Palermo

(anc. Panormus ). A fortified city of Sicily, situated on the north side of the island. Palermo is of Phœnician origin, and is first brought into notice in 480 B.C. , when the Cart hag in i ans under Hamilcar made it their headquarters against Himera. How it came into their hands we have no means of knowing; but it continued for a long time to be their principal naval station, and the capital of their po e ions in Sicily. With the exception of a short time, about 276 B.C. , when it was taken by the Greeks, it continued to be the headquarters of the Cart hag in i ans, until it was taken by the Romans during the first Punic war (254 B.C. ). When Sicily was conquered by the Goths, Palermo, along with the rest of the island, fell into their hands; but it was recovered by Belisarius, and the Byzantine empire retained po e ion of it till 855 A.D. , when it was taken by the Saracens, and made the capital of their Sicilian po e ions. The Vandals and afterwards the Arabs made it the capital of the island, and after the Norman conquest it continued to be the seat of the king of Sicily. It still remained the royal residence under the Aragonese kings; but the court was removed (1269) after Sicily became united to the kingdom of Naples. In 1860 the inhabitants flocked to the standard of Garibaldi, and in the same year the city was annexed to the new kingdom of Italy.