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A glance over the history of Sicily
The ancient age, the Greek colonization
From the first inhabitants, the Sicans and Sicels of unknown origin, to the Greeks and the Phoenicians, between whom the indigenous Elymian population was compressed, the co-ordinates of universal history found in the island an irreplaceable point of intersection. The …
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The Roman and the Byzantine age
The Graeco-Carthaginian presence persisted until the presence of Rome began to be felt in the Mediterranean. It was the Romans who overcame the Greek colonies and also subjugated the Carthaginian ones during the Punic Wars. Subsequently the island followed the …
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The Arab and the Norman dominations
The Arab invasion and conquest endowed Sicily with its splendour. The Arabs, who already controlled the North African coast and Spain, considered Sicily a highly strategic step for their expansion towards the north of Italy and a safeguard to Mediterranean …
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The Swabian, the Angevin and the Aragon dominations
The decline of the Norman kingdom opened the way for the imperial ambitions of the Swabians. Their domination witnessed radical developments in jurisprudence, Latin literature, experimental sciences and vernacular poetry. Frederick II layed the foundations of a State centred in …
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From the Spanish domination to nowadays
In 1503 Sicily became a Spanish viceroyalty: this was the moment of the rise of Spain under the Catholic kings; it was the age of the great geographic and scientific discoveries and it was the periode when Turkey set out …
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