City
Depanis
Trapani
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Depanis, today's Trapani at the western tip of Sicily, has lost an r on the map: its Greek name Drepanon means 'sickle', after the curved spit of land it sits on. Late grammarians spun a wilder tale, that Saturn had flung his sickle there. Founded as the harbour for the settlement on Mount Eryx and its temple of Venus, it was built up by the Carthaginian general Hamilcar around 260 BC as a strong war port, and in 250 BC the Carthaginians destroyed a Roman fleet in its harbour. Under Rome it flourished through shipping and trade, yet never held town rights.