Sicily Essays

Sicily is described to be a beautiful place filled with amazing culture, however the Sicilian mafia automatically gives Sicily a negative image that represents violence, death, and ordered criminality. Authors Jane Schneider and Peter Schneider of Mafia, Antimafia, and the Plural Cultures of Sicily discusses the social and cultural features of the Sicilian mafia by stating, “Sicilian mafiosi represent themselves as “men of honor” who solve problems (their own and others) without resorting to state-established

The Sicily Expedition was historically defined as a Athenian military campaing to Sicily in 415-413 BC. Thucydides described this expedition in his «History of the Peloponnesian War» books VI-VII. Thucydides (471-401 BC) the ancient Greek historian and chronicler, his work «History of the Peloponnesian War» is an illustration of Political Realism paradigm and its primary original source. The main ideas of Political Realism concept -states as main actors, anarchy, power, state interest and security

the Greeks and Romans had. The natural rivalry became an actual conflict when the two of the three powers that controlled the island of Sicily went to war. One side, the Mamertines, basically marauders who seized the land through treachery, was losing, and requested Roman assistance. Although Rome did not want to help, they did, in order to gain a foothold on Sicily, and equally importantly, to prevent Carthage from doing so instead. The Mamertines, unfortunately, had asked for Carthaginian assistance

To the modern mind, the surrealist Homeric narration of Olympian gods seems odd, because since the middle ages faith has been justified by religious scriptures. Yet, the way Homer managed to link faith with the everyday life of his hero is of great concern in our analysis. In comparison to classical narration, the presence of religion in contemporary world is of a minor importance both in fiction and reality. Being a modern novelist, Mario Puzo personally admitted that he never believed in religion

(?) Rome had conquered almost all of Italy and wanted to expand its borders. While Carthage controlled most of Northern Africa, parts of Spain, and several large islands in the Mediterranean, including certain parts of Sicily. In 265, (?) mercenaries inside Messina, a city in Sicily, were besieged

rise to power allowed the dots connecting the dictator to the Italian Mafia to form. Following World War I, the rising issue of the Sicilian Mafia became pervasive throughout Sicily. Recognizing this threat to his power, he quickly put Cesare Mori, one of his adherents, in charge of purging the Mafia from the streets of Sicily. This was no easy feat, Mafiosi ran rampant throughout Palermo and their bureaucratic leaders maintained an efficient system of eliminating their enemies- assassination. Nonetheless

(Romanempire, nd.). The First Punic War which took place between 264 – 241 BC lead Rome to conquer Sicily and gain control of it. Sicily then became the first province of Rome abroad (Romanempire, nd.). Although this defeat created a huge setback for Carthage, she built up a new trading empire centered on Spain and however remained a powerful state. The Romans were not satisfied with conquering Sicily as they were prepared to embark on another battle to claim total victory. This led to the next war

in Sicily. The neighboring city of Syracuse fought back against the mercenaries. Both Carthage and Rome, competitors in trade, were approached for assistance. Rome could not refuse because of their respect for Greek culture and because they could not tolerate an island controlled by Carthage so close to the newly conquered southern Italy. Though the Roman Senate rejected Syracuse's plea for help, the Roman people demanded that action be taken. Both Rome and Carthage sent soldiers to Sicily, causing

The Mafia originated in Sicily, Italy, but started in America when Don Vito Ferro of the “La Costra Nostra” fled to New York from Sicily. Mussolini, the fatal prime minister of Italy, worked to try to exterminate the Mafia in Italy. This then caused many members of the Mafia to flee to America throughout the 1920’s (History of the Mob). Prohibition became a law in January of 1920. Though many Italian American Mafia sanctions had already been existent in major cities in America since the beginning

The mafia originated in Sicily, Italy, during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Sicily, historically, faced periods of foreign domination, economic struggles, and weak governance. These conditions created an environment where criminal organizations could flourish, exploiting the power vacuum and societal

This conflict was known as the first Punic war and resulted in Rome becoming a dominate naval power of the world. Sicily at the time was controlled by three groups; Carthage held the western part, the southeastern controlled by the king of Syracuse and the northeastern corner possession by Campanian soldiers who, after serving the king of Syracuse, seized the city

Archimedes was an Ancient Greek mathematician, engineer, astronomer, physicist, and inventor. Archimedes was born in the port of Syracuse, Sicily in the colony of Magna Graecia (Which was in ancient greece) in the year 287 B.C. Which was also when the romans were in war with Pyrrhus of Epirus. Archimedes was born to astronomer Phidias. Not much is known about his father and his name and profession is known because it was mentioned in one of archimedes’ works “The Sand Reckoner”. It is unknown if

Sei in arresto! You’ve been arrested in Italy! Now what? The Constitution of 1948 is the main source of law. The Italian judicial system is based on Roman law, it has been modified by the Napoleonic code. On the other hand, there is the Sicilian Mafia, known as one of the original organized body of criminals. In Turin, you could be fined up to 500 euros ($597.19) for not walking your dog three times a day, that is one of the many weird laws you may come across while visiting the cities. The key aspect

Sei in arresto! You’ve been arrested in Italy! Now what? The Constitution of 1948 is the main source of law. The Italian judicial system is based on Roman law, it has been modified by the Napoleonic code. On the other hand, there is the Sicilian Mafia, known as one of the original organized body of criminals. In Turin, you could be fined up to 500 euros ($597.19) for not walking your dog three times a day, that is one of the many weird laws you may come across while visiting the cities. Here are

give gifts to maintain the peace. But the ambitions of the Romans caused the Phoenicians to shift their stance. This situation forced the Phoenicians to take up arms and build a land based army (Holst, 2007). The first major loss was the loss of Sicily to Rome in the first Punic War. In preparation for this attack, the Romans copied the designs of Phoenician ships and made their own. This was the beginning of the Roman’s naval ambition. This was a humiliating embarrassment that the Phoenicians did

a portion of Spain and Sicily. Both nations were strong and had ample supply of resources. Carthage, known for its mighty navy, was wealthy and had superb leadership. Rome was better known for its strength on land as well as its highly-regarded and organized political system. Carthage's foundation was great leadership; Rome's foundation was its loyal and steadfast people (Morey, n.d.). War broke out when Rome contested Carthage for full possession of the island Sicily. The Romans allied with

what I can only assume were professional generals, whereas Rome had its military in the hands of the consuls who were forever changing, so there was no continuity in the higher ranks of the Roman legions. Carthage was a major power in Africa and Sicily off the coast of Italy with their trading agreements. They were absolutely the commercial hub of the region, with an extremely powerful navy. This would have put them on a par with Rome in the most powerful empire in the region. Carthage

Antonio Gramsci, the martyred leader of Italian Communism, provided a clue to this disharmony when he wrote in the early 1930's that the very quantity of interpretations of the Risorgimento was an indication of the "inconsistency and gelatinousness" of the movement itself-of the inner weaknesses of the forces which brought the movement to a successful conclusion and the tenuousness of objectively "national" elements that provide the basic material for the historian. For him, most of these interpretations

The First Punic War was the first of three wars between the two powers as they wrestled for dominance in the region. The first war began due to a dispute between Syracuse and Messina on the strategically important island of Sicily, Rome came to the aid of Messina which outraged Carthage who quickly sided with Syracuse and so began over a century of intermittent fighting between the great powers. In conclusion, it is so interesting to see so many similarities and so many differences

Carthaginian and Roman naval power Firstly, how do I feel toward venerable Rome and mysterious Carthage? To me, Rome was the cradle of western civilization and a treasure house of archaeological relics. Whereas it had never crossed my mind that those former splendours were just one side of the coin, in fact, by 265 BC, Rome already had enormously strong naval force capable of doing significant damage in ancient wartime. In contrast, its arch-rival, Carthage, it was not only a formidable opponent