Sicily being part of Italy, you might think this island is covered with Roman archeological sites. You would be wrong, its covered in Greek sites. However the one Roman site on the island is spectacular. The Romans were very open about who a Roman is, absorbing peoples into their society readily. And when it came to the Greeks they respected their culture immensely. Many Roman scholars spoke Greek and studied their philosophy and art. So when the Romans got around to kicking out the Greeks and the Carthaginians they simply absorbed the Greek cities into their Empire. What’s this you say about Carthaginians. This practice of Roman expansion would inevitably cause friction with their neighbours around the Mediterranean. One such neighbour was Carthage, just across the Mediterranean in modern day Tunusia. I’m sure you know the story of Hanibal and his elephants crossing the Alps. Well that story starts in Sicily and the battles there is what causes the wider war with Carthage.
The Carthaginians were in the west part of the island and the Greeks were in the east. There are very few archeological sites in the west, I guess the Carthaginians weren’t builders. All the best Greek sites are in the middle to the east part of the island. I highly recommend Syracuse, Agrigento and the theater in Taormina.
The Roman site is called Villa Romana del Casale. Its not a major public work like an amphitheatre. It was a private villa of a rich nobleman. The main attraction is the amazing mosaic floors. The main hallway had scenes of men loading exotic animals on ships. This is why it is believed the owner imported animals from Africa for the games held in amphitheaters around the empire. The other neat area was the baths and the gymnasium. Did you know the Romans invented the bikini? The gym has mosaics of bikini clad women playing sports.
Mosiacs
