SICILY, a large island of the Mediterranean sea, lying near the coast of Italy, between 12° and 16° E. Long. and between 37° and 39° N. Lat. being about 170 miles long and 100 broad. It is divided from Italy by the straits of Messina, reaching from the Tower of Faro, which is the most northerly part of the island, to the Capo dell' armi, or the Cape of Arms, the most southern part of Calabria. These straits, by the Latins called Fretum Siculum, by the Italians Il Faro di Messina, and by us the Fare of Messina, are between 12 and 15 miles over in the broadest places, and in the narrowest about a mile and an half; insomuch that when Messina was taken by the Carthaginians, many of the inhabitants are said to have saved themselves by swimming to the opposite coasts of Italy. Hence has arisen an opinion that the island of Sicily was originally joined to the continent, but afterwards separated by an earthquake or some other natural cause. This separation, however, is reckoned by the most judicious among the ancients to be fabulous; and they content themselves with speaking of it as a thing said to have happened.
Anciently this island was called Sicania, Sicilia, and Trinacria or Triquetra; the two former it had from the Sicani and Siculi, who peopled a considerable part of the country; the two latter from its triangular figure. Its first inhabitants, according to the most respectable ancient authors, were the Cyclopes and Lætrigones, who are said to have settled in the countries adjoining to Mount Ætna; but of their origin we know nothing, except what is related by the poets. After them came the Sicani, who called themselves the original inhabitants of the country; but several ancient historians inform us that they came from a country in Spain watered by the river Siconus. Diodorus, however, is of opinion, that the Sicani were the most ancient inhabitants of this island. He tells us that they were in possession of the whole, and applied themselves to cultivate and improve the ground in the neighbourhood of Ætna, which was the most fruitful part of the island: they built several small towns and villages on the hills to secure themselves against thieves and robbers; and were governed, not by one prince, but each city and district by its own king. Thus they lived till Ætna began to throw out flames, and forced them to retire to the western parts of the island, which they continued to inhabit in the time of Thucydides. Some Trojans, after the destruction of their city, landed in the island, settled among the Sicani, and built the cities of Eryx and Egesta, uniting themselves with them, and taking the general name of Elymi or Elymæi. They were afterwards joined by some Phoenicians, who settled here on their return from the siege of Troy.
After the Sicani had for many ages enjoyed an undisturbed
Sicily. disturbed possession of the whole of Sicily, or such parts of it as they chose to inhabit, they were visited by the Siculi, who were the ancient inhabitants of Auzonia properly so called; but being driven out from thence by the Opici, they took refuge in the island of Sicily. Not being contented with the narrow bounds allowed them by the Sicani, they began to encroach upon their neighbours; upon which a war ensuing, the Sicani were utterly defeated, and confined to a corner of the island, the name of which was now changed from Sicania into that of Sicilia.
About 300 years after the arrival of the Siculi, the island first began to be known to the Greeks, who established various colonies, and built many cities in different parts of the island; and it is only from the time of their arrival that we have any history of the island. The first of the Greeks that came into Sicily were the Chalcidians of Eubœa, under the conduct of Thucles, who built Naxus, and a famous altar of Apollo, which, as Thucydides tells us, was still standing in his time without the city. The year after, which was, according to Dionysius Halicarnassensis, the third of the 17th Olympiad, Archias the Corinthian, one of the Heraclides, laid the foundations of Syracuse. Seven years after, a new colony of Chalcidians founded Leontini and Catana, after having driven out the Siculi, who inhabited that tract. About the same time Lamis, with a colony from Megara, a city of Achaia, settled on the river Pantacius, at a place called Trotilum, where his adventurers lived some time in common with the Chalcidians of Leontini; but, being driven from thence by the Leontines, he built the city of Thapsus, where he died. Upon his death, the colony left Thapsus; and, under the conduct of Hyblon king of the Siculi, founded Megara Hyblæa, where they resided 245 years, till they were driven out by Gelon tyrant of Syracuse. During their abode at Megara, they sent one Pamilus, who was come from Megara in Achaia, their original city, to build Selinus. This city was founded about 100 years after the foundation of Megara. Antiphemus and Entimus, the former a Rhodian, the other a Cretan, led each a colony of their countrymen, and jointly built the city of Gela on a river of the same name, establishing in their new settlement the Doric customs, about 45 years after the founding of Syracuse. The inhabitants of Gela founded Agrigentum 108 years after their arrival in Sicily, and introduced the same customs there. A few years after, Zancle was built by the pirates of Cumæ in Italy; but chiefly peopled by the Chalcidians, Samians, and Ionians, who chose rather to seek new settlements than live under the Persian yoke. Some time after, Anaxales, tyrant of Rhegium, drove out the ancient proprietors; and, dividing his lands amongst his followers, called the city Messana or Messene, which was the name of his native city in Peloponnesus. The city of Himera was founded by the Zancleans under the direction of Eucleides, Simus, and Sacon; but peopled by the Chalcidians and some Syracusan exiles, who had been driven out by the contrary faction.
The Syracusians built Acrae, Chafmene, and Camarina; the first 70 years, the second 90, and the third 135, after the foundation of their own city. This is the account which Thucydides, a most judicious and exact writer, gives us of the various nations,
whether Greeks or Barbarians, who settled in Sicily. Strabo counts among the ancient inhabitants of Sicily the Morgetes, who being driven out of Italy by the Oenotrians, settled in that part of the island where the ancient city of Morgantium stood. The Campani, who assumed the name of Mamertini, that is, invincible warriors, and the Carthaginians, who settled very early in Sicily, ought likewise to be counted among the ancient inhabitants of the island.
The island of Sicily continued to be divided between the Greeks and Carthaginians till the wars of the latter with the Romans, when the whole island was reduced to a province of that republic about the year 198 B. C. The free cities in the island before this time, besides Syracuse, were Leontini, Agrigentum, Gela, Messana, Himera, Catana, Ætna, Apollonia, Selinus, Taurominium, Agyris, and Centuripe. These underwent the same vicissitudes as SYRACUSE; being sometimes governed by their own laws, and at other times enslaved by domestic tyrants, till finally subdued by the Romans.
During the time of its subjection to the Romans, Sicily was not treated as the other conquered countries, but suffered to enjoy its ancient rights and privileges. This distinction it well deserved, since the Sicilians were the first of foreign nations that had entered into an alliance with Rome, and the first conquest that the republic made out of Italy. This island was afterwards a kind of pass for their troops into Africa; and Rome would not so easily have reduced the formidable power of Carthage, had not Sicily served as a magazine for supplying her armies with provisions, and been a secure retreat for her fleets. Hence Scipio Africanus, after having taken and destroyed Carthage, thought himself obliged to adorn the cities of Sicily with some of the richest spoils he had brought from Africa, that the Sicilians might have among them some monuments of those victories to which they had greatly contributed.
About the time of the sedition of the Gracchi, a most dangerous insurrection of the Sicilian slaves took place on the following occasion. The best estates in that country were in the hands of some rich men of the natives, and of the Roman knights (those opulent publicans), who, finding their account more in employing slaves than husbandmen of free condition to cultivate the farms, had transported such multitudes of slaves thither, that the island swarmed with them. The ill treatment these wretches suffered from their masters, who scarce allowed them necessary food or raiment, put them upon seeking by rapine what was needful for the support of life. They frequently went out in gangs, plundered villages, and exercised all kinds of violence. The several prætors, successively sent from Rome into the island, had, out of fear of the matters to whom the slaves belonged, neglected doing any thing effectual to remedy these disorders: for the Roman knights were a powerful body, whom it was dangerous to disoblige. Impunity naturally increased the mischief; the slaves grew daily more licentious; and their going out in bands to rob, gave them an opportunity of forming plots to deliver themselves from the yoke of servitude.
It happened that one Antigenes, a Cicilian, had a Syrian slave named Eunus, a man of spirit, and who
had a particular talent for imposing on the multitude. He pretended to have, by dreams and sensible apparitions, intercourse with the gods. By breathing flames out of his mouth, and by a variety of other juggling tricks, he got at length into such vogue as to pass for an oracle. Whole crowds came to him to be told their fortunes. As to himself, he constantly published that his destiny was to be a king. His master, diverted with this whim, used frequently, when at table, to question him concerning his future royalty, and the manner in which he would treat each of the guests then present. According to his different answers, some insulted him, others sent him meat from the table, craving his future protection when he should be upon his throne. The jest proved serious in the event, as we shall presently see, and Eunus did not forget the different treatment he had met with from his master's guests.
Among those who repaired to this prophet for advice, there came at length the slaves of one Damophilus of Enna, a man of brutal character, and who had a wife no less inhuman. Cruelly treated by both, the slaves had formed a plot to murder both. However, before they proceeded to action, they thought it advisable to ask the oracle of the country, Whether the gods would prosper them in an enterprise they were meditating? Eunus answered, That whatever was their project, it was agreeable to the gods, and would infallibly succeed, provided they did not defer the execution. The slaves, thereupon, to the number of 400, armed with forks and scythes and other rustic weapons, assembled themselves in all haste, put Eunus at their head, and straight marched to Enna; where, being joined by the slaves of the town, they massacred the inhabitants, without regard to age or sex, and plundered the houses. As for Damophilus, Eunus, to try him in form, erected, in the public theatre, a court of judicature, where he himself presided. Some of those slaves, whom the prisoner had treated barbarously, made themselves the accusers; and the multitude was judge. Damophilus pleaded earnestly for himself, and moved many to compassion; but Hermias and Zeusis, two slaves, more spirited with revenge, and more audacious than the rest, approaching the accused, one of them, without farther ceremony, ran him thro' with a sword, and the other cut off his head with an ax. And now Eunus was elected king, not for his valour or skill in martial affairs, but on account of his pretended inspirations. He began his reign by putting to death all the prisoners, except such as could make arms, and those of his master's acquaintance who had used him civilly. He also gave up Damophilus's wife, Megallis, into the hands of her women-slaves, who, when they had whipped and otherwise tormented her as much as they pleased, threw her headlong down a precipice: but as for her daughter, who had always disapproved the barbarity of her parents, and showed great compassion to the slaves, they treated her with all imaginable respect and tenderness, and conveyed her safely to Catana, where they delivered her into the care of some of her relations. Eunus with his own hands slew Pytho and Autigenes, the two masters he had successively served. After which, putting the regal circle on his head, and assuming the other ornaments of sovereignty, he took the name of Antiochus, and called his
followers Syrians. His next affair was to establish a form of government among his subjects. He chose out some of the ablest men to be his council; and gave the command of his troops to an Achæan, an old soldier, who by his bravery and experience was qualified to command a better army. In three days, his followers increasing to more than 6000 men, he commenced his military expeditions. It was in the year of Rome 615 that this tumult began, Didius being then prætor of Sicily. In 616, Manlius, who succeeded him, was defeated by the rebels, and his camp plundered. The like misfortune happened to P. Cornelius Lentulus in 617; and in 618, when Calpurnius Piso was prætor, Eunus had still the advantage over the Romans. Three prætors thus vanquished successively by the slaves, struck a terror throughout the whole island. Eunus's army grew daily more numerous. Cleon, a Sicilian slave, had taken it into his head to imitate him; and, having got together 5000 slaves, had pillaged Agrigentum and the territory about it. It was hoped at first, that these two leaders would be competitors for dominion, and destroy one another; but, contrary to all men's expectations, they joined forces, and Cleon served as general under Eunus.
The Roman affairs were in this bad situation, when the prætor Plautius Hypæus, in the year 619, came into Sicily, to restore them. Far from succeeding, he suffered a total defeat by the rebels; whose army, after this victory, augmented to near 200,000 men; they ravaged the whole country, and took many cities.
The example of the slaves in Sicily infected those in Italy and Greece, and occasioned insurrections there. These, however, were easily quelled. Calpurnius Piso, one of the consuls for the year 620, having first restored discipline, that was much relaxed among the troops, overthrew the slaves before Messana, to which they had laid siege: 8000 of them perished in the action, and the prisoners were all crucified. Notwithstanding this victory, the war continued, till Rupilius, one of the consuls of the year 621, had the command of the Roman forces. After his arrival in the island, he successively laid siege to Tauromenium and Enna, the strongest places in the possession of the slaves. Both were betrayed into his hands. Twenty thousand of the rebels are said to have been cut off. Eunus, with 600 of his guards, escaped from Enna, and took refuge in a steep rocky place. Being there invested by the Romans, and having no hope to escape, they slew one another, to avoid a more painful death. King Eunus hid himself in a cave, whence he was quickly dragged out, together with his cook, his baker, the man that used to rub him when he bathed, and a buffoon whose business had been to divert him at his meals. Rupilius sent him in chains to Morgantia, where, consumed with vermin, he miserably ended his days in prison.
The tranquillity established on this occasion, lasted not long. The Romans, finding themselves in great danger from the Cimbri and Teutones, applied for succours to the eastern nations; and among the rest to Nicomedes king of Bithynia. That monarch, however, excused himself; alleging, that a great number of his subjects had been forcibly carried away into slavery, by those who farmed the revenues of the re-
Sicily. public in the east. The complaint appearing to the senate to be well-grounded, they passed a decree, that no freemen of the Roman allies should in any province be treated as slaves; and that the proconsuls and praetors should take care that all such as had been injuriously forced into slavery should be set free. In obedience to this decree, Licinius Nerva, praetor in Sicily, gave liberty in a few days to above 800 slaves. The chief men of the island, foreseeing how much they should be losers by the execution of this decree, addressed themselves to the praetor, and begged of him to manumit no more of the slaves. Licinius, either prevailed upon by bribes, or desiring to ingratiate himself with the rich, would no longer listen to the complaints of such of the slaves as, having been forced into slavery, had recourse to him for redress. On the contrary, he gave them rough language, and sent them home to their masters. The slaves hereupon had recourse to arms. About 200 of them having posted themselves upon a rock, fortified it, and defended themselves for some time against all the efforts of Licinius. At length he sent for one C. Titinius, who had been some years before condemned to death; but having escaped from punishment, now practised robbery. To this man Licinius promised pardon and protection, if by his means the slaves should be reduced. Titinius, with a body of his associates, went over to the rebels, as if to spirit them against their enemies. Being well received by them, and for his bravery declared their general, he soon after betrayed them into the hands of the Romans. This insurrection thus suppressed, was immediately followed by another. In a few days the rebels amounted to 2000 men; and, after a victory which they obtained over a Roman detachment, their number increased to above 6000. They then chose themselves a king, one Salvius, a pretender to the art of divination by inspecting the entrails of animals. After some time spent in plundering the country, Salvius laid siege to Morgantia; and Licinius advanced with a view to relieve the place. But the rebels turned upon him, and, having the advantage of the ground, defeated him. Only 600 men of the Roman army fell in this action, but 4000 were taken prisoners; for Salvius had prudently proclaimed quarter to all who should throw down their arms.
On the report of this victory, such multitudes flocked in to the rebels from all parts, that their army was doubled, and they renewed their attacks upon Morgantia; at the same time promising liberty to the slaves within the town. But their masters making them the same promise in case of victory, the slaves fought so bravely that they forced the rebels to raise the siege. Nevertheless Licinius annulled the promise made to those slaves, who thereupon went over to the enemy.
The contagion of rebellion spread itself to the territories of Ægysta and Lilybæum. Athenio, a Cicilian, a pretender to divination by the stars, got together about 1000 of his fellow-slaves; and he too assumed the title of king. His army increasing to 10,000 able-bodied men, (for he would not, like king Salvius, receive promiscuously all that came to him), he laid siege to Lilybæum, a place that was deemed impregnable. Athenio, after some time, became sensible of his error; and then, that he might quit his enterprise with-
out dishonour, pretended, that the gods had foretold him by the stars, that if the army continued the siege, some sudden misfortune would certainly befall it. A fleet from Mauritania, with succours sent by king Bocchus to the Romans, happened to arrive at Lilybæum just at the time when Athenio began to decamp; and those Africans landed soon enough to fall upon the rear of the rebel army, which suffered a considerable loss: but this loss was more than compensated to Athenio by the increase of credit which his astrological prediction gained him.
In the mean time Salvius, who had assumed the name of Tryphon, a name formerly borne by one of the kings of Syria, chose Triocala for his place of residence. There he built a palace; fortified the castle, which was before very strong; and enlarged the town. From hence he sent as king, a command to Athenio to come and join him with the forces he had collected. Contrary to all mens expectations, Athenio obeyed, and marched to Triocala with 3000 men; the remainder of his army he had dispersed over the country to pillage it, and to engage as many of the slaves as they could to take part with him. The two generals for some time lived amicably together; but at length Tryphon, suspecting Athenio of a design to supplant him, caused him to be seized and put under confinement.
The next year, 650, Licinius Lucullus, who succeeded Licinius Nerva in the praetorship of Sicily, landed in the island with 17,000 men. On the news of their arrival, Tryphon released Athenio, and marched with him at the head of 40,000 men to meet Lucullus. The battle was long doubtful. Athenio fought with great bravery; but having received three wounds, by two of which his legs were lamed, he at length fell among the dead. Hereupon the slaves lost courage, and took to their heels. Twenty thousand of them were slain; the rest, by favour of the night, escaped with their king to Triocala. Athenio, tho' grievously wounded, was not killed; in the dark, he made a shift to creep away and join his companions. The rebels, much disheartened by their loss, held a council to deliberate upon the state of their affairs. Some proposed submission to their masters at discretion; but the prevailing opinion was to fight it out to the last. Lucullus gave them time to recover themselves; for it was nine days after the battle before he invested Triocala; and then the rebels made so resolute a defence, that they obliged him to quit the enterprise. Nor did the Roman general take any further measures to crush the rebellion: his only care was to enrich himself at the expence of his province. Of this, at his return to Rome, he was accused before the people, and found guilty.
The praetor Servilius, who, in 651, succeeded Lucullus, had no success against the rebels. Tryphon was now dead: His successor Athenio, always brave and enterprising, forced the Roman camp, took towns, and ravaged the country at pleasure.
In 652, the fifth consulship of Marius, the senate thought proper to commission his colleague Aquilius to conduct that war, in which three praetors had been foiled. This new general applied himself chiefly to cut off the enemies provisions; nor does he seem to have offered them battle till the next year, when their number was considerably diminished.
Sicily. He then entirely defeated them in a general engagement, wherein, it is said, he fought hand to hand with Athenio, and killed him, after being wounded by him in the head. About 10,000 of the rebels escaped to their strong holds, where Aquilius afterwards destroyed them chiefly by famine. A thousand still remained under a leader named Satyrus, and these surrendered themselves. The proconsul promised them pardon; but when he had transported them to Rome, he condemned them to fight with wild beasts. This they refused to do; and chose rather to fall by the hands of one another: Satyrus alone remaining, he ran upon his own sword, and was the last that perished on account of this rebellion, which had lasted four years. We are told, that in this and the former servile war in Sicily a million of slaves were destroyed.
In A. D. 439, when the western empire began to fail, Sicily shared the same fate with the rest of the provinces, whose sufferings indeed had begun long before. At this time the Vandals, under their king Genferic, made a descent on the island, and ravaged all the open country, but were unable to take the city of Palermo, to which they laid siege; however, they returned to Africa with a very considerable booty.—In 475 Genferic was attended with better success; reducing not only the island of Sicily, but all those between Italy and Africa. The next year Sicily was ceded by him to Odoacer, (who at this time totally subverted the Roman empire in the west), on condition that he should hold the island of him, and pay him a yearly tribute; for securing which he kept the strong castle of Lilybæum. In the year 550 the whole island was reduced by Totila the Goth: however, it was next year given up to the emperor of Constantinople, who kept possession of it till 857, when the Arabs made a descent upon it; and five years after, according to some historians, made themselves masters of the whole. They appear to have kept possession of the island till the year 1040, when the Greeks, assisted by the Normans, took it from them. The history of Sicily from that time is related under the article NAPLES, no 20—28.
The island has since continued in the hands of the royal family of Spain; and having been reunited to the kingdom of Naples, the king of Spain's eldest son is now king of Sicily as well as of Naples. See SPAIN.
Sicily is separated, as we have already observed, from Italy, by a narrow strait called the Fare of Messina. This strait is still remarkable for the rapidity of its currents, and the irregular ebbing and flowing of the sea, which sometimes rushes in with such violence as to endanger ships riding at anchor. Anciently it was much more remarkable for the Scylla and Charybdis, one a rock, and the other a whirlpool, between which it was very dangerous to steer, and concerning which so many fables have been related by the ancients. Scylla is a rock on the Italian side, opposite to Cap Pylores, which runs out into the sea on the Sicilian side. Mr Brydone informs us, that the navigation of the straits is not even yet performed without danger. He informs us, that the noise of the current which sets through the straits may be heard for several miles, like the roaring of some large impetuous river confined between narrow banks. In
many places the water rose into whirlpools and eddies, which are dangerous to shipping. The current set exactly for the rock of Scylla, and would certainly have carried any thing thrown into it against that point. Our author, however, is by no means of opinion that the strait is so dangerous as the ancients have represented it; though he thinks that the strait is now probably much wider than formerly, which may have diminished the danger. There are many small rocks, which show their heads near the base of the large ones. These are probably the dogs, described by the ancient poets as howling round Scylla *. The rock is near 200 feet high, and has a kind of castle or fort built on its summit with a town called Scylla or Seiglio, containing 300 or 400 inhabitants on its south side, which gives the title of prince to a Calabrese family.
Charybdis is now so much diminished, that it seems almost reduced to nothing in comparison of what it was; though even yet it is not to be passed without danger. See CHARYBDIS.
In the straits, Mr Brydone informs us, a most surprising phenomenon is to be observed. In the heat of summer, after the sea and air have been much agitated, there appear in the heavens over the straits a great variety of singular forms, some at rest, and others moving with great velocity. These forms, in proportion as the light increases, seem to become more aerial, till at last, some time before sun-rise, they totally disappear. The Sicilians represent this as the most beautiful sight in nature. Leonti, one of their best and latest writers, says, that the heavens appear crowded with a variety of objects, such as palaces, woods, gardens, &c. besides the figures of men and other animals that appear in motion among them. Some treatises have been written concerning this phenomenon; but nothing satisfactory has been delivered concerning its cause.
Though Sicily lies in a warm climate, the air is healthful, being refreshed with sea-breezes on every side. Anciently its fertility was such, that it was styled the granary or store-house of Italy; nor has it yet lost its glory in this respect, producing, in great abundance, corn, wine, oil, fruits, sugar, honey, wax, saffron, and silk. Here are also some mines of gold, silver, iron, and other metals; with several kinds of minerals, as alum, vitriol, saltpetre, and mineral salt. The mountains yield also emeralds, jasper, agate, porphyry, and lapis lazuli. A good deal of coral is found upon the coast, and plenty of excellent fish; among which are the pece spada, or sword-fish, and tunnies.
Of these commodities, particularly silk, raw or manufactured, great quantities used to be exported from Messina, the great sea-port and emporium of the kingdom; where a consul from almost every nation in Europe resided, to manage and protect the trade of his nation. But that city is now no more; having been totally destroyed by the late earthquake and eruption of Ætna, (Feb. 5. 7. 8. 1783), when a vast number of inferior towns and villages, together with the Lipari islands adjacent, are said to have shared the same fate, and most of their inhabitants, including many of the first eminence, to have perished.
Here are several rivers and good springs; but few of
Sicily of the rivers are navigable, having but a short course, and descending precipitately from the mountains. The chief are the Cantera, the Jarretta, and the Salfo; of which, the two former run from west to east, and the third from north to south.
Of the mountains in this island the most noted is Mount Ætna, now called Monte Gibello, or Mongibello, a volcano whose eruptions have often proved fatal to the neighbouring country. See ÆTNA.
While Sicily was immediately subject to Spain, it was governed by a viceroy sent thither, who received from thence a revenue of above 4,000,000 crowns; but since it hath, jointly with Naples, been erected into a kingdom, under the name of the Two Sicilies, the face of affairs, as well as form of government, is said to be much altered, though, it is to be feared, not much in favour of the inhabitants. The nobility are so numerous in this island, that Labit says it is paved with noblemen; there being no less than 60 dukedoms, 56 marquises, and upwards of 100 earldoms, besides a great number of baronies. This people, with respect to their character, are far from appearing in a favourable light; being represented as a perverse race, who must be kept under with a high hand, according to an old proverb, Insulani plerumque mali, Siculi autem omnium pessimi. They are a mixture of Italians and Spaniards; but speak chiefly Spanish, and follow the Spanish fashions, particularly in wearing black. The established religion of the island is the Roman-Catholic. The Jews are now allowed to settle here, and make open profession of their religion; which was not the case while the island was immediately subject to Spain. The number of churches, convents, and religious foundations here, is very great, and they are well endowed. There is a sovereign tribunal, which judges in all ecclesiastical affairs, and admits of no appeal to the pope. The island is commonly divided into three parts or provinces, viz. Val di Demoni, Val di Noto, and Val Mazara.