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User: Thorn2200

Eddie Izzard- Romans, Carthaginians, and Elephants A lego animation to comic Eddie Izzard talking about Hanibal's elephants and his attack of Rome. If you like this video, you can find more Eddie Izzard lego animations in the more from this user list, and a Eddie Izzard paper animation at this URL. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sFcm8OsnNO0 Tags: Eddie Izzard comic lego animation comedy roman carthaginians elephant skis Definite Article youve never been on acid!

User: Tomsk5

Filthy Pedro & The Carthaginians 'Rock & Roll Points' Filthy plays at the Autumn Antifolk Fest 06 with the New Carthaginians Cigarface & Cladius T. Skull. Tags: antifolk fest filthy pedro medders tomlinson rock and roll points

User: longerleftleg

jive=Hannibal an extreamly breif account of the Carthaginians slaughter of the Romans at the battle of Cannae. Set in a back garden, the Romans are ants, the woodlouse are the Itialians they controlled and the termites are the Carthaginians. Sorry, no elephants. Tags: jive hannibal ants romans termites carthaginians punic war cannae double envelope attack

User: stargordo

El leon de Bagradas (parte 1) For english users (traduccion made for power translator). The lion of Bagradas (part 1) -1. Min: 0.14 - Year 256 before Christ. Roman and Carthaginians take 9 years, fighting in the island of Sicily that is on the way to half among both nations. -2. Min: 0,30 - It is a tremendous blockade war against walled cities whose inhabitants, of Greek origin, lean for an or another nation. -3. Min: 0,41 - The west of Sicily, is Carthaginian possession. But the war affects to the whole island. -4. Min: 0,49 - The blockades, require time and patience. It is also necessary to support the hunger, and the illnesses. -5. Min: 0,58 - The combatants, are grown impatient, and in occasions they desert or they abandon. -6. Min: 1,07 - If they are discovered, he/she waits them the death. -7.Min: 2,04 - In spite of the meticulousness, many assaults, don't end up such and like you drifted. -8.Min: 2,32 - It is logical. They are in view of the enemy, and these are already waiting them. -9. Min: 3,13 - Then, Rome decides to change strategy, and it gathers to the senate to decide what should be made. -10.Min: 3,53 - After many discussions, and disagreements, it is opted to send an army to Carthage -11.Min: 4,06 - His boss, is the consul Atilio Régulo; an ambitious man. -12.Min: 4,21 - The Roman fleet, starts, heading for the north of Africa, to Carthage. -13.Min: 5,00 - The Carthaginians, try to stop the fleet. -14.Min: 6,03 - Rome has embarked a more numerous army that them. -15.Min: 6,55 - And they fight to the boarding, every time that the enemy, comes closer to charge them. -16.Min: 7,30 - For that reason, the maneuverability of the marines from Carthage, is insufficient. -17.Min: 7,43 - Their ships, in their majority are captured -18.Min: 8,35 Other, they are sunken. -19.Min: 9,29 The Carthaginians, they are defeated, near the end Ecnomo. For patches the game, go here http://raf.heavengames.com/ Este video, es una especie de reportaje basado en una batalla sucedida durante las guerras entre romanos y cartagineses, las llamadas guerras púnicas. La música, es del viejo juego cesar 3, y las capturas del "Rise fall, civilizations at war". El narrador, por supuesto, es Jorge el del programa loquendo ;) Tags: guerras punicas romanos cartagineses Roma loquendo

User: doylie45

Antequera, Antequera photographs, Antequera Property http://www.vallerosario.com Antequera, 45 kilometres from Malaga city, is reached by taking the main autovía out of the capital towards Granada, watching out for the sign at Las Pedrizas. The valley opens out before us as we descend down into it, and Antequera is just off to our left on the road to Cordoba. This is a large plain rich in cultivation and with many typical Andalusian-style farmhouses surrounded by olive trees and cereal crops. The entrance to the town is close to La Peña de los Enamorados. With more than 800 square kilometres, this is the biggest municipality in the province of Malaga, bordering the province of Cordoba to the north and with the Mountains of Malaga to the south. The El Torcal mountain range is closest to the town itself, and with the passage of time, erosion has made this area into one of the most interesting and beautiful in all of Andalucía. Shell and marine-life fossils have been discovered in the valley, which tells us that the area was covered in water millions of years ago. The Peña de los Enamorados is left behind us as we head into the town and this hill is rich in legend and history. One legend tells of the bodies of two lovers buried at the foot of the hill, he Christian and she Moorish, who had fled to the peak to escape from their angry families, and finally threw themselves off in a suicide pact. True or not is unimportant, because this hill, bordered by the river Guadalhorce, arouses the stuff that legends are made of in all of us. The privileged situation of Antequera, in the geographical centre of Andalucía, had made it one of the most important towns between upper and lower Andalucía, Granada and Seville. It is a modern town these days, complete with all the services and shopping facilities one would expect in a large town, but it also has a past rich in culture and history that is, perhaps, unequalled in any other southern Spanish town of its size. There are many archaeological remains from the Bronze Age, such as the dolmens at Menga, Viera and El Romeral, all burial grounds of the highest order. It is believed that the Iberians, the Tartessus tribes, the Phoenicians and the Carthaginians all settled here at one time or another, and Carthaginian remains have been found at Cerro León, where the battle between the Romans and the Carthaginians of Asdrúbal took place. The Moors later named the place Medina Antecaria. After the conquest of Seville and Jaén, Antequera took on great strategic importance as a military frontier fortification. It was conquered in 1410 by the infante Don Fernando, known in the history books as Don Fernando de Antequera. The 19th century was tragic for Antequera. Its population was decimated by the Napoleonic invasion and the yellow fever of 1804, and it was not until 1830 that a prosperous middle class emerged as a result of the growing textile industry. This sector was to suffer once more in the beginning of the 20th century. Antequera is now a modern town that is ideally placed to receive tourists, in which history still lives in its numerous monuments and historical buildings. Basic data Size: 810 Km² Population: 40.000 Residents known as: Antequeranos Monuments: Church of San José y Belén; Colegiata Santa María la Mayor; Palace of Nájera; the Dolmen of Menga. Geographical situation: In the centre of the Antequera plain, 45 kilometres from Malaga. Tourist information: Municipal Tourist Office, Pza. de San Sebastián, 7. Phone: 952 702 505 Fax: 952 702 505 Information Sur In English. For the best Malaga Andalucia Country property for sale please vist http://countrypropertyforsalemalagaandaluciaspain.magnify.net/ http://www.vallerosario.com http://www.countrypropertyforsalemalaga.com and http://www.antequera.spain.com Property for sale in Margarita Island La Ensenada property for sale. La Ensenada, a beautiful new development situated on the beach in Margarita Island. http://www.margaritaislandlaensenada.com Also see: Sites of interest http://www.tantricworld.co.uk/ Tantra is a spiritual system, and in the Tantric teachings, sexual love is a sacrament, but Tantra's goals are more exalted and broader in scope than simply to accomplish proficiency in sex. http://www.languagelesson.info/index.php Learn a new language, language lessons in French, German, Italian, Language courses from home delivers a variety of quick language learning programs right to your desktop. Why go to language schools when you can learn popular languages like Spanish, Italian, French, German, Dutch or Japanese right in the comfort of your home? Our language courses are dynamic and effective; designed for all levels beginner to advanced. Tags: Antequera Antikera Malaga Spain Andalucia Buildings For sale

User: yesin88

Engineering an enpire - Carthage Part 1/3 Carthage, a remarkable city-state that dominated the Mediterranean for over 600 years, harnessed their extensive resources to develop some of the ancient world's most groundbreaking technology. For generations, Carthage defined power, strength and ingenuity, but by the third century B.C., the empire's existence was threatened by another emerging superpower, Rome. However, when the Romans engineered their empire, they were only following the lead of the Carthaginians. From the city's grand harbor to the rise of one of history's greatest generals, Hannibal Barca, we will examine the architecture and infrastructure that enabled the rise and fall of the Carthaginian Empire. Tags: Carthage tunisia empire engineering

User: moddyloc

engineering an empire -carthage pt 2 Carthage, a remarkable city-state that dominated the Mediterranean for over 600 years, harnessed their extensive resources to develop some of the ancient world's most groundbreaking technology. For generations, Carthage defined power, strength and ingenuity, but by the third century B.C., the empire's existence was threatened by another emerging superpower, Rome. However, when the Romans engineered their empire, they were only following the lead of the Carthaginians. From the city's grand harbor to the rise of one of history's greatest generals, Hannibal Barca, we will examine the architecture and infrastructure that enabled the rise and fall of the Carthaginian Empire Tags: kemet nubia egypt roman greece blackpower aryan persia arab whitepower moors booty fights nordic

User: moddyloc

engineering an empire -carthage part 3 Carthage, a remarkable city-state that dominated the Mediterranean for over 600 years, harnessed their extensive resources to develop some of the ancient world's most groundbreaking technology. For generations, Carthage defined power, strength and ingenuity, but by the third century B.C., the empire's existence was threatened by another emerging superpower, Rome. However, when the Romans engineered their empire, they were only following the lead of the Carthaginians. From the city's grand harbor to the rise of one of history's greatest generals, Hannibal Barca, we will examine the architecture and infrastructure that enabled the rise and fall of the Carthaginian Empire Tags: kemet nubia egypt roman greece blackpower aryan persia arab whitepower moors booty fights mtv videogame cnn nordic

User: PrinceofMacedon

Rome Total War Online Battle #1085: Armenia vs Carthage Please watch in "High Quality." I command Armenia. My opponent, Doctor, takes charge of the Carthaginians. Map: British Grasslands Tags: Prince_of_Macedon Rome Total War Online Multiplayer Commentary Armenian Carthaginian Cataphract Poeni

User: PrinceofMacedon

Rome: Total War Online Battle #1083: Carthage vs Seleucids Please watch in "High Quality." I lead the Carthaginians. Mathos commands the Seleucids. Map: Syrian Flats Tags: Prince_of_Macedon Rome Total War Online Multiplayer Commentary Carthage Carthaginian Seleucid Numidian

User: moddyloc

engineering an empire -carthage pt middle Carthage, a remarkable city-state that dominated the Mediterranean for over 600 years, harnessed their extensive resources to develop some of the ancient world's most groundbreaking technology. For generations, Carthage defined power, strength and ingenuity, but by the third century B.C., the empire's existence was threatened by another emerging superpower, Rome. However, when the Romans engineered their empire, they were only following the lead of the Carthaginians. From the city's grand harbor to the rise of one of history's greatest generals, Hannibal Barca, we will examine the architecture and infrastructure that enabled the rise and fall of the Carthaginian Empire Tags: kemet nubia egypt roman greece blackpower aryan persia arab whitepower moors booty fights nordic

User: stargordo

El león de Bagradas (parte 2) For english users (traducction with the program power translator: The lion of Bagradas (Part 2) -1.Min: 0,08 -The Romans are able to disembark almost without finding resistance -2.Min: 0,19 - The Carthaginians, send an army as quickly as possible. -3.Min: 0,57 - But it is defeated by the Romans. -4.Min: 1,04 - The Roman camp, doesn't take in filling with visitors. -5.Min: 1,15 - Several tribes númidas (numidian? ), offer their support to Rome, to defeat the Carthaginians. -6 Min: 1,37 - The númidas, or Algerian, they are numerous tribes that stroll for the north of Africa. -7. Min: 1,46 - Its slight chivalry, is very agile. -8. Min: 1,50 - Some of those tribes, mercenaries provide to Carthage. -9. Min: 1,55 - Other, on the contrary, they are their enemies. -10. Min: 2,02 - And other, they don't doubt to be devoted to the pillage, or to fight among them. -11. Min: 2,16 - For Atilio, they are all equals, and it considers them, very little of trusting. -12. Min: 2,24 - For it, it rejects their help. -13. Min: 2,32 - The Carthaginian ambassadors, also go to the camp. -14. Min: 2,38 - They want to reach an agreement of peace, and they commit to abandon Sicily. -15. Min: 2,44 - But the conditions of Atilio, are very hard. Besides Sicily, it demands them to abandon all their territories. -16. Min: 3,00 - The ambassadors, don't consider it exactly. -17. Min: 3,13 - Carthage, it should continue fighting. -18. Min: 3,16 - But their army is very scarce. -19. Min: 3,18 - They have few mercenaries. -20. Min: 3,20 - On the contrary that Rome, the citizens, hate the service of the weapons. -21. Min: 3,26 - Atilio, prepares to prepare its forces, to isolate Carthage before giving him the definitive blow. -22. Min: 3,33 - The defeat of Carthage in the sea, doesn't prevent that a contingent of mercenaries disembarks. -23. Min: 3,38 - To them, sink a group of mercenary númidas. -24. Min: 3,43 - Among the mercenaries, the Spartan one, Jantipo, that offers to help Carthage is. -25. Min: 3,49 - But they are few to fight against the Roman invaders. -26. Min: 9,54 - Jantipo, is a great strategist that knows the methods that Great Alejandro used, and train the citizens using his methodos. -27. Min: 4,07 - The númidas, captures elephants, and they put them to the general's disposition. -28. Min: 4,13 -These, they should be trained with much care, because when they feel panic, they don't distinguish enemies' friends, and they could be a nuisance, more than a help. -29 Min: 4,35 - Atilio Régulo, it has captured several allied cities of Carthage. -30 Min: 4,40 - Their leaders have been executed, and positions in view of the citizens as warning. -31 Min: 4,56 - In Carthage have heard the news and they are terrified. For they request it to the army that starts as soon as possible -32 Min: 5,42 - The Roman browsers, inform to Régulo of the presence of the Carthaginian army. -33. Min: 6,05 - Its chivalry, is very inferior to that of them, and it places its horsemen in a balanced way. -34. Min: 6,15 - But Atilio, doesn't give him bigger importance. -35. Min: 6,20 - Rome has always trusted its infantry to win the battles. -36. Min: 6,25 - Both armies, have an approximate number of warriors. -37. Min: 6,46 - In the plains of Bagradás, they are. -38. Min: 8,40 - The Roman chivalry, smaller in number, it is annihilated. -39. Min: 8,46 - That facilitates that the Romans, be surrounded. -40. Min: 9,15 - The general Jantipo requests to the survivors, its rendition -41 Min: 9,26 - Atilio Régulo, doesn't have more remedy than to surrender. Es la 2ª parte del anterior. Es una especie de reportaje basado en una batalla sucedida durante las guerras entre romanos y cartagineses, las llamadas guerras púnicas. La música, es del viejo juego cesar 3, y las capturas del "Rise fall, civilizations at war". El narrador, por supuesto, es Jorge el del programa loquendo ;) Tags: rise fall romanos cartagineses guerras punicas loquendo Roma.

User: valpard

The old town of Tripoli (Libya) Tripoli (Arabic: طرابلس Tarābulus) is the capital city of Libya. It has a population of 1.68 million. The city is located in the northwest of the country on the edge of the desert, on a point of rocky land projecting into the Mediterranean Sea and forming a bay. It is located at 32°54'8" North, 13°11'9" East (32.90222, 13.185833). The city was founded in the 7th century BCE, by the Phoenicians. Tripoli then passed into the hands of the rulers of Cyrenaica (Barca), from whom it was wrested away by the Carthaginians. It next belonged to the Romans, who included it within their province of Africa, and gave it the name of Regio Syrtica. Around the beginning of the 3rd century CE, it became known as the Regio Tripolitana (region of the three cities, namely Oea, Sabrata and Leptis).It was probably raised to the rank of a separate province by Septimius Severus, who was a native of Leptis. Like the rest of North Africa, it was conquered by the Muslims early in the 8th century. In 1510, it was taken by Don Pedro Navarro, Count of Oliveto for Spain, and, in 1523, it was assigned to the Knights of St. John, who had lately been expelled by the Ottoman Turks from their stronghold in the island of Rhodes. The knights kept it with some trouble until 1551, when they were compelled to surrender. In 1714, the ruling pasha, Ahmed Karamanli, assumed the title of bey, and asserted a sort of semi-independence of the Sultan, and this order of things continued under the rule of his descendants, accompanied by the brazen piracy and blackmailing until 1835, when the Ottoman Empire ("the Porte") took advantage of an internal struggle. The Ottoman province (vilayet) of Tripoli (including the dependent sanjak of Cyrenaica) lay along the southern shore of the Mediterranean Sea between Tunisia in the west and Egypt in the east. Besides the city itself, the area included Cyrenaica (the Barca plateau), the chain of oases in the Aujila depression, Fezzan and the oases of Ghadames and Ghat, separated by sandy and stony wastelands. In the early part of the 19th century, the regency at Tripoli, owing to its piratical practices, was twice involved in war with the United States. In May 1801, the pasha demanded an increase in the tribute ($83,000) which the US government had been paying since 1796 for the protection of their commerce from piracy. The demand was refused, and a naval force was sent from the United States to blockade Tripoli. The First Barbary War dragged on for four years, the Americans in 1803 losing the frigate, Philadelphia, the commander (Captain William Bainbridge) and the whole crew being made prisoners. The most colourful incident in the war was the expedition undertaken by William Eaton with the object of replacing the pasha with an elder brother living in exile, who had promised to accede to all the wishes of the United States. Eaton at the head of a motley crew of 500 US Marines, Greek, Arab and Turkish Mercenaries marched across the desert from Alexandria. Egypt, and with the aid of American ships, succeeded in capturing Derna. Soon afterwards, on June 3, 1805, peace was concluded. The pasha ended his demands and received $60,000 as ransom for the Philadelphia prisoners. In 1815, in consequence of further outrages, Captains Bainbridge and Stephen Decatur, at the head of an American squadron, again visited Tripoli and forced the pasha to comply with the demands of the United States. See Second Barbary War. In 1835, the Turks took advantage of a local civil war to reassert their direct authority. After that date, Tripoli was under the direct control of the Sublime Porte. Rebellions in 1842 and 1844 were unsuccessful. After the occupation of Tunisia by the French (1881), the Turks increased their garrison in Tripoli considerably. Italy had long claimed that Tripoli fell within its zone of influence and that Italy had the right to preserve order within the state. Under the pretext of protecting its own citizens living in Tripoli from the Turkish Government, it declared war against Turkey on September 29, 1911, and announced its intention of annexing Tripoli. On October 1, 1911, a naval battle was fought at Prevesa, European Turkey, and three Turkish vessels were destroyed. By the Treaty of Lausanne, Italian sovereignty was acknowledged by Turkey, although the Caliph was permitted to exercise religious authority. Tripoli was controlled by Italy until 1943. After that, it was occupied by British forces until independence in 1951. (wikipedia) VALPARD FILMS http://valpardfilms.free.fr Tags: tripoli طرابلس 的黎波里 トリポリ Tripolis tarabulus libye Libya リビア Libia 리비아 Libyen Libyan 利比亚 ليبيا Libiya Draghut Gorgi

User: TAR3K

Libya, the silent treasures You may not know that Libya is far more than vast sweeps of desert. Libya is a country of extraordinary and unexpected variety, so rich that it was coveted and conquered in turn by Phoenicians, Greeks, Carthaginians, Romans, and Byzantines-all of whom left their mark. Simply one of the unknown corners of the world, it all makes for exciting discoveries. If you wish to visit or require more information about Libya, please view my website at www.freewebs.com/tarekalwan Regards Tarek Alwan UAE /Algeria / Yemen / Bahrain / / Palestine/ Iraq/ Kuwait/ Libya/ Lebanon/ Morocco/ Egypt/ Mauritania/ Qatar/ Syria/ Sudan/ Oman/ Tunisia /Saudi Arabia/ / Jordan الإمارات /البحرين / اليمن/ الجزائر / فلسطين/ الكويت/ /العراق /ليبيا / لبنان /المغرب / مصر / موريتانيا / الأردن/ تونس / السعودية / السودان/ عمان/ قطر / سورية Tags: Libya Libyan Desert sahara Tripoli Tourism Tarek Alwan طارق علوان ليبيا طرابلس adventure cityscape cruise culture destination events landmark museum nature travel log

User: randalon

Rome: Total War (The Punic Wars) This is a cinematic take on an epic Rome: Total War battle between the Roman legions, and the Carthaginians. This event chronicles the feud that took place on the island of Sicily, which was a major target for both nations due to its strategic importance. I also included some real life fighting scenes between the general and a random roman praetorian. The Romans are outnumbered by more than 650 men. On the Contrary, they are more experienced and disciplined. Hope you enjoy it! Yes i do suck at the game and im not trying to showoff or anything. I just felt like making a movie where the viewer can understand what is going on by using different camera angles. Roman kills: 1,112 Cathaginian Kills: 512 (More Romans were killed due to friendly fire. You will notice it throughout the film. so total Roman casualties is 556) IF POSSIBLE, WATCH THE MOVIE IN HD, NOT STANDARD QUALITY!! Anyway i understand my movie contains historical innaccuracies primarily targeted toward the selection of Roman troops. they are innaccurate to the period, but those soldiers were selected out of personal preference since they embody the signature look of IDEAL romans. Tags: Rome Total War short film video game

User: moddyloc

engineering an empire -carthage pt 1 Carthage, a remarkable city-state that dominated the Mediterranean for over 600 years, harnessed their extensive resources to develop some of the ancient world's most groundbreaking technology. For generations, Carthage defined power, strength and ingenuity, but by the third century B.C., the empire's existence was threatened by another emerging superpower, Rome. However, when the Romans engineered their empire, they were only following the lead of the Carthaginians. From the city's grand harbor to the rise of one of history's greatest generals, Hannibal Barca, we will examine the architecture and infrastructure that enabled the rise and fall of the Carthaginian Empire Tags: kemet nubia egypt roman greece blackpower aryan persia arab whitepower moors booty fights nordic

User: newrealm06

Sensational Sicily Sicily is directly adjacent to the region of Calabria via the Strait of Messina to the east. The early Roman name for Sicily was Trinacria, alluding to its triangular shape. The Sensational Sicily Project http://www.SensationalSicily.com is a collaboration with the Region of Sicily, The Italian Chamber of Commerce, Alessandro Sorbello Productions http://www.alessandrosorbello.com and New Realm Media http://www.newrealm.com.au The volcano Etna, situated close to Catania, is 3,320 m (10,900 ft) high, making it the tallest active volcano in Europe. It is also one of the world's most active volcanoes. The Aeolian islands to the north are administratively a part of Sicily, as are the Aegadian Islands and Pantelleria Island to the west, Ustica Island to the north-west, and the Pelagian Islands to the south-west. Sicily has been noted for two millennia as a grain-producing territory. Oranges, lemons, olives, olive oil, almonds, and wine are among its other agricultural products. The mines of the Enna and Caltanissetta district became a leading sulfur-producing area in the 19th century but have declined since the 1950s. http://youtube.com/watch?v=NJAalPqBuFo&mode=related&search= Sicily is divided into nine provinces: Agrigento, Caltanissetta, Catania, Enna, Messina, Palermo, Ragusa, Syracuse (Siracusa), Trapani History The original inhabitants of Sicily, long absorbed into the population, were tribes known to Greek writers as the Elymians, the Sicani and the Siculi or Sicels. Of these, the last were clearly the latest to arrive on this land and were related to other Italic peoples of southern Italy, such as the Italoi of Calabria, the Oenotrians, Chones, and Leuterni (or Leutarni), the Opicans, and the Ausones. It's possible, however, that the Sicani were originally an Iberian tribe. The Elymi, too, may have distant origins outside of Italy, in the Aegean Sea area. Phoenicians/Carthaginians, Greeks & Romans Sicily was colonized by Phoenicians, Punic settlers from Carthage, and by Greeks, starting in the 8th Century BC. The most important colony was established at Syracuse in 734 BC. Other important Greek colonies were Gela, Acragas, Selinunte, Himera, and Zancle or Messene (modern-day Messina, not to be confused with the ancient city of Messene in Messenia, Greece). These city states were an important part of classical Greek civilization, which included Sicily as part of Magna Graecia - both Empedocles and Archimedes were from Sicily. Sicilian politics was intertwined with politics in Greece itself, leading Athens, for example, to mount the disastrous Sicilian Expedition during the Peloponnesian War. The Greeks came into conflict with the Punic trading communities with ties to Carthage, which was on the African mainland, not far from the southwest corner of the region, and had its own colonies on Sicily. Palermo was a Carthaginian city, founded in the 8th century BC, named Zis or Sis ("Panormos" to the Greeks). Hundreds of Phoenician and Carthaginian grave sites have been found in necropoli over a large area of Palermo, now built over, south of the Norman palace, where the Norman kings had a vast park. In the far west, Lilybaeum (now Marsala) never was thoroughly Hellenized. In the First and Second Sicilian Wars, Carthage was in control of all but the eastern part of Sicily, which was dominated by Syracuse. In 415 BC, Syracuse became an object of Athenian imperialism as exemplified in the disastrous events of the Sicilian Expedition, which reignited the cooling Peloponnesian War. In the 3rd century BC the Messanan Crisis motivated the intervention of the Roman Republic into Sicilian affairs, and led to the First Punic War between Rome and Carthage. By the end of war (242 BC) all Sicily was in Roman hands, becoming Rome's first province outside of the Italian peninsula. The initial success of the Carthaginians during the Second Punic War encouraged many of the Sicilian cities to revolt against Roman rule. Rome sent troops to put down the rebellions (it was during the siege of Syracuse that Archimedes was killed). Carthage briefly took control of parts of Sicily, but in the end was driven off. Many Carthaginian sympathizers were killed— in 210 BC the Roman consul M. Valerian told the Roman Senate that "no Carthaginian remains in Sicily". For the next 6 centuries, Sicily was a province of the Roman Empire. It was something of a rural backwater, important chiefly for its grainfields, which were a mainstay of the food supply of the city of Rome. The empire did not make much effort to Romanize the region, which remained largely Greek. The most notable event of this period was the notorious misgovernment of Verres, as recorded by Cicero in 70 BC, in his oration, In Verrem. Byzantines In 440 AD Sicily fell to the Vandal king Geiseric. A few decades later, it came into Ostrogothic hands, where it remained until it was conquered by the Byzantine general Belisarius in 535. But a new Ostrogothic king, Totila, drove down the Italian peninsula and then plundered and conquered Sicily in 550. Totila, in turn, was defeated and killed by the Byzantine general, Narses, in 552. For a brief period (662-668), during Byzantine rule, Syracuse was the imperial capital, until Constans II was assassinated. Sicily was then ruled by the Byzantine Empire until the Arab conquest of 827-902. It is reported in contemporary accounts that Sicilians spoke Greek or Italo-Greek dialects until at least the 10th century, and in some regions for several more centuries. First Arab invasion of Sicily In 535, Emperor Justinian I made Sicily a Byzantine province, and for the second time in Sicilian history, the Greek language became a familiar sound across the island. As the power of the Byzantine Empire waned, Sicily was invaded by the Arabs in 652 AD. However, this was a short lived invasion and the Arabs left soon after. Arab control from Tunisia and Egypt In around 700, the island of Pantelleria was captured by the Arabs, and it was only discord among the Arabs that prevented Sicily being next. Instead, trading arrangements were agreed and Arab merchants established themselves in Sicilian ports. Then, in 827 a failed Sicilian coup against an unpopular Byzantine governor. Euphemius, a wealthy landowner, who overcame the imperial garrison in Siracusa, declared himself Emperor and invited the Aghlabid Emir of Tunisia to help him. The response was a fleet of 100 ships and 10,000 troops under the command of Asad ibn al-Furat, which consisted largely of Arab Berbers from North Africa and Spain. After resistance at Siracusa, the Arabs gained a foothold in Mazara del Vallo. Palermo fell after a long siege in 831, but Siracusa held out until 878. From 842 to 859 the Arabs captured Messina, Modica, Ragusa and Enna. In 902 Taormina, the last Byzantine stronghold also fell to Arabs and by 965 all of Sicily was under Arab control and Palermo became one of the largest cities in the world. Emirate of Sicily Sicily was ruled by the Sunni Aghlabid dynasty in Tunisia and the Shiite Fatimids in Egypt. The Byzantines took advantage of temporary discord to occupy the eastern end of the island for several years. After suppressing a revolt the Fatimid caliph appointed Hassan al-Kalbi (948-964) as Emir of Sicily. He successfully managed to control the Byzantines and founded the Kalbid dynasty. Raids into southern Italy continued under the Kalbids into the 11th century, and in 982 a German army under Otto II was defeated near Crotone in Calabria. With Emir Yusuf al-Kalbi (990-998) a period of steady decline began. Under al-Akhal (1017-1037) the dynastic conflict intensified, with factions within the ruling family allying themselves variously with Byzantium and the Zirids. By the time of Emir Hasan as-Samsam (1040-1053) the island had fragmented into several small fiefdoms. As a virtually an independent emirate, Sicily played a privileged role as bridge between Africa and Europe. Trade flourished and taxes were low. The tolerant regime allowed subjects to abide by their own laws. Despite freedom of worship, Christians freely converted to Islam and there were soon hundreds of mosques in Palermo alone. The Arabs initiated land reforms which in turn, increased productivity and encouraged the growth of smallholdings, a dent to the dominance of the landed estates. The Arabs further improved irrigation systems. A description of Palermo was given by Ibn Hawqual, a Baghdad merchant who visited Sicily in 950. A walled suburb called the Kasr (the palace) is the center of Palermo until today, with the great Friday mosque on the site of the later Roman cathedral. The suburb of Al-Khalisa (Kalsa) contained the Sultan's palace, baths, a mosque, government offices and a private prison. Ibn Hawqual reckoned 7,000 individual butchers trading in 150 shops. The Cathedral of Palermo.In addition to Andalusian Arabs and other Arabs, there were Berbers, Persians, Greeks, Jews, Slavs and Lombards. Western Sicily particularly prospered with Berbers settling in the Agrigento area coupled with Bedouin, Syrians and Egyptian Arabs in Palermo. Muslim rule in Sicily slowly came to an end following an invitation by the Emirs of Catania and Siracusa for a Norman invasion. The Normans, under Count Roger de Hauteville (Altavilla) attacked Sicily in 1061, beginning a thirty year struggle against the Arabs. In 1068, Roger and his men defeated the Arabs at Misilmeri but the most crucial battle was the siege of Palermo in 1072, and the conquest of Sicily was completed by 1091 with the defeat of the last Emir in Noto. Arab-Norman period (1091-1224) Following the Norman conquest, Arab influence continued to persist creating a hybrid culture on the island that has contributed much to the character of modern Sicily. The cultural diversity and religious tolerance of the period of Muslim rule under the Kalbid dynasty made Palermo the capital city of the Emirate of Sicily. This continued under the Normans who conquered Sicily in 1060-1090 (raising its status to that of a kingdom in 1130). During this period, Sicily became one of the wealthiest states in Europe, and according to historian John Julius Norwich, Palermo under the Normans became wealthier than the England of its day. After only a century, however, the Norman Hauteville dynasty died out and the south German (Swabian) Hohenstaufen dynasty ruled starting in 1194, adopting Palermo as its principal seat from 1220. But local Christian-Muslim conflicts fueled by the Crusades were escalating during this later period, and in 1224, Frederick II, grandson of Roger II, expelled the last remaining Muslims from Sicily, temporarily relocating many to a colony in Lucera on the southern mainland, while the rest fled to North Africa. Conflict between the Hohenstaufen house and the Papacy led in 1266 to Sicily's conquest by Charles I, duke of Anjou: opposition to French officialdom and taxation led in 1282 to insurrection (the Sicilian Vespers) and successful invasion by king Peter III of Aragón. The resulting War of the Sicilian Vespers lasted until the peace of Caltabellotta in 1302. Sicily was ruled as an independent kingdom by relatives of the kings of Aragon until 1409 and then as part of the Crown of Aragon. Spanish control Ruled from 1479 by the kings of Spain, Sicily suffered a ferocious outbreak of plague (1656), followed by a damaging earthquake in the east of the region (1693). Sicily was frequently attacked by Barbary pirates from North Africa. Bad periods of rule by the crown of Savoy (1713-1720) and then the Austrian Habsburgs gave way to union (1734) with the Bourbon-ruled kingdom of Naples, first as independent kingdom under personal union, then (1816) as part of the kingdom of the Two Sicilies. Sicily was the scene of major revolutionary movements in 1820 and 1848 against Bourbon denial of constitutional government, even though the main request was recognition of an independent status from Naples. The 1848 revolution resulted in a sixteen month period of independence from the Bourbons before its armed forces took back control of the island on 15 May 1849. In late 1852, Prince Emanuele Realmuto had set up power in North Central Sicily. Highly educated, the prince established a political system set to bring Sicily's economy to the highest levels in all of Italy. The Prince's life however was shortened by an assassination in 1857. To this day some of his work is still present in the Italian parliament. Italian unification Sicily was joined with the other Italian regions in 1860 following the invasion of irregular troops led by Giuseppe Garibaldi and the resultant so-called Risorgimento. http://www.greatitalians.com/garibaldi.htm The new Italian state was a strongly centralized nation, and it did not take long before, in 1866, Palermo revolted against Italy. The city was soon bombed by the Italian navy, which disembarked on September 22 under the command of Raffaele Cadorna. Italian soldiers summarily executed the civilian insurgents, and took possession once again of the island. A long extensive guerrilla campaign against the unionists (1861-1871) took place throughout southern Italy, and in Sicily, inducing the Italian governments to a ferocious military repression. Ruled under martial law for many years Sicily (and southern Italy) was ravaged by the Italian army that summarily executed thousands of people, made tens of thousands prisoners, destroyed villages, and deported people. The Sicilian economy collapsed, leading to an unprecedented wave of emigration. In 1894 labour agitation through the radical Fasci Siciliani led again to the imposition of martial law. Map of the Allied landings in Sicily on 10 July 1943.The organised crime networks commonly known as the mafia extended their influence in the late 19th century (and many of its operatives also emigrated to other countries, particularly the United States); partly suppressed under the Fascist regime beginning in the 1920s, they recovered as a side effect of the massive World War II Allied invasion of Sicily on the night of July 10, 1943 when an allied armada of 2,590 vessels freed the then-Fascist Sicily. Mafia was the only organization present in Sicily to be a proved enemy of the Fascist regime and able to offer the Allied occupants a steady grip on the island. The invasion of Sicily was one of the causes of the July 25 crisis. An autonomous region from 1946, Sicily benefited to some extent from the partial Italian land reform of 1950-1962 and special funding from the Cassa per il Mezzogiorno, the Italian government's indemnification Fund for the South (1950-1984). Sicily returned to the headlines in 1992, however, when the assassination of two anti-mafia magistrates, Giovanni Falcone and Paolo Borsellino triggered a general upheaval in Italian political life. Transport Main article: Transport in Sicily Automobile Most of Sicily's motorways (autostrade) run through the northern portion of the island. The most important ones are A19 Palermo-Catania, A20 Palermo-Messina, A29 Palermo-Mazara del Vallo and the toll road A18 Messina-Catania. Much of the motorway network is elevated by columns due to the mountainous terrain. http://youtube.com/watch?v=RcI8fadvwaY The road network in the south of the country consists largely of well-maintained secondary roads. Railways Sicily is connected to the Italian peninsula by the national railway company, Trenitalia, though trains are loaded onto ferries for the crossing from the mainland. Officially, the Stretto di Messina, S.p. A. was scheduled to commence construction of the world's longest suspension bridge, the Strait of Messina Bridge, in the second half of 2006. When completed, it would have marked the first time in human history that Sicily was connected by a land link to Italy. In October of 2006 the Italian Parliament scrapped the plan due to lack of popular support, particularly amongst Sicilians.[2]. Air Sicily is served by national and international flights, mostly to European locations, to and from Palermo International Airport and the substantially busier Catania-Fontanarossa Airport. There are also minor national airports in Trapani and on the small islands of Pantelleria and Lampedusa. Metro The city of Palermo has an urban metropolitan service, handled by Trenitalia, with eleven stations, including an airport stop. Catania also has an underground rail system, which completes the circuit on the circumetnea narrow gauge railway. Towns and cities Sicily's principal cities include the regional capital Palermo, together with the other provincial capitals Catania, Messina, Syracuse (Siracusa in Italian), Trapani, Enna, Caltanissetta, Agrigento, Ragusa. Other Sicilian towns include Acireale, Taormina, Giardini Naxos, Piazza Armerina, Bagheria, Partinico, Carini, Alcamo, Vittoria, Caltagirone, Cefalù, Bronte, Adrano, Marsala, Corleone, Castellammare del Golfo, Calatafimi, Gela, Termini Imerese, Francavilla di Sicilia, Ferla, Sciacca, and Abacaenum (now Tripi). The regional flag of Sicily, recognized since January 2000[3], is also the historical one of the island since 1282. It is divided diagonally yellow over red, with the trinacria symbol in the center. "Trinacria" literally means "3 points" and it most probably is a solar symbol even though lately, it has been considered representative of the three points of the island. The head shown on the Sicilian trinacria is the face of Medusa. The trinacria symbol is used also by other regions like the Isle of Man. Arts Palermo is the regional capital of Sicily. Landscape with temple ruins on Sicily, Jacob Philipp Hackert, 1778Sicily is well known as a region of art: many poets and writers were born here, starting from the Sicilian School in the early 13th century, which inspired much subsequent Italian poetry and created the first Italian standard. The most famous, however, are Luigi Pirandello, Giovanni Verga, Salvatore Quasimodo, Gesualdo Bufalino. Other Sicilian artists include the composers Sigismondo d'India, Girolamo Arrigo, Salvatore Sciarrino, Giovanni Sollima (from Palermo), Alessandro Scarlatti (from Trapani or Palermo), Vincenzo Bellini, Giovanni Pacini, Francesco Paolo Frontini, Alfredo Sangiorgi, Aldo Clementi, Roberto Carnevale (from Catania). Noto, Ragusa and particularly Acireale contain some of Italy's best examples of Baroque architecture, carved in the local red sandstone. Caltagirone is renowned for its decorative ceramics. Palermo is also a major center of Italian opera. Its Teatro Massimo is the largest opera house in Italy and the third largest in the world, seating 1,400. Sicily is also home to two prominent folk art traditions, both of which draw heavily on the island's Norman influence. A Sicilian wood cart, or Carretto Siciliano, is painted with intricate decorations of scenes from the Norman romantic poems, such as The Song of Roland. The same tales are told in traditional puppet theatres which feature hand-made wooden marionettes, especially in Acireale, the capital of Sicilian puppets. Sicily is the setting for many classic Italian films such as Visconti's La Terra Trema (1948)and Il Gattopardo (1963), Rosi's Salvatore Giuliano(1962) and Antonioni's L'avventura (1960). The 1988 movie Nuovo Cinema Paradiso, was about life in a Sicilian town following the Second World War. It is also the setting for Michael Radford's Il Postino (1994) starring Massimo Troisi. People The position of Sicily as a stepping stone of sorts in the center of the Mediterranean Basin has lent it strategic importance throughout history, resulting in an endless procession of settlers and conquerors. Modern methods of genetic testing enable us to see which have had the greatest demographic impact. Several studies show strong ties between Sicily, mainland southern Italy and Greece, suggesting that the Siculi, Elymi and Greek colonizations were the most important. It has been proposed that a genetic boundary divides Sicily into two regions, reflecting the distribution of Siculi and Greek settlements in the east, and Sicani/Elymi, Phoenician/Arab and Norman settlements in the west.[10][11][12] However, other research has failed to detect any such division.[13][7] No data exists on the contribution of Normans, but a number of studies hint that North African and Middle Eastern gene flow was limited by the physical barrier of the Mediterranean Sea and resulting cultural differentiation.[6][14][15][16][17][18] Sicily's population is approximately 5 million, and there are an additional 10 million people of Sicilian descent around the world, mostly in the United States, Argentina, Canada, Australia and the EU countries. The island today, like all of western Europe, is home to growing communities of immigrants, including Tunisians, Moroccans, Nigerians, Indians, Romanians, Russians, Chinese and Gypsies from the Balkans. Language Main article: Sicilian language,. Many Sicilians are bilingual in both Italian and Sicilian, a separate Romance language, with Greek, Arabic, Catalan and Spanish influence. It is important to note that Sicilian is not a derivative of Italian. Although thought by some to be a dialect, Sicilianu is a distinct language, with a rich history and a sizeable vocabulary (at least 250,000 words), due to the influence of the different conquerors of, and settlers to, this land. The Sicilian language was an early influence in the development of the first Italian standard, although its use remained confined to an intellectual élite. This was a literary language in Sicily created under the auspices of Frederick II and his court of notaries, or Magna Curia, which, headed by Giacomo da Lentini also gave birth to the Scuola Siciliana, widely inspired by troubadour literature. Its linguistic and poetic heritage was later assimilated into the Florentine by Dante Alighieri, the father of modern Italian who, in his De Vulgari Eloquentia (DVE claims that "In effect this vernacular seems to deserve a higher praise than the others, since all the poetry written by Italians can be called Sicilian" (DVE, I, xii). It is in this language that appeared the first sonnet, whose invention is attributed to Giacomo da Lentini himself. Sicilian dialects are also spoken in the southern and central sections of the Italian regions Calabria (Calabrese) and Puglia (Salentino); and had a significant influence on the Maltese Language. Malta was a part of the Kingdom of Sicily (in its various forms) until the late 18th century. With the predominance of Italian in Italian schools, the media, etc., Sicilian is no longer the first language of many Sicilians. Indeed, in urban centers in particular, one is more likely to hear standard Italian spoken rather than Sicilian, especially among the young. Sicilian generally uses the word ending [u] for singular masculine nouns and adjectives, and [a] for feminine. The plural is usually [i] for both masculine and feminine. By contrast, in Italian masculine nouns and adjectives that end in [o] in the singular pass to [i] in the plural, while the feminine counterparts pass from [a] to [e]. The "-LL-" sound (in words of Latin origin, for example) manifests itself in Sicilian as a voiced retroflex plosive with the tip of the tongue curled up and back, a sound which is not part of Standard Italian. In Sicilian, this sound is written simply as "-dd-" although the sound itself is not [d] but rather [ɖ]. For example, the Italian word bello is beddu in Sicilian. In numerous villages, the Arbëreshë dialect of the Albanian language has been spoken since a wave of refugees settled there in the 15th century. While it is spoken within the household, Italian is the official language and modern Greek is chanted in the local Byzantine liturgy. There are also several areas where dialects of the Lombard language of the Gallo-Italic family are spoken. Much of this population is also tri-lingual, being able to also speak one of the Sicilian dialects as well. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sicily Tags: Tourism sicily taormina siracusa castelmola catania messina

User: PrinceofMacedon

Prince_of_Macedon Live-Commentary Battle #28 Macedon vs Carthage. This is my last LIVE commentary-battle because it's almost impossible controlling my troops while FRAPS is recording. In any case, I'll still post commentary-videos, but they'll be recorded from the replays from now on. Tags: Prince_of_Macedon Macedonian Macedon Multiplayer Rome Total War Commentary VOD Camtasia Fraps Carthage Carthaginians

User: PrinceofMacedon

Prince_of_Macedon Live-Commentary Battle #5 Here's a commentary-battle played on the Italian Lowlands. I'm the Carthaginians. My opponent, Caius_Cato is the Julii Romans. Tags: Prince_of_Macedon Multiplayer Battle Rome Total War Camtasia Carthage Online

User: nickmosca123

rome total war battle 1 ALSO SEE THIS VIDEO AT MY WEBSITE: http://www.gamewatch.zoomshare.com/1.shtml rome total war battle 1 romans at the carthaginians Tags: rome total war battle blood gore carthiginians vs gauls episode chronicles medeival medieval

User: Johnnygutt

Rome vs carthage 26 romans vs 2398 carthaginians! Take a look! The war took actually 1 hour =P Tags: rome total war julii vs carthage

User: PrinceofMacedon

Rome Total War Online: Prince_of_Macedon vs Auseta Here's another battle where I'm not using Macedon. I'm actually the Carthaginians. My opponent, Auseta, uses my beloved Macedonians. I enjoyed playing against someone else who uses the Macedonians. Tags: Macedon Carthage Rome Total War Prince_of_Macedon Auseta

User: Teslarn

Siege of Lilybaeum This is a siege of lilybaeum with me the roman Scipii vs The Carthaginians, Please comment and rate:) Enjoy Tags: Rome Total War rtw Real time strategy siege

User: madotram

LORDS OF WAR Algeria has been inhabited by Berbers (or Imazighen) since at least 10,000 BC. After 1000 BC, the Carthaginians began establishing settlements along the coast. The Berbers seized the opportunity offered by the Punic Wars to become independent of Carthage, and Berber kingdoms began to emerge, most notably Numidia. In 200 BC, however, they were once again taken over, this time by the Roman Republic. When the Western Roman Empire collapsed, Berbers became independent again in many areas, while the Vandals took control over other parts, where they remained until expelled by the generals of the Byzantine Emperor, Justinian I. The Byzantine Empire then retained a precarious grip on the east of the country until the coming of the Arabs in the eighth century. Having converted the Kutama of Kabylie to its cause, the Shia Fatimids overthrew the Rustamids, and conquered Egypt. They left Algeria and Tunisia to their Zirid vassals; when the latter rebelled and adopted Sunnism, they sent in a populous Arab tribe, the Banu Hilal to weaken, initiating the Arabization of the countryside. The Almoravids and Almohads, Berber dynasties from the west founded by religious reformers, brought a period of relative peace and development; however, with the Almohads' collapse, Algeria became a battleground for their three successor states, the Algerian Zayyanids, Tunisian Hafsids, and Moroccan Marinids. In the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries, the Spanish Empire started attacking and subsuming many coastal bobs.Algeria was brought into the Ottoman Empire by Khair ad-Din and his brother Aruj in 1517, and they established Algeria's modern boundaries in the north and made its coast a base for the corsairs; their privateering peaked in Algiers in the 1600s. Piracy on American vessels in the Mediterranean resulted in the First (1801--1805) and Second Barbary War (1815) with the United States. Those piracy acts forced people captured on the boats into slavery; alternatively when the pirates attacked coastal villages in southern and western Europe the inhabitants were forced into slavery. Raids by Barbary pirates on Western Europe did not cease until 1816, when a Royal Navy raid, assisted by six Dutch vessels, destroyed the port of Algiers and its fleet of Barbary ships. Spanish occupation of Algerian ports at this time was a source of concern for the local inhabitants. On the pretext of a slight to their consul, the French invaded Algiers in 1830. In contrast to Morocco and Tunisia, the conquest of Algeria by the French was long and particularly violent and resulted in the disappearance of about a third of the Algerian population. France was responsible for the extermination of 1.5 million Algerians. According to Olivier Le Cour Grandmaison, the French pursued a policy of extermination against the Algerians. The French conquest of Algeria was slow due to intense resistance from such as Emir Abdelkader, Ahmed Bey and Fatma N'Soumer. Indeed the conquest was not technically complete until the early 1900s when the last Tuareg were conquered. Meanwhile, however, the French made Algeria an integral part of France, a status that would end only with the collapse of the Fourth Republic in 1958. Tens of thousands of settlers from France, Italy, Spain, and Malta moved in to farm the Algerian coastal plain and occupy significant parts of Algeria's cities. These settlers benefited from the French government's confiscation of communally held land, and the application of modern agriculture techniques that increased the amount of arable land. Algeria's social fabric suffered during the occupation: literacy plummeted,while land confiscation uprooted much of the population. Starting from the end of the nineteenth century, people of European descent in Algeria (or natives like Spanish people in Oran), as well as the native Algerian Jews (typically Sephardic in origin), became full French citizens. After Algeria's 1962 independence, they were called Pieds-Noirs. In contrast, the vast majority of Muslim Algerians (even veterans of the French army. In 1954, the National Liberation Front (FLN) launched the Algerian War of Independence which was a guerrilla campaign. By the end of the war, newly elected President Charles de Gaulle, understanding that the age of empire was ending, held a plebiscite, offering Algerians three options, resulting in an overwhelming vote for complete independence from the French Colonial Empire. Over one million people, 10% of the population, then fled the country for France in just a few months in mid-1962 Tags: Algeria Berbers amazigh Muslim war zouaves Roman byzantine Scorsese Coppola Obama Independence French Numidia USA UK

User: newrealm06

Siracusa in Sicily Siracusa in Sensational Sicily http://www.SensationalSicily.com is presented by Alessandro Sorbello http://www.AlessandroSorbello.com showcase one of the most beautiful regions on earth, rich in history, Sicily formed part of the cradle of civilization. This project is born from a collaboration between the Region of Sicily http://www.regione.sicilia.it/, The Italian Chamber of Commerce, New Realm Media http://www.newrealm.com.au and Alessandro Sorbello Productions. Syracuse, Sicily, Comune di Siracusa, Municipal coat of arms, Country Italy, Region Sicily, Province Siracusa (SR), Mayor Giambattista Bufardeci (from June 14, 2004), Elevation 17 m, Area 204 km², Population - Total (as of December 31, 2004) 123,322, - Density 593/km² Frazioni Belvedere, Cassibile, Fontane Bianche, Isola, Santa Teresa Longarini Scalo, Targia, Patron Saint Lucy, - Day December 13 Location of Syracuse in Italy, Website: http://www.comune.siracusa.it UNESCO World Heritage Site Syracuse (Italian Siracusa, Sicilian Sarausa, Greek Συρακοῦσαι, Latin Syracusae) is an Italian city on the eastern coast of Sicily and the capital of the province of Syracuse. Once described by Cicero as "the greatest Greek city and the most beautiful of them all," the ancient center of Syracuse is on the UNESCO World Heritage List. Sicily · Comuni of the Province of Syracuse Augusta | Avola | Buccheri | Buscemi | Canicattini Bagni | Carlentini | Cassaro | Ferla | Floridia | Francofonte | Lentini | Melilli | Noto | Pachino | Palazzolo Acreide | Portopalo di Capo Passero | Priolo Gargallo | Rosolini | Syracuse | Solarino | Sortino History Greek period Syracuse and its surrounding area have been inhabited since ancient times, as shown by the findings in the villages of Stentinello, Ognina, Plemmirio, Matrensa, Cozzo Pantano and Thapsos, which already had a relationship with Mycenaean Greece. Syracuse was founded in 734 or 733 BC by Greek settlers from Corinth and Tenea, led by the oecist (colonizer) Archias, who called it Sirako, referring to a nearby swamp. The nucleus of the ancient city was the small island of Ortygia. The settlers found the land to be 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 (664 BC), Kasmenai (643 BC) and Kamarina (598 BC). The descendants of the first colonist, called Gamoroi, held the power until they were expelled by the Killichiroi, the lower class of the city. 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 numerous inhabitants of Gela, Kamarina and Megera to Syracuse, building the new quarters of Tyche and Neapolis outside the walls. His program of new constructions included also a new theater, designed by Damocopos, which gave the city a flourishing cultural life: this in turn attracted personalities as Aeschylus, Ario of Metimma, Eumelos of Corinth and Sappho, who had been exiled here from Mytilene. The enlarged power of Syracuse made unavoidable the clash against the Carthaginians, who ruled over the Western part of Sicily. In the Battle of Himera, Gelo, who had allied with Theron of Agrigento, decisively defeated the African force led by Hamilcar. A temple, entitled to Athena (on the site of the today's Cathedral), was erected in the city to commemorate the event A Syracusan tetradrachm (c. 415--405 BC), sporting Arethusa and a quadriga.Gelo was succedeed 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, who visited his court. A democratic regime was introduced by Thrasybulos (467 BC). The city continued to expand in Sicily, fighting against the rebellious Siculi, and on the Tyrrhenian Sea, making expeditions up to Corsica and Elba. In the late 5th century BC, Syracuse found itself at war with Athens, which sought more resources to fight the Peloponnesian War. The Syracusans enlisted the aid of a general from Sparta, Athens' foe in the war, to defeat the Athenians, destroy their ships, and leave them to starve on the island (see Sicilian Expedition). In 401 BC, Syracuse contributed a force of 3,000 hoplites and a general to Cyrus the Younger's Army of the Ten Thousand. Not long after, in the early 4th century BC, the tyrant Dionysius the Elder was again at war against Carthage and, although losing Gela and Camarina, kept that power from capturing the whole of Sicily. After the end of the conflict Dionysius built a massive fortress on the Otrigia island of the city, as well as another 22 km-long walls line that encircled the whole of Syracuse. After another period of expansion, which saw the destruction of Naxos, Catania and Lentini, the city entered again in war against Carthage (397 BC). After various changes of fortune, the Africans managed to besiege Syracuse itself, but were eventually pushed back by a pestilence. A treaty in 392 BC allowed Syracuse to enlarge further its possessions, founding the cities of Adrano, Ancona, Adria, Tindari and Tauromenos, and conquering Reggio Calabria on the continent. Apart from his battle deeds, Dionysius was famous as a patron of art, and Plato himself visited Syrcacuse several times. His successor was Dionysius the Younger, who was however expelled by Dion in 356 BC. However, the latter's despotic rule led in turn to his expulsion, and Dionysius reclaimed his throne in 347 BC. A democratic government was installed by Timoleon in 345 BC. The long series of internal struggles had weakened Syracuse's power in the island, and Timoleon tried to remedy this situation, defeating the Carthaginians in 339 BC near the Krimisos river. The struggle among the city's parties, however, restarted after his death and ended with the rise of another tyrant, Agathocles, who seized power with a coup in 317 BC. He resumed the war against Carthage, with alternate fortunes. He however scored a moral success, bringing the war to the Carthaginians' native African soil, inflicting heavy losses to the enemy. The war, however, ended with another treaty of peace which did not prevent the carthaginians interfering in the politics of Syracuse after the death of the tyrant Agathocles (289 BC). The citizens therefore called Pyrrhus of Epirus for help. After a brief period under the rule of Epirus, Hiero II seized power in 275 BC. Hiero inaugurated a period of fifty years of peace and prosperity, in which Syracause became one of the most renowned capitals of Antiquity. He issued the so-called Lex Hieronica, which was later adopted by the Romans for their administration of Sicily; he also had the theater enlarged and a new immense altar, the "Hiero's Ara", built. Under his rule the most famous Syracusan lived, the natural philosopher Archimedes. Among his many inventions were various military engines including the claw of Archimedes, later used to resist a Roman siege. Literature figures included Theocritus and others. The siege of Syracuse in a 17th century engraving.Hiero's successor, the young Hieronymus (ruled from 215 BC), broke the alliance with the Romans after their defeat at Cannae and accepted Carthago's support. The Romans, led by consul Marcus Claudius Marcellus, besieged the city in 214 BC. The city held out for three years, but fell in 212 BC. It is believed to have fallen due to a peace party opening a small door in the wall to negotiate a peace, but the Romans charged through the door and took the city, killing Archimedes in the process. From Roman domination to the Middle Ages Though declining slowly by the years, Syracuse maintained the status of capital of the Roman government of Sicily and seat of the praetor. It remained an important port for the trades between the Eastern and the Western parts of the Empire. Christianity spread in the city through the efforts of Paul of Tarsus and Saint Marziano, the first bishop of the city, who made it one of the main centres of proselytism in the West. In the age the persecutions massive catacombs were carved, whose size is second only to Rome's ones. After a period of Vandal rule, Syracuse and the island was recovered by Belisarius for the Byzantine Empire (31 December 535). From 663 to 668 Syracuse was the seat of Emperor Constans II, as well as metropolis of the whole Sicilian Church. Another siege in 878, which ended with the fierce sack of the city, inaugurated two centuries of Muslim rule. Syracuse lost its capital status in favour of Palermo. The Cathedral was turned into a mosque and the quarter on the Ortygia island was gradually rebuilt along Islamic styles. The city, anyway, maintained important trade relationships, and housed a relatively flourishing cultural and artistic life: several Arab poets, including Ibn Hamdis, the most important Sicilian poet of the 12th century, lived here. In 1038, the Byzantine general George Maniaces reconquered the city, sending the relics of St. Lucy to Constantinople. The eponymous castle on the cape of Ortygia bears his name, although it was built under the Hohenstaufen rule. The Normans entered Syracuse, one of the last Saracen strongpoints, in 1085, after a summer-long siege by Roger I of Sicily and his son Jordan of Hauteville, who was given the city as count. New quarters were built, and the cathedral was restored, as well as other churches. In 1194 Henry VI of Swabia occupied Syracuse. After a short period of Genoese rule (1205--1220), which favoured a rise of trades, Syracuse was conquered back by emperor Frederick II. He began the construction of the Castello Maniace, the Bishops' Palace and the Bellomo Palace. Frederick's death brought a period of unrest and feudal anarchy. In the struggle between the Anjou and Aragonese monarchies, Syracuse sided with the Aragonese and defeated the Anjou in 1298, receiving from the Spanish sovereigns great privileges in reward. The pre-eminence of baronal families is also showed by the construction of the palaces of Abela, Chiaramonte, Nava, Montalto. Modern Syracuse The city in the following centuries was struck by two ruinous earthquakes in 1542 and 1693, and, in 1729, by a plague. The 17th century destruction changed forever the appearance of Syracuse, as well as the entire Val di Noto, whose cities were rebuilt along the typical lines of Sicilian Baroque, considered one of the most typical expressions of art of Southern Italy. The spread of cholera in 1837 led to a revolt against the Bourbon government. The punishment was the move of the province capital seat to Noto, but the unrest had not been totally choked, as the Siracusani took part to the 1848 revolution. After the Unification of Italy of 1865, Syracuse regained its status of provincial capital. In 1870 the walls were demolished and a bridge connecting the mainland to Ortygia island was built. In the following year a railway link was constructed. Heavy destruction was caused by the Allied and the German bombings in 1943. After the end of World War II the northern quarters of Syracuse experienced a heavy, often chaotic, expansion, favoured by the quick process of industrialization. Syracuse today has about 125,000 inhabitants and numerous attractions for the visitor interested in historical sites (such as the Ear of Dionysius). A process of recovering and restoring the historical centre has been ongoing since the 1990s. Nearby places of note include Catania, Noto, Modica and Ragusa. The Roman amphitheatre. The Maniace Castle. Detail of Palazzo Beneventano Del Bosco. View of Archimede Square. Ancient buildings. The Temple of Apollo, adapted to a church in Byzantine times and to a mosque under Arab rule. The Fountain of Arethusa, in the Ortygia island. According to a legend, the nymph Arethusa, hunted by Alpheus, took shelter here. The Theatre, whose cavea is one of the largest ever built by the ancient Greeks: it has 67 rows, divided into nine sections with eight aisles. Only traces of the scene and the orchestra remain. The edifice (still used today) was modified by the Romans, who adapted it to their different style of spectacles, including also circus games. Near the theatre are the latomìe, stone quarries, also used as prisons in ancient times. The most famous latomìa is the Orecchio di Dionisio ("Ear of Dionysius"). The Roman amphitheatre, of Roman Imperial age. It was partly carved out from the rock. In the centre of the area is a rectangular space which was used for the scenic machinery. The so-called Tomb of Archimede, in the Grotticelli Nechropolis. Decorated with two Doric columns, it was a Roman tomb. The Temple of Olympian Zeus, about 3 km outside the city, built around 6th century BC. Churches The Cathedral was built by bishop Zosimo in the 7th century over the great Temple of Athens (5th century BC), on the Ortygia island. This was a Doric edifice with six columns on the short sides and 14 on the long ones: these can still be seen incorporated in the walls of the current church. The base of the Greek edifice had three steps. The interior of the church has a nave and two aisles. The roof of the nave is from Norman times, as well as the mosaics in the apses. The façade was rebuilt by Andrea Palma in 1725--1753, with a double order of Corinthian columns, and statues by Ignazio Marabitti. The most interesting pieces of the interior are a font with marble basin (12th--13th century), a silver statue of St. Lucy by Pietro Rizzo (1599), a ciborium by Luigi Vanvitelli, and a statue of the Madonna della Neve ("Madonna of the Snow", 1512) by Antonello Gagini. Basilica of Santa Lucia extra Moenia, a Byzantine church built, according to tradition, in the same place of the martyrdom of the saint in 303 AD. The current appearance is from the 15th-16th centuries. The most ancient parts still preserved include the portal, the three half-circular apses and the first two orders of the belfry. Under the church are the Catacombs of St. Lucy. Church of San Paolo (18th century). Church of San Cristoforo (14th century, rebuilt in the 18th century). Church of Santa Lucìa alla Badìa, a Baroque edifice built after the 1693 earthquake. Church of Santa Maria dei Miracoli (13th century). Church of the Spirito Santo (18th century). Church of the Jesuite College, a majestic, Baroque building. Church of St. Benedict (16th century, restored after 1693). It houses a painting of the Death of Saint Benedict by the Caravaggisti Mario Minniti. Chiesa della Concezione (14th century, rebuilt in the 18th century), with the annexed Benedictine convent. Church of San Francesco all'Immacolata, with a convex façade intermingled by columns and pilaster strips. It housed and ancient celebration, the Svelata ("Revelation"), in which an image of the Madonna was unveiled at dawn of November 29. Basilica of St. John the Evangelist, built by the Normans and destroyed in 1693. Only partially restored it was erected over an ancient crypt of the martyr San Marciano, later destroyed by the Arabs. The main altar is Byzantine. It includes the Catacombs of San Giovanni, featuring a maze of tunnels and passages, with thousands of tombs and several frescoes. Other edifices and sights The Castello Maniace, constructed between 1232 and 1240, is an example of the military architecture of Frederick II's reign. It is a square structure with circular towers at each of the four corners. The most striking feature is the pointed portal, decorated with polychrome marbles. The important Archaeological Museum, with collections including findings from the mid-Bronze Age to 5th century BC. Palazzo Lanza Buccheri (16th century). Palazzo Mergulese-Montalto (14th century), which conserves the old façade from the 14th century, with a pointed portal. The Archbishop's Palace (17th century, modified in the following century). It houses the Alagonian Library, founded in the late 18th century. The Palazzo Vermexio, the current Town Hall, which includes fragments of an Ionic temple of the 5th century BC. Palazzo Francica Nava, with parts of the original 16th century building surviving. Palazzo Beneventano del Bosco, originally built in the Middle Ages but extensively modified between 1779 and 1788. It has a pleasant internal court. Palazzo Migliaccio (15th century), with notable lava inlay decorations. The Senate Palace, housing in the court an 18th century coach. The Castle of Euryalos, built nine kilometres outside the city by Dionysius the Elder and which was one of the most powerful fortresses of ancient times. It had three moats with a series of underground galleries which allowed the defenders to remove the materials the attackers could use to fill them. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Syracuse,_Italy Tags: greek temples syracuse sicily fontana bianca ortigia

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