the jato valley and the greeks

The ethnic identity of archaic people lived in this place is still enigmatic: the first settlement probably dates to the first millennium a. C. But it is not certain that was elimo or sicano; are confirmed contacts with the Carthaginians (IV century. BC) and the Romany during the first Punic War (261-241 BC). The most important sign of Greek civilization (550 BC), still visible, is the temple of Aphrodite, with its altar. 
 The archaeological treasures discovered on Mount Jato include a large theater of the fourth century. A. C., capable of accommodating up to 4400 spectators, the agora (main square) with the remains of bouleuterion (council hall), and the so-called "house of the peristyle (III sec. BC), a residential structure private, on two floors, which housed Ventitrè rooms on the ground floor, a magnificent banquet hall of the upper floor and magnificent mosaics colored decorations. The peristyle house was destroyed in 50 Others C. Under the Emperor Claudius. 
 Disabitata for centuries after the earthquake of the century. D. C., Jato repeatedly force only under the rule Arabic; its historical vicissitudes ended in 1246 when Frederick II of Swabia had definitively destroy, deporting residents elsewhere to tame a religious revolt.