On the history of South-Eastern Sicily during the early Roman Empire

While literary sources depict a sometimes bleak and often fragmentary picture of the history of Sicily during the Early Roman Empire, archaeological and epigraphical remains prove that several centres had a very long and uninterrupted history, although they cannot claim the existence of particularly developed urban centres. This paper contextualises the few remaining literary sources and compares the data from history and archaeology to examine some concrete examples of south-eastern Sicilian cities which scholars believe no longer existed during the Imperial age, but which in reality continued their lives as minor centres. Groups, large and small, of inhabitants moved elsewhere and the sites remained the residence of a few people, who often exploited them for production purposes, to continue a family tradition or to live a life away from the problems of the cities; some of these centres could boast renowned products, as saffron, honey, tuna fish and wine.