Human sacrifice, ancient opulence of nobility, and religious wars

21 st May.

The feature of the next couple of days was archaeology. With ancient sites from 600BC. At Palazzolo Acreide there is an ancient Roman site which has an amphitheatre which is still used, 

and strange underground structures. There are two schools of thought about the meaning of these tubs. One is that they were used for the drying out (and draining away of fluids) of the dead. The other is that slaves were left in here to die, apparently without food or water. 

There is also a theory that human sacrifice was part of the religion, and that is supported by this frieze which seems to show just such thing happening.

Our camping place after this was down a dirt road at a derelict cottage, set amongst a eucalypt forest! We felt right at home and could even smell the eucalyptus! Eucalypts seem to be very successful here -perhaps a pest? (Oh well, they gave us prickly pear)!

Matilda feeling right at home among the gum trees! 

22nd May

Another day for archaeology. This time we visited the Villa Romana del Casale (close to 

Piazza Armerina).  This was the home of a nobleman, and used as a hunting lodge. He had his huge residence with guest quarters and service quarters, laid with a mosaic floor. He had teams of African artisans lay the mosaics, with hunting scenes, bedroom scenes, scenes of hunting in Africa (bringing back animals for display in the amphitheatres). They are very extensive and very well preserved. 

The reason they are so well preserved is that they became covered with a layer of silt in a 12th century flood, protecting them until they were discovered and restored. They are said to be the best example of Roman mosaics in Sicily. 

One thing that interested us us that the hunting scenes show a number of tree species, and forest which no longer exists in the area. And the animal species shown that they hunted included boar, deer, hare or rabbits, pheasants. The area has since become denuded of trees. 

From here it was on to Agrigento, the Valle di Templi, with a number of Doric temples, dating from the 6 th century BC, including Tempio della Concordia, one of the best preserved Greek temples in existence. 

Tempio Di Hera

And the opposition accross on the next peak doesn't quite match the temples! 

All of these sites were ransacked by Saracens (Muslims -and there are scenes of beheadings in some of the sites) or the Cathagians (Hadrian?) in 400 BC . The religious wars were devastating. 

But I guess that geography plays a large role here. We are only 140km Kms from Nth Africa here in southern Sicily. And has anything changed? Mankind is still facing-off accross the Meditoranian!