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138-619: The origin and foundation of Segesta are extremely obscure. The tradition current among the Greeks and adopted by Thucydides, ascribed its foundation to a band of Trojan settlers, fugitives from the destruction of their city; and this tradition was readily welcomed by the Romans, who in consequence claimed a kindred origin with the Segestans. Thucydides seems to have considered the Elymians ( Latin : Elymi ),

276-582: A 100-year gap between Troy III and Troy IV. Combined with a similar analysis of the pottery sequences of Korfmann and Schliemann this suggests that for a time in the late Early Bronze Age occupation contracted to the western end of the citadel mound. From 1988 to 2005, excavations were conducted by a team from the University of Tübingen and the University of Cincinnati under the direction of Professor Manfred Korfmann , with Professor Brian Rose overseeing Post-Bronze Age (Greek, Roman, Byzantine) excavation along

414-510: A Greek population. It is also believed that the designer came from Segesta's own rival Selinunte . The construction of this Temple came in the height of the Greek colonization of Segesta within the 5th and 4th centuries BCE, a time of peace, which would help explain the Doric Greek style in this Elymian city. The Elymians were one of the three native indigenous tribes of Sicily. One theory suggests that

552-654: A Latin bishopric in the city. Normans built the Castello di Agrigento to control the area. The population declined during much of the medieval period but revived somewhat after the 18th century. According to legend, the Jewish community of Agrigento is said to be ancient. The first record of Jews mentioned in Agrigento is when, under the pontificate of Gregory the Great , several Jews in Agrigento were converted to Christianity. The community

690-417: A Muslim necropolis and a mosque from the 12th century next to a Norman castle. Evidence suggests that the mosque was destroyed after the arrival of a new Christian overlord at the beginning of the 13th century. The city appears to have been finally abandoned by the second half of the 13th century. The Temple of Segesta began construction efforts nearly 2,500 years ago, around 420-417 BCE, on a hill just outside

828-501: A barbarian tribe in the neighborhood of Eryx and Segesta, as descended from the Trojans in question; but another account represents the Elymi as a distinct people, already existing in this part of Sicily when the Trojans arrived there and founded the two cities. A different story seems also to have been current, according to which Segesta owed its origin to a band of Phocians , who had been among

966-450: A city on the southern coast of Sicily , Italy and capital of the province of Agrigento . Founded around 582 BC by Greek colonists from Gela , Agrigento, then known as Akragas , was one of the leading cities during the golden age of Ancient Greece . The city flourished under Theron 's leadership in the 5th century BC, marked by ambitious public works and the construction of renowned temples. Despite periods of dormancy during

1104-403: A clear view of Trojan plain and the sea beyond it. The citadel was accessed by five gates, which led into paved and drained cobblestone streets. Some of these gates featured enormous pillars which serve no structural purpose and have been interpreted as religious symbols. The halls were built in megaron style, resembling Mycenaean architecture . The lower town was built to the south of

1242-440: A dense residential neighborhood in the citadel. Walls from Troy II may have been reused as part of Troy III. By the period of Troy V, the city had once again expanded outside the citadel to the west. Troy IV sees the introduction of domed ovens. In Troy V, artifacts include Anatolian-style "red-cross bowls" as well as imported Minoan objects. They would trade with other cities around them. Troy VI–VII

1380-403: A distinctive characteristic in later periods, reflecting perennial security concerns at the vulnerable coastal site. Residents lived in attached houses made of stone and mudbrick. Some houses had a megaron layout, among which one room is notably larger than the others. Although the city plan is not entirely clear from its limited remains, the houses appear to have been oriented in parallel to

1518-402: A good tyrant, but accuse his son Thrasydaeus , who succeeded him in 472 BC, of violence and oppression. Shortly after Theron's death, Hiero I of Syracuse (brother and successor of Gelon) invaded Acragas and overthrew Thrasydaeus. The literary sources say that Acragas then became a democracy, but in practice it seems to have been dominated by the civic aristocracy. The period after the fall of

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1656-507: A largely Greek-speaking community for centuries thereafter. It became prosperous again under Roman rule. In the 2nd century BC, Scipio Africanus Minor bestowed upon the city a statue of Apollo by Myron , housed in the Temple of Asclepius as a symbol of their alliance during the Third Punic War . Cicero noted Agrigentum as a civitas decumana and socius, highlighting its loyal service in

1794-466: A location near the village of Pınarbaşı, Ezine , a mound approximately 5 kilometres (3.1 mi) south of the currently accepted location. Published in his Voyage de la Troade , it was the most commonly proposed location for almost a century. In 1822, the Scottish journalist Charles Maclaren was the first to identify with confidence the position of the city as it is now known. The first excavations at

1932-527: A man who worked as a scribe on the other. The seal is important since it is the only example of preclassical writing found at the site, and provides potential evidence that Troy VIIb1 had a Luwian -speaking population. However, the find is puzzling since palace bureaucracies had largely disappeared by this era. Proposed explanations include the possibility that it belonged to an itinerant freelance scribe and alternatively that it dates from an earlier era than its find context would suggest. Troy VIIb2

2070-402: A new handmade style sometimes known as "barbarian ware". Imported Mycenaean-style pottery attests to some continuing foreign trade. However, the city's population appears to have dropped, and rebuilding seems to be confined to the citadel. One of the most striking finds from Troy VIIb1 is a bronze biconvex hieroglyphic Luwian seal giving the name of a woman on one side and the name of

2208-446: A notable slope, similar to those at other sites including Hattusa . However, the walls differ from contemporary Aegean and Anatolian sites both in their lack of figural sculpture and in their masonry . While Troy VI's walls were made entirely of close-fitting ashlars , contemporary sites typically used ashlars around a rubble core . Troy VI's walls were overlooked by several rectangular watchtowers, which would also have provided

2346-436: A number of destructive bombing raids during World War II . Agrigento is a major tourist centre due to its archaeological legacy. It also serves as an agricultural centre for the surrounding region. Sulphur and potash were mined locally from Minoan times until the 1970s, and were exported worldwide from the nearby harbour of Porto Empedocle (named after the philosopher Empedocles , who lived in ancient Akragas). In 2010,

2484-615: A people distinct from the Sicanians , the native race of this part of Sicily, and on the other that it was not a Greek colony. Thucydides, in enumerating the allies of the Athenians at the time of the Peloponnesian War , distinctly calls the Segestans barbarians. At the same time they appear to have been, from a very early period, in close connection with the Greek cities of Sicily, and entering into relations both of hostility and alliance with

2622-585: A plateau overlooking the sea, with two nearby rivers, the Hypsas and the Acragas, after which the settlement was originally named. A ridge, which offered a degree of natural fortification, links a hill to the north called Colle di Girgenti with another, called Rupe Atenea, to the east. According to Thucydides , it was founded around 582-580 BC by Greek colonists from Gela in eastern Sicily, with further colonists from Crete and Rhodes . The founders ( oikistai ) of

2760-521: A population of 16,000-18,000 citizens, while Franco de Angelis estimates a total population of around 30,000-40,000. When Athens undertook the Sicilian Expedition against Syracuse from 415 to 413 BC, Acragas remained neutral. However, it was sacked by the Carthaginians in 406 BC. Acragas never fully recovered its former status, though it revived following the invasion of Timoleon in

2898-621: A pottery industry, possibly associated with a wine or oil industry. The style of these pots shows stylistic similarities to other North Aegean sites, suggesting cultural contact. (Because other artifacts do not show these links, archaeologists believe that Greek settlement of Troy did not begin until later.) Both the Troy VI walls and the Troy VIIa Terrace House were reused for worship and communal feasting, as evidenced by animal bones, pottery assemblages, and traces of burned incense. Strikingly,

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3036-518: A section of the Troy ;VI wall which was weaker than the rest. Since the mythic city had likewise had a weak section of its walls, Dörpfeld became convinced that this layer corresponded to Homeric Troy. Schliemann himself privately agreed that Troy VI was more likely to be the Homeric city, but he never published anything stating so. Carl Blegen , professor at the University of Cincinnati , managed

3174-562: A trench across the mound of Hisarlık to the depth of the settlements, today called " Schliemann's Trench ". In 1871–1873 and 1878–1879, 1882 and 1890 (the later two joined by Wilhelm Dörpfeld), he discovered the ruins of a series of ancient cities dating from the Bronze Age to the Roman period. Schliemann was planning for another excavation season in 1891 when he died in December 1890. He proposed that

3312-399: Is Entablature , ornamental mentopes that are plain or depict a mythological scene. A third important feature is a Cella , or the inner chamber of a temple that depicts who the temple is for. The Temple of Segesta is a fascinating example of a Doric Greek temple, yet it does lack some key features that suggest that it was just never completed and abandoned. The biggest missing element is that

3450-542: Is 200 feet long and 85 feet wide (61x26m), with a total of 36 columns, 14 on each side, it is believed to be built from Travertine , a natural stone of calcium carbonate from a local town in Sicily called Alcamo. Another popular building material among the Greek temples is Limestone , which is a sedimentary rock that is also mainly made from calcium carbonate, created from the accumulated marine debris of shells and coral that had accumulated and hardened over millions of years. Why

3588-471: Is also notable for its architectural innovations as well as its cultural developments, which included the first evidence of horses at the site. The language spoken in Troy VI is unknown. One candidate is Luwian , an Anatolian language believed to have been spoken in the general area. Potential evidence comes from a biconvex seal inscribed with the name of a person using Anatolian hieroglyphs often used to write Luwian. However, available evidence

3726-420: Is evidenced by a defensive ditch cut 1-2 into the bedrock. A wall or palisade may have stood several meters behind the ditch, as in the outer defenses of other cities such as Qadesh and Carchemish . However, material evidence for such a wall is limited to postholes and cuts in the bedrock. The lower city was only discovered in the late 1980s, earlier excavators having assumed that Troy VI occupied only

3864-412: Is known about these several layers due to Schliemann 's careless excavation practices. In order to fully excavate the citadel of Troy II, he destroyed most remains from this period without first documenting them. These settlements appear to have been smaller and poorer than previous ones, though this interpretation could be merely the result of gaps in the surviving evidence. The settlements included

4002-478: Is marked by dramatic cultural changes including walls made of upright stones and a handmade knobbed pottery style known as Buckelkeramik . These practices, which existed alongside older local traditions, have been argued to reflect immigrant populations arriving from southwest Europe. These newcomers may have shared an origin with the Phrygians who initiated similar cultural shifts at sites such as Gordion . This layer

4140-531: Is mentioned in 276 BC, as one of the cities which joined Pyrrhus of Epirus during his expedition into the West of Sicily. It, however, soon after fell again under the power of the Carthaginians; and it was probably on this occasion that the city was taken and plundered by them, as alluded to by Cicero ; a circumstance of which there are no other account. It continued subject to, or at least dependent on that people, till

4278-660: Is mentioned in the Cairo Geniza circa 1060. The Jewish presence in Agrigento did not survive the expulsion of the Jews in 1492 , as at the time the territory was under Spanish rule. In 1860, as in the rest of Sicily, the inhabitants supported the arrival of Giuseppe Garibaldi during the Expedition of the Thousand (one of the most dramatic events of the Unification of Italy ) which marked

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4416-542: Is no evidence for this ). The latter temple is remarkably intact, due to its having been converted into a Christian church in 597 AD. Both were constructed to a peripteral hexastyle design. The area around the Temple of Concordia was later re-used by early Christians as a catacomb , with tombs hewn out of the rocky cliffs and outcrops. The other temples are much more fragmentary, having been toppled by earthquakes long ago and quarried for their stones. The largest by far

4554-404: Is not sufficient to establish that Luwian was actually spoken by the city's population, and a number of alternatives, such as Greek and Lemnian-Etruscan , have been proposed. Hittite documents found at Hattusa suggest that literacy existed at Troy and that the city may have had a written archive. The Alaksandu Treaty required King Alaksandu to read its text publicly three times a year, while

4692-508: Is notable for having been misidentified as Homeric Troy, during initial excavations, because of its massive architecture, treasure hoards, and catastrophic destruction. In particular Schliemann saw Homer's description of Troy's Scaean Gate reflected in Troy II's imposing western gate. However, later excavations demonstrated that the site was a thousand years too old to have coexisted with Mycenaean Greeks . Troy continued to be occupied between 2300 BC and 1750 BC. However, little

4830-490: Is open to the public as a tourist destination, and was added to the UNESCO World Heritage list in 1998. The site was excavated by Heinrich Schliemann and Frank Calvert starting in 1871. Under the ruins of the classical city, they found the remains of numerous earlier settlements. Several of these layers resemble literary depictions of Troy, leading some scholars to conclude that there is a kernel of truth underlying

4968-537: Is really meant, though the presumption is that it is the Selinuntines, with whom the Segestans seem to have been engaged in almost perpetual disputes. It was doubtless with a view to strengthen themselves against these neighbors that the Segestans took advantage of the first Athenian expedition to Sicily under Laches (426 BC), and concluded a treaty of alliance with Athens. This, however, seems to have led to no result, and shortly after, hostilities having again broken out,

5106-451: Is said that this result was in part attained by fraud, the Segestans having deceived the Athenian envoys by a fallacious display of wealth, and led them to conceive a greatly exaggerated notion of their resources. They, however, actually furnished 60 talents in ready money, and 30 more after the arrival of the Athenian armament. But though the relief of Segesta was thus the original object of

5244-611: Is the Temple of Olympian Zeus , built to commemorate the Battle of Himera in 480 BC : it is believed to have been the largest Doric temple ever built. Although it was apparently used, it appears never to have been completed; construction was abandoned after the Carthaginian invasion of 406 BC. The remains of the temple were extensively quarried in the 18th century to build the jetties of Porto Empedocle . Temples dedicated to Hephaestus , Heracles and Asclepius were also constructed in

5382-489: The Milawata letter mentions that the deposed King Walmu was still in possession of wooden investiture tablets. The archive would likely have been housed in the citadel's innermost precinct, whose remains were pushed over the northern side of the hill during 3rd century construction. Despite attempts to sift through the rubble, no documents have been found. Troy VI was destroyed around 1300 BC, corresponding with

5520-508: The Odyssey suggests that the latter was originally pronounced Wilios . These names seem to date back to the Bronze Age, as suggested by Hittite records which refer to a city in northwest Anatolia called Wilusa ( 𒌷𒃾𒇻𒊭 ) or Truwisa ( 𒆳𒌷𒋫𒊒𒄿𒊭 ) which is generally identified with the site of Hisarlık, near Tevfikiye . In Greek myth, these names were held to originate from

5658-458: The Carthaginians in the late 5th century BC. Hundreds of years later, during the First Punic War (264-241 BCE), the Roman conquest of Sicily had begun. During the Roman rule, miraculously the Greek temple survived, although still never finished. Many Greek structures were built over or demolished by the Romans, but the Temple was kept to represent the regions vast history of interaction. As

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5796-451: The Doric style were constructed during the 6th and 5th centuries BC. Now excavated and partially restored, they constitute some of the largest and best-preserved ancient Greek buildings outside of Greece itself. They are listed as a World Heritage Site . The best-preserved of the temples are two very similar buildings traditionally attributed to the goddesses Hera and Concordia (though there

5934-483: The First Punic War . In the first year of that war (264 BC) it was attacked by the consul Appius Claudius Caudex , but without success; but shortly after the inhabitants put the Carthaginian garrison to the sword, and declared for the alliance of Rome. They were in consequence besieged by a Carthaginian force, and were at one time reduced to great straits, but were relieved by the arrival of Gaius Duilius , after his naval victory in 260 BC. Segesta seems to have been one of

6072-660: The Istanbul Archaeology Museum . Almost all the precious metal objects that went to Berlin were confiscated by the Soviet Union in 1945 and are now in Pushkin Museum in Moscow . Even in his own time Schliemann's legacy was controversial because of his excavation methods which included removing features he considered insignificant without first studying and documenting them. Wilhelm Dörpfeld (1893–1894) began working

6210-556: The Punic Wars , Agrigento emerged as one of Sicily's largest cities in the Republican era . During the Principate , Agrigento's strategic port and diverse economic ventures, including sulfur mining , trade and agriculture, sustained its importance throughout the high and late Empire . Economic prosperity persisted in the 3rd to 4th centuries AD, but excavations show decline in activity after

6348-641: The fall of the Western Roman Empire , the city successively passed into the hands of the Vandalic Kingdom , the Ostrogothic Kingdom of Italy and then the Byzantine Empire . During this period the inhabitants of Agrigentum largely abandoned the lower parts of the city and moved to the former acropolis , at the top of the hill. The reasons for this move are unclear but were probably related to

6486-400: The sacred area , which includes a sanctuary of Demeter and Persephone (formerly known as the Temple of Castor and Pollux ); the marks of the fires set by the Carthaginians in 406 BC can still be seen on the sanctuary's stones. Many other Hellenistic and Roman sites can be found in and around the town. These include a pre-Hellenic cave sanctuary near a Temple of Demeter, over which

6624-455: The unemployment rate in Agrigento was 19.2%, almost twice the national average. Ancient Akragas covers a huge area—much of which is still unexcavated today—but is exemplified by the famous Valle dei Templi ("Valley of the Temples", a misnomer, as it is a ridge, rather than a valley). This comprises a large sacred area on the south side of the ancient city where seven monumental Greek temples in

6762-459: The 7th century. Agrigento is also the place of birth to several notable personalities, among which it is worth to mention Empedocles (5th century BC), the Ancient Greek pre-Socratic philosopher , who was a citizen of ancient Akragas , and Luigi Pirandello (1867–1936), dramatist and Nobel prize winner for literature,who was born at contrada u Càvusu in Agrigento. Akragas was founded on

6900-495: The Ancient Near East. Troy II was destroyed twice. After the first destruction, the citadel was rebuilt with a dense cluster of small houses on an irregular plan. The final destruction took place around 2300 BC. While some scholars have linked this destruction to a broader crisis that affected other Near Eastern sites, there is no definitive evidence for the city having been destroyed by an attack. Troy II

7038-462: The Athenians left the Segestans again exposed to the attacks of their neighbors, the Selinuntines. Feeling themselves unable to cope with them, they again had recourse to the Carthaginians, who determined to espouse their cause, and sent them, in the first instance, an auxiliary force of 5000 Africans and 800 Campanian mercenaries, which sufficed to ensure them a victory over their rivals in 410 BC. This

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7176-430: The Bronze Age city were destroyed by the Greeks' building projects, notably the peak of the citadel where the Troy VI palace is likely to have stood. By the classical era , the city had numerous temples, a theater, among other public buildings, and was once again expanding to the south of the citadel. Troy VIII was destroyed in 85 BC, and subsequently rebuilt as Troy IX. A series of earthquakes devastated

7314-435: The Bronze Age they would have been overlaid with wood and mudbrick superstructures, reaching a height over 9 metres (30 ft). The walls were built in a "sawtooth" style made of 7–10 metres (23–33 ft) segments which joined at shallow angles. This characteristic is common in the walls of Mycenaean citadels, though at Troy it is also found in other buildings, suggesting that it may have been decorative. The walls also have

7452-550: The Church of San Biagio was built. A late Hellenistic funerary monument erroneously labelled the "Tomb of Theron" is situated just outside the sacred area, and a 1st-century AD heroon (heroic shrine) adjoins the 13th century Church of San Nicola a short distance to the north. A sizeable area of the Greco-Roman city has also been excavated, and several classical necropoleis and quarries are still extant. Much of present-day Agrigento

7590-452: The Emmenids is not well-known. An oligarchic group called "the thousand" was in power for a few years in the mid-fifth century BC, but was overthrown - the literary tradition gives the philosopher Empedocles a decisive role in this revolution, but some modern scholars have doubted this. In 451 BC, Ducetius , leader of a Sicel state opposed to the expansion of Syracuse and other Greeks into

7728-521: The Greek settlers to farm, native slaves to work these farms, and control of the overland route from Acragas to the city of Himera on the northern coast of Sicily. This was the main land route from the Straits of Sicily to the Tyrrhenian Sea and Acragas' control of it was a key factor in its economic prosperity in the sixth and fifth centuries BC, which became proverbial. Famously, Plato , upon seeing

7866-600: The Hellenic states, wholly different from the other barbarians in the island. The early influence of Greek civilisation is shown also by their coins, which are inscribed with Greek characters, and bear the unquestionable impress of Greek art. The first historical notice of the Segestans transmitted to us represents them as already engaged (as early as 580 BC) in hostilities with Selinus (modern Selinunte), which would appear to prove that both cities had already extended their territories so far as to come into contact with each other. By

8004-488: The Mycenaean palaces . The destruction layer shows evidence of enemy attack, including scorch marks. After the destruction of Troy VIIa around 1180 BC, the city was rebuilt as Troy VIIb. Older structures were again reused, including Troy VI's citadel walls. Its first phase, Troy VIIb1, appears to be largely a continuation of Troy VIIa. Residents continued using wheel-made Grey Ware pottery alongside

8142-401: The Roman government. It seems to have been still a considerable town in the time of Cicero, and had a port or emporium of its own on the bay about 10 km distant. This emporium seems to have grown up in the days of Strabo to be a more important place than Segesta itself: but the continued existence of the ancient city is attested both by Pliny and Ptolemy ; and we learn from the former that

8280-472: The Segestans a statue of Diana which had been carried off by the Carthaginians, probably when they obtained possession of the city after the departure of Pyrrhus. During the Second Servile War also, in 102 BC, the territory of Segesta is again mentioned as one of those where the insurrection broke out with the greatest fury. But with the exception of these incidental notices we hear little of it under

8418-481: The Selinuntines called in the aid of the Syracusans , with whose assistance they obtained great advantages, and were able to press Segesta closely both by land and sea. In this extremity the Segestans, having in vain applied for assistance to Agrigentum , and even to Carthage , again had recourse to the Athenians, who were, without much difficulty, persuaded to espouse their cause, and send a fleet to Sicily in 416 BC. It

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8556-468: The Temple of Segesta is one of the best preserved ancient structures, besides the vibrant paint that has been lost to history, modern restoration efforts hav been underway to keep that legacy alive. The addition of steel bars for support as well as gap fillers such as Resin and rubber have been used, and the entire structure has been treated in a water resistant solution so it will prevail for many more years to come; maybe long enough for us to finally solve

8694-473: The Terrace House was not renovated when it was adopted as a cult center and thus must have been used in a ruined state, potentially suggesting that the occupants of Troy VIIb3 were deliberately re-engaging with their past. Troy VIIb was destroyed by fire around 950 BC. However, some houses in the citadel were left intact and the site continued to be occupied, if only sparsely. Troy VIII

8832-519: The Third Punic War. He ranked Agrigentum among Sicily's largest cities, emphasizing its pivotal port and role in Roman governance, including hosting the governor's assize circuit. Additionally, he mentioned a sizable population of Roman citizens coexisting harmoniously with the Greek populace , likely engaged in commerce linked to the port. The city's inhabitants received full Roman citizenship following

8970-541: The Troy I level. From 2006 until 2012, these excavations continued under the direction of Korfmann's colleague Ernst Pernicka, with a new digging permit. In 2013, an international team made up of cross-disciplinary experts led by William Aylward, an archaeologist at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, was to carry out new excavations. This activity was to be conducted under the auspices of Çanakkale Onsekiz Mart University and

9108-612: The accuracy of C 14 dating . Troy 0 is a pre-Bronze Age layer known from limited finds of pottery shards and wooden beams. It is tentatively dated to c.  3600–3500 BC but little is known about it. Troy I was founded around 3000 BC on what was then the eastern shore of a shallow lagoon. It was significantly smaller than later settlements at the site, with a citadel covering less than 1 ha . However, it stood out from its neighbours in particular for its massive limestone fortifications which were regularly renovated and strengthened. Defensive architecture would continue to be

9246-794: The ancient Greeks colonized the Elymians, who were not opposed to the Helenization due to trade and stability. By 500 BC, around the time our temple was built, the Elymo-Greek culture became more prominent in Segesta, further supporting the theory of mass Helenization of this region. Greek Doric temples are characterized by several key architectural features to display a simple and plain style, and reflect Greek cultural values such as strength and harmony with nature. First are columns, having vertical groves, also known as flutes , with no base. The second key feature

9384-405: The ancient city of Segesta near the great Mount Barbaro. Today the temple sits northwest of Sicily, Italy, and is a main attraction for tourists and locals alike; a true ancient architectural wonder due to its well preserved state, and is considered one of the best preserved ancient temples in Sicily. Besides the marvel of its preservation, this Doric Temple draws visitors from around the world with

9522-452: The archetypal tyrant , said to have killed his enemies by burning them alive inside a bronze bull. In the ancient literary sources, he is linked with the military campaigns of territorial expansion, but this is probably anachronistic. He ruled until around 550 BC. The political history of Acragas in the second half of the sixth century is unknown, except for the names of two leaders, Alcamenes and Alcander. Acragas also expanded westwards over

9660-403: The blocks into place, but they are normally shaved down and removed for final presentation, part of that simple Doric look. The temple also lacks a cella, so we don't even know who the temple was built for; if it was a God or even a Cult. The temple lacks any ornamentation or altar, and was never roofed over. There is a theory that the lack of a roof is because it was built as a courthouse, but with

9798-505: The center were large megaron-style buildings around a courtyard which was likely used for public events. One of these buildings, Megaron IIA, is the biggest known building of its kind in the Aegean-Anatolian region. The citadel was protected by massive stone walls and towers topped with mudbrick superstructures. It was accessed through two ramps, one of which is well preserved and attracts attention from modern day tourists. Because

9936-513: The central portion of Sicily, an area of around 3,500 km . A number of enormous construction projects were carried out in the Valle dei Templi at this time, including the Temple of Olympian Zeus , which was one of the largest Greek temples ever built, and the construction of a massive Kolymbethra reservoir. According to Diodorus Siculus , they were built in commemoration of the Battle of Himera, using

10074-408: The citadel, covering an area of roughly 30 hectares. Remains of a dense neighborhood have been found just outside the citadel walls, and traces of Bronze Age occupation have been found further away. These include huts, stone paving, threshing floors, pithoi, and waste left behind by Bronze Age industry such as murex shells associated with the manufacture of purple dye. The extent of the lower town

10212-554: The city in 262 BC and captured it after defeating a Carthaginian relief force in 261 BC and sold the population into slavery. Although the Carthaginians recaptured the city in 255 BC the final peace settlement gave Punic Sicily and with it Akragas to Rome. It suffered badly during the Second Punic War (218–201 BC) when both Rome and Carthage fought to control it. The Romans eventually captured Akragas in 210 BC and renamed it Agrigentum , although it remained

10350-494: The city around 500 AD, though finds from the Late Byzantine era attest to continued habitation at a small scale. Early modern travellers in the 16th and 17th centuries, including Pierre Belon and Pietro Della Valle , had mistakenly identified Troy with Alexandria Troas , a ruined Hellenistic town approximately 20 kilometres (12 mi) south of Hisarlık. In the late 18th century, Jean Baptiste LeChevalier identified

10488-437: The city was not large enough to require two gates for practical purposes, some archaeologists have speculated that one of the gates was intended for ceremonial processions. The lower city was protected by a wooden palisade unlike any other known in that era. It was a complex structure nearly 3 meters wide, with interior buttresses and columns and beams secured in notches cut into the bedrock. Wheel-made pottery appears at

10626-473: The classical-era remains and led to their subsequent partnership. In 1868, German businessman Heinrich Schliemann visited Calvert, and secured permission to excavate Hisarlık. At this point in time, the mound was about 200 meters long and somewhat less than 150 meters wide. It rose 31.2 meters above the plain and 38.5 meters above sea level. As with Calvert and others, in April 1870 Schliemann began by excavating

10764-636: The coast of the Aegean Sea at the Bay of Troy. Possible evidence of a battle was found in the form of bronze arrowheads and fire-damaged human remains buried in layers dated to the early 12th century BC. The question of Troy VI's status in the Bronze-Age world was the subject of a sometimes acerbic debate between Korfmann and the Tübingen historian Frank Kolb in 2001–2002. One of the major discoveries of these excavations

10902-545: The columns were never fluted, as they normally would have been in a Doric temple. Having fluted columns is one of the biggest stylistic elements of a Doric temple, as seen in places such as the Parthenon in Greece. A huge piece of evidence that leads to the conclusion that it was an abandoned project is the fact that there are still bosses present in the blocks of the base. Bosses were used in ancient construction practices for lifting

11040-694: The course of the sixth century BC, leading to a rivalry with Selinus , the next Greek city to the west. The Selinuntines founded the city of Heraclea Minoa at the mouth of the Platani river, halfway between the two settlements, in the mid-sixth century BC, but the Acragantines conquered it around 500 BC. Theron , a member of the Emmenid family, made himself tyrant of Acragas around 488 BC. He formed an alliance with Gelon , tyrant of Gela and Syracuse. Around 483 BC, Theron invaded and conquered Himera, Acragas’ neighbour to

11178-540: The death of Julius Caesar in 44 BC. An inscription shows that the city was promoted to the status of colonia by Septimius Severus and renamed "Colonia Septimia Augusta Agrigentorum." A resilient Christian community endured into late antiquity, although archaeological evidence suggests a decline in activity after the 7th century, possibly due to disrupted trade routes following the Arab conquest of Carthage in AD 698. After

11316-599: The destructive coastal raids of the Saracens and other peoples around this time. In 828 AD the Saracens captured the diminished remnant of the city; the Arabic form of its name became كِركَنت ( Kirkant ) or جِرجَنت ( Jirjant ). Following the Norman conquest of Sicily , the city changed its name to the Norman version Girgenti . In 1087, Norman Count Roger I established

11454-451: The disaster of the Sicilian Expedition , and the defeat of Athens. Their fleet was destroyed and their army defeated by their own rivals of Syracuse and Sparta. Although it is not know for sure, some speculate that the reason the Temple was built was to show support for Athens, and the crushing defeat in the war caused tension between Segesta and Athens, meaning the Temple had no political use anymore. The Temple managed to escape destruction by

11592-514: The early fifth century BC. Most other Greek settlements in Sicily experienced similar territorial expansion in this period. Excavations at a range of sites in this region inhabited by the indigenous Sican people, such as Monte Sabbucina , Gibil-Gabil , Vasallaggi , San Angelo Muxano, and Mussomeli , show signs of the adoption of Greek culture. It is disputed how much of this expansion was carried out by violence and how much by commerce and acculturation. The territorial expansion provided land for

11730-546: The eastern Aegean and southeastern Europe. Troy itself appears to have maintained these connections, showing similarities to sites in Thessaly and southeastern Europe, as well as Aegean sites such as Poliochni in Lemnos and Thermi in Lesbos . Despite some connections to Anatolian sites including Bademağacı , it did not yet have the close ties with central Anatolia seen later. Troy I

11868-548: The end of Bourbon rule. In 1927, Benito Mussolini through the "Decree Law n. 159, 12 July 1927" introduced the current Italianized version of the Latin name. The decision remains controversial as a symbol of Fascism and the eradication of local history. Following the suggestion of Andrea Camilleri , a Sicilian writer of Agrigentine origin, the historic city centre was renamed to the Sicilian name "Girgenti" in 2016. The city suffered

12006-430: The evidence surrounding it, it is widely believed that the project was just simply unfinished and stands as it was built. In more recent years, a 4th-century BCE Punic tomb was found within the temple, with evidence of it being built over an even more ancient site.The discovery of this tomb indicated that it no longer functioned as a place of worship, which could possibly explain the lack of an alter or cella. The temple

12144-566: The evidence that hadn't already decomposed, been built over, or reused in later construction . The material culture of Troy VI appears to belong to a distinct Northwest Anatolian cultural group, with influences from the Aegean and the Balkans. The primary local pottery styles were wheel-made Tan Ware and Anatolian Gray Ware. Both styles were offshoots of an earlier Middle Helladic tradition related to Minyan Ware . The earliest gray ware at Troy

12282-436: The first of the Sicilian cities to set the example of defection from Carthage; on which account, as well as of their pretended Trojan descent, the inhabitants were treated with great distinction by the Romans. They were exempted from all public burdens, and even as late as the time of Cicero continued to be "sine foedere immunes ac liberi" - a free and immune city. After the destruction of Carthage, Scipio Africanus restored to

12420-468: The first several sublayers of Troy VII were in fact continuations of the earlier city. Although some scholars have proposed revising the nomenclature to reflect this consensus, the original terms are typically used to avoid confusion. Troy VI existed from around 1750 BC to 1300 BC. Its citadel was divided into a series of rising terraces, of which only the outermost is reasonably well-preserved. On this terrace, archaeologists have found

12558-575: The followers of Philoctetes ; and, as usual, later writers sought to reconcile the two accounts. Another version of the Trojan story related in Virgil 's Aeneid , which would seem to have been adopted by the inhabitants themselves, ascribed the foundation of the city jointly by the territorial king Egestus or Aegestus (the Acestes of Virgil), who was said to be the offspring of a Dardanian damsel named Segesta by

12696-501: The function of regional capital, its status protected by treaties. Aspects of its architecture are consistent with the Iliad 's description of mythic Troy, and several of its sublayers (VIh and VIIa) show potential signs of violent destruction. Thus, these sublayers are among the candidates for a potential historical setting of those myths. Troy VI and VII were given separate labels by early excavators, but current research has shown that

12834-421: The great Athenian expedition to Sicily (415-413 BC), that city bears little part in the subsequent operations of the war. Nicias , indeed, on arriving in the island, proposed to proceed at once to Selinus, and compel that people to submission by the display of their formidable armament. But this advice was overruled: the Athenians turned their arms against Syracuse, and the contest between Segesta and Selinus

12972-619: The great mysteries of the origin and abandonment of the Temple of Segesta. [REDACTED]  This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain :  Smith, William , ed. (1854–1857). " Segesta ". Dictionary of Greek and Roman Geography . London: John Murray. Troy Troy ( Ancient Greek : Τροία , romanized :  Troíā ; Latin : Trōia ; Hittite : 𒆳𒌷𒋫𒊒𒄿𒊭 , romanized:  Truwiša / Taruiša ) or Ilion ( Ancient Greek : Ίλιον , romanized :  Ī́lion , Hittite : 𒌷𒃾𒇻𒊭 , romanized:  Wiluša )

13110-463: The ground. Troy VIIa seems to have been built by survivors of Troy VI's destruction, as evidenced by continuity in material culture. However, the character of the city appears to have changed, the citadel growing crowded and foreign imports declining. The city was destroyed around 1180 BC, roughly contemporary with the Late Bronze Age collapse but subsequent to the destruction of

13248-422: The hill of Hisarlık. Its discovery led to a dramatic reassessment of Troy VI, showing that it was over 16 times larger than had been assumed, and thus a major city with a large population rather than a mere aristocratic residence. However, only 2–3% of the lower city had been excavated as of 2013, and few architectural features are likely to exist. Almost 2m of the surface has eroded, likely removing much of

13386-516: The inhabitants on a pretence of disaffection, and put the whole of the citizens (said to amount to 10,000 in number) to the sword, plundered their wealth, and sold the women and children into slavery. He then changed the name of the city to Dicaeopolis , and assigned it as a residence to the fugitives and deserters that had gathered around him. It is probable that Segesta never altogether recovered this blow; but it soon resumed its original name, and again appears in history as an independent city. Thus it

13524-485: The inhabitants, though they no longer retained their position of nominal independence, enjoyed the privileges of the Latin citizenship . It seems, however, to have been a decaying place, and no trace of it is subsequently found in history. The site is said to have been finally abandoned, in consequence of the ravages of the Saracens , in 900 AD, and is now wholly desolate. The modern town of Castellammare del Golfo , about 10 km distant, occupies nearly, if not precisely,

13662-458: The interior of Sicily, invaded Acragantine territory and conquered an outpost called Motyum. The Syracusans defeated and captured Ducetius in 450, but subsequently allowed him to go into exile. Outraged by this comparatively light punishment, the Acragantines went to war with Syracuse. They were defeated in a battle on the Salso river, which left Syracuse the pre-eminent power in eastern Sicily. The defeat

13800-425: The landing of Himilco with a formidable Carthaginian force changed the aspect of affairs, and compelled Dionysius to raise the siege. From this time there are few mentions of Segesta till the time of Agathocles of Syracuse , under whom it suffered a great calamity. The despot landed in the West of Sicily on his return from Africa (307 BC), and was received into the city as a friend and ally. He suddenly turned upon

13938-552: The late fourth century onwards and large-scale construction took place in the Hellenistic period . During the early 3rd century BC, a tyrant called Phintias declared himself king in Akragas, also controlling a variety of other cities. His kingdom was however not long-lived. The city was disputed between the Romans and the Carthaginians during the First Punic War . The Romans laid siege to

14076-451: The legends . Subsequent excavations by others have added to the modern understanding of the site, though the exact relationship between myth and reality remains unclear and there is no definitive evidence for a Greek attack on the city. In Classical Greek , the city was referred to as both Troia ( Τροία ) and Ilion ( Ἴλιον ) or Ilios ( Ἴλιος ). Metrical evidence from the Iliad and

14214-402: The living standard of the inhabitants, was said to have remarked that "they build like they intend to live forever, yet eat like this is their last day." Perhaps as a result of this wealth, Acragas was one of the first communities in Sicily to begin minting its own coinage, around 520 BC. Around 570 BC, the city came under the control of Phalaris , a semi-legendary figure, who was remembered as

14352-521: The megaron at Midea in the Argolid . Archaeologists believe there may have been a royal palace on the highest terrace, but most Bronze Age remains from the top of the hill were cleared away by classical era building projects. The citadel was enclosed by a massive wall whose limestone base is visible to modern day visitors. These walls were periodically renovated, expanding from an initial width of 1.2 to 5 metres (3.9 to 16.4 ft) around 1400 BC. During

14490-539: The names of the kingdom's founders, Tros and his son Ilus . In Latin , the city was referred to as Troia or Ilium . In Turkish , it is generally known as Troya or Truva . The archaeological site of Troy consists of the hill of Hisarlık and the fields below it to the south. The hill is a tell , composed of strata containing the remains left behind by more than three millennia of human occupation. The primary divisions among layers are designated with Roman numerals , Troy I representing

14628-549: The new city were Aristonous and Pystilus. It was the last of the major Greek colonies in Sicily to be founded. The territory under Akragas's control expanded to comprise the whole area between the Platani and the Salso , and reached deep into the Sicilian interior. Greek literary sources connect this expansion with military campaigns, but archaeological evidence indicates that this was a much longer-term process which reached its peak only in

14766-479: The north and the hinterland. Very little is known about the city plan. Aerial photography indicates a regular city plan, built in part on terraces to overcome the natural sloping terrain. The current remains might be from the reconstruction after the destruction of the city by Agathocles. Current archaeological work indicates that the site was reoccupied by a Muslim community in the Norman period. Excavations have unearthed

14904-465: The north. The tyrant of Himera, Terillus joined his son-in-law, Anaxilas of Rhegium , and the Selinuntines in calling on the Carthaginians to come and restore Terillus to power. The Carthaginians did invade in 480 BC, the first of the Greco-Punic Wars , but they were defeated by the combined forces of Theron and Gelon at the Battle of Himera . As a result, Acragas was affirmed in its control of

15042-513: The oldest layer and Troy IX representing the most recent. Sublayers are distinguished with lowercase letters (e.g. VIIa and VIIb) and further subdivisions with numbers (e.g. VIIb1 and VIIb2). An additional major layer known as Troy 0 predates the layers which were initially given Roman numeral designations. The layers have been given relative dates by comparing artifacts found in them to those found at other sites. However, precise absolute dates are not always possible due to limitations in

15180-518: The previous. Archaeologists refer to these layers using Roman numerals. Among the early layers, Troy II is notable for its wealth and imposing architecture. During the Late Bronze Age , Troy was called Wilusa and was a vassal of the Hittite Empire . The final layers (Troy VIII-IX) were Greek and Roman cities which in their days served as tourist attractions and religious centers because of their link to mythic tradition. The archaeological site

15318-675: The prisoners captured in the war as slave labour. Archaeological evidence indicates that the boom in monumental construction actually began before the battle, but continued in the period after it. A major reconstruction of the city walls on a monumental scale also took place in this period. Theron sent teams to compete in the Olympic games and other Panhellenic competitions in mainland Greece. Several poems by Pindar and Simonides commemorated victories by Theron and other Acragantines, which provide insights into Acragantine identity and ideology at this time. Greek literary sources generally praise Theron as

15456-399: The profound mystery of its unknown origin, as well as the fascination of its unfinished state. The Temple of Segesta holds many secrets that to this day, 25 centuries later, still remain unsolved. The origins of this temple remain a mystery all this time later, but that does not stop speculations. Some believe it to be built in the 420s BC by an Athenian architect, despite the city not having

15594-455: The remains of freestanding multistory houses where Trojan elites would have lived. These houses lacked ground-floor windows, and their stone exterior walls mirrored the architecture of the citadel fortifications. However, they otherwise display an eclectic mix of architectural styles, some following the classic megaron design, others even having irregular floorplans. Some of these houses show potential Aegean influence, one in particular resembling

15732-405: The river god Crinisus , and by those of Aeneas' folk who wished to remain behind with Acestes to found the city of Acesta. We are told also that the names of Simois and Scamander were given by the Trojan colonists to two small streams which flowed beneath the town, and the latter name is mentioned by Diodorus Siculus as one still in use at a much later period. The belief that the name of the city

15870-454: The same site as the ancient emporium or port of Segesta. The ruins of the city are located on the top of Monte Bàrbaro at 305 m above sea level . The city was protected by steep slopes on several sides and by walls on the more gentle slope towards the temple. The hilltop offers a view over the valley towards the Gulf of Castellamare. The city controlled several major roads between the coast to

16008-402: The second layer, Troy II, corresponded to the city of legend, though later research has shown that it predated the Mycenaean era by several hundred years. Significant finds included many "owl-headed idols" and stone axes from the lower levels. Some of the most notable artifacts found by Schliemann are known as Priam's Treasure , after the legendary Trojan king . Many of these ended up in

16146-458: The site 1932–38. Wilhelm Dörpfeld collaborated with Blegen. These archaeologists, though following Schliemann's lead, added a professional approach not available to Schliemann. He showed that there were at least nine cities. In his research, Blegen came to a conclusion that Troy's nine levels could be further divided into forty-six sublevels, which he published in his main report. A post hoc Correspondence Analysis of Blegen's pottery sequence showed

16284-447: The site alongside Schliemann and later inherited excavation at the site and published his own independent work. His chief contributions were to the study of Troy VI and VII, which Schliemann had overlooked due to his focus on Troy II. Dörpfeld's interest in these layers was triggered by the need to close a hole in the initial excavators' chronology known as "Calvert's Thousand Year Gap". During his excavation, Dörpfeld came across

16422-546: The site for the first time, along with caches of treasures that attest to Trojan participation in networks of aristocratic competition. These items were made from amber imported from the Baltic region , carnelian imported from India , and lapis imported from Afghanistan . Some of these items are strikingly similar to those found at sites such as Poliochni and Ur , leading some scholars to speculate that they may have been made by itinerant jewelers who worked routes covering much of

16560-408: The site were trenches by British civil engineer John Brunton in 1855. The next excavation at Hisarlık was conducted in 1865 by Frank Calvert , a Turkish Levantine man of English descent who owned a farm nearby. Calvert made extensive surveys of the site and correctly identified it with classical-era Ilion. This identification convinced Heinrich Schliemann that Homeric Troy should be sought beneath

16698-414: The southern walls. Artifacts from this era include dark colored handmade pottery, objects made of copper, as well as a monumental stone stele with a relief depicting an armed warrior. Troy I was founded as part of a consolidation of settlement in the area. Its founders came from nearby towns such as Kumtepe and Gülpınar , which had been part of an earlier network that had cultural and economic ties to

16836-473: The sublayer known as Troy VIh. Damage in the Troy VIh layer includes extensive collapsed masonry and subsidence in the southeast of the citadel, indicative of an earthquake . Alternative hypotheses include an internal uprising as well as a foreign attack, though the city was not burned and no victims were found in the debris. Troy VIIa was the final layer of the Late Bronze Age city. It

16974-596: The timely assistance of a body of Cnidian and Rhodian emigrants under Pentathlus , the Segestans at this time obtained the advantage over their adversaries. A more obscure statement of Diodorus relates that again in 454 BC, the Segestans were engaged in hostilities with the Lilybaeans for the possession of the territory on the river Mazarus . The name of the Lilybaeans is here certainly erroneous, as no town of that name existed till long afterwards; but we know not what people

17112-476: Was a major Late Bronze Age city consisting of a steep fortified citadel and a sprawling lower town below it. It was a thriving coastal city with a considerable population, equal in size to second-tier Hittite settlements. It had a distinct Northwest Anatolian culture and extensive foreign contacts, including with Mycenaean Greece , and its position at the mouth of the Dardanelles has been argued to have given it

17250-440: Was almost forgotten in the more important struggle between those two great powers. In the summer of 415 BC an Athenian fleet, proceeding along the coast, took the small town of Hyccara , on the coast, near Segesta, and made it over to the Segestans. The latter people are again mentioned on more than one occasion as sending auxiliary troops to assist their Athenian allies; but no other notice occurs of them. The final defeat of

17388-404: Was an ancient city located in present-day Hisarlık (near Tevfikiye ), Turkey . The place was first settled around 3600 BC and grew into a small fortified city around 3000 BC. During its four thousand years of existence, Troy was repeatedly destroyed and rebuilt. As a result, the archeological site that has been left is divided into nine layers , each corresponding to a city built on the ruins of

17526-568: Was built soon after the destruction of Troy VI, seemingly by its previous inhabitants. The builders reused many of the earlier city's surviving structures, notably its citadel wall, which they renovated with additional stone towers and mudbrick breastworks. Numerous small houses were added inside the citadel, filling in formerly open areas. New houses were also built in the lower city, whose area appears to have been greater in Troy VIIa than in Troy VI. In many of these houses, archaeologists found enormous storage jars called pithoi buried in

17664-635: Was destroyed around 1050 BC after an apparent earthquake. Troy VIIb3 dates from the Protogeometric era. No new builds were constructed, so its existence is known primarily from artifacts found in the West Sanctuary and terraces on south side of mound. These areas were excavated in the 1990s, surprising the archaeologists who had assumed that the site was abandoned until the Archaic Era. Locally made neck-handled amphoras shows that Troy still had

17802-451: Was destroyed by fire around 2550 BC. Troy II was built around 2550 BC. Although there is no evidence of a cultural break after the previous settlement, the new city had a very different character. It was twice the size of the preceding city, featuring a lower town as well as an expanded citadel divided into two precincts. These precincts, divided by colonnades , suggest growing socio-political stratification in Trojan society. At

17940-408: Was followed the next year by a vast armament under Hannibal Mago , who landed at Lilybaeum , and, proceeding direct to Selinus, took and destroyed that city as well as Himera . The Carthaginian power now became firmly established in the western portion of Sicily. Segesta, surrounded on all sides by this formidable neighbor, naturally fell gradually into the position of a dependent ally of Carthage. It

18078-579: Was founded during the Greek Dark Ages and lasted until the Roman era . Though the site had never been entirely abandoned, its redevelopment as a major city was spurred by Greek immigrants who began building around 700 BC. During the Archaic period , the city's defenses once again included the reused citadel wall of Troy VI. Later on, the walls became tourist attractions and sites of worship. Other remains of

18216-697: Was made in Aegean shapes, though by 1700 BC it had been replaced by Anatolian shapes. Foreign pottery found at the site includes Minoan, Mycenaean, Cypriot, and Levantine items. Local potters also made their own imitations of foreign styles, including Gray Ware and Tan Ware pots made in Mycenaean-style shapes, particularly after 1500 BC. Although the city appears to have been within the Hittite sphere of influence, no Hittite artifacts have been found in Troy VI. Also notably absent are sculptures and wall paintings, otherwise common features of Bronze Age cities. Troy VI

18354-413: Was one of the few cities that remained faithful to this alliance even in 397 BC, when the great expedition of Dionysius I of Syracuse to the West of Sicily and the siege of Motya seemed altogether to shake the power of Carthage. Dionysius in consequence laid siege to Segesta , and pressed it with the utmost vigor, especially after the fall of Motya. The city, however, was able to defy his efforts, until

18492-453: Was originally Acesta or Egesta and changed to Segesta by the Romans to avoid its ill-omened meaning in Latin ( egestās means "poverty" or "lack") is disproved by coins which prove that considerably before the time of Thucydides it was called by the inhabitants themselves Segesta, though this form seems to have been softened by the Greeks of Magna Graecia into Egesta. The city was occupied by

18630-425: Was serious enough that Acragas ceased to mint coinage for a number of years. Ancient sources considered Acragas to be a very large city at this time. Diodorus Siculus says that the population was 200,000 people, of which 20,000 were citizens. Diogenes Laertius put the population at an incredible 800,000. Some modern scholars have accepted Diodorus' numbers, but they seem to be far too high. Jos de Waele suggests

18768-484: Was the Troy VI–VII lower city. This lower town had a wide anti-chariot defensive ditch backed by a wooden palisade. Added to the citadel this lower town would have brought Troy up to an area of around 200,000 square meters. This discovery led to a major reinterpretation of the site, which had previously been regarded as a small aristocratic residence rather than a major settlement. A number of radiocarbon dates, from charcoal samples, were obtained from various phases of

18906-546: Was this project abandoned so abruptly? While we do not know for sure and possible never will, a strong theory is that construction was halted due to conflicts in the region. In this time, roughly around 416 BCE, war between Segesta and their rivals Selunite began. It is reported that Segesta turned to Athens for aid in the war while Athens themselves were in their own Peloponnesian War with Sparta. Despite their conflicts, Athens sent military support to Segesta, some think to expand its influence in Sicily. Ultimately, Athens aid led to

19044-503: Was to use the new technique of "molecular archaeology". A few days before the Wisconsin team was to leave, the Turkish government cancelled about 100 excavation permits throughout Turkey, including Wisconsin's. Agrigentum Agrigento ( Italian: [aɡriˈdʒɛnto] ; Sicilian : Girgenti [dʒɪɾˈdʒɛndɪ] or Giurgenti [dʒʊɾˈdʒɛndɪ] ) is

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