SOLUNTUM (Gr. EoX t or lath's)

This article appears in Volume V25, Page 368 of the Encyclopedia Britannica.

Encyclopedia Britannica - Main :: SIV-SOU

SOLUNTUM (Gr. EoX t or lath's) , an ancient town of Sicily, one of the three

chief

CHIEF (from Fr. chef, head, Lat. caput)

Phoenician settlements in the island, situated on the north

coast

COAST (from Lat. costa, a rib, side)

, ro m. E. of Panormus (Palermo), boo ft. above sea-level, on the S.E. side of Monte Catalfano (1225 ft.), in a naturally strong situation, and commanding a fine view. The date of its first occupation is, like that of Panormus, unknown. It continued to be a Carthaginian possession almost uninterruptedly until the First Punic War, when, after the fall of Panormus, it opened its gates to the Romans. In the Roman period it seems to have been of no

great

GREAT

importance; an inscription, erected by the citizens in honour of Fulvia Plan-tills, the wife of Caracalla, was found there in 1857. It was perhaps destroyed by. the Saracens and is now entirely deserted. Excavations have brought to light considerable remains of the ancient town, belonging entirely to the Roman period, and a good deal still remains unexplored. An archaic oriental Artemis sitting between a lion and a panther, found here, is in the museum at Palermo, with other antiquities from this site. With the exception of the winding road by which the town was approached on the

south

SOUTH
SOUTH, ROBERT (1634–1716)

, the streets, despite the unevenness of the ground, which in places is so steep that steps have to be introduced, are laid out regularly, running from

east

EAST
EAST, ALFRED (1849- )

to west and from north to

south

SOUTH
SOUTH, ROBERT (1634–1716)

, and intersecting at right angles. They are as a

rule

RULE

paved with slabs of stone. The houses were constructed of rough walling, which was afterwards plastered over; the natural

rock

is often used for the lower part of the walls. One of the largest of them, with a

peristyle

PERISTYLE (Gr. wept, round, and oriaos, column)

, is currently, thoughwrongly, called the Gymnasium. Near the top of the town are some cisterns cut in the

rock

, and at the summit is a larger

house

HOUSE
HOUSE (O. Eng. hiss, a word common to Teutonic languages, cf. Dut. huis, Ger. Haus; in
Gothic
- GOTHIC
it is only found in gudhiss, a temple; it may be ultimately connected with the root of " hide," conceal)

than usual, with mosaic pavements and paintings on its walls. (T. As.)

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