- Abacaenum
Abacaenum (Greek: polytonic|Ἀβάκαινον [so in Diod. and Steph. Byz.] ; polytonic|Ἀβάκαινα [so in Ptol.] ), was an ancient city of
Sicily , situated about 6.5 km from the north coast, betweenTyndaris (modernTindari ) and Mylae (modernMilazzo ), and 13 km from the former city.History
It was a city of the
Siculi , and does not appear to have ever received a Greek colony, though it partook largely of the influence of Greek art and civilization. Its territory originally included that of Tyndaris, which was separated from it by the elder Dionysius when he founded that city in 396 BCE [Diod. xiv. 78] . From the way in which it is mentioned in the wars of Dionysius,Agathocles , andHieron [Diod. xiv. 90, xix. 65, 110, xxii. Exc. Hoeschel. p. 499] , it is clear that it was a place of power and importance: but from the time of Hieron it disappears from history, and no mention is found of it in the Verrine orations ofCicero . Its name is, however, found inPtolemy [Ptol. iii. 4. § 12] , so that it appears to have still continued to exist in his day. Its decline was probably owing to the increasing prosperity of the neighbouring city of Tyndaris.There can be little doubt that the ruins visible in the time of
Fazello , at the foot of the hill on which the modern town ofTripi is situated, were those of Abacaenum. He speaks of fragments of masonry, prostrate columns, and the vestiges of walls, indicating the site of a large city, but which had been destroyed to its foundations. [Fazellus, "de Reb. Sic." ix. 7; Cluver. "Sicil. Ant." p. 386.]Coinage
There are found coins of Abacaenum, both in silver and copper. The boar and acorn, which are the common type of the former, evidently refer to the great forests of oak which still cover the neighboring mountains, and afford pasture to large herds of swine.
References
*SmithDGRG
Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.