{"id":4811,"date":"2018-08-22T08:35:31","date_gmt":"2018-08-22T15:35:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.roamintheempire.com\/?p=4811"},"modified":"2022-12-15T20:38:11","modified_gmt":"2022-12-16T03:38:11","slug":"catana-i","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.roamintheempire.com\/index.php\/2018\/08\/22\/catana-i\/","title":{"rendered":"Catana, Sicilia – Part I"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Entry<\/a>
Entry corridor of the Terme Achilliane.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Most Recent Visit<\/strong>: June 2017.<\/p>\n

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 settled on the site and named it Katane, later Catana under the Romans. There may have also been a Sicel town preceding the Greek colony, also with the name Katane, of which the Greeks displaced to found the colony. Not much is known of Catana early on, though it appears to have functioned as an independent city state until it was invaded by Hiero of Syracuse in 476 BCE. At that time, he expelled the Chalcidian inhabitants of the Catana to Leontini and replaced them with 10,000 settlers from Syracuse<\/a> and the Peloponnese. The name was also changed to Aitne, a reflection of the proximity of the nearby Volcano of the same name in Greek, and Hiero declared himself the founder of a new colony.<\/p>\n

Following the death of Hiero, the expulsion of the tyrant Thrasybulus, and the establishment of democracy at Syracuse, the Syracusans and Ducetius, the Sicel king, forcibly expelled Hiero\u2019s colonists from Catana in 461 BCE and the Chalcidian\u2019s were returned. Hiero\u2019s colonists would go on to settle at the Sicel town of Inessa on the slopes of Mt. Aetna and rename it Aitne, while Catana went back to its previous designation. Catana would go on to be a prosperous city, but receives no specific historical mentions until the Athenians\u2019 Sicilian Expedition in 415 BCE. When the Athenians first landed on Sicily, they petitioned the Cataneans to allow them into the city and join with them against Syracuse. Initially the Cataneans refused, despite the historic connection of the Chalcidian\u2019s to the Athenian alliance, as some were sympathetic to Syracuse. Alcibiades convinced the Cataneans to allow him to plead the cause of Athens, and while that was happening, the Athenian army surreptitiously entered the city, causing those that favored Syracuse to flee and removing the opposition to an alliance with the Athenians. Catana then served as the base of operations for the Athenians for the next year.<\/p>\n

\"Theater<\/a>
Theater of Catana.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Catana\u2019s immediate fate in the aftermath of the Athenian\u2019s failed campaign is not clear, but, Syracuse seems to have exacted some measure of retribution after Dionysius came to power in Syracuse. In 403 BCE, Dionysius captured Catana after it was betrayed by the Catanian genera Arcesilaus, and the city was sacked, inhabitants sold into slavery, and a colony of Campanian mercenaries was established there. As with the previous attempt of a Syracusan tyrant to settle the city, Dionysius\u2019 colonists were not at Catana for long, as in 397 BCE, they too left for Aitne under the threat of an approaching Carthaginian army of great size. That Carthaginian army engaged the Sicilian Greeks in a naval battle off the coast of Catana that year, resulting in a devastating defeat for the Greeks, numbering perhaps 100 ships and 20,000 men lost. Following the battle, Carthage occupied Catana. The following year, a plague hit the Carthaginian army, forcing them to give up their campaign in eastern Sicily and returning Catana to the Greeks.<\/p>\n

It is unclear who inhabited Catana after that episode, as the Campanian mercenaries had moved to Aitne and the previous inhabitants were sold into slavery, but, the city continued to play a part in the happenings of the island. After Dion of Syracuse was assassinated in 354 BCE by Callippus, who subsequently became ruler of Syracuse, the latter took control of Catana for a short period of time after being exiled from Syracuse. When Timoleon landed in Sicily in 344 BCE, Catana was under the rule of the tyrant Mamercus, who initially pledged allegiance to Timoleon, but later allied the city with the Carthaginians. When Mamercus left to enlist help from mainland Italy, though, his companions left him and returned to Catana to hand the city over to Timoleon, and Mamercus was eventually tried in Syracuse and crucified after attempting suicide. In the subsequent conflicts between the Carthaginians and Greeks, the loyalties of Catana changed several times, but the city was never conquered by an opposing force. When Pyrrhus landed in Sicily, Catana welcomed the general with great fanfare.<\/p>\n

When the First Punic War broke out, Catana was one of the first cities in Sicily to make peace with the Romans in 263 BCE, as the Romans marched south from Messena to besiege Syracuse. From then on, Catana remained on friendly terms, but at some point came under direct rule of the Roman system, as it was not afforded the civitas foederata<\/em> that nearby Tauromenium and Messena enjoyed, though it was a civitas decumana<\/em>. In 121 BCE, a particularly violent eruption of Mt. Aetna caused considerable damage to the city, including damage to building both from burning embers and the weight of ash. As a result, Catana was exempt from paying taxes for 10 years in order to help the city recover.<\/p>\n

By the time of Cicero, the city was apparently flourishing and wealthy and was a primary departure point for grain export. During the Sicilian Revolt of Sextus Pompey, Catana didn\u2019t feature directly in the fighting, but apparently suffered to some degree during the conflict, necessitating a colony under Augustus. After that point, Catana doesn\u2019t feature much in history, but it is mentioned as growing in importance and being a prosperous city throughout the remainder of the Roman period.<\/p>\n