Segesta

Province: Trapani

Local authority: Calatafimi

Altitude: 304m/998ft.

Events

Alternating with Syracuse, classical theatrical productions are put on every two years in July and August.

Location

In a lonely spot in the hills lie the as yet unexcavated ruins of the ancient town with its uncompleted temple and theater.

History

After Eryx and Entelia Segesta, the Greek Egesta, was the third most important Elymian town in western Sicily. According to ancient legend it was founded by Aeneas who had fled from Troy. His son Ascanius is said to have founded Alba Longa (Castel Gandolfo), southeast of Rome, and from Alba Longa - many generations later - Romulus and Remus, who were descended from Aeneas, founded Rome itself. This reflects on the one hand the view of the Elymians, that native tribes intermarried with Trojan refugees, and on the other the feeling of an affinity with the Romans who themselves claim Trojan origins. Segesta resisted Greek expansionist ambitions and was a traditional enemy of the Greek settlement of Selinunte and an ally of Carthage. In the First Sicilian Expedition by Athens in 427-424 B.C. Segesta allied itself with Athens, and in 416-415 B.C. asked it for help in its struggle with Selinunte. When the Athenians hesitated the Segestans tricked their envoys with borrowed silver of great value, by which means the brash Alkibiades (The Falcon) was able to win the day in the public assembly over the more level-headed Nikias. This was followed by the Second Sicilian Expedition, which was to end disastrously for Athens. The years that followed were marked by a victory by Segesta over Selinunte (410 B.C.), the siege of Syracuse by Dionysius I in 397 B.C., growing dependence on Carthage and the destruction of Syracuse by Agathokles (307 B.C.). In 276 B.C. Segesta sided with the Pyrrhic king of Epirus during his Sicilian campaign. At the beginning of the First Punic war in 263 B.C. it called upon their common Trojan ancestry and joined with Rome and in 260 B.C. became the main Roman base in western Sicily. This was the end of the town's individual history. Its harbor, the present-day Castellammare del Golfo, soon outstripped its parent town in importance. Its real downfall began in 73-71 B.C. when it was plundered by the notorious Roman governor Verres (whom Cicero fought against). In the following centuries attacks by Vandals and Saracens ensured its demise. Segesta became a ghost town and disappeared completely under earthquakes; only the temple and theater have survived the years.