Lipari

©2009 Rexino Mondo

From 20,000 feet up, off the coast of Italy, looking down through the massive tube, of a gigantic tornado, a mysterious triangle of fire can been seen spinning in time. As it spins, its center eye, ancient Lipari, precisely records history’s all - from one conqueror to another; one century to another. The duels, spears, lances, gladiators, festivals, chariots, swords, rapes, killings, massacres that never end, leave the pains of injustice forever imprisoned in memory and are only temporarily erased by an occasional love - if time chooses to be kind to some. From their depths, Trinacria’s gods - Vesuvius, Stromboli and Etna, hold a world’s destiny in their forever consuming triangle of fire with a power far greater than man could ever achieve.

Slowly coming closer, the personalities become more distinguishable, voices can be heard, cries for mercy, screaming, and the smell of blood. A very powerful fleet of Greek ships to the south can be seen battling the Etruscan Pirates in defense of the islands in 588 BC. The winds of time violently spinning forward brings the Carthaginians; King Philip of Macedonia in 359 BC; his son, Alexander The Great; the destruction and burial of cities Pompeii and Herculaneum in 79 AD by Vesuvius; Romans; Saracens; and the night invasion by King Robert of Naples, lit by the fire torches of Mount Stromboli in 1340 AD.

Greeks and Latin’s settling, multiplying, enjoying the island's treasures are hit in 1544 AD and ransacked by pirate Ariadeno Barbarossa. The entire population is captured and sold as slaves except Anna, a twelve year old who escapes and hides in a cave where she bathes by a waterfall that tumbles into an emerald pool of nature's hot mineral water; and is nurtured by the forest. Emperor of Rome, King Charles V, takes Lipari Islands rebuilds; repopulates; along with three brothers, believed to be of the vanished Diana civilization, known for their bravery and being extraordinarily rapid in battle, as the "Rabito Knights," under his son, King Philip of Spain in the sixteenth century.

The King grants the Rabito Knights territories in the Aeolian Islands and Sicily. The priest on the main island called “Lipari” marries Thomas, the youngest of the Rabito Knights, to Anna. The continuing invasions; ships; battles; slaves; chains; swords; killings; gun powder and cannon balls are peaked in 1669 by Mount Etna, the third point in the deadly triangle, as she explodes - spewing her hot tons of orange-red lava. While the lava slowly oozes down her sides on the way to kiss the hissing sea, she completely destroys Catania Seaport. Dukes of Savoy takes Sardinia in 1720. Vittorio Amadeo becomes King of Sardinia. Descendants of the Rabito Knights, Christofolo mi Rabito, Duke of Palermo, and his brother Don Bartolomeo become Administrator of Foreign Affairs and Administrator of Interior for the Royal Court of Italy during the early nineteenth century under Vittorio Emanuele II, King of Sardinia.