The Latomise were originally quarries excavated in the rocks that divide the upper from the lower town, from whence the atone for tho construction of the city was drawn. They are from 60 to 80 feet deep. Some of them afterwards served as prisons; and on the surrender of Nicias the whole of the Athenian prisoners were confined in them and meetly died. The largest of these Latomiai is annexed to the Capu chin convent. Another Latomia is near the ancient theatre. On one side of it, cut in the rock, is the remarkable excavation called the Ear of Dionysius.
The catacombs are vast excavations, of very remote antiquity, for the purpose of burying the dead : they form subterraneous streets of tombs cut out of the solid rock. They were converted by the early Christians into places of refuge from persecution. The entrance to them is under the small church of San Giovanni, in the lower part of Acradina. This church is one of the oldest Christian churches in Europe. The catacombs were filled with tombs of the dead of all ages and faiths—Greek, Roman, Christian, and Saracen.
The aqueduct was begun by Oelon and enlarged by Mero. The stream is brought In subterraneoua channels from Monte Crimiti, outside of the Epipolx, until it enters the walls at the place where the fort of Labdalum stood. It then appears above ground, being received into an aqueduct upon arches and conveyed to some mills, after which the water falls down the steps of the great theatre at Neapolis.
Outside of the walls, and on the left bank of the Anapus, near the Great Harbour, are parts of the shafts of two fluted columns of the temple of Jupiter Olympicus, which was enriched by Gelon with the spoils of the Carthaginians. There are other ancient remains scattered hero and there, but of no ascertained character.
The modern town of Siracusa is fortified, and has a regular garrison, but is commanded by the height of Acradina. It is a bishop's see ; has 14,000 inhabitants, narrow streets, numerous churches and con vents, and other public buildings, the most remarkable of which is the cathedral, once the identical temple of Minerva, which was plun dered of its ornaments by Verres. Its exterior dimensions are 185 feet in length and 75 feet in width. There are also some remains of Diana's temple near St. Paul's church.
A bath, with a spiral staircase about 40 feet deep, is seen in the church of St. Philip ; and there are also vestiges of the baths of Daphne, in which the emperor Constans was murdered in 668.
The celebrated fountain of Arethusa is a large pool of water, sup plied by a spring, and separated from the sea by a wall, in the Ortygia, near the Great Harbour; and about 80 yards from it rises from the bottom of the harbour a copious spring, called L'Gcchio della Zilica, which, sceording to the ancient poets, was the Alpheus of Ells.
There is a museum st Siracusa containing the statues of the Lando lino Venus and .1Esculapius, some sarcophagi, a handsome collection of vases, inscrl,ptions, coins, &c., and a public library.
Siracusa enjoys a delightful climate in winter, but the alluvial plain on the west side of the harbour, through which flows the Anapus, exhales pestilential miasmata in the summer months. The country around is very fertile. On the left bank of the Anapue is the fountain of Cyane, now called the Pisma : it is a circular basin of the purest water, about CO or 70 feet in diameter, and 20 feet deep. The people of Siracusa carry on some trade by sea, but the place is by no means thriving. Some salt, wine, oil, and fish are exported.
Syracuse was founded about B.C. 735 by Archias, a Corinthian, the head of a colony of Corinthians and Dorian, who settled in the island of Ortygia, having overpowered the native Siculi. This settlement, which aftersearals extended to the mainland, was the origin of the great city of Syracuse. The city seems to have bad an aristocratio government at first, the descendants of the original settlers holding the chief power in their bands. But about n.c. 492 a revolution took place, by which thy aristocracy was expelled, and a democratio govern meat established. This government however did not last long, for Gelon, tyrant of Gala, having taken the part of the exiles, marched to Syracuse with an army, and the people willingly opened the gates to him, when ho was acknowledged as sovereign of Syracuse, n.c.485. Th. rule of Gelon was temperate, and hie reign was prosperous for Syracuse. lie enlarged and embellished the town. Gelon was suc ceeded by his brother Hier°, whose administration was tainted with suspicion and tyranny.