Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
A Byzantine Interlude
After Rome fell to the Visigoths in AD 470, Sicily was occupied by Vandals from North
Africa, but their tenure was relatively brief. In 535 the Byzantine general Belisarius landed
an army and was welcomed by a population that, despite over 700 years of Roman occupa-
tion, was still largely Greek, both in language and custom. The Byzantines were eager to
use Sicily as a launching pad for the retaking of lands owned by the combined forces of
Arabs, Berbers and Spanish Muslims (collectively known as the Saracens), but their
dreams were not to be realised.
Sunken ships litter the sea floor around Sicily. Discoveries from these shipwrecks are displayed at mu-
seums throughout the region. Three of the most extraordinary are the remains of a Carthaginian warship
in Marsala, the statue of a dancing satyr in Mazara del Vallo and the collection of ancient amphorae in Li-
pari.
