And when he fell, the avenging father drew He shakes the solid isle, and smoke the heavens hides." The Eolian or Vulcanian islands lie off the north coast of Sicily, in the Tuscan sea. The most remarkable are Lip'ara (Lipari) and Stronyg'læ (Stromboli). North of Cape Lilybæ'um were the islands called 'gates, or 'gades: they are three in number; Phorban'tia (Levanzo), Ægúsa (Favignano), and Héra (Maretino). SECTION II.-Historical Notices of the ancient Inhabitants of Sicily. CHRONOLOGY UNCERTAIN. THE Cyclopians and Læstrigons are said to have been the first inhabitants of Sicily. It is impossible to trace their origin; we only know that their settlements were in the vicinity of Mount Etna. Their inhumanity toward strangers, and the flames of Etna, were the source of many popular fables and poetic fictions. It was said that the Cy'clops were giants; that they had but one eye, placed in the centre of their forehead; that they fed on human flesh; and that they were employed by Vulcan to forge the thunderbolts of Jove. Next in antiquity were the Sicanians, probably an Italian horde driven southward by the pressure of the Pelas'gi, though many ancient writers assert that they came from Spain. They finally settled in the western part of the island, and were said to have joined the Trojan exiles in building E'ryx and Egésta. After the Sic'ani had been for some ages exclusive masters of the island, the Sic'uli, an ancient people of Ausónia, crossed the strait; and having defeated the Sicanians in a sanguinary engagement, confined them in a narrow territory, and changed the name of the island from Sicánia to Sicily. Some centuries after this revolution, Greek colonies began to settle on the Sicilian coast; the principal states that founded settlements in the island were Chal'cis in Eubœ'a, Megʻara, Corinth, the Dorians from Rhodes and Creté, and the Messenians, driven from their native country by the Spartans. To these may be added two Italian colonies, the Morgétes and the Mamer'tines. The Sic'uli were first united under one head by a king named 'olus, whose age is uncertain. Their most renowned sovereign was Deucétius, who engaged in a long war with the Syracusans; but having been frequently defeated, he was forced to surrender himself to their mercy. With unusual clemency, the Syracusans granted him liberty and life, and assigned a pension for his support, on condition of his living in the territories of their parent city, Corinth. Having removed this formidable rival, the Syracusans reduced the whole country of the Sic'uli, stormed their chief city, Triquet'ra, and levelled it to the ground. When the Athenians invaded Sicily under the command of Nic'ias, they were joined by the Sic'uli, who gave them very effective assistance. They likewise aided the Carthaginians in their first attempts to gain possession of the island. Having been subsequently induced to join the Syracusans, they were disgracefully betrayed to the Carthaginians by the tyrant Dionysius, and were forced to bear a cruel yoke, until their independence was restored by Timóleon. SECTION III.-The History of Syracuse. FROM B. C. 735 тo B. c. 212. SYRACUSE was founded by a Corinthian colony (B. c. 735), under the guidance of Ar'chytas, a nobleman of rank, compelled to quit his native country by some political dispute. Its form of government for two centuries and a half was republican; and though, during this period, the state does not appear to have risen to any considerable height of power, yet the Syracusans founded the colonies of A'cræ, Cas'menæ, and Camarína. An aristocratic faction having cruelly oppressed the citizens, the populace at length combined to throw off the yoke, and drove the tyrannical nobles into exile (B. c. 485). They fled to Géla, then ruled by Gélon, an able and ambitious usurper, who had recently become sovereign of his country. Gélon levied an army, and, accompanied by the exiles, marched to Syracuse, of which he easily made himself master. Under the administration of its new master the city rose rapidly in wealth and importance, while Gélon himself acquired so much fame by repeated victories over the Carthaginians, that the Athenians and Spartans, then menaced by the Persian invasion, earnestly sought his assistance. Gélon demanded to be appointed captain-general of the confederate Greeks; a stipulation to which the Athenians and Spartans returned a stern refusal; and before any further steps could be taken, he learned that Xer'xes had engaged the Carthaginians to attack the Greek colonies in Sicily and Italy, while he invaded the parent state. After spending three years in making preparations, the Spartans sent against Sicily an immense armament, under the command of Hamil'car, said to consist of three hundred thousand men, two thousand ships of war, and three thousand vessels of burden. Having effected a landing, Hamil'car laid siege to Himéra, then ruled by Théron, the father-in-law of Gélon. The king of Syracuse, though unable to muster more than fifty thousand men at this sudden emergency, marched with all expedition to raise the siege. On his road he had the good fortune to intercept a messenger from the Selinuntines to the Carthaginian general, promising to send him a stipulated body of cavalry on an appointed day. Gélon led an equal number of his horse to the Carthaginian camp at the specified time, and having gained unsuspected admission, so disconcerted the enemy by a sudden attack, that the whole host was thrown into confusion, and the Syracusans won an easy victory. Hamil'car was slain, and his mighty army all but annihilated. Carthage humbly sought peace, which was generously granted by the conqueror. During the brief remainder of his reign, Gélon strenuously exerted himself for the benefit of his subjects; and though no one can justify the means by which he acquired supremacy, there are few who will not pardon his original error on account of the use he made of his power. His subjects, after his death, honored him as a demigod. Híero I. succeeded his brother Gélon (B. c. 477); his administration was more brilliant than useful; he protected the arts and sciences; but he also encouraged a taste for luxury and magnificence, contrary to the policy of his more enlightened predecessor. He subdued the cities of Cat'ana and Nax'us, expelled the ancient inhabitants, and supplied their place with fresh colonies from Syracuse and the Peloponnesus. A more honorable and useful achievement was his decisive victory over the Etrurian pirates off Cúmæ; these had long been the terror of the western Mediterranean; but after their overthrow by Híero, they ceased to infest the seas for several centuries. After this exploit he engaged in war with the tyrant of Agrigen'tum, who was forced to abdicate the government, and his subjects placed themselves under the protection of Híero. Thrasyb'ulus, likewise a brother of Gélon, became sovereign of Syracuse on the death of Híero (B. c. 459); but his tyranny and cruelty soon provoked a revolution; he was dethroned and the republican constitution restored. But the Syracusans gained little by the change. A system of secret voting, called petalism,* was introduced, precisely similar to the Athenian ostracism, and most of the leading statesmen were banished by a giddy populace. It was at this period that the Athenians made their unfortunate attempt to conquer Sicily, whose results have been already described in the chapter on Grecian history. After the complete destruction of the Athenian armaments (B. c. 413), the Egestans, who had invited the invaders, sought and obtained the aid of Carthage: this led to a series of sanguinary wars, which have been noticed in the chapter on the history of Carthage. Taking advantage of the political disturbances in Syracuse, Dionys'ius I. usurped the government (B. c. 405), and though deservedly branded as a tyrant, it must be confessed that his vigorous administration was crowned with success abroad and prosperity at home. The greater part of his reign was passed in wars against Carthage and the cities of Magna Græcia, and also against the ancient race of the Sic'uli, whose choice of party generally decided the success of these wars. Dionys'ius I. was cut off by poison (B. c. 368), and was succeeded by his youthful son, Dionys'ius II., under the guardianship of the virtuous Dio. But neither Dio nor his friend the philosopher Pláto, could improve the corrupted character of the young prince. He drove Dio into banishment (B. c. 360), and then gave a loose reign to his passions, indulging in the most extravagant luxury and debauchery. Dio returned (B. c. 357), and after a long struggle, restored the republican form of government. He was, however, assassinated (B. c. 353). Syracuse became the prey of sanguinary factions, of which Dionys'ius, after ten years of exile, took advantage to recover his throne. His tyranny, and the treachery of I'cetas the Leontine, who, when invited to aid the Syracusans, betrayed their interests to the Carthaginians, compelled the citizens to seek succor from Corinth. Timóleon, the most splendid example of a true republican that ancient history affords, was sent to their assistance, but with very inadequate forces (B. c. 345). His abilities were, however, of more value than an army; he dethroned Dionys'ius, expelled I'cetas, and, by a brilliant victory, humbled the pride of the Carthaginians. Timóleon's death (B. c. 337) was followed by a long period of stormy weakness, which ended in the usurpation • From πεταλον, a leaf. of Agathocles (B. c. 317). The wars of that usurper in Sicily and Africa will be found in the chapter on Carthaginian history. After the death of Agathoc'les (B. c. 289), the Syracusans, harassed by intestine commotions, and closely pressed by the Mamer'tines and Carthaginians, suffered the most dreadful calamities, and were at length forced to supplicate the aid of Pyrrhus, king of Epírus. That monarch, after having conquered almost the entire island, so disgusted his supporters by his arrogance, that he was compelled to retire (B. c. 275). The Syracusans at length, wearied of anarchy, conferred the throne on Híero II., descended from the ancient royal family of Gélon. Under this prince the city enjoyed peace and prosperity during the wars between Rome and Carthage, in which he had the wisdom to take the Roman side. He died of old age (B. c. 215), after a long and glorious reign. After his death, the Carthaginian party acquired supremacy in Syracuse, and made a profligate use of their power. The new rulers soon provoked the resentment of the Romans, who sent an army into Sicily, and after a long siege, protracted by the ingenious mechanical inventions of the celebrated mathematician Archimedes, took it by storm (B. c. 212), and laid it level with the ground. Most of the other Greek cities in Sicily were involved in the fortunes of Syracuse. Agrigen'tum, having been used as a military and naval station by the Carthaginians in the first Punic war, was seized by the Romans so early as B. c. 262. Sicily finally became a Roman province, and was one of the most valuable attached to the empire. It was also one of the best governed; a blessing which must be attributed not merely to its vicinity to the seat of power, but also to the fact of its corn-harvests being regarded as the resource to which the Romans should look as the agricultural productions of Italy became more and more inadequate to the support of the population. CHAPTER XV. HISTORY OF THE ROMAN REPUBLIC. SECTION I.-Traditions respecting the Origin of the Romans. 66 THE legends of Rome, preserved by her best historians, relate that Enéas, after the destruction of Troy, led a colony of his countrymen into Italy, and founded the city of Lavin'ium. It would be easy to show that this tale is destitute of truth or importance, but it is worth while to trace its origin. That the Romans were partly of Pelasgic origin appears evident from the name of their city, which in Greek signifies a fortress." In almost every country where the Pelas'gi settled we find a city named Ænus, which, therefore, was probably a generic rather than an individual name. If any of the Pelas'gi who settled on the hills at the south side of the Tiber came from an Ænus, they most probably retained their ancient name Æneada; and the signification of that patronymic being forgotten in process of time, it was confounded with another similar name, preserved by an independent tradition, the Enéada, or followers of Enéas, who survived the destruction of their country. The legends proceed to state that three years after the landing of the Trojans in Italy, they were supernaturally guided to the spot where Lavin'ium was erected. Their rising power gave offence to the Rutulians and Etruscans; Tur'nus and Mezen'tius led an army to expel the intruders. A battle was fought on the banks of the river Numicius; Tur'nus was slain by Ænéas, who, in his turn, fell a victim to Mezen'tius; or, as was more generally believed, disappeared in the stream, and became a god, under the name of Júpiter In'diges. Mezen'tius was ultimately slain by Iúlus, or Ascánius, the son of Enéas, whose descendants became lords of Latium. After the lapse of thirty years, Lavin'ium was deserted for the more secure city of Alba, erected on the Alban Mount (Monte Cavo); and here the thirty confederate cities of Latium offered common sacrifices to the gods of the Pelasgic nation. The traditions then go on to state that, at an uncertain date after the erection of the city, Prócas, king of Alba, leaving two sons at his death, bequeathed his kingdom to Númitor, the elder, and his treasures, including the ancient wealth that had been saved from the sack of Troy, to Amúlius. His riches enabled the younger prince to bribe a band of supporters, dethrone his brother, procure the murder of Númitor's youthful son, and have his daughter Il'ia, or Rhéa Syl'via, appointed a • Pwpn, strength. |