Termini Imerese trip planner

Termini Imerese is a town and comune in the Metropolitan City of Palermo on the northern coast of Sicily, southern Italy.HistoryAncient HistoryThe site of the town has been populated since prehistoric times, as many archaeologial excavations have shown through the years. Its documented history begins in 409 BC after the second Battle of Himera when its more ancient neighbour, Himera (now completely within the comune's borders), was completely destroyed by the Carthaginian army under Hannibal Mago. Those who survived the devastation moved to a site then called "Thermae" which is today known as Termini and became the successor to Himera. The new town of Thermae or Therma, called for the sake of distinction Thermae Himerenses, obviously derived its name from the hot springs for which it was celebrated, and the first discovery of which was connected by legends with the wanderings of Hercules. It appears to have quickly become a considerable town, though it continued to be subject to Carthaginian rule.In the First Punic War its name is repeatedly mentioned. In 260 BC, a body of Roman troops were encamped in the neighbourhood when they were attacked by Hamilcar and defeated with heavy loss.Roman HistoryBefore the close of the First Punic War, Thermae was besieged and taken by the Romans but the city seems to have been treated with unusual favour by its conquerors. Cicero tells us that the Romans allowed the Thermitani to govern their city and territory with their own laws as a reward for their steady fidelity. As they were on hostile terms with Rome during the First Punic War, it can only be to the subsequent period that this "fidelity" applies.