Elymi (Elimi)

The Elymi are one of three indigenous populations of Sicily whom the Greeks encountered as they colonized the island during the Archaic period (starting about 700 b. c.e.). Archaeologists disagree on whether the Elymi are distinct from or closely related to the other two Sicilian peoples, the Sicani and SICULI. The Elymi inhabited the northwestern corner

CULTURE

Little is known of Elymi culture other than that they were highly influenced in art and culture by the Greeks and Carthaginians, and later by the Romans.

ORIGINS

Ancient historians identified the Elymi as descendants of the Trojans of Asia Minor. Modern theories suggest they may be the descendants of Ligurians, who crossed the Tyrhennian Sea to Sicily from the Italian Peninsula during the Bronze Age. others suggest the Elymi ancestors include both indigenous and intruding populations. Archaeological and linguistic evidence remains inconclusive on the origins and identity of these people, who inhabited independent cities.

LANGUAGE

Only minuscule fragments of the Elymi language remain, from a Greek inscription of the fifth century B. C.E., but not enough to determine whether the Elymi were an Indo-European-speaking people or not.

HISTORY

Segesta was the most important Elymi city during historical times. After 700 B. C.E. the Greeks established the colony of Selinus on Sicily’s south coast, and the Carthaginians established Motua in the northwest. From 580 B. C.E. the Elymi at Segesta were engaged in boundary disputes with the Greeks of Selinus. Toward the end of the sixth century B. C.E. the Carthaginians conquered the Elymi city of Erice. In the midfifth century B. C.E. the Elymi entered into dealings with Athenians and they formed an alliance with them in 424 B. C.E. during the Greek civil wars.

After the defeat of Athens the Elymi joined into an alliance with the Carthaginians, in which the Carthaginians took over most of the authority. Segesta was besieged in 397 B. C.E. by

The location of the island of Sicily in the central Mediterranean has attracted settlement by many different peoples. The most ancient known inhabitants—the Elymi, Sicani, and Siculi, who themselves probably migrated there from elsewhere—were caught up in the wars for their homeland between major Mediterranean powers.