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SEGESTA TEMPIO ANTICO E ANFITEATRO
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| Segesta
(Sicilian: Seggesta) was the political center of the Elymian
people. It is in the northwestern part of Sicily, in the province
of Trapani and in the comune of Calatafimi-Segesta. |
| According to the tradition
used in Virgil's Aeneid, Segesta was founded jointly by the
territorial king Acestes (who was son of the local river Crinisus
by a Dardanian woman named Segesta or Egesta) and by those
of Aeneas' folk who wished to remain behind with Acestes to
found the city of Acesta. |
| The belief that the name of
the city was originally Acesta or Egesta and changed to Segesta
by the Romans to avoid its ill-omened meaning in Latin is
disproved by coins showing that Segesta was indeed the earlier
name. |
| Segesta
(Egesta to the Greeks) was one of the major cities of the
Elymian people, one of the three indigenous peoples of Sicily.
The other major cities of the Elymians were Eryx and Entella. |
| The population of Segesta was
mixed Elymian and Ionian Greek, though the Elymians soon Hellenized
and took on external characteristics of Greek life. |
| Segesta
was in eternal conflict with Selinus (modern Selinunte), which
probably tried to assure itself a port on the Tyrrhenian Sea.
The first clashes were in 580-576 BC, and again in 454 BC,
but later the conflict would have repercussions for all of
Sicily. |
| In 415 BC Segesta asked Athens
for help against Selinunte, leading to a disastrous Athenian
expedition in Sicily (415-413 BC). Later they asked Carthage
for help, leading to the total destruction of the city of
Selinunte by the hands of Carthage. Segesta remained an ally
of Carthage, it was besieged by Dionysius of Syracuse in 397
BC, and it was destroyed by Agathocles in 307 BC, but recovered. |
| In 276 BC the city was allied
with Pyrrhus, but changed side in 260 BC when it surrendered
to the Romans. The city was not punished by the Romans for
its long alliance with Carthage, but owing to the mythical
common origin of the Romans and the Elymians (both descendants
of refugees from Troy) it was granted the state of a "free
and immune" city. |
| In 104 BC the slave rebellion
led by Athenion started in Segesta. |
| Little is known about the city
under Roman rule, but it is probable that the population gradually
moved to the port city of Castellammare del Golfo due to the
better trading opportunities. |
| The city was destroyed by the
Vandals. |
| The ruins of the city are located
on the top of Monte Bàrbaro at 305m above the sea.
The city was protected by steep slopes on several sides and
by walls on the more gentle slope towards the temple. |
| From the hilltop there is a
splendid view over the valley towards the Gulf of Castellamare.
The city controlled several major roads between the coast
to the north and the hinterland. |
| Very little is known about
the city plan. Aerial photography indicate a regular city
plan, built in part on terraces to overcome the natural sloping
terrain. The current remains might be from the reconstruction
after the destruction of the city by Agatocles. |
| Current archaeological work
indicates that the site was reoccupied by a Muslim community
in the Norman period. Excavations have unearthed a Muslim
necropolis and a mosque from the 12th century next to a Norman
castle. Evidence suggests that the mosque was destroyed after
the arrival of a new Christian overlord at the beginning of
the 13th century. The city appears to have been finally abandoned
by the second half of the 13th century. |
| THE TEMPLE |
| On a hill just outside the
site of the ancient city of Segesta lies an unusually well
preserved doric temple. It was built sometime in the late
5th century BC and has 6×14 columns on a base measuring
21×56m and being three steps high. Several things suggest
that the temple was never actually finished. The columns have
not been fluted like they normally would have been in a Doric
temple and there are still tabs present in the blocks of the
base (used for lifting the blocks into place but then normally
removed). It also lacks a cella and was never roofed over.
The temple is also unusual for being a Hellenic temple in
a city not mainly populated by Greeks. |
| THE THEATRE |
| The theatre is in a beautiful
place, in the top of a mountain, from which site a vast and
scenic panorama can be seen to the north. |
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| Fonte wikipedia |
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