Listed 3 sub titles with search on: Information about the place for wider area of: "SAN FRATELLO Village SICILY" .
APOLLONIA (Ancient city) SICILY
Apollonia (Apollonia: Eth. Apolloniates, Apolloniates, Apollinas,--atis,
Apolloniensis), in Europe. A city of Sicily, which, according to Steph. Byz.,was
situated in the neighbourhood of Aluntium Calacte. Cicero also mentions it (Or.
in Verr. iii. 43) and in conjunction with Haluntium, Capitium, and Enguium, in
a manner that seems to imply that it was situated in the same part of Sicily with
these cities; and we learn from Diodorus (xvi. 72) that it was at one time subject
to Leptines, the tyrant of Enguium, from whose hands it was wrested by Timoleon,
and restored to an independent condition. A little later we find it again mentioned
among the cities reduced by Agathocles, after his return from Africa, B.C. 307
(Diod. xx. 56). But it evidently regained its liberty after the fall of the tyrant,
and in the days of Cicero was still a municipal town of some importance. (Or.
in Verr. iii. 43, v. 33.) From this time it disappears from history, and the name
is not found either in Pliny or Ptolemy.
Its site has been much disputed; but the passages above cited point
distinctly to a position in the north-eastern part of Sicily; and it is probable
that the modern Pollina, a small town on a hill, about 3 miles from the sea-coast,
and 8 or 9 E. from Cefalu, occupies its site. The resemblance of name is certainly
entitled to: much weight; and if Enguium be correctly placed at Gangi, the connexion
between that city and Apollonia is easily explained. It must be admitted that
the words of Stephanus require, in this case, to be construed with considerable
latitude, but little dependence can be placed upon the accuracy of that writer.
The coins which have been published as of this city belong either
to Apollonia, in Illyria, or to Tauromenium (Eckhel, vol. i. p. 198.)
This text is from: Dictionary of Greek and Roman Geography (1854) (ed. William Smith, LLD). Cited July 2004 from The Perseus Project URL below, which contains interesting hyperlinks
An unexplored city on the N coast (Commune of S. Fratello, Province
of Messina) between Halontion and Kalakta (Steph. Byz.). Historical references
to the site are few: around the middle of the 4th c. B.C. it was dominated by
Leptines, tyrant of Engyon; in 342 B.C. Timoleon made the two cities autonomous,
after having defeated the tyrant and exiled him to the Peloponnese (Diod. 16:72).
The site was sacked by Agathokles in 307 B.C. (Diod. 20:56). In the 1st c. B.C.
it was civitas decumana (Cic. Verr. 3.43,103), and it was represented by one ship
in the fleet gathered against the pirates (Cic. Verr. 5.33, 86; 34,90).
The city occupies a vast rocky plateau on the summit of Monte Vecchio,
a foothill of the central Nebrods; from this position it dominates a large stretch
of the coastline from Kephaloidion to Agathyrnon. The ruins of the ancient city
are visible on the mountain peak. On the entire S and W sides one can follow the
line of the fortification walls built with isodomic masonry of local marble; the
remains of at least two buildings, in the same isodomic technique, lie on the
E side of the plateau, to the W and to the NE of the Norman Church (12th c.) of
the Three Saints; on the summit of the mount a large cistern (?) has been cut
into the rock, as well as a kind of altar and a few units at the end of a stairway
climbing from the E.
G. Scibona, 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.
Receive our daily Newsletter with all the latest updates on the Greek Travel industry.
Subscribe now!
