Dummett-5480005 dumm5480005_fm February24,2010 13:35 SYRACUSE CITY OF LEGENDS Dummett-5480005 dumm5480005_fm February24,2010 13:35 JeremyDummettreadhistoryatTrinityCollege,Cambridge,where he became interested in the history and culture of Italy. His profes- sionalcareertookhimtoAthensandMilan,wherehelivedandworked for over twelve years. Now retired, he is a frequent visitor to Sicily (www.jeremydummett.com). ‘For newcomers exploring Sicily for the first time, as well as for returningvisitors,JeremyDummett’sSyracuse,CityofLegendsisawel- come travelling companion whose enthusiasm is catching. Dummett offers a rich trove of information about its deep past, which he help- fully links to the places that can be visited today, including the more intimateplacesoffthebeatenpath.’ JudithHarris,authorofPompeiiAwakened ‘AtlastSyracuseisreceivingtheattentionitdeserves.Congratulations toJeremyDummettforhiscelebrationofthisSiciliangem.Don’tleave forSicilywithoutthisguide.’ JordanLancaster,authorofIntheShadowofVesuvius: ACulturalHistoryofNaples Dummett-5480005 dumm5480005_fm February24,2010 13:35 SYRACUSE CITY OF LEGENDS A GLORY OF SICILY Jeremy Dummett Dummett-5480005 dumm5480005_fm February24,2010 13:35 Permissions Wearegratefultothefollowingfortheirpermissiontoreprintmaterial: Aris&PhillipsLtd TheBatteryPress BloomsburyPublishingplc ©TheBritishLibraryBoard TheTrusteesoftheBritishMuseum CarcanetPressLimited Collector’sLibrary ElibronClassics HausPublishingLtd TheTrusteesoftheLoebClassicalLibrary®,HarvardUniversityPress OxfordUniversityPress PenguinBooksLtd SantuariodellaMadonnadelleLacrime,Siracusa SellerioEditore UNESCO,WorldHeritageCentre Every effort has been made to contact copyright holders. Any errors or omissions broughttotheattentionofthepublisherswillbemadegoodinfutureeditions. Publishedin2010byI.B.Tauris&CoLtd 6SalemRoad,LondonW24BU 175FifthAvenue,NewYorkNY10010 www.ibtauris.com DistributedintheUnitedStatesandCanadaExclusivelybyPalgraveMacmillan 175FifthAvenue, NewYorkNY10010 Copyright©2010JeremyDummett TherightofJeremyDummetttobeidentifiedastheauthorofthisworkhasbeenassertedby himinaccordancewiththeCopyright,DesignsandPatentsAct1988. Allrightsreserved.Exceptforbriefquotationsinareview,thisbook,oranypartthereof,may notbereproduced,storedinorintroducedintoaretrievalsystem,ortransmitted,inanyform orbyanymeans,electronic,mechanical,photocopying,recordingorotherwise,withoutthe priorwrittenpermissionofthepublisher. ISBN:9781848853225 AfullCIPrecordforthisbookisavailablefromtheBritishLibrary AfullCIPrecordisavailablefromtheLibraryofCongress LibraryofCongressCatalogCardNumber:available TypesetinPerpetuabyMPSLimited,AMacmillanCompany PrintedandboundinGreatBritainbyCPIAntonyRowe,Chippenham Dummett-5480005 dumm5480005_fm February24,2010 13:35 Contents ListofIllustrations vii Preface ix Acknowledgements xi Prologue xvi PART I TheStoryofSyracuse FromGreekCityStatetoModernTimes 1. FoundationandtheRuleofGelonandHieroI 3 2. TheAthenianExpeditiontoSicily 17 3. DionysiusI:TyrantandWarlord 39 4. FiveMoreTyrants 57 5. HieroIIandtheRomanSiege 73 6. CiceroandtheRiseofRome 89 7. SantaLuciaandtheEarlyChristians 105 8. ByzantiumandtheArabSiege 115 9. Outlineto1945 129 10. ModernSyracuse 147 PART II ThePrincipalMonuments ACommentary 11. TheGreekEra 159 12. TheRomanEra 175 13. TheEarlyChristianEra 183 14. BaroqueSyracuse 191 15. OtherImportantMonuments 199 Dummett-5480005 dumm5480005_fm February24,2010 13:35 vi SYRACUSE,CITYOFLEGENDS Notes 205 FurtherReading 215 Bibliography 217 ChronologicalTable 223 Glossary 227 Index 237 Dummett-5480005 dumm5480005_fm February24,2010 13:35 List of Illustrations Black and white illustrations 1. Silverdecadrachm,possiblytheDemareteion.Bypermissionofthe TrusteesoftheBritishMuseum. 13 2. HeadofZeus,bronzecoinc.340BC.Author’scollection. 62 3. Silvercoin,c.315BC,showingPegasusandtriskeles,thethree-legged symbolofSicily.Author’scollection. 68 4. HieroIIwithheadband.Reverseshowsahorsemanwithspear, inscriptionIERONOS.Bronzecoinc.250BC.Author’scollection. 75 5. TheSpanishFortifications.FromGMCapodieci’sAntichiMonumentidi Siracusa.©TheBritishLibraryBoard(R.B23.a4147). 133 6. Syracusein1840.(Clarks&Stanfieldwatercolour). Author’scollection. 139 7. TheLittleHarbour.CentoCittàd’Italia,1888. 142 8. CoatofArms.FromWikimediaCommons. 150 9. Silverdecadrachm,possiblytocommemoratevictoryoverthe Athenians.BypermissionoftheTrusteesoftheBritishMuseum. 163 10. TempleofOlympianZeusin1806.AgostinoAglio.Author’scollection. 174 11. TheVenusLandolina.FromVincentCronin’sTheGoldenHoneycomb (RupertHart-Davis,London,1954). 179 12. TheAdelfiaSarcophagus.KeanUniversity,NewJersey,USA (www.kean.edu). 187 13. TheManiaceCastlein1630.FromWikimediaCommons. 200 14. TheLigneGate.CentoCittàd’Italia,1888. 202 Colour plate section (locatedbetweenpages134and135) 1. Duomo(Cathedral),fromWikimediaCommons(http://commons. wikimedia.org/wiki/Siracusa),photographbyEvanErickson,2004. 2. Duomo,interiorshowingGreekcolumns,fromWikimediaCommons,pho- tographbyGiovanniDall’Orto,2008. 3. PiazzaDuomo.Author’scollection. 4. OrtygiaandtheGreatHarbour.Author’scollection. 5. OldPostOfficeandinlandwaterway.Author’scollection. Dummett-5480005 dumm5480005_fm February24,2010 13:35 viii SYRACUSE,CITYOFLEGENDS 6. Caravaggio’sSeppellimentodiSantaLucia(BurialofSantaLucia),1608,fromthe Athenaeum(www.the-athenaeum.org). 7. BasilicaofSantaLucia.Author’scollection. 8. Greek theatre, from Wikimedia Commons, photograph by Jerzy Strzelecki, 2002. 9. FountainofArethusa,fromWikimediaCommons,photographbyJerzyStrz- elecki,2002. 10. SilverstatueofSantaLucia.Author’scollection. 11. SepulchreofSantaLucia.Author’scollection. 12. ManiaceCastle.Author’scollection. 13. ChurchofSantaLuciaallaBadia,fromWikimediaCommons,photographby GiovanniDall’Orto,2008. 14. Archimedes’ burning mirror. Stanza della Matematica, 1587–1609 (fresco) attributedtoGiulioParigi(1571–1635)GalleriadegliUffizi,Florence.From TheBridgemanArtLibrary. 15. Archimedes’ironarm.SixteenthcenturyfrescoesfromtheUffiziinFlorence, StanzadellaMatematica,1587–1609,attributedtoGiulioParigi(1571–1635). BridgemanArtGallery. 16. Ortygia’soutdoormarket.Author’scollection. 17. TempleofApollo.Author’scollection. List of maps 1. TheMediterraneanSea xiii 2. AncientSicily xiv 3. ModernSicily xv 4. SyracuseinthefifthcenturyBC.ReprintedfromEdwardFreeman’s HistoryofSicily(ClarendonPressOxford,1891edition),bypermission ofElibronClassics. 9 5. SyracuseduringtheAtheniansiege.ReprintedfromEdwardFreeman’s HistoryofSicily(ClarendonPressOxford,1892edition),bypermission ofElibronClassics. 30 6. SyracuseunderDionysiusI.ReprintedfromEdwardFreeman’s HistoryofSicily(ClarendonPressOxford,1894edition),by permissionofElibronClassics. 44 7. AncientMotya.ReprintedfromEdwardFreeman’sHistoryofSicily (ClarendonPressOxford,1894edition),bypermissionofElibron Classics. 51 8. MonumentsoftheGreekEra 168 9. MonumentsoftheRomanEra 180 10. MonumentsoftheEarlyChristianEra 188 11. MonumentsoftheBaroqueEra 193 12. OtherImportantMonuments 203 Dummett-5480005 dumm5480005_fm February24,2010 13:35 Preface The idea for this book goes back to February 2005 when we were staying in Ortygia, in an apartment overlooking the Great Harbour.Exploringthecitywecouldseethatitwasafascinatingplace. Ibecameinterestedinthehistoryandstartedtodosomeresearchand discovered a mass of literature referring to Syracuse, but no recent bookonherhistoryandmonuments.Aprojectbegantotakeshapeand this book is the result, which is intended both for the general reader interestedintheMediterraneanandforthevisitorlookingforspecific guidanceonthecity. The book is in two parts. Part I tells the story of Syracuse con- centrating upon ancient times when the city was at the peak of her power. There is an outline chapter bringing the story up to 1945 and afinalchapteronthemoderncity.Itistoldinnarrativeform,making fulluseofcontemporaryaccounts.Themanycolourfullegendswhich accompany the story, some well known like the sword of Damocles, make the task of disentangling fact from fiction more difficult but are fullofinterestintheirownright.Aprologuesetsthesceneandgives theviewsoftravellerstoSyracuseinthepast. PartIIdescribesthemonumentsandworksofarttobeseentoday. Theycomefromdifferenterasandforthesakeofclarityarepresented intheirhistoricalcontext,togetherwithmapsshowingtheirlocations. Because of this division into historical eras, certain sites such as the Cathedral and the Archaeological Museum appear in more than one chapter. The story in Part I highlights the main, well-documented events andoutstandingcharacters.Thefullhistory,astoldbythenineteenth- century historians, is too complex and too full of twists and turns to be included in a book of this kind. Likewise, in a place so filled with relics of the past as to be almost impossible to catalogue, not every monument gets a mention. In both cases, what appears in the book
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