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SICANI

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Originally appearing in Volume V25, Page 20 of the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.
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SICANI , in See also:

ancient See also:geography, generally regarded (together with the Elymi) as the See also:oldest inhabitants of See also:Sicily. Sicania (the See also:country of the Sicani) and the See also:Siculi (q.v.) or Siceli are mentioned in See also:Homer (Odyssey, xx. 383, See also:xxiv. 307), the latter apparently being known to the Greeks as slave-dealers. ' There existed considerable difference of See also:opinion among the ancients as to the origin of the Sicani. From the similarity of name, it would be natural to identify them with the Siculi, but ancient authorities expressly See also:state that they were two distinct peoples (see SICILY: See also:History, ad init.). At first the Sicani occupied nearly the whole of the See also:island, but were gradually driven by the Siceli into the interior and the N. and N.W. They lived chiefly in small towns and supported themselves by See also:agriculture. These towns were not subject to a single See also:king, but each had its own ruler and constitution. The most important of the towns to which a Sicanian origin can be with certainty assigned and whose site can be determined, are: Hyccara (Muro di See also:Carini),taken and plundered by the Athenians during the Sicilian expedition (415 B.C.); Omphake, between See also:Agrigentum (See also:Girgenti) and See also:Gela (See also:Terranova) ; and Camicus (site unknown), the See also:residence of the mythical Sicanian king Cocalus, constructed for him by See also:Daedalus (q.v.), to whom he had given shelter when pursued by See also:Minos, king of See also:Crete.

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