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Region Sicily
Extinct approximately 300 BCE
Language codes
ISO 639-3 sxc
Linguist list
Glottolog None
Sicily prehellenic topographic map.svg
Approximate locations of the Sicani and their neighbors, the Elymians and the Sicels, in Sicily around 11th century BC (before the arrival of the Phoenicians and the Greeks).

The Sicani (Greek Σικανοί Sikanoi) or Sicanians were one of three ancient peoples of Sicily present at the time of Phoenician and Greek colonization. The Sicani dwelt east of the Elymians and west of the Sicels, having, according to Diodorus Siculus,[1] the boundary with the last in the ancient Himera river (Salso) after a series of battles between these tribes.


The Sicani are thought to be the oldest inhabitants of Sicily with a recorded name. The Greek historian Thucydides[2] claimed they immigrated from the Iberian Peninsula (perhaps Valencia)[3][4] driven by the Ligurians from the river Sicanus, drawing his information from the Sicilian historian Antiochus of Syracuse, but his basis for saying this is unknown.[5] Timaeus of Tauromenium considered them as aboriginal.[6] Some modern scholars think the Sicani may have been an Illyrian tribe that gained control of areas previously inhabited by native tribes.[7] Archaeological excavation has shown that they had received some Mycenaean influence.[8]

The Elymians are thought to be the next recorded people to settle Sicily, perhaps from the Aegean, Anatolia, or Liguria. They settled in the north-west corner of the island, forcing the Sicanians to move across eastward. The Sicels were the next to arrive, from mainland Italy, and settled in the east. Historical records start with the Phoenicians, who established colonies in the 11th century BCE, and especially with the Greeks, who founded the colony of Syracuse, which eventually became the largest Greek city, in 734 BCE. Other Greek colonies were established around the island. The indigenous Sicilians were gradually absorbed by these colonizing peoples and finally disappeared as distinct peoples under Roman occupation.

Herodotus and King Minos[edit]

Herodotos: The History, VII.170-171 [9]



A few short inscriptions using the Greek alphabet have been found in the extinct Sicanian language.[10] Except for names, they have not been translated, and the language is unclassified due to lack of data.[11]

See also[edit]


  1. ^ Diod., v.6.3-4
  2. ^ Thucydides, His. VI,2,3,4.
  5. ^ "Greek Identity in the Western Mediterranean". 2004. 
  6. ^ As reported in Diodorus Siculus V,6,1-3.
  7. ^ Fine, John (1985). The ancient Greeks: a critical history. Harvard University Press. p. 72. ISBN 0-674-03314-0. 
  8. ^ Fine, p.72
  9. ^ Herodotus, The History, George Rawlinson, trans., (New York: Dutton & Co., 1862
  10. ^ The World's Writing Systems. 1996:301.
  11. ^ 'Sicanian' at Linguist List

External links[edit]