Akragas. Detailed history

Akragas is the Greek name of the modern city of Agrigento, in southern Sicily, which has been inhabited since the Neolithic period. Settlers from nearby Gela evicted the original indigenous population and established a colony. Legend had it that Daedalus and his son Icarus founded Akragas after their flight from Crete, and it probably relates back to settlers originally coming to Gela (and hence Akragas) from there.

The city was established on a plain on the southern coast of Sicily, about three miles from the sea near the junction of the rivers Akragas (now San Biagio) and Hypsas (now Drago). The site was well protected, with cliffs encircling it and a mountain ridge with two peaks to the north. The region was well watered, allowing agriculture to grow rapidly.

The city came under the influence and power of the tyrant Phalaris who ruled from 570 to 554. He came to power through his position as the builder of the temple of Zeus Atabrius in the city’s citadel, which gave him access to a defensible position and allowed him to seize power after arming his workers. As typical with early tyrants, Phalaris endeared himself to the inhabitants by bettering their living conditions. He erected a great wall, nearly seven miles in circumference with nine gates, to protect the city and make it one of the most powerful in Sicily.

He supplied the city with fresh water and created many of the buildings in the city proper. During his rule, he expanded Akragas’s power and territory. The people of nearby Himera also elected him commander with absolute power, allowing him to control most of the island for a short time. Phalaris, however, was also associated with a particular type of torture and execution.

He had the sculptor Perillos of Athens construct for him a bronze bull, in which his victims were placed, and then a fire was lit underneath, which roasted them; their shrieks were said to sound like a bull bellowing. (Supposedly, the first victim was Perillos himself.)

A century later, the poet Pindar, in his Pythian 1 ode, indelibly associated the name of the bull and the torture with the name of the tyrant behind them. A brazen bull was taken from Akragas by the Carthaginians to Carthage (probably in 406) and returned to them by Rome either in 202 or 146 (probably the latter). In 488, Phal- eris was defeated by Telemachus. Supposedly, Phaleris himself was executed in the same manner as his victims, being put into the bronze bull and roasted.

During the next half century, the city continued to prosper and grow, perhaps reaching a population of nearly 100,000. In 488, Theron, a descendant of Telemachus, who had just defeated Phalaris, became the tyrant of Akragas. He drove out the tyrant Terillus at Himera in a war between Akragas and the cities of Selinunte and Himera, and then apparently set up his own son Thrasydaeus as the leader in Himera.

Terillus appealed to Carthage for help, and an army under Hamilcar landed and engaged Theron and Gelon, the tyrant of Syracuse; the two warriors defeated the Carthaginian army at Himera in 480. Reportedly, Thrasydaeus’s rule became harsh, and the citizens of Himera asked Syracuse for help in pushing him out—which unfortunately led to Theron massacring the inhabitants and resettling the city. Theron created a power-sharing bloc with Selinunte and Syracuse, allowing the three cities to effectively dominate Sicily.

Theron was known as a patron of the arts, and like many Greek tyrants, was able to find the balance between focusing on the arts and public building and the ruthlessness needed to maintain power. In 473, Theron died and was succeeded by his son Thrasydaeus, who became unpopular for his violent, cruel, and arbitrary actions and was defeated by Hiero of Syracuse and expelled by the people of Akragas. He fled to Megara Greece, where he was publicly executed. After his expulsion, the city became a democracy, but under the influence of Syracuse.

During the war between Athens and Syracuse in 413, the city of Akragas remained neutral, allowing it to remain safe. In 409, the Carthaginians under Hamilcar’s grandson, Hannibal, destroyed Himera. They then moved against Akragas and for seven months besieged the city before capturing and destroying it in 406. The Carthaginians carted off untold loot from the city, including the famed bronze bull.

Akragas never regained its former status. Timoleon from Corinth attempted to reestablish the city when he became master of Sicily in the 340s, but it failed to return to its former glory.

The site contains some of the best-preserved architectural remains in the Greek world, commonly referred to as the Valley of the Temples, although in reality they sit on a ridge. The site contains seven temples in the Doric style. This style has a simple circular capital and was the earliest of the three forms, the others being Ionic and Corinthian. The columns could be smooth or fluted; they did not have a base and stood on the flat platform, or stylobate. The columns were the squattest of the three orders, with their height only four to eight times their diameter. The style was developed in the western part of Greece.

The seven temples at Akragas display these attributes. The Temple of Concordia, measuring 120 by 50 feet, is well preserved and built during the 430s on a solid base, which allowed it to have a flat platform four steps above the rocky terrain. The porch had six columns on the short sides and thirteen on each long side. The temple derives its name from a nearby inscription to Concordia, even though it does not appear to have any connection with the temple.

It is preserved due to its being converted to a Christian church in the fourth to fifth centuries CE. It was known as the Parthenon of the Magna Graecia. The Temple of Juno (or, more properly, Hera Lacinia) was built about 450 and is in the Archaic Doric style. Its remains are not well preserved, but there is enough of it to show that it had a design of six columns (hexastyle) on the short side and thirteen on each long side (the same as the Temple of Concordia). It measured about 120 by 60 feet and was about 45 feet high. It too was damaged in the Carthaginian attack in 406. The best-preserved part, the northern side, has a complete frieze.

The Temple of Heracles derives its name from Cicero, who indicated that there was a temple to the hero in this region. It is the earliest temple and dates to either the late sixth century (based on its style with a rise of three steps, with six columns on the short side and fifteen on the long side) or to the early fifth century, as a temple to Athena built by the tyrant Theron. It had a long interior cella. It measured 225 by 90 feet and was about 50 feet high. Nine of the columns were reerected in 1922. The temple was destroyed by an earthquake.

The Temple to Olympian Zeus, or Olympeion, was the largest Doric temple constructed in antiquity. It was never completed and lies in ruins. Built to commemorate the victory at Himera over the Carthaginians, it was supposed to have been built by captured Carthaginians. It had a height of 60 feet and an area of about 350 by 110 feet.

The columns did not stand freestyle; rather, they were connected to the large curtain wall to provide support. The thick columns were arranged 7 by 14. There were 38 caryatid figures at the top, presented as if holding up the roof. The temple is now in ruins and was never completed when the city was sacked in 406.

The Temple to Castor and Pollux also in ruins, and the reconstructions of the late nineteenth century were from other temples. Dating from the mid-fifth century, it probably measured about 100 by 50 feet and again has an arrangement of 6 by 13 columns. It too was destroyed in 406. It had a circular altar in front of the temples for sacrificing.

The Temple of Asclepius is a small structure from the late fifth century and measured only 70 by 35 feet. It rises on three steps. The Temple of Hephaestus measured 130 by 65 feet, rising on four steps. It was another hexastyle temple, with 13 columns, and probably dates from 430. The temples at Akragas point to a vibrant life during their heyday.