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Excerpt from The History of Sicily From the Earliest Times, Vol. 4 The notes have been a considerable labour. The places to be annotated were indeed marked in the ms, but in the great majority of cases not only had no attempt been made by the author to supply the notes themselves, but no indication was given of the references to be made. In compiling them I have endeavoured where possible to supplement the sources made use of in the text by the indi cation of fresh material or of more recent criticism. It has moreover from time to time been necessary to make use of the notes as a vehicle for conveying dissent from the views expressed in the text. It must be constantly borne in mind in this connexion that, though, on the whole, the work in its present form seems to be such as Mr. Freeman when he wrote it desired to-set before the public eye, there is no part that he might not have revised or modified had fresh evidence bearing on the points at issue come under his notice. He was himself accustomed to re-write large passages of his works: and his mind was always open to fresh lights. But, although in the notes I have ventured here and there to adduce evidence for a different view from that expressed in the text, I have, except in the case of obvious verbal slips, regarded the text itself as sacred. I have altered nothing, and I have taken away nothing. I have moreover been careful. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain