TheSicani orSicanians were one of threeancient peoples ofSicily present at the time ofPhoenician andGreekcolonization. The Sicani dwelt east of theElymians and west of theSicels, having, according toDiodorus Siculus,[1] the boundary with the last in the ancient Himera river (Salso) after a series of battles between these tribes.
The Sicani are the oldest inhabitants of Sicily with a recorded name. In the 5th century BCE, the Greek historianThucydides,[2] claims that the Sicani originated on theIberian Peninsula, from around a river they called "Sicanus" and had migrated to Sicily following an invasion by theLigurians.[3][4] (The name Sicanus has been linked to the river known in modernSpanish as theJúcar.) Thucydides' source is unknown, although he often draws on the Sicilian historianAntiochus of Syracuse.[5] Conversely,Timaeus ofTauromenium (writing c. 300 BCE) considers the Sicani to be indigenous to Sicily.[6] A third theory, put forward by some modern scholars, suggests that the Sicani were immigrants, who gained control of areas previously inhabited by native tribes.[7] The testimony of a Sicanian migration by land is supported byGreek geographerPausanias, who does not seem to depend on Thucydides when he asserts that three peoples arrived in Sicily: Sicani,Sicels andPhrygians: the first two came from Italy, while the third came fromTroy.[8]Pliny the Elder andGaius Julius Solinus also mention the Sicani, among the peoples of the Mount Albanus league in theOld Latium.[9][10] The Sicans are mentioned inVirgil'sAeneid as allies of theRutuli,Aurunci and Sacrani of Old Latium.[11]Aulus Gellius andMacrobius remember them with the Aurunci and thePelasgians.[12][13] Archaeological research suggests that the Sicani were influenced at an early stage by theMycenaeans (prior to the Greek colonisation of Sicily).[14]
It is generally agreed by scholars that the Sicani preceded other inhabitants of Sicily in prehistory, namely theElymians andSicels. The former are thought to be the next recorded people to settle Sicily. According toHellanicus of Lesbos, Elymians were a population ofItalic origin, who arrived in Sicily after having fought a war with theOenotrians.[15] They settled in the north-west corner of the island, forcing the Sicanians to move across eastward. The Sicels were the next to arrive, from mainlandItaly, and settled in the east. The arrival of the Sicels is thought to have occurred during the thirteenth or eleventh century BCE. The Sicanians area after this became limited to the south-western part of the island with settlements in the area ofGela andAgrigentum.[16]
The Sicani enter the historical record with the Phoenicians, who established colonies during the 11th century BCE – preceding the Greeks, who founded the colony ofSyracuse. While many other Greek colonies were established around the island, by734 BCE Syracuse had become the largest city in the Greek-speaking world. The Sicani were gradually absorbed by these colonizing peoples. They disappeared as a distinct people following the annexation of Sicily by the Roman Republic.
Minos, according to tradition, went to Sicania, or Sicily, as it is now called, in search ofDaedalus, and there perished by a violent death.[17]
| Sicanian | |
|---|---|
| Sicana | |
| Region | Sicily |
| Extinct | approximately 300 BCE[citation needed] |
| Greek script | |
| Language codes | |
| ISO 639-3 | sxc |
sxc | |
| Glottolog | sica1234 |
Approximate locations of the Sicani and their neighbors, theElymians and theSicels, inSicily around 11th century BC (before the arrival of thePhoenicians and theGreeks). | |
 Tribes of Hellenic Sicily | |
A few short inscriptions using theGreek alphabet have been found in the extinct Sicanian language.[18] Except for names, they have not been translated, and the language isunclassified due to lack of data.[19] Due to the lack of clear linguistic or cultural boundaries between Sicani and Sicel areas to the east, the existence of Sicanian as a distinct language is open to question; it is also unclear whether Sicanian survived as a language as late as the classical period, even in spoken form. On the other hand, the termSicanian remains useful as a means of identifying the older, possibly non-Indo-European linguistic substrate, geographically overlaid by later arrivals such as Sicel and Elymian.[20] Recurring suffixes such as -ina, -ana, -ara, -ssus and -ssa are often found in Sicanian place names (e.g. Camarina, Telmissus and Cimissa), and are thus proposed as a good starting point for identifying Sicanian towns. These tentatively-identified "Sicanian" toponyms seem to display similarities with other non-Indo-European substratal languages within the proposedAegean language family, although these proposed connections remain nebulous.[20]