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Aeolian or Liparaean islands |
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The Aeolian or Liparaean islands are a group of seven islands, north
of the Sicilian
city Messina. Their ancient names (and their modern equivalents) are:
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Because there is permanent volcanic activity on Strongyle/Stromboli (photo) and Vulcano/Hiera, the ancients believed that these islands gave access to the workshop of Hephaestus or Vulcanus, the protector god of the smiths. The name of the archipelago, however, is linked to that of Aeolus, the god of wind and storm. The next photo shows Vulcano; in the distance is Lipari. | |
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The islands produced obsidian and were used as Greek settlements along the road to Etruria as early as the Late Bronze age. Mycenaean ceramics have been found on several places. In the Archaic age, only the main island, Lipara, was occupied; Greeks from Cnidus founded a colony in c.600. Later, the Liparans also lived on the other islands, except for Hiera, which was too rich in sulfur to be a pleasant place to live. This sulfur, however, contributed to the wealth of the islands, because it could be exported. | |
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The Athenians (in 427) and Carthaginians
have attempted to conquer the islands, but Lipara (photo), which was sometimes
a pirates' nest, more or less retained its independence. Livy
tells a story about the pious behavior of its inhabitants in 394 VC
(5.28.1-5). In 252 BCE, during the First
Punic War, the Romans occupied the archipelago. Exiles were sometimes
sent to these islands (e.g., Plautilla).
A satellite photo of Salina, Lipara, and Vulcano can be found here. |
Livius.Org, 2004 Revision: 26 May 2007 |
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