There are other Hellenic ruins in Sicily, which, in the eyes of artists, make that island a worthy rival of Greece itself. Girgenti, the ancient Acragas, or {330} Agrigentum, which numbered its inhabitants by hundreds of thousands, but is now a poor place like Syracuse, possesses ruins of at least ten temples or religious edifices, of which that dedicated to Olympian Jupiter was the largest in all Italy, and has been made use of in the construction of the present mole. Another, that dedicated to Concord, is in a better state of preservation than any other Greek temple outside the limits of Hellas. The modern city occupies merely the site of the ancient acropolis, and is built upon a layer of shelly sandstone, which descends in steps towards the sea. The cathedral has been built from materials taken from a temple of Jupiter Atabyrios, and its baptismal font is an ancient sarcophagus upon which are represented the loves of Phædra and Hippolytus. In former times Agrigentum reached to within a couple of miles from the sea. The modern port, named in honour of one of the most famous sons of the city, lies to the west of the ancient Hellenic Emporium, at a distance of four miles from the city. It is the busiest harbour on the southern coast, and large quantities of sulphur are exported from it (see Fig. [117], p. 317).

Sciacca, another seaside town farther to the west, in one of those localities of the island most exposed to earthquakes, boasts of being the modern representative of Selinus, though that Greek city was situated about fourteen miles farther west, to the south of Castelvetrano. Its seven temples have been overthrown by earthquakes, but they still present us with remains of the purest Doric style. The metopes of three of them have been conveyed to Palermo, where they form the most precious ornaments of the museum.

Segesta, on the north coast, no longer exists, but there still remain the ruins of a magnificent temple. Other remains of Greek art abound in all parts of the island, and there are also monuments erected by the Romans. If we contrast these ancient edifices with those raised since by Byzantines, Moors, Normans, Spaniards, and Neapolitans, we are bound to admit that the latter exhibit no progress, but decadence. Alas ! how very much inferior are the inhabitants of modern Syracuse in comparison with the fellow-citizens of an Archimedes !

Sicily offers most striking examples of towns changing their positions in consequence of political disturbances. When the ancient Greek cities were at the height of their power they boldly descended to the very coast; but when war and rapine got the upper hand—when Moorish pirates scoured the sea, and brigandage reigned in the interior—then it was that most of the cities of Sicily took refuge on the summits of the hills, abandoning their low-lying suburbs to decay, and allowing them finally to disappear. Girgenti is a case in point. Some of the towns occupy sites of much natural strength, and are almost inaccessible. Such are Centuripe, or Centorbi, which stretches along the edge of a rock to the west of the Simeto, and San Giuliano, the town of Astarte, which stands on the summit of a pyramidal rock 1,200 feet in height above Trapani. But, on the return of peace, the inhabitants abandoned their eyries and came back to the plain or coast. All along the northern coast, from Palermo to Messina, the towns on the marina, or beach, kept increasing at the expense of the borgos occupying the summits of the mountains, and in many instances the latter were deserted altogether. Cefalù {331} affords a striking illustration of this change. The modern city nestles at the foot of a bold promontory, upon the summit of which may still be seen the crenellated walls of the old town, within which nothing now remains excepting a small cyclopean temple, the most venerable ruin of all Sicily, which has resisted the ravages of thirty centuries.[112]

THE ÆOLIAN OR LIPARIC ISLANDS.

The Æolian or Liparic Islands, though separated from Sicily by a strait more than 300 fathoms in depth, may nevertheless be looked upon as a dependency of the larger island. Some of these volcanic islands, “born in the shadow of Mount Etna,” lie on a line connecting that volcano with Mount Vesuvius, and they originated probably during the same convulsion of nature. They all consist of lavas, cinders, or pumice, ejected from volcanoes. Two amongst them, Vulcano and Stromboli, are still active volcanoes, and the flames and undulating columns of smoke rising from them enable mariners and fishermen to foretell changes of temperature or wind. It is probable that this intelligent interpretation of volcanic phenomena was the reason why these islands were dedicated to Æolus, the god of the winds, who there revealed himself to mariners.

Lipari, the largest and most central of these islands, is at the same time the most populous. A considerable town, commanded by an ancient castle, rises like an amphitheatre on its northern shore. A well-cultivated plain, abounding in olive-trees, orange-trees, and vines, surrounds the town, and the slopes of the hills are cultivated almost to their very summits. The population, as in Sicily, has been recruited from the most diverse elements since the time that Greek colonists from Rhodes, Cnidus, and Selinus entered into an alliance with the aboriginal inhabitants. This intermixture of races is proceeding now as much as ever, for commerce continually introduces fresh blood, and many Calabrian brigands have been conveyed to the island, where they have become peaceable citizens. The population is now permitted to multiply in peace, for the volcanoes of Lipari have been quiescent for centuries. The Lipariotes have a legend according to which St. Calogero chased the devils from the islands, and shut them up in the furnaces of Vulcano, and we may infer from this that the last volcanic eruption took place soon after the introduction of Christianity; that is to say, about the sixth century. The existence of subterranean forces manifests itself now only in thermal springs and {332} steam jets, which have been visited from the most ancient times for the cure of diseases. Earthquakes, however, are of frequent occurrence, and that of 1780 so much frightened the inhabitants that with one accord they dedicated themselves to the Virgin Mary. Dolomieu, who visited Lipari in the year following, found them wearing a small chain on the arm, by means of which they desired to show that they had become the slaves of the “Liberating Virgin.”

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Fig. 122.—THE CENTRAL PORTION OF THE ÆOLIAN ISLANDS.