Listed 2 sub titles with search on: Information about the place for wider area of: "SOLUNTO Ancient city SICILY" .
Solus or Soluntum (Soloeis, Thuc.; Solous, Diod.: Eth. Solountinos,
Diod., but coins have Solontinos; Soluntinus: Solanto), a city of Sicily, situated
on the N. coast of the island, about 12 miles E. of Panormus, and immediately
to the E. of the bold promontory called Capo Zaffarana. It was a Phoenician colony,
and from its proximity to Panormus was one of the few which that people retained
when they gave way before the advance of the Greek colonies in Sicily, and withdrew
to the NW. corner of the island. (Thuc. vi. 2.) It afterwards passed together
with Panormus and Motya into the hands of the Carthaginians, or at least became
a dependency of that people. It continued steadfast to the Carthaginian alliance
even in B.C. 397, when the formidable armanent of Dionysius shook the fidelity
of most of their allies (Diod. xiv. 48); its territory was in consequence ravaged
by Dionysius, but without effect. At a later period of the war (B.C. 396) it.
was betrayed into the hands of that despot (Ib. 78), but probably soon fell again
into the power of the Carthaginians. It was certainly one of the cities that usually
formed part of their dominions in the island; and in B.C. 307 it was given up
by them to the soldiers and mercenaries of Agathocles, who had made peace with
the Carthaginians when abandoned by their leader in Africa. (Diod. xx. 69.) During
the First Punic War we find it still subject to Carthage, and it was not till
after the fall of Panormus that Soluntum also opened its gates to the Romans.
(Id. xxiii. p. 505.) It continued to subsist under the Roman dominion as a municipal
town, but apparently one of no great consideration, as its name is only slightly
and occasicnally mentioned by Cicero. (Verr. ii. 42, iii. 43.) But it is still
noticed both by Pliny and Ptolemy (Plin. iii. 8. s. 14; Ptol. iii. 4. § 3, where
the name is corruptly written Oloulis), as well as at a later period by the Itineraries,
which place it 12 miles from Panormus and 12 from Thermae (Termini). (Itin, Ant.
p. 91; Tab. Peut.) It is probable that its complete destruction dates from the
time of the Saracens.
At the present day the site of the ancient city is wholly desolate
and uninhabited. It stood on a lofty hill, now called the Monte Catalfano, at
the foot of which is a small cove or port, with a fort, still called the Castello
di Solanto, and a station for the tunny fishery. The traces of two ancient roads,
paved with large blocks of stone, which led up to the city, may still be followed,
and the whole summit of the hill is covered with fragments of ancient walls and
foundations of buildings. Among these may be traced the remains of two temples,
of which some capitals, portions of friezes, &c. have been discovered; but it
is impossible to trace the plan and design of these or any other edifices. They
are probably all of them of the period of the Roman dominion. Several cisterns
for water also remain, as well as sepulchres; and some fragments of sculpture
of considerable merit have been discovered on the site. (Fazell. de Reb. Sic.
viii. p. 352; Amico, Lex. Top. vol. ii. pp. 192-195; Hoare's Class. Tour, vol.
ii. p. 234; Serra di Falco, Ant. della Sicilia, vol. v. pp. 60-67.)
This text is from: Dictionary of Greek and Roman Geography (1854) (ed. William Smith, LLD). Cited September 2004 from The Perseus Project URL below, which contains interesting hyperlinks
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