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Temple of Athena (Syracuse)

Temple of Athena
Tempio di Athena nel Duomo di Siracusa.jpg
Columns of the temple incorporated into the Duomo
Alternate name Athenaion
Location Syracuse, Italy
Type Temple
Part of Syracuse and the Rocky Necropolis of Pantalica
History
Periods 5th century BC
Cultures Siciliote-Greek

Coordinates: 37°03′35″N 15°17′37″E / 37.059604°N 15.293694°E / 37.059604; 15.293694

The Temple of Athena is a Doric temple built in Syracuse in the 5th century BC by the tyrant Gelo after his victory over the Carthaginians at the Battle of Himera. The temple was preceded by a cult site which dated back to the 8th century BC, with an altar discovered in excavation at the beginning of the twentieth century, and by an earlier temple from the middle of the sixth century BC.

Right where the temple of Athena is located, there once was another, more archaic temple, still in the doric style, as archaeological discoveries during the excavations of 1912 and 1917 confirmed. They included architectural elements, terracottas and part of an altar, datable to the sixth century BC.

The Athenaion was built, according to the literary sources, by Gelo, the first tyrant of Syracuse, who came from the Deinomenid dynasty of Gela, after his victory over the Carthaginians at the Battle of Himera in 480 BC. The similarity of the Temple of Athena to the Temple of Victory at Himera has convinced archaeologists that both the date and circumstances of the temples construction given in the literary sources is correct.

The temple was dedicated to Athena, goddess of wisdom and warfare, as testified by Cicero in his Verrine Orations and also by Plato and Athenaeus. Cicero provides extensive details in his speech, claiming that the temple had been respected by the conqueror of Syracuse, Marcus Claudius Marcellus and had only been plundered by the praetor Verres.


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