1.
Musina
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Musina or Messina is the northernmost town in the Limpopo province of South Africa. It is located near the confluence of the Limpopo River with the Sand River and it has a population of between 20,000 and 40,000. Iron ore, coal, magnetite, graphite, asbestos, diamonds, semi-precious stones, the Musina tribe discovered copper and settled here. In the 20th century European prospectors rediscovered the large copper deposits, the spelling of the name was changed to Musina in 2003 to correct the colonial-era misspelling of the name of the Musina people. The Limpopo River is a dry river bank which flows annually in rains when lichen, the low-shrub and thorny tree lands that surround Musina and thrive in rains are alive with animals in sanctuaries that offer experienced-only camping safari accessible by sand and rock road tracks. Access is generally good, with the N1 road from Johannesburg through Musina northwards being wide tar, as are most other roads in the area. The link with Zimbabwe at Beitbridge has become one of the busiest roads in the world and this is mainly due to thousands crossing the border into South Africa every day. The town, which was founded and settled by people of descent, was long-named Messina. However, in 2003, the Limpopo Government changed the name to Musina, unlike other town name changes in South Africa, such as Pretoria, it went through with very little opposition. The reason is probably because the change was only a misspelling. Although Musina is becoming widely accepted, Messina is still often used. Musina experiences a hot climate with hot temperatures most of the year. Average annual precipitation amounts to 372 mm, and is concentrated in the summer months from October to April when severe late-afternoon. Winter is extremely dry, with almost no precipitation, typically recorded in the driest months from June to August, clear skies and exceptionally low humidity at this time of the year enable temperatures to plunge close to freezing at night, although frost is fairly uncommon. Droughts frequently occur during the months, and infrequently during summers when very little rain falls. These erratic summer droughts are becoming common as climate change continues
2.
Geographic coordinate system
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A geographic coordinate system is a coordinate system used in geography that enables every location on Earth to be specified by a set of numbers, letters or symbols. The coordinates are chosen such that one of the numbers represents a vertical position. A common choice of coordinates is latitude, longitude and elevation, to specify a location on a two-dimensional map requires a map projection. The invention of a coordinate system is generally credited to Eratosthenes of Cyrene. Ptolemy credited him with the adoption of longitude and latitude. Ptolemys 2nd-century Geography used the prime meridian but measured latitude from the equator instead. Mathematical cartography resumed in Europe following Maximus Planudes recovery of Ptolemys text a little before 1300, in 1884, the United States hosted the International Meridian Conference, attended by representatives from twenty-five nations. Twenty-two of them agreed to adopt the longitude of the Royal Observatory in Greenwich, the Dominican Republic voted against the motion, while France and Brazil abstained. France adopted Greenwich Mean Time in place of local determinations by the Paris Observatory in 1911, the latitude of a point on Earths surface is the angle between the equatorial plane and the straight line that passes through that point and through the center of the Earth. Lines joining points of the same latitude trace circles on the surface of Earth called parallels, as they are parallel to the equator, the north pole is 90° N, the south pole is 90° S. The 0° parallel of latitude is designated the equator, the plane of all geographic coordinate systems. The equator divides the globe into Northern and Southern Hemispheres, the longitude of a point on Earths surface is the angle east or west of a reference meridian to another meridian that passes through that point. All meridians are halves of great ellipses, which converge at the north and south poles, the prime meridian determines the proper Eastern and Western Hemispheres, although maps often divide these hemispheres further west in order to keep the Old World on a single side. The antipodal meridian of Greenwich is both 180°W and 180°E, the combination of these two components specifies the position of any location on the surface of Earth, without consideration of altitude or depth. The grid formed by lines of latitude and longitude is known as a graticule, the origin/zero point of this system is located in the Gulf of Guinea about 625 km south of Tema, Ghana. To completely specify a location of a feature on, in, or above Earth. Earth is not a sphere, but a shape approximating a biaxial ellipsoid. It is nearly spherical, but has an equatorial bulge making the radius at the equator about 0. 3% larger than the radius measured through the poles, the shorter axis approximately coincides with the axis of rotation
3.
Italy
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Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a unitary parliamentary republic in Europe. Located in the heart of the Mediterranean Sea, Italy shares open land borders with France, Switzerland, Austria, Slovenia, San Marino, Italy covers an area of 301,338 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate and Mediterranean climate. Due to its shape, it is referred to in Italy as lo Stivale. With 61 million inhabitants, it is the fourth most populous EU member state, the Italic tribe known as the Latins formed the Roman Kingdom, which eventually became a republic that conquered and assimilated other nearby civilisations. The legacy of the Roman Empire is widespread and can be observed in the distribution of civilian law, republican governments, Christianity. The Renaissance began in Italy and spread to the rest of Europe, bringing a renewed interest in humanism, science, exploration, Italian culture flourished at this time, producing famous scholars, artists and polymaths such as Leonardo da Vinci, Galileo, Michelangelo and Machiavelli. The weakened sovereigns soon fell victim to conquest by European powers such as France, Spain and Austria. Despite being one of the victors in World War I, Italy entered a period of economic crisis and social turmoil. The subsequent participation in World War II on the Axis side ended in defeat, economic destruction. Today, Italy has the third largest economy in the Eurozone and it has a very high level of human development and is ranked sixth in the world for life expectancy. The country plays a prominent role in regional and global economic, military, cultural and diplomatic affairs, as a reflection of its cultural wealth, Italy is home to 51 World Heritage Sites, the most in the world, and is the fifth most visited country. The assumptions on the etymology of the name Italia are very numerous, according to one of the more common explanations, the term Italia, from Latin, Italia, was borrowed through Greek from the Oscan Víteliú, meaning land of young cattle. The bull was a symbol of the southern Italic tribes and was often depicted goring the Roman wolf as a defiant symbol of free Italy during the Social War. Greek historian Dionysius of Halicarnassus states this account together with the legend that Italy was named after Italus, mentioned also by Aristotle and Thucydides. The name Italia originally applied only to a part of what is now Southern Italy – according to Antiochus of Syracuse, but by his time Oenotria and Italy had become synonymous, and the name also applied to most of Lucania as well. The Greeks gradually came to apply the name Italia to a larger region, excavations throughout Italy revealed a Neanderthal presence dating back to the Palaeolithic period, some 200,000 years ago, modern Humans arrived about 40,000 years ago. Other ancient Italian peoples of undetermined language families but of possible origins include the Rhaetian people and Cammuni. Also the Phoenicians established colonies on the coasts of Sardinia and Sicily, the Roman legacy has deeply influenced the Western civilisation, shaping most of the modern world
4.
Regions of Italy
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The regions of Italy are the first-level administrative divisions of Italy, constituting its second NUTS administrative level. There are 20 regions, of five are constitutionally given a broader amount of autonomy granted by special statutes. Each region, except for the Aosta Valley, is divided into provinces, regions are autonomous entities with powers defined in the Constitution. As the administrative districts of the state during the Kingdom of Italy. The original draft list comprised the Salento region, friuli and Venezia Giulia were separate regions, and Basilicata was named Lucania. Abruzzo and Molise were identified as regions in the first draft. They were later merged into Abruzzo e Molise in the constitution of 1948. Implementation of regional autonomy was postponed until the first Regional Elections of 1970, the ruling Christian Democracy party did not want the opposition Italian Communist Party to gain power in the regions, where it was historically rooted. Regions acquired a significant level of autonomy following a reform in 2001. In June 2006 the proposals, which had been associated with Lega Nord. The results varied considerably among the regions, ranging from 55. 3% in favour in Veneto to 82% against in Calabria, number of regions controlled by each coalition since 1995, Macroregions are the first-level NUTS of the European Union. These regions, whose statutes are approved by their councils, were created in 1970. Since the constitutional reform of 2001 they have had residual legislative powers, the regions have exclusive legislative power with respect to any matters not expressly reserved to state law. Yet their financial autonomy is quite modest, they just keep 20% of all levied taxes, Article 116 of the Italian Constitution grants to five regions home rule, acknowledging their powers in relation to legislation, administration and finance. These regions became autonomous in order to take into account cultural differences, moreover, the government wanted to prevent their secession from Italy after the Second World War. Trentino-Alto Adige/Südtirol constitutes a special case, the region is nearly powerless, and the powers granted by the regions statute are mostly exercised by the two autonomous provinces within the region, Trentino and South Tyrol. In this case, the regional institution plays a coordinating role, the latter is directly elected by the citizens of each region, with the exceptions of Aosta Valley and Trentino-Alto Adige/Südtirol, where he is chosen by the regional council. Under the 1995 electoral law, the winning coalition receives a majority of seats on the council
5.
Sicily
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Sicily is the largest island in the Mediterranean Sea. It is an autonomous Region of Italy, along with surrounding minor islands, Sicily is located in the central Mediterranean Sea, south of the Italian Peninsula, from which it is separated by the narrow Strait of Messina. Its most prominent landmark is Mount Etna, the tallest active volcano in Europe, the island has a typical Mediterranean climate. The earliest archaeological evidence of activity on the island dates from as early as 12,000 BC. It became part of Italy in 1860 following the Expedition of the Thousand, a revolt led by Giuseppe Garibaldi during the Italian unification, Sicily was given special status as an autonomous region after the Italian constitutional referendum of 1946. Sicily has a rich and unique culture, especially regard to the arts, music, literature, cuisine. It is also home to important archaeological and ancient sites, such as the Necropolis of Pantalica, the Valley of the Temples, Sicily has a roughly triangular shape, earning it the name Trinacria. To the east, it is separated from the Italian mainland by the Strait of Messina, about 3 km wide in the north, and about 16 km wide in the southern part. The northern and southern coasts are each about 280 km long measured as a line, while the eastern coast measures around 180 km. The total area of the island is 25,711 km2, the terrain of inland Sicily is mostly hilly and is intensively cultivated wherever possible. Along the northern coast, the ranges of Madonie,2,000 m, Nebrodi,1,800 m. The cone of Mount Etna dominates the eastern coast, in the southeast lie the lower Hyblaean Mountains,1,000 m. The mines of the Enna and Caltanissetta districts were part of a leading sulphur-producing area throughout the 19th century, Sicily and its surrounding small islands have some highly active volcanoes. Mount Etna is the largest active volcano in Europe and still casts black ash over the island with its ever-present eruptions and it currently stands 3,329 metres high, though this varies with summit eruptions, the mountain is 21 m lower now than it was in 1981. It is the highest mountain in Italy south of the Alps, Etna covers an area of 1,190 km2 with a basal circumference of 140 km. This makes it by far the largest of the three volcanoes in Italy, being about two and a half times the height of the next largest, Mount Vesuvius. In Greek Mythology, the deadly monster Typhon was trapped under the mountain by Zeus, Mount Etna is widely regarded as a cultural symbol and icon of Sicily. The Aeolian Islands in the Tyrrhenian Sea, to the northeast of mainland Sicily form a volcanic complex, the three volcanoes of Vulcano, Vulcanello and Lipari are also currently active, although the latter is usually dormant
6.
Metropolitan cities of Italy
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The metropolitan city is an administrative division of Italy, operative since 2015. In 2009, amendments added Reggio Calabria to the list, the metropolitan areas individuated by the autonomous regions were, Trieste in Friuli-Venezia Giulia, Cagliari in Sardinia, Catania, Messina and Palermo in Sicily. On 3 April 2014 the Italian Parliament approved a law that establishes 10 metropolitan cities in Italy, the new metropolitan cities have been operative since 1 January 2015. The metropolitan city is composed by the municipalities that before had been members of the same province, each metropolitan city is headed by a metropolitan mayor assisted by a legislative body, the Metropolitan council, and by a non-legislative assembly, the metropolitan conference. Members of the Metropolitan council are elected and chosen by mayors and city councilors of each municipality in the metropolitan city, the metropolitan conference is composed by the mayors of the municipalities closest to the capital. The main functions devolved to the new cities are, local planning and zoning, provision of local police services, transport. Regions of Italy Provinces of Italy Municipalities of Italy Media related to Metropolitan cities of Italy at Wikimedia Commons
7.
Demonym
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A demonym is a word that identifies residents or natives of a particular place, which is derived from the name of that particular place. It is a neologism, previously gentilic was recorded in English dictionaries, e. g. the Oxford English Dictionary, thus a Thai may be any resident or citizen of Thailand, of any ethnic group, or more narrowly a member of the Thai people. Conversely, some groups of people may be associated with multiple demonyms, for example, a native of the United Kingdom may be called a British person, a Brit, or a Briton. In some languages, when a parallel demonym does not exist, in English, demonyms are capitalized and are often the same as the adjectival form of the place, e. g. Egyptian, Japanese, or Greek. Significant exceptions exist, for instance the adjectival form of Spain is Spanish, English widely includes country-level demonyms such as Ethiopian or Guatemalan and more local demonyms such as Seoulite, Wisconsinite, Chicagoan, Michigander, Fluminense, and Paulista. Some places lack a commonly used and accepted demonym and this poses a particular challenge to those toponymists who research demonyms. The word gentilic comes from the Latin gentilis and the English suffix -ic, the word demonym was derived from the Greek word meaning populace with the suffix for name. National Geographic attributes the term demonym to Merriam-Webster editor Paul Dickson in a recent work from 1990 and it was subsequently popularized in this sense in 1997 by Dickson in his book Labels for Locals. However, in What Do You Call a Person From, a Dictionary of Resident Names attributed the term to George H. Scheetz, in his Names Names, A Descriptive and Prescriptive Onymicon, which is apparently where the term first appears. Several linguistic elements are used to create demonyms in the English language, the most common is to add a suffix to the end of the location name, slightly modified in some instances. Cairo → Cairene Cyrenaica → Cyrene Damascus → Damascene Greece → Greek Nazareth → Nazarene Slovenia → Slovene Often used for Middle Eastern locations and European locations. Kingston-upon-Hull → Hullensian Leeds → Leodensian Spain → Spaniard Savoy → Savoyard -ese is usually considered proper only as an adjective, thus, a Chinese person is used rather than a Chinese. Monaco → Monégasque Menton → Mentonasque Basque Country → Basque Often used for French locations, mostly they are from Africa and the Pacific, and are not generally known or used outside the country concerned. In much of East Africa, a person of an ethnic group will be denoted by a prefix. For example, a person of the Luba people would be a Muluba, the plural form Baluba, similar patterns with minor variations in the prefixes exist throughout on a tribal level. And Fijians who are indigenous Fijians are known as Kaiviti and these demonyms are usually more informal and colloquial. In the United States such informal demonyms frequently become associated with mascots of the sports teams of the state university system. In other countries the origins are often disputed and these will typically be formed using the standard models above
8.
Daylight saving time
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Daylight saving time is the practice of advancing clocks during summer months by one hour so that evening daylight lasts an hour longer, while sacrificing normal sunrise times. Typically, regions that use Daylight Savings Time adjust clocks forward one hour close to the start of spring, American inventor and politician Benjamin Franklin proposed a form of daylight time in 1784. New Zealander George Hudson proposed the idea of saving in 1895. The German Empire and Austria-Hungary organized the first nationwide implementation, starting on April 30,1916, many countries have used it at various times since then, particularly since the energy crisis of the 1970s. The practice has both advocates and critics, DST clock shifts sometimes complicate timekeeping and can disrupt travel, billing, record keeping, medical devices, heavy equipment, and sleep patterns. Computer software often adjusts clocks automatically, but policy changes by various jurisdictions of DST dates, industrialized societies generally follow a clock-based schedule for daily activities that do not change throughout the course of the year. The time of day that individuals begin and end work or school, North and south of the tropics daylight lasts longer in summer and shorter in winter, with the effect becoming greater as one moves away from the tropics. However, they will have one hour of daylight at the start of each day. Supporters have also argued that DST decreases energy consumption by reducing the need for lighting and heating, DST is also of little use for locations near the equator, because these regions see only a small variation in daylight in the course of the year. After ancient times, equal-length civil hours eventually supplanted unequal, so civil time no longer varies by season, unequal hours are still used in a few traditional settings, such as some monasteries of Mount Athos and all Jewish ceremonies. This 1784 satire proposed taxing window shutters, rationing candles, and waking the public by ringing church bells, despite common misconception, Franklin did not actually propose DST, 18th-century Europe did not even keep precise schedules. However, this changed as rail transport and communication networks came to require a standardization of time unknown in Franklins day. Modern DST was first proposed by the New Zealand entomologist George Hudson, whose shift work job gave him time to collect insects. An avid golfer, he also disliked cutting short his round at dusk and his solution was to advance the clock during the summer months, a proposal he published two years later. The proposal was taken up by the Liberal Member of Parliament Robert Pearce, a select committee was set up to examine the issue, but Pearces bill did not become law, and several other bills failed in the following years. Willett lobbied for the proposal in the UK until his death in 1915, william Sword Frost, mayor of Orillia, Ontario, introduced daylight saving time in the municipality during his tenure from 1911 to 1912. Starting on April 30,1916, the German Empire and its World War I ally Austria-Hungary were the first to use DST as a way to conserve coal during wartime, Britain, most of its allies, and many European neutrals soon followed suit. Russia and a few other countries waited until the year
9.
Central European Summer Time
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It corresponds to UTC + two hours. Other names which have been applied to Central European Summer Time are Middle European Summer Time, Central European Daylight Saving Time, and Bravo Time. Since 1996 European Summer Time has been observed between 1,00 UTC on the last Sunday of March and 1,00 on the last Sunday of October, the following countries and territories use Central European Summer Time. In addition, Libya used CEST during the years 1951–1959, 1982–1989, 1996–1997, European Summer Time Other countries and territories in UTC+2 time zone Other names of UTC+2 time zone
10.
National Institute of Statistics (Italy)
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The Italian National Institute of Statistics is the main producer of official statistics in Italy. Its activities include the census of population, economic censuses and a number of social, economic and environmental surveys, Istat is by far the largest producer of statistical information in Italy, and is an active member of the European Statistical System, coordinated by Eurostat. Its publications are released under creative commons Attribution license, Istat was created in 1926 as Central Institute of Statistics, to collect and organize essential data about the nation. It took its current denomination with the reform of 1989, since 4 August 2009, Enrico Giovannini, former Chief statistician of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, has been the President of the institute. In 2014, Istat was named the winner of that years Ig Nobel Prize for Economics after it began including estimates of illegal transactions in the size of the countrys economy. The center in Rome also offers data from Eurostat, the library collection includes 400,000 volumes and receives about 2800 periodical journals. There are also 1500 volumes printed prior to 1900
11.
Sicilian language
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Sicilian is a Romance language spoken on the island of Sicily and its satellite islands. It is also spoken in southern and central Calabria, in the parts of Apulia, Salento, and Campania, on the Italian peninsula. The Ethnologue describes Sicilian as being distinct enough from Standard Italian to be considered a language and is recognized as a minority language by UNESCO. Some assert that Sicilian represents the oldest Romance language derived from Vulgar Latin, Sicilian has the oldest literary tradition of the Italic languages. Sicilian is currently spoken by the majority of the inhabitants of Sicily, the latter are found in the countries which attracted large numbers of Sicilian immigrants during the course of the past century or so, especially the United States, Canada, Australia and Argentina. In the past two or three decades, large numbers of Sicilians were also attracted to the zones of northern Italy and indeed the rest of the European Union. It is not used as an official language anywhere, even within Sicily, there is currently no central body, in Sicily or elsewhere, that regulates the language in any way. However, since its inception in 1951, the Centro di studi filologici e linguistici siciliani in Palermo has been researching and publishing information on the Sicilian language. The autonomous regional parliament of Sicily has legislated to encourage the teaching of Sicilian at all schools, further, the Sicilian language would be protected and promoted under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. However, Italy has signed this treaty, but the Italian Parliament has not ratified it, the term Calabro-Sicilian refers to the fact that a form of Sicilian, or a dialect closely related to Sicilian, is spoken in central and southern Calabria. Sicilianu is the name of the language in Sicily itself, the term Siculu describes one of the larger prehistoric groups living in Sicily before the arrival of Greeks in the 8th century BC. It can also be used as an adjective to qualify, or further elaborate on, the very earliest influences, visible in Sicilian to this day, exhibit both prehistoric Mediterranean elements and prehistoric Indo-European elements, and occasionally a blending of both. Ruffino 2001 Before the Roman conquest, Sicily was occupied by populations considered indigenous, including Sicels, Sicani, Elymians, the Greek language influence remains strongly visible, while the influences from the other groups are less obvious. What can be stated with certainty is that there remain pre-Indo-European words in Sicilian of an ancient Mediterranean origin, of the three main prehistoric groups, only the Sicels were Indo-European, and their speech is likely to have been closely related to that of the Romans. The following table, listing words for twins, illustrates the difficulty linguists face in tackling the various sub-strata of the Sicilian language, a similar qualifier can be applied to many of the words that appear in this article. For instance, by the time the Romans had occupied Sicily during the 3rd century BC, the words with a prehistoric Mediterranean derivation often refer to plants native to the Mediterranean region or to other natural features. g. of a fruit timpa crag, cliff. The Sicels are a source of such words, but there is also the possibility of a cross-over between ancient Mediterranean words and introduced Indo-European forms. Some examples of Sicilian words with an ancient Indo-European origin, dudda mulberry, the latter would bring with them the Vulgar Latin from that region, a language not too different from that to be found in central Italy at the time
12.
Greek language
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Greek is an independent branch of the Indo-European family of languages, native to Greece and other parts of the Eastern Mediterranean. It has the longest documented history of any living language, spanning 34 centuries of written records and its writing system has been the Greek alphabet for the major part of its history, other systems, such as Linear B and the Cypriot syllabary, were used previously. The alphabet arose from the Phoenician script and was in turn the basis of the Latin, Cyrillic, Armenian, Coptic, Gothic and many other writing systems. Together with the Latin texts and traditions of the Roman world, during antiquity, Greek was a widely spoken lingua franca in the Mediterranean world and many places beyond. It would eventually become the official parlance of the Byzantine Empire, the language is spoken by at least 13.2 million people today in Greece, Cyprus, Italy, Albania, Turkey, and the Greek diaspora. Greek roots are used to coin new words for other languages, Greek. Greek has been spoken in the Balkan peninsula since around the 3rd millennium BC, the earliest written evidence is a Linear B clay tablet found in Messenia that dates to between 1450 and 1350 BC, making Greek the worlds oldest recorded living language. Among the Indo-European languages, its date of earliest written attestation is matched only by the now extinct Anatolian languages, the Greek language is conventionally divided into the following periods, Proto-Greek, the unrecorded but assumed last ancestor of all known varieties of Greek. The unity of Proto-Greek would have ended as Hellenic migrants entered the Greek peninsula sometime in the Neolithic era or the Bronze Age, Mycenaean Greek, the language of the Mycenaean civilisation. It is recorded in the Linear B script on tablets dating from the 15th century BC onwards, Ancient Greek, in its various dialects, the language of the Archaic and Classical periods of the ancient Greek civilisation. It was widely known throughout the Roman Empire, after the Roman conquest of Greece, an unofficial bilingualism of Greek and Latin was established in the city of Rome and Koine Greek became a first or second language in the Roman Empire. The origin of Christianity can also be traced through Koine Greek, Medieval Greek, also known as Byzantine Greek, the continuation of Koine Greek in Byzantine Greece, up to the demise of the Byzantine Empire in the 15th century. Much of the written Greek that was used as the language of the Byzantine Empire was an eclectic middle-ground variety based on the tradition of written Koine. Modern Greek, Stemming from Medieval Greek, Modern Greek usages can be traced in the Byzantine period and it is the language used by the modern Greeks, and, apart from Standard Modern Greek, there are several dialects of it. In the modern era, the Greek language entered a state of diglossia, the historical unity and continuing identity between the various stages of the Greek language is often emphasised. Greek speakers today still tend to regard literary works of ancient Greek as part of their own rather than a foreign language and it is also often stated that the historical changes have been relatively slight compared with some other languages. According to one estimation, Homeric Greek is probably closer to demotic than 12-century Middle English is to modern spoken English, Greek is spoken by about 13 million people, mainly in Greece, Albania and Cyprus, but also worldwide by the large Greek diaspora. Greek is the language of Greece, where it is spoken by almost the entire population
13.
Strait of Messina
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The Strait of Messina is the narrow passage between the eastern tip of Sicily and the western tip of Calabria in the south of Italy. It connects the Tyrrhenian Sea to the north with the Ionian Sea to the south, within the central Mediterranean. At its narrowest point, between Torre Faro and Villa San Giovanni, it measures 3.1 km in width, though near the town of Messina the width is some 5.1 km, the strait has strong tidal currents that create a unique marine ecosystem. A natural whirlpool in the portion of the strait has been linked to the Greek legend of Scylla. In some circumstances, the mirage of Fata Morgana can be observed when looking at Sicily from Calabria, with its bottleneck shape, it is also a compulsory point of transit of the migration of many bird species. In 1957, a 220 kV overhead power line was built across the Strait of Messina and its pylons are among the highest in the world. This power line has since replaced by a submarine power cable. Due to this form of more than 300 species are recorded in the area that is a major European hot spot for raptors with a record of 35.000 in a spring. Between them the Honey Buzzard and the Marsh Harrier are the most frequent, species like Bonellis Eagle and Egyptian Vulture are less frequent, in the coastal salt lakes of the Strait of Messina species like Glossy Ibis, Flamingos and Black-winged Stilt use to stop to rest. The site is also favorable to observe the storks, the monte Dinnammare and the other Peloritani mountains overlooking the Strait are a natural theater for the birdwatching of these spectacular flights. Due to the peculiar hydrogeological conditions the Strait of Messina has high levels of biodiversity, the strait is also an important point of migration of many species of fish in the Mediterranean Sea. There is also a service between Messina and Reggio Calabria. For decades, the possibility of building a bridge across the Messina Strait has been under discussion, in 2006, under Prime Minister Romano Prodi the project was cancelled. Supporters perceive the bridge as a huge job-creation scheme and a boost for tourism to the island, opponents see it as an ecological disaster, a structure at risk due to especially strong winds and earthquakes, and a boon for Sicilian and Calabrian organized crime. Berlusconi claimed in 2009 that work would be completed by 2016 although in February 2013, between Scylla and Charybdis Fabio Spadi The Bridge on the Strait of Messina, Lowering the Right of Innocent Passage. International and Comparative Law Quarterly 50,411 ff, from Rome to Sicily, Plane or Train. Expert Travel Advice, The New York Times, Feb.7,2008 The New York Times
14.
Villa San Giovanni
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Villa San Giovanni is a town and comune in the province of Reggio Calabria, Calabria, southern Italy. In 2010 its population was 13,747 and it is the main terminal of access to Sicily. On 25 April 2005 the President of the Republic had conferred upon it the title of city and it is located on the coast of Strait of Messina, facing the city of Messina across the narrow strait. The Punta Pezzo lies in the area and is the nearest point to Sicily, there are many neighborhoods, Acciarello, Cannitello, Pezzo and Piale. On 28 December 1908 a powerful earthquake in the Strait of Messina killed 698 people in Villa San Giovanni, the last decades of the sixteenth century saw the rise in the small coastal villages, as Cannitello and Pieces, inhabited mostly by sailors and fishermen. Further inland, at the current center of the Villa, there was a village called Blackwater, later he also formed Piale and Acciarello. On 8 January 1676 he fought a battle between the Dutch and the French fleet in the waters of the Strait in front of Punta Pezzo. Probably the guns found in Pieces in 1902 were built in this battle, the plague of 1743 and the fire pit In 1743, an unfortunate incident involving the small village of Fossa. In March of that year, a Genoese ship loaded with wheat from Patras had brought the plague to Messina. The Health Council of the city of Reggio Calabria had ordered all boats not to approach the port of Messina and instituirono of guard duty on the coast to enforce the ordinance. Throughout the month of April, arrived in Naples news confused on the situation of Messina, so the government did not take the necessary steps, among these smugglers were the brothers Peter and Paul Lombardo di Fossa, originating Fiumara. In any case, the epidemic also came to the Pit, the governor Ferri and the two mayors did then Fossa the scapegoat of the epidemic and ordered an expedition against the small town. Initially, the residents of Blackwater tried to resist, but had to give, all the inhabitants, including old men, women and children, were forced to strip naked and to be washed with oil and vinegar. I reggini were made to deliver the clothes and all property and forced the inhabitants to march naked to Punta Pezzo. ma piece. I fossesi remained in miserable conditions at the beach Piece for several days, the Ferri ordered him to Carlo Ruffo, Duke of Bagnara and Lord of Fiumara di Muro to provide him, as fossesi were still part of the feud fiumarese. But it was sent a few beans and a cow. Only the captain of a boat that was carrying onions from Tropea took pity on them, finally, between Blackwater and the neighboring towns about eighty people died from the plague. A Messina of 62,775 inhabitants were left just 11,436, Government aid were absorbed by Reggio and Messina and fossesi nothing came
15.
Reggio Calabria
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Reggio di Calabria, commonly known as Reggio Calabria listen or simply Reggio in Southern Italy, is the biggest city and the most populated comune of Calabria, Southern Italy. It is the capital of the Metropolitan City of Reggio Calabria, Reggio is located on the toe of the Italian Peninsula and is separated from the island of Sicily by the Strait of Messina. It is situated on the slopes of the Aspromonte, a long, about 560,000 people live in the metropolitan area, recognised in 2015 by Italian Republic as a metropolitan city. The region has been subject to earthquakes and it is a major economic center for regional services and transport on the southern shores of the Mediterranean. Reggio, with Naples and Taranto, is home to one of the most important archaeological museums, Reggio is the seat, since 1907, of the Archeological Superintendence of Bruttium and Lucania. The city center, consisting primarily of Liberty buildings, has a development along the coast with parallel streets. The city was an Italian candidate to become the European Capital of Culture. in 2019, during its 3, 500-year history Reggio has often been renamed. Each name corresponds with the major historical phases, Recion. Erythrà, the pre-Greek settlement populated by the Italic people, Rhégion, the Greek city from the archaic age to the Magna Grecia age, from the 8th to the 3rd centuries BC. Febèa, a period under Dionysius II of Syracuse, in the 4th century BC. Regium, its first Latin name, during the 3rd and 2nd centuries BC, rhègium Julium, as a noble Roman city during the Imperial age. Rivàh, Arabic name under the domination by Emirate of Sicily. Rìsa, under the Normans, between the 11th and 12th centuries, regols, Aragonese name under the Crown of Aragon, in the late 13th century. Reggio or Regio, usual Italian name in the Middle and Modern age, règgio di Calàbria, post Italian Unification. The toponym of the city is derived from Chaldean word Rec or maybe from the Greek one régnȳmi referring to the Straits between Calabria and Sicily as a break in the land. The sculptor Léarchos was at Reggio at the end of the 15th century BC, the land around Reggio was first known as Saturnia, or Neptunia, and later Italia, which in Roman times became the name of the whole Italian peninsula. After Cumae, Reggio is one of the oldest Greek colonies in southern Italy, the colony was settled by the inhabitants of Chalcis in 730 or 743 BC on the site of the older settlement, Erythrà, meaning the Red one. This dated back to the 3rd millennium BC and was established by the Ausones
16.
Eurostat
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Eurostat is a Directorate-General of the European Commission located in Luxembourg. The organisations in the different countries which actively cooperate with Eurostat are summarised under the concept of the European Statistical System, Eurostat operates pursuant to Regulation No 223/2009. As a Directorate-General of the Commission, Eurostat is allocated to the portfolio of the European Commissioner for Employment, Social Affairs, Skills and Labour Mobility, Marianne Thyssen. The current acting Director-General of Eurostat is Mariana Kotzeva since January 1,2017, former Deputy Director-General of Eurostat,1953 The Statistics Division for the European Coal and Steel Community established. 1958 The European Community founded and the forerunner of Eurostat established,1959 The present name of Eurostat as the Statistical Office of the European Communities adopted. First publication issued - on agricultural statistics,1960 First Community Labour Force Survey. 1970 The European System of Integrated Economic Accounts published and the general Statistical Classification of Economic Activities in the European Community established,1974 First domain in the statistical database Cronos databank installed. 1988 European Commission adopts a document defining the first policy for statistical information,1989 The Statistical Programme Committee established and the first programme adopted by the Council as an instrument for implementing statistical information policy. 1990 The Council adopts a directive on transmission of data to Eurostat. 1991 Eurostat’s role extended as a result of the agreement on establishment of the European Economic Area,1993 The single market extends Eurostat’s activities e. g. Intrastat established for statistics on intra-EU trade. Eurostat starts issuing regular news releases, harmonised Indices of Consumer Prices HICP published for the first time - designed for Economic and Monetary Union of the European Union convergence criteria. 1998 The eleven countries in at the start of EMU announced,1999 Start of EMU,1 January 2001. 2001 In April, Eurostat, in collaboration with five other international organisations launched the Joint Oil Data Exercise,2002 Start of the Euro on 1 January, Eurostat supplies key statistics for monetary policy. 2003 Irregularities were suspected in Eurostat, see Eurostat scandal,2004 Start of free-of-charge dissemination of all statistical data except microdata for research purposes. 2007 The currently valid five-year Statistical Programme 2008-2012 was adopted,2009 New European Regulation governing statistical cooperation in the European Union was adopted. 2010 Following strong critics from within and outside the EU on how it did handle falsified Greek data, the European Commission proposes powers for Eurostat to audit the books of national governments in response to the Greek government-debt crisis. 2011 Revision of European Statistics Code of Practice by the European Statistical System Committee, the Eurostat statistical work is structured into Themes and Sub-themes. They are placed on the Eurostat website at 11,00 in the morning and this is also the time that the press release content may be distributed to the public by press agencies
17.
Larger urban zone
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The larger urban zone, or Functional Urban Area, is a measure of the population and expanse of metropolitan areas in Europe. It consists of a city and its commuting zone, the definition was introduced in 2004 by Eurostat, the statistical agency of the European Union, in agreement with the national statistics offices in the member states. Eurostat data is provided on cities in the EU, its candidate countries, several cities were excluded by definition from the 2004 list of LUZs on technical, definitional grounds, such as the coincidence of the metropolitan area with the urban zone. The LUZ represents an attempt at a definition of the metropolitan area. Eurostats objective was to have an area from which a significant share of the commute into the city. To ensure a good availability, Eurostat adjusts the LUZ boundaries to administrative boundaries that approximate the functional urban region. In 2006 LUZ definitions were changed significantly, improving the comparability of LUZ definitions across different countries and this is a list of larger urban zones. The Urban Audit also includes cities from EFTA countries and EU candidate countries, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development uses a similar definition of Functional Urban Area to represent population sizes of cities in OECD countries. The figures in the Eurostat database are an attempt at a compromise between harmonised data for all of the European Union, and with availability of statistical data and this is a list of larger urban zones by population as of 2004. The 2004 Urban Audit also includes cities from EFTA countries and EU candidate countries, eurostats Urban Audit is about much more than demographics
18.
Cruise ship
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Transportation is not the only purpose of cruising, particularly on cruises that return passengers to their originating port, with the ports of call usually in a specified region of a continent. There are even cruises to nowhere or nowhere voyages where the ship makes 2–3 night round trips without any ports of call, by contrast, dedicated transport oriented ocean liners do line voyages and typically transport passengers from one point to another, rather than on round trips. The gradual evolution of passenger ship design from ocean liners to cruise ships has seen passenger cabins shifted from inside the hull to the superstructure with private verandas, the distinction between ocean liners and cruise ships has blurred, particularly with respect to deployment. Larger cruise ships have also engaged in longer trips such as transoceanic voyages which may not return to the port for months. Some former ocean liners operate as cruise ships, such as Marco Polo, the only dedicated transatlantic ocean liner in operation as a liner of December 2013 is Queen Mary 2 of the Cunard fleet. The industrys rapid growth has seen nine or more newly built ships catering to a North American clientele added every year since 2001, smaller markets, such as the Asia-Pacific region, are generally serviced by older ships. These are displaced by new ships in the growth areas. The worlds largest cruise ship is currently Royal Caribbean Internationals Harmony of the Seas beating her sister ships by about 2.15 meters, the birth of leisure cruising began with the formation of the Peninsular & Oriental Steam Navigation Company in 1822. The company started out as a line with routes between England and the Iberian Peninsula, adopting the name Peninsular Steam Navigation Company. It won its first contract to deliver mail in 1837, in 1840, it began mail delivery to Alexandria, Egypt, via Gibraltar and Malta. The company was incorporated by Royal Charter the same year, becoming the Peninsular, P&O first introduced passenger cruising services in 1844, advertising sea tours to destinations such as Gibraltar, Malta and Athens, sailing from Southampton. The forerunner of modern cruise holidays, these voyages were the first of their kind, the company later introduced round trips to destinations such as Alexandria and Constantinople. It underwent a period of expansion in the latter half of the 19th century, commissioning larger. Some sources mention Francesco I, flying the flag of the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies and she was built in 1831 and sailed from Naples in early June 1833, preceded by an advertising campaign. The cruise ship was boarded by nobles, authorities, and royal princes from all over Europe, however, it was restricted to the aristocracy of Europe and was not a commercial endeavour. Christian Wilhelm Allers published an account of it as Backschisch. The first vessel built exclusively for cruising, was Prinzessin Victoria Luise of Germany, designed by Albert Ballin. The ship was completed in 1900, the practice of luxury cruising made steady inroads on the more established market for transatlantic crossings
19.
Mandarin orange
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The mandarin orange, also known as the mandarin or mandarine, is a small citrus tree with fruit resembling other oranges. Mandarins are usually plain or in fruit salads. Specifically reddish-orange mandarin cultivars can be marketed as tangerines, but this is not a botanical classification, mandarins are smaller and oblate, rather than spherical like the common oranges. The taste is considered less sour, as well as sweeter and stronger, a ripe mandarin is firm to slightly soft, heavy for its size, and pebbly-skinned. The peel is very thin, with very little white mesocarp, so they are usually easier to peel. Hybrids generally have these traits to a lesser degree, the tree is more drought-tolerant than the fruit. The mandarin is tender and is damaged easily by cold and it can be grown in tropical and subtropical areas. The name mandarin orange is a calque of Swedish mandarin apelsin, the form mandarine derives from the French name for this fruit. The reason for the epithet mandarin is not clear, hypotheses ranging from the colour of some robes worn by mandarin dignitaries to the mandarin being an excellent kind of Chinese orange. Mandarins are generally peeled and eaten fresh, the fresh fruit is also used in salads, desserts and main dishes. Fresh tangerine juice and frozen juice concentrate are commonly available in the United States, the number of seeds in each segment varies greatly. The peel is used fresh, whole or zested, or dried as chenpi and it can be used as a spice for cooking, baking, drinks, or candy. Canned mandarin segments are peeled to remove the white pith prior to canning, otherwise, segments are peeled using a chemical process. First, the segments are scalded in hot water to loosen the skin, then they are bathed in a lye solution, finally, the segments undergo several rinses in plain water. They are often used in salads, desserts, and baking, in traditional Chinese medicine, the dried peel of the fruit is used in the regulation of chi, and also used to treat abdominal distension, to enhance digestion, and to reduce phlegm. Mandarins have also used in ayurveda. During Chinese New Year, mandarin oranges/tangerine/satsumas are considered symbols of abundance. During the two-week celebration, they are displayed as decoration and presented as gifts to friends, relatives
20.
University of Messina
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The University of Messina is a public university located in Messina, Italy. Founded in 1548 by Ignatius of Loyola, it became the model for hundreds of Jesuit colleges, the university is organized in 11 Faculties. The University of Messina has an old cultural and educational tradition, the predecessor institution of the University was the College of Messina founded in 1548 by Ignatius of Loyola. The University was refounded in 1838 by King Ferdinand II, in 1847 as result of the antiborbonic revolution of the city, the University was again closed and reopened after two years, with restrictions to students from regions other than Sicily. The earthquake in 1908 destroyed a part of the inadequately engineered University buildings including its famous library. But only a later in 1909 the Faculty of Law was reopened. The Faculties of Science, Pharmacy and Medicine reopened in the years 1914/15, the University occupies four main sites in Messina, its central Administration Buildings and four Faculties are in the centre of Messina. A further northern University location is in the Annunziata academic buildings where the Faculties of Veterinary Medicine, Pharmacy and this site is in the Annunziata zone not far from the City centre
21.
Ignatius of Loyola
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Saint Ignatius of Loyola was a Spanish priest and theologian, who founded the religious order called the Society of Jesus and became its first Superior General. The Jesuit order served the Pope as missionaries, and they were bound by a vow of obedience to the sovereign pontiff in regard to the missions. They therefore emerged as an important political force during the time of the Counter-Reformation, Ignatius is remembered as a talented spiritual director. He recorded his method in a treatise called the Spiritual Exercises, a simple set of meditations, prayers. Ignatius was beatified in 1609, and then canonized, receiving the title of Saint on March 12,1622 and his feast day is celebrated on July 31. He is the saint of the provinces of Gipuzkoa and Biscay as well as the Society of Jesus. Ignatius is also a foremost patron saint of soldiers, Íñigo López de Loyola was born in the municipality of Azpeitia at the castle of Loyola in todays Gipuzkoa, Basque Country, Spain. He was baptized Íñigo, after St. Enecus Abbot of Oña and it is not clear when he began using the Latin name Ignatius instead of his baptismal name Íñigo. It seems he did not intend to change his name, but rather adopted a name which he believed was a variant of his own, for use in France. Íñigo was the youngest of thirteen children and his mother died soon after his birth, and he was then brought up by María de Garín, the local blacksmiths wife. Íñigo adopted the surname de Loyola in reference to the Basque village of Loyola where he was born, as a boy Íñigo became a page in the service of a relative, Juan Velázquez de Cuéllar, treasurer of the kingdom of Castile. As a young man Íñigo had a love for military exercises as well as a tremendous desire for fame. He framed his life around the stories of El Cid, the knights of Camelot, and the Song of Roland. He joined the army at seventeen, and according to one biographer, he strutted about with his cape slinging open to reveal his tight-fitting hose and boots, a sword and dagger at his waist. Upon encountering a Moor who denied the divinity of Jesus, he challenged him to a duel to the death and he dueled many other men as well. In 1509, at the age of 18, Íñigo took up arms for Antonio Manrique de Lara and his diplomacy and leadership qualities earned him the title servant of the court, which made him very useful to the Duke. Under the Dukes leadership, Íñigo participated in many battles without injury, but at the Battle of Pamplona in 1521 he was gravely injured when a French-Navarrese expedition force stormed the fortress of Pamplona on May 20,1521. A cannonball hit him in the legs, wounding his right leg, in the end these operations left one leg shorter than the other, Íñigo would limp for the rest of his life, and his military career was ended
22.
Trams in Messina
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The Messina tramway is a tramway forming part of the public transport system in Messina, a city and comune in the region of Sicily, Italy. In operation since 2003, the tramway is 7.7 km long, trams returned to Messina on 3 April 2003, after a long gestation and construction period. Messinas earlier urban tramway network had been disposed of more than half a century earlier, the new tramway line replaced the former bus line no 28. The southern terminus of the new tramway, at Gazzi, was activated later, initially, the tram service is provided by 15 modern 5-section Alstom Cityway articulated trams. Messina database / photo gallery and Messina tram list at Urban Electric Transit – in various languages, Messina database / photo gallery at Phototrans – in various languages, including English. Messina tram at public-transport. net This article is based upon a translation of the Italian language version as at March 2011
23.
Frederick II, Holy Roman Emperor
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Frederick II was a Holy Roman Emperor and King of Sicily in the Middle Ages, a member of the House of Hohenstaufen. His political and cultural ambitions, based in Sicily and stretching through Italy to Germany, however, his enemies, especially the popes, prevailed, and his dynasty collapsed soon after his death. As such, he was King of Germany, of Italy, at the age of three, he was crowned King of Sicily as a co-ruler with his mother, Constance of Hauteville, the daughter of Roger II of Sicily. His other royal title was King of Jerusalem by virtue of marriage, Pope Gregory IX went so far as to call him an Antichrist. Speaking six languages, Frederick was a patron of science. He played a role in promoting literature through the Sicilian School of poetry. His Sicilian royal court in Palermo, from around 1220 to his death, saw the first use of a form of an Italo-Romance language. The poetry that emanated from the school had a significant influence on literature and he was also the first king who explicitly outlawed trials by ordeal as they were considered irrational. After his death, his line died out and the House of Hohenstaufen came to an end. Born in Iesi, near Ancona, Italy, Frederick was the son of the emperor Henry VI and he was known as the puer Apuliae. Some chronicles say that his mother, the forty-year-old Constance, gave birth to him in a square in order to forestall any doubt about his origin. In 1196 at Frankfurt am Main the infant Frederick was elected King of the Germans and his rights in Germany were disputed by Henrys brother Philip of Swabia and Otto of Brunswick. At the death of his father in 1197, Frederick was in Italy travelling towards Germany when the bad news reached his guardian, Conrad of Spoleto. Frederick was hastily brought back to his mother Constance in Palermo, Sicily, Constance of Sicily was in her own right queen of Sicily, and she established herself as regent. Upon Constances death in 1198, Pope Innocent III succeeded as Fredericks guardian, Fredericks tutor during this period was Cencio, who would become Pope Honorius III. However, Markward of Annweiler, with the support of Henrys brother, Philip of Swabia, reclaimed the regency for himself, in 1200, with the help of Genoese ships, he landed in Sicily and one year later seized the young Frederick. He thus ruled Sicily until 1202, when he was succeeded by another German captain, William of Capparone, Frederick was subsequently under tutor Walter of Palearia, until, in 1208, he was declared of age. His first task was to reassert his power over Sicily and southern Italy, Otto of Brunswick had been crowned Holy Roman Emperor by Pope Innocent III in 1209
24.
1908 Messina earthquake
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The 1908 Messina earthquake occurred on 28 December in Sicily and Calabria, southern Italy with a moment magnitude of 7.1 and a maximum Mercalli intensity of XI. The cities of Messina and Reggio Calabria were almost completely destroyed, on Monday 28 December 1908, from about 05,20 to 05,21, an earthquake of 7.1 on the moment magnitude scale occurred. Its epicentre was in the Strait of Messina which separates the port city of Messina in Sicily. Its precise epicentre has been pinpointed to the northern Ionian Sea area close to the narrowest section of the Strait and it had a depth of 5–6 miles. At least 91% of structures in Messina were destroyed or irreparably damaged and some 75,000 people were killed in the city, Reggio Calabria and other locations in Calabria also suffered heavy damage, with some 25.000 people killed. Reggios historic centre was almost completely eradicated. The number of casualties is based on the 1901 and 1911 census data and it was the most destructive earthquake to ever strike Europe. The ground shook for some 30 to 40 seconds, and the damage was widespread, in Calabria, the ground shook violently from Scilla to south of Reggio, provoking landslides inland in the Reggio area and along the sea-cliff from Scilla to Bagnara. In the Calabrian commune of Palmi on the Tyrrhenian coast, there was almost total devastation that left 600 dead, damage was also inflicted along the eastern Sicilian coast, but outside of Messina, it was not as badly hit as Calabria. The mesoseismal area was confined near the coast along a 1–4 km wide belt that shook and destroyed Messina, catania, the largest city in eastern Sicily, did not incur notable damage. a circular motion. The elevated death toll was due to the fact that most people were asleep, thousands were trapped under debris, suffering horrific injuries of which many would die. One week before the earthquake,160,000 inhabitants were counted in the entire Messina commune, about ten minutes after the earthquake, the sea on both sides of the Strait suddenly withdrew a 12-meter tsunami swept in, and three waves struck nearby coasts. It impacted hardest along the Calabrian coast and inundated Reggio Calabria after the sea had receded 70 meters from the shore, the entire Reggio seafront was destroyed and numbers of people who had gathered there perished. Nearby Villa San Giovanni was also badly hit, along the coast between Lazzaro and Pellaro, houses and a railway bridge were washed away. In Messina, the tsunami also caused more devastation and deaths, the second and third tsunami waves, coming in rapid succession and higher than the first, raced over the harbour, smashed boats docked at the pier, and broke parts of the sea wall. The ships that were attached to their moorings collided with one another. Afterwards Messina harbour was filled with floating wreckage and the corpses of drowned people, towns and villages along the eastern coast of Sicily were assaulted by high waves causing deaths and damage to boats and property. Two hours later the tsunami struck Malta, about 2000 people were killed by the tsunami in Messina, the eastern coast of Sicily, and in Reggio Calabria and its coastal environs. The Messina shoreline was irrevocably altered as large sections of the coast had sunk several feet into the sea, houses, churches, palaces and monuments, military barracks, commercial, municipal and public buildings had all collapsed entirely or were severely damaged
25.
Beaux-Arts architecture
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Beaux-Arts architecture expresses the academic neoclassical architectural style taught at the École des Beaux-Arts in Paris. The style of instruction that produced Beaux-Arts architecture continued without interruption until 1968. The Beaux-Arts style heavily influenced the architecture of the United States in the period from 1880 to 1920, in contrast, many European architects of the period 1860–1914 outside France gravitated away from Beaux-Arts and towards their own national academic centers. American architects of the Beaux-Arts generation often returned to Greek models, for the first time, repertories of photographs supplemented meticulous scale drawings and on-site renderings of details. Beaux-Arts training emphasized the production of quick conceptual sketches, highly finished perspective presentation drawings, close attention to the program, site considerations tended toward social and urbane contexts. In the façade shown to the right, Diana grasps the cornice she sits on in an action typical of Beaux-Arts integration of sculpture with architecture. A sense of appropriate idiom at the craftsman level supported the teams of the first truly modern architectural offices. The prestige of the École gave the style Beaux-Arts a second wind in combining the new manner with the traditional training and they were followed by an entire generation. Henry Hobson Richardson absorbed Beaux-Arts lessons in massing and spatial planning and his Beaux-Arts training taught him to transcend slavish copying and recreate in the essential fully digested and idiomatic manner of his models. Richardson evolved a personal style freed of historicism that was influential in early Modernism. The White City of the Worlds Columbian Exposition of 1893 in Chicago was a triumph of the movement, the Beaux-Arts curriculum was subsequently begun at Columbia University, the University of Pennsylvania, and elsewhere. From 1916, the Beaux-Arts Institute of Design in New York City schooled architects, painters, bosworth, Carnegie Mellon University, designed by Henry Hornbostel, and the University of Texas, designed by Paul Philippe Cret. Beaux-Arts architecture also brought a civic face to the railroad, two of the best American examples of the Beaux-Arts tradition stand within a few blocks of each other, Grand Central Terminal and the New York Public Library. Another prominent U. S. example of the style is the largest academic dormitory in the world, in the late 1800s, during the years when Beaux-Arts architecture was at a peak in France, Americans were one of the largest groups of foreigners in Paris. Many of them were architects and students of architecture who brought this back to America. Beaux-Arts was very prominent in public buildings in Canada in the early 20th century, notably all three prairie provinces legislative buildings are in this style. Buenos Aires is a center of Beaux-Arts architecture which continued to be built as late as the 1950s, national Theatre, Melbourne General Post Office building, Forrest Place, Perth Argus Building. Beaux-Arts Architecture in New York, A Photographic Guide United States, sixteenth Street Architecture – profiles of Beaux-Arts architecture in Washington D. C
26.
Greece
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Greece, officially the Hellenic Republic, historically also known as Hellas, is a country in southeastern Europe, with a population of approximately 11 million as of 2015. Athens is the capital and largest city, followed by Thessaloniki. Greece is strategically located at the crossroads of Europe, Asia, situated on the southern tip of the Balkan peninsula, it shares land borders with Albania to the northwest, the Republic of Macedonia and Bulgaria to the north, and Turkey to the northeast. Greece consists of nine regions, Macedonia, Central Greece, the Peloponnese, Thessaly, Epirus, the Aegean Islands, Thrace, Crete. The Aegean Sea lies to the east of the mainland, the Ionian Sea to the west, the Cretan Sea and the Mediterranean Sea to the south. Greece has the longest coastline on the Mediterranean Basin and the 11th longest coastline in the world at 13,676 km in length, featuring a vast number of islands, eighty percent of Greece is mountainous, with Mount Olympus being the highest peak at 2,918 metres. From the eighth century BC, the Greeks were organised into various independent city-states, known as polis, which spanned the entire Mediterranean region and the Black Sea. Greece was annexed by Rome in the second century BC, becoming a part of the Roman Empire and its successor. The Greek Orthodox Church also shaped modern Greek identity and transmitted Greek traditions to the wider Orthodox World, falling under Ottoman dominion in the mid-15th century, the modern nation state of Greece emerged in 1830 following a war of independence. Greeces rich historical legacy is reflected by its 18 UNESCO World Heritage Sites, among the most in Europe, Greece is a democratic and developed country with an advanced high-income economy, a high quality of life, and a very high standard of living. A founding member of the United Nations, Greece was the member to join the European Communities and has been part of the Eurozone since 2001. Greeces unique cultural heritage, large industry, prominent shipping sector. It is the largest economy in the Balkans, where it is an important regional investor, the names for the nation of Greece and the Greek people differ from the names used in other languages, locations and cultures. The earliest evidence of the presence of human ancestors in the southern Balkans, dated to 270,000 BC, is to be found in the Petralona cave, all three stages of the stone age are represented in Greece, for example in the Franchthi Cave. Neolithic settlements in Greece, dating from the 7th millennium BC, are the oldest in Europe by several centuries and these civilizations possessed writing, the Minoans writing in an undeciphered script known as Linear A, and the Mycenaeans in Linear B, an early form of Greek. The Mycenaeans gradually absorbed the Minoans, but collapsed violently around 1200 BC and this ushered in a period known as the Greek Dark Ages, from which written records are absent. The end of the Dark Ages is traditionally dated to 776 BC, the Iliad and the Odyssey, the foundational texts of Western literature, are believed to have been composed by Homer in the 7th or 8th centuries BC. With the end of the Dark Ages, there emerged various kingdoms and city-states across the Greek peninsula, in 508 BC, Cleisthenes instituted the worlds first democratic system of government in Athens
27.
Scythe
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A scythe is an agricultural hand tool for mowing grass or reaping crops. It has largely replaced by horse-drawn and then tractor machinery. The word scythe derives from Old English siðe, in Middle English and after it was usually spelt sithe or sythe. However, in the 15th century some began to use the sc- spelling as they thought the word was related to the Latin scindere. Nevertheless, the sithe spelling lingered and notably appears in Noah Websters dictionaries, a scythe consists of a shaft about 170 centimetres long called a snaith, snath, snathe or sned, traditionally made of wood but now sometimes metal. Simple snaiths are straight with offset handles, others have an S curve or are bent in three dimensions to place the handles in an ergonomic configuration but close to shaft. The snaith has either one or two handles at right angles to it, usually one near the upper end and always another roughly in the middle. The handles are usually adjustable to suit the user, a curved, steel blade between 60 to 90 centimetres ) long is mounted at the lower end at 90°, or less, to the snaith. The cutting edge of a blade is traditionally maintained by occasional peening followed by frequent honing. Peening requires some skill and is using a peening hammer. American style blades use a harder, more brittle, steel than European blades and are not usually peened, some examples have a laminated construction with a hard, brittle, core providing the edge and softer sides providing strength. The use of a scythe is traditionally called mowing, now often scything to distinguish it from machine mowing. The mower holds the top handle in the hand and the central one in the right, with the arms straight, the blade parallel and very close to the ground. The body is twisted to the right, the blade hooks the grass and is swung steadily to the left in a long arc ending in front of the mower. The mower takes a step forward and repeats the motion, proceeding with a steady rhythm. The correct technique has an action on the grass, cutting a narrow strip with each stroke, leaving a uniform stubble on the ground. The mower moves along the mowing-edge with the grass to the right. Each strip of ground mown by a scythe is called a swathe or swath, mowing may be done by a team of mowers, usually starting at the edges of a meadow then proceeding clockwise and finishing in the middle
28.
Zanclus
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Zanclus is the legendary first king of the Sicilian city of Messina. He is mentioned in a passage by Diodorus of Sicily. In modern Italian, the form is given as Zanclo, gegenus is recorded as the father of Zanclus. Diodorus writes of Zanclus as the eponym of Zancle. The giant Orion is said to have helped Zanclus in building the city, Zanclus has been identified with the male Grifone figure of Messinas traditional Mata e Grifone procession. The earliest records, by Francesco Maurolico, record only one the male figure, when Zanclus is identified with the male figure in modern times, his female partner is identified as the Titaness Rhea. Stephanus of Byzantium also wrote about Zanclus, stating that Zancle could have been named either after him or the well Ζάγκλη
29.
Anaxilas
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Anaxilas or Anaxilaus, son of Cretines, was a tyrant of Rhegium. He was originally from Messenia, a region in the Peloponnese, shortly after the Samian takeover, Anaxilas besieged the city himself, drove the Samians out, peopled it with fresh inhabitants, and changed its name to Messana, after his native Messene. Pausanias tells a different story. After the second war with the Spartans, Anaxilas assisted the refugees from Messina in the Peloponnese to take Zancle in Sicily, Anaxilas married Cydippe, daughter of Terillus, tyrant of Himera. In 480 BC he obtained the assistance of the Carthaginians for his father-in-law and it was this auxiliary army that Gelo defeated at Himera. Anaxilas wanted to destroy the Locrians, but was prevented by Hiero I of Syracuse, Anaxilas daughter was married to Hiero. Anaxilaus died in 476 BC, leaving Micythus guardian of his children and these gained control of their inheritance only in 467 BC, when Leophron became tyrant. However, in 461 BC the new rulers were removed by a revolt of both the citizens of Rhegium and Messana. This article incorporates text from a now in the public domain, Smith, William. Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology
30.
Messene
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This new Messene, todays Ancient Messene, was constructed over the ruins of Ithome, an ancient city originally of Achaean Greeks, destroyed previously by the Spartans and abandoned for some time. Currently the substantial ruins are a historical attraction. Much of it has been excavated and partly restored or preserved for study and public viewing. The site was never totally abandoned, the small village of Mavromati occupies what was the upper city around the fountain called klepsydra. Administrative structure and population figures refer primarily to it, archaia Messene is located 25 kilometres north of Kalamata and 60 kilometres east of Pylos. The main ancient source on Messene is the Guide to Greece of Pausanias, excavation of the site began in 1828 in connection with the French Morea Expedition during the Greek War of Independence. The French left in 1833, meanwhile, only exploratory excavation had been performed, since then a number of noted archaeologists have made contributions, not the least the current excavator. A museum of their extensive finds has been constructed within the old city walls and this site was awarded a European Union Prize for Cultural Heritage / Europa Nostra Award in 2011. During the Bronze Age the palace at Pylos controlled Messenia politically and economically and these groups were members of the coast-watchers, a military or quasi-military unit that presumably were stationed to guard various locations on the coast. Their failure is attested by the burning of Pylos a few months later by assailants unknown from the sea, the watchers include some Olumpiaioi from Orumanthos. John Bennet expressed the opinion that by Mezana is meant Messana and he supposed that the region around Ithome would already have had that name, to be reutilized by Epaminondas a thousand years later. After the defeat of the Spartan army at the Battle of Leuctra in Boeotia,371 BC and this time the victorious general, Epaminondas, entered the Peloponnesus with an international army of Boeotians, Argives and Messenians living abroad. Epaminondas resolved to support an independent Peloponnesus by building three fortified cities, Megalopolis and Mantinea in Arcadia and Messene in Messenia, in 85 days the combined armies and exiles guided by the engineers and artisans had complete the walled city of Messene over the site of the previous Ithome. The city included within its walls Mt. Ithome and enough agricultural land, the policy was justified almost immediately. After the departure of the Theban army the Spartans attempted to retake Messenia and this time the long struggle with Sparta was brought to a final end by the Macedonian conquest of Greece. After the departure of the allies the new city and the fate of Messenian independence were left in the hands of the Messenian exiles, apparently they had maintained a transitory community in exile, or diaspora, for some 300 years. Pausanias reports, even to this day they preserve it in its purity better than anywhere else in the Peloponnese, Messene was surrounded by a circuit wall 9 km long,7 metres —9 metres high. It was fortified by 30 square or horseshoe-shaped guard towers with doors admitting passage to a walkway on top of the wall
31.
Battle of Messene
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The Battle of Messene took place in 397 BC in Sicily. Carthage, in retaliation for the attack on Motya by Dionysius, had sent an army under Himilco, Himilco sailed to Panormus, and from there again sailed and marched along the northern coast of Sicily to Cape Pelorum,12 miles north of Messene. Himilco later sacked and leveled the city, which was rebuilt after the war. Carthage had stayed away from Sicilian affairs for seventy years after the defeat at Himera in 480 BC. However, Carthage, responding to the appeal for aid from Segesta against Selinus, had sent an expedition to Sicily under Hannibal Mago, responding to Greek raids on her Sicilian domain, Carthage launched another expedition that captured Akragas in 406 BC and Gela and Camarina in 405 BC. The conflict ended in 405 BC when Himilco and Dionysius, leader of the Carthaginian forces and tyrant of Syracuse respectively, the treaty left Carthage in direct or indirect control of 60% of Sicily, but confirmed Dionysius as the ruler of Syracuse. Dionysius spent the years between 405 and 398 BC fortifying Syracuse, securing his power, enlarging his army and navy and he also put down rebellions against his rule and hired workmen to create new weapons such as the catapult and new ships such as the Quinquereme. In 398 BC, Dionysius sent an embassy to Carthage threatening to declare war unless they agreed to give up all Greek cities under their control. Before the embassy returned from Carthage, Dionysius let loose his mercenaries on Carthaginians living on Syracusan lands, putting them to the sword and he then set out for Motya with his army, accompanied by 200 warships and 500 transports carrying his supplies and war machines. The army of Dionysius had swelled to 83,000 soldiers by the time it reached Motya, Dionysius captured Eryx, put Segesta and Entella under siege, then set about reducing Motya. Motya was a fortified city on an island in the middle of a lagoon. The citizens prepared to resist after cutting up the mole connecting the city to the mainland, Dionysius had to repair the mole, then use siege towers to get his battering rams close to the walls, breach the walls, and then send his soldiers to attack the town. While his army was occupied with activities, Himilco sailed from Carthage to Motya and managed to surprise the Greek navy. Himilco destroyed a number of the transports and trapped the Greek warships on the northern part of the lagoon. Dionysius responded by building a plank road on the isthmus north of Motya. Dionysius then commenced his assault on Motya, which fell despite stubborn resistance, Dionysius sacked the city, garrisoned the ruins and, keeping Segesta and Entella under siege, returned to Syracuse with most of his fleet and army for the winter. His brother Leptines of Syracuse kept 120 ships at Eryx, including at least thirty quinqueremes, Carthage may have been weakened by the plague brought over from Sicily in 405. When Motya was put under siege and most cities in Sicily broke free of Carthaginian control, Carthage sent the naval force under Himilco
32.
Carthage
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Carthage was the Phoenician city-state of Carthage and during the 7th to 3rd centuries BC, included its sphere of influence, the Carthaginian Empire. The empire extended over much of the coast of North Africa as well as encompassing substantial parts of coastal Iberia, Carthage was founded in 814 BC. At the height of the prominence it served as a major hub of trade. The city also had to deal with potentially hostile Berbers, the inhabitants of the area where Carthage was built. In 146 BC, after the third and final Punic War, Roman forces destroyed, redesigned, nearly all of the other Phoenician city-states and former Carthaginian dependencies subsequently fell into Roman hands. According to Roman sources, Phoenician colonists from modern-day Lebanon, led by Dido, Queen Elissa was an exiled princess of the ancient Phoenician city of Tyre. At its peak, the metropolis she founded, Carthage, came to be called the city, ruling 300 other cities around the western Mediterranean Sea. Elissas brother, Pygmalion of Tyre, had murdered Elissas husband, Elissa escaped the tyranny of her own country, founding the new city of Carthage and subsequently its later dominions. Details of her life are sketchy and confusing, but the following can be deduced from various sources, according to Justin, Princess Elissa was the daughter of King Belus II of Tyre. When he died, the throne was jointly bequeathed to her brother, Pygmalion and she married her uncle Acerbas, also known as Sychaeus, the High Priest of Melqart, a man with both authority and wealth comparable to the king. This led to increased rivalry between the elite and the monarchy. Pygmalion was a tyrant, lover of both gold and intrigue, who desired the authority and fortune enjoyed by Acerbas, Pygmalion assassinated Acerbas in the temple and kept the misdeed concealed from his sister for a long time, deceiving her with lies about her husbands death. At the same time, the people of Tyre called for a single sovereign, in the Roman epic of Virgil, the Aeneid, Queen Dido, the Greek name for Elissa, is first introduced as a highly esteemed character. In just seven years, since their exodus from Tyre, the Carthaginians have rebuilt a successful kingdom under her rule and her subjects adore her and present her with a festival of praise. Her character is perceived by Virgil as even more noble when she offers asylum to Aeneas and his men, who have recently escaped from Troy. A spirit in the form of the god, Mercury, sent by Jupiter, reminds Aeneas that his mission is not to stay in Carthage with his new-found love, Dido. Virgil ends his legend of Dido with the story that, when Aeneas tells Dido, her heart broken, as she lay dying, she predicted eternal strife between Aeneas people and her own, rise up from my bones, avenging spirit she says, an invocation of Hannibal. The settlements at Crete and Sicily were in conflict with the Greeks
33.
Dionysius I of Syracuse
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Dionysius I or Dionysius the Elder was a Greek tyrant of Syracuse, in what is now Sicily, southern Italy. He conquered several cities in Sicily and southern Italy, opposed Carthages influence in Sicily and he was regarded by the ancients as an example of the worst kind of despot—cruel, suspicious and vindictive. Dionysius began his life as a clerk in a public office. Because of his achievements in the war against Carthage that had begun in 409 BC, he was elected supreme military commander in 406 BC, in the year he seized total power. Dionysius the Elders victory over the democratic Syracuse represents both the very worst and the very best of the mercenary-leader, dionysiuss career as a despot occurred after he was given six hundred personal mercenaries to guard his person after faking an attack on his own life. He was able to increase this guard to one thousand and gradually consolidated his power and he imposed his mercenaries on all parts of the polis community. Such an act would have wiped out any suggestion that democracy was still in force. His rule was unconstitutional and illegitimate and could not fail to provoke rebellions among the partisans of democratic government, Dionysius position at home would be threatened even as early as 403 by those philosophically opposed to tyranny. Interestingly, Sparta, which had in the past deposed tyrants from Corinth to Athens, did not damn Dionysius, Dionysius would even have the privilege of being allowed to conscript mercenaries from lands under Spartan authority. The mercenary and the tyrant went hand-in-hand, Polybius for example noted how the security of despots rests entirely on the loyalty, the philosopher notes how based on this observation, the people of Syracuse were warned to not let Dionysius conscript too many guards during his reign. He also carried on an expedition against Rhegium, capturing it, in one campaign, in which he was joined by the Lucanians, he devastated the territories of Thurii and Croton in an attempt to defend Locri. After a protracted siege, he took Rhegium in 386 and sold the inhabitants as slaves and he also pillaged the temple of Caere on the Etruscan coast. In the Adriatic, to trade, Dionysius founded Ancona, Adria. After him, the Adriatic became a sea of Syracuse, in the Peloponnesian War, he joined the side of the Spartans and assisted them with mercenaries. In 385 BC, Alcetas of Epirus was a refugee in Dionysius court, Dionysius wanted a friendly monarch in Epirus, so he sent 2,000 Greek hoplites and 500 suits of Greek armour to help the Illyrians under Bardyllis in attacking the Molossians of Epirus. They ravaged the region and killed 15,000 Molossians, and he joined the Illyrians in an attempt to plunder the temple of Delphi. Sparta intervened under Agesilaus, however, and with aid from Thessaly, Macedonia, and the Molossians themselves, according to some sources, after gaining a prize for one of his tragedies, he was so elated that he drank himself to death. According to others, he was poisoned by his physicians at the instigation of his son, Dionysius the Younger who succeeded him as ruler of Syracuse
34.
Beach
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A beach is a landform along a body of water. It usually consists of particles, which are often composed of rock, such as sand, gravel, shingle, pebbles. The particles comprising a beach are occasionally biological in origin, such as shells or coralline algae. Some beaches have man-made infrastructure, such as posts, changing rooms. They may also have hospitality venues nearby, wild beaches, also known as undeveloped or undiscovered beaches, are not developed in this manner. Wild beaches can be valued for their beauty and preserved nature. Beaches typically occur in areas along the coast where wave or current action deposits, although the seashore is most commonly associated with the word beach, beaches are also found by lakes and alongside large rivers. Beach may refer to, small systems where rock material moves onshore, offshore, or alongshore by the forces of waves and currents, the former are described in detail below, the larger geological units are discussed elsewhere under bars. There are several parts to a beach that relate to the processes that form. The part mostly above water, and more or less influenced by the waves at some point in the tide, is termed the beach berm. The berm is the deposit of material comprising the active shoreline, the berm has a crest and a face — the latter being the slope leading down towards the water from the crest. At the very bottom of the face, there may be a trough, at some point the influence of the waves on the material comprising the beach stops, and if the particles are small enough, winds shape the feature. Where wind is the force distributing the grains inland, the deposit behind the beach becomes a dune and these geomorphic features compose what is called the beach profile. The beach profile changes seasonally due to the change in energy experienced during summer and winter months. In temperate areas where summer is characterised by calmer seas and longer periods between breaking wave crests, the profile is higher in summer. The gentle wave action during this season tends to transport sediment up the beach towards the berm where it is deposited, onshore winds carry it further inland forming and enhancing dunes. Conversely, the profile is lower in the storm season due to the increased wave energy. The removal of sediment from the berm and dune thus decreases the beach profile
35.
Swordfish
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Swordfish, also known as broadbills in some countries, are large, highly migratory, predatory fish characterized by a long, flat bill. They are a sport fish of the billfish category, though elusive. Swordfish are elongated, round-bodied, and lose all teeth and scales by adulthood and these fish are found widely in tropical and temperate parts of the Atlantic, Pacific, and Indian Oceans, and can typically be found from near the surface to a depth of 550 m. They commonly reach 3 m in length, and the maximum reported is 4.55 m in length and 650 kg in weight and they are the sole member of their family, Xiphiidae. The swordfish is named after its bill, which resembles a sword and this makes it superficially similar to other billfish such as marlin, but upon examination, their physiology is quite different and they are members of different families. They commonly reach 3 m in length, and the maximum reported is 4.55 m in length and 650 kg in weight, the International Game Fish Associations all-tackle angling record for a swordfish was a 1,182 lb specimen taken off Chile in 1953. Females are larger than males, and Pacific swordfish reach a greater size than northwest Atlantic and they reach maturity at 4–5 years of age and the maximum age is believed to be at least 9 years. The oldest swordfish found in a recent study were a 16-year-old female, swordfish ages are derived, with difficulty, from annual rings on fin rays rather than otoliths, since their otoliths are small in size. Swordfish are ectothermic animals, however, along some species of sharks, they have special organs next to their eyes to heat their eyes. Temperatures of 10 to 15 °C above the water temperature have been measured. The heating of the eyes greatly improves their vision, and consequently improves their ability to catch prey, of the 25, 000+ fish species, only 22 are known to have a mechanism to conserve heat. These include the swordfish, marlin, tuna, and some sharks, contrary to popular belief, the sword is not used to spear, but instead may be used to slash at its prey to injure the prey animal, to make for an easier catch. Mainly, the swordfish relies on its speed and agility in the water to catch its prey. It is undoubtedly among the fastest fish, but the basis for the frequently quoted speed of 97 km/h is unreliable, swordfish prefer water temperatures between 18 and 22 °C, but have the widest tolerance among billfish, and can be found from 5 to 27 °C. This highly migratory species typically moves towards colder regions to feed during the summer, swordfish feed daily, most often at night, when they rise to surface and near-surface waters in search of smaller fish. During the day, they occur to depths of 550 m and have exceptionally been recorded as deep as 2,878 m. Adults feed on a range of pelagic fish, such as mackerel, barracudinas, silver hake, rockfish, herring, and lanternfishes, but they also take demersal fish, squid. Large prey are typically slashed with the sword, while small are swallowed whole and they swim alone or in very loose aggregations, separated by as much as 10 m from a neighboring swordfish
36.
Syracuse, Sicily
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Syracuse is a historic city in Sicily, the capital of the province of Syracuse. The city is notable for its rich Greek history, culture, amphitheatres, architecture and this 2, 700-year-old city played a key role in ancient times, when it was one of the major powers of the Mediterranean world. Syracuse is located in the southeast corner of the island of Sicily, the city was founded by Ancient Greek Corinthians and Teneans and became a very powerful city-state. Syracuse was allied with Sparta and Corinth and exerted influence over the entirety of Magna Graecia, described by Cicero as the greatest Greek city and the most beautiful of them all, it equaled Athens in size during the fifth century BC. It later became part of the Roman Republic and Byzantine Empire, after this Palermo overtook it in importance, as the capital of the Kingdom of Sicily. Eventually the kingdom would be united with the Kingdom of Naples to form the Two Sicilies until the Italian unification of 1860, in the modern day, the city is listed by UNESCO as a World Heritage Site along with the Necropolis of Pantalica. In the central area, the city itself has a population of around 125,000 people, the inhabitants are known as Siracusans. Syracuse is mentioned in the Bible in the Acts of the Apostles book at 28,12 as Paul stayed there, the patron saint of the city is Saint Lucy, she was born in Syracuse and her feast day, Saint Lucys Day, is celebrated on 13 December. Syracuse was founded in 734 or 733 BC by Greek settlers from Corinth and Tenea, there are many attested variants of the name of the city including Συράκουσαι Syrakousai, Συράκοσαι Syrakosai and Συρακώ Syrako. The nucleus of the ancient city was the island of Ortygia. The settlers found the fertile and the native tribes to be reasonably well-disposed to their presence. The city grew and prospered, and for some time stood as the most powerful Greek city anywhere in the Mediterranean, colonies were founded at Akrai, Kasmenai, Akrillai, Helorus and Kamarina. The descendants of the first colonists, called Gamoroi, held power until they were expelled by the Killichiroi, the former, however, returned to power in 485 BC, thanks to the help of Gelo, ruler of Gela. Gelo himself became the despot of the city, and moved many inhabitants of Gela, Kamarina and Megera to Syracuse, building the new quarters of Tyche, the enlarged power of Syracuse made unavoidable the clash against the Carthaginians, who ruled western Sicily. In the Battle of Himera, Gelo, who had allied with Theron of Agrigento, a temple dedicated to Athena, was erected in the city to commemorate the event. Syracuse grew considerably during this time and its walls encircled 120 hectares in the fifth century, but as early as the 470s BC the inhabitants started building outside the walls. The complete population of its territory approximately numbered 250,000 in 415 BC, Gelo was succeeded by his brother Hiero, who fought against the Etruscans at Cumae in 474 BC. His rule was eulogized by poets like Simonides of Ceos, Bacchylides and Pindar, a democratic regime was introduced by Thrasybulos
37.
Hiero II of Syracuse
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Hiero II was the Greek Sicilian Tyrant of Syracuse from 270 to 215 BC, and the illegitimate son of a Syracusan noble, Hierocles, who claimed descent from Gelon. He was a general of Pyrrhus of Epirus and an important figure of the First Punic War. On the departure of Pyrrhus from Sicily the Syracusan army and citizens appointed him commander of the troops and he strengthened his position by marrying the daughter of Leptines, the leading citizen. In the meantime, the Mamertines, a body of Campanian mercenaries who had been employed by Agathocles, had seized the stronghold of Messana, and proceeded in harassing the Syracusans. They were finally defeated in a battle near Mylae along the Longanus river by Hiero. His grateful countrymen then made him king, in 264 BC he again returned to the attack, and the Mamertines called in the aid of Rome. Pressed by the Roman forces, in 263 he concluded a treaty with Rome, by which he was to rule over the south-east of Sicily and the eastern coast as far as Tauromenium. From this time until his death in 215 BC he remained loyal to the Romans, according to a story told by Vitruvius, Hiero suspected he was being cheated by the goldsmith to whom he had supplied the gold to make a votive crown for a temple. He asked Archimedes to find out if all the gold had been used, Archimedes, on discovering the principle of displacement needed to measure the density of the crown is said to have shouted eureka, eureka. Vitruvius concludes this story by stating that Archimedes method successfully detected the fraud, he had taken some of the gold. A picture of the prosperity of Syracuse during his rule is given in the sixteenth idyll of Theocritus, his favourite poet. In The Prince, Machiavelli cites Hiero as a virtuous man and a rare example of someone who rose to princehood from private station, comparing him to Moses, Cyrus, Theseus. The prominent German historian Alexander von Stauffenberg was habilitated in 1931 at the University of Würzburg for his work about Hiero II and this article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain, Chisholm, Hugh, ed. article name needed
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listen), Sicilian: Missina; Latin: Messana, Greek: Μεσσήνη) is the 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 more than 238,000[2] inhabitants in the city proper and about 650,000 in the Metropolitan City, it is located near the northeast corner of Sicily, at the Strait of Messina, opposite Villa San Giovanni on the mainland, and has close ties with Reggio Calabria. According to Eurostat[3] the FUA of the metropolitan area of Messina has, in 2014, 277,584 inhabitants.
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