Sicily [antikvár]

fiWvRS'wi'TiT''i') V't' vir-i»' jBic,'¦•¦'ill-j' In Sicily there is no escape from history: it is llu- reason tourists gu llicrn and one reason why so many Sicilians have had to emif,'rHte in search of work. Twenty-live ccntiirics of turbulent events have created a priceless collection of monuments. A lonf? su<'cession of different peoples came here as conquerors, and most of them left a jjcrmanent mark on the mixed genetic structure of the population. More interestingly, tliey were responsible for the confusion (ratlier tlian I'usion), which everywfien-stamps its present-day material and spiritual (culture. Sicily's history has for the most i)art been one of constantly n-peated violence, most of it man-made, but much also deriving from the frightful and uncontrollable influence of a volcanic terrain. Vet It and its p<^ople have made major contributions to Kuropean civilization, and no visitor can fail to be amazed by the riches it has to offer. Sicily is an island, ami perhaps no other i.slaud anywhere has had a greater role In history. Moreover, it is a comparatively small island, less than half the size of Ireland. If il neverthelciss has playetl such a prominent part in hisU)ry, that is above all becau.se of its lociation in the-mid-Mediterranean, which was for centuries Ihe geograjihic centcr of the civilizi'd world. Often it has been the most obvious iiM-caing |)lace between Europe and Africa, between the Kast and West. It has also been an island of great wealth or at least of potential wealth. For many years it possessed a virtual world-monopoly of sulphur production, at a time when sulphur and sulphuric acid were vital commodities for Europe's industrial revolution. For a while it had almost no competitor in the growing of citrus fruit and sugar cane. Its agriculture can even toflay produce substantial revenues provided there is adequate irrigation^ and in past times, Avhen wealth was measured in very much smaller figures than today, Sicily ranked as one of the major agricultural regions of the world. It was no idle boast of the Greek tyrant Gelon to r)ffer to feed from Sicily the entire Greek army during the Persian wars. Some two centuries later, when the Romans took the island as (hen- first province, they knew that, apart from its great strategic importance, it produced enough food to become the granaiy of great Rome itself. Already in the Stone and Bronze Ages, Sicily was a goal for migrations and a meeting place of cultural inlluences. Partly because of its coveted weallh, i)artly because of Us strategic position along the great trade routes, it remained an object of ambitious desire, and the result was lhat other pooi)les n-gularly fought out their battles for world domination on Sicilian soil. This was always a nu^jor disavster, but sometimes also carried an incidental benelll. The Semitic-speaking Phoenicians