CAMARINA  , an

ancient city of Sicily, situated on the south coast, about 17 m . S.E. of Gela (Terranova) . It was founded by Syracuse in 599 B.C., but destroyed by the mother city ih 552 for attempting to assert its independence . Hippocrates of Gilareceived its territory from Syracuse and restored the town in 492, but it was destroyed by Gelon in 484; the Geloans, however, founded it anew in 461 . It seems to have been in general hostile to Syracuse, but, though an ally of Athens in 427, it gave some slight help to Syracuse in 415-413 . It was destroyed by the Carthaginians in 405, restored by Timoleon in 339 after its abandonment by Dionysius's order, but in 258 fell into the hands of the Romans . Its complete destruction dates from A.D . 853 . The site of the ancient city is among rapidly shifting sandhills, and the lack of stone in the neighbourhood has led to its buildings being used as a quarry even by the inhabitants of Terranova, so that nothing is now visible above ground but a small part of the wall of the temple of Athena and a few foundations of houses; portions of the city wall have been traced by excavation, and the necropolis has been carefully explored (see J . Schubring in Philologus, xxxii . 490; P . Orsi in Monumenti dei Lincei, ix .

201, 1899; xiv . 756, 1904) . To the

north lay the lake to which the answer of the Delphic oracle referred, jn) elv Kaµaptvav, when the citizens inquired as to the advisability of draining it .