Myths, wars and alliances… Origins – The earliest documented records concerning Segesta date from the fourth century B.C., and we know that, at that time, the city was already inhabited by the Elymians. It was they who made it great and powerful. Although their religion was different from that of the Greeks, they also built a temple in the Doric style, in imitation of those of the larger cities of Magna Graecia. The conflict with Selinunte – But its power and wealth inevitably led Segesta to clash with neighboring cities and, in particular, with Selinunte. The conflict between Segesta and Selinunte had not a few consequences for the fate of Sicily as a whole. When in fact the former called Athens to its aid, Athens used the opportunity to land in Sicily and to take action against powerful Syracuse. Having failed to achieve much, Segesta also asked the Carthaginians for help. The latter destroyed Selinunte but paid dearly for the victory when Dionysius of Syracuse destroyed one of their most important outposts, Mothia. Finally in 307 BC. Agathocles, tyrant of Syracuse, had Segesta razed to the ground. The decline – It was the Romans who resurrected it at the end of the First Punic War, declaring it, by virtue of its common Trojan origin, a free city immune from tribute. It was again destroyed by the Vandals in the 5th century and was rebuilt. But its heyday had now ended. The Normans also built a castle there, at the highest point of the northern acropolis. The discovery of a medieval Segesta came as a great surprise to archaeologists who did not even imagine its existence. Excavations brought to light, in addition to the castle and the church, a large settlement that occupied the entire northern acropolis and part of the southern acropolis. Slowly then the inhabitants abandoned the city, preferring to settle near the sea, in Castellammare del Golfo.