Heraclea Minoa

About

Heraclea Minoa (Ancient Greek: Ἡράκλεια Μινῴα, Hērákleia Minṓia; Italian: Eraclea Minoa) was an ancient Greek city of Magna Graecia situated on the southern coast of Sicily near the mouth of the river Halycus (modern Platani), 25 km west of Agrigentum (Acragas, modern Agrigento). It is located near the modern town of the same name in the comune Cattolica Eraclea in Italy. Excavations have revealed several parts of the city which are now open to the public. Archaeology has shown that the city was founded in the middle of the 6th century BC as an outpost of the Greek colony of Selinus (modern Selinunte) and was finally abandoned around the beginning of the 1st century AD.

The city is situated a few hundred metres southeast of the mouth of the river Platani (the ancient Halycus) in a defendable position atop the conspicuous promontory now called Capo Bianco with gently sloping sides down to the Platani valley to the north and sheer white cliffs to the ocean on the south side. The Heraclean promontory is mentioned by Strabo in his description of the coasts of Sicily, and which he correctly gives as 20 miles distant from the port of Agrigentum.

Its two names were connected with separate myths regarding its origin. The first of these was that Heracles, having vanquished the local hero Eryx in a wrestling match, obtained thereby the right to the whole western portion of Sicily, which he expressly reserved for his descendants.

The other was that somewhat later, Minos, king of Crete, having come to Sicily in pursuit of Daedalus, landed at the mouth of the river Halycus, and founded there a city, to which he gave the name of Minoa; or, according to another version of the story, the city was first established by his followers, after the death of Minos himself. Heraclides Ponticus adds that there was previously a native city on the spot, the name of which was Macara. No intimation is given by Diodorus of the names relating to the same spot.

Archaeological finds from the necropolis show the city was founded in the mid-6th century BC. The first written mention of the city is of a small town and a colony of the Greek settlement of Selinus (itself founded about 650 BC), bearing the name of Minoa. From its founding Minoa was in contention between Selinus (as its eastern outpost) and Akragas which wanted control of the Platani valley.

In c. 510 BC Dorieus the Spartan (brother of Cleomenes I ) came to Sicily with the intent of reclaiming the territory which he believed had belonged to his ancestor Heracles. But in fighting the Carthaginians and Segestans, he was defeated and slain and almost all his leading companions also perished. Euryleon, the only one of the chiefs who escaped, made himself master of Minoa which now, in all probability, obtained for the first time the name of Heraclea.

From the time of this new settlement it seems to have borne the name of Heraclea, though coupled with that of Minoa for the sake of distinction.

The city was only briefly under the control of the Spartans and during the whole of the 5th c. BC it was under Akragan control and became very prosperous.

However it was destroyed by the Carthaginians probably in 406 BC, through jealousy of its increasing power. When this took place is uncertain; it was probably in the 10th book of Diodorus, now lost. He makes no mention of any such event during the First Sicilian War (480 BC) when it might otherwise be supposed to have occurred. An inscription from the temple of Athena Lindia of Lindos on Rhodes attests the dedication of an ivory palladium as spoils from an undated victory of the Agrigentines over Minoa.

The territory of Heraclea Minoa fell under Carthaginian control as a result of the treaty of 405 BC. but the absence of all mention of Heraclea suggests that either it did not then exist or must have been in a very reduced condition.

It was won back in 397 BC by Dionysius in his first Punic war, but recovered by Carthage in 383 BC.

The next mention of it (under the name of Minoa), when Dion landed there in 357 BC when he attacked Syracuse, is as a small town in Agrigentine territory, but still subject to Carthage. Hence it is probable that the treaty between Dionysius and the Carthaginians which had fixed the Halycus as the boundary of the latter, had left Heraclea, though on its southeast bank, still in their hands:

It was included in the similar treaty of 314 BC between the Carthaginians and Agathocles of Syracuse in that Heraclea, Selinus, and Himera should continue to be subject to Carthage as before.

From this time Heraclea reappears in history, and assumes the position of an important city; though there is no known reason for its resurgence. It joined in the movement originated by Xenodicus of Agrigentum in 309 BC and declared itself free both from the Carthaginians and Agathocles, though it was soon recovered by Agathocles on his return from Africa in 305 BC.

In 278 BC during the expedition of Pyrrhus, it had been in the hands of the Carthaginians and was the first city taken from him as he advanced westward from Agrigentum. In 260 BC in the First Punic War it was occupied by the Carthaginian general Hanno when advancing to the relief of Agrigentum, at that time besieged by the Roman armies.

Again, in 256 BC, it was at Heraclea that the Carthaginian fleet of 350 ships was posted to prevent the passage of the Roman fleet to Africa and where it sustained a great defeat by the Roman consuls Regulus and Manlius. It appears at this time to have been one of the principal naval stations of the Carthaginians in Sicily and in 249 BC their admiral, Carthalo, took his post there to watch for the Roman fleet which was approaching to the relief of Lilybaeum.

At the close of the war Heraclea passed, with the rest of Sicily, under the Roman dominion; but in the Second Punic War it again fell into the hands of the Carthaginians, and was one of the last places that still held out against Marcellus, even after the fall of Syracuse.

Little of it is recorded under Roman dominion, but it appears to have suffered severely in the First Servile War (134–132 BC) and in consequence received a body of fresh colonists, who were established there by the praetor Publius Rupilius. At the same time the relations of the old and new citizens were regulated by a municipal law, which still subsisted in the time of Cicero, when Heraclea was still flourishing. Soon afterwards it must have fallen into decay, in common with most of the towns on the southern coast of Sicily.

Archaeology shows that towards the end of the first century BC the city was abandoned.

It is not mentioned by Pliny. However it is one of three south coastal Sicilian cities briefly mentioned by the 1st century AD Roman geographer Mela and also by the 2nd century AD Greek geographer Ptolemy. The latter author is the last who mentions the name of Heraclea; it appears to have certainly disappeared before the age of the Roman Itineraries.