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Syracusa
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Syracusa
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[CityBuilder: Decius Aemilius]
Syracuse was founded in 734 or 733 BC by Greek settlers from Corinth. The initial settlers called it Sirako, referring to a nearby swamp. The initial settlement was on the island of Ortygia, located to the east across a narrow channel from the later settlement. In the seventh century BC the city of Syracuse herself founded several colonies on Sicily.
Gelo, the tyrant of Gela, became the tyrant of Syracuse in 485 BC at the bequest of some oligarchical landed proprietors who had been driven out by the populace. According to Herodotus (vii. 171) Gelo was solicited by the Greeks to send aid against the invasion of Xerxes, but he refused it when they would not give him command of the allied forces.
The Carthaginians invaded Sicily in that same year (480 BC) but Gelo, who had allied with Theron of Agrigento, decisively defeated the African force led by Hamilcar of Carthage, and established Syracusan hegemony over the southeast of Sicily.
During the same period new quarters of Tyche and Neapolis were built outside the walls. The program of new civic improvements also included a new theater, designed by Damocopos. The cultural life for which Syracuse became known attracted personalities such as Aeschylus, Ario of Metimma, Eumelos of Corinth and Sappho, who had been exiled from Mytilene.
A democratic regime was introduced by Thrasybulos (467 BC), and the city continued to expand in Sicily, fighting against the Siculi, as well as on the Tyrrhenian Sea. In the process Sicily found herself at war with Athens in the Peloponesian War, and with some Spartan assistance defeated Athen's Sicilian Expedition. In the late fifth and fourth centuries BC Syracuse fought a continual series of wars against Carthage, mostly managing a series of draws.
Hiero II seized power in 275 BC. Under his rule Syracause became one of the most renowned capitals of antiquity. He issued the so-called Lex Hieronica, which was later adopted by the Romans for their administration of Sicily.
The outbreak of the First Punic War in 264 BC saw the former adversaries of Carthage and Syracuse allied against the rising power of Rome. However, the Carthaginian General Hanno and the Syracusan Tyrant Hiero did not coordinate their actions, allowing Roman Consul Appius Claudius to defeat each army in detail. Shortly thereafter a reinforced Roman army under new leadership brought 68 Syracusan and Punic cities on Sicily to seek peace with Rome; including Syracuse, which Hiero led into an alliance with Rome.
Syracuse rejoined the conflict during the Second Punic War when in 215 BC the pro-Carthage Hieronymus, who had succeeded to the the throne, was assassinated by the pro-Roman party. The pro-Roman faction was so brutal that they in turn were cast out, and Rome reinforced Sicily with a second legion. Syracuse was now a primary objective, but strong fortifications – aided by Archimedes – allowed the Greek defenders to defeat the first land and sea assault.
In 212 BC, reinforced by an additional two legions, Rome successfully conquered Syracuse when Romans were able to scale the walls in the dark following a Syracusan religious festival that had left the Syracusans drunk and hungover. The city was plundered severely. Archimedes was killed during the sack, probably in spite of orders from the Roman commander Marcus Claudius Marcellus that he be taken alive.
Under Roman rule Syracuse became the capital of the Roman provincial government, where the Praetor of Sicily was located. It remained an important trading port, although increasingly one located in a cultural backwater.
Christianity arrived in Syracuse very early on via the efforts of St. Paul and St. Marcian, the first bishop of the city. Syracuse acqured extensive catacombs during the imperial persecutions of Christians, second in size only to those in Rome.
The city remained under Roman rule until all of Sicily fell to the Vandals in AD 439. In 535 Syracuse and the isle were retaken by Belisarius for the Byzantine Empire, under whom Syracuse gained in importance—from 663 to 668 Syracuse was the seat of Emperor Constans II.
The city fell to Muslim rule in 878, inaugurating two centuries of Islamic rule over Sicily during which Syracuse lost its capital status in favour of Palermo. The Cathedral was turned into a mosque and the quarter on the Ortygia island was gradually rebuilt in Islamic style. The city remained an important trading port and housed a relatively flourishing cultural and artistical life. Several Arab poets, including Ibn Hamdis, the most important Sicilan poet of the 12th century, lived here.
In 1038 the Byzantine general George Maniaces reconquered the city. This set the pattern for the following centuries, as various European states traded Sicily back and forth.
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