Heraclea Minoa, March 2005

Here it is, the rental car that I drove in Sicily in 2005. It was made of plastic (no kidding!) and didn't have a "park" gear, so it had to be put in neutral with the parking brake engaged to get it to stop. Now, try that on dirt roads, tight alleyways in mountain towns, and little winding paths. :)

Heraclea Minoa, an ancient town on the south coast of Sicily, at the mouth of the river Halycus, near the modern Montallegro, some 20 m. N.W. of Agrigento. It was at first an outpost of Selinus (Herod. v. 46), then overthrown by Carthage, later a border town of Agrigentum. It passed into Carthaginian hands by the treaty of 405 B.C., was won back by Dionysius in his first Punic war, but recovered by Carthage in 383. From this date onwards coins bearing its Semitic name, Ras Melkart, become common, and it was obviously an important border fortress. It was here that Dion landed in 357 B.C., when he attacked Syracuse. The Agrigentines won it back in 309, but it soon fell under the power of Agathocles. It was temporarily recovered for Greece by Pyrrhus. (T. As.) Text from Wikipedia: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heraclea

Heraclea Minoa, an ancient town on the south coast of Sicily, at the mouth of the river Halycus, near the modern Montallegro, some 20 m. N.W. of Agrigento. It was at first an outpost of Selinus (Herod. v. 46), then overthrown by Carthage, later a border town of Agrigentum. It passed into Carthaginian hands by the treaty of 405 B.C., was won back by Dionysius in his first Punic war, but recovered by Carthage in 383. From this date onwards coins bearing its Semitic name, Ras Melkart, become common, and it was obviously an important border fortress. It was here that Dion landed in 357 B.C., when he attacked Syracuse. The Agrigentines won it back in 309, but it soon fell under the power of Agathocles. It was temporarily recovered for Greece by Pyrrhus. (T. As.) Text from Wikipedia: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heraclea