Survival and resilient communities in ancient Sicily: The lessons of Entella

Abstract: When communities dissolve, it is rare for them to be reborn. During the First Punic Wars (ca. 264-241 BCE), the people of Entella were expelled from their city; a critical portion of the refugees actually managed to return to Entella and restart the life of their community thanks to aid of various kinds from friendly cities and individuals. The fact that their community had survived because of a network of benefactors did not escape the newly reinstated citizens of Entella, who thank their benefactors in ways particularly geared toward strengthening that very network. The decrees they inscribed on bronze tablets preserve a rare first-person account of a community at the mercy of greater powers. This talk analyzes the inter- and intra-community relationships at play in the survival and resurgence of Entella as a community. The people of Entella had faced elimination, and instead of turning inward, they ensured their future by cultivating connections with other groups in order to create a new, more expansive community.