Sicily and Southern Italy . Mythology, Prehistory and History until 3th Century
***
For the entire book, with full details, see AMAZON at the address below.
https://amzn.eu/d/86CGscf
https://amzn.eu/d/86CGscf
Greek cities in antiquity and Medieval era. French map. ( Missed Panormos- Palermo, Gangi-Eggya, Agro, Nicosia and dosen other cities in Sicilia and hudrend in other south Italia)
Introduction
In modern Sicily and the rest of Magna Graecia, no one
learns or ever hears a single word in schools about the
CONTINUITY of history of Hellenism in Magna Graecia,
except for the period of the classical years. A very
loud historical silence.
No Sicilian
today knows that Magna Graecia was
CONTINUOUSLY inhabited by Greeks, who only spoke Greek and were Orthodox
Christians. Until the 13th century AD, they were called Magnogreci or
Italogreci.
No one wonders
about what happened to these 5 million Magno-Greeks of the 4th century BC. Did
they disappear by magic?! Did they come to Southern Italy, lived there
for about 2000 years and then left this territory again, to an unknown
destination when the Romans conquered the Magna Graecia?
Were nomads like Gypsies? And what about the medieval Greek Empire, Byzantium? Magna Graecia was a Byzantine province where Greek was
spoken until the 12-13th century! This is also absent from schoolbooks in Sicily, Calabria and
other Magno-Greek regions. Some people wondered when they saw in the most
successful Netflix series "Vikings", that all the Sicilians spoke
Greek (in the 10th century AD).
On a trip
to Italy, I met a
woman, professor at the Catania University: We love Greece very
much, she told me. We also teach modern Greek
literature in our university. But you in Greece, you don't even teach our
Dante Alighieri. I answered her with a question: When
and where did Dante Alighieri lived ? The second half of the 13th
century, she answered me. And you, as Sicilians and
Calabrians…, what is your national relation with Dante and with the language
that he spoke and wrote? At the time of Dante, Catania was still a Greek-speaking city and
region. Dante was a stranger to Catania and Sicily, even though you
adopted him in the 19th century, when you joined the Italian state, I
answered her. Catanians were my Greek compatriots then, not
Dante’s! Indeed, Catania and Messina still spoke Greek
at the time of Dante. But the official history of the modern Italian state,
made sure that the Sicilians adopted him as their compatriot!
Some malicious
people in Italy
are even trying to present the Italo-Greeks, who are reawakening today, as
IMMIGRANTS. People who have no roots in Italy and were just something
like guests! Something like the African illegal immigrants in Lampedusa!
The great
attack against Hellenism of Magna Graecia began by the Vatican after the schism of the Churches in 1054
and the German domination over the Vatican. The Greek language was
forbidden from the 13th century (the laws and decrees are quoted in the book),
the Magnogreci were burned at the stake of Vatican’s
«Holy inquisition» as heretics, the persecutions and the tortures they suffered
from the Vatican and
its Franco-German vassals, who conquered Southern
Italy, were untold.
Even today we
can see in many Greek cities of Magna Graecia
the reawakening of the ancient Greek religion, but in some cases the ancient
Greek gods are called by foreign, Latin names. Ceremonies are held in honor of
the goddess Ceres in the old Greek city Metapontion! But who is the Ceres? In
the Greek Pantheon no goddess existed by the name Ceres! Cerere is the Latin
name of the goddess Demetra, and they carefully avoid mentioning this goddess
by her Greek name, in her land
of Sicily. She was the
goddess Protector of the island. A Latin name for a Greek goddess in a
Greek city? Paradox, suspicious and inadmissible!
When i asked
once for information about Saint Philip of Agira (a Greek Saint who came
to Sicily from Phrygia, patron of the old
Greek city of Argyrion,
where Diodoros of Sicily was born) and before they gave me any piece of information,
they put me through an entire examination. Why am I asking about my
fellow-ethnic Greek Saint? (However, the Roman Catholic Church grants the
cathedral of Agira every year to the Greek Orthodox church, which does not have
its own Church in Argyrion, so that it too, orthodoxy, can celebrate the
Saint).
We don't
practice politics. We don't try to create our own history. I, personally,
have a great respect for the old Roman Catholic Church. You will see in
the following chapters the facts. However, I cannot omit that the Vatican and its Franco-German vassals are
those who VIOLENTLY DE-HELLENIZED Magna Graecia.
Apart from the role of the Vatican and
the “holy inquisition”, the Roman Catholics themselves recognize that and
mention it. We only mention historical facts. Hundreds and thousands of
images of unique masterpiece monuments show the uninterrupted relationship
between Hellenism and Southern Italy,
from 2000 BC until the 13th century A.D. Almost 3,200 years Greek! And still
thousands more that lay today as ruins in the sacred land of Magna
Graecia.
The History of
Magna Graecia, without any scientific doubt, the history of Sicily,
Calabria, Apulia, Vasilikata and Campania,
is also Greek National History from 2000 BC until the 13th century
AD. That’s why I, as a Greek, wrote this history for the land and culture of my
ancestors and compatriots in the Apennine Peninsula.
After the 13th
century, history ceases to be Greek. Because the inhabitants of Magna Graecia no longer participate in it as Greeks. To
the question that some ask, if the Sicilians are Greeks today, my answer is yes
and no. Analyzing the components that make up ETHNOS and GENUS. Which of course
are different.
Stephanos
Sotiriou, historian
Ancient and Medieval Greek cities . French map.
Mythology and Prehistory
“Mythos” in Greek means "memory bank" of human history from the
ancient times, when there was no writing system and was not recorded in
writing. Myths have a historical core. As Plato mentions in his book
“Kratylos,” “Mythology is a science, written with codes”. For
this reason, the Greeks used another word for imaginary stories, “Paramythi,”
i.e. Fairy tale!
Italos,
the first human resident of the Apennine
Peninsula. Kronos, Italos
and Sikelos.
According to mythology, Sicily’s
first inhabitant was the god Kronos (Saturn in Latin), father of
Zeus. He died on the island after the fierce “Clash of Titans”, which
brought Zeus (Jupiter in Latin) on the throne of the gods. Zeus was
born in Crete but lived many years in Sicily as a child. On the mountain of S.
Calogero, northwest of Agrigento, is located the tomb of
Kronos, also known and as Cronion mountain. (Klimis of Alexandria,
“Against Greeks”, p. 30).
The first
residents of Sicily and South Italy,
as reported by all the ancient writers, (Greeks and Romans), were the
Greeks from the Aegean. Beginning in
prehistory, long before 3000 BC. As it is reported in the ancient
manuscripts "Nostoi" and "Tilegoneia", the
first person, the famous Italos, son of Tilegonos and Pennelope,
grandson of Oinotros (Inotro), arrived from Greece at a small
peninsula, on the southern
coast of the Apennine mountains, called at that
time Vrettia, today Calabria, (good
breeze). Italos was the first resident and at the same time the first
Greek that settled
down in the Apennine peninsula which later received
its name from this famous Greek settlement.
Italos in the
Greek Aeolian dialect means the owner of good and many cattle. Italo
= ox, cow, (Hesychius from Alexandria,
lexicon of archaic Greek Dialects). Another etymological interpretation of
Italos comes again from a Greek word: Aithalia-Aithalos-Ethalia. This
word spelled in Latin as Italos-Italia, means “Land of fog and
smoke”. It is the land that the first Greeks saw around 3000 BC in the southern
region of modern Calabria
(Rhigion – Ρήγιον
- Reggio) and the ash and smoke
was from the volcano Etna. That is why the first area that was
called Italia was a small place around Reggio Calabria.
When Italos and
the other people from the Aegean who came with
him arrived at this peninsula, they founded the state of Oinotri
(Enotri) and Italos became the first king of the Oinotrian people (Virgil,
Aineias, A-530). Italos had a son named Sikelos, who became the first
king of Sicily (Thucydides).
*****
Vrettia was an ancient Greek goddess, a nymph who came
to Vrettia, current Calabria, from
the Mysia, region of Asia Minor (Eleftheroydakis
encyclopaedical lexicon). According to mythology, another mythological person
exists with the name Vrettos. Vrettos was a son of Herakles and Valite. Valite
was the daughter of Valitos. (Stefanos Byzantios, lexikon).
The Vrettian
people settled down in the same place settled by Italos and gave their
name to the region, until it was later renamed to Calabria. The tribe Vretti were also of
Greco-Pelasgian origin, speaking an ancient language related to the Greek
dialects and modern excavations in Calabria
leave absolutely no doubt, that everything that's been written
in mythology about them is true, and depicts the real
history.
*****
Kalavria. In the Peloponnese, on the small peninsula of Trizina, a green island exists
until today with the name Kalavria. In the era of kings Anthas
and Yperis (1250BC), the island of Kalavria was renamed Yperi or Ypereia, and
later Skelerdeia, (which means Skelia>Sikelia (Sicily). The
name Kalavria or Kalavri or Kalavrea, was an older name, many
years before 1250 BC. The name Calabria was taken/adopted
from the local wind "good breeze" which is always present
in the Gulf of Saronikos,
or from the mythological Kalavro or Kalavrian, who was a son of
Poseidon (Neptune in Latin). Many sources
tell us that he was the grandson of Arcadian and Leanere, who lived
in the region around 1290 BC.
Another
mythological source tells us that Kalavro was the son of
Evrymedis and grandson of Aganos - all descendants of
Pelasgos. It appears, therefore, that the Arcadians came to the region
around 1290 BC from Arcadia,
not only as conquerors but also as settlers. When two brothers from Arcadia, Pittheas and
Trizinios, arrived in the Peloponnesian region of Kalavria, Pittheas
conquered the peninsula Trizinia and became king of the city of
"Anthea". Antheas, the fallen king of the city of
"Anthea" and his son Aetios, were forced to leave the
peninsula and escape to Asia Minor where, with some other companions, founded the city
of Halikarnassos (The
future birthplace of Herodotos). Pittheas then also conquered the
other city on the peninsula, Ypereia (Hyperia).
Yperis, the fallen king of Ypereia was
forced along with other Kalavrians and Achaeans to escape to southern Italy. He
founded first the city Hyperia in Sicily,
in 1250 BC and after that he penetrated continental Italy. By then,
the entire region of Apulia-Basilicata was called Calabria. Later, Yperis also
founded the city Poseidonia in the current region of Campania. In the same
region of Basilicata
exists today a mountain with the name Poros. Poros is the classical and modern
name of a small city next to ancient Hyperia in the
Peloponnesian Kalavria). It is not ascertained exactly when the
residence of the Peloponnesian Kalavria began. In any case, excavations that
began in 1894 brought to light clues that show that it was around the Neolithic
period. In 2002, the Kokoreli excavations came to show the same,
adding further evidence.
Kalavros
(Calabro) is known as a son of Zeus, while Messapios is known as a
son of Poseidon. Poseidon was the god of waters and seas and Messapia means the
“land between two seas or two rivers”. This was one of the older names of the Peloponnese, the place of origin of the Messapians.
Mycenaean
tomb. Necropolis in Messina,
from 12-13 century BC
Nonos the
Panopolitis, (from the “Pano polis” /upper city of Egypt), wrote
the history of the god Dionysos in 40 volumes and informs us about
prehistorical evidence (before 3000 BC). He reported the flood
of Defkalion, also known as Noah's or Gilgamesh’s flood, which
is probably connected with the sinking of the Aegean mountain (the
present day Aegean islands are only
the peaks of that ancient mountain), in the beginning of the Holocaine
geological period, about 10000 BC and according to another myth, that of
Atlantis, the restorer of human life in Sicily was Elymos of
Aegesta). In southern Italy
was Ahatis, while in Athens Amfiktyon, brother of Hellene and son of
Defkalion (Nonos A, 150). Another Elymos was a real historical
figure, a warrior from Troy and
companion of Aenias.
*****
Οίνoτρος-Εnotro (Inotros=Wine maker). The word
Oinotros derives from the Greek word Oίνο, spel INO, (Vino in Latin, Wine in English). Enotrians
were the first Greco-Pelasgian settlers in southern Italy. Their branches were the
Pefketi, Davni, Iapyges and Skeli/Sikeli. Oinotros was the son of Lycaon,
king of Arcadia
and Melivoe or Cyllyne. (Lycaon was a son of Pelasgos). Another son
of Lycaon was Peucetios. Oinotros and some Pelasgians, according to
Greek history and mythology migrated from Arcadia
to southern Italy
during the Mycenaean era. Pausanias reports in his books the history of the
migration of Oinotros to the Apennine peninsula to Oinotria/E`notria. Grandson
of Oinotros was Italos (Italian) (Pausanias. Arcadica, 3).
In summary the
genealogy goes as follows: God Zeus > Defkalion > Pelasgos > Lykaon
> Oinotros > Pefketios > Italos > Sikelos... This is the genealogy
of Italian Greeks.
*****
Messapioi, were
Oinotrian people who moved to southern Italy from the Peloponnese, Euboea and
Boetia (modern central Greece)
in the 12th century BC. To this day exist toponyms
like, “Messapion” mountain, “Messapios” river and the
modern “Messapion” city.
The Peloponnese
was also known with another name these years, Apia. (Messapia = inter-apia,
the land that laid between two seas, or two rivers. "Apos" is one of
the names for water in some ancient Greek dialects). Certainly, the Messapians
spoke a very ancient form of a Greek dialect, Physical evidence
agree with this without exception, from excavations and the few scripts on
stones that have been found.
*****
Iapygas was the
leader of the Oinotrian origin tribe of Iapyges. Greco-Pelasgians. The name
Iapyx is the popularized name for the wind Northwest wind (Aristotele 973,
v. 14 - lexicon Dimitrakou). Etymology: Ia+Pyx (Ia=powerfull and Pygmi=fιst- Pygmachia=Box, Pygmachos =
Boxer). Iapyges are those who
have powerful hands- arms- fists.
*****
At the time of
Oinotros's settlement in Italy,
his brother Pefketios, patriarch of the Pefketians, also founded colonies
in the southern regions of Apoulia (Pausanias, 4 v, 3,5 - Dionysios
Alikaranseus A, 11- Apollodoros of Rhodes, G, 97).
*****
Leukos. During that time, another settlement was
established in the south of the Apennine peninsula by settlers from
the island of Crete. Their leader was Leukos (spel. Lefkos=White) son of Talos. Talos
was the cupreous giant who guarded Crete
and was killed by the Argonauts. Leukos after the death of his father, turned
against the king of Knossos Idomeneas and killed his daughter.
Idomeneas was forced to leave Crete and escaped to the south of Italy, in Apulia -
Salento to save his life. Leukos in turn was also forced to flee
to Italy after a
while, because the destruction he brought to Crete
which caused general dissatisfaction. In Italy he founded a
kingdom and became king of the
region named Leukania (Lukania today).
*****
Afsonas. In the seaside of Leukania also
lived the people called Afsones. Their patriarch was Afsonas,
son of Odysseas and the goddess Calypso, or as some other source
state, son of Atlas and Circe.
*****
Davnos.
In southern Italy also
lived the Davnian people. Patriarch of the Davnians was
Davnos, son of the Arcadian king, Lykaonas.
*****
Diomidis, one
of the Trojan war heroes, after his return from Troy,
left his unfaithful wife Aigialeia (Egialia) in Argos (Peloponnessos) and moved to
Davnia. He became a mercenary in the service of
King Davnos and received in return a part of Davnos’s country to
the north and one of Davnos's daughters as a wife.
*****
Sikani and
Sikeloi. The name Sikelia derives from the first king of the island, King
Sikelos. He was the son of Italos, and grandson of Oinotros, <Lycaon, <
Pelasgos,< Defkalion,< God Zeus. (Genealogy of Sikelos).
In Sicily, historically and
not only mythologically, the Cretan tribe Sikani (and not the Ligurians or
other Celtic tribes) are reported as its first residents.
They are the ones who gave that name to the island. Heraclea Minoa is the
city where King Minos of Crete was buried
around 2000 BC. It is also the burial place of god Kronos and the architect Daedalos.
Other Cretans
and other tribes from the Aegean Sea soon
also appeared. This migration was continuous and long-lasting, and it possibly
began 5000 years BC, when the maritime activity of Minoan Cretans started, as
revealed by the archaeological discoveries by Sir Arthur Evans. These
discoveries also agree with Plato and other ancient writers who wrote
about the flood of Defkalion and Atlantis (Plato, Timaios and
Critias).
In the
Dictionary of Hesyhios (Dictionary of ancient Greek Dialects), which
contains the ancient types of Greek words, the world Sikanos, derives
from the word Sika, which means sword, (sicarius –
handknife).
Sikanos was the king of
the Sikanian tribe. He was the son
of Vriareos. Sikanos himself had three sons: Cyclop,
Antifanis and Polyfimos.
Tholos.
Greek Mycenean cemetery from the 13th century BC “Tholos Di Floresta” Sicily.
Another
Greek Mycenaean Tholos, near Aitna (Etna) from the 12th century BC.
Greek Mycaenean settlements in the Bronze Age (1600-1100 BC).
Aitna (Etna) was a nymph of Sicily, daughter of Ouranos (Sky)
and Gea (Earth). Ouranos was a brother of Kronos (Saturn), who
is reported as the very first resident of Sicily and where he was also buried. When
his son, the god Hephaistos (Hephaistos - god of Fire and Iron =
Vulcan in Latin) and his daughter, the goddess Demetra (Ceres) had a
strong disagreement about who will become protector of the island, the
nymph Aitna intervened as arbitrator. Thus, Hephaistos took only the
volcanoes (Etna and Stromboli), where he set up his workshop, while Demetra
(she symbolizes the big granary that is Sicily) became protector of the island!
Demetra,
the goddess protector of Sicily. Her name is a
compound word from Da-mather in Doric and Aeolian Greek dialects and
means "Mother Earth". From Aeolian, hundreds of years later, the
Latin language was created. It is believed that the temple in
Egesta, was a temple in honor of goddess Demetra - Mother Earth, built by
the Elymians, who were according to ancient sources, Greek tribes from
Aiolia, (the islands of Lemnos, Lesbos and the
Trojan coasts).
As is passed on
to us by the Homeric epic poem Odyssey, by Isiodos and by Diodoros of
Sicily, the daughter of the goddess Demetra, Persephone, used to
play with her friends the Nymphs, in the region of the city of Enna (center of Sicily). Suddenly, she saw the
beautiful flower narcissus and wanted to cut it. This however was a trap
that the Plouton, (or
Hades) god of the underground
world, had setup to catch her. Since
then in the place of Persephone’s kidnapping, a
source of water can be found, which was named "Cyani”
(Azure). The goddess Demetra waited for 9 days in Enna for the return of
Persephone and then she began to look for her. While searching, she
arrived in Elefsina, Attica where she
established the eminent Elefsinian Mysteries.
The theory that
in the 10th century BC a new race, a tribe of the Illyrian or Celtic nation, or
of another unknown nation called Sikeli, settled down, coming from
northern Italy, is
not valid, because it is not proved with any way. For this opinion to have
reliability there should exist:
a) Written sources (historical or mythological)
that would report the existence of this migration. In the 10th century we
already have plenty of written documents.
b) Archaeological
findings, which would show where this supposed tribe lived before, when,
why, how and where it moved etc.
In the absence
of any material proof (stone inscriptions) it is certain that the name Sikelia
derived from:
a) Either from
the Peloponnesian Skelia (Triskelia-Triskeles-Triskelon), the place from where
the Kalavri or Skeli emigrated to Italy.
b) From
corruption of the word Sikania.
c)
From the residents who used to call themselves Skeli
(Sikeloi), because they used to live on the two banks of the narrow
straight, of the Scylla and Harivdes (Messini and Righion. Skelos=Leg- Skeli, plural legs. Skelia= also
means two banks). TRI-SKELIA, THREE LEGS. TRI-NAKRIA, THRE EDS ( the three capes). SKELIA> SIKELIA, SICILIA>SICILY.
d) Or because Sicily was the
granary of the Italian peninsula, and it was the island under protection of the
goddess of granaries, and her residence. Sikalis = Rye, a kind of grain – cereal, more ancient
than wheat and in the prehistorical and historical era was the basic
agricultural product of Sikelia.
e) From the
geographical shape of the island, which has three skelia (three legs).
f) From
some native mythological traditions, with gods and heroes. It is impossible to
accept as argument the position that, the Siculi/Sikani are not a
population of Greek origin and at the same time have as local gods
and heroes only Greeks, long before the 1st millennium BC. The Cretan King
Minos and Dedalus in western Sicily
from the 2nd millennium. And from the 3rd millennium BC,
Herakles, Hefestos, Poseidon, Demetra, Persephone, Aitna (Etna), Ortygia,
Kronos (Saturn), Enotros, Messapios, Idomenas, Lefkos, Rea… and so many others.
g) Beyond the mythological reports and archaeological excavations, the written historical
and mythological sources, we also find evidence in Athens as well. The hill “Sicily-Sikelia”. The German archaeologist Lollig believed
that the hill Sicily is
the current hill of Filopappos, but his locality is the hill of old
slaughterhouses, in the left bank of river Ilyssos. As we saw, skelia means legs, trilegged or two water banks metaphorically. On
the border between the present-day suburbs of Neos Cosmos and Kallithea,
there is the stadium of “Esperos” and the Panteion University.
This hill was called Sikelia many centuries before classical Athens. Before the 8th
century BC and the Athenian colonization to the Sicily. It is very strange the
existence of this name in Athens,
centuries before the archaic colonization of Sikelia.
Finally, Trinakria
is the other Greek name, that gives the geographical description of
the island. Long before the names Sikania-Sikelia. “The three akres” (Three ends - tri limb). This name was well known from the
Cycladic-Minoan era, about 3000 BC.
Mycenean tombs, «Tholi» Sicily, 1300 BC.
So, the
Sikeli were proto Greeks then. But are they Greeks today? The answer is, yes! ( and No)
Yes, because they have Greek origin and pure
Greek genes derived from:
a) The
first colonization from the Aegeans and Minoans of Crete, from 2000 to 1600 BC. The
best-known Minoan cities were Heraclea Minoa,
Thapsos, Ippion Argos, Minoan Taranto, Faliron (later Parthenopi and even later
Napoli), Argyrippa, Scoglio del Torro (modern
Latin name), Torro Castelluccia and many other Minoan and Argonautic era
cities. A total of 98 locations are under excavation today.
b) The
second colonization. Aeolian and Pelasgic settlements from the Aegean islands and Asia Minor
and the Mycenaeans – Achaeans in the
12th century BC, after the destruction of Troy. (see chapter “Mycenaean colonization”).
c) The
third colonization of Achaeans, Aetolians and
other Greco-Pelasgian tribes from Epirus, Acarnania, Aitolia
etc., in the 10th BC century, after the Dorian (Lacedemonian or Spartan)
invasion from N.W. Macedonia to the Peloponnese, which pushed this
Greek-Pelasgian tribes to exit to the west (Oinotroi -Inotri, Leukanoi-Lefkani,
Vrettioi, Messapioi etc).
d) The great, fourth colonization of the 8th century BC, which brought the
Greek population in Sicily and southern Italy, to exceed 5 million in 4th
century BC. The Greek colonization continued unabated in the Late Roman and
Byzantine years. The most populous cities in Magna Graecia then were Sybaris with an estimated population between 300,000
and 500,000, from 600 to 510 BC and Syracuse
with 800,000.
e) From
the 7th century AD, Sicily and the south of Italy (particularly the part under
Byzantine rule until the 12 century) received new waves of Greek
“iconolatres” and later “iconoclasts”, to escape the religious
persecutions-civil war-discord, in the eastern Roman- Byzantine territories
(Balkan and Asia Minor). Later, the invasions of the Arabs and other Islamic
tribes from Asia in Asia Minor, pushed
more waves of Greeks to their "Western homeland".
f) The last Greek waves arrived in southern Italy & Sicily after the
conquest of Asia Minor and the Balkans by the
Turks (from 14th to 19th century).
Mycenaean
necropolis. Aguila, Agrigento, 13-12th century BC.
It consists of two types of
tombs: artificial caves and chambers. Some are accessed through a 1.5-5 meter long corridor called a
"dromos- δρόμος",
located in front of the tomb itself. The tombs consist of one or two chambers
with a corbel vaulted dome (Τholos-Θόλος)
containing a platform with the corpse and votive offerings (vases, rings, arms,
tools) on it.
Who were the Sikani, the Sikeli and the Elymi
The ethnonyms Sιc-eli and Sic-ani are exactly the same. Almost all linguists agree on this today. They have the same meaning, the same etymological root. Historically, it is the exact same population, only the name changes slightly, due to the corruption of their dialects. Those ancient Greek writers who wrote about it, it is obvious that they had incorrect information and conveyed simple rumors and legends. The word comes etymologically from TRI_SKELIA >SIKELIA, or Mycenaean (found in the Mycenaean "Linear B" scripts from the 13th century BC) and Doric "sika" which means small sword or Sickle for harvesting cereals (meaning: SIKANI- SIKELI = "The beavers of Sica") a word that also exists in Latin later as Sica, Sicarius.
Of course it is absolutely certain that they come from peoples of the islands and coasts of the Aegean and Crete, and not from Spain. All the archaeological finds in Sicily before 1.000 BC, are directly related to early Minoan (Cretan), Cycladic and later Mycenaean material elements and not Ligurian or Spanish. All of them! The Sicani-Siculi were related with Aegean population and Elymi, with Greeks from Asia Minor and Elymia in Madeconia!
Sikani, Sikuli and
Elymi.Who were they?
The Prehistory of Sicily.
(for more, read the book-for free in this blogg. «Southern Italy and Sicily Mythology, Prehistory and
History until 3th Century». (English and Italian).
By Stefano sotiriou, historian
***********
We'll start with some preliminary observations.
1. The
ethnonyms "Sik-ani" and "Sik-ouli" (or Sik-eli)
is exactly the same name. Were they two separate peoples with the
same ethnonym? This is a question posted today by all the historical
scholarship and is notably pointed out by the eminent British Professor Robin
Lane Fox.
2. This
ethnonym is of Greek origin. It is etymologically derived from the
name SIKELIA, which comes from the Greek «SKELIA»
(SKELIA=Legs Skelos=leg) > (TRISKELIA = Three Legs - Tre
Gambe in Italian).
There is also the equally Greek name TRINAKRIA,
from the "THREE AKRES" (THREE ENDS). The three
capes: ΠΑΧΎΝΟΣ (Pachynos), ΕΛΩΡΟΣ (Heloros),
and ΛΙΒΥΛΑΙΟΝ (Lilybaeon).
2.1. For these peoples (Sikani and Sikuli)
to be named with this Greek name, it means they inherited it from some Greeks?
o A)
Either they originate from a Greek region, as current historical research
suggests is indeed the case.
o B) Or
because the Greeks named them so, and consequently, we do not know
the name by which they called themselves «in their own language». Sikeli and Sikani are, in any case, Greek
ethnonyms.
3. They
wrote using the Greek alphabet. However, the inscriptions that have
survived are very few with a very limited vocabulary. They have not been
understood. The biggest probability is that the languages are an older Pre-Greek,
Pelasgian language, which has not been fully understood to this day, even
in the modern Greek country. However, the proper names, toponyms, and hydronyms
are recognized as being the same, as those found in the region of the two
shores of the Aegean Pelagos (Sea).
4. Regarding
the Elymians, their origin From Aegen lands is much clearer.
***************
1) The Sikani
The Sikani are believed to be Pelasgian (Pelasgi
and Leleges were the inhabitants of the Greek
Peninsula and the shores of
the Aegean before the formation of the Greeks.
We call them Pre-Greeks but also Proto-Greeks). Herodotus wrote
that the Pelasgians were the fathers of the Greek tribes, and this is correct.
The integration of Pelasgians with other related tribes between the two shores
of the Aegean Sea created the Greeks. The
Pelasgian Sikani were, then, one of the three oldest peoples
in Sikelia.
Diodorus of Sicily writes that
the other two peoples of Sicily were
the Elymians, who lived in the west, and the Sikeli,
who lived in the east, and the boundary between these tribes, after great
battles, was the river Hímera.
* How and when did they arrive in Sicily?
Three different
theories exist:
1.
They were proto-Greeks or early
Greek tribes (Pelasgians and Leleges), as we
saw above, and came from Greek territories around the Aegean Sea.
2. According
to Thoukidides, the Sikani came from the west,
from the land of the river Sikanos in (modern) Catalonia. They came to Sicily after being
attacked by the Ligurians. But the Celtic(?) tribe of Ligurians lived in N.W.
Italy and France (Genoa, Nicaea...
today), and it is incomprehensible that if they attacked Catalonia,
they would have pushed the population there to the east and south, toward Sicily. Why did the
Sikani escape by ships and not toward the interior and south and west of Spain? The
sources of Thoukidides are unknown. He heard them somewhere without
verification, as he did not go to Catalonia.
Equally unknown is the location of the river Sikanos. There was never a river
with such a name in Catalonia or southern France, nor
anywhere else. Science has not managed to locate it to this day. However, this
theory has been completely rejected today, given that the language of the
Sikani, from the few words that have been found, is not considered
Celto-Ligurian, but rather (morphologically and from the toponyms) Pelasgian,
which is also not yet fully understood, but we know for sure that it
originates from the regions of the Aegean.
3. The
third theory describes them as immigrants from N.W. Greece (the region of Macedonia, Epirus,
Aetolia, Acarnania). During this period, the
great descent of the Dorians occurred from N.W. Macedonia and
Epirus (roughly the region of Lakes Prespa and Ohrid) to Doris in central Greece and
in Lacedaemon (Sparta) in the Peloponnese (1200–1000 BC),
which pushed many other Greek tribes to the West. This explains why the word «ELYMI» is
found in dozens of regions, cities, and city-states of N.W. Greece, mainly in Macedonia and Epirus. The migrants carried their
tribal name with them to Sicily.
Archaeology and history
confirm that of these three theories, the oldest population and
civilization in Sicily
was the Cycladic-Minoan, and later Pelasgian and Mycenaean
Greek. From these three cultures and their languages, we only know
that Mycenaean (c. 2000 – 1100 BC) was Greek. The languages of
the other two have not yet been fully understood and are considered Pre-Greek,
but they contributed to the enrichment of the Greek language through the
merging of the populations who spoke them.
Historians have unanimously acknowledged that
the Sikani were the most ancient of the other peoples. The
Elymi came later from the Greek territories and displaced the Sikanians in the
west. The Sikani were first recorded historically in the 11th century BC.,
immediately after the fall of Troy and
the flood of Achaean (Mycenaean) settlers to Sicily. The Sikani were gradually
mixed and assimilated by the newer Greeks, who arrived during the third,
archaic Greek settlement, in the 8th century BC.
According to Greek mythology (Mythology
is considered by science to have a historical core and legendary additions.
Therefore, every myth has a real and existing history. A fairy tale is an
invented narrative), King Minos of Crete came to Sikelia long before the
existence of the Sikani, either as a name or as a tribe (before 2000 BC). He
came to Sikelia in search of the architect Daedalus,
who lived in Drepano (Trapani)...
Daedalus was built that city in honor to the Goddess Aphrodite.
There, King Minos died in a violent death by the King of the city of Kamikos, Kokalos (Κώκαλος), and his tomb was
in the neighboring city of Herakleia
Minoa, which was first built in the second
millennium by the Cretan Minoans. Today the tomb is located on the hill of
Guastanedda, northeast of Agrigento, toward Palermo. On the hill of
monte Kronion, is the tomb of the father of the Olympian Gods, Kronos (Saturn
in Latin). He died there, after the terrible Titanomachy,
which took place in Sicily.
Kronos was defeated by his son Zeus, who became the king of
the Greek Pantheon/Religion. And Kronos was buried in Sicily, which was his residence while alive!
The few inscriptions that have been found of the Sikani
language are written with the Greek alphabet. Except for
the names, which are of Greek origin (toponyms and hydronyms to), linguists
have not been able to understand their language due to the small number of
words (we don't have a full text, but sporadic names and toponyms). It was
probably related to the language of King Minos, or other Pelasgian tribes of
the Aegean. The first Minoan Language was
written with "Linear A" letters, which is not fully understood until
today (see the Phaistos Disc). The Sikani were mentioned as a
people related to the Cyclopes, who appear to lived
initially in Attica (under King Kecrops) and next in the
Cyclades islands of the Aegean Sea, and later migrated to Sicily.
Mycenaean Influence: Newer
archaeological research (e.g., at sites such as Sant'Angelo Muxaro and
Monte Grande in the Agrigento region,
where the Sikani resided) has shown that the earliest Sikanian culture shared
many common elements with Mycenae
(Late Bronze Age, c. 1600–1100 BC).
Finds: Aegean-type
pottery and artifacts have been found in Siκanian settlements, suggesting intense trade activity
and/or the establishment of Mycenaean in Eastern and Southern Sicily.
Proto-Siκanian Culture: Some
scholars speculate that the early Proto-Sikanian populations received a strong
influence from the Minoan (Cretan) and later the Mycenaean culture, especially
in pottery techniques, architecture, Gods religion, and burial practices. Or
they were of Aegean origin!
*Linguistic
Hypothesis (Pelasgian)
The
connection with the inhabitants of the Aegean
also arises from the linguistic hypothesis:
Pelasgian Language: The Siκanian language
is considered Pre-Indo-European and remains incomprehensible.
However, many linguists and historians have connected it, through
the toponyms (place names), with the so-called Pelasgian language or the
Pre-Hellenic substratum of the Aegean (i.e., the languages spoken by the
peoples of the Aegean before Greek prevailed).
In
summary, the connection of the Sikani with the Aegean
is primarily supported by archaeological finds that show contacts with the
Mycenaean civilization and by the hypothesis regarding the Pelasgian nature of
the Sikanian language.
************
The Sikuli
The connection of the Sikuli with
the Aegean is much more direct and less controversial compared
to the Sikani, though not through direct migration from the Aegean. This link is primarily found through the Italian
peninsula and Mycenaean trade.
*Arrival to Sicily via Italy
The Sikuli are
considered to be an Indo-European people who migrated to Sicily throu Southern Italy (modern Calabria), from Greece, around 1200
– 1000 BC, during the collapse of the great Bronze Age civilizations.
Their
connection to the Aegean stems from two main
factors:
1. Mycenaeans in Italy
Before
the Sikulian arrival in Sicily, Southern Italy
already had intense contact with the Mycenaean
civilization of the Aegean (Calabia, Basilicata and Apulia. 90 Mycenaean places and cities
have been found today and are being excavated in Southern
Italy. The notions of mass Greek colonization in the 8th century
BC have now been revised, moving to times before 1300-1400 BC with the
Mycenaeans).
* From
the 14th century BC onward, Mycenaean merchants established
many cities, posts and traded extensively in areas such as Apulia and Calabria.
* The ancestors
of the Sikuli on the Italian peninsula had already culturally and
technologically assimilated elements from the Mycenaeans
before they even crossed into Sicily
(or they were mycaenean population).
2. Linguistic Connections
The
Sikulian language belongs to the group of European and
was introduced to Italy
by migrations.
* The
Sikulian language itself is related to Aegean languages. The spread of
European peoples into Italy
and the subsequent movement of the Sikuli into Sikelia are events that occurred
simultaneously with the early phase of Greek colonization in
the Mediterranean, shortly after the collapse
of the Mycenaean palaces.
* In
Italy, after the unification of Southern Italy into the Italian state in 1860, a tendency emerged in
Italian scholarship to present the Greek populations of the South (the
overwhelming majority of whom originate from Greeks and were Greek-speaking and
Orthodox Christians, compactly until the 13th century, 3000 years long) as
something like economic migrants. Something similar to those
arriving from Africa in Lampedusa. (The
4 million Greeks of 4th century B.C and the 2 million Greek
orthodox , the 90% of the total population in 11 and 12nth century
aC., were just temporarily emigrants!!!). That they are not the
indigenous populations of the South, but some people who went there for
excurtion(!), lived there some centuries (20 centuries at least) and then,
Poof!!! They disappeared! This tendency intensified during Mussolini's era, but
continues normally to this day. Thus, the language of the Sikuli is presented
by Rome as a branch of the Italian Indoeuropean languages of 1000
BC, which was however influenced by the early waves of Mycenaean
migrants-merchants and not Mycaenean settlers, according to Rome and
Vatican (But 90 Mycenaean cities have been found and are being excavated
today in Southern Italy. The notions of mass Greek colonization in
the 8th century BC have now been revised, moving to times before 1300-1400 BC
with the Mycenaeans) and thus the Sikulian language was found to
resemble the languages of the Aegean.
Conclusion
The
Sikuli were not "Aegean,"- according to some historians in Rome, but:
They came to
Sicily from northern Italy, from unknown place, but in the way to south,
they had intense prior contact (in the south) with the
Mycenaeans.
They coexisted with
the Sikani and the Elymians, who had also received Aegean influences.
Ultimately,
the Sikuli and the Sikani were assimilated by the Greek
colonists, who arrived in Sicily from Greece (the heart of the Aegean) from
the 8th century BC onward (3rd greek colonization).
The
final and dominant connection of the island with the Aegean came, of course,
with the Great Greek Colonization (foundations of Syracuse, Panormos. Agrigento, Catania,…, and other 200 greek cities
until medieval era etc.).
But.
It is clear that the Sikuli-Sikeli,
according to archaeological excavations, shared the exact same culture
as the Mycenaeans.
The question is: Were the Sikeli Mycenaeans
in origin, who came from Greece and
the Aegean thgrou Calabria,
or were they simply local inhabitants of Sikelia influenced by
the Greek Mycenaean culture through contacts and trade?
The size of the archaeological finds (I repeat that:
nowadays there are almost 90 Mycenaean sites under excavation all over southern
Italy) is so huge, that it shows
with every certainty that the Sikeli were a branch of the Aegean
Mycenaean peoples who settled on the island, arriving from the Greek
islands of the Aegean Sea, the Peloponnese, and NorthWestern Greece,
after the fall of Troy (12th–11th century BC), and not from the Alps as some
historians in Roma say!.
Homer records Sikelia as
Sikania. As we mentioned, the British historian Robin Lane Fox points
out that he considers that, the Sikani and
the Sikeli had the same name and maybe were integrated to
the same people. It is indeed strange to say that two separate
nations existed on the same island, not related, but with the same ethno-racial
name. Because both the words Sikeli and Sikani have
the same root (which is a Greek root) and the same etymology. It is the same
word practically.
The Sikel people are
reported in the Great Inscription of Karnak, Egypt, in the 5th
year of the reign of Pharaoh Merneptah (1207 BC) and
recorded as one of the "Sea Peoples," or the peoples of
the Aegean Pelagos (Sea). They were Pre-Hellenic or Proto-Hellenic tribes
of the Aegean. Their integration formed the
Greek tribes. This is the scientific evolution in Ethnology.
The name "Sekeles" is also recorded
in the inscription on the tomb of Medinet Habu, which is related to
the second invasion (30 years later) of the "Sea Peoples" to Egypt, in the
7th year of Ramses III's reign as Pharaoh. Archaeological evidence places the
arrival of the Sikeli to Sikelia between
the 13th and the 11th century BC, at the same time when the "Sea-Aegean-People":
The Danyen (Danaans-Achaeans. Known as Mycaeneans, named by its
capital Mycaene), Peleset (Pelasgians), Sekeles (Sikeli)...
attacked Egypt.
Around the same time, Troy fell to the
Danaans-Achaeans (Mycenaeans), which drove the Mycenaeans from Achaea and the Aegean Islands
and the Trojans, to southern Italy
and Etruria
in the north en masse. So, The Sikeli were Mycaenians and not
some unknown italic tribe, from the unknown Celtic North.
The most important Sikeli cities were: Agyra,
founded as "Agyrion" or Argyrion (Argyrion in Greek
> argentum in latin = Silver. Argyrion was the birthplace
of Diodorus of Sicily), Kenturippe, Enna, Thapsos, Hybla
the Great, Hybla the Small, and Hybla Heraea, founded by the
Megarians (who also founded the famous city of Byzantium in the Bosporus,
Constantinople later, capital of the Byzantine Empire).
Studies (with the few poor epigraphic finds, which we
mentioned, contain proper names, hydronyms, and toponyms) have shown that
the Sikeli spoke a language that was a branch of the Aegean-GrecoPelasgian
language, the closest relative of the very ancient Greek languages,
from which evolved later the known Greek dialects, beginning from the Mycenaean
Greek!
The Sikeli lived in the eastern part
of the island, the Sikani lived in central Sicily, and
the Elymians in the western part. The only
alphabet used on the island by all these tribes was the Greek alphabet.
*************
The Language of the Sicanians (Sicanian)
The Siculi & sikani were considered
an earlier population of Sicily. They left 30 stone inscriptions,
with greek alphabet, but very poor in words.
Characteristics
• Their language
is almost unknown. we don;t have words to compare .
• There are not
enough inscriptions for secure decipherment.( 30 in total)
• Some researchers
believe it was not European, but the majority—according
to newer theories and Aegean DNA studies, according to Sicul and Sikani have
the same Aegean DNA—consider that they may indeed have been Minoans
and Pelasgians from Crete and the shores of
the Aegean.
For this reason some scholars compare it
with:
• pre-Greek
languages of the Aegean
• possible “Pelasgian”
languages
Relationship with Aegean Languages
In the Aegean there
are three main writing systems:
• Linear A (Minoan –
partly read but not fully understund; from proper names and names of deities
that some scholars, Oxford profesors Gareth Owens and John Coleman,
claim to have identified on the Phaistos Disc, such as the
expression “Potnia Thea,” which in central Greece referred to the
goddess Athena. In addition, recent DNA research by the Max Planck
Institute has suggested that the Mycenaeans shared about 75% genetic
similarity with the Minoans.)
• Linear B (Mycenaean
Greek)
• Minoan hieroglyphic writing
Linear B was proven to represent the
Greek language. It was deciphered by the Cambridge scholars John Chadwick (linguist)
and Michael Ventris (cryptographer).
Linear A remains partly unknown and
represents a pre-Greek language of the Aegean,
which may also have been related to the language of the Sicanians.
Similarities Between Sicily and
the Aegean
Comparisons are mainly based on two
elements.
a) Toponyms
Some place names in Sicily, Toponyms, before the
settlement of Micenean ( 1500 BC. Mycaenean were the
first organized Greek settlers in Sicily),
have forms resembling pre-Greek Aegean names.
Examples of patterns
• endings -nth-, -ss-, -tt-
These also appear in:
• pre-Greek Greek toponyms such as
• Corinth,• Zakynthos,• Knossos, *Erymanthos....
Linguistics connects these forms with
a pre-Greek Aegean substrate.
b) Mythological Traditions
A lot of ancient authors such as Thucydides report
that:
• peoples from the Aegean Pelago
(Sea) moved to Sicily.
However, these references are mainly historical
traditions rather than linguistic proof.
The Pelasgian Theory
The Pelasgians were
considered by the ancient Greeks to be the pre-Greek population
of the Aegean banks and islands. The ancestors of Greeks.
Some researchers have proposed that
inhabitans of Sicily
languages, spoke :
• pre-Greek
languages of the Aegean, or
• local languages
of Sicily (Sicans
& Siculs, but not the Elymians, who were greek speakers).
probably belonged to an old
Mediterranean linguistic substrate, based on the available evidence so
far.
Conclusion of Modern Research
• The Siculi probably
spoke a European language related to Greek of the 2nd-millennium
BC, in the Mycenaean-Achaean period.
• The Sicani probably
spoke an older, but unknown language that nevertheless shows some
similarities with the language of the Mycaenenas,
possibly close to Minoan, thus being closer to Greek but more ancient and
more distant.
• Similarities
with the Aegean are mainly toponymic
and cultural, and to a very small extent linguistic,
based on the few words preserved in Sicul and Sicani inscriptions.
1. Words from a Sicul & Sican
Inscription
One word appears as:
Pibe
Many linguists compare it with:
• Greek πίνει / πίνω (to
drink)
• Mycenaean
form pi-no (root of the verb “pino-to drink”)
Mycenaean root: pi- / drink,
beverage
Therefore it may mean something like “drink”
or “beverage.”
brutia / bruties
Appears in names or ethnonyms.
Comparison with Greek βροτός (brotos) meaning “mortal.”
• Possible Mycenaean root bhrū-
(human / body)
Toponym: Hybla
A city name in Sicily.
Compared with pre-Greek Aegean toponyms
containing:
• -bl-
• -br-
• -nth-
Example of similar morphology:
• Corinthos
• Zakynthos, Erymanthos...
• Labrys (Minoan
axe, symbol)
The most probable connection proposed is
that they belong to an old Aegean /
Minoan (Cretan) substrate.
Toponym: Segesta
A city of the Elymians in western Sicily.
Comparison with Greek names ending
in -esta / -istos, such as:
• Hephaistos
• Orestes
• Aigisthos
In its original ancient form Aigesta-
Αίγεσθα (rather
than the modern Italian form Segesta),
the word is interpreted as Greek in origin. Similar elements appear in many
ancient Greek words and place names such as:
• Aegean Pelagos (Sea)
*Aigisthos (
mycaenan king)
• Aegaes,
capital of ancient Macedon
• Aegypt (south
of the Aegean Pelagos- sea)
• Aigion,
Mycaenean city in the Peloponnese
• aix-
aiga (goat), a sacred animal among Macedonians and Epirotes
• aegis,
meaning divine protection, kataigis= Flood
These examples are interpreted as showing
possible shared name morphology between Sicel–Sicani and Aegean traditions.
Word: Neton ( in the modern western historiography, the name is
written with latin eding «um»- «Netum» But this is wrong. There is not existend
in Sicily
such latin ending, but only greek, and Grek alphabet. The latin alphabet came
here after the concordat of Norman conqueror Robert Guyiscard and Vatican
in 1059 aD. II. See surces)
Name of a city. Compared with Greek
root:
νη-
/ να- (to
flow / water)
Examples:
• νάμα – flowing
water
• Nauplio (a
city in the Peloponnese inhabited
since Mycenaean times)
Another word: aiti
Possible meaning: “to /
toward.”
Comparison with Greek: αἰτία / αἰτί
Form comparison:
a-ti / aiti (Sicel) – a-ti (Linear A, Crete)
Possible interpretations proposed:
• “to / toward”
• grammatical
marker (preposition)
A similar form also appears in Linear
B related to direction or the dative case.
Word. ku-pa / (Κούπα)
In tablets of Linear A the
word appears:
ku-pa . Meaning: cup
In Sicilian toponyms it appears
as: • cupa • kupa
Researchers have suggested that it may
mean:
• vessel / cup (as
in Crete)
• hollow / valley
No other interpretation has been
proposed.
word. su / suki ( Σούκι)
In Linear A appears: su-ki
In Sicilian inscriptions appears: suki
Many linguists believe it might have been:
• a title
• the name of an
office
However, there is no certainty.
4. Endings -ss- and -nth-
One of the most striking features is the
endings of words and place names.
Sicily:_Herbessos, •
Entella,• Hybla.• Camarina (-na / -nna).• Enna (double -nna), Inessa, Camicos,
Thapssos....
Aegean: Knossos.• Corinthos, • Zakynthos,
Erymanthos, Larissa, Efessos
• -nthos →
e.g., Corinth, Zakynthos
• -ssos
/ -ttos → e.g., Knossos, Hymettos
• -nna
/ -na → e.g., Larissa, Enna, Inessa
These forms are considered characteristic
of the proto-Greek substrate of the Aegean.
Some Etymolgy
What These Comparisons Overall Suggest
Most studies suggest three possible
scenarios:
1. Prehistoric Mediterranean Substrate
Ancient populations before the
Greeks spoke related languages across the Aegean
and the western Mediterranean.
2. Bronze Age Population Movements
Civilizations such as the Minoan
civilization of Crete had a lot of trading colonies
in Sicily
dron 2000 -1750 bC.
Micenei hand a
lot of colonies, from 15-14 centyury bC.
NAMES
7. Name Endings
In the few Sicel-Sicanian inscriptions,
name endings appear such as:
• -os,• -on,• -as (
I repeat. Not «um-us», but «on-os». Latin not existend them).
These are identical to Greek
Mycenaean endings.
Example:
• Greek: Alexandros,
Minos, Cassandros...
• Mycenaean
in Linear B: -on / -os
Names of Sicanian Scriptes (Names were
writen in Greek alphabet)
• Cocalos -Κώκαλος– king of the city
Camicos who sheltered Daedalos and killed the King Minos from Crete.
• Ducetiοs -Δουκέτιος– leader of the
Sicels in the 5th century BC
* Teutos- Τεύτος. Teutos is
thought to be the same as Teucer (Τεῦκρος), the
Trojan figure. Teucer is associated with the city of Teuthania in Phrygia, a region that in antiquity had
strong Greek cultural and linguistic influence.
According to mythological traditions, the
son of Teucer was wounded by Achilles during the war described
in the Trojan cycle.
These traditions are sometimes interpreted
as supporting the idea that some of the earliest inhabitants
of Sicily came from the Aegean
region, from both sides of the sea—mainland Greece and Asia
Minor—bringing their names, myths, and cultural elements
with them.
* Galeotis ( Γαλεώτης). Galeotes
(Γαλεώτης) is
the name of a magician or priest. It is considered
a Greek name, possibly connected with galeos
(γαλέος), a
type of dogfish in Greek.
According to ancient tradition reported
by Thucydides, Galeotes was the son
of Telephus. Telephus himself was associated with
the Aegean world, and Galeotes is said to have migrated
to Sicily,
where he became connected with priestly or prophetic traditions.
The twin deities Palici are
thought to derive their name from Greek, from the compound expression “palin
ikesthai” (πάλιν ἱκέσθαι),
meaning “to return again” or “to come
back again.”
The Palici were twin gods
worshipped in ancient Sicily,
especially near volcanic or geothermal springs. Their cult was connected with
the idea of emergence and re-emergence from the earth, which
may explain the interpretation from palin ( πάλιν-
again) + ikesthai (ἱκέσθαι, to
come, to arrive).
Ancient writers such as Thucydides mention
the indigenous peoples and cults of Sicily.
Ardanos , Local
king. has two possible etymologies.
1. From
Dardanos (Δάρδανος)
It may be related
to Dardanos / Dardanus, the name connected with the
region where Troy (Ilion) was
located, near the Dardanelles.
The Dardanians were considered an ancient greek
people associated with Samothrace and Asia Minor.
2. From
the Greek verb “ardeuō” (ἀρδεύω)
Another possible
origin is the Greek verb ἀρδεύω, meaning “to irrigate”.
In this
interpretation, Ardanos would refer to someone
who irrigates the land or practices cultivated agriculture—a person
involved in irrigation and farming.
The name Dardanos is
also known from Greek mythology as the ancestor of the Trojans and founder
of Dardania, closely associated with the legendary city of Troy.
The word Aitna (Etna)
The name of the volcano Mount Etna is connected with the ancient Greek
verb:
* aíthō
(αἴθω) = to
burn, to blaze.
From the same root come several Greek
words:
* aithálē
(αιθάλη) →
soot or ash from burning
* aithḗr
(αιθήρ) →
the bright upper air / ether
* aíthrios
(αἴθριος) →
clear, bright sky
* aíthōn
(αἴθων) →
blazing, shining, fiery
This semantic connection makes sense
because Etna is an active volcano associated with
fire and lava.
But. Names that seem to
be Greek have been found in few inscriptions in Sicily in language
spoken before the great, second Greek colonization of the 8th
century BC.
Some linguists think the name Aitna might
originally come from an older local language of Sicily (Sicul
or Sicani). Later, Greek settlers may have reinterpreted the name
through the Greek verb “aíthō” because the meaning matched the
fiery nature of the volcano. But they don;t propose alternative sientific
proof!
So two main theories exist:
1. Greek
etymology
Aitna ← aíthō (“to
burn”).
2. Pre-Greek
toponym
The name already
existed and was later explained through Greek. With no special meaning (to wick
theory, no scientfic explanation).
The Mycenaean possibility
The root aith- is
very ancient. It existed already in Mycenaean Greek,
although the specific name Aitna., like the greek
names: Trhee akres (Triankria) and Triskeles= (Three legs) and Sikelia=Sicily
Conclusion
aíthō (to burn) → fire / blazing → Aitna
(the “burning” mountain)
and it belongs to a family of related
Greek words such as:
* aithálē,
* aithḗr, * aíthrios. * aíthōn
All connected with brightness,
fire, and burning. 🔥
Possible Relation with Minoan Words
Comparison
with Linear A is very difficult because it has not been fully
deciphered.
However, Linear
B of the Mycenaeans has been read.
Words from Sicul–Sicani inscriptions show
similarities with both systems-languages, even if we dont know their meaning.
The morphological elements found also
point to the Aegean,
such as:
• -ss- • -nth-
Appearing in:
Aegean: Knossos, • Zakynthos, • Corinth
Sicily: Entella, •
Hybla, • Herbessos
This may indicate a common
ancient Mediterranean linguistic substrate.
Conclusion
The comparisons considered most plausible
are:
|
Sicilian
|
Comparison
|
Greek
|
|
pibe
|
root pi-
|
πίνω
|
|
aiti
|
eti
|
toward / cause
|
|
-os
|
ending
|
-ος os
|
|
-on
|
ending
|
-ον on (not existed the latin
um-us)
|
However, inscriptions in Sicily are very few (fewer than 30 with
very little words), while in the Aegean there
are hundreds from Linear A and Linear
B (from the 2nd millennium BC).
Therefore a full
linguistic relationship cannot be proven.
Based on the
available evidence, however, many scholars speak—at least for now—about a very
probable origin of the earliest inhabitants of Sicily from the broader Aegean region.
Archaeological Evidences'
Another very interesting element is
that Minoan objects and trade contacts between Crete and Sicily have been
found dating to around 1700–1400 BC.
It is certain that Cretans had trading
stations there, and possibly even cities as early as
2000 BC.
The story of King Minos,
together with Cocalos and the architect Daedalos,
who according to tradition built cities in southern and western Sicily during
the 2nd millennium BC, is often cited in this context.
The grave of King Minos lays in Agrigento
in the Guastanedha hill. The same and the grave of God Kronos, father of
Zeus...
The Mycenaean-Achaean
settlement in Sicily
(the first organized Greek colonization) after the second
half of the 2nd millennium BC is considered archaeologically well
documented.
Excavations have uncovered evidence
of 92 Mycenaean sites in eastern and southern Sicily and in Apulia, with fewer in Calabria.
Therefore, according to these
interpretations, Greek genetic presence -DNA—supported by all
the studies—would already date back to that period.
The Elymians
Important
Distinction: Elymians
It is important to note that, according to ancient
sources (such as Thucydides, Diodoros k.a.) and modern studies, the people of Sicily most frequently connected with the Aegean are
the Elymians, who lived in western Sicily. Thucydides reports
that the Elymians originated from Asia Minor
(Troy area), which falls within the broader area of Aegean influence. The
Trojans were branch of Proto Greek people, with her language to be
similar to Greek, the Pantheon was the same (Athena was the protector of the
Achaeans and Apollo to the Darnanian Trojans), they had the same
Greek names, like Hector, Alexandros-Paris… and is accepted
generally by the science that the Trojan war was not a
war for the Beautiful Helen, but for the control
of the straits of Hellespont or Dardanelle, the first known civil
war in History (between two relative tribes, the Achaeans (Mycenaean) and
Trojan (Dardanian).
Mycenaean artifacts and Mycenaean sites from the 15th to the 12th century
BC. Large collections of Mycenaean artifacts are displayed in the museums of Cagliari, Syracuse, Agrigento, Taranto,
and other museums.
The mythical Patriarch of the Elymians is
considered to be the Trojan hero Elymos, the illegitimate
half-brother of Aeneas (see also the Elymia district of Macedonia, Elymia capital city of Chaonia in Epirus,
the mythical king Elymos...). Thucydides writes
that many Trojans who escaped the destruction caused by the Achaean-Mycenaean
arrived by ships to Sicily and initially founded two
cities: Erykas (Eryx was the son of the god Poseidon)
and Aegesta (a sacred name for the Greeks: Aegis,
Aegai which is the capital of Macedonia, the Aegean Pelagos
(Sea), Aegypt ("Aeg-ypt" means south of the
Aegean), the Aegade islands in western Sicily, the Aegonian
Pelagos- Sea western of Trapani and Eryx, Aegesta (Segesta, corrupted
in Italian), Aegialia region in the Peloponnese, Aegion
city, kataegis, Aegis, Aegisthos king of Mycenae, etc.).
The Elymians had the same
culture as the Greeks. They believed in the same Olympian gods, they had
the same alphabet, they spoke language very closely related to
Greek, but their oldest language is unknown (if an older language
existed, today it is unknown due to lack of evidence). Their most important
cities were Segesta/Aegesta, which was their political center,
and Eryx-Erycas, which was their religious center, with a cult of
Poseidon, and Drepanon-Drepani-Trapani with a cult of
Aphrodite...
Other sources for the Elymians. Elymos was
the name of a son of Priamos or Podarkes,
king of Troy.
According to Strabo, "the founder of the city
of Aegesta in
Sikelia was the famous Aegestos". Strabo's reference
to the Elymian residents of Sikelia is well known: "They
were Greeks, followers of Philoctetes, who according to legend came here to Sicily after Troy." In Aegesta
(Segesta) is the famus Temple dedicated to the Great Mother,
possibly the goddess Rhea, wife of Kronos and mother of Dias-Zeus,
whom the Elymians worshipped. Mother Earth was also the goddess Demeter,
Sicilys
Goddes protector (Da-Mater in Doric-Spartan).
One region of Macedonia was called,
and is still call today, Elymia, with captal city the modern
city Kozani. Elymos was the name of one of the Centaurs
(half man-horse) who lived in mount Pelion in Magnesia, Thessaly region. Elyma was the name of
the capital city of the Chaonian Region in Epirus (opposite
Hydrus/Otranto). Elyma was a city in Arcadia,
Peloponnese, and Elymos was
one of the Kings of the Tyrrhenians. Elymos was also a hero in
the Trojan War, who originated from the Thessalian city of Olyzon. He fought
in Troy with
the poisoned arrows of Heracles. Stephanos of Byzantium writes
that Elymia and Ellinia have the same
meaning. Ellines (=Greeks) were a Greek tribe in Chaonia-Thesprotia, Epirus. Ellinia-Elymia is
a territory and a city in Sikelia (Stephanos of Byzantium, 6th
century AD, was an Eastern Roman grammarian and the author of an important
geographical dictionary entitled Ethnica -Εθνικά). The
etymology of the word Elymia is Greek. We also know that the Latins
called the letter "Y" "Ygraecum," because it was
used only in words of Greek origin.
Elymia in Macedonia. The
capital of Macedonia
was Aeges (in Sicilia Eges-ta, S-eges-ta in
modern Italian, with Spanish orthography in this map). See how many Greek
tribes, countries, city states…, how many tribal ethnonyms in a small part
of Greek world
Recent archaeological findings have made it almost
certain that the pre-Hellenic peoples of Sicily: Elymi,
Sikeli-Sikuli and Sikani , migrated to Sicily from
the Greek regions of the two shores of the Aegean Sea,
Asia Minor, the islands, and N.W. Greece (Epirus,
Acarnania, Peloponessos etc.) between the 13th and 11th century BC.
***********
Greek Genetics from
1,000 BC until today.
Genetic Reality of the Mezzogiorno
today! Challenging the myth and propaganda of Romanic, Normanic, Germanic
& Arab DNA ancestry.
“Contrary to popular belief the many
invasions in southern Italy and
Sicilia, that followed the fall of the Western Roman Empire, did not
significantly alter the local genetic landscape of the Apennine Peninsula.
In fact, DNA studies show that only the Greek presence in southern Italy had
any lasting effect on the genetic makeup of the peninsula”.
Source: Cavalli-Sforza (University of Stanford, USA), Luigi Luca, Menozzi Paolo, Piazza Alberto
(Turin Italy), "The History
and Geography of Human Genes. p. 295”. Also reserche of : Michaela
Sarno and the university
of Peruggia and Max Plank institute, Germany.
For more Mythology (all the mythology of Sicily,
Calabria, Apulia, Basilicata, and Campania is Greek), Prehistory, and History,
up to the 13th century AD, when agreements (concordats) by the German
conquerors of Southern Italy with the Pope, handed the region over to the jurisdiction
of the Vatican—until then it belonged to the Ecumenical Patriarchate—and Dehellenized the
region by force, after the Holy Inquisition burned Sicilians and Calabrians,
etc. because they spoke and held church services in Greek... a history that is not
accessible in Italy after the Risorgimento. The Greeks were not illegal
immigrants in Southern Italy. They
were the basic ethnic core from prehistory to the present day. Today, and after
7-8 centuries of course, they are no longer Greeks, because they were
de-Hellenized by the violence and politics of the Vatican. Read the GENETIC
HISTORY OF ITALY on Wikipedia and see if
the Greeks were simply illegal immigrants!
&&&&&
Note:
The Phoenicians were a Semitic people from present
day Lebanon.
They built three main colonies in Sicily.
Solus, Motya and Ziz (Ziz
means flower). Ziz was located very near to the Greek city of Panormos- Palermo. Ι’m not sure if I can call all of
their settlements, “cities”, or just commercial stations. Archaeological
research has not found enough remains of the various institutions that an
ancient city should have had. Temples,
assemblies etc. Only in Motya, archaeologists have unearthed enough finds that
show that here was an organized big city, and not just a trade station.
More of Greek Mythology & History
Daedalos was an
Athenian architect who, together with his son Icaros, built King Minos’s
labyrinth in Heracleion (Knossos) Crete. He was the first known engineer and architect in
human history. After he built the labyrinth, King Minos wanted to keep
Daedalus in Crete forever so that he would not be able to build anywhere else
works equal to those he built in Crete.
However, with the invention of wings made from wax, Daedalos and Icaros managed
to escape by flying from Crete, destined to Athens. However, while flying over the Aegean
Sea, Icaros's wings began to melt, resulting in him falling into the sea near
the island that bears his name, Ikaria. Daedalos
then rested for a while in the city of Kymi in
Euboea and trying to escape from Minos who began to pursue him, first went to
Sardinia (as the Latin writer Servius says) and then sought refuge with the
Sicani and the king of the city of Kamikos,
named Kokalos. There he left great and wonderful works that survived and in
very good condition until the days of Strabo (60-30 BC), as Strabo himself describes.
However, King Minos did not stop pursuing him and followed him to Sicily. After building a
large fleet, he sailed to the region of Akragas to capture him. In
the area where Minos set up camp, he built the prehistoric city of Minoa, which is identified by many historians with the
later city of Akragas (Agrigento).
According to
archaeological excavations, it seems that the Minoans settled in southern Italy, Sicily
and Sardinia, during the third millennium BC.
The great archaeologist Sir Arthur Evans places the first Cretan
settlement in Southern Italy at the end of the
Middle Minoan period, that is, at the end of the third millennium BC, around
2,330 -2,100 BC. The findings of vessels and metalworking workshops that have
been found on the southern coast of Sicily
from this time until the Late Minoan period (around 1500 BC) show that the
story of Daedalos tells us the real history.
In
the “Chronicle of Lindos” (6th century BC) there is the oldest
written reference to Kokalos and Daedalos and the inscription on a
bronze krater that Phalaris had offered to Athena of Lydia is
recorded: “Daedalus gave hospitality to Kokalos”.
In inscriptions
of Linear B, which is the Mycenaean Greek language, and which were found
around Akragas, the names of Daedalos and Kokalos were found as “Ko-ka-ro,
i.e. Ko-ka-los”.
Many historians
and archaeologists, mainly Italians in the fascist period, attempted to
minimize this fact and the importance of tablets from Crete. (Kokalos means
“Bone”, or “very slim man” in Greek). This name exists in written
documents in Crete, in Linear B inscriptions.
Herodotos (5th
century BC) in his history (book 7), writes about the arrival of the Minoan
Cretans in Sicily and the 5-year siege of the city of Kamikos, which
"hosted" Daedalos, but without being able to conquer it. This siege
is placed chronologically three generations before the Trojan War, that
is, about 100 years earlier, a date which, according to the existing evidence
from excavations and Homer’s history, must have taken place in 1300 BC.
We must not
overlook the opinion expressed by Sir Arthur Evans, based on
archaeological findings, regarding the arrival of the Greeks in Italy long
before 2,000 BC. And considering Herodotos's information of the period about
1,300 BC, perhaps we should also examine the opinion of many archaeologists who
place the Trojan War much earlier.
According
to Pausanias, the city that the Minoans besieged was called Inykos,
which researchers believe is the same as Kamikos, in the area of
the later city of Akragas
(founded in 528 BC by Rhodians and Cretans) and considers Inykos as the first
capital of King Kokalos, in the hinterland of Akragas.
Herodotus
writes that King Minos initially fled to Sicily
and then to Sardό
(Sardinia). Then, on his return, the
daughters of Kokalos killed him, or in a different version, Kokalos
himself killed him with scolding water and oil, and then handed over his body
to the Cretans, telling them that he slipped and fell into the hot bath. A bath
that Daedalos built, like many other and wonderful works, mainly in
Kamikos and Megara which were built as a newer city in 728 BC. His works are
also reported other prehistoric Greek cities, such as Hybla Geleatis, in
Selinunte, in Trapani
and in Erycas.
Diodoros of
Sicily mentions as works of Daedalus the creation of a dam in Megara, on the Alabon
River in Sicily, to control the flow of the river,
drain the marshes and accumulate water for use during the months of drought.
This work was called “kolymbithra” (basin), because in addition to the
above uses, its water was also used for bathing, the second most famous baths
in the world after those of Crete.
In Selinunte,
a city founded by Hyblaean Megara in 650 BC, he built thermal baths, for
treatment and pleasure. The thermal baths are not completely known where they
were. Some place them in the Cronion area (the place where Kronos or
Saturn was buried according to the Latins), on mount S. Calogero near
the present-day city of Sciacca, where
there is a cave with hot water springs, known until recently as the "cave of Daedalos". This area, according to
archaeological excavations, has been inhabited since before 2000 BC, probably
due to the thermal baths, and probably ceased to be used by 500 BC, when human
habitation there ceased.
In Akragas were
the most important works of Daedalos were found. Their special value, however,
is that they prove that the story of Daedalos with Kokalos was real. In
Akragas, in the archaic acropolis, a "Greek wall" was
excavated as the Italian researchers called it, which surprised with its
defensive layout, and which is attributed to the design of Daedalos.
In Eryx, a city
located on the western side of Sicily, which
some wrongly, or with afterthought, call it a Phoenician colony, there is the
flattening and expansion by Daedalus of the top of the natural
rock "Eryx Rock", on which the temple of Aphrodite was
later built. This city was founded by the mythical hero Erykas, son of Poseidon
and Aphrodite, or according to Thucydides, son of the
argonaut Boutis, or according to Thucydides again, by the Trojans,
after the destruction of their city by the Achaeans. The inhabitants of the
wider area (the triangle of Palermo Erykas, Drepano, Aigesta) were also known
by the name "Elymi" or "Elymiotes" and according to all
evidence, were indeed Pelasgians from Asia Minor and the islands of the north Aegean. (Elymos was the restorer of human existence
in Sicily
after the flood of Defcalion, Nonos I, 150).
Today's
topography places it in the modern city of Monte S. Giuliano. The excavations,
twelve kilometers northwest of Trapani, brought to light everything that
was mentioned in ancient texts by the inhabitants of Erykas as
the "Daedalian Wall", a Cyclopean fortification around the
rock of Eryx, which is similar to the Pelasgian Cyclopean walls in Greece, in
Sardinia and in Asia Minor, as well as other findings from the Neolithic and
early Bronze Age.
Pausanias in
Volume II, 16-25, calls the Cyclopean Pelasgian walls “ancient Ogygian
walls". That is, walls that were built before the flood
of Ogygos, which is the oldest of the three known floods in Greek
mythology and occurred, according to geological and astronomical data, around
14500 BC. For these walls the Italian professor of Physics at the
University of Rio de Janeiro in Brazil and Lima in Peru, Enrico
Mattievich, conducted extensive and documented research, in the
book "Journey to the Mythological Hell", concluding that they
are all Aegean buildings.
Let’s return to
Minos and Kokalos. After Kokalos delivered the body of Minos to the Cretans,
they buried him with great honor in a great ceremony, building a two-storey
temple in his honor. In the basement they worshiped Minos and on the
ground floor the goddess Aphrodite. Thus, Minos was also worshiped as a god at
one time. Later, according to Diodoros (book 4), during the reign
of King Theron of Akragas in 490 BC, the tomb of Minos was
demolished, and his bones were given to the Cretans to bury them in Crete.
Archaeological excavations under Sir Arthur Evans in Crete revealed that this dual cult dates to 1600 BC. But
where was Minos born? Did he come from Sicily
to Crete, or did he go from Crete to Sicily?
Minos was
murdered in Kamikos and after he was buried and deified by the Cretans and
other inhabitants in Sicily, it seems that a
portion of the Cretans (according to Herodotos book 7) decided to
return immediately to Crete. Having no more
forces, food and with their king dead, the Cretans decided to lift the siege of
Kamikos and return to Crete, but they were stranded by a storm on the coast of
Apulia, in the Gulf
of Taranto and settled
there permanently. They were known there by the names Iapyges and
Messapians, initially founding the city of Iria and
then dozens of colonies in Apulia. (Iria is
the present-day Oria between Brindisi
and Taranto).
Another version
of the origin of Iapyges, Messapians and Lefkanians is found
in Strabo's texts, who tells us that they were not Cretans, but
Athenians, descendants and compatriots of Daedalos, (Iapygas was the
second-born son of Daedalos).
The Athenians,
were defeated in a war by the Cretans and were forced to send every year as a
form of taxation to king Minos a number of Athenian youth into the
labyrinth as food for the Minotaur beast. So, when Theseus killed the
Minotaur, he freed the Athenian prisoners and traveled with them to Apulia, where he settled them there, on the advice of the
Oracle of Delphi.
Another source,
which also goes back to older Greek sources, is that of the Roman poet Virgilus
in the third book of the "Aeneid", who mentions the king of
Crete and his son-in-law Idomeneas, as the first colonizer of Apulia.
Idomeneas was one of the greatest heroes of the Achaeans in the Trojan War.
When he was on his way back to his island from Troy, he encountered a storm and asked the
god of the sea, Poseidon, to save him with the promise to sacrifice in his
honor the first man he would meet on the island. However, the first man he saw
happened to be his grandson, whom he was forced to sacrifice to the god
Poseidon. When his deed was discovered, he was forced to abandon Crete. He then arrived with his subjects in Apulia and settled in Salento. Another version
has him as colonist of Sicily
and the leader of the Sicanians.
Archaeological evidences for the early settlement of Greeks
in southern Italy, is also provided by the archaeological excavations of
the University of Rheggio, such as the one in Epizephyri Locri, which
shows that before the settlement by the Locri (8th century BC), the area was
inhabited by Cretans since prehistoric times. Given that matriarchy still
prevailed in the Minoan era, that is before 3000 BC (the Locrians never had
matriarchy, neither in Greece
nor in Calabria), the same matriarchy also prevailed
on this side of Calabria
and is proven by numerous archaeological finds.
Prehistory of
course does not provide very precise data. Only the historical core has been
preserved from events, which were transmitted orally from generation to
generation until it was recorded. It has of course been altered with elements
of popular imagination. This is the difference between myth and mythology
and fairy tale. Myth describes historical events, even if without complete
scientific accuracy, while a fairy tale is clearly a fictional story. As Plato
writes in his book "Cratylus", mythologists are scientific
astronomers, who describe history in codes and in detail. It is, however, an
indisputable fact that the first inhabitants of southern Italy were Greeks, descended from the Greek
tribes of the Aegean and the Pelasgians, and
that all these references go back to the actual colonization, which again
undoubtedly took place between 3000 and 2100 BC.
We must always
bear in mind that the city of Athens
was founded in 3000 BC by King Cecrops. That is 5000 years of history while Rome has the number of
years.
The
Pelasgians in Italy.
Who were
the Pelasgians? The proto-Greeks, the ancestors of the Greeks, from the
three shores of the Aegean Sea. (As
proven by the genetic research by Prof. of Genetics, Constantinos
Trantafyllidis, Aristoteleion University at Thessaloniki “the Genetic History
of Greeks”).
According
to Plato (Plato's Laws), the Greek tribes originated from the
Pelasgians and Leleges. Various populations of the Pelasgians, however,
remained outside this evolutionary process and preserved the old language and
customs such as the Thracians, some Asian Minor tribes etc. Athanasios of
Stagira in his book "Ogygia" writes that Pelasgos was the son of
Phoroneus and the nymph Laodice.
Phoroneus (he
who brings the light) is known from the most ancient Greek epic, the
"Phoronis", which has not survived in its entirety. According to
this, Phoroneus is the first human being, whom Zeus created and
placed in heaven, which was Argos, also
the most ancient city in the world. (like Adam in Hebrew mythology).
Dionysios of
Halicarnassos writes that Roman scholars also said that the Pelasgians
were Greeks, who lived in Achaia for many generations before the Trojan War. "The
Pelasgians are also a Greek ancient race from the Peloponnese".
The Roman
poet Virgilius, in the "Aeneid", calls the
Greeks "Pelasgians" and writes about Italy that, "Inotroi
inhabited this place. Now it is rumored that later peoples called this nation
Italian from the name of their leader".
Pelasgian's
brother was Apis, who became king of the Peloponnese, which was
called “Apia” until the years of
the Achaeans and Pelops (the Mess-apian of Apulia were Greeks). Pelasgοs received Pelasgia (Thessaly) as
his kingdom.
In Epirus they praised him: "Zeus king
Dodonae Pelasgike", and Aeschylus in the tragedy" Persians",
writes that, "and the country that is beyond Pindus,
Macedonia and Thrace, is
Pelasgian".
Herodotοs (Heroes I, 57), mentions that
the Athenians believed that they were autochthonous, descended from the
Pelasgians.
Diodorοs of Sicily, conveys the testimony
of Linos and Orpheas, that the Greek writing and language were an
evolution of Pelasgian (Diod. III, 67).
Pausanias (Arkad.8.43),
and Dionysios of Halicarnassos (Roman Archaeol. II,13)
wrote that, “Pallantios, grandson of Pelasgos, moved from Arcadia and founded the city of Palatine
in Rome”. That
is why the emperor Antoninus Pius (138-161), exempted Pallantion of
Arcadia from all taxes.
Homer,
Pausanias, Menecrates, Eleatos, Thucydides, Strabo, Herodotos, Ephoros,
Curtios, the Orphic Hymns, which is also the oldest surviving written epic
in the world, composed before 1900 BC but with reference to events thousands of
years earlier, they affirm that Pelasgians and Greeks were the same people.
According to
oral tradition, the Greeks settled in southern Italy long before the passage of
Hercules through it. But who was Hercules and why did he find himself in Italy?
According to Diodorοs
of Sicily (Diodorus III, 74.), there were three Hercules. The second lived
in 2500 BC and is the one who established the Olympic Games. The third Hercules
was the best-known Hercules son of Alcmene, who lived around 1150 BC
(Cicero writes about six Hercules, while D. Bardicos mentions 9
Hercules). Hercules, therefore, probably the second one, went to Gibraltar and
erected the "pillars of Hercules", a name by which the
ancient and medieval peoples called the Gibraltar straits. (Pausanias I, 10,7,
13). On his way back, he passed through Italy, where the Iapygians
and the Venetians in the north had already settled. Along with Pausanias,
Strabo mentions that at the same time the Pisatae from Pisa in
Ilida in the Peloponnese, settled in Tuscany and founded the city of Pisa.
(Str. E, 296. It is today's Pisa). Hercules also passed through Latium. There,
on the Palatine Hill, he was hosted by the local Greek Kings, Evandros and
Pinareos.
One robber by
the name Casios, stole the oxen of Geryon, which he was bringing from
Erytheia. But Hercules captured Casios and took the oxen back. Then,
Hercules stayed in Latium
for some time and had a son, named Latinos. Before leaving for the Peloponnese, he built two cities. Herculaneum
(Heraklion) and Sagunto.
It is therefore
undeniable that the main inhabitants of Southern Italy, such as
the Messapians and Iapygians of Apulia, the Leucanians of Leucania,
the Bretii of Calabria, the Chones, the Oinotri, the Pefketi, the
Davni of Apulia, etc., were Pelasgians who came from Greece. For the
Epirot Chaones (their capital city in Epirus
called Elymia), who were called Chones in Italy,
archaeological evidence showed the 1500-1300 BC as the time of their settlement
in Italy.
Strabo (c,
225), mentions a city named Regisuilla in Italy, writing about it
that, “History says that this place was the kingdom of Maleo the
Pelasgian, about whom it is said that, after ruling in these places with the
Pelasgians, he then fled to Athens”.
The
Tyrrhenians-Etruscans were also Pelasgians, who went to Italy after the Trojan war and settled in
the area that took the name Etruria. The arrival of the
Tyrrhenians is noted, based on archaeological findings and written sources,
which we mentioned above, such as their clashes with the Celts in Tuscany. However,
as we read on the "Aeneid", the arrival takes place after the war. Of
course, if we knew exactly when the Trojan war took place, we might be able to
accurately approximate the dates that interest us.
However, the
Pelasgians also did a two-way move. From Aegean to the Apennine and from the
Apennine to the Aegean. Boeotian, the
ancestor of the Boeotians (a province north of Athens), son of Poseidon and Arne, was
born in Metapontion with his brother Aeolus. When he grew up, he
returned to Greece, while
his brother Aeolus settled permanently in the “islands of Aeolus” in
the Tyrrhenian Sea, north of Sicily
(Stroboli, Panarea and others).
The
Etruscans, Tyrrhenians or Tyrsenes
The official
Italian historiography insists that Etruscan origin is unknown. Of
course, a lot of scientists do not share this opinion. The Swede Furumak, who
excavated the first discovered Etruscan city, at San Giovenale, in 1962-65,
clearly placed them as Aegean origin. Same for the German Emilius
Kunze, director of the German archaeological school in Athens. Most scientists generally accept this
reality. It is curious, however, how the opinions of those who are in bad faith
usually pass into public opinion.
We will repeat
once again that the name "Etruscans" was not the name by which they
called themselves, but the name by which the Romans called them. They
identified themselves with the Greek name “Tyrrhenians", and
"Tyrsines" (as well as with the less well-known
"Razenians"), a name by which the sea in the region is also known.
According to Strabo, Tyrrhenos was the son of Telephos, (who was son of
Hercules) and Iera. He had three brothers, Lydos (Lydia), Karos (Caria)
and Tarchon (he founded Tarquinia, today's Corneto. Strabo 5, 219).
According to Herodotos, who was born in Halicarnassos in Caria, Lydios and Caros were brothers and spoke
the same Greek language.
Dionysios of
Halicarnassos (Dion. Introduction), writes that
the Etruscans were from Greece,
who together with the Lycians, the Oinotri, the Pefketi, the Leleges and
other Pelasgians, settled in Italy. "The Etruscans are
a very ancient Greek tribe, originating from Tours of Asia Minor. Their leader
was Tyrsinus, son of Attius, who was a son of King Minos". Diodoros
of Sicily, and Thucydides support the same.
The Caberians
or Corybantes were brothers, priests of the goddess Cybele and founders of
the Caberian mysteries in Lemnos and Samothrace (islands in northern Aegean Sea, which is also considered the birthplace of
the Tyrrhenians-Pelasgians). They took the box in which the penis of the
god Dionysus was kept and transported it to the new Tyrrhenian home
in Italy.
(Clem. 2, 19).
Hellanicos the
Lesbian claims (as Thucydides and Sophocles convey his view) that the
Tyrrhenians were previously called Pelasgians, and when they settled in Italy, they
received this name (i.e. Etruscan-Tyrrhenians).
The Athenian
writer Anticleides, whose sources are cited by Strabo (c. 221),
informs us that the Tyrrhenians migrated to Italy from the island of Lemnos in
the northern Aegean, which is located directly opposite the Asia Minor coast of
Dardania-Troy. The etymology of Tyrsenos = Tyrins means tower-fortress. It
is the same as the Pelasgian city of Tyrins -
Tyrinthos in the Peloponnese. Tursa was the
city of Asia Minor
where they also originated.
As Ephoros testifies,
both Lesbos and the Peloponnese were called Pelasgia, and Euripides,
in his tragedy "Archelaos", claims that, "Danaos the
Pelasgian, who had fifty daughters, after coming to the region of Argos, built the city of Argos
on the Inachus River..." Anticleides testifies
that they, the Pelasgians, were the first that built cities in Lemnos,
Samothrace and Imbros and that some of them, together with Tyrrhenus,
son of Attius, fled to Italy". (Strabo
c 221-221)
Thucydides also
confirms the information that the Pelasgians who lived on Lemnos,
were called Tyrrhenians (Thuc. D. 109). The Greek origin of the Etruscans,
however, is also attested to by archaeological findings, some of which the
reader will see on the pages of this book, with images of Greek heroes and
gods, as well as inscriptions. From these it appears that both the alphabet and
the language of the Etruscans were clearly related to Greek. It is surprising
that despite reading many of them, many insist on the view that the origin of
the Etruscans remains unknown to this day! Many thousands of inscriptions and
two texts of approximately 120 words have been found. From the vocabulary and
the proper names, it is clear that they are proto-Greek, that is, Pelasgian.
Etruscan.
- Archaic Greek. - English
Frounda =
Vrondi-= thunder
nanas
= nano = I fly-fly
klan =
kelor, son. Kelorion = grandson,child
sek
= sko = the childish girl, the girl
thoura =
thorós = uncle, brother
rakouneta
= rakōmene- sad, rakōmai = I grieve.
Andas =
north, antara
arakos =
yeraki-ierax=hawk
arse
= aratto = I persecute, I strike, I knock
svalke =
svennymi = I extinguish, that is, I die.
Lap = I
drink, Lapto, laptis = a wine drinker
southi =
sor'os= heap
Numbers
mach
= mia = one, (i.e. woman)
Thou
= Thyo = two, two, twos
tsi =
three, (tsia in Pelasgian).
Sa =
taresa = four
Adjectives,
in relation to modern Greek adjectives
Verou =
Veras
Zikou =
Zikos
Zoulou =
Zoulas
Tselou =
Tselos
Larou =
Liaros
Nazo =
Nazos
Soure = Souris
Chanou =
Chanos
Kounou, =
Kounos
and many
more
Names
of deities
Tina or
Tinia = Zeus, (Zeus, Cretan form of Tinas)
Apoulos or
Aplou, = Apollo, (Thessalian type of Aplon or Aploun)
΄Artumes
or ΄Artum = ΄Artemis
Menerva =
Athena (Minerva is the Latin form)
Touran =
Ourania Aphrodite, Thyraea Aphrodite
Laran = ΄Ares the god of war
Fouflun =
Dionysus, from the type of Fleon, Flios, Fleus (older form of the name of
Dionysus)
Eutourpa =
Euterpe
Charoun =
Charon
Athrpa =
Atropos (fate).
And many
more.
Names of
Greek history
Ourousthe
= Orestes
Clouthmoustha
= Clytemnestra
Atresthe =
Adrastus
Toute =
Tydeus
Atounis =
Adonis
Kasdra =
Cassandra
Peske =
Pegasus
Poultouke
= Pollux
Achmemrun
= Agamemnon
Areathe =
Ariadne
Erkles =
Heracles
Achle =
Achilles
Menle =
Menelaus
Elinai =
Helen
Elsdre =
Alexander
Uthouse =
Odysseus
Terasia
=Teiresias
Their most
important cities were Luca or Lefka, Riza, Telamon (From the Greek hero
Telamon, king of Salamis and father of Ajax. According to
mythology, the city of Telamon was built by the Argonaut Telamon when he
stopped there, returning from South America, where, according to mythology from
the book "Argonautica" written by Apollodorus of
Rhodes and the Orphic Hymns, the Argonauts had traveled). Pisa, Arreteion and Pyrgos which were very close to Rome. All the cities have
Greek names, in contrast to the other cities of central and northern Italy which had foreign names, Celtic in
most cases, except Palatine, an ancient Arcadian colony next to Rome. Rome
itself, Roma in Doric = strength, power, Romus = Romulus = strong, powerful. And Pallace,
which was the epithet of the goddess Athena Pallas-Pallada. Pallace-Paladion =
the temple of goddess Athena).
It is thus
clearly demonstrated that both linguistics and archaeology confirm the sources
of Herodotus' Anticleides (6th book), Thucydides, Strabo, Virgil with the
Aeneid.
Professor
George Thomson passionately argued in his book "Prehistoric Aegean",
that, "the inscriptions found on Lemnos are in a language related to
Etruscan" but also the great archaeologist of
Cambridge, Michael Ventris, who deciphered Linear B, was the first to
associate Pelasgian with Etruscan, Minoan and the Asia Minor
languages, (Carian, Lydian, Hittite, Lycian, etc.). However, Italian
historiography insists on maps and books to characterize it, not simply
"non-Aegean" but abstractly "non-Indo-European"!
However, since
the date of the Tyrrhenians' arrival in Italy,
is a bit unclear, we consider as terminus post quem 1300 BC when the first
clashes of the Tyrrhenians with the Gauls/Celts are mentioned in Tuscany and the first
objects that testify to their settlement are found.
The
first Etruscan stone from the island
of Lemnos.
This inscription
was found in 1886 in
the village of Kaminia
on Lemnos. Although it was written in the
Greek alphabet, its language was unknown. Finally, after persistent efforts by
a linguist from Alexandreia,
Egypt, Iakovos
Thomopoulos, it was deciphered at the beginning of the 20th century. It was
then translated by three other researchers, the French Cousin, the German Durrbach
and the Swede Nachmanson, all with similar results. According
to their conclusions, every word of the inscription is found in the "dictionary
of very ancient Greek dialects" by Hesychios of
Alexandria and in the poems of Homer. The importance of the decipherment
is enormous, not only because it proved the Aegean proto-Greek origin of
the Etruscans, but also because it eloquently and clearly presented the
connection of Greek with the Pelasgian language, (Greek is its evolution),
confirming Herodotus, Strabo, Hesiod and other ancient authors, who wrote
that, “the Greeks consider themselves autochthonous and descendants of
the Pelasgians", because no tradition and no evidence of their
descent from some abstract north exists in history and their mythology,
except for the Dorians or Heracleides who returned from Macedonia, where
Eurystheus had exiled them, to the Peloponnese. That also validated many modern
scientists and most of all, Cambridge professor John Chadwick, who
supported the indigenous origin of the Greeks and the Greek language, rejecting
the Nazis and their Pan-Germanic, and of course completely unproven and
imaginary, theories about the existence of Indo-Europeans and the descend of
the Greeks into the Mediterranean, from an unspecified north!
The
Enigmatic Lemnos stone
with
the
Tyrrhenian
script:
Bridging Aegean and Etruscan Civilizations. It is housed
in the archaeological museum
of Athens. Lemnian and
Etruscan languages were similar and belonged to the Aegean-Pelasgian languages.
The myth of the Trojan migration to Italy (Vergilius “Aeneis”), was proven real,
after this finding. Scientists know that the Etruscans originated from the
Aeolian islands and the Aeolian coast of Asia minor.
The Etruscans had the same gods as the Greeks. The same architecture. The same
names. The same culture, but their language, which is related to the language
of the island of Lemnos, has not been understood to this
day. It is one of the dialects belonging to the so-called Pelasgian language,
which was spoken in the Aegean before the
creation and dominance of Greek.
1) Iolae =
Iodae = oh Odita, that is =, oh traveler
2) z =
relative pronoun = who
3) naf =
noo = I know, Doric verb nafo = I have my mind, Neptic fathers in Byzantium.
4) ou =
second person personal pronoun = your
5) ziazi
or diadi = deios and daios = unhappy, miserable (the ζ becomes d in the Aeolian dialect like Deus
instead of Zeus)
Thus, the
first verse says: Traveler, you who know your miseries.
6) maraz =
wilting, melancholy
7) mav =
marptō = I hold, I seize
The second
verse says: hold marazi i.e. be sad.
8) sial =
iallō = I send, I send, I forward, I forward
9) xFei=
demonstrative pronoun = he
10) z =
who
11) aFiz =
aissō and atto = I rush, I desire. In Hesychius' dictionary "Avesse"
= to desire. In Doric aitas "aFittas" = partner, friend, neighbor.
The third
verse says: when he who is neighboring came.
12) e=
possessive pronoun 3rd person= his, her
13)
Fistho= Ionian dialect Fisthi, Doric istia = hearth
14) zeron
= 3rd singular of the final past participle of the Rom. eryomai= save
15) aith =
personal or demonstrative pronoun = he
16) Fa =
disjunctive conjunction = or
17) Mala =
a) multitude b) desire, c) mountain
18) siaal,
zeron, aith, we saw them above.
19)
morinael = national name, Myrinaeus (Morina in Tyrrhenian is Lemnos)
The fourth
verse says: or when the land
of Malis came, he saved
the Myrinaeus.
20) aker =
but, however, in Homer it is found as atar
21)
Tavarzi = oh Tavarzi (name)
22) zhiFai
= from the verb ζηφω =
to live, to live
The fifth
verse: But oh Tavarzi, let us live
In summary:
“The dead Tavarzis from Myrina, saved his homeland first from the neighboring
invaders (from Thrace)
and then from the Malians. The traveler is called to have constant sorrow for
the death of this hero”.
Decipherment,
Iakovos Thomopoulos, Linguist. Alexandria Egypt 1922
Genetics
Many DNA
studies have been conducted on the genetic origin of the Etruscans and the
results were almost all the same. Naturally, studies with somewhat different
results often appear, since these studies often depict the result desired by
the person ordering the study. So, we mention some important ones that were
conducted by Italian geneticists, because the Italian ones carry greater
weight, since they concern the population of Italy.
DNA samples
were taken from 3 generations of residents of Tuscany and Umbria by Professor
of Genetics Alberto Piazza, professor of Human Genetics at the University
of Turin, and specifically from the towns of Voltera (116 individuals), Murlo
(86) and Casentino (61). They were compared with 1,264 individuals from the
rest of Tuscany, 306 from northern Italy, 359 from the Southern Balkans and Asia
Minor, 60 from the island of Lemnos and 276 from Sicily
and Sardinia. He showed that the samples from
Voltera, Murlo and Cosentino resembled only the DNA of the inhabitants of Asia
Minor, inland from Smyrna (Lydia region)
and not the DNA of their Italian neighbors. The research was done on the Y
chromosome (from father to son) and on mitochondrial DNA (from mother to
daughter). It was presented at the European Conference on the Human Genetic
Code in Nice France on 19/06/2007.
In 2005, the
University of Ferrara, Italy, conducted the same research
again and came up with the same results. In 2007, the Universita
Catholica Di Piasenzza, Cremona, conducted a genetic test on a specific
breed of Tuscan cattle with an also isolated breed of cattle from Lemnos and
proved that their DNA is similar and does not resemble the cattle of the
surrounding areas.
Genetic
research has been done several times. Most of them verify Herodotus who said
that the Etruscans originated from Asia Minor.
The Italian Archaeological School of Athens, excavating Lemnos since 1924 until
today (100 years), found evidence that Lemnos was a transit and not a permanent
residence of the Etruscans/Tyrrhenians, who settled in Tuscany around 1200 BC. That is, when Troy fell (which Troy is
located exactly opposite of the eastern coast of Lemnos) and the wave of
Achaean-Mycenaean immigrants to southern Italy
and Trojans, or some of their allies from Lydia
(according to Virgil's "Aeneid") landed in Tuscany.
The Kaminia
stone was found in 1885 by the French Archaeological School of Athens,
professors Cousin and Dorbach. Its text resembles the texts of the
Etruscans of Tuscany. The deciphering of the stone was done by the linguist Thomopoulos.
In 1924, Professor
Alessando Della Seta, director of the Italian Archaeological School of
Athens, found in the area of Hephaistia village of Lemnos another 4
clay fragments with Tyrrhenian inscriptions.
Recently, in 2024, a new Italian DNA
study was released with the participation of other European countries, which
showed that the Etruscans have the same DNA as their other Italian neighbors.
And the Italian researchers in question concluded that the Etruscans are an
indigenous Italian tribe and did not come from Asia Minor.
However, this study does not prove anything about their origin, except for the
kinship they have with the neighboring Umbrians and Latins. Incidentally, all
valid genetic research, even on the origin of the Latins, (except for the
northern Italians of "Gisalpina Gallia”, who have a Celtic genetic
background) show their Ponto-Caucasian genetic origin. They came from Asia
Minor to Latium
in the Neolithic period.
The fact that
they have the same DNA does not prove history and linguistics by itself since
it is possible that this similarity developed on the spot. History, however, is
a more complicated science. It is based on a multitude of elements.
Archaeological findings, historical sources, geological, physical, linguistic,
paleographic, chemical, to which DNA is added.
13,000 Etruscan
inscriptions have been found in Tuscany.
Surprisingly, they all have funerary texts. They are all related as dedications
to the dead and the gods. There appear the names of Greek Pantheon.
Other
Pelasgian tribes.
Southern Apennine peninsula was inhabited by Greek tribes, long before Odysseus's
journey there ( 12-13 century BC). The Greek cities of Croton, Rhegium, Catania, Eloros, Gela,
Akragas, Locri existed long before the well-known colonization of the
archaic period (8th century BC). The Greeks who arrived then, found other
Greeks there. The Greeks of the 8th century BC found there, rivers, lakes and
seas with Greek names, which, as science proves, hydronyms are the most
conservative in linguistic changes. That means, their names remain even if the
people who inhabit them change. The rivers Tyrros, Aisaros, Symethos,
Eloros, Chalikos, Hypsos, Asinis, Chrysas, the mountains Etna, Kronion,
Varvaron, Poseidonion, Economos, the Aegonion Pelagos, the Aegade
islands, the Sicilian, Adriatic, Tyrrhenian Seas etc.
They knew and
named since prehistoric times the islands of Capri (Capria), Nicosia (Lycezi),
Pandeleria (Ventotani), Pontia (Ponza), Pithikousa (Ischia), Prochytis
(Procinta), the Aiolian islands (around Stromboli), Aegade island in the
Aegonion sea in the west of Sicily, Lambedousa (lighthouse) etc.
Messapian is a
variant of old Greco-Pelasgian. Messapine inscriptions of the 7th century BC
are in the Greek alphabet and in the Greek language.
Messapian
script. Very close to Greek. Even Hippos=Horse, is written with two
"pp" just like in Greek dialects.
“To the
queen (Ana-Anax-Anactoro) Aphrodite, from Lachona Theodoridda and Hippaca.
Theodoridda is fathefull to the goddes Keosorres”.
In the
“Dictionary of Ancient Greek Dialects”, written by Hesychius, we find
that the Latin language also is related to Greek. Latin looks like a
distant Greek dialect, which resembles Attican remarkably, although as a
dialect it is an evolution and originates from older Aeolian.
Oinotros, son
of Lycaon, king of Arcadia and grandson
of Hellene, "arrived with ships in Italy and named the country he
ruled over after his name" (Pausanias, Arcadian, 3).
Bretios (Brutus
later in Latin) was the son of Hercules and Valito.
Akragas before
taking this name, was called Minoa, because "it had been built by
Minos long ago" (Diod. Siculus, 19, 9).
After the fall
of Troy, Idomeneus arrived in Apulia,
while other Cretans arrived in Sicily: "Merionis
the Cretan, who lived in Sicily, welcomed the
Cretans who sailed there after the fall of Troy, because of the kinship and the culture
that they had transmitted there" (Diod. IV, 79).
The first name
of the Sicilian Sea
was Aegonion Sea (Aegean), which the Greeks from the
Mycenaean period, renamed Sicilian
Sea later. It shows that
this sea was home to the Greeks just like the Aegean.
Even "in
Rome Pelasgians had settled" (first as settlers of course, who built
Palatino). (Plutarch, Romulus,
1). Both the Arcadian colony Palatine, and the
Pelasgian-Tyrrhenian Rome,
grew and became the later superpower under the leadership of the Latins. The
river Tiber also took its name from the
husband of Manto (Μαντώ), daughter of the seer Tiresias. Manto according to mythology, was
the founder of the city of Mantua.
Strabo and
Pausanias mention an old mythical tradition of the Romans. A tradition
confirmed by the Roman poet Culius who accepts that "Rome is a Greek contruct" (Str. c, 230).
Plutarch writes that in Rome there were
festivals in honor of Carmenta, wife of the city's settler, Evandros the Arcadian (the
one who welcomed Hercules to the Palatine) who came from Arcadia,
as well as for Lycaeus Apollo of Arcadia.
The accuracy of Strabo's information is proven by the fact that the Roman
emperor Antoninus Pius (2nd century AD) exempted the Palatine
in Arcadia from taxes, as a sign of honor for the origin of Rome
(Pausanias Arcadica, 8.43). Finally, we have the famous Pelasgian
castles “Castles Pelasgica”, which survive to this day on the
outskirts of Rome, precisely in the village
where Cicero
was born.
“The settlement
of the Greeks in Italy
dates back to the time of Cronos” (Plut. Roman Causes, 41). Cronos was the
king of the gods before Zeus and father of Zeus. Janus, “a Greek from
Perraebia”, son of Apollo and Creusa, reigned and taught the locals
agriculture, civilized them and changed their language (Plut. Roman Causes,
22). Janus was the later Roman god, “January”, and Perraebia the older
name is a part of Thessaly.
Nafplios,
settled, many years before the Argonauts' voyage to America,
on the islands of Meliti (Malta),
Lampedusa and Kosoura.
Diomedes
founded Ravenna
(Rauena) and named the opposite islands (Tremiti) Diomedean islands.
Hadrias founded
the city of Adria and named the Adriatic Sea after himself.
The Arcadian
Pelasgians also founded Brindezi. It took its name from the
word "Brendon" by which "the Messapians called deer and
Brendon the head of the deer". The word Brendon is a Greek-Pelasgian
word and in Arcadia
there was the prehistoric metropolis with the name Brindezi, Brenthe, which
also meant deer (Pausanias, VIII, 28, 7). The city became a Roman
colony in 246 BC.
Scylla (The
other side of Charybdis in the Strait
of Messina) was the
daughter of Forkis, granddaughter of Oceanus who was the founder
of the homonymous city that is inhabited to this day.
In Sardinia, the Greeks had arrived long
before Odysseus. They called it “Ichnousa”, because the shape of
the island was like a human footprint. (Pausanias, Phocica, 17). The son of
Heracles and Libya,
Sardos, renamed it Sardo when he established his kingdom there. Later,
other Greek settlers arrived from the Boeotian city of Thespies,
the district of central Greece
which today has Messapian city, Messapian
Mountain and Messapian River.
These Greeks were led by Iolaus and founded the cities of Olbia and
Orgyle (Pausanias. 17).
Corsica owes
its name to Cyrnus, also a son of Heracles (Polybius 12, 3 and
Pausanias. Phocica 17).
Venice and
the Venetians (Uenetes according to Diodorus, A, 25), were the only
non-Celtic-Gallic tribe in North Italy. "They
were a most valuable part of the Paphlagonian tribe, whose king was Pylaemenes
(who led them in the Trojan War). They crossed into Thrace
after the fall of Troy and after wandering for a
long time, they arrived in the area of Venice" (Strabo
c253).
Homer,
Virgil and Italy.
The most
important work written in the Latin language is Virgil's
"Aeneid". It was the most important book in Latin and is taught in Italy at all
levels of education. However, all of Virgil's sources go back to older Greek
writers and possibly to oral tradition of the inhabitants of Etruria who were in the area just north of Rome. According to the
Aeneid, Aeneas, the ancestor of the Etruscans and Romans, was from Troy and migrated to Latium after its destruction. Let
us see what kind of people the Trojans were, (and by extension the Etruscans),
inhabitants of the city of Troy or Ilion in Asia Minor, in Dardania (there is also Dardania in the
Balkans north of Peonia), who belonged to the Pelasgian nation.
The Dardanians
in Asia Minor belonged to the Pelasgian
people, that is, Greek tribes. They spoke a language similar to the Achaeans,
they worshiped the same gods and had the same Greek names. The war between the
Achaeans and the Trojans was fought for control of the straits of Hellespont
and the Dardanelles, because Troy dominated the
straits and controlled trade and access of the Achaeans to the Black Sea, which
was the main source of grain of Europe.
"The
Dardanians came from Samothrace, an island that was once united with Thrace and was
separated by the submergence of a large land mass caused by the Ogygus
flood. It was called the "flood of Ogygus" because
Ogygus reigned in Attica and Boeotia at
that time. Then some survivors led by Dardanos, son of Electra, who
was daughter of Atlas and
Zeus, crossed over to Asia Minor and founded Dardania, the capital of
which was Troy". (Diodoros
of Sicily V’
47, 4-5-48). Along with Dardanus, Idaeos also came to Troy
from Crete, and established the cult of
the “Idaean Mother”. This cult originated from Mount Ida on Crete. In the rest of Greece, they worshiped "Idaean
Hercules".
Dardanοs was succeeded by his son
Erichthonius, who had a son, the Troas. Troas
married Callirrhoe who gave birth to Ilos, Assarax, Ganymedes and
Cleopatra (Apollodorus III 12, 2,3,). Troas gave his name to southern
Dardania, which was since called Troad, while the northern part continued to be
called Dardania and the strait Dardanelles.
Ilos built
the acropolis of Troy, called "Ilion" in Homers Iliad. When he was looking for a
place to build the acropolis, he prayed to Zeus to guide him. Zeus pointed out
the hill "Atis" where there was already a temple of Dionysus,
by casting an auspicious sign from the sky,
the "Palladium". This was, a wooden statue, which Ilos
placed in the sanctuary of the temple he built.
Ilos married
Eurydice, daughter of Adrastus. Their son was Laomedon, and his son
was Priamos (or Podarkis). He also had a daughter named Themiste. Priamos
was the father of Hector and Alexandros-Paris. It turned out that Priamos
was also going to be the last king of Troy.
From Ilion, Homer's epic was
named "Iliad".
The patron gods
of Troy
were Apollo and Athena. In Athena’s temple, two virgins were sent as
servants every year by the Opundian Locrians, the ancestors of the Locrians of
Calabria. Anchises, great-grandson of Troy, had
intercourse on Mount Ida with Aphrodite, and
from this union Aeneas was born. Aeneas was descended from the race
of Zeus, which is why the gods love him (Iliad, 10, verse 347).
Aeneas is also
mentioned in the Cypriot epics, by Stesichoros of Sicily and
Sophocles. They present Aeneas studying with the Centaurs on
Mount Pelion in Thessaly and then, after the fall of Troy, leaving with
the permission of the Achaeans, carrying his elderly
father Anchises and his son Ascanius on his
shoulders.
Hellanicos,
Aristotle and Timaeos mention his settlement in Italy
and his founding of Rome.
Of course, before arriving there, he passed through the oracle of Delphi and, as all Greeks who founded new cities did,
received an oracle about where he should settle. His flight is depicted in
dozens of Etruscan archaeological finds (terracotta vases, etc.).
The Cretans,
however, claimed that Troy
was a Cretan city and were therefore in conflict with the Dardanians and the
Phrygians. They claimed that sometime before 4000 BC, a great famine and
disease struck Crete. At that time, led
by Scamandros, many Cretans migrated to the coasts of Phrygia and
the Hellespont, where, according to tradition,
Helle, the sister of Phrixus, drowned when she fell from the golden-fleeced
ram. They settled at the mouth of the Xanthos River (which
was later named Scamander, because the mythical hero was killed there). The
hill that dominated to the right of Scamander they called “Ida”, in memory
of Mount Ida in Crete and the Idaean
Andros (cave) where the god Zeus was born. In the area where they settled,
there was an abundance of musk deer. There they built a temple in honor of
Apollo, who indicated to them the place to settle, which they named
"Apollon Smydias" from the Pelasgian word "Smys",
which means "mys" in Greek, and mouse in English.
From some other
sources: After the death of Scamander, his son Teucros
(Tefcros) became the leader of the Cretans, from whom the inhabitants were
renamed Teucrians. Soon, the aforementioned son of
Zeus, Dardanos, who married the daughter of the King of
Teucrians, Batia, arrived from Samothrace, and together they founded the
city of Dardania on the shores of the Hellespont,
which has since been called the Dardanelles.
Their grandson
was Troas, as we said, who renamed Dardania
to Troad, married Cassiroe (or Calliroe) and had four sons.
Ilos, Ganymedes, Assarax and Cleopatra. The sons divided the kingdom, Ilos
took Troy and
Assarakas Dardania. A grandson of Assarakas was Anchises and
great-grandson was Aeneas. Descendants of Aeneas 14
generations later were the Greek named Romulus
and Remus , founders of the Greek named
city of Rome.
(Roma in Doric dialect means Power).
Ilos'
successor, Laomedon, wanted to unite the Trojan tribes. In his
attempt, he was helped by the gods Apollo and Poseidon as well as Ajax (Ajax from Salamis, founder of the city of Aeanteion
in Corsica). However, Laomedon did not give
the rewards he had promised the gods, and they sent famine, earthquake and a
sea beast to punish Troy.
The oracle ordered Laomedon to sacrifice his daughter Esione to the
beast to redeem the city. Then Hercules arrived with his
friend Telamon, son of Ajax (in
his honor the Etruscans built the city of Telamon
in Italy) and, dazzled by
the beauty of Esione, killed the beast and liberated Troy. However, Laomedon did not keep his
promises to Hercules either. Thus, Hercules and Telamon conquered the
city, resulting in Laomedon retreating and giving Esione as a wife to Telamon.
Telamon then freed Laomedon's son Podarchis, who took the name
Priamos, which in Greco-Pelasgian means "freedman".
Priamo's
dynasty was the last before the Achaeans destroyed Troy
and Aeneas left for Italy,
where he would establish the Etruscan state and from them Romulus
and Remus founded Rome.
The Etruscans
and the Elymians of Sicily, who believed that they originated from Troy and the Aegean
islands, and the other Pelasgians (Achaeans, Cretans, Phrygians etc.), were the
same people. They spoke a group of related languages, or rather dialects. They
worshiped the same gods, shared the same customs, same architecture and as the
Roman poet Virgil says, "the only difference was the pronunciation of the
language". They were related to the Greeks and differed from the
local tribes of the Apennines and the Celts or Gauls who lived in the central
north of Italy.
In Homer's
Odyssey, Sicily and northern Italy are
mentioned many times and in a way that shows that it is anything but an unknown
and hostile place for Greeks. In the Odyssey, one of the suitors tells
Telemachos to go to Sicily
to sell Theoclymenos and Odysseus, who was disguised as a beggar, as slaves.
(Y, 282-284). The old Laertes, father of Odysseus, had a Sicilian woman in his
house where he lived in seclusion, who took care of him in his old age (Ω, 209-210). Odysseus also claims she
was from the city of Alyvanta in Sicily. (Ω, 302-304).
In this city
the demon (god) Alyvas was worshipped. This is a prehistoric Greek
deity, who was worshipped only in this Sicilian city. Alyvas was a
companion of Odysseus. He raped a virgin and was stoned to death. His ghost
appeared frequently from then on and killed people. The Sicilian inhabitants of
Temesa addressed the Oracle of Delphi, and the Oracle advised them to build a
temple in honor of Alyvas and to offer him a virgin every year in his service!
We do not need
to elaborate on Scylla and Charybdis in the Strait
of Rhegium and the Laistrygonians of Messenia, etc., since they are very well known.
The
Mycenaean Achaeans in southern Italy.
In addition to
the ancient Aegeans, the Minoans (Cretans) and the Pelasgians, the
Mycenaeans - Achaeans had also settled in Italy before 2000 BC. Modern
excavations by Italian universities have proven that the city
of Thapsos in Sicily, north of Syracuse, the island
of Castiglione in the Bay of Naples, the Valle di San
Montano, in Pithecussa island, where the famous "Nestor's
Cup" from 831 BC was found in a tomb, the Scoglio del
Tonno east of Taranto, Punta Delle Terrare north of Otranto, Torre
Casteluccia in Gallipoli in the Gulf of Taranto, Argyrippa, a city with
rich silver mines, Hipponion Argos and many others were from that time period.
In Sardinia as well, Mycenaean cities have
been found, some with a known and others with an unknown to us today, Greek
name. Nowadays, excavations are being carried out in many more areas in Sicily and Southern Italy, mainly towards the Adriatic
and Ionian Seas, because there are finds that prove
the existence of many Mycenaean cities.
Pan-Illyrianism
The term
"Illyrians" is used to describe a large group of tribes. Over
100 tribes, that occupied a vast area, from Pannonia
(Hungary) to current
northern Albania.
Most of them with no connection between them. The term "Illyrian" is
a name given by the Greeks. It is a Greek word with two “LLs” and “Y” as in the
Greek language. In reality no one knows if they had a common national
name. If they felt like relative nations to each other.
In the Big
Soviet Encyclopedia in the year 1990, I read that: “The science still
knows nothing about the language of the Illyrians. Because no
archeological findings exist nor any inscriptions. The only things that we know
from them are some hydronyms and the names of some Illyrian kings, most of them
Greek names. Pefketios, Kleitos, Monunios, Tefta”. Since 1990 archeologists
have been unable to find/uncover any Illyrian inscription. It seems that
they did not have any civilization and written language, so they did not
leave anything behind for us to learn about them.
Of these
tribes, according to the written sources by the ancient Greeks and Roman
authors, as well as archaeological excavations, only 22 tribes can be
characterized as genuine Illyrian, that is those who lived in Dalmatia, Croatia,
Serbia, Bosnia, Montenegro
and northern Albania.
The ancient writers considered some of those tribes, Greek. "A people
homogeneous with the Greeks" (Thucydides) and "they resemble the
Macedonians" (Strabo).
Therefore, any
comparison that is attempted to be made with the current Albanian language is
arbitrary and is based only on the imagination of those who write such science
fiction. The Albanian language appeared in the 11th century AD, 1,000 years
after the official disappearance of the Illyrians, i.e. their name is not
mentioned in any source for 1,000 years, and the Slavic languages are present
in Bosnia,
Dalmacia etc.
Of all the
inscriptions found, not a single text is found in the Illyrian language. Only
inscriptions with names, in the supposed regions of Illyria,
written initially in Greek and later in Latin. We see mostly the proper names
of Illyrians, which are all of Greek origin and etymology or they are known
Greek names, because with these Greek names the Greeks addressed them. The same
is true with the known Illyrian toponyms, hydronyms, names of cities and
villages, which also have mostly Greek names.
In
mythology, Illyrios was the great-grandson of Defkalion, the
ancestor of Hellenes. Therefore, the Greeks considered some of them fellow
countrymen! Yet some modern historians write that the Iapygians, the
Messapians etc. were Illyrians, but not
in the sense of the ancestors of today's Albanians! Those who write
these things deliberately and maliciously conceal that Boeotia, Attica and Euboea were called Messapia. There exists a Messapian Mountain, a Messapian
river, city etc. They deliberately ignore that Iapygas is
mentioned in Greek history and mythology as the second born son
of Daedalus. They deliberately ignore that the Peloponnese was
called Apia until
the times of the Achaeans. Even when asked, “why do the Messapians have a Greek
name?”, which means, "a people who live between two seas", they
answer with even more audacity: "But that's the name that the Greeks
called them! But we don't know their real name!".
They
deliberately ignore the participation of the Aegean peoples, including the
Danaeans, the Pelasgians and the Sicilians, in the campaigns against Egypt (the sea
people), as mentioned in the Phoenician and Egyptian inscriptions. They ignore
the Messapian inscriptions that have been found. They ignore the excavations of
the University of
Lecce in the area of
the Iapygians and the Messapians, which prove the continuous and uninterrupted
presence of Greeks since the Mycenaean years. (Lefka, Porto Cesareo, Cavallino,
Galatina and other places).
Illyrian with
the two "LLs" and a "Y graecum” has a very clear Greek
etymology, identical with "Illysian fields". It means the high
or mountainous and Illysian means "the upper, the highest, the
supreme part of Heaven” (where the dead went). Beyond the etymology of the
word, Illyrian himself had a son called Cadmos, founder of Thebes and brother of
Europa "Cadmus the Theban was king of the Illyrians and the Illyrians
were a Greek nation" (Herodotus, 5th book, 3, p.61.).
Also, "Cadmos, after leaving Thebes,
went to the Enheleans and became king of
the Illyrians" (Egheleanes, were an Illyrian tribe, with Greek
culture. Apollodorus, Argonautica, 4, 516). Herodotus provides a lot of
information about the Greek origin of some of the Illyrian tribes in his 5th
book. Nonos the Panopolites refers extensively to the Illyrians in his
40-volume history entitled "Dionysiaca", where talks about the history
of the "great civilizer of the world", the god Dionysos, in
times after 3000 BC.
The
Phoenicians in Sicily
Phoenix is a Greek word used to name the semitic
Lebanese nation. It means "Deep Purple”, a dye which was the most famous
product of Phοenicia. It
is also the mythological bird which was reborn from its ashes. Phoenix in
mythology was the brother of Cadmus and Europa, son of Agenor
and Telephasis. The word is given in all dictionaries as Greek, meaning:
"deep red, purple". It was in use in Minoan times, and probably
earlier. It was the name of a city “Phoenix” and “Limin Phoenikos”, in southern
Crete, built in the third millennium BC, from where they travelled to Lebanon
for trade. The Phoenician city of Byblos (means book in Greek) took its name
from Byblos, daughter of Miletus, founder of the city of Miletos
in Ionia. They created a remarkable civilization, and above all
the "Phoenician alphabet". Their name spread even further
from the geographical region of Phoenicia, and in the middle of the second
millennium, the Semites, the uncivilized inhabitants of the region, were called
"Phoenicians". According to Strabo (XVI 766) and Herodotus (VII 89),
the Semites whom we know as Phoenicians, lived in Lebanon.
Recently, a
clay tablet was discovered on the island of “Gioura” in the
“Sporades complex” in the northern Aegean, with one of the oldest
inscriptions in the world, dating back to 5500 BC, in which the letters A, D,
Y, T, O are clearly visible. However, the Semito-Phoenicians appeared in
history approximately 4,400 years after this inscription. Therefore, the
Phoenicians cannot be related to Alpha, Taf, Ypsilon, Delta and the other
letters of the Greek alphabet! Furthermore, the Semitic Phoenician
alphabet had only consonants and no vowels.
In Greece in antiquity and to this day still exist
some cities with the name "Phoenicia"
(Like Phoenicia, capital of the Molossians in Epirus, etc.). In Sicily
there was the Greek city "Limin Phoenicus" south of Syracuse,
built hundreds of years before the founding of Syracuse,
as well as the islet "Phoenicoussa" of the Lipari
Islands. Also known with this name is the Phoenix tree (Palm tree), from whose leaves
they, the Phoenicians got the deep purple color dye for fabrics.
During the
archaic colonization of the 8th century BC, the Spartans went to Eryx demanding
rights over this Pelasgian city, because according to tradition, Eryx, son
of the Argonaut Boutis (or god Poseidon) and
Aphrodite, challenged Hercules to a duel when he was returning
with the oxen of Geryon, with the city Eryx as the prize. Hercules won,
but did not take Eryx, because he was in a mission to bring the oxen to
the Peloponnesian King of Argos, Evrystheas.
Thus, the Dorians considered that they had rights over the city and when they
returned to Sicily
in the 8th century BC, demanded it.
There is of
course an ancient reference to a Phoenician trading station west of today's
Palermo, with the name “Ziz = Flower” but of course the city of Palermo is
known with the Greek name Panormos (great Harbor).
Greek
cities on the coast of the Tyrrhenian Sea
We are
referring to the ones with the largest population and most important of them.
The Greek population of Magna Graecia in the
4th century BC, according to survey calculations, reached 5 million. The cities
of Magna Graecia became metropolis themselves and founded hundreds of
other colonies, in Dalmatia-Croacia, on the coasts of France and Spain
and in the Adriatic side of Italy.
Cumae is the oldest colony of the archaic
settlement. It is perhaps the most important, since its alphabet, the so-called
Cumaic, was adopted intact by the Romans. This alphabet had all the letters of
what is known today as the Latin alphabet. Most of Greek cities adopted the
Attic or Ionian alphabet, which is still in use today. Cumae was founded by Cumaeans,
Eretrians, and Chalcidians in 775 BC. Megasthenes and Hippocles were
settlers in chief from the Cumaean side. The Cumaeans also settled on the
island Pithecuses. The city developed rapidly and became a model for
all economic and intellectual activities towards neighboring italic peoples,
culminating in the adoption of the Cumaic alphabet by the Latins,
Etruskans and Samnites. Its great prosperity quickly led to overpopulation,
resulting in the Cumaeans creating new cities, such as Pyrgos, north of Rome,
Parthenope, Dicaearchia (today's Pozzuoli) etc. In all these cities,
ancient artifacts and ruins are preserved, irrefutable witnesses to the
greatness of Magna Graecia. Other Cumaean also
settled on the islands of Iscia, Capri,
Ponza and Ventonene. The Cumaeans are probably also responsible for the oldest
inscription of the Greek language to date, written in the classical Greek
alphabet, which was found in Gavia, the city where Romulus and Remus were born (Osteria del
Osa). It dates back to 770 BC.
South of Cumae
is Neapolis, a large city known today as Naples. It was built at the foot of
Vesuvius by Cumaeans and Rhodians, initially under the name Parthenope.
Later, the Chalcidians also settled in the city, who named their suburb
Neapolis, in contrast to the Paleopolis which was Parthenope. In 328 BC it was
conquered by the Romans, without serious consequences for its Greek population
and became the largest intellectual center in Italy, since all the Romans flocked
to Neapolis to study in its famous Greek schools. The great Roman poet
Virgilius also lived here and was buried here on Pausilypon hill.
After a short interlude of Gothic occupation in the 5th century AD.
general Belisarios, reintegrated it into the Byzantine state in 536. At
the beginning of the 8th century AD, Pope Gregory III, organized a
conspiracy and removed the power of the Byzantines from the city, which
declared independence, headed by an elected Duke. Its independence lasted 400
years, until the descent of the Normans
in the 12th century. The Neapolis museum, is perhaps the most magnificent and
richest museum of Greek culture in Italy. It has a hugely valuable
collection of Greek statues, originals and copies from the Roman era, vases,
mosaics, with the greatest one, the "Battle of Issus", made of rice
grains. It depicts Alexander the Great on his horse Bucephalus, a
work by the artist Philoxenos.
Greek statue found in the sea
of Baia near the Greek cities
Dikiarheia and Naples
in
Campania.
Near Naples was Herculaneum
(Ercolano), a Greek city that was covered by the ash of Vesuvius in the Roman
era. Today's excavations have brought to light one of the richest Greek
libraries in the world, which was located in the villa of Julius Caesar's
father-in-law.
Elea. The
most important city of this region was Elea or Velia,
a city well-known for its famous scientific and philosophical school and the
philosophical movement of the "Eleatic Philosophers". It was founded
in 535 by the Phocaeans from Asia Minor, who fled from Phocaea in droves to escape massacre by
the Persians. Initially, they settled in an older colony of the Phocaeans,
Alalia in Corsica, but an alliance of Tyrrhenians and Carthaginians crushed
them and after 5 years, forced them to leave Corsica and come to Italy, to found Elea.
The main representatives of Eleatic philosophy were Xenophanes,
Parmenides, Zeno of Elea, who was the inventor of
the "dialectical" method, and others. Its basic position
was the opposition to the "everything flows" of the Ionian
(Heraklitos in Asia Minor) school.
Xenophanes (580-485) is the inventor of scientific
monotheism. "A great God exists for both gods and men. He does not
resemble mortals, neither in body nor in thought... In fact, if even calves could
paint their god, it is certain that they would paint him in the form of a calf
and not as human
being." Zeno opposed Democritus' theory that
the atom is the last indivisible body of matter, with the
"eternal (infinite) disintegration of matter" (theory of the
disintegration of the atom, atomic energy). He proposed the nucleus. From
glorious Elea, many ancient monuments are preserved in modern Velia,
such as the Acropolis, the Gate of Roses, the baths and temples, etc. The city
never ceased to exist until today and was called Velia
(a corruption of Elia) by the Romans.
Other important
cities in the area were Poseidonia-Pestum, 70 km southern of Naples,
Pyxus, 480 BC, built by Mikynthos, ruler of Sicilian Messina, which is
today called by the Byzantine name Polykastron, as well as the entire bay
of Marathea, Ipponneion from the 7th century BC, Metaurus,
Medma, the doric Gaeta, Emporion, Philadelphia, Skila, Reggio, modern
capital of Calabria, with an intense philhellenic movement and interest in the
Greek past of Calabria and with a famous museum, where the famous statues
"Warriors of "Riace" (Ryaki= small river) are located. In
the Gulf of Auson there was the City of Circe, which had an altar of Circe and
Athena, as Pausanias recorded, Formias or Ormias, a colony of the
Laconians, Praenestos or Polystephanos, in which there was a temple of the
goddess Tyche and hundreds more smaller cities.
Reggiο was built in 717 BC by the
Chalcidians and at the same time was also settled by the Messenians. Its
founders were Cumaeans, Perieres and Chalcideans. The name comes from
the word "rift", since it was built right on the rift that separates
Sicily from Calabria. In 495 it reached the peak of its glory and extended its
rule to the Sicilian city of Messina/ Zagle. In 387 it was destroyed by their
neighbors, the Locrians, but soon was rebuilt. It experienced great
prosperity in trade and literature, as mathematician Pythagoras, the poet
Ibykos, the historians Hippis and Glaucos, Riginos a Pythagorean
philosopher (mathematician) and great musician, inventor of the
"Chalkeophon", lived and created in this city. It was preserved as a
large city throughout the Byzantine Middle Ages and the German occupation. The
modern city was built exactly on top of the ancient one, which is why not many
finds have come to light.
Cities
on the coast of the Ionian Sea
The oldest city
in the region was Sybaris, which was
built in 721 BC by Achaean colonists, coming from Achaia, a district of
Aegialeia in the Peloponnese and later by Peloponnesian
residents of Troezen. The city developed so much that it exceeded 500,000
inhabitants. At one point it even had an army numbering 300,000 soldiers. Due
to its enormous power, it ruled over 25 cities of the wider region. Cities that
it also supplied with population due to its own overdevelopment. The luxury and
soft life of the Sybarites became proverbial. They organized taste and cooking
competitions and awarded the best chef with a golden wreath. They preferred to
spend their days at symposia, while at night they established hours of common
silence, prohibiting professionals and craftsmen from working in the city, and
even chariots from circulating on the street. The arrogance of the Sybarites,
however, led them to a painful defeat in the conflict with Croton, who
completely destroyed them. Ruins of Sybaris are
buried in the marshy area of the Kratis
River.
But what
happened to the hundreds of thousands of Sybarites? Many escaped in the
hinterland and in the villages, others founded other cities, some stayed in Sybaris and others participated in the founding
of the first Panhellenic city of Thourii,
an effort led by the Athenian politician Pericles in 444 BC, in the area
of the destroyed Sybaris.
It was a model city, both because it promoted the unity of the Greeks, who were
consumed by bloody civil wars, and for its pioneering urban planning. It was
designed by the famous architect Hippodamus of Miletus, the first scientific
urban planner in history, and its first inhabitants are mentioned by Protagoras,
Empedocles and Herodotos.
North of the
Thourii was Siris, which had been founded by the Colophonians of
Asia Minor. Strabo, however, informs us that the city was much older than Colophon. It was built by
Pelasgians who came to Calabria from the coast
of Asia Minor. It experienced great prosperity
and population growth, but was destroyed by the alliance of Croton, Sybaris and Metapontion
in 450 BC. Then the inhabitants of Siris went further north and built Heraclea, a city where the king of Epirus, Pyrrhus, defeated
the Romans. The Byzantine city of Polichoro is
located on the site of Heraclea
today.
Tarantas was
the only colony of the Spartans in Magna Graecia.
It was founded in 707 BC and took its name from Taranto, son
of god Poseidon. It was the megalopolis of Apulia, with a population that
reached 600,000 and an army that exceeded 50,000 infantry and 5,000
cavalry . The city was dominated by the huge statue of Hercules, which
was the largest statue of antiquity after the Colossus
of Rhodes. This statue was sculpted by the great
sculptor Lysippos. The Romans, dazzled by the beauty and size of the
statue, took it to Rome
in 208 BC, where it remained until 1204. Then the Roman Catholic-Frankish
crusaders, blinded by hatred for everything Greek, tore it into pieces, melted
it down and made coins and weapons! It was founded by the "Parthenes"
(virgins), that is Spartans who were descended from unmarried Spartan parents
and who rebelled when the state did not give them lands from the conquered
Peloponnesian Messenia. To escape execution, they fled to Italy and founded Taranto, with Phalanthos as its leading
settler.
Next to
Tarantas was the ancient Greek city of Satyrion. It took its name from
Satyria, daughter of Minos, with whom Poseidon fell in love with and had a
son, Taranto, with
her. Thus, the Dorians met there the earlier Greeks. The city became the most
important port for exporting agricultural products from the hinterland of the
Messapians, with whom relations were good, since the Messapians were quickly
fully assimilated by the Hellenes and adopted the same Greek dialect. It was
also an important industrial center, producing pottery, silverware, weaving and
dyeing woolen fabrics. Letters developed equally and the Pythagorean philosopher,
mathematician and mechanic Archytas (4th century BC) lived there. He
invented the flying drone and turbine, creating a self-flying wooden pigeon.
The famous sculptor Lysippos also created other statues there.
Tarantas was
the leading Greek power in the fight against the Romans in southern Italy. It
managed to keep the Roman fleet away from the Gulf of Taranto,
by agreement. However, whenThourii, Locri, Croton and Rhegium accepted a Roman
garrison in their city, the Romans broke the Greek front and violated the
agreement by sending 10 ships to Tarantas (303 BC). The Tarentines sank four
and captured one, but this was the cause of a larger Roman intervention, which
was stopped by the king of Epirus Pyrrhus in 280 BC in a battle
fought near Heraclea.
However, the victory was temporary. Pyrrhus left a garrison at Tarantas and
returned to Greece.
There he was killed in a battle in the of Argos
and after his death, the leader of the garrison, Milon, surrendered
Tarantas to the Romans. In modern Taranto we can
see some ruins from the temple
of Demeter,
another temple of another unknown deity, and a wall from the archaic
era. The museun of course is full of Greek antiquities. Taranto is also famous
for the Tarantella. The national dance of all south Italy, the
Greek national dance for all Magno-Greeks. It is an ancient Dionysian
dance, a ceremony for the healing of the venomous bite of spider. Both the
dance and the spider took their name from Taranto.
Next to Taranto, in Vasilicata
was Metapontion. It was founded around 700 BC and experienced great
prosperity despite being in the shadow of Tarantas. Its founder was the
mythical Metapontos, son of Sisyphos and grandson of the
god Aeolos. Aeolos, of course, and his brother Boeotian, were
born precisely in this place, and from here Boeotian moved to mainland Greece, to the region of Boeotia.
It was the seat of the famous Greek leader of the revolution of the
slaves, Spartacos. Pythagoras lived and taught in Metapontion when he
was exiled by the Crotonians. Remains of imposing temples of Apollo and
the Pythagorean survive, while the city's museum makes the residents proud of
their Greek ancestry.
Further south,
on the shores of the Gulf of Taranto, is the city of Croton. A city famous for Pythagoras and the
Pythagorean school, for the Olympic champion Milon of Croton, who
lifted an entire cow on his back and carried it around the Olympic stadium in
Olympia, for Alcmaeon, a great physicist, astronomer and physician, etc. Croton
was the name of the mythical hero who welcomed Hercules to this city on his way
back with the oxen of Geryon. And in this case, we see the same story as that
of Rome.
Here Lakinos tried to steal his oxen, but Hercules defeated him and
kept the oxen. Croton was the brother of Alcinous, King of the Phaeacians
(Corfu). These references do prove that the
Greeks inhabited the area from immemorial prehistoric times. It was built
in 708 BC by the Achaeans with Myskelos as its leading settler.
However, as Strabo tells us, the city was originally founded by the
Greek-Pelasgians after the Trojan War. It quickly grew with livestock raising
and trade and in turn founded two more colonies. Pythagoras settled in Croton,
exiled from his birthplace of Samos in the Aegean
by the Tyrant Polycrates. He transformed Croton into a world center of
Pythagorean philosophy - mathematics and music. Pythagoras is the inventor of
pentagram for music. The Crotonians were simple, frugal eaters who practiced
the ancient Greek “metro” (measure), in contrast to their luxurious neighbors,
the Sybarites. It is important to note that Croton was the city with the most
victories in the Olympic Games. It was a very large city, since in its battle
against the city of the Locrians in 540 BC it fielded an army of 130.000 men.
The population must have exceeded 500.000 inhabitants. The city's museum
is very rich, while only one column of the temple of Lacinian Hera
survives from ancient times.
Further south
was Skyllacion, Kaulonia, a colony of Croton, which still today is
called Kaulonia and Riaki where the famous bronze statues were
found. Hieracs, a large Byzantine city and
finally Locri. The city was known as Epizephyrioi Locri,and was
built by Eusebius in 673 BC on the cape that was called "Zephyros" (name
of the southeast wind) by an earlier Greek colonization. Its inhabitants were
Dorians from Locris and the city remained famous in history by its great
legislator Zalefkos, who laid the foundation of the later Roman law. It is
important to note the role of matriarchy from ancient times in the Minoan city
that existed since the 3rd millennium in the area.
Angona, a
colony of Syracuse,
with its shape of the human upper limb, meaning elbow in Greek. Spina, a
smaller town where today is Ravenna (Pausanias). Ravenna was certainly a Greek city, built by
the Thessalians, with Diomedes as its founder. In the same area there
is also the city of Timaon,
with a memorable Sanctuary of Diomedes (according to Pausanias). In the open
sea the islands of Diomedes (Tremiti islands today). Further north, near the
mouth of the Po River, Agrigyrippa, renamed by Diomedes Hipponion Argos.
Teatea is the modern Chieti, which
according to tradition was built by Achilles. And beyond these dozens
and perhaps hundreds of smaller cities, villages, settlements and trading
posts, built there from time immemorial. The
Bari (Varion)
was a city with great Greek culture, from ancient to medieval times. In
the opposit Bank of Ionian Pelagos (sea)
, was the Antivarion, modern Bar in Montenegro.
Sicily
Sicily is the region in which Plato lived a
significant part of his life and in which he wanted to apply his ideas about
the ideal, Platonic state. In the archaic colonization of Sicily (which began in
the 8th century BC), the Euboeans and the Megarites also took the
lead here. Chalcis in Euboea, is a city located
today directly in front of the Messapian
Mountain in Boeotia, Messapios
river to the south, and the city of Messapia
to the north. It had very close prehistoric ties with the region, since
the Pelasgian Messapians also set out from there for Apulia. The Euboeans were the first to found Zaggli
(Mesina) in 725 BC, at the strait of Scylla and Charybdis; the strait that separates Sicily from Calabria.
The name Zaggli etymologically is derived from the Sicilian-Pelasgian
word Zaggli = sickle, due to the sickle shape of the bay in which it
is built. Zaggli was later settled by settlers from other cities and Samos and Miletus in Asia Minor,
when those cities were conquered by the Persians. Later, in the 5th
century BC, Messenian refugees settled in the city after a Messenian war
against the Spartans and the city was renamed Messina. In 396 BC, the city was destroyed by
the Carthaginians, but very soon rebuilt by the Tyrant Dionysius the
Elder. The city was destroyed again by the Carthaginian Hamilcar, and some
residents of Messina fled further west, where
they founded the city of Tyndaris.
Other Messenians stayed and rebuilt the city. The islands of the god Aeolus,
(Aiolian islands) Panarea, Salvatore Dei Greci, Stromboli....
are famous to today.
Halfway from Messina to Catania, there
is Naxos - Giardini, which is also the oldest city of this
particular Greek colonization in Sicily.
It was built by the Chalcidians in 735 BC, under the
leader Thucles-Theocles, at the foot of Mount Etna.
Later, the Megarians and Naxians settled in it and gave it their name. In 476
BC, the inhabitants of Naxos were expelled by
the Tyrant of Syracuse, Hieron. However, they returned and remained loyal
allies of the Athenians. In 413, when the Sicilian campaign of the
Peloponnesian war ended with Sparta
victorious, the Tyrant of Syracuse Dionysios took control of the
city. Then the decline of the city began with new migrations to other cities
and the Sicilian countryside. Before its decline, Naxos, with the great
increase in its population, founded the cities-colonies of Taormina,
Catania,
Leontini, Gallipoli and Evia (Eubati today). Today it is full of ancient Greek
monuments as well as modern monuments copies of ancient Greek ones, avenues
with Greek names (Chalkidos Avenue,
Megaron Street,
etc.), friendship associations with Greece, mutual hospitality of
children in the summer, rebirth of the Greek language, etc.
Taormina (today
Taormina, then Tavromenion), a place of inspiration for both the great Sicilian
Nobel Prize winner Luigi Pirandello, which often awakened in him a pleasant and
proud feeling of Greek ancestry, including his Greek surname (Pyr&Angelos),
and the great German philhellene Goethe, who described it as the most beautiful
place in the world. It is known for its famous theater, with a capacity of
15,000 seats. It was built in 358 BC by the Naxians. It belonged to the area of
influence of Syracuse,
until it was conquered by the Romans, who respected it and declared it a
federal city (Civitas Federata). Apart from the ancient Greek theatre and part
of the Odeon from Roman times, the other ancient sites are still buried because
the modern city is built right on top of the old one.
West and
towards the Sicilian hinterland, is Leontines, known today as
Lentini. From 729 BC it was built on the banks of the Tiresias River, in the area that according to the
Odyssey was inhabited by the Laistrygonians.
Catania
(Katani) was founded at about the same time by the Naxian-Chalkidians,
with Evarchos as its leading settler, around the Symethos River
(Simeto today). It suffered from earthquakes and destruction from the volcano
of Etna, where according to mythology the terrible
titan Encelados was buried by the bulk of the mountain that goddess
Athena had thrown on him. Etna was also the workshop of god Hephaestus. The
famous Charondas legislator of this city, together
with Zalefkos of Locri, laid the foundations of the later “Roman
law”. Today, archaeological excavations show the great prosperity of the city.
Its huge theater, with a capacity of 16,000 seats, and other treasures in its
museum are famous.
West of the
city and towards the foot of Etna, the Catanians had founded the city of Innissa. This city was in
a way the guardian and guide to the sacred volcano and the nymph Etna. In Catania today operates the second largest in Europe (after
Palermo)
"Center for Greek Studies", with enormous interest on the part of the
locals to study the history, language and culture of their blood ancestors.
South of
Catania is Hyblaean Megara. Initially, it was called Hybla, by its older
Greek colonizers, the Pelasgians. Its settlement with Megarians, added the
name Megara
in its name, as we saw in more detail above, in the chapter on Daedalus. The
heyday of this colony did not last long, due to its proximity to Syracuse, which was the
superpower of the region. Thus, part of the Megarians moved to southwestern Sicily and
founded Selinunte, at the mouth of the homonymous river, in 629 BC.
The name refers to the homonymous plant, celery, which was native to the banks
of the river. The Megarians drained the marshes of Selinunte and transformed
the area into a paradise. Its heyday is witnessed by its three gigantic and
magnificent temples of Apollo, Hera and Hercules, for which art historians have
written that the works of Sicily
are those that reach perfection. There are also ruins of a temple of the
underworld gods, probably Pluto and Persephone, but also many ruins of
orthodox Christianity from the Byzantine era. In 409 BC it was conquered by the
Carthaginians and destroyed. In 250 BC it was destroyed again and was not
re-inhabited in ancient times. The population moved inland where they built new
cities. Some of the people also moved to Syracuse.
Syracuse was
the largest and most important Greek city in Sicily. A megalopolis that reached a
population of 800,000 inhabitants, with the surrounding municipalities. It was
founded by the Corinthians with the settler Archias in 735 BC. The
city and its surroundings were inhabited by the previous Greek colonization of
the Pelasgians and around 1200 BC more colonists Aetolians and Epirotes, were
added. Alongside the Corinthians, settlers from Ortygia and Chalkidiki settled
on the islet, who gave it the name "Arethusa". Arethusa was a nymph
who was transformed by Zeus into a beautiful spring at the request of Alpheus, in order to escape the torment of the insane
love he felt for her. But Alpheus did not get over his love and so the goddess
Aphrodite turned him into a river in the Peloponnese,
so that its waters would join the waters of Arethusa.
The development
of Syracuse was rapid, so that from the 7th
century it developed three other colonies in Sicily,
Acra, Kasmeni and Kamarina and many others outside Sicily,
mostly in Dalmatia and Adriatic Italy. The city
itself was united with the suburbs of Ortygia, Neapolis, Tyche, Arcadia and
Epipolis (the well-known Pentapolis) and became the megalopolis of the
region with a land wall of 27
km. that surrounded it and 800,000 inhabitants. Its
regime was oligarchic and its relations with neighboring Gela, which had a tyranny, were always
hostile. Gela supported the Syracusan democrats
when they fled to Kasmeni and asked for the help of the tyrant Gelon to take
power in Syracuse.
Gelon took advantage of the situation and quickly managed to take power himself
in Syracuse.
The Syracusans honored him as the second founder of the city, equal to the
settler Archias, and in 418 BC, when he died, they built an imposing
mausoleum in his honor and placed a statue of him in the temple of Hera.
Gelon was succeeded by his brother Hiero, who transformed Syracuse into a world intellectual center.
Aeschylos premiered his trilogy "Persians" in the famous
"Teatro Greco" of Syracuse.
The Syracusan Epicharmus (5th century BC) wrote dramas and comedies
many years before Aristophanes. The poet Formis was also a comedian,
while the poets Pindar, Simonides of
Cea and Bacchylides lived and wrote in Syracuse. The Tyrants Dionysius, the
Elder and Dionysius, the Younger were also poets. The philosophers
and sophists, Xenophanes, Gorgias and Parmenides, contributed to the
progress of science and Reason, while the great mathematician and
philosopher Empedocles also lived here for a time. The
orator Teisias, a student of the famous Corax, is the inventor
of artistic recitation. Plato also lived in Syracuse
during the time of the Tyrant Dionysius, and so did the
historian Philistos who wrote the history of Sicily from ancient times to the time of
Dionysius the Younger in 363 BC. Cicero
called him "little Thucydides". Dionysios the Younger was succeeded
by his son-in-law Dion, a student of Plato. Also noteworthy were the governors
Timoleon and Agathocles, who gave Syracuse
days of great prosperity. Agathocles made laws in favor of the poor, against
the aristocrats, in 317 BC. He waged victorious wars against Carthage
and reached Carthage
itself and besieged it. At that time, the other Greek cities of Sicily turned against Syracuse,
and he was forced to return, making peace with Carthage, to which he ceded sovereignty over
Egesta and Selinunte.
The last days
of prosperity were marked by the tyrant Hiero II. In his days, the
famous mathematician Archimedes, one the greatest minds in world
history, and the poet Theocritus lived in Syracuse. In 215 BC, the Romans, under the
generals Claudius and Marcellus, besieged the city. They took advantage of the
laxity of the guard when the festivals in honor of the
goddess Artemis began and managed to infiltrate from Hexapylus,
invade Epipolis and then conquer Neapolis and Tyche. During this conquest a
Roman soldier killed Archimedes, while he was working on the solution to a
mathematical problem. This act was also the "greatest contribution of Rome to science!"
The Romans were not concerned with science, but only with administration and
entertainment. They left science to the Greeks, whom they hired as teachers of
their kids. The only Romans, who were literate, were historians and
chroniclers, not scientists. The city began to decline from then on. Its
population began to flee to neighboring cities but mainly to the interior of Sicily, to smaller towns
and villages. At the time of Augustus Octavian, only Ortygia, Naples and part of Tyche were inhabited.
Of the ancient
monuments, two temples survived in Ortygia, the temple
of Athena, which is better
preserved, and of Apollos temple, which is also the oldest in Magna Graecia, built in the 7th century BC. They were
works that certainly approached perfection, as are the temples of Selinunte and
Acragantas, but they were not preserved in a similarly good condition. Cicero had even written about the temple of Athena
that: "In no part of the world are there such magnificent decorations of
gold and ivory". In the 7th century AD, during the Byzantine Empire, the temple of Athena was converted into a Christian
church and during the Norman conquest (11th century) it was converted into a
cathedral and remains to this day. Despite all this, the Syracusans continue to
call their cathedral the "Temple
of Athena - Tempio di
Atena".
Also preserved
are Arethusa Spring in Ortygia, ruins of the ports and the famous Greek theater
"Teatro Greco", which was located in Syracusian Naples. The theater
seats 15,000 and was built by Hieron I.
Part of it was destroyed in the Middle Ages to build a Spanish fortress. The
famous quarries, behind the hill of the theater, became a place of martyrdom
for thousands of Athenian prisoners, after their defeat on the Sinaros River (Peloponnesian
War) and their retreat into the interior of Sicily. The quarries consist of three
artificial caves that are today called: Paradise,
Dionysius and Capuchin. Also preserved are the aqueduct of Hiero, which still
functions today, a Caryatid from the altar of Hieron II, of
unparalleled artistic value (as described by Diodoros Siceliotis), a Gymnasium
from the Hellenistic period (2nd century BC), remains of the bouleuterion
(assembly), the obelisk erected by the Syracusans in memory of their victory
over the Athenians, the famous catacombs of the Christian era, about which we
will see more in another chapter, the temple of Zeus, known
as "Olympion", located outside Syracuse on the banks of
the Anaplos river, the Acropolis of Epipolis, the fortress
of Euryale and many others. The most important findings are of course in the Syracuse Museum.
In the
outskirts of Syracuse,
there are the cities of Acra, Kasmeni, Kamarina, Eloros and
Morgantion, all with ancient Greek monuments. In Acra, the theater and temple of Aphrodite are
preserved, in Eloros the theater and temple
of Demeter. In the uninhabited
Morgantion today, also called Kastro, the ancient theater and sanctuary of
Demeter are preserved.
Notos. South of
Siracuse existed an older, Mycenaean city with name “Notos” (South). A
smaller city during classical times.
Heading
southwest, we come across Gela, founded in 690
BC by Rhodians and Cretans, under Antiphemus and Epimus, on the mouth of
the Gela River. The river and the city were
named by Pelasgians from Caria in Asia Minor
(Kares, Greek tribe compatriots of Herodotus) who settled there around in the
second millennium BC. We saw above that it had a tyrannical regime and was a
major rival of Syracuse.
We saw how and in what way the tyrant Gelon became the ruler of Syracuse. In today's
city, one can admire several Greek works of art in its museum as well as its
ancient wall.
Ragusa was
founded in the second millennium BC by colonists that came from the Aegean Sea
islands and Crete. Its old name was Hybla
Heraia (Hera was the queen of the Olympian gods). In the
Christian era it was renamed Ragusa from
the Greek word Rag or Rog, which means grape berries. The area was
famous for its grapes and wine. The city is a UNESCO protected monument and
preserves many ancient Greek findings, as well as the Byzantine fortification
of the city.
The
Byzantine fortification around the modern city of Ragusa.
Ancient Greek gymazium. Ragusa
Greek necropolis Ragusa.
Greek,
Christian-Byzantine Hermetaries. Ragusa.
Agia Maria (Madona) di Cava, “Glykofilousa”. Ispica.
Greek
Orthodox (Byzantine) convent. Ispica.
Ιspica. Map of Greek
Orthodox churches, monasteries and hermataries (Caves)
Acragas was
founded in 580 BC by settlers from Gela and Rhodes. Just 80 years after its foundation, it managed to
become the most important city in Sicily after
Syracuse in
terms of population, wealth, art and literature. It fought fierce battles with
the Semitic Phoenicians for the zone of commercial influence in Sicily. It was also
destroyed by the Carthaginians in 405 and rebuilt by Timoleon in 345 BC,
who brought residents from the
Aegean island of Kea
to repopulate the city.
In the Valley
of the Temples there are fortifications, the Acropolis, the temple
of Demeter, the temple of Hera, the temple of Omonia, which is the
best-preserved temple in Magna Graecia, the temple of Hercules and
the temple of Olympian Zeus, which is the largest temple in all of
Greek antiquity, 105 m.
in length and 18 m.
wide. Next are the temples Dioscuri (Castor and Polydeucis) and
Asclepius. There are also ruins of many private houses, which testify to the
extent of prosperity and wealth with wonderful mosaics. The monuments of
the Tyrants Phalaris and Theron, giant “kouroi” that adorned the temple of Zeus, the fortifications of Daedalus and
newer walls, and a wonderful archaeological museum.
In Akragas
lived one of the greatest philosophers of antiquity, a follower of
the Eleatic philosophy, great scientist, mathematician and physicist,
Empedocles (493-439 BC). He was the son of Meton and grandson of
the Olympic champion Empedocles. Tradition says that he died by jumping into
the crater of Etna, to be purified and atoned for by its light. He was the
first to formulate the theory of the separation of matter from energy.
Aristotle called Empedocles the father of rhetoric and Galenos the
father of medicine. Opposite Akragas was the Greek island
of Lampedusa and across the sea, in Africa, numerous Sicilian
colonies, such as the Syracusian city of Nabul
(Naples) in Tunisia.
Akragas was
conquered for the second time by the Carthaginians in 262 BC, when it was
destroyed. At that time, 25,000 of the inhabitants who had rebuilt the city
after the first destruction were captured and sold as slaves. In the place of
the magnificent and prosperous city, a small town continued to exist for
centuries but most of the Greeks who escaped the massacres fled to the interior
of Sicily and
in other neighboring cities.
West of Akragas
is Selinunte. It was founded in 629 BC by residents of Hyblaean
Megara on the banks of the Selinunte
River, which we talked
about above.
Further west
and inland, is Aegesta. It is built on Mount Varvaro and
has a wonderful and one of the best-preserved temples of antiquity and a large
theater. Much has been written about the origin of the inhabitants
of Aegesta. That is, they were not Greeks but were later Hellenized
to the point of being the most important ally of the Syracusans. Science has
already given the answer. The Elymians, who inhabited the area, were a
Greek-Pelasgian tribe. This is based on archaeological findings about the
settlement of the Creto-Pelasgians in Magna Graecia,
but also after the Trojan war, according to the testimonies of the authors we
mentioned. Colonization of Semito-Phoenicians is not mentioned anywhere else in
western Sicily,
except the few main colonies that we discussed in detail.
The same
applies to Drepano-Drepani (Trapani), the complex of the Aegades islands
in the Aegonion Sea, the islet of Pantelleria,
Kossyra (Pantelleria is a newer Greek and medieval
name), Eryx which dominates, Trapani and in which works of
Daedalus are preserved, such as the "Daedalian" wall and
the temple of Aphrodite.
Temple at Aegesta.
Himera, in Palermo Province
in Sicily,
was the site of two bloody battles between the united Sicilian Greeks and the
Carthaginians. The Carthaginians were defeated in 480 BC but avenged their
defeat in 409 BC by razing the city to the ground and massacring its Greek
population, whose mass graves have now been found by archaeologists.
On the road
between Selinunte-Acragas to Palermo was the
ancient Greek city of Scheria.
Cicero had
visited and mentioned it. Scheria was also called the island
of Corfu, while others called the
whole of Sicily
by this name. Today the city of Corleone is
located there. Still a Greek name, which comes from the words Cardia+Leon and with
many Greek antiquities found there. The etymology of the name is uncertain, undergoing various modifications
from ancient Greek Kouroullounè, to the Siculo-Arabic Qurlayun, from Latin Curilionum, to the Norman
Coraigliòn, from the Aragonese Conillon, Coniglione from which the Sicilian
Cunigghiuni originated. The
modern name originates from 1556.
Palermo-Panormos
(Big Harbour) is
the largest city in present-day Sicily and
home to the most important university and center of Greek studies in Europe. In antiquity it was a smaller Greek town.
There are also
the towns of Calakta (Kali akti), Millazo (Mylai) and Kefaloidion
(Kefalu). Enna in the interior was the city where the god of the
underworld, Plouton, stole the daughter of goddess Demeter (protector of Sicily), Persephone.
Argyrion, also
in the interior, was the birthplace of Diodoros of Sicily. The famous patron of
the city, Saint Philippo D’ Agira, is also a Greek Orthodox saint.
And many other,
hundreds of cities and villages during its history, from ancient times to
today.
The Name and the Flag of Sicily
Three
Skelia in gr. (plural) means three legs, (three legged). It is a
Greek symbol and a Greek word of course. The Triskeles in the picture
above is the most ancient one found, from the 8th century BC. It is exhibited
in ancient Olympia's
Museum. The word skelia is one of the most likely Etymologies for the
name Sikelia (corrupted to Sicilia in Latin). Another name for Sicily (Greek also) is
Trinakria (three ends or tri-limb). Known by that name at least from the
3rd millenium BC by the Minoans.
Trinakros was
also an eponymous hero of Trinakria, son
of god Poseidon, or son
of god Helios (Sun) from other sources. His figure appears on a
denarius of Alliena from 47 BC. A naked young man, with his right leg bent
and resting on a prow; he holds the Triskelon in his right hand and his
left arm is covered by a cloak.
Medusa with snakes in hair.
So, the
Greek Sikelos was the first King of Sicily. He was the son of Italos,
or as some other mythological sources tell us, god
Poseidon's son, or, in real history, grandson of Oinotros (Inotros). The
name means wine maker. Oino (Ino) in Greek is vino in Latin.
According to
Thucydides, Sicilians were a branch of the Oinotrian who were a
Greek tribe. Some other mythological sources say that Oinotros originated
from Rome, but Rome did not exist at this
time. He was adopted by King Morgis. Morgis was the son of
King Italos.
Other Sicilian Languages
I wrote this
chapter when I read that some “linguists” discovered that the pre-Greek
dialects that the ancient Siculi and Sicani spoke were similar to the ancient
German. However, the ancient German language did not exist in 1000 BC. We have
no written or oral source for any Germanic language to compare with, but only
1,000 years later. So, it is curious how the comparison was made with the
Sicani words that were found. The Germans had not even begun to form tribes
then.
The Indo-European
linguistic theory is maintained today only to support the Afrocentric, through Asia, origin of the European white human. It is a branch
of the Woke movement for the degradation of
Greek and European culture. Europe,
until the beginning of the Holocene period, experienced a period of glaciers.
The only ice-free area that was home to human life was the three south European
peninsulas. With the melting of the ice, after 10,000 BC, the inhabitants of
the Greek, Apenine and Spanish peninsula began to gradually expand northwards.
This also explains the similarity of the languages as they all evolved from the
same pre-Hellenic language and the similarity of DNA found between the Greeks
and the Scandinavians or the Poles for example!
The
“Indo-European” Language
I researched the topic of the Indo-European language as a historian, not as a linguist. Since in very ancient history everything is theory and myth unless there is tangible evidence to turn the theory into reality
I also asked AI : « Indeed, the AI considers the Indo-European theory to be correct and that objections from the opposing camp, such as my own text, are merely the nationalism of Greeks and Persians (Arians) who believe their languages are the mothers of all European languages, and not the nonexistent “Indo-European” one». However, the AI continued to rule out the “Indo-European” as theory. «This theory is considered correct because it is supported by the majority of linguists». So, I asked the AI again: «A theory is not an axiom, as we say in mathematics. A theory is something that requires proof. Since there is no proof, even if a theory is accepted by 90% of linguists, it remains a theory, the most robust theory perhaps, but not a fact».
And the AI responded with the following:
Grok3 (Elon Musc's AI): You 're right that science relies on facts amd without solid evidence, ideas like indo-European hypothesis remain theories or hypotheses. Theories are well-supported axplanatiosn, but ther'not absolute until proven with concrete facts. If you have more questions or want to dive deeper, just let me know!
The AI naturally falls into many contradictions, as a machine it is still unreliable because, as an assistant, it aggregates the average of publications on the topic. It presents as correct what the majority of online publications say. However, its logic is also ambiguous. «I wrote in my text that during the Holocene geological period, humans spread to Central and Northern Europe via Balkans, which is why the cradle of the European proto-language derives from Greek area. The AI responds that: «the DNA (of Ötzi, which is relative to Greece and Asia Minor Populations) is unrelated and does not confirm the origin of European languages from the Balkans-Asia Minor. One Thing ιis the DNA , other the langauge»!!!!
But a little later, it says that: «one of the pieces of evidence for the existence of Indo-European is the DNA of the Yamnaya people , which spread through the Pontic Steppes , bringing the common language who is the Indo-European». Here, it equates language with DNA. In other words, completely unreliable.
Let’s begin by asking two questions.
A) How can someone explain the huge chronological gap
between the creation of the different European languages, which theoretically
have a common ancestor in the so-called “Indo-European” language? In
particular, the Greek language appears on written monuments with the
Linear B script, during the Mycenaean civilization. It theoretically began
to be spoken between 2500-3000 BC. We exclude the Minoan-Cretan language, which
is written with the Linear A script, because deciphering it has not been widely
accepted by the scientific community.
The second chronologically known European language,
Latin, appears with its first written monument in the 6th century BC, and
theoretically it started to be spoken between 1000 and 800 BC. How dο the
“Indo-Europeanists” answer the question? Why doesn’t the newer Latin language
derive directly from the much older Greek and why doesn’t the French language
derive from Latin, but they have to make a leap of logic and chronology and
must derive it directly from some unknown until today, “Indo-European
language”?
The other European languages were created in the first
years after Christ. They were not created at the same time. So, how is it
possible to have the same ancient mother tongue from a common “Indo-European
cradle”.
B) In the science of history, which I studied for 7
years, I learned that the necessary precondition for writing the history of
ancient times, is the material sources. That means, the primary sources, not
the later bibliography. However, we are constantly reading when we are looking
for the etymology of the words that a word, for example: “Pater” in Greek,
“Father” in English, both have a common root, the “Indo-European” word “Patir”.
Why should not the English word “Father” derive from the 3,000 years older
Greek word “Pater” and must derive from a theoretical “Indo-European”? Did
English people and the English language exist 4 or 5,000 years ago? No. The
English language is a Germanic language in structure, with French (Latin)
vocabulary. It is one of the newest European languages. So, is it possible to
have contact with the so called “Indo-European” at the same time as Greek? No,
this is absurd. This is a gap of thousands of years! How can the older European
language (Greek), have a common mother language, with a language created 2000
years later (English)? Has any inscription ever been found in the so-called
“Indo-European” language, so that we can compare some common words and decide
that they have common roots?
Some scientists make the comparison of the root of a
Greek, or Slavic, or Germanic word, with another word of a non-existent
“Indo-European” language? A language that exists theoretically and not
documented with material elements. As far as I know, there is absolutely no
tangible evidence of the existence of a “Indo-European” language. So, the
question the remains. How do some scientists compare words and find/conclude
the common root with something non-existent? Between Greek and Latin, or
German… it’s easy to compare words, grammar, structure. Between Greek and
“Indo-European”?
The answere thet the «INDO-EUROPAISTS» give to these questions is amazing!
A) Yes, we dont't have written documents/sources, but we reproduced the Indo-Eurpean language theoretically. Reproductinon is the biggest proof in this topic in our science ?! And,
B) The denial of the existence of Indo-European , is mainly due to the nationalist Greeks and Iranias, who want to say that the European languages are originated from the Greek or the Iranian (Aryan) languages. This is a «Scientific» answer with only political accusations. Goebels lives, yes he lives!!!
Let’s look at the evidence.
1) As an “Indo-European” language related to European
languages, Sanskrit is often mentioned. It is one of
the 2,000 languages of the Indian peninsula and one of
the 34 official languages of modern India.
2) Sanskrit is also known as Vedic. It is similar to the
Greek language, (the Greek language specifically, not generally the European
languages as we often hear) and is a language spoken only by the Cast
of Hindu priests. Not by the ordinary population. In
this language were written the sacred books of Hinduism, the “Vedas”,
“Mahabharata”, “Ramagiama” etc. The word “Veda” means “Knowledge”. It
is the same word as the archaic Greek word (verb) “Foida”, where the letter “F”
(digammon in Greek) is spelled as “V”.
3) Where does this similarity come from? The Hindu
taught the Greeks or the Greeks the Hindu?
4) In the science of linguistics, “Glossology”, the Greek
language is the oldest European language. It is a written language since 2000
BC. The Mycenaean language with the Linear B script. Mycenaean civilization
starts at 2000 BC in the Peloponnese, in central Greece and in the Asian Minor
coasts. The Greek language is probably older, maybe from 3000 BC, from the
beginning of the Cycladic and Minoan (Cretan) civilization. This is
based on the deciphering of Linear A, the Minoan script from the Disk of
Phaestos, in the year 2015, by the Oxford
professors, Gareth Owens and John Coleman.
So, we must suppose that the contact between the
Greek and Sanskrit language took place in that time. Is that
possible? No!
Linear
A script. The writing of the Minoan (Cretan) civilization since 3000 BC.
5) In Sanskrit, the first text/written testimony is
from 250 BC the famous stone inscription of King Asoka’s laws. Literature
in this language was developed in the year 350 BC, more
than 2,000 years after the onset of the Greek language.
6) The French intellectual and politician Victor
Berard attacked the linguistics establishment, because it ostentatiously
ignores chronological and linguistic evidence, dozens of writings of ancient
Greek literature, and the history and mythology of the Greeks.
7) Megasthenes (the father of Indian history,
wrote the first history of India in
the world. In his books with the title “Indica” he wrote about the
direct influence from the Greek civilization and the teaching of the Indian
priestly class (the Cast who spoke Sanskrit) by the Greeks. Megasthenes, a
Greek from Asia Minor, was the ambassador of the Macedonian King Seleucus
I Nicanor for 10 years in the palace of Tandragupta (Sardookottos in Greek) in his
capital Patalipura (Palibothra), in today’s city of Patna. He wrote the history of the
Indians (Indica) around 288 BC. He noted that the oldest Indians with whom
he conversed, remembered and told him the story of the arrival of Hercules and
Dionysus in India.
It refers to the Hindu religion and its gods, Hercules (Shiva in Hindi)
and Dionysus (Krishna or Indar). It
has no references to Buddhism, which means that it was not very widespread at
the time. We know that it was later popularized by King Ashoka. Excerpts of his
work were collected and published by E.A. Schwanbeck J.W. McCrindle in 1887.
We regret to note that no “Indo-Europeanist” has studied
the work of Megasthenes, which is the only primary source for India!
8) About India and the ancient
Greek travelers in this region, we learn a lot from the references of
Democritos, the scientist who developed the theory of the atom and is
considered the father of atomic physics and energy. Aristoxenos from Tarantas
also wrote about India.
9) Nonos the Panopolitis wrote in 48 volumes and
21,411 verses, the history of the god Dionysos, his trips to India and
how he civilized the priestly class of Hindu. Dionysos was the great
teacher of the Hindu Sanskritic Cast. Of course, Nonos did not write things
deliberately to reject the “Indo-European” theory, since this theory-story
appeared 1,400 years after his death. He is referring in detail to the
campaign of Dionysus to India,
the enlightenment of the Hindu by the Greeks, the creation of the Hindu
priesthood and the writing of their holy books in Sanskrit. The “Veda”
under the guidance of the Greeks…
10) Plutarch in his book “Alexander
about Fortune and Virtue”, refers clearly in Alexander’s desire to visit India,
where his ancestor Heracles had gone and taught. The Macedonian
dynasty was called Heracleidae because their direct ancestor was Hercules.
Also, Macedonian was god Dionysos. This is of course another Hercules. Not
the one that is linked with Sicily and the Peloponnese, since this name in later years became a sort
of title. Maybe he was Hercules B’, or C’.
11) The important German linguist, Franz Bopp, one of the
creators of the “Indo-European” theory (he later rejected the theory), claimed
that there is a gap of centuries between the creation of the Greek language and
Sanskrit. He wrote that: “Sanscrit derives from Greek and not the
opposite”. Greek has written monuments before 2000 BC while Sanskrit
only after 250 BC, almost 2,000 years later. It is logical to accept that Greek
influenced Sanskrit and not vice versa.
12) The same was echoed by the famous linguist Ferdinando
Sagriendo (Iakinta Baitha, F. Kr. Sagriendo, 1933 Bilbao, Spain) and hundreds
more modern, real linguists.
13) The BBC recently presented the greatest
discovery in China,
as reported by the Chinese state archaeological service and the state chief
archaeologist Li Xiuzhen, referring to the clay army from the 1st dynasty,
which was created under the direct influence of the Greeks.
14) Professor Nors Josephson (Stanford University of
California and Berkley),
conducted a study, issued by the University of Heidelberg, Germany. “Eine archaisch
grechische kultur auf der sotarinsel/Uninversitetsverlang C.winter,
Heildelberg”. It refers
to the language spoken in the “Easter” Islands and other islands of
the Pacific Ocean, which is very similar to Greek, and comes directly from
Greek, through India and Indochina, according to Greek mythology and history.
15) The distinguished Hellenist and linguist Professor F.R. Adrados from Spain has
repeatedly stated that the European languages are all
Greek-Hellenic or Crypto-Hellenic. For example, Greek words in French,
according to the French Ministry of Education, amount to 65%, while
in Portuguese it
reaches 80%, according to professor Alcina Dos Martines, in the ancient
Greek-Portuguese dictionary. And since Portuguese is a Latin language, then the
percentage of ancient Latin has the proportional percentage of Greek
words. The English language, according to voluminous dictionary of Mr.
Konstandinidis, has more than 150,000 words with Greek roots. The current
German language is modelled by Martin Luther in 1453, according to
the rules of grammar and syntaxis of the Greek language.
16) Canadian linguist professor Jacques
Buchard from the University
of Montreal: “The Greek
language is the mother language of all European languages…”.
17) The European languages were not all born at
the same day. One is the grandmother, some are the daughters, some are the
granddaughters, some the great-granddaughters. Yes, they are relatives. Yes,
they have a common origin and a common ancestor. Slavic and German as well,
with Greek. But Greek is already documented and written before 2000 BC.
The German written language appears between 300 and 500 AD. More
than 2,500 years later. Is it possible for these languages to have
the same mother, with a chronological gap of 2,500 years between them? Is
it possible for Greek and Latin to have the same mother (Latin is formed at
least 1,300 years after Greek), or their similarity is only due to the
fact that Latin evolved directly from the Aeolian dialect of
Greek? What “Indo-European” heritage talking we talking about?
18) In conclusion, the Pre-lingua/pro-glossa or
proto-glossa Europea is only the Greek language. All the other languages originated
from it. Not from some theoretical Asian or African ancestor. Sanskrit, based
on its first written monument, is 2,000 years younger than Greek and simply a
creation of Greek influence. A transfer of civilization to the Hindu
hieratic cast! “Indoeuropean” is an imaginary,
never existed language!
The European languages are two. Arian (Iranian) and
Greek!
The Holocene Geological Period
The “Indo-European” theory is maintained today by certain
circles, solely to support the Woke culture and the Afrocentric theory of the
origin of the European man. The Indo-Afrocentric culture which civilized the
barbaric white European man.
Europe
before the Holocene geological period (12000-10000 BC) was covered by ice.
The only uncovered part of Europe was the Greek, the Apennine and the
Iberian Peninsulas. They were the
only European home for human life. After 10000 BC the ice began
to gradually melt and people from the south began to spread
northward. From Greece
and Asia Minor mainly, because the glaciers in the Alps and the Pyrenees
remained and functioned as a fence towards central and northern Europe, for the inhabitants of these two peninsulas
(Iberian and Apennine).
So, geology explains better
than the abstract theories of linguists and Woke
political correct culture how the similarities of languages, as well as
in DNA of European nations (we know that the Scandinavians, the Polish
etc. have similar DNA with the Greeks), is based on the fact that their
life and language started in south Europe after the last ice age and spread
northwards.
Otzi, or Iceman is the name given to a well-preserved
mummy who died in the Bronze Age (3350–3120 BC) in the Tyrolean Alps. A study
published in 2012 provided new insights into European prehistory, despite high
DNA contamination from present-day humans. The Iceman’s DNA revealed
ancestry from Anatolian-Balkan Neolithic farmers. Not from the Asian Steppes.
Professor Wang and colleagues re-examined this
individual in 2023 using the latest DNA sequencing techniques to gain further
information about this individual’s genetic history and phenotype. They found
no detectable ancestry related to the Steppes north of the Black Sea. Instead, they found that the highest ancestry
is associated with Anatolian farmers among modern European populations,
indicating a rather isolated Alpine population with limited gene flow from
related hunter-gatherer populations. Phenotypic analysis revealed that the
Iceman likely had darker skin than present-day Europeans and carried risk
alleles associated with male pattern baldness, type 2 diabetes and
obesity-related metabolic syndrome. These results confirm phenotypic
observations of the preserved mummified body, such as the high pigmentation of
its skin and the absence of hair on its head.
Otzi’s
DNA. The DNA of the iceman reveals an origin from neolithic farmers of Anatolia and not from the steppes.
So,
What was the Language of the Siculi, Sikani, Elymians and Messapians?
From a very
small number of inscriptions that were found in the language of the Sikani
and a few in the language of the Messapians, both were written with
the Greek alphabet, with many words of Greek origin-etymology and older
Greko-Pelasgic origin. We can conclude that they don’t have any connection with
Hindu and Sanskrit, or some imaginary, non-existing old German at this time, to
call them “Indo-European” or “Indo-Germanic”, beloved term of the Nazis.
I am
wondering why some “scientists” search for evidence in places all over the
world and ignore the evidence that is present in their own backyard? The
old German language did not exist in 1000 BC. So, what is the connection
of the old German language with the old Sicilian languages? We cannot talk
about the influence of Sanskrit on Europe. Sicily in our case.
These inscriptions show affinity with the pre-Hellenic and proto-Hellenic
language, which is partially and not fully understood (e.g. Phaistos disk (Crete) linear “A” script from the third millennium BC,
Minoan and Cycladic era). Linear "B" is from the Mycenaean era,
second millennium BC. Moreover, it is reasonable that in the chaos of
these ancient times, the dialects had not yet begun to take their normal
form. Especially when we refer to the older Greek dialect, Aeolian, which
is not fully known, even by scholars of Greek.
It is absurd
for some “scientists” to try through two inscriptions, written in the
Greek alphabet, to identify the languages of the population of Sicily, before 1000
BC, with Sanskrit, or some imaginary and unknown Iberian, or old Germanic. The
comparison should be made with the use of the scientific method. Where are
these ancient German inscriptions from 1000 BC to compare them with the
Messapian and Sikuli inscriptions from the 7th century BC?
This is science
fiction! They ignore linguistics, as well as history and prehistory. This
thesis cannot stand against any scientific criticism. The tribes in the island of Sicily were
formed from the integration of very ancient local populations and people who
came from the Aegean and eastern Mediterranean long
before 1000 years BC. Not from the other side of the world (India or Germany). All the evidence points
to that. The Sikani were Minoans from Crete and the Siculi from
the Aegean and southern part of Asia Minor.
The Elymians were from the Aeolian islands and Aeolian coasts of Asia Minor. They have Greek tribal names, toponyms,
hydronyms etc., at least since 2000 BC. The hydronyms are the most
conservative in changes. So, if you have Greek hydronyms as Elymian, that shows
your origin, even if we don’t have inscriptions to see more words of the
language you spoke!
Historical Times
The Mycenean Colonization of Sicily and
southern Italy
Mycenaean
Cities in the Apennine
Peninsula.
According to
Strabo, who wrote the history of the Italian cities
(Geographica), Dionysios of Halicarnassus who wrote “Roman Archaeology”,
Lykofron, who wrote “Alexandra” and Homer in his epic, Odyssey, the Greek
tribes lived in the south Apennine peninsula from the Mycenean era (starting in
2000 BC), and not from 8th century BC. Archaic
colonization, as we usually call it. A lot of Greek settlers of course
used to live in Italy
long before, from the Minoan era, meaning before 2000 BC.
Aeneas, together
with Antinor (source, “Alexandra” and “Aeniada”) were the patriarchs
of the Romans. They were Trojans. The Trojans were a Greek tribe. The Trojan
war was between the Trojans (their protector god was Apollo) and the
Achaeans and Danaus (as Homer wrote in the Iliad) from the Peloponnese and
central Greece (goddess Athena
was their protector). The war was not between two different nations. The name
Greek-Hellene at this time was not in use as common national name for
the dozens of Greek tribes. Homer does not mention the name Greek a single time
in the Iliad.
The most famous
war of antiquity happened for the control of the straits of the Hellespont
(Dardanelle) and the commerce between the Mediterranean and the rich in
grain and metals Black Sea coast.
Dionysius from Halicarnassus wrote that the
Romans and the Greeks were relatives, because they had the same origin
from Aeolia (Ilion or Troy, Lemnos, Imbros,
Tenedos, Lesbos...).
Aeneas after
the fall of Troy,
passed through Macedonia,
Aitolia, Epirus,
the islands of Kefallinia, Lefkada, Kythera
and other Greek provinces, and founded a lot of cities on his way to the Apennine
peninsula. When he arrived in the south of the Apennine peninsula, he got in
contact with two of his friends from Troy. Elymos and Egestos. They were
the patriarchs of the Sicilian tribe Elymians and founders of the
city of Aegesta.
He also founded the city of Gaeta north of Naples. The name Gaeta is
doric Greek, and it means cave. North of Gaeta, Aeneas also founded
the city of Lavinium. His
son Askanios founded the city of Alba Longa,
birthplace of the two famous brothers Romulus
and Remus, later founders of Rome.
The name Rome
in the doric Greek dialect means power.
The
“golden Mycenae” in the Peloponnese.
The hill was inhabited from 2500 BC. The famous Mycenaean civilization begins
in 2000 BC. Mycenaeans or Achaeans, as mentioned in Homers Iliad, were the
enemies of Troy.
The Mycenaean polygonal, or non-Cyclopean walls, are everywhere in prehistoric
southern Italy and Sardinia.
Atreos
tomb. The tοmb of
King Agamemnon in Mycenae,
circa 1250 BC.
Many Achaean Kings,
after the long Trojan war (lasting more than 10 years), lost their kingdoms from usurpers.
So, they had to leave their kingdoms and search for a new homeland and
eventually new kingdoms. The most attractive place was Sicily and the south of the Apennine peninsula,
where hundreds of years before, other Greeks from the Minoan Kingdoms of
Crete, the Aegean and
the Cycladic islands, (long before 2000 BC) had moved in significant
numbers.
Knosos
Crete. King Minoas’s palace. The Minoan civilization in Crete and the Aegean islands was the first European
civilization. It flourished between 3000-1450 BC.
North of Rome,
in Aquilla (Achilles), existed a sanctuary of Diomedes. He was
the former King of Argos. Diomedes was a Homeric hero. He lost his kingdom
from his wife’s lover, so he had to escape from Argos
to Apulia. In Apulia Diomidis became the
son in law of King Davnos. In Apulia
he founded the famous cities of Arpoi, Sipous, Kanission and
Argirippa.
North of
Apulia, in cape Garganon, there is the tomb and the
sanctuary of the prophet Kalhas (known from the Odyssey). Not far
from the sanctuary we find the river Altheas (Alteo in
modern Italian), which mean healing river.
Another group
of Homeric heroes, soldiers from the army of King Nestor of Pylos,
founded the city of Metapontio in Basilicata province, and some other heroes from the
Peloponnesian city of Pissa, in Olympia province, established the city
of Piza in Italy.
Philoctetes
from Magnesia (Thessalian Magnesia was birthplace of the famous Achilles), established
the cities of Kroton, Petillia, Krimissa, Manalla and others.
Ajax from Locrida. He raped the Trojan
princes Cassandra in the Palladion temple of Athena Pallas in Troy. But he was punished by the goddess.
Most of his fleet sunk in the Aegean and Ajax
with his companions washed ashore in south Italy, together with the King of
Crete, Idomeneas. The place where they arrived took the
name Salento (from joint sail), Salentina Graecia in Apulia
today.
Idomeneas had a
son back in Crete. His name was Lefkos.
Lefkos took by force the kingdom from his father, but he was not able
to keep it for long. Soon Lefkos was forced to flee to Italy to save
his life from revolts on the island. The place he fled to was
named Leukania.
Menelaos, King
of Sparta, also had adventures in Sicily
and southern Italy.
He founded the city of Drepani (Trapani) and Eryx (Eryx was son of Poseidon).
He also founded the city of Elba on
the island in the Tyrrhenian Sea. In
Elba existed an older Greek city with a gorgeous megalithic temple of Hercules, founded by the Argonauts,
around 1800 BC. Other cities that Menelaos founded
were Lefka (present Santa Maria Di Leuka) and the city Lakainia
Hera a precursor to the city of Kroton.
Odysseus on
Sicily founded the city of Ligali
(or Isole Di Sirene) in the Gulf on Naples.
The palace of the famous Circe from the Odyssey,
existed in the city with the same name, south of Rome,
with a gorgeous acropolis and a great temple of Aphrodite. Just
north of Naples
existed the lakes Aherousa and Aornos (the gate to the underworld). In cape Pachynos
(southeast corner of Sicily)
were the kenotaphion of Ekave and the tomb of Politis, a beloved
companion of Odysseus.
Τhe city
of Neapolis was founded
by the Athenian Argonaut Faliros. It was first named
Faliron, after him, around 1800 BC. When the siren Parthenopi
arrived in the city it was renamed Parthenopi (around 1200
BC). Later, during the fourth great Greek colonization (8th and
7th century BC) it became Neapolis.
The island of Licosa also took its name from a
siren.
In the country
of the Davnians came Greeks from Aetolia, a province in west-central Greece. They
were experts in copper mining. They arrived in Davnia in the 12th century
BC, after the invitation of Diomedes. Diomedes, former king of Argos, became Davnos
son in law. His origin was from the city of Kalledonia
in Aetolia. In the seafront of Davnia, exist Diomedes Islands (Tremity today) with
Diomedes’s gorgeous horses (Known from the adventures of Herakles.
In the far
north, the Homeric hero Antilohos, founded the city of Perugia.
Another refugee
from the Trojan war, was Antinoos. He left Troy
and led the Trojan neighboring tribe of Paflagones, he arrived in Venice. There he founded
the city of Enetia
which was the name of the capital of Paflagonia at this time. (later, Enetia in
Paflagonia was renamed to Sinope in Pontus, Asia Minor).
And many other
smaller cities by other heroes…
Mycenaean artefacts and Mycenaean locations
from the 16-12 centuries BC. Big collections of Mycenaean artifacts are
exhibited in museums in Caliari, capital of Sardinia, Syracuse in
Sicily, Taranto
in Apulia and other museums.
Pantalica
Pantalica is an
archaeological site/necropolis in Sicily.
The archaeological record starts from the end of the Bronze Age (13th century
BC) and reaches with some interruptions until the Middle Ages. The site,
along with the neighboring city of Syracuse,
was included in 2005 in
the UNESCO World Heritage Sites. Pantalica has been identified with the ancient
Greek city of Hybla, whose last
king, Hyvlon, allowed settlers from Megara. Hyvlon lived during the
second Greek colonization of Sicily,
1250-1100 BC. The first colonization was the Minoan, from 2000 BC or earlier to
1400 BC. The settlers from Megara built the city
of Megara Yvlaia
in 729 BC. Little remains of the prehistoric settlement, probably destroyed by
the Syracusans when they founded the city of Akrai in 664 BC, including the
impressive-sized rock necropolis, which dates from the 13th to 7th century
BC. The area was repopulated during the Byzantine period when small rock
settlements were created and many of the caves were used as houses,
hermetaries, and orthodox churches. The grave artifacts, goods and the rest of
the archaeological findings, let archaeologists divide the so-called
"Culture of Pantalika" into 3 periods: Pantalika I (1200-1000 BC),
Pantalika II (1000-850 BC), Pantalika III (850-750 BC).
At the top of
the small plateau in Pantalika, the Italian archaeologist
Orsi was the first who found traces of a building, that he called the
Palace- “Anaktoron”, according to Mycenaean standards. The discovery of Mycenaean artifacts in Pantalika, in the
tombs and in the Palace, proves, in my opinion, that Pantalika was a Greek
Mycenaean settlement. It was the ancient city of Hybla. According to some other archaeologists,
the existence of Mycenaean findings, indicates that the “unknown” inhabitants
of Pantalika simply had trade relations and shopped from Mycenaean Greeks.
Pantalika, the
Mycenaean Palace, “Anaktoron”. Anax is
the Greek Mycenaean word for king. Anaktoron is the
palace.
Mycenaean
Archaeological Locations. Excavated or still under excavation.
1)Fondo
Paviani,
2)Fabrica dei
sotsi,
3)Montaniana,
4)Fratezina,
5)Ancona,
6)Trezzano,
7)Pientiluco,
8)Luni sul minione,
9)Monte
Rovello,
10)San
Giovenale,
11)Kasale
Nuovo,
12)Vivara,
13)Ischia,
14)Empoli,
15)Pesto,
16)Polla,
17)Praia a Mare,
18)Santa
Domenica di Rricardi,
19)Panarea,
20)Lipares Isole,
21)Filicunti,
22)Ustica,
23)Salina,
24)Manacore,
25)Molinella,
26)Copa Nevigata,
27)Toppo
Dagutso,
28)Trani,
29)Bari,
30)Giovinazo,
31)Santa Sabrina,
32)Punta Del
Terrare,
33)Sourbo,
34)Otranto,
35)Leuka,
36)Parabita,
37)Porto cesareo,
38)Avetrana,
39)Oria,
40)Torre Castellucia,
41)Porto Perone,
42)Satyrion,
43)Taranto,
44)Scoglio Del
Tonno,
45)Cozzo
Marziotta,
46)Palazziano,
47)Timmari,
48)San Vitto,
49)Termitoo,
50)Francavilla Marittima,
51)Broglio di
trembizace,
52)Tore del,
53)Capo
Piccolo,
54)Serra
Orlando,
55)Valsavoia,
56)Molinello,
57)Thapsos,
58)Syracusa
59)Plemmyrion,
60)Mantrensa,
61)Cotso del Pandano,
62)Florindia,
63)Pantalica,
64)Kava Kana Barbara,
65)Monte Salia,
66)Busemi,
67)Canatello,
68)Milena,
69)Caldare,
70)Agrigento,
71)Borg in Nantur
72)Albuziu,
73)Sa Mandra sa Giua,
74)San Antioco
de Bisarzio,
75)Ponsomazziore,
76)Orosei,
77)Rio Locula,
78)Nuoro,
79)Perda e Floris,
80)Tertenia,
81)Domu s' Orcu,
82)Antigori,
83)Capoterra,
84)Asemini,
85)Netsimopouzzu,
86)Gonosfanadiga,
87)Barumini,
88)Sierra
ilixi,
89)Abini,
90)Tharros
The most
interesting thing in the map above is the Mycenaean Sardo (Sardinia). Regarding the prehistoric civilization of Sardinia and their megalithic
monuments, most scientists agree that it is about people who came to Sardinia
from the eastern Mediterranean (the usual historical route for human migration)
and the Aegean Sea. Among them were the
Mycenaeans of the Bronze Age and the Minoans before them. We will not expand in
this book on the fascinating mythology and early history of the island of Sardinia
as our subject here is Magna Graecia.
Magna Graecia is related to archaic, classical and Byzantine southern Italy, which does not include Sardinia
to a large degree.
Roman Era
The
Unstoppable Supremacy of the Greeks and the Domination of the Greek Language
through the Roman Period.
The first Greek
city to be absorbed by the Romans was Neapolis in 327 BC.
At the beginning of the 3rd century BC, Rome was
a great power but had not yet entered conflict with most of Magna
Graecia, which had been allied with
the Samnites. However, the needs of the Roman populace determined
their need for territorial expansion towards the south. As some Greek
cities of southern Italy came
under threat from some Italian tribes at the end of the 4th century BC,
these cities asked for help from Rome.
Rome exploited
this opportunity by sending military garrisons around 280 BC. Following Rome's victory over Taras after the Pyrrhic War in
272 BC, (Pyrros was the King of Epirus and
cousin of Alexander the Great of Macedonia) most of the cities of
southern Italy were
linked to Rome with
pacts and treaties (foedera) which sanctioned a sort of indirect control.
Sicily was
conquered by Rome
during the first Punic war. Only Syracuse
remained independent until 212 BC, because its king Hieron II was
a devoted ally of the Romans. His grandson Hieronymos, however, allied
himself with Hannibal,
which prompted the Romans to besiege the city, which fell in 212 BC.
Roman colonies
(civium romanorum) were the main element of the new territorial control plan
starting with lex Atinia in 197 BC. In 194 BC, garrisons of 300 Roman
veterans were implanted in Volturnum, Liternum, Puteoli, Salernum,
Buxentum, and Sipontum on the Adriatic.
This model was replicated in the territory
of Calabria. 194 BC,
saw the foundation of the Roman colonies in the old Greek cities of
Kroton and Tempsa. The social, linguistic and administrative changes
arising from the Roman conquest, took root in this region only in the 1st
century AD, while Greek culture remained strong and was actively cultivated as
shown by epigraphic evidence.
Cumae and the “Latin” alphabet.
Cumae was a
Greek city from the 8th century BC south of Naples
in Campania. The
form of Greek Cumaean alphabet was adopted by the Romans and is the alphabet
called “Latin” that we use today.
Cumae, Temple of Apollon.
Cumae.
Cave of Sybilla. (Andro de la Sibilla).
The Arrival of Christianity in
Southern Italy
The first
reference to a Christian presence on the island appears
in Acts (28.12–13, written in Greek as all the 28 official books of
Christianity): "We landed in Syracuse, where we remained for three days
and then we travelled along the coast and arrived at Rhegion." In
this way, Apostole Paul, a Jew from the Greek city of Tarsos in Asia Minor, who spoke only Greek with a
Syriac accent, and not Hebrew, on his voyage from the Levant to Rome travelled through Sicily. He stopped in Syracuse after
having been shipwrecked and forced to disembark in Malta (Melita in Greek). From Malta, according to the account in Acts, Paul
travelled to Syracuse,
but it is not clear why he stopped there. Syracuse was
still used in this period as a station on the way to Rome on commercial trade routes. Perhaps Paul
was hosted by a Jewish community, which existed in many ports of the Mediterranean. The Jewish community at Catania for example,
is well-attested epigraphically. Besides Paul, there are no sources before the
3rd century AD which expressly mention a Christian presence on the island.
There are
various legends which link the arrival of Christianity in Sicily with Paul's
brief sojourn on the island, while other traditions report that Paul met
Christians who had already arrived before him and that this was the reason why
he stopped on the island. But Acts doesn't mention any of this and
these traditions may respond to the desire to make the arrival of Christianity
in Sicily as early as possible (60
or even 40 AD), to reinforce the authority of the Sicilian Church.
The first
certain reference to a Sicilian church is found in an official letter
(Epist. 30.5.2), sent from Rome to
Cyprianos, Bishop of Carthage. This
document dates between 250 and 251 during the Decian persecutions and
discusses the Lapsi Christians who had performed acts of worship to pagan
deities in the face of Roman persecutions. The letter mentions a similar
letter sent to Sicily, which suggests
that apostasy was considered a problem on the island as well and that the
Christian presence on Sicily was
already significant enough to have a hierarchical relationship with Rome. It is possible that
this community developed at the end of the 2nd century AD or at the beginning
of the 3rd century, the period in which the first archaeological evidence
appears.
The Decian (250
AD) and Diocletian persecutions (304 AD) are the setting for the
stories of two important Greek Sicilian martyrs, Santa Agatha and
Santa Lucia. These saints are known only from hagiographies written
about two hundred years after the events, which present them as young and
beautiful virgins, victims of two persecutors called Quintianus and
Pascasius. It is likely that these sources respond to a desire to link the
two most important cities of eastern Sicily: Catania, home of Saint Agatha and Syracuse, home of Saint Lucia. Significantly,
all the principal saints of the island are women. In addition to Agatha and
Lucia, there are the Greek Palermitan saints, Nympha (4th century martyr),
Olivia (5th century martyr), and Christina (martyred in 304 AD), who was
introduced into the cult of the Norman princess Santa Rosalia by the
Palermitans. Perhaps this emphasis on female figures in Sicilian Christianity
reflects the emphasis on female deities in pre-Christian Greek Sicilian
religion (e.g. Demetra, the goddess protector of Sicily and her daughter Persephone,
Aphrodite of Eryx, Isis etc.).
Two important
Christian inscriptions have been discovered from this period. One is
the epitaph of Julia Florentina, discovered in Catania
in 1730, in
the necropolis on the site of the modern via Dottor Consoli which now is
exhibited in the Louvre in Paris.
It is a funerary inscription, dating to the end of the 3rd century AD, which
records in Latin the death of a child of little more than a year in age, buried
next to the "Christian martyrs" (but it is not clear whether this
refers to Agatha and Euplios). The inscription is the first direct evidence
for Christianity on the island. The other inscription, also sepulchral, is the
so-called Inscription of Euskia in Greek, which was discovered at the
end of the 19th century in the Catacombs of San Giovanni in Syracuse and dates to the beginning of
the 5th century. The document indicates a local cult of saint Lucia. At
the time of the inscription's creation, the cult of Agatha is already attested
at Rome and Carthage.
With the end of
the period of the persecutions, the Church entered a phase of expansion, even
as fierce debates arose within the church on doctrine, leading to the
convocation of synods. Eusebios includes a letter of Constantine
to Crestos, Bishop of Syracuse, in his Church History (10.5.21), which invites
him to participate in the council of Arles of 314 AD. Cresto was
assigned an important organizational role at Arles, which indicates the
relevance of the Sicilian church at the time.
The
Language of Christianity
In the Roman
Republican period the predominant language in southern Italy was still Greek, since the Romans had
no policy of enforcing their language on the communities of Magna
Graecia. Even in the period of Cicero, Greek
was the main language used equally by the elite and almost all the
Sicilians and southern Italy.
It is mentioned by Cicero
in “Verrine Orations”, that the entire population has Greek names. Cicero also refers to the Greek calendar in use throughout
Sicily in this period, Greek festivals,
relations between the Sicilian cities and Panhellenic sanctuaries like Delphi, Sicilian, Calabrian and other Greek athletes at
the Olympic Games and Greek civil architecture. Literature remained almost
exclusively Greek, with authors like Diodoros of Sicily and Caecilios of
Calacte. There is no evidence of the existence of other languages in Sicily and in most places in the rest of southern Italy, except
Greek.
With the
establishment of six Roman colonies (August converted some old Greek
cities into Latin colonies in the beginning of the Imperial period), Augustus
tried to establish bilingualism in Sicily
and southern Italy.
But his success was limited. That’s because, 1) Greek culture and language
was superior. As the Latin writer Horacius wrote. “The barbarian Latium conquered the Greeks by arms, but the
Greeks conquered the barbaric Latium
with their spitit”. 2) The Sicilians and Magno-Greeks had strong Greek national
consciousness and finally, 3) Because in a short time after Augustus,
during the imperial period, Christianity arrived in southern Italy. Christianity
is a religion based in 28 Holy Books. 27 official and one semi-official, the
Apocalypsis, all written in Greek, by Greeks. So, as it is natural, all the
Christians used the Greek language.
The
predominance of the Greek language continued uninterrupted during the Byzantine
period. Generally, in the Imperial period, Latin became the
administrative language in southern Italy,
because all the officials who came from Rome,
spoke only Latin. Some intellectuals who came from Rome also wrote in Latin, but the number of
Greek intellectuals was much greater. Pantaenos, Aristocles of Messene, Probos of Libylaeon, Citharios
etc. In this period the non-Greek languages must have definitively
disappeared, although Punic (Phoenician) may still have been spoken at the end
of the Imperial period based on the testimony of Apouleios. The same
happened with Jewish and Samaritan communities, who at this time spoke
almost only Greek.
Middle Ages
During
the Early Middle Ages, following the disastrous Gothic War, new waves of
Byzantine Christian Greeks fleeing the Slavic invasion of Greece in the Balkans, settled in Calabria
Apulia and the rest of southern Italy,
further strengthening the Hellenic element in the region. The Eastern Roman
(Byzantine) Empire, continued
to govern the area in the form of the Catepanate of Italy through the
Middle Ages, well after northern Italy fell to the German Lombards.
At the time of
the Normans medieval conquest of southern Italy and Sicily,
most of Apulia, more than two-thirds of Sicily,
mostly in the Val Demone (Demone comes from Lacedaemon), the
eastern coast and Val di Noto (southern coast and interior), and much
of Calabria, Lucania-Basilicata and Apulia, had a still largely Greek-speaking population.
Some regions of southern Italy experienced
demographic shifts as Greeks began to migrate northwards in significant
numbers. One such region was Cilento next to Naples, which came to have a Greek-speaking
majority. At this time the language had evolved into medieval Greek, also
known as Byzantine Greek. The resultant fusion of local Byzantine Greek
culture with Norman and Arab culture gave rise to
the Norman-Arab-Byzantine culture in Sicily.
Sicily used
to be the Roman Republic's
granary. It was divided into two quaestorships: Syracuse in the east
and Libylaeon in the west. Roman rule introduced the
Latin language to the island, which underwent a slow process of
Latinization. Sicily
remained largely Greek in a cultural sense and the Greek language did not
become extinct on the island, facilitating its “re-Hellenization” under
the Byzantines.
Germanic
rule (469–535)
The Western
Roman Empire began falling apart after the invasion of the Vandals, Alans and
Sueves across the Rhine
River on the last day of
406 AD. Eventually the Vandals, after roaming about western and southern
Hispania (known as Iberia
to) for 20 years, moved to North Africa in 429 AD and occupied Carthage in 439.
The Franks moved south from present-day Belgium.
The Visigoths moved west and eventually settled in Aquitaine in
418 and the Burgundians settled in present-day Savoy in 443 AD.
The Vandals
found themselves in a position to threaten Sicily which was only 100
miles away from their North African bases. After taking Carthage, the Vandals, personally led by King
Caesaric besieged Palermo in
440 AD as the opening act in an attempt
to wrest the island from Roman rule. The Vandals made another attempt to
take the island one year after the 455 AD sack of Rome
but were defeated decisively by Ricimer at Agrigento
and in a naval victory off the coast of Corsica in
456. The island remained under Roman rule until 469. The Vandals lost
possession of the island 8 years later in 477, from another Germanic people,
the Ostrogoths, who then controlled Italy and Dalmatia.
The island was
returned to the Ostrogoths by as a tribute to their king Odoacer. He ruled Italy from 476
to 488 in the name (as vassal) of the Byzantine or Eastern
Roman Emperor. The Vandals kept a toehold in Libylaeon, a port
on the west coast. They lost this in 491, after making one last attempt to
conquer the island from this port. The Ostrogothic conquest of Sicily and of Italy as a whole, under Theodoric
the Great began in 488. The Byzantine Emperor Zenon had appointed
Theodoric as a military commander in Italy. The Goths were
Germanic, but Theodoric fostered Greek culture and administration and
allowed freedom of religion. In 461, from the age of seven or eight until
17 or 18, Theodoric had become a Byzantine hostage in Constantinople.
He resided in the great palace of
Constantinople, he was
taught how to read, write and do math and was favored by Emperor Leon I
(r.457–474).
The
first Byzantine period (535–827)
Seal of
the Greek Elpidios as patrikios and strategos of Sicily.
In the 6th
century, Emperor Justinian's troops liberated Magna Graecia from the
occupation of the barbarian Germanic tribes who had invaded and dissolved the
Roman Empire, and the province/theme of Lower Italy was
established.
After
taking areas occupied by the Vandals in North Africa, Justinian I, retook Italy as
an ambitious attempt to recover the lost provinces in the West. The
re-conquests marked an end to over 150 years of accommodationist policies with
tribal invaders. His first target was Sicily,
in what became known as the Gothic War, 535-554.
General Belissarios was assigned the task. Sicily
was used as a base for the Byzantines to conquer the rest of Italy, with Naples,
Rome, and Milan. The
population welcomed general Belisarius as a liberator and they joined him,
because they belonged to the same nation. The Byzantines took five years before
the Ostrogoth capital Ravena, was captured in 540. However, the new Ostrogoth
king, Totila counterattacked, moving down the Italian peninsula,
plundering and conquering Sicily in
550. Totila was defeated and killed in the Battle of Taginae by the
Byzantine General Narsis in 552 but Italy was in ruins.
At the time of
the reconquest Greek was still the predominant language, spoken on Sicily, in Calabria, in
Apulia, in Basilicata and some places in Campania. Samples of
Byzantine Orthodox art from this era are the exceptional mosaics that adorn the
churches of Ravenna such
as Agios Apollinarios, Agios Vitalios, the Mausoleum of Gala
Plastina, but also the basilica of Agios Apollinarios and so on.
In 652, Sicily was invaded
by the Arab forces of Caliph Uthman, but the Arabs failed to make
permanent gains. They returned to Syria with their booty. Raids
seeking loot continued until the mid-8th century.
Syracuse, Capital of the Byzantine
Empire
The Eastern
Roman Emperor Constas II moved the capital from Constantinople to Syracuse in 660. The
following year he launched an assault from Sicily against
the Longobard Duchy of Banevento, which occupied lot of southern Italy’s
territory. The news that the capital of the empire was to be moved to Syracuse probably cost
Constas his life, as he was assassinated in 668. His
son Constantine IV succeeded him. A brief usurpation in Sicily by Mezezios
was quickly suppressed. Contemporary accounts report that the Greek
language was widely spoken on the island of Sicily and all south Italy during this period. In 740
Emperor Leon III the Isaurian transferred Sicily from
the jurisdiction of the church of Rome, to Constantinople,
placing this Greek island within the national Greek, eastern branch of the
Church.
In the 7th and
8th centuries, due to sects and the spread of Islam and mainly the iconoclasm,
50,000 monks settled in Lower Italy over
a period of 120 years. When the so-called "easterners" adopted
Monophysitism and Iconoclasm, the Christians of Italy remained faithful to
Orthodoxy (the Vatican was
still Orthodox at this time). After 800 AD the Archbishopric of Syracuse for
the flock of Sicily and Reggio Calabria, for
the southern tip of Italy were
established. Calabria in the 10th century was
called "new Thebes"
since 265 Greek monasteries were operating. Great holy figures emerged
such as Saint Elias the Sicilian, Saint Philaretos, Saint Nilos
and Saint John the Theristis.
The
Arabs
In 826
Euphemios, the Byzantine commander in Sicily,
having apparently killed his wife, forced a nun to marry him. Emperor Michael
II found out about it and ordered General Constantine to end the marriage
and cut off Euphemius' head. Euphemios rose up in revolt, killed Constantine, and occupied Syracuse. But he was finally defeated and
driven out to North Africa. There he
offered the rule of Sicily to Ziyadat
Allah, the Aglabid Emir of Tunis,
in return for a position as a general and a place of safety. A Muslim
army was sent to the island consisting of Arabs, Berbers and Persians.
The Muslim
conquest of Sicily was
a see-saw affair and met with fierce resistance. It took over a century for
Byzantine Sicily to be conquered. The largest city, Syracuse,
held out until 878 and the city of Taormina fell
in 962. It wasn’t until 965 when all of Sicily was
conquered by the Arabs.
The most
important Byzantine cities during that period were: Amalfi, Alessio
(Lecce), Sorrento, Callipoli, Monopoli, Bari, Polykastro, Seminara, Rossano,
Salerno, Gerace, Gaeta, Otranto, Palmi, Nicotera (Nicopetra), Tropaia,
Mantineia, Kalogero, Paradissoni, Piscopi, Zaccanopoli, Diamante, Monopoly, Polykastro, Papasidero, Philadelphia, Reggio,
Mesimeri, Nicosia, Cosenza, Enna, Palermo, Agira, Kefalu, Syracuse, Notos,
Palermo, Ragusa, Troina, Messina along with many other smaller towns and
villages .
The administrative language in Sicily under Arab rule was the Siculo-Arabic,
but the spoken language by the population, still was Greek. The Arabic
influence is still present in some Sicilian words today. Although long
extinct in Sicily,
this language has developed into what is now the Maltese language.
Around 1050,
the (Arab) western part of Sicily was
ethnically and culturally distinct from the Greek central, south and
east Sicily.
During this time, there was also a small Jewish presence in Sicily, evidence seen in
the catacombs discovered on the island.
Palermo was initially ruled by
the Aghlabids. Later it was the center of the Emirate of Sicily, which was
under the nominal suzerainty of the Fatimid Califate. During
the reign of this dynasty, many revolts by Byzantine
Sicilians continuously occurred. Parts of the island were re-occupied
before revolts were quashed. Under the Arab rule the island was divided in
three administrative regions, roughly corresponding to the three
"points" of Sicily: Val
di Mazara in the west, Val Demone (Val Lake-demone) in the
northeast and Val di Noto (Noto means South in Greek) in the
southeast (around Greek Syracuse). As dhimmis, that is as members of a class of
allowed monotheists, the Orthodox Christians were allowed freedom of
religion, but had to pay a tax, the jizya (in lieu of the obligatory
alms tax, the zakat paid by Muslims), and were restricted from active
participation in public affairs. By the 11th century, intra-dynastic quarreling
fractured the Muslim government.
These areas
suffered from the depredations of the Saracens, who destroyed many Greek
monasteries. But Orthodoxy flourished in this Greek land until the 11th
century, when Western Christianity started following the path of the dark and
brutal doctrine of the Papacy.
Norman
Sicily/Magna Graecia (1038–1198)
“Giorgio
Maniace” Castle in Syracuse.
It was built by the Byzantine general Georgios Maniakis, who liberated the city
from the Arabs in the 11th century.
In the
11th-century Byzantine armies carried out a partial reconquest of the island
under Georgios Maniakis, but it was their (Byzantine) Norman
mercenaries who would eventually complete the island's reconquest from the
Arabs at the end of the century. In 1038, seventy years after losing their last
cities in Sicily,
Maniakis invaded the island together with the “Varangian guard” who was
the 200
Norman mercenaries. Maniakis was killed in a Byzantine civil war in 1043
before completing the reconquest and the Byzantines withdrew. Later, his
mercenaries, the Normans, invaded in 1061 and took Apulia and Calabria.
...Sicilian men, descendants of Achilles and Alexander the Great ...
The 11th century Byzantine castle
of Saint Niceta (San’ Aniceto in
Italian) in Calabria, South Italy. Aetna in the background.
Some modern
Italian scientists, look for Norman DNA heritage in Sicily
and the rest of southern Italy.
But what DNA footprint can we find from the 200 Norman mercenaries, in southern
Italy?
Normans were
only a marginal group of soldiers, who became rulers of the
territory. Norman population did not
exist in Sicily.
Roger
I, occupied Messina with
an army of 700 knights (200 Normans and 500 local Greek vassals). In 1068,
Roger I was victorious at Misilmeri-Mesimeri in gr. Most crucial was
the siege of Palermo, which fell in 1071 and
eventually resulted in all of Sicily coming
under Norman control. The conquest was completed in 1091 when they captured
Notos, the last Arab stronghold.
Palermo continued
to be the capital under the Normans.
The Normans formed
a small but violent ruling class. They destroyed many of the Arab towns in Sicily and very few
physical remains survive from the Arab era. The Norman rulers in Sicily adopted the
habits and comportment of previous Muslim rulers and their Byzantine subjects
in dress, language, literature, even to the extent of having palace eunuchs
and, according to some accounts, a harem.
While Roger I
died in 1101, his wife Adelaide ruled until
1112, when their son Roger II of Sicily came
of age. Having succeeded his brother Simon as Count of Sicily, Roger
II was ultimately able to raise the status of the island to a kingdom in 1130,
along with his other holdings, which included the Maltese islands and the
Duchies of Apulia and Calabria.
Roger II appointed the powerful Greek George of Antioch to be
his "emir of emirs" and continued the syncretism of his
father. During this period, the Kingdom
of Sicily was prosperous and
politically powerful, becoming one of the wealthiest states in all of Europe,
even wealthier than the Kingdom
of England.
Martorana,
Palermo. Work
of Georgios of Antioch,
The Greek prime minister of Roger II. Built by local and Constantinopolitan
Greek artists.
The court of
Roger II became the most luminous center of culture in the Mediterranean.
This attracted scholars, scientists, poets, artists, and artisans of all
kinds. The palace
secretariat issued documents in at least 5 languages, Latin, Greek, French,
Arabic and Hebrew. Communities coexisted harmoniously. Laws were issued
in the language of the community to whom they were addressed in Norman Sicily,
at the time when the culture was still heavily Arab and Greek. To Roger we owe
the "Assises of Ariano" the most complete codification of
legal provisions of the Middle Ages. In their preamble we read
that: "The laws and decrees of the king apply to all subjects,
Latins, Greeks, Jews, and Saracens. However, the existing morals and
customs and the laws of these peoples are not affected at all, unless they
manifestly contradict the law”. Governance was by rule of law which
promoted justice. Muslims, Byzantine Greeks, the rulers of the Lombard Duchy,
the Norman rulers of Sicily and
small communities of Jews worked together fairly amicably during this time with
many extraordinary buildings being constructed.
Roger the Norman appears
in mosaics with Byzantine splendor, appropriating the symbols of the emperors
of Constantinople and appearing as their
successor. His main advisor was Georgios from Antioch,
a Greek from Syria who
served the Zirid emirs of Tunis,
until Roger discovered him and assigned him the high office of “emir of
the emirs”. In the highest echelons of the administration, we find Greeks,
Arabs and Normans. Their collaboration led to the creation of the most
sophisticated and efficient bureaucracy of the time (land registry, taxation
and other financial matters).
Roger II linked his reign with an unprecedented cultural
flourishing, which is witnessed by the Norman Palace with its magnificent
chapel, the Martorana, built on the previously Greek Orthodox church of Saint
Nikolaos in Palermo (Santa Maria dell' Ammiraglio, the work of Georgios of
Antioch), and in the cathedral of Kefalou (Kefaloidion
in ancient Greek).
Greek and Arab sages frequented Roger's court. Al
Idrisi prepared an atlas accompanied by seven maps and a plane. All
sailors whose ships docked in the kingdom's ports were asked to fill out the
Arab geographer's questionnaires. The theologian Theophanis Kerameos and Nilos
Doxapatris, monks from Calabria,
wrote a “History of the five Patriarchates”, drawing on his knowledge
and the information he collected over a number of years.
But the Greeks
were forbidden, by orders of the Vatican, to have Greek bishops and
their church services in the Greek language. The bishops now and for the first
time in history, came from Rome.
They didn't know Greek, and they changed the liturgy from Greek to Latin.
At the same time the Normans opened the borders
to the Benedictine monks, who are the first papal monks to appear in Magna Graecia. Despite their significant number, they
respected the parallel existence of the Orthodox monasteries and generally
there were no frictions then.
The Normans
themselves respected Orthodoxy to a considerable extent, out of political
calculation of course, because they could not come into direct conflict with
the vast majority of their subjects. Thus, they repaired many
monasteries. Twenty by the King of Sicily Roger I and over 30 by his
successor Roger II. And in all the buildings and churches they built, such
as Monreale in Palermo, Kefalou Messina and
elsewhere, they invited architects, craftsmen and artists from Constantinople. However, many famous monasteries (Our
Lady of Lecce, Agios Mavros in Gallipoli, Agios Nikolaos Casoulo Otranto,
etc.), lost their autonomy and were left to wither, by the religious policy of
the Normans.
At some point,
Roger II wanted to change his policy and strengthen Orthodoxy, aiming to
maintain an independent Archbishopric of Magna Graecia, and for this
reason he invited the Sicilian Nilos Doxapatris from Constantinople to become Archbishop in his kingdom.
But he could not carry out his plan, because the Pope did not want to lose what
he had just now acquired, after a thousand years of predominance of Greek
Christianity. This is how the autonomy of the Orthodox Church in Magna Graecia was extinguished.
In addition to
the Latin language, which came with the arrival of papal bishops and
Benedictine monks, the Normans also introduced their French language, resulting
in four equal languages on the island. The prevailing Greek among the people,
in the church and among those who Latinized under strong pressures, Latin,
French which the Normans
adopted in their court and Arabic for those Arabs who remained on the island.
From the mixing of these languages, the Sicilian language began to be created.
At the same
time, Naples, which was then an independent
city, reconnected spiritually with Constantinople, together with Salerno, Gaeta
and Amalfi. All these were large cities, outside of the Byzantine
territory in southern Italy. Amalfi
was founded by Constantine the Great himself in the 4th century, and he settled
it exclusively with Greek residents. Thus, it was, in a way, a sister city
of Constantinople, with many privileges and
an Amalfine monastery on Mount Athos.
However, Greek
predominance started to gradually change at the time of the Norman
conquest and to become Latinized. In terms of religion the island in the next
centuries became completely Roman Catholic, bearing in mind that until 1054 the
Churches owing allegiance to the Pope and the Patriarch of Constantinople
belonged to one Church. Sicily
before the Norman conquest was under the Eastern Orthodox Patriarchate. In
1098, the Pope Innocent III made Roger I, Papal Legate, who created
several Catholic bishoprics, while still allowing the construction of 12
Greek-speaking monasteries. The Greek language, the monasteries, and 1500
parishes continued to exist, gradually declining until the adherents of
the Greek Rite were forced in 1585 to convert to Catholicism or leave the
country.
MARTORANA
Giorgio d’Antiochia (GEORGIOS
ANTIOCHEUS), a Sicilian-Greek, was the Emir of Emirs (Prime
Minister) of the Norman Kingdom under Roger II.
He was responsible for the military expansions of the Norman Kingdom in
Africa, the Peloponnese, Apulia, Epirus, and even the expedition to conquer
Constantinople.
Giorgio was a polyglot and a man of great culture. He founded the Orthodox
Church of Santa Maria dell’Ammiraglio in Palermo (later known as the Martorana,
today Roman Catholic Cathedral, on the
foundations of a pre-existing Sicelo-Greek church of Saint Nicholas in
Palermo), adorned with magnificent Byzantine mosaics. In one of them (first
photo), Giorgio d’Antiochia is shown kneeling, offering the church to the
Virgin Mary.
Above Giorgio, the inscription
reads: ΔΟΥΛΟΥ ΔΕΗCΙC CΟΥ ΓΕΩΡΓΙΟΥ ΤΟΥ ΑΜΗΡΑ. (The prayer
of your servant George the Admiral).
The Mother of God holds a scroll on which are written her words addressed
to her Son:
ΤΟΝ ΕΚ ΒΑΘΡΩΝ ΔΕΜΑΝΤΑ ΤΟΝ ΔΕ ΜΟΙ
ΔΟΜ[ΟΝ] ΓΕΩΡΓΙΟΝ ΠΡΩΤΙCΤΟΝ ΑΡΧΟΝΤΩΝ ΟΛΩΝ, ΤΕΚΝΟ ΦΥΛΑΤΤΕΙC ΠΑΝΓΕΝΕΙ ΠΑCHC BΛΑΒΗC, ΝΕΜΕΙC ΤΕ ΤΗΝ ΛΥΤΡΩCIN ΑΜΑΡΤΗΜΑΤΩΝ. EXEIC ΓΑΡ ΙCΧΥΝ ΩC Θ[ΕΟ]C MONOC ΛΟΓΕ.
(Keep,
the Son George, the first among all
princes, who built this house for me from the foundations; preserve him,
descendant of all the lineage, from all evil, and grant him the remission of
sins. For You, O Word, alone are God and have the power.)
He also founded the Orthodox Church of San
Michele in Mazara del Vallo, in the western part of Sicily, as well as the Cathedral of Cefalù, among other
works (Roads, palaces, castles, churches; the majority — about 27 Orthodox churches in Sicily alone, many more in Calabria and
Apulia, etc.
At this time, the Greek-speaking Sicilians and Orthodox, constitute the
great majority of the inhabitants of the island and Southern Italy, since the
second millennium BC and the Mycenaean settlement,
uninterruptedly. In the following centuries they will be Latinized in a violent
and brutal way, by the Vatican and his Franco-Germanic vasals.
He, Georgios, also made the “Ponte
dell’Ammiraglio” (Admiral’s Bridge), with seven arches over the Oreto river
in Palermo. On this bridge, in 1860, Garibaldi’s Red Shirts fought for the
first time against the Sicilian army of
Francis II, King of the Two Sicilies,
during the creation of the Italian State (the Risorgimento).
He died shortly thereafter; according to the historian Ibn al-Athīr, in the
year of the Hijra 546, corresponding to 1151–1152.
In his office as Emir of Emirs (Prime Minister), he was succeeded by
another Sicilian-Greek, Philip of Mahdia.
&&&&&&&
The
Greek Language was Official in Sicily
in the 12th Century
The Countess
Adelasias letter is the oldest text written on paper in Europe. It was found in Sicily. It is a letter written on March 25,
1109 by Countess Adelasia and is written in Greek and Arab.
Countess
Adelasia and her husband Ruggero were very close to the Greek abbey of San
Filippo di Fragalà or Demenna in Frazzanò, in the Nebrodi mountains. In
this abbey, there was a religious community of ancient tradition devoted
to the Italogreek San Filippo d'Agira. Abbot Gregory, in 1090, had
turned to the couple to ask for their intervention in the reconstruction of the
Abbey which had been partially destroyed by the Arabs. The couple not only
worked to find the funds for the reconstruction but also tried to find
protection for the structure and the monks who lived in it. The letter
written in black ink was found in the State Archives of Palermo where it was
transferred in 1877 to coincide with the suppression of the Messina monasteries which was ordered by a
law in 1866. The peculiarity of the letter is precisely the use of paper that
was not used for official documents for which the noblest parchment was used.
Paper became ordinarily used in the peninsula only after 1264 as documented by
notarial deeds preserved in the Historical Archive of Matelica.
From the
analysis of the paper, we see that it is not a Fabriano-made paper like the one
more commonly known in other similar documents. From the characteristics of the
cellulose compound, it is probable that the paper used by Adelasia came from
eastern countries. Before reaching its current exhibition in the State Archives
of Palermo, Adelasia's letter passed through the Ospedale Grande in Palermo. That this paper
came from Muslim paper mills is supported by the fact that this type of paper
matrix was used in Sicily
by the Norman chancellery in documents of a transitory nature such as mandates.
In 1996,
Adelasia's original letter was restored at the Center for Photoproduction,
Binding and Restoration of the State Archives, in Rome. The restoration was particularly
challenging due to the interventions it underwent in the 16th century, when the
document was attached to a sheet of parchment for its maintenance. Adhesion to
the parchment seriously damaged the document due to the different response of
the two materials (paper - parchment) to humidity and temperature, causing
tears, bubbles and favoring the action of moths.
The
Crusader Attack Against the Greek Byzantine Empire
The Crusades
were mobilazed by the Roman Catholic Church with the aim of liberating the Holy
Lands from the Muslims. In reality, however, there were wars in search of
fortune, which ended against the Christian Greek Byzantine Empire, which they
plundered and brought the stolen wealth and works of art to the Western cities
and to the Vatican.
In the 4th crusade in 1204, the Crusaders conquered Constantinople and held it until 1261. However, the
main consequence of the western crusaders was the weakening of the Greek empire
which was not able to withstand the attack of the Turks that took place in the
following century and who effectively enslaved and genocided Hellenism from
then until now. Today in Constantinople live
not more than 3,000 Greeks! Magna Graecia was
the place where the Roman Catholic Crusades departed for the war against
Greeks. Three Popes of our times, John Paul II the Polish, Benedict the
Bavarian and the current, the Argentinian Francisco Bergoglio, have
officially and multiple times asked for forgiveness from the Greek Orthodox
Churches and the Greek people for this destruction and the dark Roman
Catholic role to the genocide of Hellenism in the East and in the regions of
the Byzantine states.
Regarding Sicily, notable is the
example of Richard the Lionheart. The Crusader king of England
stopped in Messina on his way to
the Holy Land in the Third Crusade.
He captured the city after a dispute with his son-in-law William the Good, who
had married his sister Joan of England, over her dowry. Then he killed the
entire Sikelo-Greek leadership in the year 1191. The Magno-Greeks opposed
Richard’s plans to attack Greek lands in the East, with the excuse
of “liberation of the Holly lands”. The memory of this massacre
lays in a hill in the city of Messina,
by the name “Greek hill”, where they were all buried.
Ιn the
end, the only thing Richard did, was to seize the Greek island of Cyprus and
leave the memory of his criminal violence there as well.
Kingdom of Sicily. The Hohenstaufen
After
a century, the Norman Hauteville dynasty died out. The last direct
descendant and heir of Roger II, Constance,
married the Emperor Henry VI. This eventually led to the crown of Sicily being passed to the Hohenstaufen dynasty, who
were Germans from Swabia. The last of the
Hohenstaufens, Frederick II, the only son of Constance,
was one of the greatest and most cultured men of the Middle Ages. In her will,
his mother had asked Pope Innocent III to undertake the guardianship of
her son. Frederick was four when he
was crowned as King of Sicily at Palermo, in
1198. Frederick received no education
and was allowed to run free in the streets of Palermo. There he picked up the many
languages he heard spoken, such as Arabic and Greek. At age twelve, he
dismissed Innocent's deputy regent and took over the government. At fifteen he
married Constance of Aragon and began his reclamation of the imperial
crown. Subsequently, due to Muslim rebellions, Frederick II destroyed the
remaining Muslim presence in Sicily,
estimated at 60,000 people moving all to the city of Lucera in Apulia between 1221 and 1226. Conflict between the
Hohenstaufen house and the Papacy, led in 1266 the Pope Innocent
IV to crown the French prince Charles, count d'
Anju and Provence, as the King of
both, Sicily and Naples.
In 1231,
Frederick II wrote his famous legislation in two languages. It was published in
Greek, to be understood by the ordinary population, who spoke and understood
only Greek, and in Latin, the scholar language of legislation. Chapters I,
II, IV, provided harsh measures against the Greeks of Magna Graecia and
their heretic Orthodox Church in the Kingdom of two Sicilies, with many heavy
penalties against them. Prohibition of owning property, prohibition of
inheriting property from parents, imprisonment, not allowing use of the Greek
language, banning church ceremonies held in Greek, prohibition of studying in
universities in Constantinople (allowing studies only in the Naples University,
which was established in the year 1244) and many others.
Published by: Thea Von der Lieck, Buyken, Koln-Wien 1978. (other source a
small article in Wikipedia, by the title «Constitution di Malfi»).
Title in German language: Die Konstitutionen Freidrichs II von
Hohenstaufen fur sein Konigreich Siciliae
Frederico’s
Legislation. Original Text (in Greek):
Bασιλικαί
διατάξεις του αυτοκράτορα Φρειδερίκου Β΄ (1232)
Αρχή του πρώτου βιβλίου των βασιλικών διατάξεων
Ρώμης ο κλεινός ευσεβέστατος μέδων,
Αιλίας αυ ρήξ, πρός δέ καί Σικελίας
Φρειδερίκος κράτιστος εν στεφηφόροις,
Νέον νόμον τίθησι Σικελών κράτει,
Ον καί πέπομφε λύτρον ηδικημένοις.
Royal
Decrees of Emperor Frederick II (1232)
Beginning
of the first book of royal decrees
The most
pious and devout of Rome,
King of
Aelias and also Sicily
Frederick the most powerful among the crowned,
A new law
was enacted for the Sicilian states,
And he
promised to send a ransom to the aggrieved.
Bασιλεύς
Φρειδερίκος
αεί αυγουστος
Ιταλικός Σικελικός Ιεροσολυμίτης
Αρελατένσης
Ευσεβής, ευτυχής, νικητής και
τροπαιούχος.
King
Frederick
eternal
Augustus
Italian
Sicilian Jerusalemite Arelatense
Pious,
happy, victorious and trophy-holder.
Κεφ.
I, II, III, IV.
Το Α’ κεφάλαιο της νομοθεσίας είναι η «Προθεωρία», αναφέρεται δηλαδή
στους λόγους που οδήγησαν στην έκδοση της παρούσης νομοθεσίας. Το Β΄ και
Γ’κεφάλαιο αναφέρεται στην τιμωρία των αιρετικών και των Παταρένων
(Καθαρών), ενώ το κεφάλαιο Δ’ (IV) είναι αφιερωμένο στην Ορθοδοξία και
τον Ελληνισμό αναγγέλοντας σκληρά σε βάρος τους μέτρα, όπως στέρηση περιουσίας
και κληρονομιάς.
Chapters
I, II, III, IV.
Chapter I
of the legislation is the "Preliminary Statement", that is, it refers
to the reasons that led to the issuance of the present legislation. Chapters II
and III refer to the punishment of heretics and the Patarenes (Cathars), while
chapter (IV) is dedicated to Orthodoxy and Hellenism, announcing harsh measures
against them, such as deprivation of property and inheritance.
Κεφ. ΙV
Περί αποστατούντων από της καθολικης πίστεως.
Τους από της καθολικης πίστεως αποστατουντας το
καθόλου διώκοντες εκ πάντων των πραγμάτων αυτων τούτους απεκδύομεν και
τιμης αυτούς υστερεισθαι βουλόμεθα, διαδοχήν και παν άλλο νόμιμον δίκαιον
αυτοίς αφαιρουντες.
Chapter IV
Concerning those who apostatize from the Catholic faith.
We are
persecuting those who apostatize from the Catholic faith in general, stripping
them of all these things and intending to deprive them of honour, taking away
their inheritance and all other legitimate rights }.
Κεφ.V
Παρόμοιες ανθελληνικές και αντιορθόδοξες διατάξεις
περιέχει και το διάταγμα για την ίδρυση του Πανεπιστημίου της
Νεάπολης, στις 5 Ιουνίου 1224. Σε αυτή τη διάταξη διατάσσει όλους τους
υπηκόους του βασιλείου της Σικελίας, να μην ξανασπουδάσουν στο μέλλον εκτός του
βασιλείου και διατάσσει όλους όσους σπούδαζαν εκτός, (στην Κωνσταντινούπολη),
να επιστρέψουν πάραυτα μέχρι την εορτή του Αγίου Μιχαήλ (29 Σεπτ. 1224),
διαφορετικά θα αντιμετώπιζαν «προσωπική και κτηματική ποινή».
Chapter V
Similar
anti-Hellenic and anti-Orthodox provisions are contained in the decree for the
establishment of the University
of Naples, on June 5, 1224. In this provision,
it orders all subjects of the Kingdom of Sicily not to study outside of the
kingdom in the future and orders all those who were studying abroad (in
Constantinople) to return immediately by the time of the feast of Saint Michael
(September 29, 1224), otherwise they would face "personal and property
punishment".
Nevertheless,
shortly after, the famous
English humanist Roger Bacon, in one of his letters, which he sent to Pope
Nicola the 3rd Orsini in 1280, when touring Sicily, described the compact Greek-speaking
regions on the island.
Sicilian
Vespers
Most of the
information about the “Sicilian Vespers”, derives from the book
written about these events, by the Byzantine scholar, Sir Steven
Runciman, professor at Cambridge
University.
The term Sicilian Vespers derives from the
Greek word Εσπερινός/Esperinos,
which means evening prayers. It refers to the revolution of the Sicilians
against the French d' Anjou, who conquered and ruled the island from
1266 (they succeeded the German conquerors, Hohenstaufen). The
The Sicilian Vespers was one of the most important events in European, Sicilian
and Greek (Byzantine) medieval history. Greek because a very large part of the
population of Sicily was still Greek speaking in 1282, while there was
also a strong Byzantine involvement by the Emperor Michael Palaiologos.
The rebellion
broke out on Easter 1282. It lasted six weeks and during its course thousands
of French were slaughtered, threatening the rule of the d' Anjou. Carlo d'
Anjou ruled Sicily after
the German Frederick Hohestaufen was defeated by the Pope and his allies.
However, the ambitious Carlo considered Sicily as
a base for a war against the Byzantine Empire, which had recently taken
back its capital, Constantinople, from the
Crusaders. Carlo drained Sicily financially,
to finance his war against Byzantium.
At the same time, he completely sidelined the Sicilians from the
government, alienating them. Michael Palaiologos took advantage of this
situation and with agents on the island he incited the revolt.
On the
afternoon of March 30, 1282, the bell of the church of the Holy Spirit in Palermo rang out
Vespers, giving the signal for the uprising. The cause was the attempted rape
of a local married girl by a French soldier, named Drouet. Her husband
attacked Drouet and killed him with a knife. The other French soldiers
attacked the husband, but the Sicilians fought back and killed them all.
Immediately the plan of rebellion was put into action. The bells of all
the churches in Palermo began to ring
and under the guidance of Byzantine agents the Sicilians poured into the
streets shouting: "Death to the France"! The Sicilians broke
into inns and lodges where the French and their families lived and slaughtered
men, women and children indiscriminately. They even slaughtered local women who
had married Frenchmen and even French Catholic priests and monks.
By the morning
around 2,000 French had been massacred and the rebels had taken complete
control of the city. According to another source, the events with Drouet
that are described were only a false pretext, as the rebellion was organized by
Michael Palaiologos's agent, Giovanni da Procida.
After the
uprising prevailed in Palermo,
the rebellion spread to most of the island (mainly in its northern and western
parts), before the French could react. Within the next six weeks all of Sicily was controlled by the rebels, except Messina, which was well
fortified by the French and the local inhabitants were reluctant to clash with
them. Finally, this city fell from within, on April 28 and the rebels
actually set fire to the French fleet anchored there, crushing Carlo d’
Anjou’s dreams of destroying the Byzantine Empire.
The Rebellion Spreads
The revolt spread to northern
and western Sicily. Within six weeks, the rebels controlled the island, except
for Messina. Eventually, Messina fell
from within on April 28. The rebels set fire to the French fleet anchored
there, crushing Charles d' Anjou's dreams of destroying the Byzantine Empire.
The leaders of the rebels were
Giovanni da Procida, a physician from Salerno
in Naples, and Bartholomeo of Neocastron from
Nicosia, Sicily.
Da Procida was a medical
doctor. He spoke Greek fluently (but he was not Greek) and studied Hippocrates
and Galenos in the original greek texts. In any case, Salerno
itself was to a large extent Greek-speaking center, during the 13th century.
Procida
traveled twice to
Constantinople, secretly, alone and without an escort or interpreter to be
witness, since he spoke Greek fluently, and received 30,000 hyperpyra (gold
coins) from Michael VIII Palaiologos to finance the uprising, as
Palaiologos himself reports in his autobiography, “On His Own Life.”
There, he refers to Procida as the savior of Byzantium from the French
and from the crusade that Charles of Anjou was preparing against it,
with the blessing of Pope Martin—yet another Vatican crusade against the
Greeks.
With the remaining funds, Procida
financed the arrival of Peter of Aragon, in fact on the orders of Michael
Palaiologos, and with the hope that Peter would not launch another
crusade or adopt a hostile stance against the Byzantine state. Thus, with the
West friendly or at least neutral, Palaiologos could turn his attention
to the East, to defend Byzantium from the Turkish hordes that
were then beginning to threaten Constantinople.
&&&&&&&&
Why,
then, did Palaiologos not attempt to restore Greek administration in the
largely Greek and still Orthodox Sicily after the Sicilian Vespers?
A) Because he was facing a
question of state survival from the East—from Islam and the Turks.
B) With the 30,000 hyperpyra in gold he gave to Procida, he
believed he had effectively purchased lasting peace from the hostile
initiatives of the Vatican, which were constantly directed against Greeks
everywhere (in Southern Italy and Sicily, violent Latinization had
already begun) and against the Byzantine state. Procida was appointed Grand
Chancellor in the state of Peter of Aragon and maintained a friendly
stance toward Byzantium.
C) Economically, Byzantium no longer had the capacity to maintain troops
in Sicily, Calabria, Apulia, etc., at a time when it had to continuously
equip armies on the eastern front against Turkish-Islamic forces.
As Steven Runciman
states in his book, Michael Palaiologos made a painful but correct
realist politico-economic decision: to sacrifice Magna Grecia in order
to save the rest of his state.
Notably, the other leader, Bartholomeos da
Neocastron notified Emperor Michael Palaiologos of the rebellion success
via a Genoese sailor.
Is it worth
noting that apart from Giovanni da Procida, one of the leaders of the
rebellion was Bartholomeos of Neocastron. He notified the Greek
Emperor Michael Palaiologos, by sending him a message with a Genoese
sailor who sailed to Constantinople.
The
revolutionaries also asked from Pope Martino IV to recognize them as an
autonomous community and to become their sovereign. But the French
pope, Simon de Brion-Martino IV refused. This was the final mistake
of the French.
( Sources
*sicilia-calabria.blogspot.com
* Cavalli-Sforza (University of Stanford, USA), Luigi
Luca, Menozzi Paolo, Piazza Alberto (Turin Italy), "The History
and Geography of Human Genes. p. 295”. Also reserche of : Michaela
Sarno and the university of Peruggia and Max Plank institute,
Germany.
* Steven
Runciman: The Sicilian Vespers: A History of the
Mediterranean World in the Later Thirteenth Century. Public Cambridge University Press, 1958 Adams
State University Library. Paperback / Reprint έκδοση: Cambridge University Press, 1992 (Canto Edition) με ISBN 978-0-521-43774-5 /
0521437741 , 368 pages
* Primary (Medieval) Sources (Byzantine)
1. George Pachymeres
Relations historiques ( Sicilian Vespers, in Greek)
2.
Nicephorus Gregoras
Roman (Byzantine or Medieval Greek ) History( in Greek)
3. (in scholarly Latin). Bartolomeo of
Neocastro (today Nicosia, Nikesia- Νικησία
in Greek), a city in the province of Enna, was the military
leader of the uprising (while da Procida was the guiding and political mind). He was of Greek origin from Nikesia, which at
the time was predominantly Greek-speaking and Orthodox (we do not know
when he converted to Roman Catholicism, whether before or after the Vespers).
The language in which his history is written is scholarly Latin,
something that would have been impossible for a military man from a
Greek-speaking city and family—especially in Sicily, where at that time the
only form of Latin spoken was the rural Sicilian vernacular. Researchers
believe that he dictated his memoirs of the uprising to a learned Latin
grammarian.
Historia Sicula
- Lu Rebellamentu di
Sichilia. A chronicle by an unknown author, written in the Sicilian
vernacular language, which according to researchers is said to be memoirs
of the uprising, dictated by Giovanni da
Procida to a grammarian shortly before his death.
- Michael
Palaiologos. Memoirs — “On
His Own Life”. (in Greek).
6. Papal Registers
Regesta Vaticana (in latin &
greek)
The Papal Registers
Secondary
(Modern Scholarship) – in English
- Steven Runciman
The Sicilian Vespers: A History
of the Mediterranean World in the Later Thirteenth Century
- Donald M. Nicol
The Last Centuries of
Byzantium, 1261–1453
- Deno J. Geanakoplos
Emperor Michael Palaeologus and
the West, 1258–1282
- Jean Dunbabin
Charles I of Anjou: Power,
Kingship and State-Making in Thirteenth-Century Europe
- Mark C. Bartusis
Speculum, Byzantine and Modern Greek Studies
·
Gerhard Pholphs
1. Greek Dialects of Southern
Italy (Griko / Grecanic)
- Lexicon of the Griko Dialects of Southern Italy
(Λατινικά/Γερμανικά: Lexicon
Graecanicum Italiae Inferioris)
- Greeks and Romans in Southern Italy
(Γερμανικά: Griechen und Romanen in Unteritalien)
- Etymological Dictionary of the Greek Elements in
Southern Italy
(Γερμανικά: Etymologisches Wörterbuch der
unteritalienischen Gräzität)
- Linguistic Excavations in Magna Graecia
(Γερμανικά: Scavi linguistici nella Magna Grecia)
· Emperor Frederico
Hohenstaufen, Legislation (In the original
Greek text, and english tarnlation. (The legislation written in Greek, to be
understood from the population, the majority were Sicilian Greeks. In Arab language
for the significant Arab minority and
in scholar- ancient and non spoken
Latin, because the Latein considered the scolar language for thew Lows). Published the original Greek (from the univertcity
of Liepsing) text by: Thea Von der Lieck, Buyken, Koln-Wien 1978.)
****
The island
still hoped that Pope Martino would relent. In the early days of May,
they solemnly presented themselves before the entire Church Council chanting
three times: “Oh God, who takes away the sins of the world, have mercy on
us”, but the Pope answered bitterly by repeating three times the words of the
Passion: “Hail, King of the Jews” Carlo had the full support of the Pope.
Then in April, a mission arrived from Palermo to
Orviento to ask the Vatican's
Holy Synod to take under its protection the new Community of Sicily, but Pope
Martino refused to receive it in a hearing. The embassy did not get any other
response from him. Instead, on May 7, Ascension Day, the Pope issued three
excommunications:
A) The
first was the excommunication of those who belonged to the Sicilian
movement and anyone who offered them help.
B) The
second was the excommunication of Michael Palaiologos, whom he called
“Emperor of the Greeks” and not “Romans”, which was the official title of the
emperors of Byzantium.
C) The
third was the excommunication of Guido da Montefeltro and the Ghibellines of Northern Italia.
The commission
of the Sicilians, when Byzantium and Michael
Palaiologos did not show the strength and determination to intervene
personally and restore Sicily to Byzantium, turned
to Pedro D' Aragona. Pedro claimed that the throne of Sicily belonged to
him, because his wife was a German princess from the previous rulers of
Hohenstaufen and they (the Sicilians) appealed for his protection. Pedro of
course accepted and on August 30, 1282, he landed in Trapani. Pedro arrived at Palermo on the 2nd
of September and promised freedom to Sicilians and preservation of their
customs. He was well accepted by them. On September 4th, he was crowned as
king Pedro I di Sicilia. Carlo attempted to react and tried to
recapture the "gateway" of Sicily, Messina, but failed.
The
Sicilians revolted for two reasons. First, because Carlo d’ Anju impoverished them with taxes and the seizure
of goods, so that he could have supplies to attack Constantinople.
Second, because the Greek emperor organized the uprising with money and agents,
to prevent Charles's attack.
The
Germans and the French were forced to leave the southern Italian
peninsula and the eastern Mediterranean.
It is notable that Michael Palaiologos wrote about the Sicilian
Vespers: "I dare to boast I was the instrument of God
who brought freedom to the Sicilians...". Byzantine gold helped the
most the revolution carried out by the Sicilians, many of whom still spoke
Greek and almost all of them had Greek roots. At that time the Latin Sicilian
dialect had begun to take form, mainly in the cities of western Sicily.
There was a
bitter and disastrous consequence for Hellenism, however. The Sicilian Vespers
and Pedro d’ Aragona marked both the final dominance of Roman Catholicism and
the rapid and violent Latinization of Sicily with the final loss of the
Greek language. The definitive loss of Sicily for Hellenism, after almost 3000
years of Greek History!
That’s when the
Sicilian Latin dialect, which was created in Palermo and
some other cities of western Sicily such
as Trapani,
Corleone etc. began to spread. The process of Sicilian national autonomy began
a few years later. The Sicilians started to create a separate language, the
Sicilian Latin. In the following centuries the Sicilians developed a national
sense of difference from the other populations of the Apennine peninsula. After
the creation of the unified Italian state in 1870, it changed, and most
Sicilians began to declare themselves Italians by nationality and fewer as
Sicilians. The strong economic interests in Rome
and the dependence of Rome, the educational
policy, the Italian language and the media of Rome, created the Italian national
consciousness for the Sicilians and the other Magno Greco. In recent years,
this is changing again and there are even reawakened Greeks.
Ethnological
Makeup of the Island
of Sicily
The Normans,
Germans, Spaniards and other conquerors who were Vatican vassals,
were only an army and not a population. There weren't any inhabitants of German
or Norman, or Spanish origin in southern Italy. The
German philosopher Friedrch Nitzche describes in the "birth of
Tragedy", from the ethnological and cultural aspect, the first
attack of the German Roman catholic West, against Hellenism and Hellenic
culture, beginning from southern Italy
and Sicily. The
Greeks were violently forced to convert to RomanCatholicism and
adopt Latin names and surnames, but the Greek language was still alive and
spoken for many more decades, especially in southern and eastern Sicily,
except for some larger cities in the west, such as Palermo, Trapani,
Corleone, Kefalou etc. where the Greek language had been extinguished then and
forever.
In 1280,
the English humanist Roger Bacon, wrote and sent a letter to
Pope Nicolo Orsini the 3rd while travelling through Sicily. It was written in in Latin and in it
he said: “... in most places, the clergy and people were purely Greek”. “Nec
multum eset pro tanta
utilitate in Italiam, in pua clerus et populus sunt pure Graeci in multiw
locis”. Source: Roger Bacon, compendium studii philosophiae chap.VI,
Bacon-Opera quaedum hastenus inedita, 434.
In 1231 the
German Emperor, of Two Sicilies, Frederico II, wrote his famous
legislation (Constitution of Melfi) in two languages; In the spoken by the
population medieval Greek (because the everyday language that Sicilians spoke
and understood, was only Greek), and in Latin. Latin was used only as the
scholarly language for legislation. At that time nobody could speak the
ancient Latin language.
In the following years/centuries, the region also
witnessed the "Holy" Inquisition for the "heretic" Magno
Greco. Many Magno Greco Orthodox communities existed until 1580.
What Was Happening in the Rest of Southern Italy
In Calabria and Apulia, and in smaller scale in Basilicata and Campania, Hellenism remained a
blooming ethnicity, and so did the Greek language. The Orthodox Christian
doctrine was prevalent, at the time of Sicilian Vespers. It started
gradually to decrease after the papal "Holy" Inquisition and persecutions,
like the one witnessed in Frederick's
legislation, until the middle of 16th century.
An old French
chronicler stated in the 13th century that: “The peasants of Calabria spoke
nothing but Greek”. "Et par toute Calabre li paisant ne parlent se grizois
non"... Source: P. Mayer, "les premi e res compilations
Franccaises d' histoiare ancienne", Romania XIV (1885), 70, n.5.
In the 14th
century, in one of his letters, Petrarca spoke of a young man who he advised to
go to Calabria
for studies in Greek. He wanted to go directly to Constantinople, but he told
him “Greece
once abounded in great talents which it now lacks…”. “The young man believed my
words, hearing from me that in our time there were many men in Calabria who were
scholars in Greek literature, and he decided to go there”.
Between the
15th and 18th centuries, waves of Greeks from the Peloponnese, such as the
Maniots and Arvanites, migrated to Sicily
in large numbers to escape persecution after the Ottoman conquest. They
brought with them Eastern Orthodoxy once again, adding to the extensive
Byzantine /Greek influence.
The Violent Latinization/Catholicization
of Sicily and Southern Italy (Calabria, Apulia, Basilicata and Campania)
The territory of Sicily
and Southern Italy was at least partially under Greek control until the
11th century, when the feudal lord Melos, of Varis (Bari),
asked for the help of the Normans as
mercenaries, to help him become independent from Constantinople.
The 200 Norman mercenaries, who founded the state of two Sicilies and began the
violent Latinization of the Greeks, did not leave any DNA footprint in the
territory. It was simply impossible because these Viking conquerors were so
few. The same goes for all the various conquerors in Magna
Graecia. They were only military (Normans, Germans, France,
Spanish...). They were not a population. They were not settlers.
The
Concordat of 1059. The beginning of the end for Magno Greeks.
At the end of
August 1059, the Bavarian Gerardo de Chelone (Pope Nicholas
II (Greeks used to call him Chelona, Turtle in English) celebrated a
“council” in Melfi di Potenza. He was accompanied by the infamous Cardinal
Hildebrando di Soana (the future Gregory VII) and an impressive entourage
of cardinals, bishops, and abbots. The reason for all this pomp? The
stipulation of a Concordat with the Norman barons engaged in the conquest of
southern Italy.
By displaying the Constitutum Constantini, a false document according to
which the Emperor Constantine I, had abdicated in favor of the Pope, making
southern Italy (Magna
Crecia) Patrimonium sancti Petri, the first nucleus of the Papal State. Nicholas
II granted Robert Guiscard possession of all of Magna Graecia,
continental Greece and Sicily, naming him
Apostolic Legate, his personal alter ego. For his part, Roberto swore by God
and the Gospel that he will be the Pope's ally against any adversary; he
promised not to advance in war without the Pope's authorization; he promised to
hand over the conquered population of southern Italy, keeping it in obedience
to the Holy Roman Church.
The bishops
from Sicily, Apulia,
Basilicata and Calabria had remained in the Orthodox
faith in the period after the Schism and participated in the Synods called by
the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople. The Pope with the help of the
Franko-German conquerors who ruled these areas, put unbearable pressure on the
Orthodox inhabitants and forced them to follow the Latin ritual and Latin
language. The oppression and persecutions forced many Orthodox to flee to Byzantium, such as Saint Nikephoros, who was a
Philocaly teacher of Saint Gregory Palamas and Saint Bartholomew from Symeri,
reformer of the Monastery of Saint Basil in Arsana of Chilandarius
on Mount Athos.
They
politically subjugated Apulia, Basilicata,
Campania, Calabria
and Sicily and in 1071 installed Franko-German
bishops in Sicily.
But in Calabria and Apulia there was a reaction. Here the Latinization
was more violent, because the resistance of the Orthodox was strong. In 1089
they replaced the Archbishop of Regio Vasilios. Two great confessors
were Saint Luke (†1114) and Saint Bartholomew (†1131) were miraculously
saved from the flames thrown at them by the Fracolatins. In Ierakas (Gerace),
the apostate Athanasios Chalkeopoulos replaced the Orthodox standard
with the Latin one in 1480, and in Voua (Bova) in 1572,
the Armenian-Cypriot Julius Stavrianos.
The methods
used to reduce the Orthodox Italo-Greek nation to obedience, during and after
the military conquest, are well known:
* Ethnic
cleansing: extermination of the inhabitants of entire cities, then
repopulated by settlers of the same ethnic group as the invaders, brought in
from Provence.
* Evacuation
and mass deportation from one part of the occupied territory to another
(between the 12th and 15th/16th centuries, Greek names and surnames disappear
from the cities).
* Expropriation
of Greek homes and fields (except for the collaborators). All the
landowners of southern Italy from
the 12th century were Anglo-French-Saxon barons. Also known as the gattopardi.
* Seizure
and destruction of Greek books (between the 12th and 17th centuries, all
Greek manuscripts, disappeared from Sicily and the rest of southern Italy,
which used to be one of the major centers of book production in the Eastern
Roman Empire.
* Replacement
of the local Italo-Greek and Orthodox bishops with trusted
hierarchs (Normans by blood and English, such as Walter of the Mills
in Palermo).
* Suppression
of Orthodox monasteries and establishment, in the same buildings, of new
religious organizations. For example, Benedictines in the Monastery of San
Filippo di Agira, near Enna. Or submission of Orthodox monasteries to the
feudal authority of Catholic bishops/princes or abbots/barons. For example, the
Salvatore of Messina submitted to the Catholic bishop of the city; the
Monastery of Theristìs submitted to the abbot of the Chartreuse.
* Latinization
or, better said, Catholicization of the local Magno-Greek population. It
is no coincidence that, with the conquest still in progress, Catholic churches
and monasteries dedicated to the Trinitarian doctrine sprung up like mushrooms
throughout Southern Italy.
“The
Pope sent inquisitors to southern Italy to investigate the
Greeks, and if they had found any who did not adhere to the Latin doctrine,
they would have had to burn him at the stake...” (Anonymous Calabrese of the
12th century, code Vatic.gr.316)
After the
region was cut off from the East, due to the conquest by the Turks of Constantinople
in 1453, and especially of mainland Greece, which was adjacent
to Calabria and Sicily, the Orthodox submitted by force to the
brutal power of the Pope.
After the
ecclesiastical Synod of Messina (1520) and Otranto, (1580) the
last Greek Sicilians, Calabrians, Apulians… were forced to leave
Orthodox Christianity. More than 1600 churches hermetaries and monasteries,
were forced to close, or to change language in their ceremonies. We can
still see the ruins of these churches today, everywhere. The Greeks had
two choices. To convert to Roman Catholicism and become Latins or lose their
lives as heretics. So, the Sicilians-Calabrians… lost their
language, their conscience and their heritage. They became the latinized Greeks
of today.
In 1579 the Pope
established a Unitarian Diocese for the Orthodox Albereshi speakers
of Sicily in Palermo. They had arrived in small numbers in
the 15th century, from the Peloponnese, in
order to save their lives from the Ottoman Turks. They considered
themselves Greeks. Their village of “Piena degli Greci”, was renamed by
Mussolini in 1934, to “Piena degli Albanesi” for political reasons.
Controversial
was and the Bourbonic policy against the Magno-Greeks and the remaining
Orthodox. Around 1830, the king of the Two Sicilies (in Caserta), Francisco I, issued a
decree against the Greeks who insisted on remaining Greek and
Orthodox: "Whoever among the inhabitants of the state did not
recognize the Pope as head of the Christian Church, must leave the
country". This decree, if nothing else, shows that even in the 19th
century the Greek population of Magna Graecia
was quite considerable. A few years earlier, in 1821, they had forced the
closure of the last 16 Greek monasteries in Calabria
and Apulia.
Mussolini's fascist regime,
whose every act of violence received the blessings of the Vatican, completed the persecution with the
attempt to de-Hellenize the last Greek-speaking towns of Calabria
and Apulia. Τo completely erase every memory of 3,000 years of Greek
history in the area. The government of Rome did not develop economically the
regions of Calabria, Basilicata, Apulia, Campania and Sicily,
and millions of inhabitants of the region and its last Orthodox presence
migrated in the twentieth century to Argentina, Brazil, the USA and Australia.
In 1932, the German
linguist, Gerhard Rholfs, published his research in four Books
with the titles: a) Hellenism in Sicily,
b) Hellenism in Calabria,
c) Greek toponyms d) Etymology of toponyms, names and surnames. Mussolini’s
regime reacted. The books were banned, and the remaining Greek speaking
population in Sicily, Caldaria, Apulia and a
small region near Napoli, the Cilento, were
oppressed and the men pushed in the frontlines of WWII.
In 1994,
a new era began when the saintly monks Fr. Cosmas and Fr.
Gennadios from the monastery of Megisti Lavra of Athos, (Macedonia, Greece)
settled in the monastery of Agios Ioannis the Theristis in Bivonzi, Calabria.
The katholikon (the main church) was without a roof and floor and in it lived
hens and goats. With the death of Fr. Cosmas, Romanian Orthodox
monks seized violently the monastery with the assistance of an anti-Greek
local mayor. The holy monasteries of Agios Ilias in the cave
of Melikoukas, Agios Ilias and
Filaretos in Seminara Calabria and of the Annunciation in Madranici in Catania Sicily,
have also reopened. In Reggio, a new church
of Saint Paul the Apostle
was built with the assistance of the “Paracletos”, a Greek monastery in
Oropos.
In the last
twenty-five years there has been a strong interest by the local population in Calabria, Apulia,
Sicily etc. to find their
cultural and ethnic roots. The initial interest was for the Greek language,
history and culture. Searching for the roots, the interest in Orthodoxy and the
ancient Greek religion, also began. In Palermo,
with the help of Cypriots, a new church
of Apostle Andreas was
erected, and an effort is made to establish parishes and an Orthodox monastery.
Palermo University has become the biggest center
in the world (according to number of students) for the teaching of the
Greek language and history.
The population
of southern Italy
is proud of their Greek origin, but above all, they are proud because they are
the descendants of the last Orthodox of Italy who were Latinized by force and
deceit. They are proud of the holy Bishops Leo, Agathon and Pagratius, the
martyrs Agatha and Loukia and the Saints Elias the Younger of Spileotis,
Philaretos the gardener, Nicodemus of Mammola, John the Theristis, Luke of
Demena, Nilos of Rossano, Fantinus the Old and New, Saint Nikephoros the
Myroblyte and Monk and Saint Luke of Melikoukas, Philippos di Agira and the
countless other martyrs that this region produced who were confessors of
Orthodoxy.
The Ethnic and Religious Cleansing in Magna Graecia
Linguistic map in the 10th century.
By Alessandro Palieri.
Here is Pope
Gregory's thought, condensed in the autograph Dictatus Papae: the Pope is
bishop of the entire world (§3) and has the exclusive right to use the insignia
of the emperors (§8); everyone must kiss his feet (§12) and only his name must
be pronounced in church (§10) because his is the only name in the world (§11)
and no one can judge him (§19); the Church of Rome has never erred nor will it
ever err (§22) and no one, if he does not agree with the Pope, can be
considered Catholic (§26).
Archimandrita
Antonio Scordino. Sicily.
Galatro,
Magno-Greek Monastery
“The ethnic and
religious cleansing in the south is still with us in the public imagination which
says that the Italo-Greeks, who for example founded the monastic lordships
such as Licusati, San Giovani a Piro and Rofrano, came here as refugees from
the iconoclastic policy of Constantionople and that they were
therefore not our ancestors but “Foreigners”.
*****
Osios
Helias Monastery, Galatro.
Michael Shano, “Eredità culturale del monachesimo italo-greco”
“The
Italo-Greeks or the so-called “Basilians” were indigenous from the ancient
Magno-Greeks and not immigrants to Italy from the East. A
large part of Italy was
still in the Roman Empire after the
so-called “fall" of the empire (in the West). Historians of the
Renaissance and early modern era tried to make us forget this history.
In the south
the general public still believes the false propaganda that was passed down,
with the help of the Habsburgs of the "Holy" Roman
Empire (Franco-German). During the Risorgimento and after the
unification, Manzoni used to make the Italo-Greeks, criminal and
“non-Italian” because they didn’t follow Latin religion, traditions and
customs, transforming them into aliens who are not part of “us”.
We now note
that even today in popular literature in Cilento (a place near Napoli
where the famous Elea – (Velia in Latin) used to be and where the famous
Presocratic philosophic school was established) the presence of the
Italo-Greeks is explained as "refugees" from iconoclasm in the
Eastern Mediterranean, to "delegitimize" the brothers in the faith of
the neo-Greek language and rite. "Forgetting" that the Italo-Greek Church had centuries-old roots in the
south, even before the so-called fall of the western Empire in 476. An
alternative plausible explanation was then needed for their presence here. Same
for Licusati, Lentiscosa and San Giovanni a Piro.
In good faith
the "lovers" of local history repeat the distorted history
promulgated already a few centuries ago. But institutions such as schools,
journalism and the municipal cultural departments can, if they wish, promote
the correct education of the general public and in the promotion of tourism. In
democracy the obstacles of royal and ecclesiastical censorship are presumed to
be absent”
Michael
Shano, Santi Italogreci
*****
Greek Calabrian, Saints and Popes
The
Magno-Greeks contributed a lot in the founding of the Vatican Church. There are other Greek popes besides the Calabrians. In
total, there are 23 Greek popes. The second ethnicity after Italian. We must note also
that, the official languages of the Vatican, then and now, are three.
Latin, Greek and Aramaic.
Pope
Anacletus (Ανάκλητος) (51-54 / 63- 66 ).
Saint Telesphorus (Τελέσφορος)
from Thurio. Terranova di Sibari (CS)
Elected in 125. Died as a martyr in 136 under the emperor
Hadrian or at the beginning of the reign of Antoninus Pius. He was the 9th pope
after St. Peter.
Pope
Hyginus (Υγίνος) (138-142).
Pope
Eleuterus (Ελεύθερος) (174–189).
Saint Antero (Αντέρως)
from Petilia. Strongoli (CZ). Elected on November 21, 235. Died as
martyr on January 3, 236, at the beginning of the reign of Maximinus. He is the
20th pope after St. Peter.
Pope
Stephen I –Στέφανος (254–257).
Pope
Sixtus II (Σίξτος B) (257-258).
Saint Dionysius (Διονύσιος)
from Thurio, Terranova di Sibari (CS). Elected on July 22, 259. Died on
December 26, 268. He was the 26th pope after St. Peter.
Antipope
Heraclius- Ηράκλειος (309 or 310).
Saint Eusebius (Ευσέβιος)
from Casegghiano. Episcopal city near the castle of San Giorgio Morgeto
(RC). Elected on April 18, 310. Died as martyr on August 17, 311. Emperor
Maxentius decreed the exile of Pope Eusebius, who died in Sicily. The date
of the beginning and end of his pontificate is uncertain. He is the 32nd pope
after Saint Peter.
Pope Julius (337-352).
Saint Zosimos (Ζώσιμος) from Reatio Mesurgo, the current Mesoraca
(CZ). Elected on March 18, 417. Died on December 26, 418. He was the 42nd pope
after Saint Peter.
Pope
Boniface III- Βονιφάτιος (607).
Pope
John IV- Ιωάννης Δ΄ (640-642).
Pope
Theodore I –Θεόδωρος Α΄ (642–649).
Saint Agathon (Αγάθων)
from Reggio Calabria. Elected June 27, 678. Died January 10, 681. He was
the 80th pope after Saint Peter.
San Leone (Λέων) II da
Reggio Calabria.
There is no certain
proof of his birthplace. The Calabrians indicate that he was born in Reggio.
The Sicilians in Messina or Piazza Armerina. However, it is certain
that Pope Leo II wore the habit of canon regular in the Monastery of Bagnara. Having
moved to Rome, he was made cardinal by his fellow countryman Pope Agathon.
Elected on August 17, 682. Died on July 3, 683. He was the 81st pope after
Saint Peter.
Pope
Conon- (Κόνων) (686-687).
Pope
John VI (Ιωάννης Στ΄) (701–705).
Pope
John VII (Ιωάννης Ζ’) (705–707).
Giovanni (Ιωάννης) VII° da
Rossano (CS). Elected
March 1, 705. Died October 17, 707. He was the 87th pope after Saint Peter.
Pope
Zachary (Ζαχαρίας). Santa
Severina (CZ). Elected
on December 10, 741. Died on March 22, 752. He was the 92nd pope after Saint
Peter.
Stefano (Στέφανος) III°
da Reggio Calabria.
According to tradition,
he was born in S. Stefano d’Aspromonte RC. Elected on 7 August 768. Died on 24
January 772. He was the 96th pope after Saint Peter.
The antipope Giovanni Filogato, (Ιωάννης Φιλόγατος). Elected antipope with the name of
John XVI, in opposition to the legitimate pope, Gregory V, cousin of German
Emperor Otto III. Philogatos was tortured by Otto's soldiers, with serious
mutilations, and subsequently condemned as a usurper and traitor by a council
convened by Pope Gregory V. Locked up in prison, he died there after a few
months in atrocious suffering.
Antipope John
XVI (Ιωάννης ΙΣτ΄) (997-998).
Antipope
Alexander V (Αλέξανδρος Ε’) (1409–1410).
Pope
Innocent VIII (Ινικέντιος Η΄) (1484–1492), distant partial Greek ancestry.
Pope
Julius II (Ιουλιος Β’) (1503–1513), Greek mother and Italian
father.
The Greeks in Salento in the 16th Century
It is really
extremely interesting how much important historical knowledge there is about
Hellenism of medieval Italy that
one can find in works of the time. One of these works is the book "Historical
memories of the city of Gallipoli"
(Memorie istoriche della città di Gallipoli) in which there is a reference to
an Italian historian of the 16th century. Francesco Camaldari in the
year 1513, living in Gallipoli of Salento and having contact with the Greek
community, wrote:
“The
Gallipoli Cathedral is full of priests, deacons, sub-deacons and clergy who,
together with their bishop, are all Greeks. They serve the temple with dignity
and seriousness much better than the Latins because every day they celebrate
vespers and chant the Orthro. The priests are 40, while the rest of the clergy
are 20. There are 12 monks. They wear cassocks and vestments made of luxurious
oriental fabrics. Their appearance is awe-inspiring. They are all highly
educated, adorned with virtues and love. It is a true brotherhood. They live in
love, unity, true friendship like a family. When they walk the streets with
their beautiful beards they look like the ancient prophets and patriarchs”.
What is very
interesting but at the same time shocking is what he writes after almost 20
years. “The Greek clergy served until 1513. The last service they sang was my
mother's funeral. In 1530 only 10 Greek priests survive now and they are all
Latin and do not love Hellenism”.
Ancient Greek Temples in Magna Graecia
Some of the
most beautiful monuments in the world are found in Magna
Graecia. There are thousands. We mention the most representative
of them.
Akragas,
temple of Omonia
Akragas,
temple of Hera
Akragas, Dioscuri, (Castor and Polydefkis).
Aegesta
(Segesta),
temple of mother Earth (goddes Demetra)
Selinuntas,
temple of Zeus.
Selinountas,
temple of Hera.
Selinuntas. Seven
(7) greek temples taal!
Syracuse, temple
of Apollo.
Syracuse. Ancient temple of goddess Athena
(exterior and interior). Christian church
of Saint Mary today.
Il
Bronzi di Riace, Regio Calabria, Museum de la Magna Graecia.
*****
Poseidonia, Campania. Temples
of Hera and Poseidon
*****
Μetapontio, Basilicata. Goddes Hera.
Metapontion, Basilicata, theater.
Epizepfyrii
Locri
Riace warriors ( "Magna Graecia museum” Reggio).
*****
Naples, teatro Greco, Pausilipon hill. This hill was so beautiful, that
the Greeks gave it a name that means, a place so beautiful that it takes away
sadness. “Pafsilypon”
Τhe Greek cemetery
in underground Naples. The best-preserved part of it, the “Plateia” (square),
or as it is also called the “Crystaline Basement”.
Thourii, the only pan-Hellenic city. The city that Plato chose to implement his
“Ideal State”. Plato lived here for a long
period. The city is located next to Sybaris,
which was the largest city in Calabria
at this time.
*****
Sybaris,
excavation.
Tavromenio
(Taormina),
Greek theater.
*****
Syracuses.
*****
The
Fallen Icaros. Temple
of Omonoia, Akragas. Icaros
was the son of the Athenean, Cretan and Sicilian
architect Daedalos. According to mythology, he was the first man who
attempted to fly. But he flew too high, and the god Helios (Sun) burned his
wings. So, he fell on the island of the Aegean Sea that bears his name: Ikaria
in the Dodecanese complex of islands.
Statue
of the titan Telamon.
Valey of Greek
temples, Akragas, Sicily.
Taras (Taranto).
Croton, capo Kolona. Temple
of Lakenia
Hera.
Temple
of the queen of the Olympian gods, Hera. Metapontion, Basilikata.
Ancient and Medieval Greek Orthodox Churches in Sicily
and Magna Graecia
At the time of the great attack against Hellenism (second
half of the 13th century) there were almost 1700 Greek churches, and
monasteries in southern Italy
and Sicily.
Greeks and the Greek Orthodox Church in the medieval era in northern Italy existed
continuously since the early Byzantine era, thanks to the good relations between Byzantines and
Venetians. In the south the population was mainly Greek.
Μartorana/Monreale, Palermo. Jesus Pantokrator. Builted by Byzantine Greek architects
and artists. The church
of Martorana was built on the older Greek Church of
Agios Nikolaos.
Cefalu (ancient Greek Kefaloidion, medieval Greek Kefalou). Greek Byzantine
mosaics in the famous Duomo, builded in the era of the Norman King
Roger II.
Greek
Orthodox church
of Papasidero, (Father
Isidoros). Turned into a home for goats and cows! Following the religious
and cultural protection example of Turkey!
San
Elias.
Santa Euphenia,Calabria.
Santa Maria Tridetti.
Seminara Calabria.
Messina, Sacro Monastero Santissimo Salvatore in
lingua phari. Built in 1124 on the eastern pier of the canal port of Mazara by order of Roger II and
initially entrusted to Greek rite monks. Later became part of the Benedictine
abbey complex of San Nicolò and Giovanni Prodromo which no longer exists today.
The
famous icon of the Crucifixion, by the Italo Greco Antonello da
Messina. The Monastery of the Savior, was jealous of the prosperity
of the monastery of Santa Maria Patir of Rossano, founded by the Basilian
monk Bartholomew of Simeri. When the Benedictine monks of the Holy
Trinity of Miletus accused Bartholomew of heresy, the King of Sicily,
Roger II, invited him and entrusted him with the creation of a new monastery
in Messina,
in the location of Pharos (Φάρος) or Grafeos (Γραφέος). Bartholomew began to create the new monastery but died in 1130
and the construction of the monastery was completed in 1132 under the guidance
of his disciple Luca da Messina, who arrived from the Monastery of
Odigitria with forty-nine monks.
At the behest
of Roger II, the monastery was named "archimandritic" and
from 1133 a total of 45 Greek monasteries joined it (32 in Sicily, 13 in Calabria). At some point the number
reached 62. It thus became one of the four Italian centers, which included the
monasteries of the Orthodox banner. The others were the monasteries of
Panagia Odegetria in Rossano, Agios Nikolaos in Otranto and Theotokos
Kryptofernis. The abbot of the monastery of Sotiros, who also bore the
title of archimandrite, was by election the father and provost of the
monasteries that depended on it and chose their abbots. He also had powers of
civil and canonical justice and was not subject to the Latin bishop of Messina.
The monastery
received many assets and privileges, which made it an important owner on the
island. It was placed under the protection of Popes and Norman rulers until its
decline, after the conquest of Sicily by
the French D΄Anju
in 1266. The followers of the Sicilian Vespers, who sought the separation
of Calabria from Sicily, also influenced the power of the
monastery.
It developed
into a cultural center, as it ran a school of fine arts and calligraphy, but
also a large library with writings, which came from the monasteries dependent
on it or were produced in by its own scribes. In various raids it played an
important defensive role due to its location.
In the 16th
century, Charles V ordered the demolition of the monastery and the
construction of a fortress in its strategic position. A new location was thus
sought and a point directly in front of the port was chosen where it was
rebuilt. In 1783 an earthquake destroyed the monastery of San Bartolomeo
Trigona in Saint Eufemia d'Aspromonte and the surviving monks
came to join the monastery of Sotiros.
In 1866 the
newly formed Italian State confiscated the
ecclesiastical assets. The Monastery of Sotiros was functional until the great
earthquake of 1908, which destroyed it completely, killing all the monks who
had not already dispersed. When the building that now houses the Regional Museum was built in its place, a
crypt was discovered under the temple, with 16 burial niches. The Monastery is
depicted by Antonello da Messina in the background of his work
"Crucifixion", which is currently located in Sibiu, Romania.
Monastero Italo Greco dei Santi Quaranta Martiri
nelle Terme di Caronte-Sambiase (CZ).
The
Italo-Greek Monastery of the Santi Quaranta Martiri, (Gr. Saranta Martyres) was
founded between the 9th and 10th century, after having been under the
jurisdiction of the Bishop of Nicastro (Neocastro) together with the vast forest of Mitoio. In the mid-15th century fell
into ‘commenda’.
The
name Caronte has nothing to do with ancient Greek ferryman to the
word of dead "Charon", but is a popular deformation of Quaranta, the
name of the ancient waters of Sambiase. The current Caronte spa has always been
known as the baths or mineral waters of Sambiase. The name Caronte is later and
is to be linked to the monastery of the Quaranta Martiri.
Church
of the Holy Trinity (Cuba di
Delia). Castelvetrano, Sicily.
It is
located in the countryside west of Castelvetrano, a few kilometers from the
city.
It was
founded between 1160 and 1140 and was the catholikon (catholicon=main church in
gr.) of a Greek Basilian monastery. It is characterized on the outside by three
visibly pronounced apses that develop on the east side.
Sacro Monastero Ortodosso Magnogreco, “San
Nicolaos”, Agios Nikolaos, Kasole Otranto.
.
San
Pietro e Paolo d΄ Agro, Palermo prov. Sicily.
Church of Saint Nicolaos Regale,
Mazara del Vallo, Sicily.
It was a
large Byzantine Stavropigiac monastery, located on the peninsula of the
lighthouse, at the entrance to the port
of Messina in Sicily.
San
Giovani Theristis. Bivoggi Calabria.
La
Catholica di Stilo. Calabria.
Orthodox Church of “Saint Niccolò dei Greci”. Lecce Apulia. (Renamed
from San Giovanni di malatto, cirka 1765).
Greek Orthodox Church “Saint Leon”. Catania, Sicily.
“Myrophores”. Apulia.
Holy Monastery (Sacro Monastero) Mandranici, Catania, Sicily.
Archimandrita Filareto/ Benedetto Colucci. Sicily.
Saint Philareto D’ Ortolano. Sicily.
Caltaniseta Sicilia. The modern Greek-Orthodox Church of
“San Calogero”.
Church
of Santa Maria di Mili, Messina Sicily,1090 AD.
Couldn't
the autonomous administration of Sicily
preserve a few monuments that are still alive and
in relative good condition? Builted by those
glorious ancestors of modern Sicilians. Is it not their history? How much does
it cost? The EU provides money for heritage monuments.
Alcara
di Fusi, Sicily.
Monte Casino, Caserta, Campania. Church
of Saint Aggelo, 11th century.
Monastero Basiliano Magnogreco, Barcelona,
Sicily.
Ecumenical
Patriarch Bartholomeos, in the Naples
Roman Catholic Cathedral. (Saint Petro and Paolo is the Greek church in Naples. Another Greek
cemeterial chapel also exists).
“Parnassos”,
Byzantine tower in Tropea-Nicotera
Bay, Calabria.
Galiciano, Calabria
Ruined
Greek churches. Hundreds of churches in almost every municipality.
The
home of the last Greek priest in Kalimera, Apulia.
He was murdered by Roman Catholic fanatics.
Lecce, Salentina Graecia, Apulia.
Hundreds of Paleochristian and Medieval Magno-Greek Caves, hermeteries and churches.
The
great cities of Egnazia and Fasano in Apulia,
where the Greek inhabitants literally dug their houses, churches, workplaces,
into the living rock. But cave villages can be found everywhere, in Bridizino
(see San Biagio), Tarantino and Lecce,
with the villages of Macurano in Ugendo.
Kryptofenri.
(Grotaferata in Latin). Magno-Greek monastic complex.
Byzantine Church of Agios Petros (Saint Peter) Hydrunta
(Otranto).
On
August 11, 1370, Pope Urban V chose the Archbishop of
Otranto, Jacobo d'Itri, to visit the royal monasteries of the Kingdom of Sicily. The same archbishop had already
been chosen to examine the liturgical books of the Latins and Greeks. A sign
that the Holy See recognized his special proficiency in the knowledge of the
Greek religious world.
In
Otranto, despite the presence of the Latin archbishop bound to eliminate every
trace of Greek ritual as appears from numerous documents, in 1684 we find three
Greek churches in operation, regularly operated by the Greek clergy.
In
1700, despite the fact that every day the Greek ritual became more and more
impossible, in the two dioceses of Otranto and Castro, much of the population
still declared adamantly through the church ceremony their desire not to
disappear. Besides Otranto, the same was true of the populations of Corigliano,
Giurdignano, Muro Leccese, Giuggianello, Palmariggi, Melpiignano, Martano,
Castrignano, Calimera, Martignano, Sternatia, Zollino, Cur.
Saint
Giovanni a Piro.
The
monks belonging to the order of Saint Basilios the Great were expelled from
Epirus in the year 750 by Emperor Constantine V Copronymus, who succeeded his
father Leo III the Isaurian, who continued with extreme ferocity his
iconoclastic fight, based on the prohibition of reproducing sacred images
inherited from the Old Testament. In reality, Constantine V exploited
iconoclasm to fight the excessive power of the monks who, on the one hand,
marketed icons thus strengthening their economic condition and their political
influence within the Empire, and on the other, influenced the crowds, taking
away influence from the imperial court.
The
condemnation of iconolatry gave Constantine V the opportunity to take
possession of the property of the monasteries. Many monasteries and monastic
possessions were confiscated, closed and transformed into stables, spas or barracks.
Even before the construction of the cenobio, Basilian monks – fleeing
persecution – had come to San Giovanni a Piro, kindly welcomed by the Lombards,
lords of these lands, to settle in the Ceraseto area, around 800. They settled
in the various caves at the foot of Mount
Bulgheria where they
practiced prayer as hermits. The most majestic of the caves, was later
fortified and turned into the Grotta del Ceraseto, used for worship and as a
place of defense and refuge from Saracen attacks. Thanks to the lands donated
by the Lombards, the Basilian friars, around 990 AD, built the cenobio and
became Barons of the Contrada, maintaining power over these assets even with
the arrival of Roger the Norman who ratified the donations made to
the monks.
The ruins
of a medieval monastery in the monastic community in Mount Athos, in Macedonia Greece. “The Amalfinon Brotherhood
Monastery” (Amafli, is a former
Greek in ethnicity
Byzantine city in
south Italy, and the only Italian Christian Brotherhoud that had a
monastery in Mount Athos.
Santa
Maria del Patire (Pathirion in Greek).
Italo-Greek
monastery of San Nicola de’ Nemori at Mount Eurako in
Caccamo, Palermo.
Today Mount Eurako is known by all as Mount San
Calogero thanks to San Teoctisto, who like all Greek monks, was called
“calogero” means “good old man-good elder”.
Frazzanò, Sicily.
Recommended
works about Orthodoxy and Byzantium in the south
of Italy and Sicily are the
following:
All the
Italo Greek saints, over a thousand churches, monasteries
and hermetaries, can be found in the book Synaxarion-Sinassario.
Also,
in the Facebook page of “Santi Italogreci”.
The
website of the Orthodox Metropolis of Italy.
And for current News the Magazine: Magna Graecia news
A great
scientific work on Byzantine Sicily
are the books by Susanna
Valpreda “La cultura bizantina della Sicilia
orientale", Lithos
Edizioni, 2023, or on academia.edu.
For all
the medieval Byzantine and Orthodox churches of Sicily, with photos, an excellent reference
is the wonderful work of the Moldavian Hagiographer and historical researcher
Vasile Mutu:” Luci e riflessioni bizantini in Sicilia”. Bonano Editore Catania, 2024.
(Vasilemutu.com. And in facebook).
The Regional Autonomy of South Italy and the Flag of Autonomous Sicily
Triskeles,
meaning three legs. A Greek symbol and a Greek word of course. SKELIA: The most
likely etymology for the Name Sikelia (Sicily).
The one featured here is the oldest one in the world, from the 8th
century BC, and is exhibited in the museum
of Olympia.
The
official Sicilian flag, of the Autonomous Region of Sicily.
The
original flag of Sicily,
with the snakes in Medusa’s head. Not the grains. Also the flag of the Sicilian “Independence movement”.
Panormitan
(Palermian). Picture from an ancient Greek Medallion from the Greek city
of Palermo. (Taormina, turistic shops ).
Kroton!
Krotoniadi.
Modern local flag.
“Νeriidi di Kroton”, in a
ceremony in Metapontion (Basilicata).
The official
flag of the officially recognized “Greek minority of the straights”, of Messina and Regio.
The “Basiliani” Monks and Other Monuments
Gerace
(Ierax). The former Orthodox cathedral in Gerace,
Calabria (Today Orthodox is the the "San Giovanello", a smaller church)
The
term "Basilians" or "Order of Saint Basil", which
refers to Greek-speaking Italian monasticism from the 9th century onwards, is
an invention of later Latin writers. Eastern monastic tradition does
not know separate "orders", each with different traditions and
purposes. All communities follow the rule of the Great Canon of Caesarea (Asia Minor). As this contrasted them with the existing
Latin monks of Italy,
who as we said belonged to the Benedictine Order, Westerners described the
Greek-Rite monks as another, distinct order.
The golden age
of Greek Orthodox monasticism in Italy begins with the
accession to the throne as Autocrator (Emperor) of Basilios the Macedonian,
initiator of the Macedonian Dynasty (867-886). The new king renewed the
imperial efforts to control the coasts of the Adriatic and built an
aggressive Greek navy, to suppress piracy and stabilize and expand the bases
in lower Italy.
Basilios used the old and reliable tool of colonization in order to
economically and demographically strengthen the Italian possessions with
Greek-born populations.
Here we enter a
great dichotomy that still divides scholars of late Italian Hellenism. While
one side establishes historical continuity of the Greek-speaking communities of
the region from antiquity to the present day, the other argues that at the time
in question the Greek element of the era had essentially disappeared and Emperor
Basilios I "replanted" it. The main source of this argument comes
from, "The Greece of Salento" by Roco Aprile. Be
that as it may, it is certain that economically and demographically the region
had declined, and the Greek language was deteriorating (deteriorating but had
not disappeared) after centuries of raids and conquests. Basil's policy gave
new life to "Greater Greece". With Greek rule restored, merchants,
soldiers, and officials began to flock to Italy. Constantinople
also organized demographic strengthening, such as with the transfer of
3,000 freed slaves from Patras, a legacy by the famous widow Danielis
to Basil I the Macedonian.
The image of
Church revival becomes more than evident in the following passage: "Calabria had
acquired the reputation of a land of monks and hermits. In the 10th century it
changed into a new Thebaid, whose fame spread throughout Byzantium. From Rome
to Constantinople and Jerusalem.
The political influence of the Μacedonian Dynasty weakened under the leadership of the Longobard rulers
of Campania, even in Apulia. Nevertheless, the language, culture and
civilization of Byzantium, with the great support of the activity of the
monks, was revived not only in the glorious Magna Graecia, but even
further. Into the territories of the Vatican (Held by their Franco-German
vassals) and led to the medieval triumph of Hellenism".
G. Gay,
"L'Italia meridionale e l'impero bizantino"
The Basilian
monks did not build large and impressive monasteries. They sought the
Divine with great humility and modesty. They were true Christians. Their
hermitages were in caves or dug into the ground. They were connected by a
complex network of arcades that included ancillary structures such as oil mills
and presses, some in continuous use well into the 20th century. Greek Orthodox
monasteries were not only centers of prayer and meditation,where ascetics
struggled to approach divine love and pilgrims flocked to receive support and
consolation. They were cultural centers where scribes copied and preserved
ancient manuscripts, while teachers taught letters to children. They were hives
of economic growth, with experienced monks teaching farmers agricultural techniques
and trading for what they needed. The monastery storehouse was the last line of
defense against famine if the harvest was bad. Many monks had medical
knowledge, which they offered to the local population. Soon around the
monasteries farmers and shepherds set up their residences, and thus laity and
clergy lived side by side in a regime of mutual assistance. Unlike the Latin
clergy who over time maintained a certain distance from the common believer,
the Basilians lived with the flock. The fact that the Greek Orthodox elders
married and started families helped a lot in this direction. The monks led an
almost nomadic life, wandering from one hermitage to another and ministering in
the surrounding villages. Some became great travelers. For example, Saint
Elias the Sicilian (823-903) toured Africa, Egypt,
the God-favored Mount Sinai and as far as Palestine
and Persia.
With Greek
monasteries scattered throughout the ancient Magna Graecia (some
authors speak of 1,500 monasteries, although this number is disputed as an
exaggeration) they were the core of the region's re-Hellenization. There
was popular support of the political and military sovereignty of Romania (Romania was a popular name for
Byzantium-Greece), under the umbrella of the Ecumenical Patriarchate of
Constantinople. The Greek clergy also extended to Latin-speaking or bilingual
communities in southern Italy,
where they were welcomed with pleasure. The 10-11th century was, after all, a
time of terrible crisis for the Latin Church and the papacy, with corruption
and indifference reigning. Basilians are praised as being purer and humbler in
their living and socializing.
Conquest
and Decline (The Normans).
By the middle
of the 11th century small groups of Norman mercenaries of the Byzantine
Emperor, began to flock to Italy
together with the Byzantine army, who tried to liberate the Sicily from the
Arabs. They entered Sicily first
as pilgrims and then as mercenaries. At a time when the star of Constantinople was beginning to dim, the Norman
warriors realized that they could conquer their Roman, Arab, and Longobard
employers rather than serve them. Under the formidable warlord Roberto
Guiscardo I, the Norman knights fell like a paver into lower Italy,
capturing one of the Greek possessions, Varion (Bari), in 1071 and driving
the Muslims out of western Sicily (Panormos) two years later. Initially
this new power found itself at war with the papacy, but the latter's failure to
form an alliance with the Greek Empire forced it to compromise with Vatican.
This was
decisive for the future of Greeks in the region of southern Italy. It was
not only raids and looting that devastated Greek villages and cities and
paralyzed the economy. Along with the Normans came
the Roman Catholic priests, to impose the will of Rome.
The new rulers
showed remarkable flexibility and moderation in ecclesiastical matters, without
imposing direct persecutions on the Greek clergy and the Basilian monasteries.
This respect helped the Greek-speaking population to accept Norman rule more
easily. On the other hand, the Latin hierarchy was imposed on lower Italy and
the Latin standard in worship spread. The cutting off of the Greek-rite
Greek-speaking communities from the Ecumenical Patriarchate left a very large
administrative vacuum, which accelerated the decline of Orthodoxy in the
region. On the other hand, the Latin clergy launched a campaign to slander the
Greek, whom they accused, beyond the expected doctrinal-functional differences,
of corruption, rapacity, illiteracy and pagan practices. In a West where the
celibacy of the clergy had relatively recently been strictly enforced, the
family life of the Orthodox elders scandalized the Latins.
Historically,
no source has been found that confirms abuses and problems in the Greek clergy.
Of course, human weakness is eternal and omnipresent, but we do not have
specific incidents or any wider or systemic problem. On the contrary, later
Catholic writers have only good words to say about the conduct of the Basilians
and Orthodox priests. The slander, however, acted as an effective screen for
the appropriation of monastic property by the feudal lords, especially
when the Norman dynasty fell and their successors, the French and the
Aragonese, did not show the same tolerance towards Orthodoxy. With the
expansion of feudalism, the Basilian monasteries slowly declined and were
abandoned. Some survived until the Renaissance and are famous for the wealth of
Greek writings they preserved. From them came the infamous Barlaam the
Calabrian, the monk who tried to introduce Latin scholasticism to the East and
oppose Saint Gregory Palamas.
Magnogreek
Christian hermetaries in Basilicata.
In short,
between the 12th and 16th centuries the Greek clergy of lower Italy disappeared.
Its last strongholds were today's remaining Greek-speaking regions of
southern Calabria
around Reggio and Salento Apulia, but they were also displaced from
there by the Latins. The decline of Orthodoxy led inevitably to the decline of
the Greek language. Although there was a constant flow of refugees from the
Turkish-occupied East, without ecclesiastical autonomy these people quickly
assimilated.
The Roman Empire fell in 1453, while in the Latin-controlled
areas where Greeks lived, Orthodoxy was under strong Latin pressure. On Holy
Wednesday of 1480, in an official ceremony at the church of the Dormition
in the city of Ierakas (Gerace, Calabria),
the Saint, monk and bishop Athanasios Chalkeopoulos abolished the
Greek standard and introduced the Latin. In 1621 the last Greek priest of
the small city of Kalimera in
Salento was found dead, murdered by Roman Catholics.
A
testimony on the priests of Salento in the 15th century.
Curiosities of
the Italo-Greek monastery of San Nicola di Casole (Otranto), later destroyed by
the Turks in 1480. The monastery had a vast and rich library and constituted a
very important spiritual and cultural center. In a manuscript we find annotated
loans of books, mostly concerning the sphere of the liturgy of the Orthodox
Church:
*- "The
Church of Santa Maria de Mallia has borrowed the liturgy of St. Basil"
*-
"Biagio, priest of Casamassella, has borrowed the Triodion"
*- "The
Priest of Cantarello has borrowed the Tipicon and the Eucologhion"
*-
"Bartolomeo, priest of Surdini has borrowed the Triodion"
*-
"Clemente, deacon of Otranto has borrowed a Gospel"
*- " ...priest
of Lecce has borrowed the Triodion"
*-
"Giovanni, son of judge Nicola has borrowed a Gospel, a Sticharion, a
Felonion and a Eucologhio"
*- "The
priest Giovanni brother of the judge Costantino of Lecce has a Gospel"
*-
"Nicodemo hieromonk and igumen of Turlazzo has on loan the Gospel
that...of the priest Cyril"
*-
"Martino, priest of Mallie has on loan the Patericon and the
Gospel..."
*- "Papas
Michele of Pugiardo has returned the Sticherarion menologii"...
San Ippolytos. In Badia di Sant ‘Ippolito, located on the northern
shore of the Piccolo di Monticchio Lake.
Baptistery
of Sant' Anastasia in Santa Severina. 8-9th century.
Today in the
south of Italy
exist Greek, but not Orthodox, Roman Catholic churches, in the towns
where the Grico people live. 10 towns in Apulia,
“Salentina Graecia” and another 10 towns of the Grecani people
in Calabria–Messina-Regio.
Older Greek
churches, Orthodox ones exist only as archeological sites. Anyone interested
can easily find more with a quick search online or at:
https://orthodox-world.org/en/z/4263/Italy/Sicily
or on Facebook
at:
1)Eredità culturale del monachesimo italo-greco
2)santi Italogreci
3)Greci nell' Itallia meridionale e Sicilia.
Basilian
Byzantine monastic complex. Here the central Church or “ Catholicon” of Santa Maria del Patire, Rossano Calabria (Cosenza).
Latinized today.
Saint
Mary in Gruttam in Kuropalati.
A few
kilometers from the community of Cropalati (Kuropalati), in a small village of
the lower Ionian Cosentino, in the area of Pizzuti, nestled among the green
heights bordering the wide bed of the river Trionto, the Abbey of Santa Maria in Gruttam
looks like a revelation. An artistic-religious "unicum” which elicits
strong emotions from the visitor. The name is of obvious Byzantine Greek
origin, which etymologically refers to "Kuropalates" the head of the
palace. The town has existed in historical documents since 1325, under the name
of Karopilatis. The church, however, an integral part of a Cenobitic complex,
as it is now called, was founded in the 12th century by Italo-Greek
“Anachoretti” monks who lived in the small building in absolute poverty,
in undecorated cells to remember that they were pilgrims passing through this
world.
San
Nickolaos di Kasole, Otranto.
San
Nikitas, Lecce Apulia.
The church of Santa Marina, Muro Leccese.
One of
the oldest churches of Otranto. Built in the 9th century, it is one of the
most important and interesting artistic expressions of Byzantine architecture.
San
Vitto, Lecce, Apulia.
La
chiesa Bizantina di Santa Filomena a Santa Severina (Kr)
a Krotone Calabria.
S.Maria
Rometta, Sicily.
Modica,
Sicilia. San Nikolaos.
Modern Notable Magno-Greeks
Rizzioti
Garibaldi,
in Athens, Panepistimiou Street, 1912.
This rare
photograph was taken at Panepistimiou
Street in the center of Athens, on December 6, 1912. The historic
photograph depicts the Italian revolutionary Ricciotti Garibaldi (son
of Giuseppe) who arrived in Athens to
support the Greeks in the great military campaign for the liberation of Epirus, Macedonia and the Aegean islands.
Garibaldi had acted accordingly in 1897 in the Greco-Turkish war when
he fought with 3,000 Italians (mostly Italo-Greeks from southern Italy) including 8 members of the Italian parliament
from southern Italy, on the
side of Greece, in
Domokos and Thessaly. “Commitato
pro Grecia”. In 1912 he decided again to fight in the Balkan wars and
formed a Corp of 1,200 Italian and Italo-Greek volunteers, led by his
son, Pepino Garibaldi. He helped liberate Ioannina, the
capital city of Epirus,
from the Turks.
A few years
later (1919-1922), Pepino Garibaldi gathered and army of Italo-Greeks to fight
in Asia Minor, to liberate the eternal Greek homelands of Ionia, Aeolia, Caria,
Pamfylia, Pontos, Caesarea, Cappadocia, Lydia, Pisidia… where the indigenous
Greeks were the majority of the population before their genocide and ethnic
cleansing by the Young Turk Movement led by Kemal Ataturk, in 1922-23. 1.5
million Greeks were massacred/genocided by the Turks and their German patrons,
together with 1.5 million Armenians and 1 million Assyrian. Another 1.5 million
Greeks were expelled. This is what is called ethnic cleansing. Half of the
9,000,000 population of Asia Minor were
Greek, Armenian and Assyrian Christians.
But the interests of Italian government were on the
side of the Turks. Thus the southern
Italo-Greeks and Pepino Garibaldi were ordered by the Italian King Vittorio
Emmanuele III to immediately return to Italy, to avoid being punished.
Volunteers
of Magna Graecia who fought alongside the Greek forces during the Cretan
War (the liberation of Crete from Turkish
occupation in 1896). They pose here with Greeks wrote: “All the sons and
daughters of Greece
fought for the freedom of the homeland in this war. Volunteers from Sicily in the west to Cyprus
in the east flooded Crete for the war
against the Turks”.
Professor Giovanni
Restucia. Known for the following published letter to the Greek
ambassador in Rome, sent from Messina, Sicily.
"... being Greek educated and as a Garibaldine Colonel and a volunteer
of the Greco-Turkish war in 1897, I beg your excellency to notify to the
Liberete organizations of Greece and Cyprus and the government of HM King
Pavlos of Greece, that I am ready to organize a body of 15,000 volunteers,
which will fight to win or die for the freedom of our dear brothers of Cyprus.
I always pray for our Great Mother Greece to withstand the English violence and
to emerge victorious from today's new struggles... Long live Greece". Written
in 1956, shortly after the start of the anti-colonialist revolution
in Cyprus,
against the British.
*****
LUIGI PIRADELLO
The most Famous
Greek of modern Sicily was Luiggi
Piradelo. “… I do carry Hellas in
my mind. Her spirit is consolation and lighthouse for my soul. I am from Sicily, in other words from Greater Greece and there still exists a lot of
Hellas in Sicily.
The measure, the harmony and the rhythm live on her. I am of the same Hellenic
origin. Yes, yes, don't be surprised. My family name is Piragellos. Piradello
is the phonetic alteration of it, Piragello-Piradello…”
Luigi Piradelo
interviewed by Costas Ouranis. The whole interview in the magazine “Nea Estia”
(next), No 191, December 1934. Costas Ouranis Foundation, Plaka, Athens Greece or in the National
Library.
Luiggi
Piradello's interview.
Vittorio
Domenico Palumbo, Calimera, Salentina Graecia, Apulia.
Famous scholar of the Greek language, and poet.
Tony
Benet
Anthony
Dominick Benedetto was born on August 3, 1926, in New York City. His parents were grocer
John Benedetto and seamstress Anna (Suraci) Benedetto. In 1906, John
emigrated from Podargoni, a
rural eastern district of the southern
Italian city of Reggio
Calabria. Anna had been born in the U.S. shortly
after her parents also emigrated from the Calabria region
in 1899.
Podargoni in Reggio
Calabria, is a small town close to the Aspromonte mountains.
The town is inhabited by the Griko
people who to still speak their ancestral Calabrian
Greek dialect.
Other famous people, proud of their ancestry from the Greek Regio include
Versage, Francis Coppola from Basilicata...
But the list is truly remarkable.
Peter of Candia antipope
(1339–1410), Pope
Innocent VIII (1432-1492), Francesco Maurolico mathematician
and astronomer (1494-1575), Gioachino Greco chess
player (1600-1634), Nicholas
Kalliakis philosopher (1645-1707), Andreas Musalus
mathematician and philosopher (1665-1721), Simone Stratigo
mathematician and natural science expert (1733–1824), Ugo Foscolo writer,
revolutionary and poet (1778–1827), Constantino Brumidi
historical painter (1805-1880), Francesco Crispi
Prime Minister (1818-1901), Matilde Serao journalist
and novelist (1856–1927), Sotirios Voulgaris
founder of Bvlgari jewelry (1857-1932), Giorgio de Chirico artist
and writer (1888-1978), Ovidio
Assonitis director, screenwriter and film producer (1943), Demetrio Stratos
singer (1945–1979), Antonella
Lualdi actress and singer (1931-2023), Sylva Koscina actress
(1933-1994), Fiorella
Kostoris economist (1945), Antonella
Interlenghi actress (1960), Anna Kanakis actress
and model (1962-2023) and others.
Today in Magna Graecia
Gela, Sicilia. Olympiad for Sicelo-Greek
youth.
Organized
by Prof. Giuseppe Veletti. “We Sicilians of Gela
in Sicily are
proud of our Greek past and we never forget our own Hellenic identity! We
are Magna Graecia. The great Greek past
of Magna Graecia is also its
future”.
Magno Greeks in Poseidonia (Pesto in Italian), ceremony in temple of Hera.
Taranto.
Citta Spartana. Persephone was the daughter of the goddess Demetra. Not
daughter of Ceres as some malicious, antigreek people in Magna Graecia try to
present the goddess protector of Sicily!
The
Return of Persefoni. Taras.
Spartani
di Taranto.
Tarantini.
Ancient Greek dances and the famous ancient Greek Tarantela.
Tarantela.
Its Greek roots. New study by De Giorgi.
Naples, “Symmachia Ellenon”. Alliance of Greeks.
Annual
“Lambadoforia” (Torch race) in Napoli.
See extraordinary videos from the streets of Naples, on Youtube.
Reggio,
capital of Calabria.
Statue of the goddes Athena Promachos.
Street
signs for Messina, Sicily.
Messina, center. Aghios Nicholaos, little chapel.
Richard Gere e
il premio «Magna Graecia» all’annuale Festival del
Cinema «MAGNA GRECIA» a Catanzaro Calabria!
Today many of
Magno-Greeks reconvert to the paternal faith and traditions. Even though
they don’t know a single Greek word. Such as the Sicilian Father Nilos, a
university professor and Orthodox priest from Reggio. In Syracuse
the Orthodox parish was refounded in 1999, in honor of Saint Methodius, Patriarch of
Constantinople, who was from Syracuse.
On June 20,
1999, the reopening of the doors of the Church
of Agios Nikolaos took place in Lecce, which was
granted by the local Roman Catholic bishop, and which 300 years ago was a Greek
church. The event was organized by Ms. Isabella Bernandini, a professor at the University of Lecce. In 2006, the historic church of Agios
Leontios (San Leon), in the center of Catania, was donated by the municipal
authorities to the Orthodox Church. And it goes on and on.
In 1990, at the
first conference that took place in Palmi about the Greek language, the
"Library of Saints Nile and Leo" was founded in Katanzaro Calabria and headed by
Professor Velia Criteli.
The
"Center for Orthodox Studies in Greater Greece" was established
with a founding conference in 1998
in Bova, in which many academics from all over the south
of Italy
participated. The seat of the center is at the Monastery of the Holy Apostles
in Calabria,
which was also restored. Interest is also aroused by the world-renowned centers
of Greek studies in Palermo and Catania, as well as
the many other smaller ones that spring up throughout the region.
Modern Genetics
Newsroom
HuffPost: GENETIC HERITAGE FROM SICILY TO CYPRUS
18/05/2017
“A common
genetic heritage and continuity from Sicily to
Crete, the Aegean islands and Cyprus found
new Italian-German research, while the southern Italians appear to
have a closer genetic affinity with the populations of certain Greek islands
than with mainland Greece.
The study was carried out by scientists from the Department of Biological,
Geological and Environmental Sciences of the University
of Bologna and the Max Planck
Institute for the History of Human History in Jena, Germany. Stephanie
Sarno was headed. The research was published in the journal Nature
Scientific Reports and was funded by the National Geographic Society. It
analyzed 511 DNA samples from 23 populations in Italy,
Greece, Cyprus and Albania.
"The
common Mediterranean heritage probably dates back to prehistoric times, as a
consequence of the multiple migratory waves that peaked during the Neolithic
and the Bronze Age," Sarno said.
According to
the researchers, the expansion of the ancient Greeks to the west and the
creation of Greater Greece in southern Italy today
was one of the last "episodes" in a long history of East-West travel,
with the Mediterranean functioning as a crossroads for the movement genes and
cultures.
In particular,
for today's Greek-speaking populations of Calabria and
other southern Italy,
the study points out that their genetic characteristics confirm the antiquity
of their settlement in those places well before the Byzantine times.
The new genetic
analysis also makes an assessment of the origin of the family of Indo-European
languages, which include Greek and Latin. Two basic theories have been proposed
so far: either that their origins are Neolithic Anatolia at least 8,000 years
ago, or the steppes of Caucasus and Pontus about 6,000 years ago.
Researchers
have discovered in the genetic "landscape" of the southeastern Mediterranean an important "Caucasian
type" genetic contribution. However, they did not find the typical genetic
profile of the "Ponto-Caucasian" immigration-invasion in central and
eastern Europe, which has been associated with the introduction of
Indo-European languages into the European space.
Researchers
believe that these two main conflicting theories of origin of the Indo-European
language family must be "reconciled". "The spread of these
languages in the southern regions, where Indo-European languages such as
Italian and Greek are now spoken, cannot be explained solely by the significant
contribution of the steppes," said researcher Kia Barbieri of
the Max Planck Institute.
Brand new study
on the DNA of modern populations of Southern Italy, Sicily
and Greece
confirms that these populations are genetically similar to each other for a
simple reason, they are all descend from the Ancient Greeks!
https://www.biorxiv.org/.../10.1101/2022.02.26.482072v1.full
The Greeks
lived in Sicily
long before 3,000 BC, from the Minoan era. The Minoans were the first
prehistoric population in southern Italy. That means that the Greeks
lived there not only from the archaic settlements of the 8th century
BC. The Elymi, the Sikani and the Siculi, are clearly proto-Greek
populations from Crete, Asia minor and the
Aegean islands, as prof. Sarno from Max Plank Institute says.
Greek
Genetics from 1,000 BC until today.
Genetic Reality of the Mezzogiorno –
Challenging the myth and propaganda of Romanic, Germanic & Arab ancestry.
“Contrary to popular belief the many invasions in
southern Italy and Sicilia,
that followed the fall of the Western Roman Empire, did not significantly alter
the local genetic landscape of the Apennine Peninsula.
In fact, DNA studies show that only the Greek presence in southern Italy had
any lasting effect on the genetic makeup of the peninsula”.
Source: Cavalli-Sforza, Luigi Luca, Menozzi
Paolo, Piazza Alberto, (1994). “The History and Geography of Human Genes. p. 295”.
And the Minoans (from 3,000 BC), and
the Mycenaeans later and the Pelasgian tribes from the Aegean
were Greeks according to Max Plank DNA research. To this must be added the
historical and linguistic sources with the thousands of inscriptions found.
Genetic
map of Italy.
The Celts (Galli) are pictured in blue, the Latins in orange and the Greeks in
purple. (Genetic history of Italia. Wikipedia)
All known
scientific DNA research has found that the Greek genetic input in Sicily, Calabria, Apulia, Basilikata etc is between 60% at the lowest in
some samples and up to 80%.
An excellent scientific
reference book on the subject available to the public in both Greek and English
editions is the “The Genetic Origins of Greeks” by Costas
Triantafyllidis, Professor of Genetics at the Aristoteleion University of
Thessaloniki, pub. Kyriakidis, 2018,
ISBN 978-960-599-250-7.
Conclusion
What is “Nation” and What is “Genus”.
According to Herodotos, in the entire historical
evolution of thousands of years, there are three objective components (or
criteria) that define Nation. The Homoaemon (common blood/DNA), the
Homotropus/Coreligion (common ways/religion) and the Homoglossus (common language).
After the French Revolution of 1789,
a fourth subjective criterion/component was added to the science
of Ethnology. The "National Conscience". So, what are the Sicilians,
Calabrians, Apulians, Basilcateans and Campanians today in
the territory of southern Italy?
We see that they have of
the objective component, the Homoaemon (common blood/DNA), but
not the Homotropon and Homoglosson, which was forcibly lost due to the
Franco-German and other Roman Catholic conquerors after the 13th
century. As for the subjective criterion, “national consciousness”,
we can divide them in three categories.
A) The vast majority are Italians.
B) Sicilians and South Italians who claim individual
ethnicity.
C) Greeks, who are a small but very important group. Very
attractive today, in an era when nations research their heritage and roots.
This group has begun to awaken and has in its ranks many
intellectuals, professors and people of art and culture. This gives this
group an important quality boost!
Today, the physical Greek presence in Sicily, is the
ancient temples, theatres, schools, roads, ports etc. The medieval
Christian, the modern churches in all the cities, mostly on the
eastern coast, with an active monastery in Catania (Mantranici),
and a cultural center, and the biggest center for Hellenic studies in
the world, in Palermo (Panormos).
In Calabria, Apulia, Basilikata and Campania, the wave
of Greek "renaissance" is also very dynamic. Ancient Greek heritage,
more Christian Churches, attempted reconstruction of old monasteries from the
local population, more philhellenic feelings, the Greek dialects “Griko”
in Apulia, and “Grekanika” in Calabria, are still alive and have the support of
the official Italian government and the E.U.
So, the south Italians, are Greek, but they don’t belong to the modern Greek
nation, because the criterion of National Conscience, is not common on both
shores of the Ionian Sea. They are
Magno-Greeks. But we are all Greeks, even though we speak different languages
today. We are all Christians, even with the (not so
serious) differences between Roman Catholic
and Greek Orthodox church. The religious doctrine is not able to
divide us today. We have
the same genes and the same ancient and medieval historical connection after
all.
Map 1 & 2. Ancient and early medieval Greek cities in Magna Graecia. Most of the cities, north of Neapolis
(Napoli) and Dikearchia, are not Greek
cities in the literal meaning, but are cities built from older
Aegean populations, like the Etruscans and Pelasgians, before the
Classical Greek settlement and cities under Greek influence. On the coast
of Liguria, Monaco,
Marseilles, Nikaia in the French Riviera and in Catalonia, Valencia... the cities were
original Greek.
Of course,
differences exist, created not by historical development, but by force of the Vatican and its
Germanic vassals.
The Greek
language disappeared completely from Sicily in
particular and from the rest of southern Italy, between
1300 and 1600 AD, when two ecclesiastical sessions (1585 in Otranto
and 1588 in Messina) required from the
Orthodox Italo-Greeks in Sicily and southern Italy, to
follow the Roman Catholic Church, or leave the country. So the Magno-Greek population (1,600 Greek
churches and monasteries at this time in Italy
and unknown number in Sicily)
was forced to accept the Roman Catholic church and the Latin language in their
ceremonies and so, they lost their Greek language, heritage, ethnicity....
In the year 1579, the Vatican also
organized the Magno-Greek, belonging to the order of the “Basilian” monks
and forced them to accept the Roman Catholic doctrine and language. They
were organized by the Vatican in
this order, like the Franciscan and Jesuit monks.
The last blow was given by the Spanish French dynasty of the
Bourbons. King Francisco 1st, conqueror of southern Italy, closed the
latest 19 Italo-Greek churches and monasteries in the years 1821-1830 and
forced the last Magno-Greco to accept Roman Catholicism. The Greeks of Sicily
and southern Italy
lost their language, faith and Greek conscience, after 3,000 years of nonstop
presence in this land, as Greeks! They became something else. But they continue
to exist in southern Italy, Calabria, Apulia, Basilicata, Campania, Sicilia
etc. not as Greeks in ethnicity, but of Greek origin and ancestry, creating a
new, different culture, based on the Roman Catholic doctrine, using a modern
version of the Latin language (similar to northern Italian) and customs similar
to many of the conquerors (Spanish, German, French), who ruled the area in
modern times. So, they are still Greeks in origin, but with different
tradition.
The
celebration of the International Day of the Greek Language (9nth February).
Celebrated throughout southern Italy,
but in Naples with
particular splendor and a variety of events.
***
"We
have all been Greeks and we still are Greeks today", Valerio
Manfredi. Italian Academic, scholar and writer of Greek history. Author of the
trilogy “Alexander the Great” picked for the silver screen by Australian
director Baz Luhrmann.
Magna Grecia news. Web magazine for all the news from South Italy
