SYRACUSE, anciently a famous city of Sicily; on the S. E. coast of the island; 80 miles S. S. W. of Messina; was founded by Corinthian settlers about 733 B. c. The colonists seem to have occupied the little isle of Ortygia, which stretches S. E. from the shore. The settlement rapidly rose to prosper ity, and toward the end of the 6th cen tury B. C. sent out colonies of its own. Little is known of the early political state of Syracuse; but about 485 the ruling families, probably descendants of the original colonists, were expelled by the lower classes of citizens. Gelon, despot of Gela, restored the exiles and at the same time made himself master of Syracuse. He increased both the pop ulation and the power of his new state, and won the highest prestige by a great victory over the Carthaginians at Hi mera. In his time Achradina, a triangu lar tableland N. of Ortygia and on the adjoining mainland, was built on. This ultimately became the most extensive and populous quarter; it contained the Agora, a temple of Zeus Olympius, the Prytaneum, with a splendid statue of Sappho and fine monuments to Timoleon and the elder Dionysius, etc. At a later date, and possibly thus early, there were two other quarters in the city—Tyche, occupying a plateau to the W. of Achra dina; and Neapolis (New City), stretch ing along the S. slopes of the plateau, and overlooking the marshes of Anapus and the Great Harbor, a spacious and well-sheltered bay to the S. W. of Orty gia. This islet, however, contained the citadel, which overlooked the docks in the Lesser Harbor on the N.
Hiero, the successor of Gelon, was celebrated throughout the Greek world as a patron of the fine arts and of men of genius, as iEschylus, Pindar, etc. In 467 B. C. the democracy again got the upper hand — Thrasybulus, Hiero's brother and successor, a "tyrant" of the baser sort, being expelled; and for 60 years a free and democratic government was enjoyed, under which Syracuse flourished more than it had ever done. During this period occurred the great struggle with Athens (415-414 B. c.), and the celebrated siege by the Athenian armament, a contest in which the Sicil ian city came off victorious. Nine years later Dionysius restored the "tyranny" of Gelon, and during a reign of nearly 40 years greatly increased the strength and importance of the city. It was he
who constructed the docks in the Greater and Lesser Harbors, and surrounded the city with fortifications. His fierce war with Carthage (397 B. C.) raised the re nown of Syracuse still higher. The reigns of the younger Dionysius and of Dion, the friend of Plato, were unset tled; but after the restoration of public liberty by Timoleon (343 B. c.) a brief season of tranquillity ensued. In 317 B. c., 20 years after the death of the noble Timoleon, Azathocles, a rude sol dier of fortune, once more restored the despotic form of government, which con tinued with scarcely an interruption through the reign (50 years) of the en lightened Hiero II., the friend and ally of Rome, down to the conquest of the city by the Romans after a siege of two years, in which Archimedes perished (212 B. c.) . This event was occasioned during the Hannibalic war by Hier onymus, a rash and vain young man, abandoning the prudent policy of his grandfather, Hiero, breaking the alli ance with Rome, and joining his and their foes, the Carthaginians. Under the Romans Syracuse slowly declined, though with its handsome public build ings and its artistic and intellectual cul ture, it always continued to be the first city of Sicily. It was captured, pillaged, and burned by the Saracens in A. D. 878, and after that sank into complete de cay.
The modern city, Siracusa, is confined to the original limits, Ortygia, which, however, is no longer an island, but a peninsula. The streets, which are de fended by walls and a citadel, are, with few exceptions, narrow and dirty. Syra cuse has a cathedral (the ancient temple of Minerva), a museum of classical antiquities, a public library with some curious MSS., numerous churches, mon asteries, and nunneries, the ancient foun tain of Arethusa (its waters mingled with sea water since the earthquake of 1170), and remains of ancient Greek and Roman temples, aqueducts, the citadel Euryalus, a theater, an amphitheater, and quarries, besides ancient Christian catacombs. The people manufacture chemicals and pottery, and trade in fruits, olive oil, wine (exports), wheat, timber, and petroleum. Pop. about 27, 500.