28 August 2025 The Future is the Product of the Past

Sicily: Archaeologists make striking discovery in Segesta

Archaeological excavations in the Segesta Archaeological Park, investigating a “monumental edifice” near the portico at the end of the old agora discovered a surprising find.  Excavators uncovered the carved name and a list of works of an elite Sicilian who had financially backed and directed the construction of many massive public constructions at the base of an old statue plinth.

Since the beginning of May, the team of archaeologists, together with graduate students and doctoral students from various universities, have been investigating the Segesta bazaar and its public buildings.

The excavations ended last Friday and were directed by Anna Magnetto, Professor of Greek History at Scuola Normale Superiore and Director of the Saet Laboratory, Magna Graecia at the University of Pisa, and Maria Cecilia Parra, Professor of Archaeology in Ancient Sicily, and by Riccardo Olivito (IMT researcher from Lucca) ) Coordinating on-site under the supervision of Rossella Giglio, Director of Segesta Archaeological Park. Scuola Normale Honorary Professor Carmine Ampolo was present to study the epigraphic material and historical aspects.

Segesta sicily
Photo: Università di Pisa

“These are very important results, which demonstrate the fundamental role that the patronage of the great families played in the history of ancient Sicily and the prominence that was given to them in the most important places”, comments Professor Anna Magnetto, “just as happens now with the great sponsors of renovations and events”.

Segesta was designed imitating the pattern of the main cities around Anatolia and that’s what gave it a huge scenic effect from II to I century BC. Segesta’s square was created on three sloping terraces in the second century BC.

Archaeologists segesta
Archaeologists doing excavations at Segesta Archaeological Park have discovered the name of an elite Sicilian carved into the base of a statue plinth. ( Università di Pisa )

“The excavation”, explains Maria Cecilia Parra, “took place on the southern side of the large square, where a monumental portico (stoa) marked the end of the agora. It was built by making large cuts in the rock, as was made clear by the powerful substructures brought to light along the slope: a complex as imposing as the one on the north side brought to light in previous years”.

The upper portico faced the square, in front of a monumental building, with a lower-level façade facing the road. Here there was a large doorway, with rooms that had an important public function: thanks to the new discoveries, we know that those who entered could read on a base, preserved in its original place, the name and works of a prominent figure at Segesta, one of those who between the 2nd and 1st centuries B.C. supported financially and took care of monumental public building works: Diodorus, son of Tittelos.

segesta 2
Posing with the Greek inscription unearthed at Segesta Archaeological Park. ( Università di Pisa )

“It was the well-preserved and legible base of one of the statues erected by this personage, who was already known for having erected the statue of his sister, priestess of Aphrodite Urania, found in the Doric temple in the 17th century. Another Greek inscription, discovered near the gate, thus enriches the picture of the Hellenistic-Roman Segesta’s evidence of evergetism, of munificence towards the community: it bears the same name that was inscribed on a statue base (now in Palermo) in the theatre of Segesta, perhaps that of its benefactor. Diodorus placed here the statue of his father Tittelos, who had been a gymnasiarch and had in turn financed the construction of a building for the city’s young people. All this evidence clearly shows the role that the great families played in the history of ancient Sicily.”

“The results achieved this year,’ Magnetto concludes, ‘are extraordinary. A whole new piece of evidence has been added to our knowledge of the ancient city, showing an unprecedented archaeological complex, which the new inscription will allow us to interpret. I would like to add that none of this would have been possible without the support of the Scuola Normale and the farsightedness of its director, Luigi Ambrosio, who created the conditions for us to continue our research safely and calmly even at such a complex time. We are particularly pleased to be able to repay his trust with these important results”.

Source: Normale News

Related Articles

Scientists may have discovered pieces of the Asteroid that caused the extinction of the Dinosaurs

14 May 2022

14 May 2022

Scientists are piecing together remnants of the day the extinction of the dinosaurs began. A tiny fragment of the asteroid...

Neanderthal Footprints Discovered On the Beach of Matalascañas (Huelva)

4 May 2021

4 May 2021

A stroll along the beach of Matalascanas (Huelva) in June of last year unearthed a spectacular scenario that occurred in...

Archaeologists found three large shipwrecks, 139 Viking Graves, and a ship-shaped mound in Sweden

21 October 2024

21 October 2024

Exciting discoveries in Sweden! Archaeologists were preparing to investigate a Stone Age settlement outside Varberg. But they came across a...

Well-Preserved Funerary Enclosures, Mausoleums, and Gladiator Epitaph Discovered in Ancient Roman Colony of Liternum, Italy

22 March 2025

22 March 2025

Recent archaeological excavations in the ancient Roman colony of Liternum, located in present-day Giugliano in Campania, Italy, have unveiled significant...

Ancient Well Dating Back to 7th Century AD Discovered on Failaka Island

18 March 2025

18 March 2025

An ancient well, dating back to the pre-Islamic and early Islamic periods, has been discovered on Failaka Island, providing valuable...

Archaeology team discovers a 7,000-year-old and 13-hectare settlement in Serbia

30 April 2024

30 April 2024

Researchers have discovered a previously unknown Late Neolithic settlement near the Tamiš River in Northeast Serbia. The discovery was made...

3500-year-old ceramic oven discovered in Turkey’s Tepecik Mound

24 August 2021

24 August 2021

A 3,500-year-old ceramic oven was unearthed in Tepecik Mound in the Çine district of Aydın, in western Turkey. Tepecik Höyük,...

A 4000-Year-Old Seal Found in the prehistoric coastal site of Kalba on the Gulf of Oman

5 April 2024

5 April 2024

Archaeologists discovered a Gulf-type seal made of soft stone dating to the end of the third millennium BC at Kalba,...

Earliest Modern Human Genome Identified

7 April 2021

7 April 2021

The fossilized skull of a woman in the Czech Republic provided the oldest modern human genome to date, which has...

Excavation of Carlisle Roman bathhouse uncovers a connection between the site and a third-century Roman emperor

27 September 2021

27 September 2021

Excavation of a Roman bath at the Carlisle Cricket Club in Stanwix, part of the Uncovering Roman Carlisle project, has...

A 2,500-year-old celestial map carved on the surface of a circular stone found in Italy

25 December 2023

25 December 2023

Two circular stones measuring 50 centimeters in diameter have been discovered in Castelliere di Rupinpiccolo, an ancient hilltop fortress in...

The Mysterious Figure of Anatolia: Alexander of Abonoteichus, the False Prophet of Rome

12 February 2025

12 February 2025

In the annals of history, few figures are as intriguing as Alexander of Abonoteichus, the self-proclaimed prophet who captivated the...

An ancient “fridge” have uncovered at the Roman legionary fortress of Novae, Bulgaria

30 September 2022

30 September 2022

Polish archaeologists, during excavations at the Roman legionnaires’ camp in Novae, discovered a container that could be described as an...

The 1,800-year-old ‘Iron Legion’ Roman Legionary Base uncovered at the foot of Tel Megiddo

14 February 2024

14 February 2024

The Israel Antiquities Authority (IAA) announced that a recent excavation at the foot of Tel Megiddo, near the ancient village...

DNA Analysis Reveals Identifies the Genetic Makeup of Piceni the Most Fascinating Civilizations of Pre-Roman Italy

24 November 2024

24 November 2024

A study conducted by an international team coordinated by Sapienza University of Rome and the Italian National Research Council (CNR)...