Vincenzo Messana: Massimino ariano e la Sicilia: il dibattito storiografico negli ultimi decenni su una vexata quaestio

Key points of the article: 1. the complex historical context of Sicily, decidedly affected by the Vandal event, by the depredationes of Genseric and by the 440 A. D. siege of Palermo (details from Prosper Aquitanus to Victor Vitensis, from Cassiodorus to Beda, etc.; important information in Novella 9 and, especially, in Novella 1 of Valentinian III); 2. the matter of whether the Sicilian Church was harmed and had suffered in these situations; 3. the peculiar recount by Hydatius of Genseric's siege of Palermo and of the deed of the Arian bishop Maximinus; 4. the animated historiographical debate about the identity of Maximinus Arian and his relation with Sicily, and the different views and hypotheses of scholars in recent decades with regard to specific aspects of the intricate vexata quaestio: from Francesco Giunta to Vito A. Sirago, from Alberto Pincherle to Manlio Simonetti, from Roger Gryson to Luis A. García Moreno, from Mario Mazza to Salvatore Pricoco, from Lellia Cracco Ruggini to Francesco P. Rizzo, etc.