Hellenistic Sicily

[Modern Greek; Supervisors: Konstantinos Spanoudakis, Charilaos Michalopoulos, Stelios Panayotakis]
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The epigraphic document SEG LIX. 1102, inscribed on a marble slab found in 2003 in an uncultivated ground on the slopes of the hill of modern Caronia (Sicily), can probably be attributed to the ancient Kale Akte (Calacte), founded in 446 B.C. by the Sikel dynast Ducetius. Upon the paleographical evidence the inscription is likely to date back between the end of the III and the middle of the II century B.C., and preserves a fragmentary honorary decree for an unknown person. the document offers new issues of historical interest for the study of the late Hellenistic siceliote institutions: it records, in fact, a new evidence of the enigmatic community acronyms (“demotics”), which are also recorded in other Hellenistic Siceliote poleis; moreover, the inscription probably testifies to a rare kind of three-chamber institutional system, which, until now, finds epigraphical comparisons, in the late Hellenistic period, only at Akragas and Rhegion: in addition to the halia (assembly) and boula (council), peculiar of the Siceliote politeiai, in the deliberative mechanism a synkletos appears, i.e. a “restricted” government body of controversial institutional nature, identified by scholars either with an assembly or with a council. in the Calactine context, the nature and the origin of the synkletos appear even more problematic, due to the almost total silence of the historical sources on the fate of the city between the years of Ducetius’ foundation and the Second punic War. An introduction of this third institutional body in the age of the romanization of Sicily being unlikely, the possible context of origin will be likely identified in Kale Akte foundation period or more probably in the time of the Timoleon’s reforms of Sicily in the 30s of the fourth century B.C.

The excavations directed by professor Vincenzo Tusa at Selinus, on the south-western edge of the so called Acropolis, brought to light, in 1967, a small sacred area of the Punic phase. Among the findings, dating between the second half of the 4th century BC and the first half of the 3rd century BC, a marble lamp, a Corinthian pyxis and a terracotta can be dated to the Archaic period. Beyond the analysis of the three findings and their dating on the basis of the parallels, a focus on the numerous marble lamps retrieved at Selinus is performed, revealing that the Greek colony is, with Miletus, the place with the highest number of marble lamps in all the Mediterranean. This aspect stress the richness of Selinus already in the few decades since its foundation and the connections between the settlement, the Ionic area and the Cyclades. Finally the article discusses the possible reasons for the presence of archaic holy objects in the Hellenistic sacred area.

The epigraphic document SEG LIX, 1102, inscribed on a marble slab found in 2003 in an uncultivated ground on the slopes of the hill of modern Caronia (Sicily), can probably be attributed to the ancient Kale Akte (Calacte), founded in 446 B.C. by the Sikel dynast Ducetius. Upon the paleographical evidence the inscription is likely to date back between the end of the III and the early II century B.C., and preserves a fragmentary honorary decree for an unknown person. The document offers several issues of historical interest: it records, in fact, a new evidence of the enigmatic community acronyms (“demotics”), which are also recorded in other Hellenistic Siceliote poleis (Tauromenion, Akrai Halaesa, Apollonia, Kamarina). The inscription mentions also a sanctuary of Apollo, which is otherwise unknown at Kale Akte, and, above all, it probably testifies to a rare kind of three-chamber institutional system, which, until now, finds comparisons, in the late Hellenistic period, only at Akragas and Rhegion: in addition to the halia (assembly) and boula (council), peculiar of the Siceliote politeiai, in the deliberative mechanism a synkletos appears, i.e. a “restricted” government body of controversial institutional nature, identified by scholars either with a second assembly or with a second council. In the Calactine context, the nature and the origin of the synkletos appear even more problematic, due to the almost total silence of the historical sources on the fate of the city between the years of Ducetius’ foundation and the Second Punic War. An introduction of this third institutional body in the age of the Romanization of Sicily being unlikely, the possible context of origin will be identified between the time of the foundation and that of the Timoleon’s reforms of Sicily in the 30s of the fourth century B.C.

The chamber tomb of “Largo Avignone”, in the southern necropolis of
Messana, has given back two of the three Greek funerary inscriptions of
Hellenistic date found so far in the necropolis of the ancient city. Both are
inscribed on lekanai used as cinerary, concern two women, Νοϋία Ὀππία
and Πακύα Ποντία, and probably date, respectively, to the last decades of
the 3rd and to first half of the 2nd century BC. The use of the praenomen and
the gentilicium proves the Italic origin and the ancestry of both women from
the Mamertini, the former Agatokles’ mercenaries of Campanian and
Samnite origin, who in 288 B.C. took over Messana and transformed it into
an Oscan community. If the epitaph of Πακύα is significant, due to a peculiar
Greek remodeling of the Oscan praenomen (to be understood as Latin
Paquia/Pacuvia), that of Νοϋία 1) represents one of the oldest known
documents (other than coinage) pertaining to the Mamertine component of
the city and recording the use of Greek; 2) is coeval to the last public Oscan
inscriptions of Messana written in Greek alphabet; 3) testifies to the transition
from the use of Oscan language to that of Greek by the Mamertini.

The development of city planning and public buildings of Solunto, a Hellenistic-Roman city laying on the slopes of Monte Catalfano overlooking the coastline of the north-west Sicily, has been a matter of argument of many scholars that place its realization in different points of the Hellenistic period, from the age of Dionysius I to the 2nd century BC. Unfortunately, these hypotheses can’t be supported by the documentation of archaeological data, which seem irremediably lost. Nevertheless, some new consideration can be made by comparing Solunto with other sicilian cities of mid and late Hellenistic period like Halesa, Segesta and Phintias. These have been investigated recently and with more accurate method, and showing strong affinities with the urban centre situated on the slopes of Monte Catalfano. All these cities show themselves as a glimpse of the vibrant development in which the Hellenistic Sicily was involved after the Roman conquest, when many poleis underwent deeply economic, social and cultural changes and, as result of that, also a renewal of the urban fabric, outcome of an Hellenistic koinè merging features of microasiatic greekness with punic and italic features. This new view is essentially in contrast with the traditional narrative, that depicts Sicily and his cities as in an inexorable decline after the enstablishment of Roman provincial governament, with the island’s cities suffering a comprehensive loss of autonomy, worn down by the demands of Roman taxation and the effects of Roman rule.

This paper offers a very brief overview of the epigraphy (principally on stone) of ancient Akragas/Agrigentum, within the wider Sicilian epigraphic context. The motivation for doing so is, on the one hand, that the inscriptions of Agrigento tend to be treated individually and in isolation, for their potential historical value; and on the other, that the development of digital resources for Sicilian epigraphy, in particular the I.Sicily project (directed by the author), greatly facilitates such study. A brief presentation of the I.Sicily project is included as an appendix at the end of the paper

The two Sicilian ‘Slave Wars’ of the second century BC have rarely been studied in terms of their strategic complexities. Previous efforts to do so have started from the assumption that each conflict was a priori the same or similar. In addition, both wars have been placed into a separate category of analysis from other wars, leading to analyses that have characterised the wars together as disorganized guerrilla campaigns or examples of ancient marronage. In this paper I argue, in contrast, that we must consider the two conflicts as separate entities, and that we must approach their study as we would any other wars. By studying the rebel strategies of each war in terms of their relationships with the geography of Sicily and the logistics of warfare I contend that the two wars were fought in contrasting manners, with the first highly strategic, and the second confused and ineffectual.

During its heyday in the 2nd and 1st century BC, the city of Solunto was provided with numerous public buildings as well as richly decorated houses. While some house walls preserved their decoration until today, many richly decorated polychrome stucco fragments were brought to museums and storerooms. This paper provides the first discussion of such unpublished fragments from the Archaeological Museum A. Salinas in Palermo. The 113 stucco fragments that include cornices, friezes, other architectural elements and ship applications are described and assessed within the local context of Solunto and the regional context of Sicily. It is shown that these fragments belonged to First Style decoration systems and significantly enrich the repertoire of known shapes, color patterns and decorative strategies. The most notable pieces are the fragment of a polychrome Doric frieze with applications of a rosette and a bucranion, and 7 polychrome fragments of ships /rostrae, which most likely decorated a zone below the cornice/ which were most likely mounted directly below the cornice.

A well-known statue of enthroned goddess from Soluntum might be seen as an example of the persistence of ancient oriental iconography in Hellenistic Sicily. Although in 1831 the finding spot of the statue was clearly indicated by its discoverer, in the 20th  century this datum was forgotten. Scholars suggested that the statue could come from a different place, where the archaic town of Soluntum originally rose. Nowadays the discovery of the statue in a shrine of Hellenistic Soluntum is generally accepted. For reconciling the dating with the finding spot, scholars argue that the simulacrum had been moved to the new Hellenistic city after the destruction of archaic Soluntum.
This paper a) suggests a new hypothesis about the statue; b) underlines some new aspects of the finding spot;  c) proposes a new dating of the enthroned goddess from Soluntum, by introducing it in the Punic context of the Hellenistic age.

The reign of Hieron II in eastern Sicily (ca. 270–215 BC) was a period of great prosperity and wealth, which is well reflected in the contemporary built environment. Interpretation of architectural features of the Hieronian period has often entailed strong ideological notions. This paper challenges such notions, discussing one of the characteristics of “Hieronian architecture”, notably architectural supports in form of atlantes (Stützfiguren im Atlantenschema). Starting from the Hieronian examples in Syracuse and the monuments they have been attributed to, the form, function, context, and meaning of these sculptures are investigated and the dynamics of their distribution process throughout Sicily (and beyond) are reconstructed. It is argued that the study of a singular architectural element can contribute to a better understanding of the architecture of Hellenistic Sicily.

Sicily, thanks to a geographic position situated between East and West, North and South, and at the crossroads of Mediterranean connectivity, has played an essential role in the induction of private space embellishment in the Hellenistic west. In the last fifty years, many excavations and much research have led to a gathering of new data about decorative systems in the houses of the 2nd and 1st century B.C. New information is now available about cities such as Panormo, Solunto, Phintias, Akragas/Agrigentum, Monte Iato, etc. In this research, therefore, I will endeavour to sum up the information obtained from rescue archaeology and older contexts, while also adding new data made available as a result of recent investigations carried out in the "Quartiere Ellenistico-Romano" of Agrigento.

The marble block with a Greek inscription known as SEG LIX 1102 was found fortuitously in November 2003 on the northeastern side of the hill of Caronia, in a uncultivated land. As it happened for a lot of archaeological materials of Hellenistic-Roman city of Kale Akte - Calacte, the recovery of the precious inscription occurred out of context. The written block was, in fact, on the ground, among the grass, in an area where had slid from above numerous building stones and fragmentary bricks and tiles, as well as countless fragments of pottery from various periods, mainly from the fourth century BC to the first imperial age, as a result not only of natural events, but probably also of recent agricultural works (tracking of rural paths that have deeply affected the slope) and building (expansion of a farmhouse in the slope immediately above). The place of discovery, considered in itself and seen in the more general framework of the  urbanistic story of the hill town of Kale Akte, can help in the reconstruction of the original context, which should be public. The inscribed block, in fact, had to be walled in some public building, probably into the Hellenistic agora of the city. Several evidence and studies conducted by the author on the urban structure of the hill town suggest that the public area of Kale Akte was located at the north-east part of the modern town (Piazza San Francesco - Via Ducezio - Via Ruggero Orlando), where there is an artificial terrace probably made in antiquity digging the slope. We attempt then to reconstruct the original context of the inscription and we advance hypothesis about the location and organization of the public area in the Hellenistic age, which dates back the inscription

L’oggetto del poster riguarda un complesso del settore pubblico della città di Solunto, centro di antica fondazione fenicia localizzata sul Monte Catalfano, a breve distanza dal capoluogo siciliano. Del complesso si sono riconosciuti gli elementi principali, tra i quali le modalità di raccolta dell’acqua (all’interno della grande cisterna dell'agora), il suo impiego e smaltimento all’esterno dell’area urbana attraverso un grande gocciolatoio in pietra calcarea. Malgrado l’importanza dell'edificio, le ricerche precedenti si sono concentrate su altri settori dell’abitato. Lo stesso scavatore, Ettore Gabrici, non ha fornito, a suo tempo, alcuna documentazione. L’interesse di questo settore è dovuto, inoltre, alle particolari caratteristiche climatico-ambientali del comprensorio: ad oggi, il sito non consente la raccolta di grandi quantità d’acqua che possano permettere un corretto funzionamento di impianti termali.
Gli abitanti di Solunto, tuttavia, godendo di condizioni idrogeologiche favorevoli, oggi non più esistenti, vollero uniformarsi agli usi in voga in epoca romana, nel nostro caso relativi all’igiene, attraverso la realizzazione di due impianti termali collocati in altrettante zone strategiche dell’abitato: il più grande edificio è posto in corrispondenza dell’agora; un impianto più piccolo fu realizzato in corrispondenza dell’ingresso sud orientale della città. La presenza di questi due edifici in un’area apparentemente priva d’acqua potrebbe spiegarsi con le caratteristiche idrogeologiche del substrato roccioso, caratterizzato, secondo le ricerche in corso, svolte in collaborazione con Vincent Ollivier, geo-archeologo del CNRS, da un’intensa fratturazione che favorisce la risalita d’acqua per effetto della pressione idrotermale. Quest’ultima è documentata da laminazioni calcaree, alcune delle quali in corso di studio attraverso analisi chimiche.

Giovanni Polizzi
Doctorant contractuel en archéologie antique - Centre Camille Jullian (UMR 7299)

In the present work, an analytical study of paintings from an ancient hypogeum, dated back to 4th–3rd cent B.C. and located in Licata (Sicily, Southern Italy) has been carried out. A selection of representative red, yellow and white wall colored plasters have been sampled and analyzed in non-destructive and micro-destructive way to identify the pig-menting agents, preparation layers and study the deterioration processes. In particular, the quantitative analysis of the chemical composition of the different layers (pigments, preparation layers, deteriorated parts) has been obtained through scanning electron microscopy coupled with energy-dispersive spectrometry (SEM–EDS), while micro-Raman spectroscopy have been performed to investigate the molecular nature of the coloring agents used in the pigment layer. Finally, preliminary macroscopic and thin section analyses (OM) have been carried out with the aim to characterize plaster features and degradation processes. The obtained results, together with previous data on Hellenistic art in Sicily, may be helpful to create a database about the evolution of mural painting in Sicily as well as identify raw materials, pigment agents and painting techniques used in local plasters manufacture.

After a very brief survey of the limited material relating to the organisation of space in Hellenistic Sicily, this paper will focus on the remarkable material from the small polis of Halaesa on the northern coast of Sicily. The fragmentary remains of a substantial cadastral inscription and related texts offer some interesting points for reflection on the way in which boundaries were marked out. Although the Halaesa text is not especially remarkable in this regard, a recently discovered bronze honorific text raises significant issues regarding the significance of some of the marks employed and more generally regarding the control of space across the city as a whole and the relationship between the city and the body which controlled its principal sanctuary.

The book presents the edition of a group of late Hellenistic Greek inscriptions from the city of Halaesa Archonidea in Sicily, including recently discovered documents some of which are unpublished and others recently published by the author, among which two surviving fragments of the lost Tabulae Halaesinae (IG XIV 352 + SEG IV 45) and the fragment of a lease (misthosis) of probably public lands stand out. Thanks to an overall analysis of the documents, the volume
now offers a contribution to the interpretation and understanding of the Tabulae Halaesinae, trying to reconstruct, through the new epigraphical data, the historical-institutional scenario in which the city of Halaesa, probably around the last quarter of the II cent. BC, resurveyed its
public land, established a system to resolve conflicts over land ownership, and leased the land to its citizens.

The presentation will focus on the recent studies of the landscape exploitation at the ancient town Akrai/Acrae, located in the Hyblaean Mountains, in southeastern Sicily. The town was founded in the Sicilian interior in the 7th century BC, close to the modern town of Palazzolo Acreide, in the Palazzolo Formation, but the objectives of this presentation focus on tracing the changes and degradation that occurred between the Late Hellenistic period and Late Antiquity. The research comprises the examination of plants (seeds, fruit and charcoals) and animals and shows how intensive exploitation of nature resulted in deforestation, depletion of hydrological resources in the region, but also in changes of farming, which became particularly visible in the Late Roman and Byzantine age. The aim of this presentation is also to reconstruct agricultural and dietary preferences, food production and storage. Preliminary results show that the investigated area was almost continuously occupied and suggest that the landscape, the strategic location of the town and the environmental resources (springs, rivers and forests) were very important in the growth and the development of the ancient centre.

Sicily has a vibrant and individual epigraphic culture from the Archaic period onwards. Using the data available from the I.Sicily project, this paper surveys the epigraphic culture of the island in order to contextualise and analyse epigraphic practice on the island in the Hellenistic period. The material is predominantly Greek in this period, with a minor presence of Punic, Oscan, and Latin. Analysis concentrates on lapidary epigraphy, but includes a discussion of bronze epigraphy and honorific practices on bronze, which show distinctive local features. Epigraphic practices on the island, and the linguistic evidence in particular, suggests an independent and distinctively Sicilian epigraphic tradition that belongs within the wider Hellenistic Mediterranean context and is almost wholly unaffected by Roman practices until the Augustan period.

This paper presents a full critical edition of two bronze tablets from the ancient city of Halaesa (Tusa, ME, Sicily), excavated in 2004, and only partially published in earlier editions. The two tablets are near identical copies of the same text, recording honours for an individual (Nemenios) awarded by a previously unknown association of the priests of Apollo. The paper presents the archaeological context, Greek text, English translation of the bronzes, together with extended discussion of key aspects and problems of the texts within the context of Hellenistic Sicilian epigraphy. The texts contain a number of features, linguistic and cultural, without clear parallels, as well as one of the earliest references in Greek to a basilica; in particular the relationship of the association of priests to the city of Halaesa is unclear and various possibilities are considered.

Il contributo mira ad approfondire la conoscenza dell’edilizia abitativa della sub-colonia geloa, città che, dopo la sua fondazione nei primi decenni del VI sec. a.C., diventa subito centrale nello scacchiere politico ed economico della Sicilia greca e punica.
Il punto di partenza è costituito dall’insula III del cosiddetto quartiere “ellenistico-romano”, area in cui l’Università di Bologna, in collaborazione con l’Ente Parco Valle dei Templi di Agrigento, ha  di recente avviato un progetto di ricerca pluriennale che prevede l’analisi dell’intero isolato messo in luce durante gli scavi degli del secolo scorso, ma mai studiato sistematicamente.
Fra gli interventi svolti nella prima campagna un ruolo importante ha avuto lo studio analitico della documentazione pregressa, i cui molteplici dati sono stati inseriti all’interno del database e della piattaforma GIS intrasite già creata dall’Ente Parco, dando così la possibilità di avviare una rianalisi critica delle stratigrafie allora asportate.
Il survey sul campo, invece, ha portato allo studio degli elementi architettonici e degli apparati decorativi ancora presenti in situ, con particolare attenzione alle pavimentazioni e i piani di calpestio ricollegati, attraverso un sistema di quote-livelli creato in ambiente GIS, a fasi eterogenee della vita delle abitazioni, le quali, quando possibile, sono state inserite all’interno di un contesto cronologico più o meno definito sulla base dei dati disponibili e ai confronti con le attestazioni di altri centri della Sicilia occidentale ellenistica e romana.
Vista la mancanza di dati riguardanti le fasi più antiche del quartiere, si è deciso di allargare lo studio anche alle insulae poste più ad ovest (I e II), sfruttando in particolar modo la documentazione edita dei numerosi saggi in profondità effettuati all’interno delle abitazioni a partire dagli anni Cinquanta del secolo scorso fino ad anni recenti, da cui sono stati  estrapolati i dati riguardanti i piani di calpestio e le strutture di età arcaica ritrovate.
Contestualmente a tali indagini  nell’insula III è stato avviato un nuovo rilievo topografico (realizzato mediante l’uso di un laser scanner)  e delle prospezioni  geofisiche condotte sia all’interno delle abitazioni che sugli assi viari che delimitano l’isolato, i quali avranno anche la funzione di indirizzare i saggi archeologici previsti nelle prossime campagne.