BEGINNING THE JOURNEY

Though our familiar family story begins with the two people we knew so well -- Mariano Iannarino and Provvidenza La Manna -- and their emigration to America, our family story has much older roots. Those family roots go back many centuries and are intertwined with the history of an ancient and once prosperous land, the island of Sicily, a land ravaged by time and foreign conquests.

"...For thousands of years, since the beginning of time, Sicilia had been forced to feed a thousand and one mouths, her own true children as well as all of the invaders from the south and east, the north and west. Every nation mighty enough to stretch canvas across a beam set sail for Sicilia and landed on her shores. She was once the breadbasket for the known world. Back when we all were the great-grandchildren of Adam and Eve, Sicilia was a young, ripe fig. Her fields burst with wheat, rice, olives, sugar, every kind of fruit. It's said that the most delicious sausages hung from her trees. Anchovies leapt from the sea right onto your plate. Herbs furred the forest floor...Each tree in the forest dripped with syrup and honey....Sicilia was a garden paradise, and her grateful people ate of her and replenished her in return...But over time the mouths multiplied, and the first flotilla of invading sails landed. These pirates recognized no law. They took whatever they desired." The Garden of Papa Santuzzi by Tony Ardizzone, Picador USA, New York, page 4.

map of Sicily and Italy Our school teachers often told us that history and geography are linked. Look at the map of Sicily inserted here just to the left. Sicily is closely tied to the Italian “boot”, separated from the mainland of Italy by the two mile wide Strait of Messina. Sicily is the largest of the Italian islands and only 160 miles separates Sicily from Africa. It's closest European neighbor, Greece, is only 65 miles away. The map of Sicily is provided by WorldMap.com.

The landscape of Sicily is very similar to that of Greece -- rocky shores, deep ocean waters, mountainous inland areas. No area of Sicily is very far from the sea, and there are many natural harbors and an abundance of fertile land where wheat, grapes, olives, figs and other important food products grow. Great forests once covered the island, and tuna was abundant in the nearby waters in ancient times. The climate lacks the harshness of the inland European lands. Winter can be cold, though brief, and snow is unusual. Springtime is beautiful with lush vegetation. Summers are hot, long and generally rainless. In ancient times Sicily was a land of wealth, leisure and style. It was a land once coveted by those with the ability to take what they wanted.

Let's look at a timeline of Sicily's history. The timeline will show us how often and how many civilizations fought over Sicily. It will be apparent from that timeline what happened to Sicily's ancient natural wealth.

TIMELINE OF SICILIAN HISTORY

800 to 400 BC

Iron age culture of the Sicani and Siculi tribes flourish in Sicily. These tribes were Indo-European -- their ancestors came from the steppes of central Asia which stretch from the Ukraine eastwards, to the regions north of the Black Sea. Phoenicians also establish colonies around this time on the westernmost side of Sicily, primarily around Palermo, called Panormus by the Phoenicians. When Phoenicia was conquered by the Babylonian king Nebuchadnezzar,the colonies lost touch with their motherland.

734 BC

The earliest known Greek colony, Naxos, is founded on the island of Sicily. Naxos was on a peninsula near the volcanic Mt. Etna, on the easternmost side of the island. Syracuse (Siracusa) is also founded by Greek colonists, further south from Naxos.

550 BC

Carthaginian General Mago successfully campaigns against the Sicilian Greeks and establishes the 150 year Magonid dynasty. Under the Magonid dynasty of which Hannibal was a king, Carthage became the leading commercial power in the western Mediterranean; its seamen sailed round the whole of Africa and discovered the coasts of Britain.

480 BC

Greeks forces route the Carthaginians (led by Hamilcar one of the Magoinid kings) at Himera. The ancient city of Himera was an important ancient Greek city of Sicily, situated on the north coast of the island, at the mouth of the river of the same name (the modern Grande), between Panormus (modern Palermo) and Cephaloedium (modern Cefalù). Its remains lie within the borders of the modern comune of Termini Imerese. In 409 BC Carthage retaliates, attacking and destroying the Greek city of Selinus on the southern coast of Sicily, thereby gaining revenge for the defeat at Himera by conquering the town and sacrificing 3,000 captured Greeks. For more than a century Greeks and Carthagenians, who controlled over half of the island, fought over Sicily.

415 BC

The Battle of Syracusa occurs: A large Athenian army of about 25,000 troops landed near Syracusa (modern Syracuse) in Sicily in the fall of 415 bc. Their goal was to expand the Athenian empire. The defenders of Syracuse were able to destroy the Athenian fleet, and with the help of Sparta, defeat the Athenians. Syracusa becomes the greatest city in the Greek world.

264 - 210 BC

The First Punic War was the first of three major wars fought between Carthage and the Roman Republic. For 23 years, the two powers struggled for control and supremacy in the western Mediterranean Sea. The Latin name for the Carthaginians was Punici, derived from Phoenici, referring to the Carthaginians' Phoenician ancestry. Eventually, Rome was victorious and imposed strict financial penalties on the Carthagenians. Sicily was declared by the Romans to be its "first province". By 212 BC Syracusa falls to the Romans and Archimedes is killed. By 210 BC Roman has become the ruling power in the Mediterrean, supplanting both Greece and Carthage.

During the Roman occupation Sicily was prosperous, but her natural resources began to be depleted. Sicilian forests were destroyed for shipbuilding and the fertile fields became the "bread basket" of Rome. Many large estates were established by the Romans who employed thousands of slaves to work the land. The greed of Roman officials impoverished private individuals. The first of the slave rebellions occured in 135 BC. Although the slaves were able tohold off the Roman army for a time, the slaves were eventually defeated with almost 20000 of their number crucified by the Romans. Greek language and culture continued to be important even though the Romans destroyed many of the Greek temples. For more than 500 years Rome ruled the island of Sicily. During the reign of Augustus there was an attempt to introduce Latin to Sicily, but that was only among the privileged classes. Roman domination in Sicily did not attempt to influence the common culture of the people.

149 BC - 146 BC

The Third Punic War between Rome and Carthage occurs. This war was a much smaller engagement than the two previous Punic wars. There was a single event, the Battle of Carthage. As a result of the defeat of Carthage, the city was completed destroyed, all the remaining territory held by Carthage was annexed by Rome and the entire population of Carthage was either killed or enslaved. According to historical sources over 50,000 people who had endured the three year siege of Carthage were sold into slavery. The Third Punic War ended Carthage's independent existence. The city including walls, buildings and the harbour was burned to the ground, and some sources state that the surrounding land was salted to ensure that nothing would ever grow there again. During this time period Jewish settlements were founded by Hebrew traders in Eastern Sicily. They numbered only a minority of the population of Sicily; the first Jews were most likely brought to Sicily as slaves of the Romans. Two Jewish names which are found in the Iannarino and La Manna ancestry are Barone and Balsamo although there are other names of Spanish origin which may also be Jewish.

Christianity comes to Sicily

There was a small Christian community in Syracusa when St. Paul preached there. The Greek and Roman temples were eventually converted into churches. By the 4th century Christianity was common in Sicily.

Lots more to come -- check back later

Return to the top of the page.