Most Recent Visit: June 2018. The modern city of Lyon lies at the confluence of the Saône (referred to as the Arar or Sauc-Onna in antiquity) and Rhône (Rhodanus, in antiquity) Rivers and is the third largest city in France behind Paris and Marseilles. In antiquity, the predecessor to Lyon, Lugdunum, was a similarly important…
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Most Recent Visit: June 2018. About 10 kilometers to the southwest of the modern city of Caen is the town of Vieux, the location at which the ancient town of Aregenua once stood. While the location of Aregenua fell within the area inhabited by the Viducasse prior to the arrival of the Romans, there does…
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Most Recent Visit: June 2018. The site of the modern-day city of Jublains, France seems to have been inhabited by the Gallic Diablintes people (also referred to as the Aulercii Diaulitae) as a domestic site as early as the late 2nd century BCE. The town of Noviodunum (also known as Noeodunum or Noiodunum, and not…
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Continued From Syracusae – Part I Just to the west of the park, though outside, are some rows of tiered seating associated with a possible viewing area, referred to as the ‘linear theater’. This may be the remains of a 5th century BCE, or earlier, theater that preceded the theater in the park. It has…
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Most Recent Visit: June 2017. Like many of the cities in eastern Sicily, the second largest city on the island, Catania, has its origin in one of the Greek colonies in that part of the island. The exact date of founding is unknown, but it is believed to be around 729 BCE when Chalcidian colonists…
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Most Recent Visit: June 2017. About 11 kilometers to the east of the modern town of Termini Imerese are the remains of ancient Himera. After a crushing Carthaginian defeat at Himera at the hands of the combined forces of Gelon of Syracuse and Theron of Akragas in 480 BCE ended the First Sicilian War between…
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Most Recent Visit: June 2017. Located about 15 kilometers west of Palermo, on a low plateau of Monte Catalfano, are the remains of the town of Soluntum (also called Solus or Soloeis during Punic control). Like nearby Panormus and Motya, Soluntum seems to have been founded by Phoenician traders prior to the end of the…
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Most Recent Visit: June 2017. Continued From Panormus Part I In the central part of the city, at Piazza Olivella 24, is the Museo Archaeologico Regionale ‘Antonino Salinas’. Along with the museums in Agrigento and Syracuse, the museum here is one of the primary collections of archaeological material on the island. With the exception of…
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Most Recent Visit: June 2017. The city of Agrigentum (modern Agrigento) was founded about 582 BCE as Akragas by Greek colonists from nearby Gela. The name Akragas came from one of two nearby rivers, the other being the Hypsas (the modern Sant’Anna River). Akragas was ruled by an oligarchic government initially, but sometime around 570…
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Most Recent Visit: June 2017 The ancient town of Herakleia Minoa was founded in the middle of the 6th century BCE by settlers from Selinus probably as a means preventing expansion by Akragas (Agrigentum). The ancient remains are located near the modern village of Eraclea Minoa, and about 26 kilometers to the west of Agrigento….
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