Editing Sicily (section)

===Antiquity===
{{Main|Magna Graecia|Ancient Rome|Sicilia (Roman province)}}
[[File:Murs Mozia.jpg|thumb|Ruins of the ancient Phoenician city of [[Motya]]]]
[[File:Ginnasium Solunto.jpg|thumb|Ruins of the ancient Carthaginian city of [[Soluntum]]]]
[[File:Agrigent BW 2012-10-07 13-10-58.jpg|thumb|[[Temple of Concordia, Agrigento|Temple of Concordia]], [[Valle dei Templi]], an [[archaeological site]] in [[Agrigento]]. It is one of the most outstanding examples of ancient Greek art and architecture of [[Magna Graecia]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.visititaly.it/info/992543-valle-dei-templi-agrigento.aspx|title=Valle dei Templi|access-date=14 July 2023|language=it}}</ref>]]
[[File:Owner (Maximian) - Big Game Hunt mosaic - Villa Romana del Casale - Italy 2015.JPG|thumb|Mosaic of the [[Villa Romana del Casale]], Sicily in [[Late antiquity]]]]

The original classical-era inhabitants of Sicily comprised three defined groups of the [[List of ancient peoples of Italy|ancient peoples of Italy]]: the [[Sicani]], the [[Elymians]] and the [[Sicels]]. The most prominent and by far the earliest of these were the [[Sicani]], who ([[Thucydides]] writes) arrived from the [[Iberian Peninsula]] (perhaps [[Catalonia]]).<ref>{{cite news | url=https://antropocene.it/en/2023/06/05/the-sicani-and-agriculture/ | title=The Sicani and agriculture | work=Antropocene | date=5 June 2023}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |date=7 October 2007 |title=Aapologetico de la literatura española contra los opiniones |publisher=Ensayo historico |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=A7kGAAAAQAAJ&q=segre+sicano&pg=PA11}}</ref> Some modern scholars, however, suggest classifying the Sicani as possibly an [[Illyrians|Illyrian]] tribe.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Fine |first=John Van Antwerp |url=https://archive.org/details/ancientgreeks00john |title=The Ancient Greeks: A Critical History |date=1983 |publisher=Harvard University Press |isbn=9780674033146 |page=[https://archive.org/details/ancientgreeks00john/page/72 72] |language=en |quote=most scholars now believe that the sicans and Sicels, as well as the. |url-access=registration}}</ref> Important historical evidence has been discovered in the form of cave drawings by the Sicani, dated from the end of the [[Pleistocene]] epoch around 8000 BC.<ref name="sicanian">{{cite news |date=7 October 2007 |title=Sicilian Peoples: The Sicanians |publisher=Best of Sicily |url=http://www.bestofsicily.com/mag/art141.htm}}</ref> The [[Elymians]], thought to have come from the area of the [[Aegean Sea]], became the next tribe to join the Sicanians on Sicily.<ref>{{cite encyclopedia |title=Sicani |encyclopedia=Britannica.com |url=http://www.britannica.com/eb/article-9067615/Sicani |date=7 October 2007}}</ref>

No evidence survives of warring between tribes, but the Sicanians moved eastwards when the Elymians settled in the northwest corner of the island. The [[Sicels]] are thought<ref name="sicanian" /> to have originated in [[Liguria]]; they arrived from mainland Italy in 1200 BC and forced the Sicanians to move back across Sicily and to settle in the middle of the island.<ref name="sicanian" /> Other minor [[Ancient peoples of Italy|Italic groups]] who settled in Sicily included the [[Ausones]] ([[Aeolian Islands]], [[Milazzo]]) and the [[Morgetes]] of [[Morgantina]].

The [[Phoenicia]]n settlements in the western part of the island predate the arrival of [[Greek people|Greek]] colonists.<ref name="catholi" /> From about 750 BC, the Greeks began to live in Sicily ({{langx |grc| Σικελία}} – ''Sikelia''), establishing many significant settlements. The most important colony was in [[Syracuse, Sicily|Syracuse]]; others grew up at [[Agrigentum|Akragas]], [[Selinunte]], [[Gela]], [[Himera]] and [[Messina|Zancle]].<ref>E. Zuppardo-S.Piccolo, ''Terra Mater: sulle sponde del Gela greco'', Betania Ed., Caltanissetta 2005</ref> The native Sicani and Sicel peoples became [[Cultural assimilation|absorbed]] into the [[Ancient Greece|Hellenic culture]] with relative ease, and the area became part of [[Magna Graecia]] along with the coasts of the [[southern Italy|south of the Italian peninsula]], which the Greeks had also colonised. Sicily had fertile soils, and the successful introduction of [[olive]]s and [[grape vine]]s fostered profitable trading.<ref name="knowital" /> [[Culture of Greece|Greek culture]] significantly centered around [[Religion in ancient Greece|Greek religion]], and the settlers built many [[Ancient Greek temple|temple]]s throughout Sicily, including several in the ''Valley of the Temples'' at [[Agrigento]].<ref>{{cite news|url= http://italiansrus.com/articles/temples.htm|publisher= Italiansrus.com|title= Valley of the Temples|date= 7 October 2007}}</ref>

Politics on the island became intertwined with those of Greece; [[Syracuse, Sicily|Syracuse]] became desired by the [[Athenian]]s who set out on the [[Sicilian Expedition]] (415–413 BC) during the [[Peloponnesian War]]. Syracuse gained [[Sparta]] and [[Ancient Corinth|Corinth]] as allies and, as a result, defeated the Athenian expedition. The victors destroyed the Athenian army and their ships, selling most of the survivors into [[Slavery in ancient Greece|slavery]].<ref>{{cite news|url= https://www.livius.org/su-sz/syracuse/siege.html|publisher= Livius.org|title= Siege of Syracuse|date= 7 October 2007|access-date= 26 March 2020|archive-date= 7 November 2016|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20161107071518/http://www.livius.org/su-sz/syracuse/siege.html|url-status= dead}}</ref>

The Greek kingdom of Syracuse controlled most of eastern Sicily while [[Carthage]] controlled the western side.<ref>{{cite book|last1= Miles|first1= Richard|title= Carthage Must Be Destroyed: The Rise and Fall of an Ancient Civilization|date= 2010|publisher= Viking|location= New York|isbn= 978-0-143-12129-9}}</ref> The two cultures began to clash, leading to the [[Greek-Punic wars]] (between 580 and 265 BC). The Greek states had begun to make peace with the [[Roman Republic]] in 205 BC,<ref name="archeologiaviva">{{cite web |title=Le arti di Efesto. Capolavori in metallo |url=https://www.archeologiaviva.it/4139/le-arti-di-efesto-capolavori-in-metallo/ |access-date=12 July 2023 |page=11 |language=it}}</ref> before the Romans sought to [[Annexation|annex]] Sicily as their republic's first [[Roman province|province]]. Rome attacked Carthage's holdings in Sicily in the [[First Punic War]] (264 to 241 BC) and won, making Sicily–with the exception of Syracuse–the first Roman province outside of the [[Italian Peninsula]] by 242 BC.<ref>{{cite news|url= http://encyclopedia.farlex.com/Sicily| publisher= [[Hutchinson Encyclopedia]]|title= Sicily|date= 7 October 2007|url-status= dead|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20081202051716/http://encyclopedia.farlex.com/Sicily|archive-date= 2 December 2008}}</ref>

In the [[Second Punic War]] (218 to 201 BC), the Carthaginians attempted to recapture Sicily. Some of the Greek cities on the island who were loyal to Rome switched sides to help the Carthaginians, prompting a Roman military response. [[Archimedes]], who lived in Syracuse, helped defend his city from Roman invasion; Roman troops killed him after they captured Syracuse in 212 BC.<ref>{{cite book|last1= Miles| first1= Richard|title= Carthage Must Be Destroyed|date= 2010|publisher= Viking|location= New York}}</ref> The Carthaginian attempt failed, and Rome became more unrelenting in its annihilation of the invaders; [[Roman consul]] [[Marcus Valerius Laevinus|M. Valerian]] told the [[Roman Senate]] in 210 BC that "no Carthaginian remains in Sicily".<ref>{{cite book|last=Norwich |first=John Julius|author-link=John Julius Norwich|date=21 July 2015|title=Sicily: An Island at the Crossroads of History|publisher=[[Random House]]|isbn=978-0812995190|oclc=904715530|via=[[Google Books]]|access-date=1 July 2023|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=-THqBQAAQBAJ&dq=210+BC+Roman+consul+Valerian+Roman+Senate+%22no+Carthaginian+remains+in+Sicily%22man%20Senate%20%22no%20Carthaginian%20remains%20in%20Sicily%22&pg=PT56}}</ref>

As the Roman Republic's [[granary]], Sicily ranked as an important province, divided into two [[quaestor]]ships: Syracuse to the east and [[Lilybaeum]] to the west.<ref name="catholi" /> Roman rule introduced the [[Latin language]] to the island, which underwent a slow process of [[Latinisation of Greek|latinisation]] but Sicilian culture remained largely Greek and the Greek language did not become extinct on the island, facilitating its [[Hellenization|re-hellenisation]] much later under the Byzantines.<ref name="catholi">{{Cite CE1913|wstitle= Sicily}}</ref> The prosperity of the island went into sharp decline during the governorship of [[Verres]] (73 to 71 BC). In 70 BC, the noted statesman [[Cicero]] condemned the misgovernment of Verres in his oration ''[[In Verrem]]''.<ref>{{cite book|last= Stockton|first= David L.|title= Cicero: A Political Biography|publisher= Oxford University Press|url= https://books.google.com/books?id=JqsqlajAPCoC&q=in+verrem+cicero+verres&pg=PA43|isbn= 978-0-19-872033-1|year= 1971 |oclc= 1301799183 |via=[[Google Books]]}}</ref>

Various groups used the island as a power base at different times: slave insurgents occupied it during the [[first Servile War|First]] (135−132 BC) and [[Second Servile War|Second]] (104−100 BC) [[Servile Wars]]. [[Sextus Pompey]] had his headquarters there during the [[War between Sextus Pompey and the Second Triumvirate|Sicilian revolt]] of 44 to 36 BC. Christianity first appeared in Sicily during the years following AD 200; between this time and AD 313, when Emperor [[Constantine I|Constantine the Great]] lifted the prohibition on Christianity, a significant number of [[Sicilians]] had become [[martyr]]s, including [[Agatha of Sicily|Agatha]], [[Saint Christina of Bolsena|Christina]], [[Saint Lucy|Lucy]], and [[Euplius]].<ref name="earlymediev" /> Sicily remained a Roman province for around 700 years.<ref name="earlymediev">{{cite news|url= http://www.bestofsicily.com/history2.htm|publisher= BestofSicily.com|title= Early & Medieval History|date= 7 October 2007}}</ref>