A short but intense life… Origins – Thucydides relates that Selinunte was founded in 628 B.C. by a group from Megera Hyblaea, a Greek colony near Augusta(Syracuse). Not far from the sea, on a wide and fertile promontory between two rivers, they found the best place to settle. Soon, thanks to its flourishing trade, Selinunte established itself as one of the richest and most majestic cities of Magna Graecia. Wars and Alliances – But of course its importance could not help but annoy the neighboring cities and, in particular, Segesta which felt threatened by it. The continuing war between Selinunte and Segesta ended up intertwined with the struggle between the Greeks and Carthaginians for possession of the island. At first, Selinus allied with the latter because its eternal enemy was allied with Athens. But then the balance changed and, in 409 B.C., it was the Carthaginians themselves, at the request of Segesta, who destroyed beautiful Selinunte. From then on it lost its freedom for good. Ruin – Selinunte was rebuilt but did not last long: in 250 B.C., after the 1st Punic War, the Carthaginians destroyed Selinunte for the second time, preferring to concentrate all their forces on firm Lylibeo, today’s Marsala, at that time famous for its fortifications. A short life that was nonetheless enough to earn her the memory and eternal admiration of peoples to come.