A Jar of Honey from Mount Hybla Author:Leigh Hunt, Richard Doyle General Books publication date: 2009 Original publication date: 1897 Original Publisher: Smith, Elder Subjects: Sicily (Italy) Sicily Pastoral poetry Theocritus History / General History / Europe / Italy Literary Collections / Essays Literary Criticism / General Literary Criticism / European / English, Irish, Scottish,... more » Welsh Literary Criticism / Poetry Travel / Europe / Italy Notes: This is a black and white OCR reprint of the original. It has no illustrations and there may be typos or missing text. When you buy the General Books edition of this book you get free trial access to Million-Books.com where you can select from more than a million books for free. Excerpt: CHAPTER III. GLANCES AT ANCIENT SICILIAN HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY. VICISSITUDES OP SICILIAN GOVERNMENT. -- GLANCES AT PHALARIS, STESICHORUS, EMPEDOCLES, HIERO I., SIMO- NIDES, EPICHARMUS, DIONTSIUS I., DAMON AND PYTHIAS, DAMOCLES, DIONYSIUS II., DION, PLATO, AGATHOCLES, HANNIBAL, HIERO II., THEOCRITUS, ARCHIMEDES, MARCEL- LUS, VEHRES J AND PARTICULARS RELATING TO GELLIAS. ICILY being one of those small, beautiful, and abundant countries which excite the cupidity of larger ones, has had as many foreign masters as the poor Princess of Babylon in Boccaccio, who, on her way to be married to the King of Colchos, fell into the hands of nine husbands. First, in all probability, came subjugators from the Italian continent; then Phoenicians, or commercial invaders; then, undoubtedly, Greeks; then Carthaginians; then Eomans, Goths, Saracens, Normans, Germans, Frenchmen, Spaniards, Gallo-Spaniards, Frenchmen again, Gallo-Spaniards again; and in the possession of these last it remains. Under the Greeks, its cities grew into powerful independent states. Syracuse was once twenty-two miles in circumference. The most prominent names in the ancient history of Sicily are touched upon in the following list. Phalaris, tyrant of Agrigentum, who roasted people in a brazen bull, in which he was ultimately made...« less