Sicily from Late Antiquity to Early Middle Ages: Resilience and Disruption

Over the last decade, Sicily in its Late Antique, Byzantine and Islamic periods has been at the centre of renewed interest from both historians and archaeologists. This paper consider the links that could be established between observed socio-political structures and the transformation or persistence of exchange networks, settlements, and agricultural and ecological systems. Sicily seems to have had a very long “Late Antiquity” lasting until the seventh century, as indicated by its close connections with the remaining international networks of exchange, a high level of coin use, and thriving countrysides (where villages were gaining importance, at the expense of the villae). During the eighth century, we can see that many things changed markedly, shortly before Sicily was conquered by Muslim invaders. The networks linking Rome, North Africa and Sicily, if they existed, are nevertheless archaeologically invisible. In the western part of Sicily rural settlement are almost undetectable, while in the east a number of very small sites are a sign of the weakening of the central places; in some parts of the island, at least, the cultivation of plants, especially cereals, collapsed, and a period of increased dryness started as well. After many centuries, Sicily for the first time had to feed only its own population! Amidst all this disruption, what can be shown to have had significant resilience were the very large villages, the so called agro-towns (Sofiana and Casale San Pietro). They were sometimes able to last at least until the twelfth century, ending only during the Norman age.