MAZARA
(Mazara del Vallo) Trapani, Sicily.
On the S shore, 20 km SE of Marsala, to the left
of the river Mazaro, an emporion (
Diod. 13.54.6) and
border fortress (
Diod. 23.9.4) for the city of Selinus.
It was destroyed during Hannibal's march against Selinus in 409 B.C. (
Diod. 13.54.6), but probably recovered
since Diodoros (23.9.4) speaks of its destruction by the
Romans at the beginning of the first Punic war. Pliny
(
HN 3.90) mentions the oppidum of Selinus; some archaeological remains also document the existence of
a habitation center during the Roman period. The site
is mentioned in the
Antonine Itinerary.
Several inscriptions have been found at Mazara (
CIL
X, pp. 739ff. and nos. 7702, 7205, 7211, 7221). Three
Roman marble sarcophagi and a funerary urn are preserved in the modern Cathedral.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
A. Castiglione,
Cose antiche di Mazara
(1878); L. Bonanno,
Il porto antico di Mazara (1931);
id.,
La Romanità di Mazara (1933); V. Tusa,
I sarcofagi
romani in Sicilia (1957) nos. 29, 30, 31
I. V. TUSA
