Drepana
| Drepana | |
|---|---|
| Comune | |
| Drepana (modern-day Trapani) | |
  Drepana Location of Drepana in Italy | |
| Coordinates: 38°01′N 12°31′E / 38.017°N 12.517°E | |
| Country | Italy |
| Region | Sicily |
| Province | Trapani (TP) |
| Elevation | 3 m (10 ft) |
| Time zone | UTC+1 (CET) |
| • Summer (DST) | UTC+2 (CEST) |
Drepana (Latin: Drepanum; Greek: Drepanon, sing., Drepana, pl.), a harbour town on the west-coast of Sicily, was the site of a crushing Roman defeat by the Carthaginians, in 249 BC.
History
The town was founded by the Elymians to serve as the port of the nearby city of Erice (ancient Eryx), which overlooks it from Monte San Giuliano. The city sits on a low-lying promontory jutting out into the Mediterranean Sea. The town, twenty-five miles north of Lilybaeum, had been fortified by the Carthaginians, who resettled part of the population to Eryx. In 241 it was besieged by Gaius Lutatius Catulus.[1] and later used as a naval base
It was originally named Drépanon from the Greek word for "sickle", because of the curving shape of its harbour.[2]
The town features in the Aeneid as the site of the death and funeral games of Anchises.[2]
Carthage seized control of the city in 260 BC, subsequently making it an important naval base. The naval battle of Drepanum, took place in 249 BC between the fleets of Carthage and the Roman Republic.
The town was ceded it to Rome in 241 BC following the Battle of the Aegates in the First Punic War.
It was named Drepanum by the Romans. It never achieved the status of a civitas in Roman times.
Today, the town is called Trapani.
References
- ↑ Dillon, Matthew; Garland, Lynda (2005). Ancient Rome: From the Early Republic to the Assassination of Julius Caesar. London: Routledge. p. 190. ISBN 0-415-22458-6.
- 1 2 Smith (ed.), William (1878). A Dictionary of Greek and Roman Geography, vol.1. London: John Murray. p. 788. Retrieved Aug 27, 2018.
See also
