MEETING - Wednesday 16 June 2010
Dr Paul Roberts: FROM GREECE TO THE NORMANS - The Splendour of Sicily
Because of its strategic position, Sicily, the largest island in the Mediterrranean, has always been fought over by many different rulers - from the Greeks to the Romans, then Byzantines and Arabs followed by the Normans with each culture leaving its architectural and artistic heritage on the island
The 8th century BC saw the arrival of the Greeks which marked the beginning of Greek supremacy and the height of the Magna Graecia civilization, ending in 212 BC with the Roman conquest of Syracuse.
Roman Sicily saw the rise of large feudal estates and the imposition of taxes. Christianity began to spread in the 3rd – 4th centuries AD. In 535 AD Sicily became part of Justinian’s Eastern Roman Empire. From 827 there were frequent Arab raids to conquer Sicily, ending successfully in 902. Arab dominion coincided with the rebirth of the island after the decadence of the final years of Byzantine rule.
In 1061 the Normans invaded Sicily, claiming it from the Saracens in a ten-year conflict beginning with the Conquest of Messina, during which time several Muslim emirs were displaced. The Kingdom of Sicily was established in 1130 and reached its zenith with the splendour of Frederick II’s court. The rule of the Normans came to an end with the death of Tancred, the natural son of Roger II, after which the emperor Henry VI , son of Barbarossa, ascended the throne.
Lecturer:
Since 1994 Dr Paul Roberts has been Curator of Roman Archaeology in the Department of Greek and Roman Antiquiteies at the British Museum. He holds degrees in Classics from the University of Cambridge and Classical Archaeology from Sheffield Universitiy.
Dr Roberts has excavated in Britain, Libya, Turkey and Greece – he is currently co-directing excavations in Italy. He has lectured extensively to groups in Britain and abroad, including the British and American Friends of the British Museum.
He has accompanied tours to Sicily, the Bay of Naples and Rome. He is currently writing a Walking Tour of Ancient Rome and working on a book on Roman Emperors.