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<p>[QUOTE=&quot;medoraman, post: 1280198, member: 26302&quot;]Very correct sir. By the point in time I am referring, the island had been settled numerous times by various nationalities, so even before the Carthaginians came to conquer Greek strongholds, there were other cities on the island with different cultural backgrounds, so even at Syracuse&#039;s apogee the entire island was not &quot;Greek&quot;. Barclay Head&#039;s Historia Numorum is an excellent read on this very subject, going over every city on the island and where culturally they came from.</p><p><br /></p><p>Even after Roman occupation Sicily was a combination of cultures, then as you refer the Arab, Norman, Byzantine, etc conquests each left a mark on this fascinating bit of land.</p><p><br /></p><p>You are also correct about many Sicilians considering themselves Sicilian before Italian. This is true, though, of most of Italy. Americans have a hard time understanding just how fragmented that country is. I have a cousin married to a northern Italian, and going there you quickly hear how little they wish to remain associated with the rest of Italy. Italy and Germany both start 1870 ununified and then bacame one nation. With Germany it took, with Italy I believe its still very much thought of as a collection of smaller nations today.</p><p><br /></p><p>Chris[/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>

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