Selinus (sĭlĪˈnəs) [key], ancient city of Sicily. It was founded (628? B.C.) by Dorian Greeks. The constant rival of neighboring Segesta, Selinus got Syracuse to interfere in a quarrel, which led to the unsuccessful Athenian expedition in Sicily (415–413 B.C.). Segesta invoked the aid of the Carthaginians, who sacked Selinus in 409 B.C. The city was rebuilt, but it did not prosper and was finally destroyed by Carthage in 250 B.C. The ruins of the five Doric temples on the Acropolis of Selinus have been excavated, revealing some of the finest examples of archaic Greek sculpture and architecture.
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