- Elymians
The Elymians (Greek "Elymoi",
Latin "Elymi") were an ancient people who inhabited the western part ofSicily during theBronze Age andClassical antiquity .Origins
The precise origins of the Elymians are unknown, though it has been suggested (based on recent archeological finds) that they may have been Anatolians who migrated to Sicily. The Greeks identified them as descendants of the Trojans;
Thucydides claimed that their ancestors had been refugees fromTroy . When the city was destroyed by theAchaeans at the end of theTrojan War , a group of Trojans were said to have escaped and, after a long journey across theMediterranean Sea , landed inSicily . They intermarried with the nativeSicani to establish a new people, the Elymians.Virgil describes them as having been led to Sicily by the heroAcestes .Mythology apart, little that is definite is known about the identity and culture of the Elymians. They are indistinguishable from their Sicani neighbours in the archaeological record of the early
Iron Age (c. 1000–c. 500 BC). Thereafter they appear to have adopted many aspects of the culture of the Greek colonists of Sicily, erecting the remarkable temple atSegesta and using theGreek alphabet to write their own language. As yet, nobody has succeeded in deciphering theElymian language .History
The Elymians maintained friendly relations (and alliances) with
Carthage but came into frequent conflict with the expansionist Greek colonies of western Sicily, especiallySelinus . Boundary disputes with Selinus broke out into open warfare on several occasions after580 BC . They sought to ally first withAthens against Selinus, provoking the disastrousSicilian expedition of415 BC -413 BC . Following this failure they encouraged the Carthaginians to attack Selinus in409 BC and succeeded in obtaining the destruction of their rivals.However, they turned on Carthage during the
First Punic War and allied with Rome instead. The Elymians were granted a privileged status under Roman rule and were exempted from taxes. This was said to have been in recognition of the Elymians' claim of Trojan ancestry, which was seen as making them cousins of the Roman people, who also claimed to have been descended from the Trojans. The Elymians appear to have largely disappeared from view under Roman rule, presumably becoming assimilated into the general Sicilian population.Areas of settlement
The Elymi shared western Sicily with the Sicani, the
Phoenicia ns and later the Greeks. Their three most important cities wereSegesta , the political centre;Eryx (the modern Erice), a religious centre; andEntella . Other cities wereElima ,Halyciae (referred to as "Alicia" in modern Italian sources),Iatae ,Hypana andDrepanon .
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