Page 173 - The Rough Guide of Sicily

the island. The town inevitably became a flashpoint, and in 480 BC the Carthaginian

leader Hamilcar landed a huge force nearby. Pitted against the combined armies of
Akragas (Agrigento), Gela and Syracuse, the invading force was demolished and
Hamilcar himself perished – either assassinated by Greek spies before the battle, or
killed when he threw himself onto the pyre afterwards, depending on whose version
you read. The outcome of the battle marked a significant upheaval of the classical

world – and, in the case of Sicily, a new balance of power, with the Greeks in the
ascendant. But their glory was short-lived: in 409 BC Hamilcar’s nephew, Hannibal,
wreaked his revenge and razed the city to the ground, forcing the surviving citizens
west to what is now Termini Imerese.

The site

All that’s left of the important Chalcidinian settlement that once stood here is the
massive Tempio della Vittoria, erected to commemorate the defeat of the
Carthaginians – indeed, the labour was carried out by the captured Carthaginians
themselves. It’s a conventional Doric construction, with six columns at the front and
back, and fourteen at the sides. Despite the paucity of the remains, and the proximity of

the road and rail line, the solitary ruin does have a powerful appeal. It’s said to stand
on the very site of the 480 BC battle, and after the victory some of the rich
Carthaginian spoils were pinned up inside. The acropolis lay just inland, and, though
excavations have uncovered a necropolis and some smaller temples, much work
remains to be done at the site. There is a good museum (same hours and ticket),
housing some of the items dug up at the site (others are in museums in Termini and
Palermo), including a few of the striking lion’s-head waterspouts that drained the

temple’s roof. One strangely moving display is of the grave of a married couple, the
wife curled up next to her husband, her leg resting on his.

< Back to Cefalù and the Monti Madonie

Termini Imerese

Around 35km west of Cefalù, TERMINI IMERESE is the last major town before the
capital, Palermo. The coast on either side is dishearteningly industrial, but Termini

has the magnificent backdrop of Monte Calogero (1326m) as some compensation and
– once you’ve negotiated the congested streets – an airy upper town with a stunning
belvedere that’s worth the trip. Termini was originally settled by Greeks from Zancle
(Messina) in the seventh century BC, and grew in importance as it absorbed the influx
of survivors from the destroyed city of Himera, 13km to the east. Later, as Therma
Himeraia, it flourished under the spa-loving Romans, and today the town is still
famous in Italy for its waters, reputed to be good for arthritis and pasta-making.