The most important buildings of which we have any remains are to be found in the lower part of Achradina and in Neapolis, a quarter of which we hear first in the time of Dionysius, and which at first was confined to the lower ground below Temenites; but in Roman times included it and the theatre also, though it did not extend beyond the theatre to the uppermost part of the plateau. In lower Achradina remains of Roman private houses have been found, and it is in this district that the early Chris tians constructed their catacombs. (St. Paul tarried at Syracuse three days on his way to Rome [Acts xxviii. 12].) Those which are entered from near the 12th-century church of S. Giovanni, situated near an ancient temple, are extensive and important, and include the ancient crypt of S. Marcianus, and the type is differ ent from that of the Roman catacombs, the galleries being far larger (partly owing to the hardness of the limestone in which they are excavated), and having circular chambers at the points of junction. In Neapolis, on the other hand, public buildings pre dominate. The temple of Apollo Temenites has entirely dis appeared, but the theatre, entirely hewn in the rock, is still to be seen. It is the largest in Sicily, being 1383-yds. in diameter, and having 59 rows of seats; the II lower tiers were originally covered with marble. Each of the nine cunei or divisions bore a name ; the inscriptions of five of them, still preserved on the rock, are in honour of Zeus, Heracles, King Hieron II., his wife Philistis, and his daughter-in-law Nereis. It was restored after 238, after her marriage to Gelon. Of the stage nothing but cuttings in the rock and foundations are visible. (See G. E. Rizzo, Il Teatro Greco di Siracusa [1923] for a most careful study. See also THEATRE.) The situation is well chosen, com manding a splendid view over the Great Harbour, and it is often used for classical performances. Not far off to the south-east is the amphitheatre, probably erected by Augustus when he founded a colony at Syracuse; it is partly cut in the rock and partly built. It is inferior in size only to the Colosseum and the amphithe atres of Capua and Verona, measuring about 153 by 13oyds. over all: the arena is 76 by 43Yds. To the west of the amphitheatre is the foundation of the great altar erected by Hieron II., 2I7yds. long by 24 wide, and about 6yds. in height. To the north-west of the theatre a winding road ascends through the rock, with com paratively late tomb chambers on each side of it. In this dis
trict are seen hundreds of small niches cut in the rock, as a rule about 2f t. square and a few inches deep, which served for con taining inscriptions or reliefs, sometimes of a sepulchral char acter, but sometimes relating to the cult of a divinity. Both the districts just described also contain huge quarries, the famous Lautumiae (from Gr. Xaas, stone, and rektelv, to cut; hence Xaro,u1a, quarry) of Syracuse, over 1 ooft. deep and of great ex tent (though through the collapse of the pillars supporting the undermined rock they have become still larger than they were in ancient times).
We have already seen that immediately outside Lower Neapolis on the south the marshes of Lysimeleia begin, which proved fatal to more than one besieging force. They are traversed by the Anapus, with its tributary the Cyane, the latter famous for the papyrus planted by the Arabs, which here alone in Europe grows wild in the stream. To the south of the Anapus is the hill of Polichne, on which stood the Olympieum, attributed on stylistic grounds to 581 B.C. Its monolithic columns, of which two are still standing, are about 2i ft. in height and 6f t. in lower diameter: its length is estimated at 197ft., its breadth at 66/ft. This and the temple of Apollo are the earliest known examples of peripteral temples in stone. The hill was frequently occupied in attacks on Syracuse by the besieging force. The hill of Dascon is to be sought a trifle to the south-east, to the south of the mouth of the Anapus, on the edge of the Great Harbour, at the Punta Caderini. From this point southwards the shore of the Great Harbour, previously low and marshy, begins to rise, until the rocky promontory of Plemmyrium is reached.