1.
Hera
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Hera is the goddess of women and marriage in Greek mythology and religion. She is the daughter of the Titans Cronus and Rhea, Hera is married to her brother Zeus and is titled as the Queen of Heaven. One of her characteristics is her jealous and vengeful nature against Zeuss other lovers and offspring, Hera is commonly seen with the animals she considers sacred including the cow, lion and the peacock. Scholar of Greek mythology Walter Burkert writes in Greek Religion, Nevertheless, there are memories of an aniconic representation, as a pillar in Argos. Her counterpart in the religion of ancient Rome was Juno, According to Plutarch, Hera was an allegorical name and an anagram of aēr. So begins the section on Hera in Walter Burkerts Greek Religion, in a note, he records other scholars arguments for the meaning Mistress as a feminine to Heros, Master. John Chadwick, a decipherer of Linear B, remarks her name may be connected with hērōs, ἥρως, hero, a. J. van Windekens, offers young cow, heifer, which is consonant with Heras common epithet βοῶπις. R. S. P. Beekes has suggested a Pre-Greek origin and her name is attested in Mycenaean Greek written in the Linear B syllabic script as
2.
Province of Trapani
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Trapani is a province in the autonomous island region of Sicily in Italy. Its capital is the city of Trapani and it has an area of 2,460 square kilometres and a total population of 436,150. There are 24 comunes in the province, the nearby island of Pantelleria, noted for its wine production, and the Aegadian Islands are also administratively a part of Trapani province. The Province of Trapani is a centre for viticulture. The area now covered by the province was occupied successively by the Carthaginians, Greeks, the port of Trapani, first known as Drepana, then Drepanon, was inhabited by the Sicani and the Elymi becoming a prosperous Phoenician trading centre by the 8th century B. C. In the 16th century, it received privileges under Emperor Charles V of Spain who also strengthened the town walls, Trapani became the provincial capital in 1817. The province of Trapani borders the Tyrrhenian Sea to the north, the Mediterranean Sea to the south, and it is bordered to the east with only the provinces of Palermo and Agrigento. The territory has few flat areas, although with the exception of the mountains of Sparagio and Inici, the northwestern part is rugged in comparison to the south. The Egadi Islands consist of three islands, Favignana, Levanzo and Marettimo and two islets, Formica and Maraone. Other rivers include the torrential Modione, Mazaro, the Fiume, the Salemi and the Sossius, natural lakes such as Gorghi Tondi and Preola are in the comune of Mazara del Vallo, and the Lago di Venere is in Pantelleria. The waters are shallow and very salty, with marshland, the lagoon consists of four islands, Isola Longa Santa Maria, San Pantaleo and Schola. Province website Pictures, history, tourism, gastronomy, books, local products, local surnames, transportation in the province of Trapani
3.
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
4.
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
5.
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
6.
Archaic Greece
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According to Anthony Snodgrass, the Archaic period in ancient Greece was bounded by two revolutions in the Greek world. The Archaic period saw developments in Greek politics, economics, international relations, warfare and it laid the groundwork for the Classical period, both politically and culturally. The word archaic derives from the Greek word archaios, which means old and it refers to the period in ancient Greek history before the classical. The Archaic period was considered to have been less important and historically interesting than the classical period. More recently, however, Archaic Greece has come to be studied for its own achievements, with this reassessment of the significance of the Archaic period, some scholars have objected to the term archaic, due to its connotations in English of being primitive and outdated. No term which has suggested to replace it has gained widespread currency, however. Much of our evidence about the period of ancient Greece comes from written histories. By contrast, we have no evidence from the Archaic period. We have written accounts of life in the period in the form of poetry, and epigraphical evidence, including parts of law codes, inscriptions on votive offerings, however, none of this evidence is in the quantity for which we have it in the classical period. What is lacking in evidence, however, is made up for in the rich archaeological evidence from the Archaic Greek world. Indeed, where much of our knowledge of classical Greek art comes from later Roman copies, other sources for the period are the traditions recorded by later Greek writers such as Herodotus. However, these traditions are not part of any form of history as we would recognise it today, indeed, Herodotus does not even record any dates before 480 BC. Politically, the Archaic period saw the development of the polis as the predominant unit of political organisation, many cities throughout Greece came under the rule of autocratic leaders, called tyrants. The period also saw the development of law and systems of communal decision-making, with the earliest evidence for law codes, by the end of the Archaic period, both the Athenian and Spartan constitutions seem to have developed into their classical forms. The Archaic period saw significant urbanisation, and the development of the concept of the polis as it was used in classical Greece. The urbanisation process in Archaic Greece known as synoecism – the amalgamation of small settlements into a single urban centre – took place in much of Greece in the eighth century BC. Both Athens and Argos, for instance, began to coalesce into single settlements around the end of that century and these two factors created a need for a new form of political organisation, as the political systems in place at the beginning of the Archaic period quickly became unworkable. Though in the part of the classical period the city of Athens was both culturally and politically dominant, it was not until the late sixth century that it became a leading power in Greece
7.
Hellenistic period
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It is often considered a period of transition, sometimes even of decadence or degeneration, compared to the enlightenment of the Greek Classical era. The Hellenistic period saw the rise of New Comedy, Alexandrian poetry, the Septuagint, Greek science was advanced by the works of the mathematician Euclid and the polymath Archimedes. The religious sphere expanded to include new gods such as the Greco-Egyptian Serapis, eastern deities such as Attis and Cybele, the Hellenistic period was characterized by a new wave of Greek colonization which established Greek cities and kingdoms in Asia and Africa. This resulted in the export of Greek culture and language to new realms. Equally, however, these new kingdoms were influenced by the cultures, adopting local practices where beneficial, necessary. Hellenistic culture thus represents a fusion of the Ancient Greek world with that of the Near East, Middle East and this mixture gave rise to a common Attic-based Greek dialect, known as Koine Greek, which became the lingua franca through the Hellenistic world. Scholars and historians are divided as to what event signals the end of the Hellenistic era, Hellenistic is distinguished from Hellenic in that the first encompasses the entire sphere of direct ancient Greek influence, while the latter refers to Greece itself. The word originated from the German term hellenistisch, from Ancient Greek Ἑλληνιστής, from Ἑλλάς, Hellenistic is a modern word and a 19th-century concept, the idea of a Hellenistic period did not exist in Ancient Greece. Although words related in form or meaning, e. g, the major issue with the term Hellenistic lies in its convenience, as the spread of Greek culture was not the generalized phenomenon that the term implies. Some areas of the world were more affected by Greek influences than others. The Greek population and the population did not always mix, the Greeks moved and brought their own culture. While a few fragments exist, there is no surviving historical work which dates to the hundred years following Alexanders death. The works of the major Hellenistic historians Hieronymus of Cardia, Duris of Samos, the earliest and most credible surviving source for the Hellenistic period is Polybius of Megalopolis, a statesman of the Achaean League until 168 BC when he was forced to go to Rome as a hostage. His Histories eventually grew to a length of forty books, covering the years 220 to 167 BC, another important source, Plutarchs Parallel Lives though more preoccupied with issues of personal character and morality, outlines the history of important Hellenistic figures. Appian of Alexandria wrote a history of the Roman empire that includes information of some Hellenistic kingdoms, other sources include Justins epitome of Pompeius Trogus Historiae Philipicae and a summary of Arrians Events after Alexander, by Photios I of Constantinople. Lesser supplementary sources include Curtius Rufus, Pausanias, Pliny, in the field of philosophy, Diogenes Laertius Lives and Opinions of Eminent Philosophers is the main source. Ancient Greece had traditionally been a collection of fiercely independent city-states. After the Peloponnesian War, Greece had fallen under a Spartan hegemony, in which Sparta was pre-eminent but not all-powerful
8.
Ancient Greek
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Ancient Greek includes the forms of Greek used in ancient Greece and the ancient world from around the 9th century BC to the 6th century AD. It is often divided into the Archaic period, Classical period. It is antedated in the second millennium BC by Mycenaean Greek, the language of the Hellenistic phase is known as Koine. Koine is regarded as a historical stage of its own, although in its earliest form it closely resembled Attic Greek. Prior to the Koine period, Greek of the classic and earlier periods included several regional dialects, Ancient Greek was the language of Homer and of fifth-century Athenian historians, playwrights, and philosophers. It has contributed many words to English vocabulary and has been a subject of study in educational institutions of the Western world since the Renaissance. This article primarily contains information about the Epic and Classical phases of the language, Ancient Greek was a pluricentric language, divided into many dialects. The main dialect groups are Attic and Ionic, Aeolic, Arcadocypriot, some dialects are found in standardized literary forms used in literature, while others are attested only in inscriptions. There are also several historical forms, homeric Greek is a literary form of Archaic Greek used in the epic poems, the Iliad and Odyssey, and in later poems by other authors. Homeric Greek had significant differences in grammar and pronunciation from Classical Attic, the origins, early form and development of the Hellenic language family are not well understood because of a lack of contemporaneous evidence. Several theories exist about what Hellenic dialect groups may have existed between the divergence of early Greek-like speech from the common Proto-Indo-European language and the Classical period and they have the same general outline, but differ in some of the detail. The invasion would not be Dorian unless the invaders had some relationship to the historical Dorians. The invasion is known to have displaced population to the later Attic-Ionic regions, the Greeks of this period believed there were three major divisions of all Greek people—Dorians, Aeolians, and Ionians, each with their own defining and distinctive dialects. Often non-west is called East Greek, Arcadocypriot apparently descended more closely from the Mycenaean Greek of the Bronze Age. Boeotian had come under a strong Northwest Greek influence, and can in some respects be considered a transitional dialect, thessalian likewise had come under Northwest Greek influence, though to a lesser degree. Most of the dialect sub-groups listed above had further subdivisions, generally equivalent to a city-state and its surrounding territory, Doric notably had several intermediate divisions as well, into Island Doric, Southern Peloponnesus Doric, and Northern Peloponnesus Doric. The Lesbian dialect was Aeolic Greek and this dialect slowly replaced most of the older dialects, although Doric dialect has survived in the Tsakonian language, which is spoken in the region of modern Sparta. Doric has also passed down its aorist terminations into most verbs of Demotic Greek, by about the 6th century AD, the Koine had slowly metamorphosized into Medieval Greek
9.
Ancient Greece
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Ancient Greece was a civilization belonging to a period of Greek history from the Greek Dark Ages of the 12th-9th centuries BC to the end of antiquity. Immediately following this period was the beginning of the Early Middle Ages and this was followed by the period of Classical Greece, an era that began with the Greco-Persian Wars, lasting from the 5th to 4th centuries BC. Due to the conquests by Alexander the Great of Macedonia, Hellenistic civilization flourished from Central Asia to the end of the Mediterranean Sea. Classical Greek culture, especially philosophy, had a influence on ancient Rome. For this reason Classical Greece is generally considered to be the culture which provided the foundation of modern Western culture and is considered the cradle of Western civilization. Classical Antiquity in the Mediterranean region is considered to have begun in the 8th century BC. Classical Antiquity in Greece is preceded by the Greek Dark Ages and this period is succeeded, around the 8th century BC, by the Orientalizing Period during which a strong influence of Syro-Hittite, Jewish, Assyrian, Phoenician and Egyptian cultures becomes apparent. The end of the Dark Ages is also dated to 776 BC. The Archaic period gives way to the Classical period around 500 BC, Ancient Periods Astronomical year numbering Dates are approximate, consult particular article for details The history of Greece during Classical Antiquity may be subdivided into five major periods. The earliest of these is the Archaic period, in which artists made larger free-standing sculptures in stiff, the Archaic period is often taken to end with the overthrow of the last tyrant of Athens and the start of Athenian Democracy in 508 BC. It was followed by the Classical period, characterized by a style which was considered by observers to be exemplary, i. e. classical, as shown in the Parthenon. This period saw the Greco-Persian Wars and the Rise of Macedon, following the Classical period was the Hellenistic period, during which Greek culture and power expanded into the Near and Middle East. This period begins with the death of Alexander and ends with the Roman conquest, Herodotus is widely known as the father of history, his Histories are eponymous of the entire field. Herodotus was succeeded by authors such as Thucydides, Xenophon, Demosthenes, Plato, most of these authors were either Athenian or pro-Athenian, which is why far more is known about the history and politics of Athens than those of many other cities. Their scope is limited by a focus on political, military and diplomatic history, ignoring economic. In the 8th century BC, Greece began to emerge from the Dark Ages which followed the fall of the Mycenaean civilization, literacy had been lost and Mycenaean script forgotten, but the Greeks adopted the Phoenician alphabet, modifying it to create the Greek alphabet. The Lelantine War is the earliest documented war of the ancient Greek period and it was fought between the important poleis of Chalcis and Eretria over the fertile Lelantine plain of Euboea. Both cities seem to have suffered a decline as result of the long war, a mercantile class arose in the first half of the 7th century BC, shown by the introduction of coinage in about 680 BC
10.
Castelvetrano
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Castelvetrano is an Italian town and comune in the province of Trapani, Sicily, with a population of 31,824. The archeological site of Selinunte is located within the municipal territory, the first recorded mentions of Castelvetrano in the historical record date back to the 1100 and 1200s. By the 1400s, records exist of a federation of local cities, the church of St. John, outside the city walls, dates back to this period and was founded in 1412. The municipality borders with Campobello di Mazara, Mazara del Vallo, Menfi, Montevago, Partanna, Salemi and it counts the hamlets of Marinella di Selinunte and Triscina. Marinella lies nearby the Ancient Greek site of Selinunte, the town is predominantly a farming town, with the cultivation of vines and olive trees being the main focus. Woodworking is also an important sector, the center of Castelvetrano consists of three linked squares and many monuments can be found within these areas. The main square is Piazza Tagliavia which is adorned with fine buildings including the towns principal church, the Chiesa Madre. Inside the church are stuccoes by Ferraro and Giacomo Serpotta, near the church is the Municipio and also close by is the Purgatory Church, built in 1624–64, with its façade filled with statues. Castelvetrano Airfield Castelvetrano official website Selinunte official website
11.
Acropolis
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An acropolis is a settlement, especially a citadel, built upon an area of elevated ground—frequently a hill with precipitous sides, chosen for purposes of defense. An example in Ireland is the Rock of Cashel, Acropolis is also the term used by archaeologists and historians for the urban Castro culture settlements located in Northwestern Iberian hilltops. The most famous example is the Acropolis of Athens, which, by reason of its historical associations, although originating in the mainland of Greece, use of the acropolis model quickly spread to Greek colonies such as the Dorian Lato on Crete during the Archaic Period. Because of its classical Hellenistic style, the ruins of Mission San Juan Capistranos Great Stone Church in California, other parts of the world developed other names for the high citadel or alcázar, which often reinforced a naturally strong site. In Central Italy, many small rural communes still cluster at the base of a fortified habitation known as La Rocca of the commune. The term acropolis is also used to describe the complex of overlapping structures, such as plazas and pyramids, in many Maya cities, including Tikal
12.
Temple E (Selinus)
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Temple E at Selinus in Sicily is a greek temple of the doric order. It is found on the hill to the east of the citys acropolis and it was built towards the middle of the sixth century BC on top of the foundations of a more ancient building. It is the best conserved of the temples of Selinus but its present appearance is the result of anastylosis performed—controversially—in 1959, the peripteral temple belongs to the period of transition from the archaic to the classical period. It has a peristyle 25.33 wide x 67.82 metres long with six columns at the front, the columns are each 10.19 metres high with numerous traces of the stucco which originally covered them. As a result, the floorplan is unusually elongated, behind the adyton, separated from it by a wall, was the opisthodomos in antis. There are many of the optical illusions typical of the order, the strong tapering of the columns at their ends, contraction at the corners. A Doric frieze at the top of the walls of the naos consisted of metopes depicting people, with the heads and naked parts of the made of Parian marble. These metopes date to around 470 BC and show evidence of the evolution towards the classical style, all of them are kept in the Museo Archeologico di Palermo
13.
Greek drachma
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Three modern Greek currencies, the first introduced in 1832 and the last replaced by the euro in 2001. The euro did not begin circulating until 2002 but the rate was fixed on 19 June 2000. It was also a unit of weight. The name drachma is derived from the verb δράσσομαι and it is believed that the same word with the meaning of handful or handle is found in Linear B tablets of the Mycenean Pylos. Initially a drachma was a fistful of six oboloí or obeloí used as a form of currency as early as 1100 BC and being a form of bullion, bronze, copper, a hoard of over 150 rod-shaped obeloi was uncovered at Heraion of Argos in Peloponnese. Six of them are displayed at the Numismatic Museum of Athens and it was the standard unit of silver coinage at most ancient Greek mints, and the name obol was used to describe a coin that was one-sixth of a drachma. Similar information about Pheidons obeloi was also recorded at the Parian Chronicle, ancient Greek coins normally had distinctive names in daily use. The Athenian tetradrachm was called owl, the Aeginetic stater was called chelone, the exact exchange value of each was determined by the quantity and quality of the metal, which reflected on the reputation of each mint. The 5th century BC Athenian tetradrachm coin was perhaps the most widely used coin in the Greek world prior to the time of Alexander the Great and it featured the helmeted profile bust of Athena on the obverse and an owl on the reverse. In daily use they were called γλαῦκες glaukes, hence the proverb Γλαῦκ’ Ἀθήναζε, the reverse is featured on the national side of the modern Greek 1 euro coin. Drachmae were minted on different weight standards at different Greek mints, the standard that came to be most commonly used was the Athenian or Attic one, which weighed a little over 4.3 grams. The Armenian dram also derives its name from the drachma. S, modern commentators derived from Xenophon that half a drachma per day would provide a comfortable subsistence for the poor citizens. Earlier in 422 BC, we see in Aristophanes that the daily half-drachma of a juror is just enough for the daily subsistence of a family of three. Fractions and multiples of the drachma were minted by many states, most notably in Ptolemaic Egypt, notable Ptolemaic coins included the gold pentadrachm and octadrachm, and silver tetradrachm, decadrachm and pentakaidecadrachm. This was especially noteworthy as it would not be until the introduction of the Guldengroschen in 1486 that coins of substantial size would be minted in significant quantities, for the Roman successors of the drachma, see Roman provincial coins. The weight of the drachma was approximately 4.3 grams or 0.15 ounces. It was divided into six obols of 0.72 grams, the New Testament mentions both didrachma and, by implication, tetradrachma in context of the Temple tax. Lukes Gospel includes a parable told by Jesus of a woman with 10 drachmae, the drachma was reintroduced in May 1832, shortly before the establishment of the modern state of Greece
14.
Thucydides
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Thucydides was an Athenian historian and general. His History of the Peloponnesian War recounts the 5th century BC war between Sparta and Athens to the year 411 BC and his text is still studied at both universities and military colleges worldwide. The Melian dialogue remains a work of international relations theory while Pericles Funeral Oration is widely studied in political theory, history. More generally, Thucydides showed an interest in developing an understanding of nature to explain behaviour in such crises as plague, massacres, as in that of the Melians. In spite of his stature as a historian, modern historians know relatively little about Thucydidess life, the most reliable information comes from his own History of the Peloponnesian War, which expounds his nationality, paternity and native locality. Thucydides informs us that he fought in the war, contracted the plague and was exiled by the democracy and he may have also been involved in quelling the Samian Revolt. Thucydides identifies himself as an Athenian, telling us that his fathers name was Olorus and he survived the Plague of Athens that killed Pericles and many other Athenians. He also records that he owned gold mines at Scapte Hyle, because of his influence in the Thracian region, Thucydides wrote, he was sent as a strategos to Thasos in 424 BC. During the winter of 424–423 BC, the Spartan general Brasidas attacked Amphipolis, eucles, the Athenian commander at Amphipolis, sent to Thucydides for help. Thus, when Thucydides arrived, Amphipolis was already under Spartan control, Amphipolis was of considerable strategic importance, and news of its fall caused great consternation in Athens. It was blamed on Thucydides, although he claimed that it was not his fault, using his status as an exile from Athens to travel freely among the Peloponnesian allies, he was able to view the war from the perspective of both sides. During his exile from Athens, Thucydides wrote his most famous work History of the Peloponnesian War, because he was in exile during this time, he was free to speak his mind. This is all that Thucydides wrote about his own life, but a few facts are available from reliable contemporary sources. Herodotus wrote that the name Olorus, Thucydidess fathers name, was connected with Thrace, Thucydides was probably connected through family to the Athenian statesman and general Miltiades, and his son Cimon, leaders of the old aristocracy supplanted by the Radical Democrats. Cimons maternal grandfathers name was also Olorus, making the connection exceedingly likely, another Thucydides lived before the historian and was also linked with Thrace, making a family connection between them very likely as well. Finally, Herodotus confirms the connection of Thucydidess family with the mines at Scapté Hýlē, in essence, he was a well-connected gentleman of considerable resources who, by then retired from the political and military spheres, decided to fund his own historical project. The remaining evidence for Thucydidess life comes from rather less reliable later ancient sources, pausanias goes on to say that Thucydides was murdered on his way back to Athens. Many doubt this account, seeing evidence to suggest he lived as late as 397 BC, Plutarch claims that his remains were returned to Athens and placed in Cimons family vault
15.
Megara Hyblaea
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There were at least three cities named Hybla in ancient accounts of Sicily which are often confounded with each other, and among which it is sometimes very difficult to distinguish. It was unquestionably a Greek colony, deriving its origin from the Megara in Greece, and the circumstances attending its foundation are related in detail by Thucydides. Hence they again removed after the death of Lamis, and, at the suggestion of Hyblon, strabo also adopts the same view of the subject, as he represents Megara as founded about the same time with Naxos, and before Syracuse. It is impossible to reconcile the two accounts, but that of Thucydides is probably the most trustworthy, according to this the foundation of Megara may probably be placed about 726 BC. Professor Miller, in her reinvestigation of ancient source materials has determined that they point to various dates of foundation from 758 BC to 728 BC. Among the persons thus removed was the comic poet Epicharmus. According to Thucydides, this event took place 245 years after the foundation of Megara and it is certain that Megara never recovered its power and independence. From this time we meet with repeated mention of a place named Megara or Megaris, which it seems impossible to separate from Hybla,133 — of an extensive necropolis, about 1500 tombs of which have been explored, and of a deposit of votive objects from a temple. The harbour lay to the north of the town, in the mid-seventh century, the city was organised according to a regularised plan. An agora emerged with stoas on its north and eastern sides and this is among one of the earliest known agoras. This article incorporates text from a now in the public domain, Chisholm, Hugh. This article incorporates text from a now in the public domain, Smith, William. Dictionary of Greek and Roman Geography
16.
Megara
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Megara is a historic town and a municipality in West Attica, Greece. It lies in the section of the Isthmus of Corinth opposite the island of Salamis. Megara was one of the four districts of Attica, embodied in the four sons of King Pandion II. Megara was also a port, its people using their ships. Megara specialized in the exportation of wool and other products including livestock such as horses. It possessed two harbors, Pegae, to the west on the Corinthian Gulf and Nisaea, to the east on the Saronic Gulf of the Aegean Sea. In historical times, Megara was a dependency of Corinth, in which capacity colonists from Megara founded Megara Hyblaea. Megara then fought a war of independence with Corinth, and afterwards founded Chalcedon in 685 BC, Megara is known to have early ties with Miletos, in the region of Caria in Asia Minor. According to some scholars, they had built up a “colonisation alliance”, in the 7th/6th century BCE these two cities acted in concordance with each other. Both cities acted under the leadership and sanction of an Apollo oracle, Megara cooperated with that of Delphi. Miletos had her own oracle of Apollo Didymeus Milesios in Didyma, also, there are many parallels in the political organisation of both cities. In the late 7th century BC Theagenes established himself as tyrant of Megara by slaughtering the cattle of the rich to win over the poor, during the second Persian invasion of Greece Megara fought alongside the Spartans and Athenians at crucial battles such as Salamis and Plataea. Megaras defection from the Spartan-dominated Peloponnesian League became one of the causes of the First Peloponnesian War, by the terms of the Thirty Years Peace of 446-445 BC Megara was returned to the Peloponnesian League. In the Peloponnesian War, Megara was an ally of Sparta, the Megarian decree is considered to be one of several contributing causes of the Peloponnesian War. Athens issued the Megarian decree with the aim of choking out the Megarian economy, the decree banned Megarian merchants from territory controlled by Athens. The Athenians claimed that they were responding to the Megarians desecration of the Hiera Orgas, arguably the most famous citizen of Megara in antiquity was Byzas, the legendary founder of Byzantium in the 7th century BC. The 6th-century BC poet Theognis also came from Megara, in the early 4th century BC, Euclid of Megara founded the Megarian school of philosophy which flourished for about a century, and which became famous for the use of logic and dialectic. In 243 BC Megara expelled its Macedonian garrison and joined the Achaean League, the Megarians were proverbial for their generosity in building and endowing temples
17.
Diodorus Siculus
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Diodorus Siculus or Diodorus of Sicily was a Greek historian. He is known for writing the monumental universal history Bibliotheca historica, much of which survives and it is arranged in three parts. The first covers mythic history up to the destruction of Troy, arranged geographically, describing regions around the world from Egypt, India and Arabia to Greece, the second covers the Trojan War to the death of Alexander the Great. The third covers the period to about 60 BC, Bibliotheca, meaning library, acknowledges that he was drawing on the work of many other authors. According to his own work, he was born at Agyrium in Sicily, with one exception, antiquity affords no further information about his life and doings beyond in his work. Only Jerome, in his Chronicon under the year of Abraham 1968, writes, Diodorus of Sicily and it was divided into three sections. In the next section, he recounts the history of the world from the Trojan War down to the death of Alexander the Great, the last section concerns the historical events from the successors of Alexander down to either 60 BC or the beginning of Julius Caesars Gallic Wars. He selected the name Bibliotheca in acknowledgment that he was assembling a composite work from many sources. His account of gold mining in Nubia in eastern Egypt is one of the earliest extant texts on the topic, pappus of Alexandria wrote a Commentary on Diodoruss Analemma. The now lost Analemma applied geometrical constructions in a plane to solve some astronomy related problems of spherical geometry and it contained, for example, a discussion of sundial theory. They are also boasters and threateners and are fond of pompous language, pliny the Elder Strabo Acadine Ambaglio, Dino, Franca Landucci Gattinoni and Luigi Bravi. Diodoro Siculo, Biblioteca storica, commento storico, introduzione generale, aspects of Greek History 750-323 BC, A Source-based Approach. Library of History, Loeb Classical Library, Siculus, Diodorus, G. Booth, H. Valesius, I. The Historical Library of Diodorus the Sicilian in Fifteen Books to which are added the Fragments of Diodorus, siculi, Diodori, Peter Wesseling, L. Rhodoman, G. Heyn, N. Eyring. Bibliothecae Historicae Libri Qui Supersunt, Nova Editio, Diodorus Siculus, the manuscripts of the Bibliotheca Historica
18.
Celery
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Celery is a marshland plant in the family Apiaceae that has been cultivated as a vegetable since antiquity. Celery has a long fibrous stalk tapering into leaves, depending on location and cultivar, either its stalks, leaves, or hypocotyl are eaten and used in cooking. Celery seed is used as a spice, its extracts are used in medicines. Celery leaves are pinnate to bipinnate with rhombic leaflets 3–6 cm long, the flowers are creamy-white, 2–3 mm in diameter, and are produced in dense compound umbels. The seeds are ovoid to globose,1. 5–2 mm long. Modern cultivars have been selected for solid petioles, leaf stalks, a celery stalk readily separates into strings which are bundles of angular collenchyma cells exterior to the vascular bundles. The earliest attested form of the word is the Mycenaean Greek se-ri-no, celery was described by Carl Linnaeus in Volume One of his Species Plantarum in 1753. Wild celery, Apium graveolens var. graveolens, grows to 1 m tall, by the 19th century, the season for celery had been extended, to last from the beginning of September to late in April. In North America, commercial production of celery is dominated by the cultivar called Pascal celery, Gardeners can grow a range of cultivars, many of which differ from the wild species, mainly in having stouter leaf stems. They are ranged under two classes, white and red, the stalks grow in tight, straight, parallel bunches, and are typically marketed fresh that way, without roots and just a little green leaf remaining. The stalks are eaten raw, or as an ingredient in salads, or as a flavoring in soups, stews, in Europe, another popular variety is celeriac, Apium graveolens var. rapaceum, grown because its hypocotyl forms a large bulb, white on the inside. The bulb could be kept for months in winter and mostly serves as an ingredient in soup. It can also be ground up and used in salads, the leaves are used as seasoning, the small, fibrous stalks find only marginal use. Leaf celery or Chinese celery, Apium graveolens var. secalinum, is a cultivar from East Asia, the wild form of celery is known as smallage. It has a stalk with wedge-shaped leaves, the whole plant having a coarse, earthy taste. The stalks are not usually eaten, but the leaves may be used in salads, with cultivation and blanching, the stalks lose their acidic qualities and assume the mild, sweetish, aromatic taste particular to celery as a salad plant. Harvesting occurs when the size of celery in a field is marketable, due to extremely uniform crop growth. The petioles and leaves are removed and harvested, celery is packed by size, under optimal conditions, celery can be stored for up to seven weeks between 0 to 2 °C
19.
Phoenicia
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The enterprising, sea-based Phoenician civilization spread across the Mediterranean between 1500 BC and 300 BC. Their civilization was organized in city-states, similar to those of Ancient Greece, perhaps the most notable of which were Tyre, Sidon, Arvad, Berytus and Carthage. Each city-state was an independent unit, and it is uncertain to what extent the Phoenicians viewed themselves as a single nationality. In terms of archaeology, language, lifestyle, and religion there was little to set the Phoenicians apart as markedly different from other Semitic Canaanites. The Phoenicians were the first state-level society to make use of alphabets. By their maritime trade, the Phoenicians spread the use of the alphabet to Anatolia, North Africa, and Europe, where it was adopted by the Greeks, the name Phoenicians, like Latin Poenī, comes from Greek Φοίνικες. The word φοῖνιξ phoînix meant variably Phoenician person, Tyrian purple, the word may be derived from φοινός phoinós blood red, itself possibly related to φόνος phónos murder. Beekes has suggested a Pre-Greek origin of the ethnonym, the oldest attested form of the word in Greek may be the Mycenaean po-ni-ki-jo, po-ni-ki, possibly borrowed from Ancient Egyptian fnḫw Asiatics, Semites, although this derivation is disputed. The folk-etymological association of Φοινίκη with φοῖνιξ mirrors that in Akkadian which tied kinaḫni, the land was natively known as knʿn and its people as the knʿny. In the Amarna tablets of the 14th century BC, people from the region called themselves Kenaani or Kinaani, the ethnonym survived in North Africa until the 4th century AD. Herodotus account refers to the myths of Io and Europa, according to the Persians best informed in history, the Phoenicians began the quarrel. The Greek historian Strabo believed that the Phoenicians originated from Bahrain, Herodotus also believed that the homeland of the Phoenicians was Bahrain. The people of Tyre in South Lebanon in particular have long maintained Persian Gulf origins, however, there is little evidence of occupation at all in Bahrain during the time when such migration had supposedly taken place. Canaanite culture apparently developed in situ from the earlier Ghassulian chalcolithic culture, Byblos is attested as an archaeological site from the Early Bronze Age. The Late Bronze Age state of Ugarit is considered quintessentially Canaanite archaeologically, fernand Braudel remarked in The Perspective of the World that Phoenicia was an early example of a world-economy surrounded by empires. The high point of Phoenician culture and sea power is usually placed c, archaeological evidence consistent with this understanding has been difficult to identify. A unique concentration in Phoenicia of silver hoards dated between 1200 and 800 BC, however, contains hacksilver with lead isotope ratios matching ores in Sardinia and Spain. This metallic evidence agrees with the memory of a western Mediterranean Tarshish that supplied Solomon with silver via Phoenicia
20.
Elymians
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The Elymians were an ancient people who inhabited the western part of Sicily during the Bronze Age and Classical antiquity. Apart from mythological tales, there is known about the identity. They are indistinguishable from their Sicani neighbours in the record of the early Iron Age. As yet, no one has succeeded in deciphering the Elymian language, the Elymians maintained friendly relations with Carthage but came into frequent conflict with the expansionist Greek colonies of western Sicily, especially Selinus. Boundary disputes with Selinus broke out into open warfare on several occasions after 580 BC and they sought to ally first with Athens against Selinus, provoking the disastrous Sicilian expedition of 415 BC-413 BC. Following this failure they encouraged the Carthaginians to attack Selinus in 409 BC, however, they turned on Carthage during the First Punic War and allied with Rome instead. The Elymians were granted a status under Roman rule and were exempted from taxes. The Elymians appear to have disappeared from view under Roman rule. The Elymi shared western Sicily with the Sicani, the Phoenicians and their three most important cities were Segesta, the political centre, Eryx, a religious centre, and Entella. Other cities were Elima, Halyciae, Iaitas, Hypana, ancient peoples of Italy Prehistoric Italy Monte Polizzo Sicilian Peoples, The Elymians by Vincenzo Salerno
21.
Segesta
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Segesta was one of the major cities of the Elymian people, one of the three indigenous peoples of Sicily. The other major cities of the Elymians were Eryx and Entella and it is located in the northwestern part of Sicily in Italy, near the modern comune of Calatafimi-Segesta in the province of Trapani. The population of Segesta was mixed Elymian and Ionian Greek, though the Elymians were soon Hellenized, Segesta was in constant conflict with Selinus, which probably tried to assure itself a port on the Tyrrhenian Sea. The first clashes were in 580-576 BC, and again in 454 BC, in 415 BC Segesta asked Athens for help against Selinus, leading to a disastrous Athenian expedition in Sicily. Later they asked Carthage for help, leading to the destruction of the city of Selinus by the hands of Carthage. Segesta remained an ally of Carthage, it was besieged by Dionysius of Syracuse in 397 BC, and it was destroyed by Agathocles in 307 BC, in 276 BC the city was allied with Pyrrhus, but changed side in 260 BC when it surrendered to the Romans. The city was not punished by the Romans for its alliance with Carthage, but owing to the mythical common origin of the Romans. In 104 BC the slave rebellion led by Athenion started in Segesta, little is known about the city under Roman rule, but it is probable that the population gradually moved to the port city of Castellammare del Golfo due to better trading opportunities. The city was destroyed by the Vandals, the ruins of the city are located on the top of Monte Bàrbaro at 305 m above sea level. The city was protected by steep slopes on several sides and by walls on the gentle slope towards the temple. The hilltop offers a view over the valley towards the Gulf of Castellamare, the city controlled several major roads between the coast to the north and the hinterland. Very little is known about the city plan, aerial photography indicates a regular city plan, built in part on terraces to overcome the natural sloping terrain. The current remains might be from the reconstruction after the destruction of the city by Agathocles, current archaeological work indicates that the site was reoccupied by a Muslim community in the Norman period. Excavations have unearthed a Muslim necropolis and a mosque from the 12th century next to a Norman castle, evidence suggests that the mosque was destroyed after the arrival of a new Christian overlord at the beginning of the 13th century. The city appears to have been abandoned by the second half of the 13th century. On a hill just outside the site of the ancient city of Segesta lies a well preserved Greek Doric temple. It is thought to have built in the 420s BC by an Athenian architect and has six by fourteen columns on a base measuring 21 by 56 meters. Several elements suggest that the temple was never actually finished, the columns have not been fluted as they normally would have been in a Doric temple and there are still tabs present in the blocks of the base
22.
Rhodes
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Rhodes is the largest of the Dodecanese islands in terms of land area and also the island groups historical capital. Administratively the island forms a municipality within the Rhodes regional unit. The principal town of the island and seat of the municipality is Rhodes, the city of Rhodes had 50,636 inhabitants in 2011. It is located northeast of Crete, southeast of Athens and just off the Anatolian coast of Turkey, Rhodes nickname is The island of the Knights, named after the Knights of Saint John of Jerusalem, who once conquered the land. Historically, Rhodes was famous worldwide for the Colossus of Rhodes, the Medieval Old Town of the City of Rhodes has been declared a World Heritage Site. Today, it is one of the most popular tourist destinations in Europe, the island has been known as Ρόδος in Greek throughout its history. In addition, the island has been called Rodi in Italian, Rodos in Turkish, and Rodi or Rodes in Ladino. The island of Rhodes is shaped like a spearhead,79.7 km long and 38 km wide, with an area of approximately 1,400 square kilometres. The city of Rhodes is located at the tip of the island, as well as the site of the ancient. The main air gateway is located 14 km to the southwest of the city in Paradisi, the road network radiates from the city along the east and west coasts. There are mineral-rich spring water used to give medicinal baths and the spa resorts offer various health treatments, Rhodes is situated 363 km east-south-east from the Greek mainland, and 18 km from the southern shore of Turkey. The interior of the island is mountainous, sparsely inhabited and covered with forests of pine, while the shores are rocky, the island has arable strips of land where citrus fruit, wine grapes, vegetables, olives and other crops are grown. The Rhodian population of deer was found to be genetically distinct in 2005. In Petaloudes Valley, large numbers of tiger moths gather during the summer months, mount Attavyros, at 1,216 metres, is the islands highest point of elevation. Earthquakes include the 226 BC earthquake that destroyed the Colossus of Rhodes, one on 3 May 1481 which destroyed much of the city of Rhodes, and one on 26 June 1926. On 15 July 2008, Rhodes was struck by a 6.3 magnitude earthquake causing minor damage to a few old buildings, Rhodes has a hot-summer Mediterranean climate. The island was inhabited in the Neolithic period, although remains of this culture. In the 16th century BC, the Minoans came to Rhodes, later Greek mythology recalled a Rhodian race called the Telchines and associated the island of Rhodes with Danaus, it was sometimes nicknamed Telchinis
23.
Knidos
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Knidos or Cnidus was an ancient Greek city of Caria and part of the Dorian Hexapolis, in south-western Asia Minor, modern-day Turkey. It was situated on the Datça peninsula, which forms the side of the Sinus Ceramicus. By the 4th century BC, Knidos was located at the site of modern Tekir, but earlier, it was probably at the site of modern Datça. It was built partly on the mainland and partly on the Island of Triopion or Cape Krio, the debate about it being an island or cape is caused by the fact that in ancient times it was connected to the mainland by a causeway and bridge. Today the connection is formed by a sandy isthmus. The extreme length of the city was less than a mile. Knidos was a Hellenic city of high antiquity, diodorus Siculus claimed that Cnidus was founded by both Lacedaemonians and Argives. They ultimately submitted to Cyrus, and from the battle of Eurymedon to the part of the Peloponnesian War they were subject to Athens. During the hellenistic age, Knidos boasted a school, however. In their expansion into the region, the Romans easily obtained the allegiance of Knidians, eudoxus, the astronomer, Ctesias, the writer on Persian history, and Sostratus, the builder of the celebrated Pharos at Alexandria, are the most remarkable of the Knidians mentioned in history. Bishop Evander was at the Second Council of Constantinople in 553, no longer a residential bishopric, Cnidus is today listed by the Catholic Church as a titular see. The first Western knowledge of the site was due to the mission of the Dilettante Society in 1812, the most famous statue by Praxiteles, the Aphrodite of Knidos, was made for Cnidus. It has perished, but late copies exist, of which the most faithful is in the Vatican Museums, the Knidos Lion is now displayed under the roof of the Great Court in the British Museum
24.
Lipari
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Lipari is the largest of the Aeolian Islands in the Tyrrhenian Sea off the northern coast of Sicily, southern Italy, it is also the name of the islands main town. Its population is 11,231, but during the May to September tourist season, Lipari is the largest of a chain of islands in a volcanic archipelago situated in between Vesuvius and Etna. The island has an area of 37.6 square kilometres and is 30 kilometres from Sicily. Geologists agree on the fact that Lipari was created by a succession of four volcanic movements, a further important phenomenon should have happened around 9000 BC. The last recorded eruptions occurred in the fifth century CE when airborne pumice, together with volcanic ash, the volcanoes are considered active, and steaming fumaroles and hydrothermal activity may still be seen. As a result of its origin, the island is covered with pumice. Pumice mining has become an industry on Lipari, and the pale pumice from Lipari is shipped worldwide. Liparis history is rich in incidents as witnessed by the recent retrievals of several necropolis, humans seem to have inhabited the island already in 5000 BC, though a local legend gives the eponymous name Liparus to the leader of a people coming from Campania. In the Mycenaean Period, Lipari has yielded pottery from LHI to LHIII, liparis continuous occupation may have been interrupted violently when in the late 9th century an Ausonian civilization site was burned and apparently not rebuilt. Many household objects have been retrieved from the charred site, Greek colonists from Knidos arrived at Lipara ~580 BC after their first colonization attempt in Sicily failed and their leader, Pentathlos, was killed. They settled on the site of the now known as Castello. The colony successfully fought the Etruscans for control of the Tyrrhenian Sea, Lipara prospered, but in 304 Agathokles took the town by treachery and is said to have lost all of his pillage from it in a storm at sea. Many objects recovered from old wrecks are now in the Aeolian Museum of Lipari, Lipara became a Carthaginian naval base during the first Punic War, but fell to Roman forces in 252–251 BC, and was occupied by Agrippa in Octavians campaign against Pompei. Under the Roman Empire, it was a place of retreat, the presence of the relics has been attested since at least 546. In the 9th century, Sicily was conquered by the Arabs, in 839 the Saracens slaughtered much of the population, the relics of St. Bartholomew were moved to Benevento, and Lipari was eventually almost totally abandoned. The Normans conquered the Arabs throughout Sicily between 1060 and 1090, and repopulated the island once their rule was secure, the Lipari episcopal seat was reinstated in 1131. Though still plagued by raids, the island was continually populated from this time onward. In 1544, Hayreddin Barbarossa, together with the French fleet of Captain Polin under a Franco-Ottoman alliance, ransacked Lipari and he also mentioned the tears, wailings and cries of these poor Lipariotes, the father regarding his son and the mother her daughter
25.
Marsala
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Marsala is an Italian town located in the Province of Trapani in the westernmost part of Sicily. Marsala is the most populated town in Trapani District and the fifth in Sicily, the town is famous for the docking of Garibaldi on 11 May 1860 and for its Marsala wine. A feature of the area is the Natural Reserve called Stagnone Lagoon — a marine area with salt ponds, Marsala is built on the ruins of the ancient Carthaginian city of Lilybaion, and includes in its territory the archaeological site of Motya island, an ancient Phoenician town. Situated at the western point of Sicily, the town was founded on Lilibeo Cape from where the Aegadian Islands. The territory of Marsala,241 square kilometres, has a cultural and landscape heritage, its area includes the Stagnone Lagoon. The city of Marsala had a population of about 86,000 until the end of 1970, when Petrosino, the area of Marsala is classified as a seismic zone 2. In the last 200 years three earthquakes of medium-high intensity were recorded,18 May 1828 – magnitude 5.1715 January 1968 – Belice earthquake which in Marsala reached VII Mercalli scale. 7 June 1981 – magnitude 4.60 with epicentre in Borgo Elefante in Mazara del Vallo, the weather is warm in summer with a maximum of 39 °C. Winters are rainy with temperatures between 10 °C and 17 °C, in 397 BCE the Phoenician colony of Motya on the southwestern coast of Sicily was invaded and destroyed by the Syracusan tyrant Dionysius I. The survivors founded a town on the mainland nearby that they called Lilybaion, The town that looks at Libya, on the site of modern-day Marsala. The First Punic War began here when the Punic army landed at Lilybaion in 265/264 BCE, then marched across Sicily to Messina, the Punic fortress Lilybaion was never conquered although it was besieged several times, e. g. by Pyrrhus of Epirus and by the Romans. In 241 BCE it was given to the Romans as part of the treaty ending the First Punic War. The commercial centre was enriched with mansions and public buildings and dubbed splendidissima urbs by Cicero, ravaged by Vandals during the 5th century CE, the town was annexed in the 6th century to Justinians Byzantine Empire. In this period the town was struck by dysentery, raided by pirates, the arrival of Arabic Berbers at the nearby Granitola mount in the 8th century entailed the resumption of commerce and the start of the rebirth of the town. The town was renamed Marsa ʿAlī ʿAlīs harbour or maybe, Marsa ʿāliyy, Big harbour, for the width of the ancient harbour, another possible derivation is Marsa Allāh, Gods harbour. Since the end of the 11th century, the area has been conquered by Swedish, Norman, Angevin, during this time, Marsala became wealthy, primarily through trade. However the blocking up of the harbour of Punta Alga, decreed by Emperor Charles V so as to stop Saracen forays, the development of Marsala wine at the end of the 18th century, headed by English merchants settled in Sicily, considerably improved local trade. This triggered an expansion in Marsala, including the funding of infrastructure projects such as the current harbour of Margitello
26.
Platani (river)
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The Platani, known in ancient Greek as the Λύκος or Ἁλυκός, is a river in southern Sicily, Italy. It flows through the provinces of Palermo and Agrigento, marking the boundary between the latter and that of Caltanissetta, the river generates at the confluence of Platani di Lercara and Platani di Castronuovo, which, respectively, springs in the comuni of Lercara Friddi and Santo Stefano Quisquina. From the confluence to the mouth it runs for c.83 km, along its course the Platani receives the waters of several affluents, including the Gallo dOro, Turvoli, Vallone Morella, Vallone Tumarrano and Vallone di Aragona. The river flows into the Strait of Sicily, near Capo Bianco, on the boundary of the comuni of Ribera and Cattolica Eraclea
27.
Heraclea Minoa
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Heraclea Minoa was an ancient Greek city, situated on the southern coast of Sicily at the mouth of the river Halycus,25 km west of Agrigentum. Its ruins are now found near a town of the same name in the comune Cattolica Eraclea in Italy. Archaeological finds suggest that it was founded in the middle of the 6th century BC and it was at first an outpost of the Greek colony of Selinus, then overthrown by Carthage, later a border town of Agrigentum. It passed into Carthaginian hands by the treaty of 405 BC, was won back in 397 BC by Dionysius in his first Punic war and it was here that Dion landed in 357 BC, when he attacked Syracuse. The Agrigentines won it back in 309 BC, but it fell under the power of Agathocles. It was temporarily recovered for Greece by Pyrrhus in 277 BC and its two names were connected with two separate mythological legends in regard to its origin. Heraclides Ponticus adds, that there was previously a city on the spot. The two legends are so distinct that no intimation is given by Diodorus of their relating to the same spot, there is no account of its founding, but archaeological finds suggest a date in the mid 6th century BC. The first written mention of the city represents it as a small town and it was in this state when Dorieus the Spartan came to Sicily, with a large body of followers, with the intent of reclaiming the territory which had belonged to his ancestor Heracles. But having engaged in hostilities with the Carthaginians and Segestans, he was defeated, euryleon, the only one of the chiefs who escaped, made himself master of Minoa, which now, in all probability, obtained for the first time the name of Heraclea. Hence there seems no reason to suppose that Heraclea and Minoa were originally distinct cities, from the period of this new settlement it seems to have commonly borne the name of Heraclea, though coupled with that of Minoa for the sake of distinction. Diodorus tells us that the newly founded city of Heraclea rose rapidly to prosperity, when this took place is uncertain. It was probably related by Diodorus in his 10th book, which is now lost and he makes no mention of any such event during the First Sicilian War when it might otherwise be supposed to have occurred. An inscription from the temple of Athena Lindia of Lindos on Rhodes attests the dedication of an ivory palladium as spoils from a victory of the Agrigentines over Minoa. However the territory of Heraclea Minoa fell under Carthaginian control as a result of the treaty of 405 BC, the next mention of it, when Dion landed there in 357 BC, represents it as a small town in the Agrigentine territory, but still subject to Carthage. From this time Heraclea reappears in history, and assumes the position of an important city, though we have no explanation of the circumstances that had raised it from its previous insignificance. In 278 BC, during the expedition of Pyrrhus, it was more in the hands of the Carthaginians. In like manner, in the First Punic War, it was occupied by the Carthaginian general Hanno and it is not mentioned by Pliny
28.
Tyrant
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A tyrant, in its modern English usage, is an absolute ruler unrestrained by law or person, or one who has usurped legitimate sovereignty. Often described as a character, a tyrant defends his position by oppressive means. The original Greek term, however, merely meant an authoritarian sovereign without reference to character, bearing no pejorative connotation during the Archaic, Plato and Aristotle define a tyrant as one who rules without law, and uses extreme and cruel tactics–against his own people as well as others. It is defined further in the Encyclopédie as a usurper of sovereign power who makes his subjects the victims of his passions and unjust desires, which he substitutes for laws. During the seventh and sixth centuries BC, tyranny was often looked upon as a stage between narrow oligarchy and more democratic forms of polity. However, in the fifth and fourth centuries BC, a new kind of tyrant. Tyranny includes a variety of types of government – by a tyrant. The definition is extended to other leadership and to oppressive policies. For example, a teacher may find the school administration, the textbook or standardized tests to be oppressive, the English noun tyrant appears in Middle English use, via Old French, from the 1290s. The final -t arises in Old French by association with the present participles in -ant, the word tyranny is used with many meanings, not only by the Greeks, but throughout the tradition of the great books. The Oxford English Dictionary offers alternative definitions, a ruler, an illegitimate ruler, the term is usually applied to vicious dictators who achieve bad results for the governed. The definition of a tyrant is cursed by subjectivity, oppression, injustice and cruelty do not have standardized measurements or thresholds. The Greeks defined both usurpers and those inheriting rule from usurpers as tyrants, Old words are defined by their historical usage. It is difficult to determine characteristics of tyrants were defining rather than descriptive. Biblical quotations do not use the word tyrant, but express opinions very similar to those of the Greek philosophers, citing the wickedness, cruelty, like a roaring lion or a charging bear is a wicked ruler over a poor people. A ruler who lacks understanding is a cruel oppressor, but one who hates unjust gain will enjoy a long life, proverbs 28, 15–16 By justice a king gives stability to the land, but one who makes heavy extractions ruins it. Proverbs 29,4 The Greek philosophers stressed the quality of rule rather than legitimacy or absolutism, both Plato and Aristotle speak of the king as a good monarch and the tyrant as a bad one. Both say that monarchy, or rule by a man, is royal when it is for the welfare of the ruled
29.
Sparta
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Sparta was a prominent city-state in ancient Greece. In antiquity the city-state was known as Lacedaemon, while the name Sparta referred to its settlement on the banks of the Eurotas River in Laconia. Around 650 BC, it rose to become the dominant military land-power in ancient Greece, given its military pre-eminence, Sparta was recognized as the overall leader of the combined Greek forces during the Greco-Persian Wars. Between 431 and 404 BC, Sparta was the enemy of Athens during the Peloponnesian War, from which it emerged victorious. Spartas defeat by Thebes in the Battle of Leuctra in 371 BC ended Spartas prominent role in Greece, however, it maintained its political independence until the Roman conquest of Greece in 146 BC. It then underwent a period of decline, especially in the Middle Ages. Modern Sparta is the capital of the Greek regional unit of Laconia, Sparta was unique in ancient Greece for its social system and constitution, which completely focused on military training and excellence. Its inhabitants were classified as Spartiates, mothakes, perioikoi, Spartiates underwent the rigorous agoge training and education regimen, and Spartan phalanges were widely considered to be among the best in battle. Spartan women enjoyed more rights and equality to men than elsewhere in the classical world. Sparta was the subject of fascination in its own day, as well as in the West following the revival of classical learning and this love or admiration of Sparta is known as Laconism or Laconophilia. At its peak around 500 BC the size of the city would have been some 20,000 –35,000 free residents, plus numerous helots, olliers theory of the Spartan mirage has been widely accepted by scholars. The ancient Greeks used one of three words to refer to the location of the Spartans. The first refers primarily to the cluster of settlements in the valley of the Eurotas River. The second word was Lacedaemon, this was used sometimes as an adjective and is the name commonly used in the works of Homer. Herodotus seems to denote by it the Mycenaean Greek citadel at Therapne and it could be used synonymously with Sparta, but typically it was not. It denoted the terrain on which Sparta was situated, in Homer it is typically combined with epithets of the countryside, wide, lovely, shining and most often hollow and broken. The hollow suggests the Eurotas Valley, Sparta on the other hand is the country of lovely women, a people epithet. The name of the population was used for the state of Lacedaemon
30.
Battle of Himera (480 BC)
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Scholars also agree that the battle led to the crippling of Carthages power in Sicily for many decades. It was one of the most important battles of the Sicilian Wars, the Phoenicians had planted trading posts all over the coast of Sicily after 900 BC, but had never penetrated far inland. They had traded with the Elymian, Sicani and Siculi communities and ultimately withdrew without resistance to Motya and these cities remained independent until becoming part of the Carthaginian hegemony after 540 BC, probably when Malchus of Carthage conquered all Sicily and sent the captured booty to Tyre. Carthage created her hegemony in part to resist Greek encroachments in the Phoenician sphere of influence, Phoenicians initially did not resist the Greeks, but after the Greeks had reached Iberia sometime after 650 BC, Carthage emerged as the leader of Phoenician resistance. During the 6th century BC, mostly under the leadership of the Magonid dynasty, the next known Greek incursion in Sicily took place 70 years later. Trade also flourished between the natives, the Greeks and the Phoenicians and the Sicilian Greeks colonies became prosperous and this prosperity enabled some of the Greek cities to start to expand their territories again, ultimately leading to the events known as the First Sicilian War. Dorieus was defeated and killed – the Greek survivors then founded Heraclea Minoa, Sicilian Greeks fought an undated war of revenge against Carthage, which led to the destruction of Minoa and a treaty which brought economic benefits for the Greeks. An appeal for aid to avenge the death of Dorieus was ignored by mainland Greece, even by Leonidas of Sparta, brother of Dorieus, while Carthage remained engaged in Sardinia after 510 BC, most of the Greek colonies in Sicily fell under the rule of tyrants. Gelo, successor of Hippocrates, captured Syracuse and made the city his capital, by using ethnic cleansing, deportation and enslavement, Gelo transformed the former Ionian cities into Dorian ones and made Syracuse the dominant power in Sicily. Meanwhile, Akragas, another Doric city, had taken over neighboring Sikan, to forestall any conflicts between Akragas and Syracuse, Gelo and Theron married into each others families, thus creating a united front against the Sicels and Ionian Greeks of Sicily. To counter this Doric threat, Anaxilas of Rhegion from Italy, who had captured Zankle from Gela in 490 BC, allied himself with Terillus of Himera, Himera and Rhegion next became allies of Carthage, the tyrants even build up personal relationships with the Magonid dynasty of Carthage. Thus,3 power blocks were delicately balanced in Sicily by 483 BC – Ionians dominating the north, Carthage the west, Dorians the east and south. The Sicels and Sikans in the interior remained passive, and if not directly under Greek rule, the Elmyians joined the Carthaginian alliance. The city of Himera had once requested Phalaris, tyrant of Akragas, Theron emulated Phalaris when he deposed Terillus and added Himera to his domain in 483 BC. Terillus had come to power in Himera after expelling the ruling oligarchs, and he lacked popular support. Terillus requested Hamilcar, Suffet of Carthage, and Xenia of Terillus, Anaxilas also lobbied on his behalf, and sent his own children as hostages to Carthage as a token of loyalty. After a 3-year delay, Hamilcar led a Carthaginian expedition to Sicily in 480 BC, the mainland Greeks had sent an embassy to Gelon requesting aid against Xerxes. The Spartans objected to this, and Gelon then asked to be the commander of either the land or naval forces in exchange for his help, the Athenian envoy then objected, and the Greeks were sent packing empty handed
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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
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Athens
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Athens is the capital and largest city of Greece. In modern times, Athens is a cosmopolitan metropolis and central to economic, financial, industrial, maritime. In 2015, Athens was ranked the worlds 29th richest city by purchasing power, Athens is recognised as a global city because of its location and its importance in shipping, finance, commerce, media, entertainment, arts, international trade, culture, education and tourism. It is one of the biggest economic centres in southeastern Europe, with a financial sector. The municipality of Athens had a population of 664,046 within its limits. The urban area of Athens extends beyond its administrative city limits. According to Eurostat in 2011, the Functional urban areas of Athens was the 9th most populous FUA in the European Union, Athens is also the southernmost capital on the European mainland. The city also retains Roman and Byzantine monuments, as well as a number of Ottoman monuments. Athens is home to two UNESCO World Heritage Sites, the Acropolis of Athens and the medieval Daphni Monastery, Athens was the host city of the first modern-day Olympic Games in 1896, and 108 years later it welcomed home the 2004 Summer Olympics. In Ancient Greek, the name of the city was Ἀθῆναι a plural, in earlier Greek, such as Homeric Greek, the name had been current in the singular form though, as Ἀθήνη. It was possibly rendered in the later on, like those of Θῆβαι and Μυκῆναι. During the medieval period the name of the city was rendered once again in the singular as Ἀθήνα, an etiological myth explaining how Athens has acquired its name was well known among ancient Athenians and even became the theme of the sculpture on the West pediment of the Parthenon. The goddess of wisdom, Athena, and the god of the seas, Poseidon had many disagreements, in an attempt to compel the people, Poseidon created a salt water spring by striking the ground with his trident, symbolizing naval power. However, when Athena created the tree, symbolizing peace and prosperity. Different etymologies, now rejected, were proposed during the 19th century. Christian Lobeck proposed as the root of the name the word ἄθος or ἄνθος meaning flower, ludwig von Döderlein proposed the stem of the verb θάω, stem θη- to denote Athens as having fertile soil. In classical literature, the city was referred to as the City of the Violet Crown, first documented in Pindars ἰοστέφανοι Ἀθᾶναι. In medieval texts, variant names include Setines, Satine, and Astines, today the caption η πρωτεύουσα, the capital, has become somewhat common
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Sicilian Expedition
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The Sicilian Expedition was an Athenian military expedition to Sicily, which took place during the period from 415 BC to 413 BC. From that point forward, however, as the Athenians ceded the initiative to their newly energized opponents and that last measure, too, failed, and nearly the entire expedition surrendered or was destroyed in the Sicilian interior. The impact of the defeat was immense, two hundred ships and thousands of soldiers, an appreciable portion of the citys total manpower, were lost in a single stroke. Athenss enemies on the mainland and in Persia were encouraged to take action, the defeat proved to be the turning point in the Peloponnesian War, though Athens struggled on for another decade. Although Athens had never involved itself deeply in Sicilian affairs, it had ties there before the onset of the Peloponnesian War, to small Sicilian cities, Athens was a potential counter to the powerful city of Syracuse, which was strong enough to potentially dominate the island. To the Athenians, Sicily was a threat—an unencumbered Syracuse might send grain or other aid to the Peloponnesians—as well as a venue for possible conquests. In 427 BC, Athens had sent twenty ships, under the command of Laches, by the time that fleet reached Sicily in late summer, Athenss Sicilian allies had grown weary of stalemated warfare, and agreed to negotiate with Syracuse and its allies. At the Congress of Gela, the Sicilian cities made peace on the basis of Sicily for the Sicilians, in 415, Athens and Sparta had been formally at peace since 421, when the Peace of Nicias had brought the Archidamian War to a close. The terms of peace, however, had never been fulfilled, Sparta had never surrendered Amphipolis to Athens, as required by the treaty. That attempt, largely orchestrated by the Athenian nobleman Alcibiades, would have destroyed Spartas control over the Peloponnesian League had it succeeded, Alcibiades rebounded politically from this defeat, and was elected as a general in the spring of 417. Control of Athenss foreign policy remained divided between a party led by Nicias, and a war party led by Alcibiades. The peace established in Sicily at the Congress of Gela did not last long, shortly after the Congress, Syracuse intervened in an episode of civil strife between the democratic and oligarchic parties in Leontini, supporting the oligarchs. Before too long, the prospect of foreign domination had united the Leontinians, Athens had sent an emissary to Sicily in 422 to sound out the possibility of renewing the war against Syracuse, but achieved nothing. In 416, however, a second Sicilian conflict provided the invitation Athens had sought in 422, the city of Segesta—an Athenian ally in the 420s—went to war against Selinus and, after losing an initial battle, sent to Athens for help. At Athens, the Segestan ambassadors presented their case for intervention to the assembly, the assembly eventually approved an expedition composed of sixty triremes, without hoplite accompaniment, commanded by Nicias, Alcibiades, and Lamachus. Thucydides reports that Nicias had been appointed against his preference, five days after that first debate, a second assembly was held to arrange the logistics of the expedition. There, Nicias attempted to persuade the assembly to overturn its previous decision regarding whether to send an expedition at all, over the course of several speeches, Nicias raised a series of different arguments against the expedition. Nicias also attacked Alcibiadess credibility, claiming that he and his allies were inexperienced, in response, Alcibiades dismissed the attack on himself by pointing to the good he had done for Athens as a private citizen and public leader
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Nicias
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Nicias, was an Athenian politician and general during the period of the Peloponnesian War. Nicias was a member of the Athenian aristocracy and had inherited a fortune from his father. Following the death of Pericles in 429 BC, he became the rival of Cleon. He was a moderate in his views and opposed the aggressive imperialism of the democrats. His principal aim was to conclude a peace with Sparta as soon as it could be obtained on terms favourable to Athens and he was regularly elected to serve as strategos for Athens during the Peloponnesian War. He led several expeditions which achieved little, nevertheless, he was largely responsible for the successful negotiations which led to the Peace of Nicias in 421 BC. Following the Peace, he objected to the plans of Alcibiades for advancing Athens interests. Despite this, Nicias was appointed to participate in the Athenian invasion of Sicily, the Athenian siege of Syracuse was nearly successful until the arrival of the Spartan general Gylippus, who turned the situation around so that the Athenians were themselves under siege. Nicias led his forces in a attempt to escape by land. However, they were cut off and he and his Athenian army were overwhelmed and defeated and his army was almost wiped out, but he reminded Gylippus of all the times Nicias had spared him, and was in turn spared. Nicias inherited from his father, Niceratus, a considerable fortune and it is said that Nicias had over 1000 slaves working in the mines. Plutarch states that Nicias was also generous with his wealth, using his money for charitable activities in Athens. Nicias rise to prominence occurred while Pericles was at the head of the Athenian government, after Pericles death in 429 BC, Nicias became an important Athenian politician with the aristocratic party looking to him as their leader. As such, Nicias became the rival of Cleons popular or democratic party, Nicias lacked the eloquence or charm to win popularity among Athenians, according to the later historian Plutarch. Instead, Nicias gained popularity through the use of his wealth and he funded and organized choruses for Athenian dramas, sporting events, public exhibitions, and new or restored statues and temples. Plutarch specifically refers to an example of Nicias generosity - his funding of the festival of Delos, Nicias funded the building of a bridge of boats between Delos and the Rhenean islands. The ships were decorated with garlands, gilding, and rich tapestry, then a richly dressed chorus walked across the boats. Nicias then provided a 10,000 drachma fund to the Delians so they would continue this event into the future, such instructions were engraved onto a pillar
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Peloponnese
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The Peloponnese or Peloponnesus is a peninsula and geographic region in southern Greece. It is separated from the part of the country by the Gulf of Corinth. During the late Middle Ages and the Ottoman era, the peninsula was known as the Morea, the peninsula is divided among three administrative regions, most belongs to the Peloponnese region, with smaller parts belonging to the West Greece and Attica regions. In 2016, Lonely Planet voted the Peloponnese the top spot of their Best in Europe list, the Peloponnese is a peninsula that covers an area of some 21,549.6 square kilometres and constitutes the southernmost part of mainland Greece. It has two connections with the rest of Greece, a natural one at the Isthmus of Corinth. The peninsula has an interior and deeply indented coasts. The Peloponnese possesses four south-pointing peninsulas, the Messenian, the Mani, the Cape Malea, mount Taygetus in the south is the highest mountain in the Peloponnese, at 2,407 metres. Οther important mountains include Cyllene in the northeast, Aroania in the north, Erymanthos and Panachaikon in the northwest, Mainalon in the center, the entire peninsula is earthquake prone and has been the site of many earthquakes in the past. The longest river is the Alfeios in the west, followed by the Evrotas in the south, extensive lowlands are found only in the west, with the exception of the Evrotas valley in the south and in the Argolid in the northeast. The Peloponnese is home to spectacular beaches, which are a major tourist draw. Two groups of islands lie off the Peloponnesian coast, the Argo-Saronic Islands to the east, the island of Kythera, off the Epidaurus Limera peninsula to the south of the Peloponnese, is considered to be part of the Ionian Islands. The island of Elafonissos used to be part of the peninsula but was separated following the quake of 365 AD. Since antiquity, and continuing to the present day, the Peloponnese has been divided into seven regions, Achaia, Corinthia, Argolid, Arcadia, Laconia, Messinia. Each of these regions is headed by a city, the largest city is Patras in Achaia, followed by Kalamata in Messinia. The peninsula has been inhabited since prehistoric times and its modern name derives from ancient Greek mythology, specifically the legend of the hero Pelops, who was said to have conquered the entire region. The name Peloponnesos means Island of Pelops, the Mycenaean civilization, mainland Greeces first major civilization, dominated the Peloponnese in the Bronze Age from its stronghold at Mycenae in the north-east of the peninsula. The Mycenean civilization collapsed suddenly at the end of the 2nd millennium BC, archeological research has found that many of its cities and palaces show signs of destruction. The subsequent period, known as the Greek Dark Ages, is marked by an absence of written records
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Gylippus
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His mother may have been a helot, which meant he was not a true Spartiate but a mothax, a man of inferior status. For an individual of marginal origins, war was an opportunity to gain honour, when Alcibiades urged the Spartans to send a general to lead the Syracusan resistance against the Athenian expedition, Gylippus was appointed, and his arrival was a turning point of the struggle. More daring than Nicias, the Athenian commander he faced, he was able to gain an upper hand by driving the Athenians from key strategic locations and essentially breaking the siege. When Athens sent Demosthenes with reinforcements, he too was defeated by Gylippus, upon discovery of this theft, Gylippus fled Sparta and went into exile. He was condemned to death in absentia and disappears from historical records and this article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain, Chisholm, Hugh, ed. Gylippus. This work in turn cites, Thucydides vi, plutarch, Nicias,19,21,27,28, Lysander,16,17 Diodorus xiii. 39,42 Livius, Gylippus by Jona Lendering Syracuse Expedition on Lycurgus. org
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Himera
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Himera, was an important ancient Greek city of Sicily, situated on the north coast of the island, at the mouth of the river of the same name, between Panormus and Cephaloedium. Its remains lie within the borders of the comune of Termini Imerese. Himera was the first Greek settlement on this part of the island and was a strategic outpost just outside the boundary of the Carthaginian-controlled west. Thucydides says it was the only Greek city on this coast of Sicily, mylae, which was also on the north coast and certainly of Greek origin, was a dependency of Zancle. However, it is likely that the power of Himeria in the immediate vicinity of the Carthaginian settlements of Panormus and Solus had already caused concern among the Carthaginians. Hence it was against Himera that the first efforts of Hamilcar were directed, Theron, who had thrown himself into the city with all the forces at his command, was able to maintain its defence until the arrival of Gelon of Syracuse. The same feeling probably gave rise to the tradition or belief and this victory left Theron in the undisputed possession of the sovereignty of Himera, as well as of that of Agrigentum. He appears to have focused on Agrigentum, and leftthe government of Himera to his son Thrasydaeus, but the young man, by his violent and oppressive rule, soon alienated the minds of the citizens. They applied for relief to Hieron of Syracuse, at time on terms of hostility with Theron. The Syracusan despot, however, betrayed their overtures to Theron and he took vengeance on the Himeraeans, putting to death a large number of the disaffected citizens and driving others into exile. Himera adopted the institutions and followed the policy of the other Doric states of Sicily, a few years after this the prosperity of the city was brought to a sudden and abrupt termination by the great Carthaginian expedition to Sicily. The ostensible object of the expedition, as it had been of the Athenian, was the support of the Segestans against their neighbors, the Carthaginians, though, had greater ambitions. Immediately after the destruction of Selinus, Hannibal Mago, who commanded the expedition and that city was ill-prepared for defence, its fortifications were of little strength, but the citizens made a desperate resistance, and by a vigorous sally inflicted severe loss on the Carthaginians. Their defenses failed and the city was taken by storm. A large part of the citizens were killed and at least 3000 of them, the city itself was utterly destroyed, its buildings razed to the ground, and even the temples themselves were not spared. Diodorus, who relates the destruction of Himera, tells us expressly that it was never rebuilt. Diodorus gives a different account of the foundation of Thermae. It appears to have become a considerable town, though it continued, with few and brief exceptions
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Agrigento
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Agrigento listen is a city on the southern coast of Sicily, Italy, and capital of the province of Agrigento. Agrigento was founded on a plateau overlooking the sea, with two rivers, the Hypsas and the Akragas, and a ridge to the north offering a degree of natural fortification. Its establishment took place around 582-580 BC and is attributed to Greek colonists from Gela, Akragas grew rapidly, becoming one of the richest and most famous of the Greek colonies of Magna Graecia. It came to prominence under the 6th-century tyrants Phalaris and Theron, at this point the city could have been as large as 100,000 to 200,000 people. Although the city remained neutral in the conflict between Athens and Syracuse, its democracy was overthrown when the city was sacked by the Carthaginians in 406 BC. Akragas never fully recovered its status, though it revived to some extent under Timoleon in the latter part of the 4th century. The city was disputed between the Romans and the Carthaginians during the First Punic War, the Romans laid siege to the city in 262 BC and captured it after defeating a Carthaginian relief force in 261 BC and sold the population into slavery. Although the Carthaginians recaptured the city in 255 BC the final settlement gave Punic Sicily. It suffered badly during the Second Punic War when both Rome and Carthage fought to control it, the Romans eventually captured Akragas in 210 BC and renamed it Agrigentum, although it remained a largely Greek-speaking community for centuries thereafter. It became prosperous again under Roman rule and its inhabitants received full Roman citizenship following the death of Julius Caesar in 44 BC. After the fall of the Western Roman Empire, the city passed into the hands of the Vandalic Kingdom. During this period the inhabitants of Agrigentum largely abandoned the lower parts of the city and moved to the former acropolis, the reasons for this move are unclear but were probably related to the destructive coastal raids of the Saracens and other peoples around this time. In 828 AD the Saracens captured the remnant of the city. Following the Norman conquest of Sicily, the city changed its name to the Norman version Girgenti, in 1087, Norman Count Roger I established a Latin bishopric in the city. Normans built the Castello di Agrigento to control the area, the population declined during much of the medieval period but revived somewhat after the 18th century. In 1860, as in the rest of Sicily, the supported the arrival of Giuseppe Garibaldi during the Expedition of the Thousand which marked the end of Bourbon rule. In 1927, Benito Mussolini through the Decree Law n,159, July 12,1927 introduced the current Italianized version of the Latin name. The city suffered a number of bombing raids during World War II
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This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Smith, William, ed. (1854–1857). "article name needed". Dictionary of Greek and Roman Geography. London: John Murray.
