Timeline of Sicily
- 9th century BC
- Phoenicians colonize the island of Sicily.
- 8th century BC
- The Greeks set up settlement colonies on the eastern coast of Sicily (particularly at Syracuse) and establish trading posts rivaling those of the Phoenicians, and then those of Carthage, the Phoenicians' western metropolis.
- 5th-4th centuries BC
- Syracuse, the island's main city, exercises hegemonic control over the whole of Sicily (particularly under Dionysius the Elder: 405-367 BC).
- 212 BC
- Rome wins the 1st war against Carthage, conquers Sicily and makes it into a province, which then becomes a veritable granary. Syracuse is occupied after a very long and bitter siege (213-212).
- 5th-6th centuries AD
- Vandal domination is followed by the Byzantine conquest (which lasted until the 9th century).
- 9th-10th centuries
- The Arabo-Muslims, after conquering Sicily by defeating the Byzantines, turn it into an emirate. It prospers and Palermo, its capital, becomes a brilliant cultural and artistic center.
- 1061-1091
- Norman domination of the whole island.
- 12th century
- Sicily becomes the center of a rich and powerful monarchy, with the flowering of a brilliant and composite civilization.
- 1197-1250
- The resplendent period of Frederick II Hohenstaufen.
- 1266
- The Duke of Anjou, Charles I, brother of St Louis, is crowned King of Sicily by the Pope.
- 1282-1442
- Sicily is in the control of Aragon.
- 1442-1458
- The kingdoms of Naples and Sicily are united, forming the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies.
Source: UNESCO
