Temple E at Selinus from the Kalat Project. Used with permission.
Sicily, the first province of the Roman Empire and legendary home of the Cyclops, is a large island off the tip of southern Italy. Sicily was called by different names, including Thrinacia and Trinacria, and was known by the Romans as Triquerta due to the shape of the island. The name Sicilia came from the tribe of the Siceli or Sicani. Other peoples inhabited the island throughout history such as the Cretans, Phoenicians, Greeks, Carthaginians, Vandals, and Ostrogoths. At the end of the first Punic War in 241 BC the western area of Sicily fell into Roman hands. The eastern area was soon to follow in 211 BC and became the first imperial possession under the care of a praetor and later by a proconsul. Cicero proclaimed that Sicily was "the first to teach our ancestors what a fine thing it is to rule over foreign nations" in 70 BC at the trial of Gaius Verrus, a governor of Sicily who was being tried for gross extortion. The economic benefits for the Romans was legendary. The abundance of barley and wheat soon fostered the idea that the goddess Ceres inhabited the island. Some other exports of the island were fruits, almonds, wine, honey, cattle, wool, hides, saffron, alum, and Sicilian sulphur that was produced in bulk and used by vine growers everywhere.
The geography of the largest island in the Mediterranean covers an area of 9.926 square miles. With mountains and hills covering over 85% of the island the highest point is Mount Etna, an active volcano that rises to the elevation of 11,122 feet. Sicily has a mild climate. The average temperature is around 45° F in winter and 79° F in summer. Most of the rain for the island comes in the winter with a dry summer due to the sirocco, which is a hot, dry wind blowing from North Africa.
The jewel of the island known as Siracusa, today called Syracuse, was inhabited since the early Paleolithic period. Two natural harbors serve the city. The Great Harbor, or Porto Maggiore, is formed by a large bay closed by Ortygia and the Plemmyrion into which flow the Ciane and Anapo rivers, and the small harbor, or Lakkios, is delimited by Ortygia and the shoreline of Achradina. There were five districts in the city: Ortygia, Achradina, Tyche, Neapolis, and Epipolai. This city was an interesting blend of Greek and Roman designs. There was a temple of Apollo (6th century BC), a temple of Jupiter, and one of the largest amphitheaters (3rd century BC) in the Roman Empire.
Theatre in Sicily. From Justin Paola's photo album, used with permission.
As a province of Rome the island had to pay a tribute, which was shipped to Rome: one-tenth of the wheat and barley crop . Other taxes levied were on wine, olives, fruit, vegetables, and even a pasture tax. One estimate of the grain tithe was 3,000,000 modii (825,000 bushels) a year. Rome also reserved the right to take a second tithe by compulsory purchase, at a price the Senate fixed unilaterally, whenever Rome required it. Two examples of this were in 190 B.C. to supply an army fighting in Greece, and in 171 B.C. for an army in Macedonia. There are no records to how often this second tithe was used until a law in 73 B.C. that made it a regular annual occurrence. There were also other compulsory purchases at unilaterally fixed prices for the maintenance of the Roman governor and his staff. The remainder of the crops were not at the disposal of the Sicilians, as exports were permitted only to Italy, unless a special license was granted by the Roman Senate. Cato’s dictum that Sicily was the "Republic’s granary, the nurse at whose breast the Roman people is fed" was a popular quotion of Roman writers.
This photo from Kalat. Used with permission.
Another method of filling the coffers of Rome was a 5% ad valorem duty on all goods shipped in or out of any Sicilian harbor. There was also a obligation for several communities to supply ships with crews to protect against pirates. This was not the end of the taxes yet, besides the taxes paid to Rome the Sicilians had to pay their own local taxes. The Sicilians were denied armies and the right to conduct foreign affairs, they still had to carry the cost of their water supply, festivals, cults, public buildings and on and on.
In the second century BC slave labor poured into Sicily which led to the wealthy increasing their holdings in pastures and farms. It was well on its way to becoming the classic land of large estates, or latifundia. After some time the slaves that worked on the Latifundia revolted against their rich masters. The slaves were by no means Sicilian patriots as the enemy was the rich slave owner and it did not matter if he was Sicilian or Roman. The first revolt was started by the slaves of Damophilus, a Sicilian. The second revolt was from several bands in different areas, including one belonging to a Roman and a Sicilian. The revolts lasted for several years with a remarkably slow response from the Romans. This could be because they were involved in the Numantine War in Spain and the failure to appreciate the scale of the outbreaks. When the full realization dawned on the Romans a large enough legionary army was sent in and the revolts were put down. Other revolts rose on the mainland including the revolt lead by Spartacus but were also put down and the end of the age of slave revolts came about in 71 BC when Spartacus and his fellow slaves were crushed.
Soon things in Sicily returned to normal with its productive farms feeding Rome. When the civil war between Caesar and Pompey broke out in Rome the factions soon realized the possibilities of Sicily. The strategic possibilities as a naval area to attack Italy and North Africa were not overlooked and in 49 BC Caesar took control of it after he crossed the Rubicon. The governor at the time was Cato and when Caesar’s emissary Asinius Pollio arrived, Sicily joined his camp as they had no troops. It was from Lilybaeum that Caesar’s men sailed to North Africa to attack the Pompeians. With the assassination of Caesar in 44 BC things quickly changed. Pompey’s son Sextus, upon hearing his name was on the proscription list made up by the new triumvirs Antony, Octavian, and Lepidus, went on the offensive and selected Sicily as his base of operations. He captured Tyndaris and Mylae without much of a fight, then Messina. Syracuse and the other cities gave in without further struggle and within a few months Sextus had become a major force in the civil war between Brutus and Cassius and the triumvirs. He was joined by an assortment of his fathers followers and others who looked to him to preserve a vestige of the Republic. Coincidentally it was a great inflow of fugitive slaves that manned the ships which gave Sextus control of the seas. This river of slaves joining Sextus became so great that the Vestal Virgins prayed over their sacrifices so the desertions might be checked. Sextus used his new control to stop the flow of shipments from Sicily to Rome and Italy was blockaded against seaborn supplies from other areas as well. This threatened even the armies of the triumvirs fighting outside of Italy. Faced with famine the Roman population rioted and demanded a settlement be made with the new master of Sicily. In 39 B.C. the triumvirs agreed to recognize Sextus Pompey’s authority in Sicily, Corsica and Sardinia, and granted freedom to the slaves in his service. Sextus agreed to lift the blockade, resume the shipments of the tithe, and not to accept fugitive slaves in the future.
This peace became temporary as disputes quickly arose and was shortly followed with war. The fighting was destructive on a scale comparable to the Punic wars and involved around 200,000 men and more than 1,000 warships. Damage was extensive with the cities of Tyndaris and Messina and the area between being ravaged. The defeat and flight of Sextus in 36 did not end the destruction. Octavian levied a 1600-talent cash indemnity on the island with the cities that surrendered being granted a pardon. Recaptured slaves numbering around 30,000 were returned to their owners with some 6,000 remaining being impaled. The defeat and execution of Sextus Pompey was celebrated in Rome as a major event. Soon Octavian had control of the Empire in 31 BC and was soon formally recognized by the Senate and took the name Augustus. He minimized the defeat of Sextus Pompey and claimed an ovation and not a triumph. In his publication Res Gestae, Augustus wrote: "I freed the sea from pirates. In that war, I captured some 30,000 slaves who had fled from their masters and taken up arms against the republic, and I handed them over to their masters for punishment." This was obviously an attempt to minimize what he really did and Sextus Pompey is not even mentioned.
The outlook for 36 BC was a grim one with much land lying idle because the owners were dead or missing, or Augustus had confiscated it in reprisal. Large areas of land were retained in the imperial domain and another large area was given to Agrippa, the man who presided over many of Augustus’s successes with Sextus. Discharged Italian veterans of Augustus’ legions soon filled the deserted smaller farms. This would bring about two things: one was the replacement of manpower, and the veterans constituted a loyal following in the population. This soon would lead to Augustus abolishing the tithe and instituting the stipendium, which was a levy assessed from landholdings and money. Another reason for this might have been the inflow of wheat and barley from North Africa and Egypt.
This phot from Kalat. Used with permission.
Soon after these occurrences, mention of Sicily would be little in written history for the next six hundred years. It can be assumed that the island was given Roman citizenship in 212 along with the rest of the free population of the Empire. There was also a reorganization in the tax and province structure by Constantine and Diocletian at the end of the third century. The island became a subdivision of the diocese of Italy under the vicar of the city of Rome. This would make it so Sicily lost its identity to the outside world and an outlying district of Italy to the emperors and senate. The end of Roman rule in Sicily came about with the year 535 when it became a province of Byzantine.
