Segesta
Ἔγεστα (in Ancient Greek) | |
Location | Calatafimi-Segesta, Province of Trapani, Sicily, Italy |
---|---|
Coordinates | 37°56′29″N 12°49′56″E / 37.94139°N 12.83222°E |
Type | Settlement |
History | |
Cultures | Greek, Elymian |
Site notes | |
Condition | Preserved |
Ownership | Public |
Management | Soprintendenza BB.CC.AA. di Trapani |
Public access | Yes |
Website | Area Archeologica Segesta (in Italian) |
Segesta (Greek: Ἔγεστα, Egesta,[1] or Σέγεστα, Ségesta, or Αἴγεστα, Aígesta;[2] Sicilian: Siggesta) was one of the major cities of the Elymians, one of the three indigenous peoples of Sicily. The other major cities of the Elymians were Eryx and Entella. It is located in the northwestern part of Sicily in Italy, near the modern commune of Calatafimi-Segesta in the province of Trapani. The hellenization of Segesta happened very early and had a profound effect on its people.[3]
History
Origins
The origin and foundation of Segesta are extremely obscure. The tradition current among the Greeks and adopted by Thucydides,
Another version of the Trojan story related in Virgil's Aeneid, which would seem to have been adopted by the inhabitants themselves, ascribed the foundation of the city jointly by the territorial king Egestus or Aegestus (the Acestes of Virgil), who was said to be the offspring of a Dardanian damsel named Segesta by the river god Crinisus, and by those of Aeneas' folk who wished to remain behind with Acestes to found the city of Acesta.[6] We are told also that the names of Simois and Scamander were given by the Trojan colonists to two small streams which flowed beneath the town,[7] and the latter name is mentioned by Diodorus Siculus as one still in use at a much later period.[8]
The belief that the name of the city was originally Acesta or Egesta and changed to Segesta by the Romans to avoid its ill-omened meaning in Latin (egestās means "poverty" or "lack")[9] is disproved by coins which prove that considerably before the time of Thucydides it was called by the inhabitants themselves Segesta, though this form seems to have been softened by the Greeks of Magna Graecia into Egesta.[2]
The city was occupied by a people distinct from the
In historical accounts
The first historical notice of the Segestans transmitted to us represents them as already engaged (as early as 580 BC) in hostilities with
But though the relief of Segesta was thus the original object of the great
The final defeat of the Athenians left the Segestans again exposed to the attacks of their neighbors, the Selinuntines. Feeling themselves unable to cope with them, they again had recourse to the Carthaginians, who determined to espouse their cause, and sent them, in the first instance, an auxiliary force of 5000 Africans and 800
From this time there are few mentions of Segesta till the time of Agathocles of Syracuse, under whom it suffered a great calamity. The despot landed in the West of Sicily on his return from Africa (307 BC), and was received into the city as a friend and ally. He suddenly turned upon the inhabitants on a pretence of disaffection, and put the whole of the citizens (said to amount to 10,000 in number) to the sword, plundered their wealth, and sold the women and children into slavery. He then changed the name of the city to Dicaeopolis, and assigned it as a residence to the fugitives and deserters that had gathered around him.[24]
It is probable that Segesta never altogether recovered this blow; but it soon resumed its original name, and again appears in history as an independent city. Thus it is mentioned in 276 BC, as one of the cities which joined Pyrrhus of Epirus during his expedition into the West of Sicily.[25] It, however, soon after fell again under the power of the Carthaginians; and it was probably on this occasion that the city was taken and plundered by them, as alluded to by Cicero;[26] a circumstance of which there are no other account. It continued subject to, or at least dependent on that people, till the First Punic War. In the first year of that war (264 BC) it was attacked by the consul Appius Claudius Caudex, but without success;[27] but shortly after the inhabitants put the Carthaginian garrison to the sword, and declared for the alliance of Rome.[28][29] They were in consequence besieged by a Carthaginian force, and were at one time reduced to great straits, but were relieved by the arrival of Gaius Duilius, after his naval victory in 260 BC.[30] Segesta seems to have been one of the first of the Sicilian cities to set the example of defection from Carthage; on which account, as well as of their pretended Trojan descent, the inhabitants were treated with great distinction by the Romans. They were exempted from all public burdens, and even as late as the time of Cicero continued to be "sine foedere immunes ac liberi" - a free and immune city.[31] After the destruction of Carthage, Scipio Africanus restored to the Segestans a statue of Diana which had been carried off by the Carthaginians, probably when they obtained possession of the city after the departure of Pyrrhus.[32]
During the
Situation
The ruins of the city are located on the top of Monte Bàrbaro at 305 m
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 finally abandoned by the second half of the 13th century.
The temple
On a hill just outside the site of the ancient city of Segesta lies an unusually well-preserved Doric temple. Some think it to have been built in the 420s BC by an Athenian architect, despite the city not having any Greek population.[40] The prevailing view is that it was built by the indigenous Elymians.[41][42] The temple has six by fourteen columns on a base measuring 21 by 56 metres, on a platform three steps high. Several elements suggest that the temple was never finished. The columns have not been fluted as they normally would have been in a Doric temple, and there are still bosses present in the blocks of the base (used for lifting the blocks into place but then normally removed). The temple also lacks a cella, any ornamentation, altar or deity dedication, and was never roofed over.[43] The temple was never completed due to the war between Segesta and Selinunte.[44] It managed to escape destruction by the Carthaginians in the late 5th century.
Further reading
- Burford, Alison (1961). "Temple Building at Segesta". The Classical Quarterly. 11 (1–2): 87–93. .
References
- ^ Trismegistos GEO ID: 22277 http://www.trismegistos.org/place/22277
- ^ a b Smith, William, ed. (1854–1857). . Dictionary of Greek and Roman Geography. London: John Murray.
- ISBN 978-0892367511.
- ^ a b Thucydides. History of the Peloponnesian War. Vol. 6.2.
- ^ Strabo. Geographica. Vol. vi. p.272. Page numbers refer to those of Isaac Casaubon's edition.
- Serv.ad Aen. 1.550, 5.30.
- ^ Strabo. Geographica. Vol. xiii. p.608. Page numbers refer to those of Isaac Casaubon's edition.
- ^ Diodorus Siculus. Bibliotheca historica (Historical Library). Vol. 20.71.
- ^ Lewis and Short Latin Dictionary.
- ^ Thucydides. History of the Peloponnesian War. Vol. 7.57.
- ^ Diodorus Siculus. Bibliotheca historica (Historical Library). Vol. 5.9.
- ^ Diodorus Siculus. Bibliotheca historica (Historical Library). Vol. 11.86.
- ^ a b Thucydides. History of the Peloponnesian War. Vol. 6.6.
- ^ Diodorus Siculus. Bibliotheca historica (Historical Library). Vol. 12.82.
- ^ Thucydides. History of the Peloponnesian War. Vol. 6.8, 46.
- ^ Diodorus Siculus. Bibliotheca historica (Historical Library). Vol. 12.83, 13.6.
- ^ Thucydides. History of the Peloponnesian War. Vol. 6.62.
- ^ Diodorus Siculus. Bibliotheca historica (Historical Library). Vol. 13.6.
- ^ Thucydides. History of the Peloponnesian War. Vol. 7.57.
- ^ Diodorus Siculus. Bibliotheca historica (Historical Library). Vol. 13.7.
- ^ Diodorus Siculus. Bibliotheca historica (Historical Library). Vol. 13.43, 44.
- ^ Diodorus Siculus. Bibliotheca historica (Historical Library). Vol. 13.54-58.
- ^ Diodorus Siculus. Bibliotheca historica (Historical Library). Vol. 14.48, 53-55.
- ^ Diodorus Siculus. Bibliotheca historica (Historical Library). Vol. 20.71.
- ^ Diodorus Siculus. Bibliotheca historica (Historical Library). Vol. 22.10.
- ^ Cicero, Verr. iv. 33.
- ^ Diodorus Siculus. Bibliotheca historica (Historical Library). Vol. 23.3.
- ^ Diodorus Siculus. Bibliotheca historica (Historical Library). Vol. 23.5.
- ^ Joannes Zonaras, Extracts of History, 8.9.
- ^ Polybius. The Histories. Vol. 1.24.
- ^ Cicero, Ver. 3.6, 4.33.
- ^ Cicero, Ver. 4.33.
- ^ Diodorus Siculus. Bibliotheca historica (Historical Library). Vol. 36.5.
- ^ "τὸ τῶν Αἰγεστέων ἐμπόριον", Strabo. Geographica. Vol. vi. pp. 266, 272. Page numbers refer to those of Isaac Casaubon's edition.
- ^ Σεγεστανῶν ἐμπόριον, Ptolemy. The Geography. Vol. 3.4.4.
- ^ Strabo. Geographica. Vol. vi. pp. 266, 272. Page numbers refer to those of Isaac Casaubon's edition.
- ^ Pliny. Naturalis Historia. Vol. 3.8.14.
- ^ Ptolemy. The Geography. Vol. 3.4.15.
- ^ Amico, ad Fazell. Sic. 7.4. n. 9
- ^ Scully, Vincent. 1969. The earth, the temple, and the gods; Greek sacred architecture. New York: Praeger.
- ^ Lo Monaco, Annalisa. Il Tempio di Segesta sembra Greco ma è un’antichissima testimonianza degli Elimi. vanillamagazine.it
- ^ Riva, Alessandro; Barbera, Ferruccio. 2005. Iconica: Contemporary Art and Archaeology in Sicily. Edizioni Charta Srl.
- ^ Grinnell, Isabel Hoopes. 1943. Greek temples.
- ^ Riva, Alessandro. Barbera, Ferruccio. 2005. Iconica: Contemporary Art and Archaeology in Sicily. Edizioni Charta Srl.
Sources
This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Smith, William, ed. (1854–1857). "Segesta". Dictionary of Greek and Roman Geography. London: John Murray.
External links
- Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. XXI (9th ed.). 1886. p. 622. .
- Official website (in Italian)
- Photos of the site
- Segesta
- See Palermo's Segesta Page
- Panoramic virtual tour inside the Doric temple