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Modern Description: The ancient settlement lies under the modern town, which is 39 km E of Palermo on the N shore of Sicily. Few ancient monuments are known, either because they were destroyed, like the forum, or because they lie under modern structures.
The Carthaginians, together with some Libyan volunteers, founded the city in 407 B.C., immediately after the destruction of Himera (Diod. 13.79.8). The area had been inhabited since the earliest prehistory, as shown by the numerous prehistoric caves which range from a rather early phase of the Paleolithic period to the Bronze Age. The best known of these caves is the so-called Riparo del Castello.
The city was presumably founded here because of the hot springs, already known in earlier times (Pind. Ol. 12). Its history is not easy to trace since the city shifted frequently from Greek to Carthaginian domination. Agathokles was born there ca. 361-360 B.C. and at that time the site was under Carthaginian control. It was conquered by the Romans during the first Punic war in 252 B.C., and from that moment, to judge from its monuments, it must have prospered. It became civitas decumana in 210 B.C. and colony at the time of Augustus. It had its own mint, both before and after the Roman occupation, and issued silver and bronze coinage.
We have information on, as well as actual remains of, many monuments of the Roman period but none for earlier times. The rather large forum (130 x 18.4 m), near the present Duomo and Belvedere, consisted of an open square; remains of columns and steps of exedrae have been found. In the Palmieri garden are remains of a large building, perhaps the curia. Other ruins have been found in other parts of the city, among which a mosaic floor depicting a fishing scene, probably dating from the Antonine period. The most important monuments known at present are the amphitheater and the aqueduct. The former is very poorly preserved, but since it was studied during the 19th c. its main details are known. The amphitheater (87 x 58 m) had two sections of seats each containing 14 rows of steps; it could therefore accommodate ca. 4000 spectators. The arena was 51 by 27 m. Impressive remains of the aqueduct, perhaps the largest in Sicily, lie outside the city, partly along the road to Caccamo and partly near the Palermo-Catania highway. These are two branches of a single aqueduct which brought water to Termini from two different sources; the major spring is that of Brucato, ca. 8 km distant. Worthy of note are a hexagonal tower which served as a castellum aquae, and a few arches, some single and some in two superimposed rows, scattered through the fields. The aqueduct, at least in its initial phase (it remained in use until 1860) dates from the end of the 2d or the beginning of the 1st c. B.C. This date is suggested by an inscription once in evidence on the hexagonal tower but now lost.
Most of the finds from the area, including the Fishing Scene mosaic, various sculptures and numerous inscriptions, are in the Civic Museum of the city; some items are in the National Museum of Palermo. (V. TUSA)
Wikidata ID: Q94300443
Trismegistos Geo: 22348

Info: Princeton Encyclopedia

(Princeton Encyclopedia of Classical Sites, from Perseus Project)

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