Questo servizio è ottimizzato per essere navigato da dispositivi smartphone e tablet.
Per vedere il contenuto della pagina scansiona il QrCode con il tuo device.
Ancient Apollonia
ATTENZIONE
The rocky massif of Monte Vecchio in San Fratello, formed by carbonate rocks of the Mesozoic age, rises at 718 meters above sea level in a highly strategic position. At its summit lies a Sicilian center that was later Hellenized, commonly identified with ancient Apollonia. However, until the period of archaeological excavations conducted between 2003 and 2005, no archaeological, epigraphic, or numismatic evidence had fully confirmed this identification.
Sources mention Apollonia: Diodorus Siculus (XVI, 72, 5) states that the city was politically subjected, along with Engyon, to the tyrant Leptines, who was deposed by Timoleon in 342 BC. Apollonia was then destroyed by Agathocles, returning from Libya, in 307 BC after a two-day siege (XX, 56, 4).
Cicero also mentions civitas Apolloniensis, which was subjected to heavy tithes by Verres. He refers to Apollonia in connection with Aristodamus, to whom Verres returned his slaves in exchange for a large sum of money. Finally, Cicero states that a ship from Apollonia was part of the fleet commanded by Cleomenes, which was set on fire by pirates near Cape Pachino, resulting in the death of its captain, Antropinus (information taken from Cicero's Verrine Orations).
Over the centuries, several scholars have mentioned Apollonia in their studies, although with conflicting hypotheses regarding the location of the site: Aretius and Fazello in the 16th century, and then Benedetto Rotelli and Saverio D’Amico in the 19th century. Later, Holm, Salinas, Pais, Antonino Meli, Luigi Vasi, Benedetto Rubino, Biagio Pace, and Luigi Barnabò Brea also referenced Apollonia in their work.
The site of Apollonia represents an archaeological context of great historical and topographical significance. In the ancient settlement, after the Classical period, apart from a brief period of occupation in the 12th century, no other settlements overlapped. In fact, the medieval settlement from which the current town of San Fratello originates developed in the valley below. Today, only the Church of Saints Alfio, Filadelfio, and Cirino and a few isolated rural farmhouses stand on Monte Vecchio. This has allowed the original layout of the ancient city site to be preserved.
Between 2003 and 2005, three excavation campaigns funded by POR Sicily allowed the exploration of some areas of the site's acropolis. Several test trenches were carried out, uncovering both fortifications and some segments of dwellings attributable to two distinct phases: one from the Hellenistic and Roman periods and the other from the Norman period.
The examination of coinage and ceramics confirms the identification of the site as Apollonia, founded in the first half of the 4th century BC, possibly by Dionysius, the tyrant of Syracuse, as an outpost against the Carthaginians.
The occupation of the site took place in two fairly well-defined periods: the first between the end of the 4th century and the first half of the 3rd century BC, when the city was destroyed by Agathocles, and the second between the 1st century BC and the 1st century AD, when the city was progressively abandoned.
The site was then reoccupied only after many centuries, specifically in the early decades of the 12th century. This was a relatively short period, between the reign of Roger II and the reign of William I. During the Norman period, the repopulation of the mountain and the nearby center of San Fratello by the Lombards led to the definitive disappearance of the remains of the ancient city. In fact, all monuments and dwellings were excavated, and stone blocks were reused for new constructions.
Extracts from: APOLLONIA: Archaeological Investigations on Monte Vecchio di San Fratello 2003–2005, edited by Carmela Bonanno. L'Erma di BRETSCHNEIDER.
