Sicilyrrrland of Countless Invasions

By Jack Dionne

When our gallant American boys marched into the ancient city of Syracuse, in Sicily, just a few days since, I could not help wondering how many of them realized how historic a place it was that they were taking over; or how many of our,people here at home remembered that Sicily is one of the world's most historic battlefields, and that Syracuse at one time fairly saved the soul of the world, and of Christendom.

I believe every reader of these words would do himself a real favor if he would dig up a book of European history just at this time, and read the dramatic story of Sicily, beginning with the formation of the first Greek city of Cantana about 78 years before Christ, and through to those fateful centuries beginning about 830 A.D. when all the forces of Christianity and of civilization had their bulwark and their rallying ground in Syracuse. It is worth while in particular to recall the fact that for 230 years Syracuse was the center of 'Christianity and of civilization, withstanding the overwhelming hordes of the Saracen through all those years and generations. It was only with the coming of the Normans in 1060 that the long struggle between the Sicilian Christians and the Saracens, ended. That Norman Conquest took in all of Sicily and settled all internal battling. But had it not been for the noble defense of the Christians of Syracuse for more than two hundred years, the world might well have been set back a thousand years in its upward climb toward enlightenment.

As far as invasion is concerned, Sicily has been invaded more times by armies and navies than Hollywood has been by movie-mad maidens. ft was no novelty to that warscarred old Island when the Allies landed. The same thing had been going on with frequency since about 50O years B.C. Syracuse has been attacked literally thousands of times; Cantana more often than Syracuse; many of the other Sicilian-Grecian cities countless times. The history of Sicily is the history of warfare. Lying as it does in a spot that makes it a stepping-stone between Africa and Europe, all warring peoples of the Mediterranean have used it over and over again. And when outsiders were not invading Sicily, various divisions of the big island were fighting among themselves. The raising of grain was the chief industry of Sicily from early days; but fighting was its most serious business.

Your history will recall to your minds the fact that Sicily, in spite of its warlike record, has done great cultural things, also. Great artists, great poets, great dramatists, great orators, great scientists were produced and lived their lives in Sicily, which, from the beginning, was essentially a Greek land. In fact, for several centuries before Christ when the Greek cities along the East, South, and part of the North Coast of Sicily were enjoying a booming civilization, Sicily was known as "Magna Graecia", or Greater Greece. The great Sicilian Greek cities were bigger and more important than Athens and the cities of Old Greece. And when Old Greece got jealous and invaded Sicily, the Sicil- ians licked them, and sent them home to stay.

The great men of the world came to Sicily, great artists, great teachers, great writers, great architects, great builders. Plato, greatest of all ancient philosophers and teachers, came to Syracuse as teacher and adviser of the Tyrant Dionysius. Archimedes, the most famous ancient inventor and mathematician, was a citizen of Syracuse. Theocritus was Sicily's greatest poet. Aeschylus, the immortal Greek poet, moved his home to Sicily and died in the city of Gela on the South Coast-the ,city where the American forces landed just recently. He was one of the greatest of the Greek dramatists, and his tomb is to be seen in Gela, with one of the world's most famous epitaphs engraved thereon. Ruins of the mighty theatres in which the plays of Aeschylus, Sophocles, and Euripides were often shown in Sicily are still to be found in the Sicilian cities of Syracuse, Taormina, Catania, Tindaro, Palazzolo Acreide, and Alcamo.

It was probably in Sicily that Hitler learned such infamies as he performed at Lidice. In the year 480 B.C. the great and growing city of Carthage decided to take over Sicily, so they sent a great army and navy under Hamilcar to do the job. But the S'icilian Greeks beat and killed Hamilcar, at Himera, and thus started a long peace with Carthage. But 71 years later, in 40 8.C., Hannibal, the grandson of Hamilcar, invaded Sicily again, and this time successfully, for he took the town of Silinius, sacked Himera, and slaughtered 3,000 Sicilians on the grave of his grandfather. Then he sailed back to Carthage. All together, Carthage invaded Sicily five times. Sicily returned the compliment once or twice by invading Africa and Carthage.

The Greek cities of Sicily, during several hundred years of prosperity before the Christian era, were all separate governments, each headid by a Tyrant. That term in those days did not mean what it does today. The Tyrant was simply a ruler, and he could or need not be a real tyrant at all. Many famous men were Tyrants of these cities, but greatest of all was Dionysius of Syracuse, who reigned for 38 years; a long reign for any kind of a tyrant. He encouraged all culture, preferably the drama and public speaking. He was himself a dramatist of ability, and every year or so he entered one of his writings in the dramatic festivals at Athens, Greece. Finally his play, "The Ransom of Hector," won first prize. He celebrated his victory by a great drunk, which left him so nervous that his doctor gave him a sedative, and he took too much of it and it killed him, thus ending one of the great Sicilian careers.

Archimedes, of Syracuse, is related to have created so tremendous a set of burning glasses that he used them to set fire to a Roman fleet that was invading Sicily, thus destroying them.

When the Greeks first invaded Sicily they found there two ancient peoples whom history knows little about, the Saculi on the east coast. and the 'Sicani on the west. The Greeks chased them around, and settled where they pleased, building Greek cities very rapidly. But before the Greeks came the island had frequently been invaded by the Phoenicians, who had some settlements on the Sicilian coasts. Sicily and Lower Italy were colonized by the Greeks at about the same time. The Greeks fought the Phoenicians, Saculi, and Sicani, and also fought between themselves. Their first fights against invaders came when Carthage moved against them in the year 480 B.C. Then the Athenians invaded and were beaten. Then Carthage came back four more times. Rome and Sicily fought for centuries. Two great slave revolts took place in Sicily in the centuries immediately B.C., and there was mu,ch civil war on the Island. Rome colonized Sicily, but the Island remained Greek. In the fourth century A.D. came new invaders. The Vandals went down through Spain into Africa, and took over Cartfrage. Thus Vandals replaced Phoenicians,, and they invaded Sicily and subdued the entire fsland, as well as Sardinia and Corsica.

They ruled Sicily from 4D to 477, when the Goths invaded Sicily, and took it over and ruled it for twenty years. In the Gothic Wars Rome won Sicily back in 535 A.D., and Sicily remained a Roman province for over four hundred years. fnternal wars in Italy swept back and forth over Sicily. There was seldom peace. St. Paul visited Syracuse in the first century A.D. Christianity took early root there, until Syracuse became the citadel of Christendom. In the 6th century A.D. the long war started between Christians and Saracens in Sicily that lasted four hundred years. Tirtre and again parts of Sicily were plundered by the Mohammedans. They came from Alexandria and sacked Syracuse at one time. They got a toehold in Sicily and gradually increased it by spasmodic fighting. They occupied the south of the Island. They raided all of Sicily all the time. They finally got half of the Island in their possession. fn 877, Syracuse fell and passed under the Mohammedan yoke. Besides fighting the Christians, the Mohammeds in Sicily fought among'themselves most of the time. In 908, Sicily passed entirely into Saracen hands. In 1038, Rome invaded Sicily again and fought the Saracens, getting most of the Island back. Then they lost it again under other leaders, and the Saracens again took charge. But Christianity and the Greek language lived through it all in Sicily.

Then the Normans came in 106O, and they cleaned up all elements and took over the Island. They brought the French language with them. Strange to relate Greek, Arabic, and French"tongues all finally gave way to a dialect of ltalian, the Sicilian language, spoken all over the Island now. The Normans ruled wisely, encouraged all religions, etc., and warring stopped in the Island. The Normans held England at the same time they did Sicily, so much trade grew up between the two fslands, since both were Norman possessions. Then inll94, the Germans came and conquered Sicily, and for many years the land was torn with war and revolt of all kinds. Sicily had Empero/s and Kings from then on. Finally Sicily was absorbed into the modern Italian Kingdom, where we find her today. Now, once again, the shock of war rings across the big Island.

But, after reading the preceding synopsis of her warlike history, do you blame me for saying that the Allied invasion was no novelty to that Island.

ttPaul Bunytntltt

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Friendship

"A true friend," said Mose, "is de man whut is jes' de same t'you afteh he done got prosperity."

"You is wrong'bout dat, boy," said Abner. "H'it is jes' de opposite, in fack. A friend is a fellah whut treats YOU jes' de same afteh de vice-versas is done gotcha."

Why He Quit

"That fellow on crutches is Bill FIy, who got famous years ago writing letters in the sky with smoke."

"\i[fhy did he guit?"

"His motor went dead on him one day, and he got writer's cramp."

Honest

A friend may smile and bid you hail, Yet wish you with the Devil; But when a good dog wags his tail, You know he's on the level.

, EFFICIENCY POINTERS

All men are created equal-to something.

To get UP in the world you must get DOWN to work. Hard knocks never hurt a man, unless he is doing the hard lcrocking himself.

What YOU don't lsrow about YOUR business is the point where your competitor skins you.

If you do your work with a snap, you may some day enjoy that kind of a job.

In killing time you often murder a fine opportunity.

Will Power

After having shot his enemy full of holes with his trusty forty-five, the toughest citizen in Westville immediately gave himself up to the authorities.

"\ilhat made you shoot this man?" asked the sheriff.

"Self control was what done it," proudly replied the toughest citizen. "If .it hadn't been fqr that I'd broke his neck and chewed both his ears off."

Peddling And Selling

The parrot talks when you leave his cage uncovered. He cannot reason, therefore hc often talks out of turn. To be a successdul salesman it is more necessary to reason than it is to talk. The parrot is a pcddler.

Wasting His Wisdom

A man traveling in the mountains of Arkansas, stopped at a cabin for a drink A woman handed him water, and as he quenched his thirst, he talked for a time of things he had seen and places he had been, and of wonders he had seen in different parts of the great world. She listened with deepest interest. Finally she lighted her pipe, smoked thoughtfully for a minute, and said: "You know, stranger, if I lcrowed as much as you do I'd go som'eres and start me a little grocery."

Why Divorce

The Judge said to the dusky woman who was seeking a divorce from her husband:

"Mandy, do you believe in divorce?"

She said, "Yassuh, Jedge, I sho do."

He said, "Well, tell me, Mandy, just why you believe in divorce?"

She said, "Well, Jedge, h'it's disaway. I jes' sorta feels we needs some way t'keep us women in circulation."

Watch Yourself Go By

Just stand aside and watch yourself go by, Think of yourself as "he" instead of "f," Note clearly, as the other men you note, The bag-kneed trousers and the seedy coat. Pick flaws, find fault, forget the man is you, And try to make your estimate ring true. Despise your cowardice; condemn what'er You note of falseness in you, any where. Defend not one defect that shames your eyeJust stand aside, and watch yourself go by.

And then, with eyes unveiled to what you loathe, To sins that with sweet charity you'd clothe, Back to your self-walled tenement you go With tolerance for those who dwell below. The faults of others will dwarf and shrink; Love's chain grows stronger by one mighty linf When you with "he" as substitute for "I," Have stood aside, and watched yourself go by.

W. Gillilan.

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