), Legum or Letum (Anyov or Añtov), Ancrina (Aykpiva), Ina or Ena ("Iva orˇHva), and Elcethium ('EXKétov). It would be a waste of time to discuss these names, most of which are probably in their present form corrupt, and are all of them otherwise wholly unknown. On the other hand the existence of NACONA, mentioned by Stephanus of Byzantium, but not noticed by any other writer, is confirmed by coins.

The topography of Sicily is still very imperfectly known. The ruins of its more celebrated cities are indeed well known and have been often described; especially in the valuable work of the Duke of Serra di Falco (Antichità della Sicilia, 5 vols. fol. Palermo, 1834-1839), as well as in the well-known

mora, would well reward the labours of the explorer. Even the ruins described by Sir R. Hoare as existing in the neighbourhood of Sta Croce, or those situated near Vindicari, a few miles N. of Cape Pachynus and commonly ascribed to Imachara, have never been examined in detail, nor has any clue been obtained to their identification.

The Itineraries give several lines of route through the island, but many of the stations mentioned are wholly uncertain, and were probably never more than obscure villages or mere solitary posthouses. The first line of route (Itin. Ant. pp. 86-89) proceeds from Messana along the E. coast by Tauromenium and Acium to Catana, and from thence strikes inland across the centre of the island to Agrigentum; the course of this inland route is wholly uncertain and the names of the three stations upon it, Capitoniana, Gelasium Philosophiana and Petiliana, are entirely unknown. From Agrigentum it followed the line of coast to Lilybaeum; the stations given are Cena [CAENA], Allava, Ad Aquas (i. e. the Aquae Labodes or Thermae Selinuntiae), Ad fluvium Lanarium, and Mazara; all except the 3rd and 5th of very uncertain site. A second route (Itin. Ant. pp. 89, 90) proceeds in the inverse direction from Lilybaeum to Agrigentum, and thence by a more southerly line, through Calvisiana, Hybla, and Acrae (Palazzolo) to Syracuse, and from thence as before along the E. coast to Messana. A third line follows the N. coast of the island from Lilybaeum by Panormus to Messana. The stations on this line are better known and can for the most part be determined: they are, Drepana, Aquae Segestanae (near Segesta), Parthenium (Partinico), Hyccara (Muro di Carini), Panormus, Soluntum, Thermae, Cephaloedium, Halesus (Alaesa), Calacte, Agatinnum, (Agathyrnum), Tyndaris, and Messana. A fourth route (Itin. Ant. p. 93) crossed the interior of the island from Thermae, where it branched off from the preceding, passing through Enna, Agyrium, Centu

to Vibius Sequester (p. 224, ed. Bipont) bore the
name of that town. A little afterwards it received
the Cinga, and then flowed into the Iberus near
Octogesa. (Caes. B. C. i. 40, 48; Plin. iii. 3. s. 4;
Lucan. iv. 13, seq.) Ausonius describes it as flow-
ing impetuously (" torrentem," Epist. xxv. 59).
Now the Segre.
[T. H. D.]

of strictly maritime route around the southern ex-retani, and separated the countries of the Ilergetes tremity of the island from Agrigentum to Syracuse; and Lacetani. It flowed past Ilerda, and according but with the exception of Pintis, which is probably Phintias (Alicata), none of the stations can be identified. Lastly, a line of road was in use which crossed the island from Agrigentum direct to Panormus (Itin. Ant. p. 96), but none of its stations are known, and we are therefore unable to determine even its general course. The other routes given in the Itinerary of Antoninus are only unimportant variations of the preceding ones. The Tabula gives only the one general line around the island (crossing, however, from Calvisiana on the S. coast direct to Syracuse), and the cross line already mentioned from Thermae to Catana. All discussion of distances along the above routes must be rejected as useless, until the routes themselves can be more accurately determined, which is extremely difficult in so hilly and broken a country as the greater part of the interior of Sicily. The similarity of names, which in Italy is so often a sure guide where all other iudications are wanting, is of far less assistance in Sicily, where the long period of Arabic dominion has thrown the nomenclature of the island into great [E. H. B.]

confusion

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SI'CULI (Zikeλoí), is the name given by ancient writers to an ancient race or people that formed one of the elements in the primitive population of Italy, as well as Sicily. But the accounts given of them are very confused and uncertain. We find the Siculi mentioned: 1, as among the early inhabitants of Latium; 2, in the extreme S. of Italy; 3, in Sicily; 4, on the shores of the Adriatic. It will be convenient to examine these notices separately.

1. The Siculi are represented by Dionysius as the earliest inhabitants of the country subsequently called Latium (i. 9), as well as of the southern part of Etruria; they were an indigenous race, i. e. one of whose wanderings and origin he had no account. They held the whole country till they were expelled from it by the people whom he calls Aborigines, descending from the mountains of Central Italy [ABORIGINES], who made war upon them, in conjunction with the Pelasgians; and after a long protracted struggle, wrested from them one town after another (Id. i. 9, 16). Among the cities that are expressly mentioned by him as having once been occupied by the Siculi, are Tibur, where a part of the city was still called in the days of Dionysius ZIKEλv, Ficulea, Antemnae, and Tellenae, as well as Falerii and Fescennium, in the country afterwards called Etruria (Id. i. 16, 20, 21). The Siculi being thus finally expelled from their possesRav.sions in this part of Italy, were reported to have migrated in a body to the southern extremity of the peninsula, from whence they crossed over the straits, and established themselves in the island of Sicily, to which they gave the name it has ever since borne. [SICILIA.] (Id. i. 22.) Dionysius is the only author who has left us a detailed account of the conquest and expulsion of the Siculi, but they are mentioned by Pliny among the races that had successively occupied Latium (Plin. iii. 5. s. 9); and this seems to have been an established and received tradition.

SICILIBBA or SICILIBRA (in the Geogr. Siciliba, iii. 5), a place in Africa Propria (Itin. Ant. pp. 25, 45), variously identified with Bazilbah and [T. H. D.]

Haouch Alouina.

SI'CINOS (Kivos: Eth. ZiKIVÍTηs: Síkino), a small island in the Aegaean sea, one of the Sporades, lying between Pholegandros and Ios, and containing a town of the same name. (Scylax, p. 19; Strab. x. p. 484; Ptol. iii. 15. § 31.) It is said to have been originally called Oenoë from its cultivation of the vine, but to have been named Sicinos after a son of Thoas and Oenoë. (Steph. B. s. v.; Apoll. Rhod. i. 623; Schol. ad loc.; Plin. iv. 12. s. 23; Etym. 2. We find the Siculi frequently mentioned in the M. p. 712. 49.) Wine is still the chief production southernmost portion of the Italian peninsula, where of the island. It was probably colonised by Ionians. they appear in close connection with the Oenotrians, Like most of the other Grecian islands, it submitted Morgetes, and Itali, all of them kindred tribes, which to Xerxes (Herod. viii. 4), but it afterwards formed there are good reasons for assigning to the Pelasgic part of the Athenian maritime empire. There are race. [OENOTRIA.] It is probable, as suggested by some remains of the ancient city situated upon a lofty Strabo, that the Siculi, more than once, mentioned and rugged mountain, on whose summit stands the by Homer (Odyss. xx. 383, xxiv. 211, &c.), were church of S. Marina. There is also still extant an the inhabitants of the coast of Italy opposite to ancient temple of the Pythian Apollo, now converted Ithaca: and the traditions of the Epizephyrian Lointo the church Episkopi ( 'EmiσKOTH). It stands crians, reported by Polybius, spoke of the Siculi as the in a depression between the main range of moun- people in whose territory they settled, and with whom tains, and the summit lying more to the left, upon they first found themselves engaged in war. (Polyb. which the ruins of the ancient city stand. We xii. 5, 6) Numerous traditions also, reported by learn from an inscription found there by Ross that Dionysius (i. 22, 73) from Antiochus, Hellait was the temple of the Pythian Apollo. (Ross, nicus, and others, concur in bringing the Siculi and Reisen auf den Griech. Inseln, vol. ii. p. 149, seq.; their eponymous leader Siculus (Eikeλós) into close Fiedler, Reise, vol. ii. p. 151, seq.) connection with Italus and the Itali; and this is confirmed by the linguistic relation which may fairly be admitted to exist between Zikeλós and ITaλós (Niebuhr, vol. i. p. 47) though this is not close enough to be in itself conclusive. So far as

SICOR. [SECOR.]

SI'CORIS (Kopis, Dion Cass. xli. 20), a tributary river of the Iberus in Hispania Tarraconensis. It roe in the Pyrenees in the territory of the Cer

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