HISTORY OF ANCIENT SICILY

Academic Year 2022/2023 - Teacher: CRISTINA SORACI

Expected Learning Outcomes

The expected learning objectives, according to the Dublin descriptors, are the following:

Knowledge and understanding (DD1)

- to know the theories and historical models to interpret the events of ancient Sicily;

- to know the theories useful for understanding political, economic and social dynamics of the ancient world.

Knowledge and applied understanding (DD2)

- to know and be able to analyze the sources (literary, juridical, epigraphic and archaeological) concerning the history of ancient Sicily;

- to connect theoretical and methodological contents to the interpretation of past, present and future events and processes;

- to know how to use the methodology of historical research aimed at achieving the educational objectives.

Autonomy of judgment (DD3)

- to evaluate the relevance of the theories studied with respect to the interpretation of individual events;

- starting from the observation of case studies, knowing how to advance, formulate and argue proposals for change and transformation in the field of tourism.

Communication skills (DD4)

- knowing how to justify in oral and written form the objectives, procedures, methodologies of promoting in tourism the Sicilian cultural heritage relating to ancient history.

Learning ability (DD5)

- knowing how to identify unexpected results of research and its possible developments in terms of methodology and impact.

Course Structure

Frontal and interactive lessons

Required Prerequisites

It is important that the student has a good knowledge of space-time coordinates

Attendance of Lessons

Attendance is particularly recommended: active participation in lessons and other educational activities provided will greatly facilitate the understanding of the topics under study and will offer profitable opportunities for discussion with the teacher on the issues that each student will deem most appropriate to his or her specific interests.

Detailed Course Content

Sources about the history of ancient Sicily

Greek colonization in Sicily

The first Sicilian tyrants: Panezio, Falaride and the tyranny in Selinunte, Gela and Syracuse

The so-called "democratic interlude"

Dionysius the Elder and his successors

Timoleon in Sicily

Agathocles’ reign

Pyrrhus in Sicily

Hieron II

Sicily at the time of the Punic wars

The Roman province of Sicily: administration, city organization and tax system

The island in the second century BC: reconstruction and building fervor; servile wars

Verres’ propraetorship. The Verrines

Ius Latii and Roman citizenship to Sicilian cities

Sextus Pompey and Sicily

The Augustan era in Sicily

Administrative status of Sicilian cities in the imperial times: colonies, municipalities, populations of Latin law and stipendiarii

The meaning of the term stipendiarii

Sicily between the 1st and 2nd centuries AD: wheat importance, building renovation; the villas

Emperor Hadrian and Sicily

The Severian era

The Gallienus empire and banditry

Christianity

The large estates in Sicily during the empire

Late antique villas

The barbarian invasions

Textbook Information

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1. General course: Sicily from the Archaic age to the rule of Odoacer

L. Braccesi- G. Millino, La Sicilia greca, Carocci, Roma 2010³.

C. Soraci, La Sicilia romana, Carocci, Roma 2016.

2. History of ancient Sicily and promotion of the cultural heritage: some examples

G. Lamagna (a cura di), Tesori dalla Sicilia: gli ori del British Museum a Siracusa, Regione Siciliana, Palermo 2015, pp. 3-23.

G. Lamagna, R. Amato (a cura di), La rotonda di Adelfia. Testimonianze archeologiche dalla catacomba di S. Giovanni, Regione Siciliana, Palermo 2014, pp. 4-39.

Students have to choose one of the following texts:

S. Pittia, Diodore et l’histoire de la Sicile républicaine, DHA suppl. 6 : Diodore d’Agyrion et l’histoire de la Sicile, 2011, pp. 171-226;

R.J.A. Wilson, Roman villas in Sicily, in A. Marzano e G. Métraux (eds.), The Roman villa in the Mediterranean basin. Late Republic to Late Antiquity, Cambridge 2018, pp. 195-219.

Please remember that in compliance with art 171 L22.04.1941, n. 633 and its amendments, it is illegal to copy entire books or journals, only 15% of their content can be copied.

For further information on sanctions and regulations concerning photocopying please refer to the regulations on copyright (Linee Guida sulla Gestione dei Diritti d’Autore) provided by AIDRO - Associazione Italiana per i Diritti di Riproduzione delle opere dell’ingegno (the Italian Association on Copyright).

All the books listed in the programs can be consulted in the Library.

Author	Title	Publisher	Year	ISBN
L. Braccesi- G. Millino	La Sicilia greca	Carocci	2010	9788843017027
C. Soraci	La Sicilia romana	Carocci	2016	9788843082261

Course Planning

	Subjects	Text References
1	Greek colonization in Sicily	Braccesi-Millino, pp. 13-47
2	The first tyrants	Braccesi-Millino, pp. 49-101
3	The years after the tyrants	Braccesi-Millino, pp. 103-128
4	Dionysius the Elder, Dionysius the Younger, Timoleon and Agathocles	Braccesi-Millino, pp. 131-178
5	Pyrrhus and Hieron II	Braccesi-Millino, pp. 181-191 and Soraci, pp. 13-27
6	The first and the second Punic war; the organization of the province	Soraci, pp. 29-41 and 44-58
7	Sicily in the second century B.C.	Soraci, pp. 60-80
8	The first century B.C. and the Augustan era	Soraci, pp. 84-109
9	Sicily between I and III century A.D.	Soraci, pp. 112-131
10	The transformations of IV and V century A.D.	Soraci, pp. 137-148
11	Sicilian treasures at the British Museum	Lamagna, Tesori dalla Sicilia
12	The rotunda of Adelfia	Lamagna, La rotonda di Adelfia

Learning Assessment

Learning Assessment Procedures

The exam consists of an oral examination.

There will be optional in itinere talks on the first part of the program (from the Greek colonization to the Pyrrhic expedition).

Those who pass the in itinere talk with a score of at least 18/30 can be examined on the remaining program in one of the official exam sessions of the immediately following session. The final evaluation will take into account the mark obtained in the talk. Students who have not obtained a mark of 18/30 in the aforementioned talk may, at their choice, repeat it on a date to be agreed with the teacher or be examined on the entire program during the official exam.

The evaluation will take into account:

- the relevance of the answers provided

- the wealth of the contents

- the ability to connect with other topics in program

- the ability of express oneself

- lexical correctness.

Verification of knowledge can also be carried out electronically, should the conditions require it.

Examples of frequently asked questions and / or exercises