Etna ( dr. Greek Αἴτνη ) is an ancient city in eastern Sicily at the foot of the volcano of the same name .
| Ancient city | |
| Etna | |
|---|---|
| Αἴτνη | |
| Based | 476 BC er |
| Founder | Hieron I |
| Other names | Inessa |
| Modern location | Sicily , Catania |
The city was founded by the tyrant Hieron I on the site of the Chalcedian Katana , all of whose citizens in 476 BC. er relocated to the Leontins . In modern historiography, there is a popular point of view according to which deportations of the population from Katana and Naxos were part of the “nationalist policies” of the Dinomenids , and reflected ethnic antagonism between the Dorians and the Ionian Chalkidians [1] .
The area of Mount Etna and Katana was of strategic importance to the Dinomenids [2] , and Gelon , the hierophant of Demeter , also intended to build a temple of this goddess in the city [3] . His successor, apparently, was going to turn Katana into a support base, and perhaps even wanted to make it the new capital [2] .
To settle Etna in the Peloponnese , 5 thousand colonists were recruited, and the same number were sent from Syracuse [4] . The composition of the Syracuse migrants included former residents of Megara Gibleiskaya and Gela , resettled by Gelon, a number of indigenous Syracusans [5] and mercenary veterans [6] . To provide the colonists with land, the land fund of Katana was used, and border lands were also occupied, including those belonging to the Sikuls [7] . In the city, Dorian laws were introduced, and there were the usual for the Dorians fila Pamfilov and Giley. The only son of Hieron Dinomen , who at that time was no more than eight years old, was appointed tyrant governor, so the tyrant’s son-in-law, Chromius of Etna, became the actual ruler [6] .
From the end of the 470s BC er Etna became the official residence of Hieron, who became the high priest of the cult of Zeus of Ethnos [8] . In 470 BC er at the Pythian Games, the tyrant was called Ethnical [9] , and at the Olympic Games, 468 BC. er - Ethnical and Syracuse [10] .
Around 474 BC er coinage began in the city: tetradrachm and drachm. On the reverse of both of them was a seated Zeus with lightning and a scepter with an eagle; on obverse tetradrachms, according to the Syracuse custom, they minted quadriga and Nika , on dramas - the rider [6] .
The foundation of Etna was sung by Pindar in the First Pythian ode:
| Πίνδαρος . ΕΡΩΝΙ ΑΙΤΝΑΙΩΙ ΑΡΜΑΤΙ, 60–67 | Transfer M. L. Gasparova |
|---|---|
Ἄγ᾽ ἔπειτ᾽ Αἴτνας βασιλεῖ φίλιον ἐξεύρωμεν ὕμνον | Sweet praise |
Aeschylus, who arrived in Sicily, wrote the tragedy The Ethnians, where he presented the foundation of the polis as a marriage of the nymph Etna and Zeus, from whom the Paliki were born, who played a large role in the religion of the Siculs [8] .
Hieron died in Etna in 467/466 BC. e., and was buried in this city. In 461 BC er the leader of the Sikuls, Duketi, with the help of the Syracusans, expelled the colonists from Etna, again renamed Katana [11] . The tomb of Hieron was destroyed [12] . Former residents were able to return to their hometown, but researchers believe that few have exercised this right, since the population of Leontin has not decreased [2] .
 |  | |
Obverse tetrachrach of Etna Inessa | The reverse of the tetradrachma of Etna Inessa |
The Ethnic policy was moved to Inessa (now Santa Maria di Licodia ), located 12 miles (80 stages) northwest of Catana [13] , not far from Kenturipa [14] , in a mountainous area at the very foot of the volcano [ 12] . In the future, the city was referred to as Etna or Inessa [14] .
It is assumed that Dinomen remained the ruler of the new Etna [15] , the founder of which was also declared Hieron [12] . In the city, coins were minted with the head of Silenus on the obverse, and the sitting Zeus with an eagle on a conifer - on the reverse [16] . In 451 BC er the city was captured by Duketi [17] .
Thucydides calls Etna Inessa, and writes that during the First Sicilian expedition in the winter of 426/425 BC. er the Athenians, together with the Sicilian allies and the Sikuls, who had deposited themselves from Syracuse, attacked the city, whose acropolis was occupied by the enemy, but were defeated and suffered heavy losses [18] .
After the tyranny of Dionysius the Elder Etna was established in Syracuse, she was occupied by Syracuse exiles, but in 403 BC. er the tyrant also captured her [19] , and in 400 BC er founded nearby the city of Adran [20] .
At the time of Strabo, Etna was the point from which ascents to the volcano began, and the locals received travelers and served as guides [21] .
Notes
- ↑ High, 2004 , p. 233.
- ↑ 1 2 3 High, 2004 , p. 234.
- ↑ Diodorus Sicilian. Xi, 26, 7
- ↑ Diodorus Sicilian. Xi, 49, 1
- ↑ Scholia to Pindar. Bang I, 120b
- ↑ 1 2 3 High, 2004 , p. 235.
- ↑ Bervay, 1997 , p. 188.
- ↑ 1 2 High, 2004 , p. 236.
- ↑ Scholia to Pindar. Bang I, the inscription a
- ↑ Scholia to Pindar. Bang I lettering b
- ↑ Diodorus Sicilian. Xi, 76, 3
- ↑ 1 2 3 Strabo. VI, 2, 3
- ↑ Hülsen, 1894 , S. 1112.
- ↑ 1 2 Ziegler-Bürchner, 1916 , S. 1536.
- ↑ High, 2004 , p. 231.
- ↑ High, 2004 , p. 232.
- ↑ Diodorus Sicilian. XI, 91, 1
- ↑ Thucydides. III, 103, 1
- ↑ Diodorus Sicilian. XIV, 14, 2
- ↑ Diodorus Sicilian. XIV, 37, 4
- ↑ Strabo. VI, 2, 8
Literature
- Berve G. Tirana of Greece. - Rostov-on-Don: Phoenix, 1997 .-- ISBN 5-222-000368 -X.
- High M.F. History of Sicily in the archaic era. - SPb. : Publishing Center "Humanitarian Academy", 2004. - ISBN 5-93762-039-9 .
- Hülsen Ch. Aitne 2) // Paulys Realencyclopädie der classischen Altertumswissenschaft . Band I, 1. - Stuttgart: JB Metzler, 1894.
- Ziegler-Bürchner. Inessa // Paulys Realencyclopädie der classischen Altertumswissenschaft . Band IX, 2. - Stuttgart: JB Metzler, 1916.