Refine your search

The results of your search are listed below alongside the search terms you entered on the previous page. You can refine your search by amending any of the parameters in the form and resubmitting it.

Select all Deselect all Add selection to lightbox
Large Small
Thumbnails per page
Agrigento was founded on a plateau overlooking the sea, with two nearby rivers, the Hypsas and the Akragas, and a ridge to the north offering a degree of natural fortification. Its establishment took place around 582–580 BCE and is attributed to Greek colonists from Gela, who named it 'Akragas'.<br/><br/> Akragas grew rapidly, becoming one of the richest and most famous of the Greek colonies of Magna Graecia (Greater Greece). It came to prominence under the 6th-century tyrants Phalaris and Theron, and became a democracy after the overthrow of Theron's son Thrasydaeus.<br/><br/> Although the city remained neutral in the conflict between Athens and Syracuse, its democracy was overthrown when the city was sacked by the Carthaginians in 406 BCE. Akragas never fully recovered its former status, though it revived to some extent under Timoleon in the latter part of the 4th century.
Agrigento was founded on a plateau overlooking the sea, with two nearby rivers, the Hypsas and the Akragas, and a ridge to the north offering a degree of natural fortification. Its establishment took place around 582–580 BCE and is attributed to Greek colonists from Gela, who named it 'Akragas'.<br/><br/> Akragas grew rapidly, becoming one of the richest and most famous of the Greek colonies of Magna Graecia (Greater Greece). It came to prominence under the 6th-century tyrants Phalaris and Theron, and became a democracy after the overthrow of Theron's son Thrasydaeus.<br/><br/> Although the city remained neutral in the conflict between Athens and Syracuse, its democracy was overthrown when the city was sacked by the Carthaginians in 406 BCE. Akragas never fully recovered its former status, though it revived to some extent under Timoleon in the latter part of the 4th century.
Agrigento was founded on a plateau overlooking the sea, with two nearby rivers, the Hypsas and the Akragas, and a ridge to the north offering a degree of natural fortification. Its establishment took place around 582–580 BCE and is attributed to Greek colonists from Gela, who named it 'Akragas'.<br/><br/> Akragas grew rapidly, becoming one of the richest and most famous of the Greek colonies of Magna Graecia (Greater Greece). It came to prominence under the 6th-century tyrants Phalaris and Theron, and became a democracy after the overthrow of Theron's son Thrasydaeus.<br/><br/> Although the city remained neutral in the conflict between Athens and Syracuse, its democracy was overthrown when the city was sacked by the Carthaginians in 406 BCE. Akragas never fully recovered its former status, though it revived to some extent under Timoleon in the latter part of the 4th century.
Agrigento was founded on a plateau overlooking the sea, with two nearby rivers, the Hypsas and the Akragas, and a ridge to the north offering a degree of natural fortification. Its establishment took place around 582–580 BCE and is attributed to Greek colonists from Gela, who named it 'Akragas'.<br/><br/> Akragas grew rapidly, becoming one of the richest and most famous of the Greek colonies of Magna Graecia (Greater Greece). It came to prominence under the 6th-century tyrants Phalaris and Theron, and became a democracy after the overthrow of Theron's son Thrasydaeus.<br/><br/> Although the city remained neutral in the conflict between Athens and Syracuse, its democracy was overthrown when the city was sacked by the Carthaginians in 406 BCE. Akragas never fully recovered its former status, though it revived to some extent under Timoleon in the latter part of the 4th century.
Agrigento was founded on a plateau overlooking the sea, with two nearby rivers, the Hypsas and the Akragas, and a ridge to the north offering a degree of natural fortification. Its establishment took place around 582–580 BCE and is attributed to Greek colonists from Gela, who named it 'Akragas'.<br/><br/> Akragas grew rapidly, becoming one of the richest and most famous of the Greek colonies of Magna Graecia (Greater Greece). It came to prominence under the 6th-century tyrants Phalaris and Theron, and became a democracy after the overthrow of Theron's son Thrasydaeus.<br/><br/> Although the city remained neutral in the conflict between Athens and Syracuse, its democracy was overthrown when the city was sacked by the Carthaginians in 406 BCE. Akragas never fully recovered its former status, though it revived to some extent under Timoleon in the latter part of the 4th century.
Agrigento was founded on a plateau overlooking the sea, with two nearby rivers, the Hypsas and the Akragas, and a ridge to the north offering a degree of natural fortification. Its establishment took place around 582–580 BCE and is attributed to Greek colonists from Gela, who named it 'Akragas'.<br/><br/> Akragas grew rapidly, becoming one of the richest and most famous of the Greek colonies of Magna Graecia (Greater Greece). It came to prominence under the 6th-century tyrants Phalaris and Theron, and became a democracy after the overthrow of Theron's son Thrasydaeus.<br/><br/> Although the city remained neutral in the conflict between Athens and Syracuse, its democracy was overthrown when the city was sacked by the Carthaginians in 406 BCE. Akragas never fully recovered its former status, though it revived to some extent under Timoleon in the latter part of the 4th century.
Agrigento was founded on a plateau overlooking the sea, with two nearby rivers, the Hypsas and the Akragas, and a ridge to the north offering a degree of natural fortification. Its establishment took place around 582–580 BCE and is attributed to Greek colonists from Gela, who named it 'Akragas'.<br/><br/> Akragas grew rapidly, becoming one of the richest and most famous of the Greek colonies of Magna Graecia (Greater Greece). It came to prominence under the 6th-century tyrants Phalaris and Theron, and became a democracy after the overthrow of Theron's son Thrasydaeus.<br/><br/> Although the city remained neutral in the conflict between Athens and Syracuse, its democracy was overthrown when the city was sacked by the Carthaginians in 406 BCE. Akragas never fully recovered its former status, though it revived to some extent under Timoleon in the latter part of the 4th century.
The Loggia dei Lanzi, also called the Loggia della Signoria, was built between 1376 and 1382 by Benci di Cione and Simone di Francesco Talenti, possibly following a design by Jacopo di Sione, to house the assemblies of the people and hold public ceremonies, such as the swearing into office of the Gonfaloniers and the Priors.<br/><br/> The name Loggia dei Lanzi dates back to the reign of Grand Duke Cosimo I, when it was used to house his German mercenary pikemen. After the construction of the Uffizi at the rear of the Loggia, the Loggia's roof was modified by Bernardo Buontalenti and became a terrace from which the Medici princes could watch ceremonies in the piazza.
Italy: A marble statue portraying 'Hercules and Cacus', Piazza della Signoria, Florence. Sculpted by Baccio Bandinelli (1488 - 1560) between 1525 and 1534. Hercules is seen here subduing and later killing the fire-belching monster Cacus who had been stealing cattle. This was during the completion of Hercules' tenth labour.
The Roman mythographer Julius Pollux, writing in the 2nd century BCE, asserts (Onomasticon I, 45–49) that Purple Tyrian dye was first discovered by Heracles, or rather, by his dog, whose mouth was stained purple from chewing on snails along the coast of the Levant.
In Greek mythology, the Lernaean Hydra was an ancient serpent-like chthonic water beast, with reptilian traits (as its name evinces), that possessed many heads — the poets mention more heads than the vase-painters could paint, and for each head cut off it grew two more — and poisonous breath and blood so virulent even its tracks were deadly. The Hydra of Lerna was killed by Heracles as the second of his Twelve Labours. Its lair was the lake of Lerna in the Argolid, though archaeology has borne out the myth that the sacred site was older even than the Mycenaean city of Argos since Lerna was the site of the myth of the Danaids. Beneath the waters was an entrance to the Underworld, and the Hydra was its guardian.<br/><br/> The Hydra was the offspring of Typhon and Echidna, both of whom were noisome offspring of the earth goddess Gaia.
The Roman mythographer Julius Pollux, writing in the 2nd century BCE, asserts (Onomasticon I, 45–49) that Purple Tyrian dye was first discovered by Heracles, or rather, by his dog, whose mouth was stained purple from chewing on snails along the coast of the Levant.<br/><br/> However, the recent archaeological discovery of substantial numbers of Murex shells on Crete suggests that the Minoans may have pioneered the extraction of Imperial purple centuries before the Tyrians. Dating from collocated pottery suggests the dye may have been produced during the Middle Minoan period in the 20th–18th century BCE. Accumulations of crushed murex shells from a hut at the site of Coppa Nevigata in southern Italy may indicate production of purple dye there from at least the 18th century BCE.