Hybla Gereatis

An ancient city of Magna Graecia on the southern slope of Mount Etna in Sicily, identified with modern Paterno through the discovery of an altar dedicated to Venus 'Victrici Hyblensi'. The volcanic hill contains remains spanning from the Bronze Age through Greek, Hellenistic-Roman, Byzantine, and early medieval periods. Described as the largest and most considerable of the several Sicilian cities named Hybla, it was a prosperous community in Cicero's time with fertile corn-producing territory. Artifacts including ceramics, terracottas, and Greco-Roman silverware dated to the 5th-3rd centuries BC are housed in the Siracusa Museum.