Page - 173 - in The Power of Urban Water - Studies in premodern urbanism

10 SyracusanWaterNetworks inAntiquity 173 resources and whose population had experienced significant population and economic growth.51ThecitywasevendescribedbythepoetPindaras themostbeautiful cityof the living.52 Thebuildingof aqueducts inAgrigento initiatedby theEmmenid tyrant encouragedhistorians toattributea similarpolicy to theSyracusan leader, especially asancienthistoriographyattrib- uted tohima strong international preponderance after the victory ofHimera in480BC.Most of thesemajorprojectswerepartof aneraofurbanupheaval that transformedsmall colonial cities into largeurbancentres.According toDiodorusofSicily,53 andeven ifweshould consider these figures tohavebeen lower,Agrigentowouldhavecountednearly 200,000 inhabitants, ofwhich 20,000were citizens.54 Even thoughwe have no figures for Syracuse, we could suggest that it was as densely populated, if notmore. The Deinomenid Gelon chose towipe out a number of rival cities on the eastern coast of the island and deport their inhabitants to the Syracuse site. Facedwith Greekswho blamedhim for his recent origins, he asserted himself as the spring of Greece55 andwanted to create ametropolis to rival thegreat cities of theAegeanworld,Athens, SamosandtheCorinthianmetropolis.Heenlarged thecity,gave it townplanningandareligious architecture capable of embodyinghismajor ambition. The urbanized area then extended from 50ha toanareawhichmusthavebeenabout 250ha, according to the limits given to the city of theDeinomenids.Ortigia Island, theheartof theoldcity,wasreservedfor the tyrant,his relatives andpoliades cults, and the source ofArethusawasno longer accessible to thepublic.Wemust consider other water resources and the tyrannical context of the period that encourages us to seetheestablishmentofatruewaterproject inthecity,aswellas thatofmonumentalbuildings, which is even easier, given that the Epipolai plateauwater table is rich and of good quality. Moreover, it is likely that the twodynasties,whodevelopedmanyties,diplomaticandmatrimo- nial inparticular,practiceddomesticpoliciesofasimilarnature.Thecreationof theKolymbetra in Agrigento, this reservoir basin in which Agrigento inhabitants would have farmed fish for publicbanquetsandswansfor thepleasureof thepopulation,mustbeunderstoodinthebroad- er context of ostentatious representationbyWestern sovereigns. I suggest to read thiskolymbe- tra as a reproduction of the Persian paradise, set up by the Great Kings in Asia Minor and intended to show the extent of their power. Agrigento is not the only placewhere theWestern Greeks created lushandabundantgardens, as indicatedbyAthenaeus inhis bookon luxury.56 He citesDiodorusof Sicily andevenadded that theKolymbetrawasbuilt forGelon:57 Diodorus of Sicily, in his On the Library,58 reports that the inhabitants of Acragas constructed an expensive swimming pool almost amile around and 30 feet deep for Gelon; river- and spring-water was diverted into it, and it servedasa fishpondandprovided largenumbersof fish to supportGelon’s luxurious, hedonistic life-style. A flockof swansalso settledon it, lending it an extremely attractiveappearance. Later on, however, it siltedup and disappeared. Duris, in Book IV of his OnAgathocles,59 [says] that a lovely, well-watered grove is pointed out near the city ofHipponium, and that a spotwithin it is knownasAmaltheia’sHornandwas constructedby Gelon.SilenusofCalacte, inBookIIIof theHistoryofSicily,60 reports that there isanexpensivelyplantedgarden near Syracuse calledMythus,where KingHieron conducted his business. The entire area around Panormus in Sicily is referred toasagarden,because it isall full of fruit-trees, according toCallias inBookVIII of hisHistory involvingAgathocles.61 51 Bouffier 2000. 52 Pind. Pyth. 12, 1. 53 Diod. Sic. 13, 84. 54 Cf.DeWaele 1980. 55 Hdt. 7, 162. 56 Ath. 12, 541f–542a (TranslationbyOlson 2010). 57 This assertionparticularly deserves tobe commentedon. 58 Diod. Sic. 11, 25, 4. 59 FGrHist 76F 19. 60 FGrHist 175F4. 61 FGrHist 564F 2.