The bidirectional shaping of ancient Sicilian and Mediterranean civilizations

2023-12-25

Author: Li Lihua (lecturer at South China Normal University), in his book "Book of Letters Eight" written to Dion's followers, Plato (or his pseudonym Plato) mentions the danger of Sicily being completely ravaged by Carthage and other foreigners, expressing concern about the disappearance of Greek on the island and its becoming a province of Phoenicia. Although this concern implies the subjective purpose of the philosopher who once went to Sicily three times to preach, it also reflects the objective fact that many Mediterranean civilizations intersect in Sicily. The intersection of civilizations has shaped a unique Sicilian culture, which has deeply influenced the civilization process of the Mediterranean world. The Temple of Segsta in Sicily. The geographical factors of information and images are the primary reason for the convergence of various civilizations in Sicily. Sicily is located in the Mediterranean Sea, facing Italy across the Strait of Messina in the northeast corner, with a narrowest point of only 2 miles; The narrowest point between the west and North Africa is less than 100 miles. From an east-west perspective, Sicily, along with the Apennine Peninsula, divides the Mediterranean into two parts: east and west; From a north-south perspective, Sicily can be seen as a stepping stone between Europe and Africa, facilitating communication between the two continents. Sicily not only has a prominent geographical location, but also has fertile land and abundant resources, producing grains, wine, olives, and fruits. Forest resources are also particularly abundant, including oak, chestnut, pine, fir, and so on. Therefore, since the Paleolithic era, it has attracted the arrival of different civilizations. The most direct impact of the intersection of civilizations on Sicily is the shaping of the difficult to define Sicilians. In history, prehistoric humans, Siccans, Elimites, Sikors, Carthaginians, Greeks, Romans, and other Italians, slaves and mercenaries from the Mediterranean, Jews, Vandals, Saracens, Normans, Spaniards, Arabians, and others have successively entered the island. Today's Sicily belongs to Italy, but the local dialect still bears traces of early ethnic groups, with mixed ethnicities and buildings of different periods and styles in the city. For the earliest Greek colonizers, when they went to Sicily, the "indigenous" inhabitants of Sicily and Italy had similar bloodlines. The oldest residents of Sicily are the Keklops and Lestrignes, but due to a lack of historical records, scholars know very little about them. After them, the first people to settle were the Sikans, who are generally believed to have been expelled by the Ligurians from the banks of the Sikanus River in Iberia. After the fall of Troy, some Trojans sailed to Sicily and became known as the Elymians. The city states they built were Eriks and Segesta. Along with the Trojans, there were also some Phoenicians who encountered storms when leaving Troy, first arriving in Libya and then in Sicily. The Sikors came from Italy to avoid the Oskans crossing the sea. In addition, Phoenicians also lived in the coastal areas of Sicily. The relationship between Greeks and foreigners has changed in different historical periods, but mutual integration is a fundamental direction, sometimes through radical means such as war, but more often through gradual means such as peace and coexistence. Indigenous settlements are usually very small and have a small population, making it difficult to create cohesive political entities to confront newcomers. Greeks, on the other hand, come from a world with intense political and territorial competition. Therefore, in the negotiation between the two, the indigenous people as a whole

Edit:GuoGuo    Responsible editor:FangZhiYou

Source:gmw.cn

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