Agrigento is a city on the southern coast of Sicily, Italy, and capital of the province of Agrigento.
It is renowned as the site of the ancient Greek city of Akragas (also known as Acragas in Greek, Agrigentum in Latin and Kirkent or Jirjent in Arabic), one of the leading cities of Magna Graecia during the golden age of Ancient Greece.Agrigento is founded on a plateau overlooking the sea, with two nearby rivers, the Hypsas and the Akragas, and a ridge to the north offering a degree of natural fortification.
Its establishment took place around 582-580 BCE and is attributed to Greek colonists from Gela, who name it Akragas.Akragas grows rapidly, becoming one of the richest and most famous of the Greek colonies of Magna Graecia.
It comes to prominence under the 6th-century tyrants Phalaris and Theron, and becomes a democracy after the overthrow of Theron's son Thrasydaeus.
Although the city remains neutral in the conflict between Athens and Syracuse, its democracy is overthrown when the city is sacked by the Carthaginians in 406 BCE.
Akragas never fully recovers its former status, though it revives to some extent under Timoleon in the latter part of the 4th century.The city is disputed between the Romans and the Carthaginians during the First Punic War.
The Romans lay siege to the city in 262 BCE and capture it after defeating a Carthaginian relief force in 261 BCE and sell the population into slavery.
Although the Carthaginians recapture the city in 255 BCE, the final peace settlement gives Punic Sicily and with it Akragas to Rome.
It suffers badly during the Second Punic War (218-201 BCE) when both Rome and Carthage fight to control it.
The Romans eventually capture Akragas in 210 BCE and rename it Agrigentum, although it remains a largely Greek-speaking community for centuries thereafter.
