View source for Ietas

{{Infobox ancient site
|name = Ietas
|alternate_name = Iaitas, Iaeta, Ietae, Jetae
|image = Monte_Iato_Theater.JPG
|caption = The Greek theatre
|cultures = [[Ancient Greece]]
|epochs = [[Archaic Greece|Archaic Greek]] 
<!-- Location -->
|location = [[San Giuseppe Jato]], [[Italy]]
|map_type = Italy
|map_alt = 
|coordinates = {{coord|37|58|0|N|13|12|0|E|display=inline,title}}
|type = Settlement
|built = 
|abandoned = 
}}
{{Commons category|Iaitas}}

'''Ietas''' (or '''Iaitas''' or '''Iaeta''' or '''Ietae''' or '''Jetae'''),<ref>[[Greek language|Greek]]: {{lang|grc|Ἰεταί}}, [[Stephanus of Byzantium|Steph. B.]], {{lang|grc|Ἰετάς}}, [[Thucydides]]; ''[[Ethnonym]]'': {{lang|grc|Ἰεταῖος}}, Steph. B., but [[Diodorus]] has {{lang|grc|Ἰαιτῖνος}}, and this is confirmed by coins, the legend of which is uniformly {{lang|grc|Ἰαιτινων}}, [[Joseph Hilarius Eckhel|Eckhel]], vol. i., p. 216: in [[Latin]], [[Cicero]] has ''Ietini'', but [[Pliny the Elder|Pliny]] ''Ietenses''.</ref> was an ancient town of the interior of [[Sicily]], in the northwest of the island, not very far from Panormus (modern [[Palermo]]), in the modern ''[[comune]]'' of [[San Giuseppe Jato]], whose name reflects the ancient town's.

The settlement's development between the fourth and third centuries BCE is a subject of debate, although evidence suggests prosperity post-[[Punic Wars]]. Infrastructure improvements continued into the second century BCE, with Ietas featuring a street system, theater, and [[agora]] by the first century BCE.<ref name=":0">{{Cite book |url=https://utpress.utexas.edu/9781477317228 |title=Urbanism and Empire in Roman Sicily |date=2019 |publisher=University of Texas Press |isbn=978-1-4773-1723-5 |pages=47–51 |language=en |doi=10.7560/317228}}</ref>

Major construction in Ietas ceased by the late first century BCE, with some projects left incomplete. Structures, including the bouleuterion and temples, fell into disuse or were destroyed between the mid-first century BCE and mid-first century CE, potentially due to earthquakes. Despite gradual abandonment, occupation persisted until at least the fifth century CE, with signs of reuse amid decay.<ref name=":0" />

==History==

Ietas was mentioned by [[Philistus]]<ref>''apud'' Steph. B. ''s. v.''</ref> as a fortress, and it is called by Thucydides<ref>vii. 2.</ref> a fortress of the [[Siculi]]ans ({{lang|grc|Τεῖχος τῶν Σικελῶν}}), which was taken by [[Gylippus]] on his march from [[Himera]] through the interior of the island towards [[Syracuse, Italy|Syracuse]]. It first appears as an independent city in the time of [[Pyrrhus of Epirus|Pyrrhus]], and was attacked by that monarch on account of its strong position and the advantages it offered for operations against Panormus; but the inhabitants readily capitulated.<ref>Diod. xxii. 10, p. 498.</ref> In the [[First Punic War]] it was occupied by a [[Carthage|Carthaginian]] garrison, but after the fall of Panormus drove out these troops and opened its gates to the [[ancient Rome|Romans]].<ref>''Id.'' xxiii. 18, p. 505.</ref> Under the Roman government it appears as a [[municipium|municipal town]], but not one of much importance. The Ietini are only noticed in passing by Cicero among the towns whose lands had been utterly ruined by the exactions of [[Verres]]; and the Ietenses are enumerated by Pliny among the ''populi stipendiarii'' of the interior of Sicily.<ref>[[Cicero]] ''[[In Verrem]]'' iii. 4. 3; Pliny iii. 8. s. 14.</ref> Many manuscripts of Cicero read "Letini", and it is probable that the {{lang|grc|Λῆτον}} of [[Ptolemy]]<ref>iii. 4. § 15.</ref> is only a corruption of the same name. The town minted coins in antiquity, examples of which survive.<ref>Eckhel, vol. i., p. 216.</ref>

The abandonment of Ietas was gradual, with some structures falling into disuse as early as the first century BCE, while others were abandoned in the [[Augustus|Augustan]] or [[Julio-Claudian dynasty|Julio-Claudian]] period. Destruction episodes, possibly caused by earthquakes or fires, occurred throughout the site's history. Occupation continued in certain areas until at least the fifth century CE, with signs of reuse and adaptation amid the decay of monumental infrastructure.<ref name=":0"/>

The position of Ietas is very obscurely intimated in ancient sources, but it appears from Diodorus that it was not very remote from Panormus, and that its site was one of great natural strength. [[Silius Italicus]] also alludes to its elevated situation.<ref>''celsus Ietas'', xiv. 271.</ref> [[Tommaso Fazello|Fazello]] assures us that there was a mediaeval fortress called Iato on the summit of a lofty mountain, about 25&nbsp;km from Palermo, and 20&nbsp;km north of [[Entella]], which was destroyed by [[Frederick II, Holy Roman Emperor|Frederick II]] at the same time as the latter city; and this he identified as the site of Ietas.  The mountain is still called Monte Iato (or Monte Jato or Monte di Iato), though formerly known as Monte di San Cosmano, from a church on its summit.<ref>[[Tommaso Fazello]] x. p. 471; Amic. ''Lex. Top. Sic.'' vol. ii. p. 291; {{Barrington|47, notes}}).</ref>

The toponym "Jato" or "Iato" is a reflection of the ancient name. ({{Nomi|573}})

==References==
{{Portal|History}}
{{Reflist}}
*{{SmithDGRG}}

{{Archaeological sites in Sicily}}

[[Category:Ancient cities in Sicily]]
[[Category:Former populated places in Italy]]
[[Category:Populated places established in the 6th century BC]]
[[Category:Archaeological sites in Sicily]]