Sicily – ancient Trinacria – is the largest island in the Mediterranean, its importance being based on its size, location and proximity to North Africa and the Italian mainland. However, it is not large enough ever to have been true master of its own destiny. Phoenicians, Greeks, Romans, Byzantines, Arabs, Normans, Swabians, Angevins, Spanish – even the British for a short time in the early years of the 19th century – have held sway for greater or lesser periods and have all left their mark. On this tour, though, we concentrate on the Graeco-Roman period, an era of commercial rivalry that often spilled over into warfare. Greek dominance was initially assured in 480BC when the armies of Syracuse and Agrigento defeated the Carthaginians at Himera. Later, in 415BC, came the largest invasion force the world had ever seen when the Athenians mounted a disastrous attack on the city of Syracuse. Thanks in part to the massive defensive system of Euryalos, Syracuse was victorious, the great Athenian fleet was destroyed and thousands of Athenian prisoners were incarcerated in the quarries just outside the city. The Carthaginians were finally ousted by Rome in the First Punic War of 264-241BC while in the Second Punic War of 218-202BC, perhaps most memorable for Hannibal and his elephants, the great Greek inventor, Archimedes, was killed during the sack of Syracuse. As a result of this second war Sicily became Rome’s first overseas province and remained under Roman control for another 700 years.

With our guide Mike Clegg, visit many of the places that figured in these conflicts and admire the architectural and artistic legacy of Greece and Rome against the backdrop of Sicily’s magnificent and often awe-inspiring scenery.

ITINERARY
Day 1 (Saturday): Fly London – Catania. Transfer to hotel in Agrigento, the Greek Akragas.
Day 2: We visit to the Valley of the Temples dramatically sited on a high ridge overlooking the sea. Here we will see one of the most impressive complexes of temples anywhere in the ancient Greek world including the remarkably preserved Temple of Concord and the unique and monumental Temple of Zeus, sacked by the Carthaginians in 406BC and never completed. Lunch Visit to the Archaeological Museum.
Day 3: All-day visit to the Greek frontier city of Selinus, originally founded in what was Carthaginian territory. We start with a visit to the quarry of Cave di Cusa where we can see how the Greeks cut out the stone column drums for their temples. From here we continue to the eastern group of temples of Selinus situated on low-lying ground outside the city walls. After lunch we visit the city of the Acropolis with its massive defensive walls, regular street layout and many temples. Look out for a Phoenician sign in one of the temples
Day 4: Transfer from Agrigento to Taormina. En route we visit the Roman Villa del Casale near Piazza Armerina. This was the centre of a huge estate, latifundia, which, like others on the island, provided much of the grain for the city of Rome. The villa is famous for the magnificent mosaic floor decoration in 40 of its rooms. These mosaics are of the highest quality, the finest collection of mosaics still in situ in Europe. Highlights include a chariot race in the Circus Macimus, a grand hunting scene and an expedition to capture wild animals for the arena.
Day 5: We visit Naxos, the first Greek colony on Sicily, dating from the 8th century BC. Although not as impressive as some of the other sites, it was here that the extensive Greek colonisation of the island began. Walking tour of the splendidly sited Taormina, originally a Sikel settlement they called Tauromenion; it was re-founded as a Greek colony in 358BC and became a Roman military colony in the Augustan period. It achieved some notoriety during the Slave War of 134-132BC when it became a secure refuge for rebellious slaves. Here we visit the Odeion and the impressive Greaco-Roman theatre with its beautiful view of the Bay of Naxos far below and, as a splendid backdrop, the great cone of Europe’s largest volcano – Mount Etna
Day 6: All-day visit to Syracuse, once the richest and most powerful city in Europe. We visit the key defensive site of Euryalos that defied both the Athenian and Roman armies, the Archaeological Park with its grand Greek theatre, the stone quarries that once held the Athenian prisoners-of-war and the fascinating “island” of Ortygia with its evocative Fountain of Arethusa and the cathedral of Santa Maria delle Colonne – St Mary of the Columns – once a Greek temple built to commemorate victory over the Carthaginians in 480BC and dedicated to the goddess Athena.
Day 7: Return flight Catania – London.