Listed 5 sub titles with search on: Information about the place for destination: "CATANI Ancient city SICILY".
A Greek colony founded by the Chalkidians of Naxos during the second
half of the 8th c. B.C. (ca. 729). During the archaic period the city enjoyed
complete autonomy and lived intensely both politically and intellectually. At
the beginning of the 6th c. B.C. it adopted a law code drafted by Charondas.
From the early 5th century B.C. the city was under Syracusan control;
in 475 B.C. Hieron invaded it, expelled the Chalkidians, and repeopled the city
with 10,000 Donans; the name of the town was changed to Aitne. The Chalkidians
returned there in 461 B.C. During the Sicilian expedition the city favored the
Athenians. It was occupied by Dionysios in 403 and remained within the sphere
of Syracusan politics. It was conquered by the Romans in 263 B.C. Throughout the
2d and 1st c. B.C. it was civitas decumana; it became a Roman colony under Octavian
and progressively gained an importance that it retained until the Byzantine period.
At the beginning of the war against the Goths it was invaded by Belisarius. The
Emperor Maurice Tiberius (582-602) established a mint there which functioned for
ca. 50 years. It was one of the earliest and most important Christian communities
in Sicily, as attested by rich and interesting epigraphic material.
The first Greek colony must have settled on the hill that always remained
the city's acropolis, presently occupied by the Benedictine monastery. The area
has yielded proto-Corinthian sherds slightly later than the foundation date. In
1959 a chance find led to the fortunate discovery of a rich votive deposit (6th-4th
c. B.C.) at the foot of the S side of the acropolis, in the Piazza di San Francesco;
the deposit was probably connected with a sanctuary of Demeter.
During the Roman period the city must have expanded considerably toward
S and E into the plain. The major civic monuments belong to this phase. The theater,
which together with the nearby odeion rests against the S slope of the acropolis
hill, has been recently cleared of the modern structures that crowded over the
cavea and the area of the stage building. Of the original Greek construction only
a large wall remains under the level of the cavea; the extant portions of the
building date from the Roman period. The cavea was divided into nine cunei by
means of eight stairways, and its lower section rests against the slope of the
hill, while the upper section is supported by three concentric corridors which
give access to the seats; the uppermost corridor opens outwards into a portico
with piers. In the interior, a colonnaded portico crowned the cavea; orchestra
and seats were revetted with white marble, while the euripos and the stairways
were built of lava.
The odeion was joined to the W side of the theater, and its orchestra
opened toward the S at the same level as the theater's uppermost corridor. The
cavea, built in small blocks of lava, was supported by a structure resting on
18 radial walls sloping toward the interior of the building and connected to one
another by a series of barrel vaults; two stairways divide the auditorium into
three cunei. The radial walls formed 17 units opening outwards. The building,
revetted by lava blocks, was crowned by a simple cornice.
On the NE slope of the hill of the acropolis and separated from it
by a narrow passage was the amphitheater; its N end is partly visible in Piazza
Stesicoro, while to the S its corridors lie under the foundations of modern buildings.
The preserved portion of the amphitheater is built on two concentric corridors
connected by radial passageways.
There are numerous remains of baths. Under the cathedral some units
of the Achellian Baths are still visible, their vaults finely decorated with stucco
reliefs; a large square hall supported by four pilasters and flanked by a corridor
is still preserved; the building continues under the level of present Piazza Duomo.
Not far from there other baths (Terme dell'Indirizzo) in the Piazza Curro, with
ca. 15 units, both large and small, are preserved up to their original height
including their vaulted ceilings. On the acropolis hill, to the N of the theater,
one can see the Rotunda Baths, so called because of a large circular hall that
was later transformed into a Christian church. To a bath complex belong the ruins
of seven rooms in Piazza Dante, opposite the Benedictine monastery. Remains of
many other buildings of this type have been identified within the city area.
Under the level of the Via V. Emanuele, where it meets the Via Transito,
lies a large rectangular podium delimited by two steps and a fine molding, which
local tradition calls the Arch of Marcellus. There are numerous remains of a large
aqueduct which brought the waters from S. Maria di Licodia.
The NE border of the city must have coincided with the edges of the
acropolis, and with the approximate course of the Via Plebescito and the Via Etnea
(S of the Piazza Stesicoro). This is shown by the fact that within this line only
structures of a civic nature have been found, while outside of it lie several
funerary buildings and cemetery areas.
In the N section, a large rectangular tomb of the Roman period is
preserved near the Via Ipogeo, while another is to be found in the Modica estate,
along the Viale Regina Margherita. To the NE of the amphitheater, within the present
caserina Lucchese-Palli, is the so-called Tomb of Stesichoros, a funerary structure
probably belonging to the Classical period. A group of graves of Roman date is
preserved in the basement of the Rinascente store, and represents a portion of
the cemetery complex uncovered in the Via S. Euplio and extending up to the area
presently occupied by the Post Office building. A subterranean tomb with remains
of inhumation and cremation can also be seen in Via Antico Corso, where it is
incorporated into one room of the building erected by the Istituto delle Case
Popolari.
The most important group of graves has been uncovered along the Via
Androne and in the area crossed by Via Dottor Consoli. The continuity of this
burial ground is attested from the Hellenistic into the late Roman period, and
offers a good example of a pagan necropolis which slowly became transformed into
a Christian cemetery. It contains numerous mausolea, cist graves, hypogaean (underground)
chambers; a grave with wall paintings and barrel vault is preserved under the
level of Via Dottor Consoli. In some places the graves were contained within precincts
surrounded by low walls and interconnected: these were mostly graves characterized
by an abundance of Christian inscriptions; in some precincts the graves were built
above ground level in several stories.
In the largest precinct yet discovered, along the Via Dottor Consoli,
an Early Christian funerary basilica was found superimposed on the level of the
graves; a large polychrome mosaic with figured scenes covered the floor. The mosaic
(20 x 10 m), which is at present in the Museo Comunale, can be dated to the middle
of the 6th c. A.D., and is to be attributed to an Oriental workshop. Of the basilica
only the apse is preserved, and can be seen under the Lombardo dwelling.
To the same period can be attributed a large trichora uncovered and
preserved under Via S. Barbara, and the small Basilica of Nesima.
The finds from excavations and accidental discoveries within the city
of Catania are housed in the Museum of Castello Ursino, where are also gathered
the collections once in the Museo Biscari, the Benedictine Museum, and the Antiquarium
Comunale.
G. Rizza, ed.
This text is from: The Princeton encyclopedia of classical sites,
Princeton University Press 1976. Cited Nov 2002 from
Perseus Project URL below, which contains bibliography & interesting hyperlinks.
A city of Sicily, on the eastern coast, at the base of Aetna,
and a short distance below the river Acis and the Cyclopum Scopuli. It was founded
by a colony from Chalcis in Euboea, in B.C. 730, five years after the settlement
of Syracuse. Catana, like all the other colonies of Grecian origin, soon became
independent of any foreign control, and, in consequence of the fertility of the
surrounding country, attained to a considerable degree of prosperity. It does
not appear, however, to have been at any time a populous city; and hence Hiero
of Syracuse was enabled without difficulty to transfer the inhabitants to Leontini.
A new colony of Peloponnesians and Syracusans was established here by him, and
the place called Aetna, from its proximity to the mountain.
After the death of Hiero, the new colonists were driven out
by the Siculi, and the old inhabitants from Leontini then came, and, recovering
possession of the place, changed its name again to Catana. We find Catana after
this possessed for a short time by the Athenians, and subsequently falling into
the hands of Dionysius of Syracuse. This tyrant, according to Diodorus Siculus,
sold the inhabitants as slaves, and gave the city to his mercenary troops, the
Campani, to dwell in. It is probable, however, that he only sold those who were
taken with arms in their hands, and that many of the old population remained,
since Dionysius afterwards persuaded these same Campani to migrate to the city
of Aetna. Catana fell into the power of the Romans during the First Punic War.
The modern name is Catania, and the distance from it to the summit of Aetna is
given as thirty miles.
This text is cited Oct 2002 from The Perseus Project URL below, which contains interesting hyperlinks
Catana or Catina (Katane: Eth. Katanaios, Catanensis or Catinensis:
Catania), a city on the E. coast of Sicily, situated about midway between Tauromenium
and Syracuse, and almost immediately at the foot of Mt. Aetna. All authors agree
in representing it as a Greek colony, of Chalcidic origin, but founded immediately
from the neighbouring city of Naxos, under the guidance of a leader named Euarchus.
The exact date of its foundation is not recorded, but it appears from Thucydides
to have followed shortly after that of Leontini, which he places in the fifth
year after Syracuse, or 730 B.C. (Thuc. vi. 3; Strab. vi. p. 268; Scymn. Ch. 286;
Scyl. § 13; Steph. B. s. v.) The only event of its early history which has been
transmitted to us is the legislation of Charondas, and even of this the date is
wholly uncertain. (See Dict. of Biogr. art. Charondas.) But from the fact that
his legislation was extended to the other Chalcidic cities, not only of Sicily,
but of Magna Graecia also, as well as to his own country (Arist, Pol. ii. 9),
it is evident that Catana continued in intimate relations with these kindred cities.
It seems to have retained its independence till the time of Hieron of Syracuse,
but that despot, in B.C. 476, expelled all the original inhabitants, whom he established
at Leontini, while he repeopled the city with a new body of colonists, amounting,
it is said, to not less than 10,000 in number, and consisting partly of Syracusans,
partly of Peloponnesians. He at the same time changed its name to Aetna, and caused
himself to be proclaimed the Oekist or founder of the new city. As such he was
celebrated by Pindar, and after his death obtained heroic honours from the citizens
of his new colony. (Diod. xi. 49, in 66; Strab. l.c.; Pind. Pyth. i., and Schol.
ad loc.) But this state of things was of brief duration, and a few years after
the death of Hieron and the expulsion of Thrasybulus, the Syracusans combined
with Ducetius, king of the Siculi, to expel the newly settled inhabitants of Catana,
who were compelled to retire to the fortress of Inessa (to which they gave the
name of Aetna), while the old Chalcidic citizens were reinstated in the possession
of Catana, B.C. 461. (Diod. xi. 76; Strab. l. c.)
The period which followed the settlement of affairs at this epoch,
appears to have been one of great prosperity for Catana, as well as for the Sicilian
cities in general: but we have no details of its history till the great Athenian
expedition to Sicily. On that occasion the Catanaeans, notwithstanding their Chalcidic
connections, at first refused to receive the Athenians into their city: but the
latter having effected an entrance, they found themselves compelled to espouse
the alliance of the invaders, and Catana became in consequence the headquarters
of the Athenian armament throughout the first year of the expedition, and the
base of their subsequent operations against Syracuse. (Thuc. vi. 50-52, 63, 71,
89; Diod. xiii. 4, 6, 7; Plut. Nic. 15, 16.) We have no information as to the
fate of Catana after the close of this expedition: it is next mentioned in B.C.
403, when it fell into the power of Dionysius of Syracuse, who sold the inhabitants
as slaves, and gave up the city to plunder; after which he established there a
body of Campanian mercenaries. These, however, quitted it again in B.C. 396, and
retired to Aetna, on the approach of the great Carthaginian armament under Himilco
and Mago. The great sea-fight in which the latter defeated Leptines, the brother
of Dionysius, was fought immediately off Catana, and that city apparently fell,
in consequence, into the hands of the Carthaginians. (Diod. xiv. 15, 58, 60.)
But we have no account of its subsequent fortunes, nor does it appear who constituted
its new population; it is only certain that it continued to exist. Callippus,
the assassin of Dion, when he was expelled from Syracuse, for a time held possession
of Catana (Plut. Dion. 58); and when Timoleon landed in Sicily we find it subject
to a despot named Mamercus, who at first joined the Corinthian leader but afterwards
abandoned his alliance for that of the Carthaginians, and was in consequence attacked
and expelled by Timoleon. (Diod. xvi. 69; Plut. Timol. 13, 30-34.) Catania was
now restored to liberty, and appears to have continued to retain its independence;
during the wars of Agathocles with the Carthaginians, it sided at one time with
the former, at others with the latter; and when Pyrrhus landed in Sicily, was
the first to open its gates to him, and received him with the greatest magnificence.
(Diod. xix. 110, xxii. 8, Exc. Hoesch. p. 496.)
In the first Punic War, Catana was one of the first among the cities
of Sicily, which made their submission to the Romans, after the first successes
of their arms in B.C. 263. (Eutrop. ii. 19.) The expression of Pliny (vii. 60)
who represents it as having been taken by Valerius Messala, is certainly a mistake.
It appears to have continued afterwards steadily to maintain its friendly relations
with Rome, and though it did not enjoy the advantages of a confederate city (foederata
civitas), like its neighbours Tauromenium and Messana, it rose to a position of
great prosperity under the Roman rule. Cicero repeatedly mentions it as, in his
time, a wealthy and flourishing city; it retained its ancient municipal institutions,
its chief magistrate bearing the title of Proagorus; and appears to have been
one of the principal ports of Sicily for the export of corn. (Cic. Verr. iii.
4. 3, 83, iv. 23, 45; Liv. xxvii. 8.) It subsequently suffered severely from the
ravages of Sextus Pompeius, and was in consequence one of the cities to which
a colony was sent by Augustus; a measure that appears to have in a great degree
restored its prosperity, so that in Strabo's time it was one of the few cities
in the island that was in a flourishing condition. (Strab. vi. pp. 268, 270, 272;
Dion Cass. iv. 7.) It retained its colonial rank, as well as its prosperity, throughout
the period of the Roman empire; so that in the fourth century Ausonius in his
Ordo Nobilium Urbium, notices Catana and Syracuse alone among the cities of Sicily.
In B.C. 535, it was recovered by Belisarius from the Goths, and became again,
under the rule of the Byzantine empire, one of the most important cities of the
island. (Plin. iii. 8. s. 14; Ptol. iii. 4. § 9; Itin. Ant. pp. 87,90, 93, 94;
Procop. B. G. i. 5.) At the present day Catania still ranks as the third city
of Sicily, and is little inferior to Messina in population.
The position of Catana at the foot of Mount Aetna was the source,
as Strabo remarks, both of benefits and evils to the city. For on the one hand,
the violent outbursts of the volcano from time to time desolated great parts of
its territory; on the other, the volcanic ashes produced a soil of great fertility,
adapted especially for the growth of vines. (Strab. vi. p. 269.) One of the most
serious calamities of the former class, was the eruption of B.C. 121, when great
part of its territory was overwhelmed by streams of lava, and the hot ashes fell
in such quantities in the city itself, as to break in the roofs of the houses.
Catana was in consequence exempted, for 10 years, from its usual contributions
to the Roman state. (Oros. v. 13.) The greater part of the broad tract of plain
to the SW. of Catana (now called the Piano di Catania, a district of great fertility),
appears to have belonged, in ancient times, to Leontini or Centuripa, but that
portion of it between Catana itself and the mouth of the Symaethus, was annexed
to the territory of the latter city, and must have furnished abundant supplies
of corn. The port of Catana also, which is now a very small and confined one (having
been in great part filled up by the eruption of 1669), appears to have been in
ancient times much frequented, and was the chief place of export for the corn
of the rich neighbouring plains. The little river Amenanus, or Amenas, which flowed
through the city, was a very small stream, and could never have been navigable.
Catana was the birth-place of the philosopher and legislator Charondas,
already alluded to; it was also the place of residence of the poet Stesichorus,
who died there, and was buried in a magnificent sepulchre outside one of the gates,
which derived from thence the nam of Porta Stesichoreia. (Suid. s. v. Stesichoros.)
Xenophanes, the philosopher of Elea, also spent the latter years of his life there
(Diog. Laert. ix. 2. § 1), so that it was evidently, at an early period, a place
of cultivation and refinement. The first introduction of dancing to accompany
the flute, was also ascribed to Andron, a citizen of Catana (Athen. i. p. 22,
c.); and the first sun dial that was set up in the Roman forum was carried thither
by Valerius Messala from Catana, B.C. 263. (Varr. ap. Plin. vii. 60.) But few
associations connected with Catana were more celebrated in ancient times than
the legend of the Pii Fratres, Amphinomus and Anapias, who, on occasion of a great
eruption of Aetna, abandoned all their property, and carried off their aged parents
on their shoulders, the stream of lava itself was said to have parted, and flowed
aside so as not to harm them. Statues were erected to their honour, and the place
of their burial was known as the Campus Piorum; the Catanaeans even introduced
the figures of the youths on their coins, and the legend became a favourite subject
of allusion and declamation among the Latin poets, of whom the younger Lucilius
and Claudian have dwelt upon it at considerable length. The occurrence is referred
by Hyginus to the first eruption of Aetna, that took place after the settlement
of Catana. (Strab. vi. p. 269; Paus. x. 28. § 4; Conon, Narr. 43; Philostr. Vit,
Apoll. v. 17; Solin. 5. § 15; Hygin. 254; Val. Max. v. 4. Ext. § 4; Lucil. Aetn.
602-640; Claudian. Idyll. 7; Sil. Ital. xiv. 196; Auson. Ordo Nob. Urb. 11.)
The remains of the ancient city, still visible at Catania, are numerous
and important; but it is remarkable that they belong exclusively to the Roman
period, the edifices of the Greek city having probably been destroyed by some
of the earthquakes to which it has been in all ages subject, or so damaged as
to be entirely rebuilt. The most important of these ruins are those of a theatre
of large size and massive construction, the architecture of which is so similar
to that of the amphitheatre, at no great distance from it, as to leave no doubt
that they were erected at the same period, probably not long after the establishment
of the colony by Augustus. The ruin of the latter edifice dates from the time
of Theodoric, who, in A.D. 498, gave permission to the citizens of Catana to make
use of its massive materials for the repair of their walls and public buildings
(Cassiod. Varr. iii. 49); the theatre, on the contrary, continued almost perfect
till the 11th century, when it was in great part pulled down by the Norman Count
Roger, is order to adorn his new cathedral. Nearly adjoining the large theatre
was a smaller one, designed apparently for an odeium or music theatre. Besides
these, there are numerous remains of thermae or baths, all of Roman construction,
and some massive sepulchral monuments of the same period. A few fragments only
remain of a magnificent aqueduct, which was destroyed by the great eruption of
Aetna in 1669. The antiquities of Catania are fully described by the Principe
di Biscari (Viaggio per le Antichita della Sicilia, chap. 5) and the Duca di Serra
di Falco. (Ant. della Sicilia, vol. v. pp. 3-30.)
The coins of Catana are numerous, and many of them of very fine workmanship;
some of them bear the head of the river-god Amenanus, but that of Apollo is the
most frequent. We learn from Cicero that the worship of Ceres was of great antiquity
here, and that she had a temple of peculiar sanctity, which was notwithstanding
profaned by Verres. (Cic. Verr. iv. 4. 5)
This text is from: Dictionary of Greek and Roman Geography (1854) (ed. William Smith, LLD). Cited August 2004 from The Perseus Project URL below, which contains interesting hyperlinks
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