To overcome the issues caused by the different heights of the ground, as well as to build the steps used as seating, the ancient Romans used the technique of substructions, with the function of supporting the building above. Those of the theatre of Agrigentum, located on the western side, consisted...

The term indicates political regimes in which power is centralised in the hands of the few, who differ from the rest of the population in terms of economic or social merits....

The term democracy is usually understood in the positive sense of “government of the people”. Originally, however, the expression was used by the political opponents of Pericles – the founder of Athenian democracy – to refer in a derogatory way to the government of the plebs, understood as ...

This term refers to a room, with origins in Greek and Roman art, usually uncovered and delimited by a semicircular structure. It can be found in private or public buildings; in the latter case it will probably have monumental dimensions....

Phalaris was a tyrant of ancient Agrigento especially known for his cruelty: he had a torture machine, a bronze bull called the Bull of Phalaris, inside of which he roasted convicted people alive! A controversial individual, he was accused of taking power by deception, but under his leadership the...

As Cicero explains in In Verrem II, the arrival of the Romans to Agrigentum caused some friction between the old and new citizens: for this reason, in 193 BC the praetor Lucius Cornelius Scipio Asiaticus, brother of Scipio Africanus, issued a law that established a higher prevalence in the Senate of...

The bouleuterion, the hall of the council of representatives of the people, was built between the end of the 4th and the beginning of the 3rd century BC. The structure was rectangular, with columns at the front, which enclosed a semicircular cavea open to the east. The six rows of seats in the sta...

The ekklesiasterion of Agrigento was built around the 4th-3rd century BC and originally would have been circular in shape. Today only a portion of the cavea remains, which is semicircular in shape and has nineteen concentric rows of steps. [caption id="attachment_13632" align="aligncenter" width...

Demeter and Persephone were the goddesses associated with the fertility of nature and humankind. Legend has it that Persephone, Demeter’s daughter, was kidnapped by Hades and taken to the realm of the dead. Despaired by her disappearance, Demeter managed to get her daughter back, but since she ha...

In Roman cities, these terms indicated the streets running north-to-south (cardo) and east-to-west (decumanus). The cardo maximus and the decumanus maximus were the two main streets of the settlement, and the point where they intersected was usually the forum. ...