History and etymology of Ragusa

Ragusa is located in southeastern Sicily, and it is an ancient city which, as we shall see, over the centuries often changed its name. Let's start by noting that the name by which it was known in the ancient world was "Hybla Heraea" on which the ancient historians made a considerable confusion. In  fact one said that in ancient times there were in Sicily at least three cities named "Hybla", that is Hybla "Galeatis" (on the slopes of Etna, also known as "Maior", Hybla "Megara" (near Syracuse) and Hybla "Heraea" near the current Ragusa.

The actual area where it was situated the ancient site of Hybla Heraea (“Ragusa Inferiore”) was identified by Paolo Orsi (See Paolo Orsi, “Notizie di scavi di antichità”, in "Accademia dei Lincei”, Rome, 1899, pp. 402 – 418). With regard to the question of the number of "Hiblae" see G. Manganaro ["Hybla Megala (Heraia) and Hybla Geleatis (Etnea)" in “Un ponte tra l’Italia e la Grecia”, Padova, 2000, pp. 149 - 154]. Manganaro pointed out that there were only two cities with this name, not three. In practice, Hybla Geleatis was close to Catania, and it was identified by scholars  with Paternò and the "Hybla Maior" was at close range of  Ragusa. Formerly “Hybla Heraea” had an undoubted importance, so it was known as "Maior", but then declined, losing its primacy and becoming  "Minor". The Greek name of Hybla was “?ß?a ??a?a”, but the city was not Greek, but was founded by the Sicules, who always opposed a fierce resistance against the penetration of the Greeks in their territories, particularly of Syracuse. In this respect, G. Rizza said that " three centuries needed and the defeat of  Ducetius (died 440 BC) to convince the Sicules to bury the dead as the Greeks" (See G. Rizza, “Sicilia e Anatolia dalla preistoria all'età ellenistica…”, 1996, p. 59 ).

The fact itself is very significant, and makes us understand clearly what was the spirit of independence and sense of ethnic identity of the Sicules, whose Anatolian origin the scholars converge in large part. J. De La Genière pointed out that “the Anatolian character of Hybla Heraea is confirmed by a toponym (of unknown place) of Caria, “Hybliossos”, as we can deduce from ethnic “Hybliosses” " (See J. De La Genière, “Studi sulla Sicilia occidentale in onore di V. Tusa”, 1993, p. 148). The name "Hybla" refers to Anatolia and the cult of the Goddess "Hybla":  “Pugliese Carratelli recognized in  Hybla a name connected to the sacred sphere of an Anatolic nation and moved from the Sicanian culture   to the Sicules " (See “Un ponte fra l'Italia e la Grecia: atti del simposio in onore di Antonino Di Vita”, a cura di A. Di Vita, 2000.  p. 1). The only example of a possible relationship with a Roman goddess, the so-called “Venus Hyblea” is by an inscription in CIL [Corpus Inscriptionum Latinarum] X 7013 located in Paternò. In this regard Michael Speidel explained: “ 'Venus Victrix Hyblensi, named after the town of Hybla Maior, is known from only one dedication, an exagonal basis found at Hybla Maior in Sicily: 'Veneri Victrici Hyblensi, C(aius) Public(ius)/ Donatus d(onum) d(edit)’. Again it seems possible that here a local goddess took on a Roman guise by adopting the name of Venus Victrix” ( See Michael Speidel, “Venus Victrix Roman and Oriental”, in “Aufstieg und Niedergang der römischen Welt”, 1984, 2, p. 2231).

From the etymological point of view,  Hybla is interpreted as "fruitful": "The term Hybla, certainly  of Siculian  and  not of  Greek origin, is usually understood as a" fertile place ", and this in direct connection with the Latin word “uber” , breast, fertility, land or place grown, since the Sicilian language was related to archaic Latin "(See C. Ciccia, “Il mito di d'Ibla nella letteratura e nell'arte”, Pellegrini, Cosenza, 1998, p. 9). However, if this can be true about the Goddess Hybla, the name seems to have a different meaning. Vittore Pisani writes, after a precise analysis of the Siculian language, that "it seems to me infinitely more likely that 'Hybla' has had the generic meaning of 'urbs', 'civitas' [city], or rather, 'arx' [fortress], 'oppidum' [fortified town]” (see Vedi V. Pisani, “Su un sostantivo della lingua degli antichi Siculi, 'hibla”, in “Paideia”, 1948, III, n. 1-2. p. 66). As we said above, the Sicules, and in particular the Sicules who founded "Hybla Heraea" strenuously defended their town from the Greek influence that came from Syracuse, and then by the Greeks of Camarina and Gela, to whom the Syracusans gave Camarina ( a sub colony of Syracuse), located at close range from  Hybla Heraea.

Historically, we know that Hippocrates of Gela (died 491 BC), who ruled Camarina, tried to attack Hybla, but he was killed beaneath the city walls. Paolo Orsi said rightly that the political history of Hibla is very spare, and the only episode where we see involved Hibla was this  just now quoted. We know that Hibla  not participate with Ducetius in the struggles against the Greeks of Syracuse: "Hibla was not a Greek town and we have no documents about the period when it was occupied by the Greeks; we know only that in 491 BC Hippocrates of Gela assailed it , but he died beneath the city walls, which makes sense that it had not been conquered (...)

 

We know that at the time of Ducetius Hybla refused to join the National League, the so-called "Syntelekìa",  led by the Siculian hero against the Greeks [Diodorus, 11, 88, 6], and this seems to me had happened for fear of the cities of Syracuse and Camarina located too close to it, and also because since the fifth century BC many Greeks lived in Hybla, affecting in this way on indigenous population, changing of it not only the costumes but also the political outlook. Before the episode of Hippocrates there is no memory of its relations with the Greeks, but the discoveries of 1891 and 1898 (...) have shown that a group of Greeks in the middle of the sixth century BC  settled on a  rise above and near Hybla; this was probably an attempt of Syracuse and Camarina to settle in the mountains to get the ports open for communication with the coasts of south-east of the island. Moreover, in the oldest  colonies we see the Greeks occupy certain positions very close to the Sicules, but not, at least at first, mix with them (...) and perhaps war of Hippocrates against  Hybla had broken out because of the desire to avenge perhaps the massacre or expulsion of the Greeks who settled on the  mentioned hillsides of the town "(See Paolo Orsi," Ragusa. New explorations on the necropolis of Hybla Heraea ", in “Notizie di scavi di antichità”, Regia Accademia dei Lincei , Rome, 1899, pp. 417-418).

With regard to the Roman age, Ettore Pais wrote that "when the Consul Marcellus (died 45 BC) returned to Rome boasted that he had subdued Sicily, but that pride was not entirely deserved. He had just turned his back on the island that some cities like Murgante, Hybla and Macella  rebelled again "(See Ettore Pais, “Alcune osservazioni sull'amministrazione della Sicilia”,[" Some Observations on the administration of Sicily”] , 1888, p. 122). The ancient spirit of the Sicules for independence was also demonstrated against the Romans. In fact, among the rebellious cities we meet with Hybla. The problem is that  because of the "Hyblae" which existed in Sicily, we do not know with absolute certainty what was the  “rebel” Hibla. The doubt came into the Ettore Pais’ mind, who noted that the "Hyblae" were three and that "Cicero among the 'civitates decumanae' (which paid the tithes of their corn in kind to the Roman state [ William George Smith]) named also the Hiblenses. Ettore Pais wrote that Hibla Heraea perhaps could be identified as the city mentioned  by Cicero (106-43 BC) and Pliny  (23-79 AD) [See Ettore Pais, p. 240].

By the end of the Roman Empire, Sicily was also exposed to the barbarian invasions;  we remind especially those of the Vandals, which implied serious loss of life, destruction of cities and monuments. Ragusa was literally destroyed and other cities suffered serious damages, as evidenced, for example, the inscription found at Catania and illustrated by Santo Mazzarino ["Vandals in Sicily," in "Il Basso Impero", Bari, Dedalo, 1980, pp. 335 ff.], when "in 456 AD, with a fleet of 60 ships Genserico (389-477 AD) devastated Sicily and passed the Strait" (p. 359). Reconquered by the Byzantines, the town was strengthened and in this period we must also record that its name changed. In practice, according to some assumptions  there would be a transformation of the name from " Hybla Heraea"  to  "Ereusia", "Rausa" and finally "Ragusa". The transformation from a hypothetical name "Ereusia" (or "Ereusium") was supported for example by the local scholar Raphael Solarino (“La Contea di Modica” ["The County of Modica”], Ragusa, 1884, I, p. 211). What we know with a good degree of certainty is that Ragusa probably derives from the Greek word "Rogoi": "The Byzantines called it 'Rogoi', that is “granary” (related to the  pre-Latin term “rogus” (pyre), held in Sicily in the name of Ragusa (from the accusative plural  "Tous Rogous” (See "Kokalos”, 1965, p. 309).

Instead, about a derivation from "Ereusa" (or  "Ereusum"-"Hereusium”), we need to think on a conjecture of R. Solarino. Unless things are as Michele Amari assumed, for whom the modern name of Ragusa in Sicily was "imported" by the inhabitants of Ragusa in Dalmatia. B. Pace said that "M. Amari inclined to believe that the name could have come from Ragusa in Dalmatia to Sicily  in the Byzantine times "(See B. Pace. “Arte e civiltà della Sicilia antica…”,  1949, IV, p. 166 footnote 3). Michele Amari wrote: "So Ruined fields every summer in Sicily by the Muslims, and in 842 even by locusts, in 848 there was also a great famine (...) And maybe was this famine which bent Ragusa, a strong castle in the Noto Valley, known under the Byzantine era with the same name as the well-known town in Dalmatia " ( See M. Amari, “Storia del Musulmani di Sicilia”, Firenze, Le Monnier, 1854, Vol. I, p. 319). In fact, with regard to the name Ragusa in Dalmatia, "Rausa" and "Rausium" is widely attested (See, for example, William Smith, "New classical dictionary of biography, mythology, and geography", 1850, p. 639). As  J. Gardner Wilkinson wrote: “The name of Rausium derives from the rocks or precipices, where they established their new abode; and Rausium, or Rausia, in process of time, was altered into Ragusa.” ( See J. Gardner Wilkinson, “Dalmatia and Montenegro…”, John Murray, London, 1848, Vol. I,  p. 274). On the contrary,  if there was an"independent" development  of the Sicilian city name with respect to Ragusa in Dalmatia,  the aforementioned derivation from "Rogoi" is fully acceptable, with which one intended to mean the fertility of the soil.

The Byzantine heritage can be found in Ragusa especially in fortifications, due to insecurity because of Arab incursions; so the Byzantines built several fortified towns, creating a line of defense in protection of Syracuse, with strongholds in Modica and Ragusa. The Byzantine heritage  is also present in some cult practices deeply rooted in the local population: "Here we only mention the relief (1538) present in the Church of “St. Maria delle Scale”, Ragusa, and the painting by Narciso Guidone (early '600) in the church of Comiso (D), both representing the 'Dormitio Virginis' (...)  The cult to the Madonna 'Odigitria' (…) was particularly honored at Byzantium, especially after the Council of Ephesus " (See V. Giovanni Rizzone, Anna Maria Sammito in “Archivum Historicum mothycense”, 2003, 9, p. 7). With the advent of the Arabs the town was called "Ragus" and also "Rag-os" (See Konrad Miller, "Arabischewelt-und Länderkarten", Stuttgart, 1927, Band II, p. 118), and in this way  Al Idrisi (1099-1166) called it: " Between this castle and ‘Ragùs’  (Ragusa) Twenty-five miles. ‘Ragùs’, a beautiful hamlet, of solid construction,  strong, defensible, situated on a river which takes its name from it (...) Hence the ‘wadi Ragùs’ (Ragusa River,  Erminio) twelve miles "(See Al Idrisi, “L’Italia descritta nel ‘Libro di Ruggero’”, by M. Amari, Salviucci, 1883, p. 53 and 65).

With the advent of the Normans Ragusa "was given in fief to Geoffrey (died 1120) son of Roger I (1031-1101), who never appears in the medieval documents with the title of Count of Ragusa. His successors took the title of Count of Marsico until that Sylvester Bern. (Bernardus?), who first will be called in 1194, at the time of Guglielmo III (1185-1198), Count of Ragusa. We should identify him as that "Comes Ragusiae” [Count of Ragusa] to whom Innocent III (1161-1216) sent some “exhortatoriae” [exhortative] letters  in November 1200. V. Amico noted that Sylvester Bern was the first to have the title of Count of Ragusa "(See E. Mazzarese Fardella, “I feudi comitali di Sicilia dai Normanni agli aragonesi”, Giuffrè, 1974, p. 15 footnote 1). As we can see, in the  Norman time , the modern name "Ragusa" already established itself.

The granting of Roger I to his son Geoffrey was still very considerable and because it included "some hamlets, with the ‘Casale  rendae et casale Rendetgrebin”, nearly everything  the south-east of Sicily to the sea" (See S. Tramontana, “Popolazione, distribuzione della terra e classi sociali nella Sicilia di Ruggero il Gran conte”, in “Ruggero il gran Conte e l'inizio dello Stato normanno”, Bari, 1977, p. 230). The lineage of the Norman lords of Ragusa became extinct in 1195, at  Henry’s VI (1165-1197) hand and the city passed to the State. Under the reign of Frederick II  of Swabia (1194-1250) Ragusa had a significant increase in Franciscan monasteries, to which the king granted many privileges. The proliferation of so many religious orders is explained by the fact that there were a lot of the Arabs  in Ragusa. Probably this fact led Frederick  II "to grant a number of hamlets to some religious orders close to him (…)  for the Christianization of the population of Sicily until then divided into three." Thanks to a sketch remained on a manuscript in Latin , we deduce that "the image of Ragusa before the earthquake of 1693 is summarized in the form of a fish in the rivers (“Pisces inter aquas”), the head of which occupied the current “Iblei  Gardens”, while the tail occupied the neighborhoods, located to the west “Piazza degli Archi”, currently known as the "Republic Square", while the downtown was made up of the castle, which protected the town to the east (...) 'Extra moenia' [Outside the walls] there were the farmers’ homes  whose  patron  saint is St. John, whose temple was located near the walls "(See G. Flaccavento, “Sviluppo urbano e aspetti artistici della presenza francescana a Ragusa”, in “Francescanesimo e cultura in Sicilia”, Officina di Studi Medievali, 1982, p. 312).

With the advent of the Aragonese begins the history of the county of Modica.  Peter III of aragon (1239-1285) in 1285 gave a part of the County to Federico Mosca and that of Ragusa to Giacomo Prefolio; then the two counties were united under Manfredi Chiaramonte I (14th century), Count of Modica. So Ragusa in the following centuries belonged to the county of Modica,  the wider fief of the South-eastern Sicily. At the beginning of the fourteenth century, as we have seen, Ragusa belonged to the Chiaramonte and towards the end of the fourteenth century to  Viscount Bernard IV Cabrera (1381-1423). The county, for its enormous wealth, was the subject of the noble aims  at the time, who intrigued to get possession of it; in this sense, with the support of  some barons,  Martin the Younger (1356-1410) arrested and later executed Andrea Chiaramonte (died 1392), then allowing the County to Viscount Bernardo Cabrera. Despite these political vicissitudes, the County met in those years a remarkable economic development, and also Ragusa an increase in building, which unfortunately was destroyed by an earthquake in 1693, although some remains are still visible today, as the palace of the Counts Chiaramonte built at Ragusa, and some coastal fortifications (the Mazzarelli Tower and the Tower of Pozzallo, presumably built by Bernardo Cabrera IV), which protected the County from pirate raids (See “Proposta di un itinerario. La Contea di Modica”, in “Turismo Nautico e Distretti turistici siciliani”, edited by V. Ruggiero ed L. Scrofani  Milano, Angeli, 2009, pp. 81 ff.). The discriminant year was 1693, when an earthquake destroyed Ragusa. According to studies, the city had about 10,000 inhabitants, who  were reduced after the earthquake to 5000.

The reconstruction predicted a dual solution, ie Ragusa Superiore, the "New Town", built in the eighteenth century “with the dawntown created around the church of San Giovanni Evangelista, with a checkerboard pattern characterized by long, parallel streets (...)  Ragusa Ibla also, however,  the ancient city, was rebuilt with Baroque churches and palaces  built around the Cathedral of St. George "(See S. Cartarrasa, F. Cappello, “Il recupero del Centro storico di Ragusa Ibla”, in “Vulnerabilità e trasformazione dello spazio urbano”, edited by Walter Fabietti, Firenze, Alinea, 1999, p. 264).

The two "Hyblae" are divided by the "Valley of the Bridges", a ravine crossed by four bridges, including the famous  Bridge of the Benedictines. In the eighteenth century Sicily passed to the Savoy, but not the County of Modica, which inherited the Spanish, coming to create an unusual and difficult situation, that is  a Spanish feud  in a domain of the  Savoy. The situation was rather paradoxical, as explained by G. Poidomani: "In 1702 Philip V (1683-1746)  sent John Thomas Enriquez-Cabrera (1646-1705), Almirante of Castile and Count of Modica,  as fitst ambassador to the French court. But the Almirante, who went to Portugal at the supporters of the Grand Duke of Austria, openly sided with the pretender to the Habsburg Empire.

Accused of treachery and treason, he was sentenced to death in absentia and all his goods were confiscated, so that even the county of Modica was incorporated into the State property. When Philip V, with the fifth article of the Treaty of Utrecht ceded Sicily to Amedeo di Savoia (1690-1741), introduced a clause (Article X) that 'all the dignity, annuities, lordships and substances of … the  nobles committed the offense of felony ... should remain the property of His Catholic Majesty '... It was a strange situation, thereby creating the existence of a fief of the King of Spain in the reign of Vittorio Amedeo. Philip V could be considered (and this actually happened) as a Spanish baron subject to the King of Savoy " (See G. Poidomani, “Storia di una quérelle storico-diplomatica. La contea di Modica nel periodo del governo sabaudo in Sicilia”, in “Archivum Historicum Mothycense”, 1997, 3, pp. 33 sgg.). Later the County was under the Austrians in 1720 and the Bourbons in 1738. After the struggles of the “Risorgimento”, Ragusa and Sicily became part of the Kingdom of Italy (1861).