Leontini (mod. Lentini), an ancient town in the south-east of Sicily, 22 miles NNW of Syracuse direct, founded by Chalcidians from Naxos in 729 BC. Sicilian redirects here. ... Syracuse (Italian, Siracusa, ancient Syracusa - see also List of traditional Greek place names) is a city on the eastern coast of Sicily and the capital of the province of Syracuse, Italy. ... Giardini Naxos is a comune in Messina province on the island of Sicily in Italy. ... Centuries: 9th century BC - 8th century BC - 7th century BC Decades: 770s BC 760s BC 750s BC 740s BC 730s BC - 720s BC - 710s BC 700s BC 690s BC 680s BC 670s BC Events and Trends 728 BC - Piye invades Egypt, conquering Memphis and receives the submission of the rulers...

History

It is almost the only Greek settlement not on the coast, from which it is 6 miles distant. The site, originally held by the Sicels, was seized by the Greeks owing to its command of the fertile plain on the north. It was reduced to subjection in 498 BC by Hippocrates of Gela, and in 476 BC Hieron of Syracuse established here the inhabitants of Catana and Naxos. This article is in need of attention. ... Centuries: 4th century BC - 5th century BC - 6th century BC Decades: 520s BC 510s BC 500s BC 490s BC 480s BC - 470s BC - 460s BC 450s BC 440s BC 430s BC 420s BC Years: 481 BC 480 BC 479 BC 478 BC 477 BC _ 476 BC _ 475 BC... Hiero I was the brother of Gelo and tyrant of Syracuse from 478 to 467 BC. During his Carlos reign he greatly increased the power of Syracuse. ... Location within Italy Catania is the second largest city of Sicily and is the capital of the province which bears its name. ...

Later on Leontini regained its independence, but in its efforts to retain it, the intervention of Athens was more than once invoked. It was mainly the eloquence of Gorgias of Leontini which led to the abortive Athenian expedition of 427 BC. Athens (Greek: Αθήνα, Athína (IPA: )) is the capital of Greece and one of the most famous cities in the world, named after goddess Athena. ... Gorgias (in Greek Γοργἰας, circa 483-376 BC) // Introduction Due to his ushering in of rhetorical innovations involving structure and ornamentation and his introduction of paradoxologia – the idea of paradoxical thought and paradoxical expression – Gorgias of Leontini has been labeled the ‘father of sophistry’ (Wardy 6). ... Centuries: 6th century BC - 5th century BC - 4th century BC Decades: 470s BC 460s BC 450s BC 440s BC 430s BC - 420s BC - 410s BC 400s BC 390s BC 380s BC 370s BC Years: 432 BC 431 BC 430 BC 429 BC 428 BC - 427 BC - 426 BC 425 BC...

In 422 BC Syracuse supported the oligarchs against the people and received them as citizens, Leontini itself being forsaken. This led to renewed Athenian intervention, at first mainly diplomatic; but the exiles of Leontini joined the envoys of Segesta, in persuading Athens to undertake the great Sicilian Expedition of 415 BC. Centuries: 6th century BC - 5th century BC - 4th century BC Decades: 470s BC 460s BC 450s BC 440s BC 430s BC - 420s BC - 410s BC 400s BC 390s BC 380s BC 370s BC Years: 427 BC 426 BC 425 BC 424 BC 423 BC - 422 BC - 421 BC 420 BC... Segesta was the political center of the Elymian people. ... The Sicilian Expedition was an Athenian expedition to Sicily from 415 BC to 413 BC, during the Peloponnesian War. ... Centuries: 6th century BC - 5th century BC - 4th century BC Decades: 460s BC 450s BC 440s BC 430s BC 420s BC - 410s BC - 400s BC 390s BC 380s BC 370s BC 360s BC Years: 420 BC 419 BC 418 BC 417 BC 416 BC - 415 BC - 414 BC 413 BC...

After its failure, Leontini became subject to Syracuse once more (see Strabo vi. 272). Its independence was guaranteed by the treaty of 405 BC between Dionysius and the Carthaginians, but it very soon lost it again. It was finally stormed by Marcus Claudius Marcellus in 214 BC. the Greek georgapher Strabo, in a 16th‑century engraving. ... Centuries: 6th century BC - 5th century BC - 4th century BC Decades: 450s BC 440s BC 430s BC 420s BC 410s BC - 400s BC - 390s BC 380s BC 370s BC 360s BC 350s BC Years: 410 BC 409 BC 408 BC 407 BC 406 BC - 405 BC - 404 BC 403 BC... Carthaginian settlements in the western Mediterranean. ... Marcus Claudius Marcellus (c. ... Centuries: 4th century BC - 3rd century BC - 2nd century BC Decades: 260s BC 250s BC 240s BC 230s BC 220s BC - 210s BC - 200s BC 190s BC 180s BC 170s BC 160s BC Years: 219 BC 218 BC 217 BC 216 BC 215 BC - 214 BC - 213 BC 212 BC...

In Roman times it seems to have been of small importance. It was destroyed by the Saracens in 848 AD, and almost totally ruined by the earthquake of 1698. The ancient city is described by Polybius (vii. 6) as lying in a bottom between two hills, and facing north. On the western side of this bottom ran a river with a row of houses on its western bank Under the hill. At each end was a gate, the northern leading to the plain, the southern, at the upper end, to Syracuse. There was an acropolis on each side of the valley, which lies between precipitous hills with flat tops, over which buildings had extended. For the rugby club Saracens see Saracens (rugby club) The term Saracen comes from Greek sarakenoi. ... Events The Borobudur is completed. ... Events January 4 - Palace of Whitehall in London is destroyed by fire. ... Polybius (ca 203 BC - 120 BC, Greek Πολυβιος) was a Greek historian of the Mediterranean world famous for his book called The Histories or The Rise of the Roman Empire, covering the period of 220 BC to 146 BC. // Personal experiences As the former tutor of Scipio Aemilianus , the famous adopted...

The eastern hill still has considerable remains of a strongly fortified medieval castle, in which some writers arc inclined (though wrongly) to recognize portions of Greek masonry. See GM Columba, in Arciseologia di Leontinoi (Palermo, 1891), reprinted from Archivio Storico Siciliano, xi.; P Orsi iii Romische Mitteilungen (1900), 61 seq.

Excavations were made in 1899 in one of the ravines in a Sicel necropolis of the third period--explorations in the various Greek cemeteries resulted in the discovery of some fine bronzes, notably a fine bronze lebes, now in the Berlin museum. 1899 (MDCCCXCIX) was a common year starting on Sunday (see link for calendar). ...

References

• This article incorporates text from the Encyclopædia Britannica Eleventh Edition, a publication now in the public domain.