Tradition and Innovation : Sicily between Hellenism and Rome.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Zambon, Efrem.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Hellenism.

Sicily (Italy).

Physical Description:

1 online resource (460 pages)

Edition:

1st ed.

Place of Publication:

Stuttgart : Franz Steiner Verlag, 2012.

Summary:

This scholarly work examines the political, cultural, and social history of Sicily during the Hellenistic and early Roman periods, specifically between 289 and 241 BC. It explores the political evolution of Sicilian city-states, focusing on the reign of Agathocles of Syracuse, the island's interaction with Hellenistic kingdoms, and its eventual transition to a Roman province following the First Punic War. The book integrates analysis of literary sources, numismatic evidence, and epigraphic materials to provide insights into the interplay between tradition and innovation in Sicilian governance. Aimed at classicists, historians, and scholars of ancient history, the work offers a detailed reevaluation of primary sources and highlights the island's unique role in the Mediterranean geopolitical landscape. Generated by AI.

Contents:

Preface

Introduction and acknowledgements

CHAPTER ONE Political Evolution and Historical Events in the Greek City-States of Sicily from Agathocles’ Death to Pyrrhus’ Arrival (289–278 BC)

1.1. “The king is dead”: civil struggles and institutional changes in Syracuse, between a new democracy and further autocratic desires (289–287 BC)

1.2. Mercenaries, marauders and settlers: the foundation of the Mamertine State in Messina (287 BC)

1.3. Minor tyrants of eastern Sicily between Carthage and Syracuse: aims of power or instincts of self-preservation?

1.4. Phintias and the revival of Agrigentum: history of a tyrant who looked like an Hellenistic monarch (289/288 – 280? BC)

1.5. Hicetas’ autocratic rule in Syracuse: from victory to decline (285–279 BC)

1.6. “Another king will save us”: last civil strife in Syracuse and the appeals to Pyrrhus (279–278 BC)

1.7. The arrival of the Syracusan ambassadors and the first steps of Pyrrhus’ Sicilian expedition (summer-autumn 279 BC)

1.8. The Carthaginians on the international scene. The Punic diplomacy between Rome and Pyrrhus, and the renewal of the Romano-Punic alliance (autumn 279 – spring 278 BC)

1.9. Some notes about the Romano-Carthaginian treaty: matters of understanding

1.10. A passage of Diodorus and the carrying out of the treaty; quick cooperation in Rhegium (spring 278 BC)

CHAPTER TWO Pyrrhus and the Greeks of Sicily: military events, political meanings and ideological implications

2.1. Preliminary notes. The situation in Sicily and Pyrrhus’ last arrangements for the expedition

2.2 The situation in Magna Graecia. Some more enlightenments about the events in Rhegium

2.3. The first stage of the Sicilian adventure: from Taras to Syracuse (summer/autumn 278 BC)

2.4. The political title of Pyrrhus in Sicily: an example of Hellenistic kingship?

2.5. Pyrrhus’ coinage in Sicily: Greek propaganda, ideological inferences and economic innovations

2.6. The war-campaign of 277 BC. First steps of glory in Southern Sicily: traces of Pyrrhus at Heraclea Minoa and Azones, between historical and archaeological evidence

2.7. The war-campaign of 277 BC. From Selinous to Eryx; Pyrrhus’ march through the Elymian territories

2.8. The conquest of Panormus and the Punic fortresses of the Conca d’Oro

2.9. First step to defeat: the siege of Lilybaeum (autumn 277 BC)

2.10. “The king has turned to be a tyrant!”. The last months of Pyrrhus in Sicily and the rebellion of the Greeks (spring 276 BC)

CHAPTER THREE The First Punic War: Greeks and Natives of Sicily among Hellenistic Kingship, old Masters and new Conquerors

3.1. The first steps of Hiero II as στρατηγὸς αὐτοκράτωρ (276/275–271 BC): civil struggles and autocracy in the fate of Syracuse

3.2. “Getting rid from those barbarians”. Hiero’s warfare against the Mamertines (270–269 BC) and the alliances with the Greek city-states of eastern Sicily

3.3. Messina squeezed: the outbreak of the first Punic war, between diplomacy and fighting armies

3.4. Between resistance and deditiones: that is, how the Greek communities of eastern Sicily approached the Romans

3.5. “Friend of Rome, lord of Syracuse, king of Sicily”: the peace-treaty between Hiero and the Romans, and the new role of Syracuse within Sicily and the Mediterranean basin Generated by AI.

Notes:

Description based on publisher supplied metadata and other sources.

Part of the metadata in this record was created by AI, based on the text of the resource.

ISBN:

9783515096195

3515096191

OCLC:

1457638316