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Photo by Hershel Shanks

Sitting in isolated splendor in Selinunte, Sicily, this 230-foot-long Greek temple, known simply as Temple E, was probably dedicated to Hera, the wife of Zeus. One of the best examples of Doric architecture in Sicily, Temple E was built in the fifth century B.C.—a time when Punic Phoenicians from Carthage began settling the region. Not far from the temple are ruins of Punic residential complexes that were constructed after the “Punicians” overwhelmed the Greek colony in 409 B.C.. Selinunte’s Punic colony flourished until 250 B.C., when its citizens razed their own city to prevent it from being taken by the Romans during the First Punic War.