Who Impacted Sicilian Culture the Most?

Many different groups have influenced Sicilian culture. The prime location of Sicily, the resources the island has to give, and the accessible ports made Sicily one of the most desirable lands in the Mediterranean. It is said that Sicilian culture is a melting pot of many cultures due to the fact that each group that conquered Sicily came in and introduced new things that are still present in Sicily today. Take this quiz to see who you thought had the biggest impact on present day Sicilian culture. [[Play game!]]

In your opinion, what food dish below best captures Sicilian cuisine? a. [[pasta with seafood]] b. [[wine and cheese]] c. [[gelato and cannolis]] d. [[bread and olive oil]]

Based on your answer choices, you think that the ''Greeks'' influenced Sicilian culture the most. While you still chose some answers that weren't only Greek influence, the majority of your answers show that in your mind, the Greeks had the largest impact on Sicily. The Greeks moved to Sicily because they wanted to establish colonies and expand themselves across more land. They were the first to introduce the concept of a democracy and that is exactly how they governed their people. The Greeks were known for their temples, generally of Doric style. The temples were built as an offering and dedication to a Greek God or Goddess. Another thing the Greeks were known for is mastering the art of sculpting marble. They unlike the Romans, learned the balance of the marble. Many buildings have intricate Greek sculptures on them and in them. A lot of the trade taking place in Sicily when the Greeks were in power were within their own people. Greeks introduced olives and grapes into Sicily. The Greeks were polytheistic because they believed in many Gods and Godesses. If you want to play the game again click [[Start]] to begin again!

What would you say that the majority of Sicilians practice as their religion today? a. [[Judaism]] b. [[Christian]] c. [[Catholicism]] d. [[Islam]] e. [[Polytheism]]

What style of government impacted Sicily the most? a. [[Democracy]] b. [[Republic]] c. [[Monarchy]] d. [[Feudal System]]

Based on your answer choices, you think that the ''Vandals, Goths, and Byzantines'' influenced Sicilian culture the most. While you still chose some answers that weren't only Vandals, Goths, and Byzantine influence, the majority of your answers show that in your mind, the Vandals, Goths, and Byzantines had the largest impact on Sicily. The Vandals, Goths, and Byzantines came from northeast Germany so that they could have better living conditions. Under their control the Pope took over and people could then give land to the church. As far as education goes, the high class boys were being educated by monks. The Byzantines were known for their frescoes and mosaics. The mosaics were made out of glass pieces. The main colors that were in these mosaics were purle, blue, red, and gold. The people in these mosaics and frescoes all looked the same; they were not representational and not three demensional. This was because there was no artistic freedom at the time which led the art techniques to be limited and forgotten. Similarly, there was no tolerance of religion. Christianity was favored and that was the only acceptable religion. The Vandals, Goths, and Byzantines had a large influence in the fact that there were no advancements in the time where they were under control. This was because there was no literacy, no artistic freedom, and almost all land was lost to the church. If you want to play the game again click [[Start]] to begin again!

Based on your answer choices, you think that the ''Venetians'' influenced Sicilian culture the most. While you still chose some answers that weren't only Venetian influence, the majority of your answers show that in your mind, the Venetians had the largest impact on Sicily. The Venetians are from present day Lebanon and came to establish a more prosperous trading post in the center of the Mediterranean. The Venetians contributed to Sicilian culture by introducing the alphabet, carats for measuring metals, purple dye, heating, sailing and star navigation, cities, salt removal/extraction and preservation of foods. The Venetians fueled the economy trading the expensive purple dye for silk and metals. For construction, the Venetians made their walls by using large rocks and filled the gaps in between the large rocks with smaller rocks. The Venetians were also known to potentially have human sacrifice. If you want to play the game again click [[Start]] to begin again!

Based on your answer choices, you think that the ''Romans'' influenced Sicilian culture the most. While you still chose some answers that weren't only Roman influence, the majority of your answers show that in your mind, the Romans had the largest impact on Sicily. The Romans came to Sicily for all the resources Sicily had to offer, specifically for the lumbar and the grain. Prior to the Romans, Sicily was full of forests, but the Romans cut them down in order to use the lumbar for ships for trading and a navy. The Romans approach to conquering and controlling the land was a very hands off approach. Besides renaming the cities they conquered their own names, they didn't do much to change the way life was already running in the cities. The Romans did increase taxes though. There was a 10% agricultural tax and during war a certain percent had to go to army sites. Rome also controlled Sicily's grain sales and production. During the time of the Romans there were little technology and tool advancements because of the abundance of slaves. The slaves were people who resisted and were used for farming and building temples. They were not treated well because there were so many of them they could simply be worked to death and have a replacement. At one point the government functioned as an empire, but then after time it was transformed into a republic. The Romans would export things such as grain, horses, boars, deer, and fish. The Romans were polytheistic with a main emphasis on God. They practiced a form of Catholicism. The Romans were very tolerant with religion. They took over the Greek temples. Although similar architecture, there are different columns for both Roman and Greek temples. If you want to play the game again click [[Start]] to begin again!

Based on your answer choices, you think that the ''Muslims'' influenced Sicilian culture the most. While you still chose some answers that weren't only Muslim influence, the majority of your answers show that in your mind, the Muslim had the largest impact on Sicily. The Muslims came to Sicily to spread religion, but when they got there, they realized that it was a great place for agriculture due to the grain and water supplies. They introduced irrigation into Sicily and created a new fishing method for tuna. Additionally, the muslims brough many crops to Sicily. Some of these included melons, some citrus fruits, eggplant, saffron, dates, bananas, some nuts, pasta, and sugar. The muslims also learned how to keep things and make things cold. The Muslims were among the first groups to practice polygamy openly. Taking over Sicily was very violent for the Muslims, but once under control it was one of the most peaceful ruling periods out of everyone. The Muslims also kick started Sicily back into the swing of things since everything in Sicily was very stagnant from the Byzantines. Life gets better for almost everyone except women under Muslim control. People start converting to become Muslim so that trade relationships could strengthen. The land was overworked due to the fact that there were more people owning smaller parts of land. This was because the son was to inherit the land of his father. If the father had multiple sons then the land had to be divided, which would have to be divided again if the son had multiple sons and so on. The Muslims were tolerant of religion, but the Christians did have to pay tax. During Muslim rule, there were approximately 300 mosques and no new Christian churches were allowed to be built If you want to play the game again click [[Start]] to begin again!

Based on your answer choices, you think that the ''Normans'' influenced Sicilian culture the most. While you still chose some answers that weren't only Norman influence, the majority of your answers show that in your mind, the Norman had the largest impact on Sicily. The Normans were sent by the pope to acquire land. They were tolerant of religion, but instead of Christians having to pay taxes, the Muslims and Jews had to pay taxes. The good part about paying the tax for the different religion that isn't Christianity is that the people who paid their taxes didn't have to serve in the military. Something that the Normans introduced was the feudal system. This was a system of different classes of rulers and all the land belonged to the king. Normans encouraged Latin Christianity. The mosques from the Muslim time were converted back into churches. Mondreal was an Arab Norman church that was covered in mosaics on the inside. The Muslims were responsible for the making of the mosaics, the Byzantines were responsible for the colors in the mosaics, and the Normans were responsible for commisioning the churches. If you want to play the game again click [[Start]] to begin again!

What was the most influential invention or skill that was discovered that is still used in present day Sicily today? a. [[marble sculptures]] b. [[salt extraction and food preservation]] c. [[aqueducts]] d. [[colored glass]] e. [[irrigation and keeping things cold]]

The most important reason for coming to Sicily was: a. [[for forming colonies]] b. [[the resources]] c. [[for spreading religion]] d. [[for forming a more prosperous trading post]] e. [[better living conditions]] f. [[because they had to listen to orders]]

What was the most influential invention or skill that was discovered that is still used in present day Sicily today? a. [[the marble sculptures]] b. [[the process of salt extraction and food preservation]] c. [[building aqueducts]] d. [[colored pieces of glass]] e. [[irrigation and keeping stuff cold]]

What was the most influential invention or skill that was discovered that is still used in present day Sicily today? a. [[marble sculpture]] b. [[salt extraction and the preservation of food]] c. [[invention of aqueducts]] d. [[colored glass in mosaics]] e. [[irrigation and the invention of keeping things cold]]

The most important reason for coming to Sicily was: a. [[To form colonies]] b. [[For the resources]] c. [[To spread religion]] d. [[To form a more prosperous trading post]] e. [[For better living conditions]] f. [[To listen to orders]]

The most important reason for coming to Sicily was: a. [[in order for forming colonies]] b. [[in order to get resources]] c. [[in order to spread religion]] d. [[for forming a more prosperous trading post]] e. [[better living conditions]] f. [[because they needed to listen to orders]]

What type of religious tolerance made the most impact on how religion works today? [[no religious tolerance]] [[complete freedom of religion]] [[religious tolerance with non-dominating groups paying taxes]]

What type of religious tolerance made the most impact on how religion works today? [[no religious tolerance]] [[complete freedom of religion]] [[there was religious tolerance with non-dominating groups paying taxes]]

What type of religious tolerance made the most impact on how religion works today? [[there was no religious freedom]] [[complete freedom of religion]] [[religious tolerance with non-dominating groups paying taxes]]

In your mind, what was the greatest event or invention that sparked economy of Sicily? a. [[invention of democracy]] b. [[purple dye]] c. [[irrigation]] d. [[new fishing methods]]

Although the language spoken in Sicily today is mainly Italian, what language had the most impact in Sicilian culture? a. [[Latin]] b. [[Greek]] c. [[Arabic]] d. [[English]]

Although the language spoken in Sicily today is mainly Italian, what language had the most impact in Sicilian culture? a. [[Latin language]] b. [[Greek language]] c. [[Arabic language]] d. [[English language]]

Double-click this passage to edit it.

In your mind, what was the greatest event or invention that sparked economy of Sicily? a. [[invention of democracy]] b. [[purple dye]] c. [[irrigation]] d. [[new fishing methods]]