HISTORY OF ANCIENT SICILY

Academic Year 2025/2026 - Teacher: CRISTINA SORACI

Expected Learning Outcomes

The expected learning outcomes, according to the Dublin descriptors, are as follows

Knowledge and understanding (DD1)

- Know the theories and historical models for interpreting the events of ancient Sicily;

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

Knowledge and applied understanding (DD2)

- Know and be able to analyse the sources (literary, legal, epigraphic and archaeological) on the history of ancient Sicily;

- Link theoretical and methodological content to the interpretation of past, present and future events and processes;

- Know how to apply the methodology of historical research in order to achieve educational objectives.

Autonomy of judgement (DD3)

- Evaluate the relevance of theories studied for the interpretation of events;

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

Communication skills (DD4)

- Being able to justify, both orally and in writing, the objectives, procedures and methodologies for the promotion of Sicilian heritage in the field of tourism.

Learning skills (DD5)

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

Course Structure

Frontal and interactive lessons in Italian; however, some topics may be dealt with in English, French or German.

Depending on the evolution of the epidemiological situation, guided visits to places of particular tourist interest are planned.

Learning assessment may also be carried out on line, should the conditions require it. Should teaching be carried out in mixed mode or remotely, it may be necessary to introduce changes with respect to previous statements.

Required Prerequisites

The student must know the correspondence between years and centuries (e.g. 264 BC is part of the third century BC).

The student must have a basic cultural background in the field of the historical geography of Europe, Asia and North Africa.

Attendance of Lessons

Attendance is highly recommended: active participation in the lessons and other educational activities offered will greatly facilitate understanding of the topics being studied and will provide fruitful opportunities for discussion with the teacher on the topics that each student finds most relevant to his or her specific interests.

Detailed Course Content

Sources on the history of ancient Sicily

Greek colonisation of Sicily

The first Sicilian tyrants: Panezio, Falaride and the tyrannies of Selinunte, Gela and Syracuse

The so-called "democratic interlude"

Dionysius the Elder and his successors

Timoleon in Sicily

The reign of Agathocles

Pyrrhus in Sicily

Hieron II

Sicily during the Punic Wars

The Roman province of Sicily: administration, urban organisation and tax system

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

Verres' propraetorship. The Verrines

Ius Latii and Roman citizenship in Sicilian cities

Sextus Pompey and Sicily

The Augustan period in Sicily

The administrative status of Sicilian cities in the imperial period: colonies, municipia, populations of Latin law and stipendiarii

The meaning of the term stipendiarii

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

Emperor Hadrian and Sicily

The Severian era

The empire of Gallienus and banditry

Christianity

The great estates of Sicily during the Empire

Late antique villas

The barbarian invasions

Textbook Information

General course: Sicily from the Archaic age to the Roman age

M.I. Finley, Ancient Sicily, Totoma (NJ) 1979. https://archive.org/details/ancientsicily0000finl/page/n5/mode/2up

This book will be integrated with selected excerpts from other up-to-date academic texts:

F. De Angelis, Archaic and Classical Greek Sicily a Social and Economic History, Oxford 2016;

S. De Vido, Timoleon, in The Encyclopedia of Ancient History, 2013;

E. Zambon, From Agathocles to Hieron II: the birth and development of basileia in Hellenistic Sicily, in S. Lewis (ed.), Ancient tyranny, Edinburgh 2006, pp. 77-92;

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.

In-dept studies:

C. Soraci, On the history of South-Eastern Sicily during the early Roman Empire, in The Archaeology of Urban Life in the Ancient Akrai/Acrae, Sicily, R. Chowaniec, M. Fituła (eds.), Wiesbaden 2022, pp. 9-19;

C. Soraci, Iulia Florentina’s burial in Catania: urban and suburban religious spaces in connection, in Inside-Out: Gender and Ageing Agency in Urban and Non-urban Religious Spaces in Antiquity: International Workshop, Hamburg, 29–30 March 2022 and 22–23 June 2023, G. Pedrucci, F. Fulminante, and M. Seifert (eds), Turnhout 2025;

C. Soraci, Saint Agatha’s burial in Catania: new discoveries, in Inside-Out: Gender and Ageing Agency in Urban and Non-urban Religious Spaces in Antiquity: International Workshop, Hamburg, 29–30 March 2022 and 22–23 June 2023, G. Pedrucci, F. Fulminante, and M. Seifert (eds), Turnhout 2025.

Erasmus students, working students or second cycle degree students who have chosen this course can arrange more in-depth programmes with the teacher.

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

Learning Assessment

Learning Assessment Procedures

The examination consists of an oral examination.

On the first part of the programme (from the Greek colonisation to the Pyrrhic expedition) there will be optional in itinere conversations.

Those who pass the in itinere conversation with a mark of at least 18/30 may be examined on the remainder of the programme in one of the official examination sessions of the immediately following session. The final evaluation will take into account the mark obtained in the conversation. Students who have not obtained a mark of 18/30 in the aforementioned presentation may, at their option, repeat it on a date to be agreed with the teacher or be examined on the whole programme during the official examination.

The evaluation will take into account

- the relevance of the answers given

- the richness of the content

- the ability to relate to other topics in the programme

- the ability to express oneself

- lexical accuracy.

Examples of frequently asked questions and / or exercises

Greek colonisation in Sicily

The first Sicilian tyrants