SYRACUSE (Lat. Syracusa-, from Gk. l'upd icouinzi, Surakonsai). Anciently the most famous and powerful city of Sicily, situated on the southeastern coast of the island, 33 miles sonth southeast of Catania. It was founded by a body of Corinthian settlers under Archias, one of the Bacchiathe, near the end of the eighth century B.C. The traditional date, B.C. 734, rests on un certain evidence. The original colonists seem at first to have occupied nothing more than the little isle of Ortygia, ahont one mile long and half a mile broad, which lies near the shore, but with the growth of the city the population soon passed over to the mainland. This settlement was on Achradina, at the eastern end of a high triangular plateau, which lies north of the isl and. To the north of the island lay the small harbor, while to the west was the great harbor, one of the best in Sicily. Later the greater part of the city was on the mainland, with which Ortygia was connected by bridges or a cause way. It consisted of Achradina, occupying the eastern end of the tableland and the adjacent coast, Tvche and Nen polis to the west of Aehradina and of Epipohe, still farther west, with the strong fort of Euryalus at the apex of the triangle. The colony rapidly rose to perity, and was enabled to establish sub-colonies of its own, Acne (p.c. 664), Ca gille1111` p.c. and Camarina (tie. 599). Nothing definite is known of the early political state of Syracuse, but the government seems to have been in the hands of the descendants of the Dorian colonists, who were land-owners employing a large body of serfs, seemingly Sieels. The commerce of the city brought, however, a large 'Demos' of Greeks, who about B.C. 4S0 expelled the or rul ing oligarchy, and established a democracy. The `Gamori.' were brought back in the following year by Gelon (q.v.), tyrant of Gela, who at the same time made himself master of Syracuse. He w•as a great ruler, and under him the city increased in size and wealth. He was succeeded by his broth er, }Hero 1. (q.v.) (n.c. whose court became a literary centre. hi B.C. 465 the de mocracy expelled his brother and successor Thrasybulus, and for sixty years a free and popu lar government was enjoyed under which Syra cuse prospered greatly. The Sieels were re duced, and war was waged with neighboring States, till the island attracted Athenian inter vention, only closed by the Peace of Hermo crates (B.C. 424). Renewed hostilities with Segesta led to the great struggle with Athens (we. 415-413), in which Syracuse, aided by the Spartan Gylippus, annihilated the invading army, and contributed not a little to the outcome of the Peloponnesian War. But a new power ap
peared on the Carthaginian, whose conquests in Sicily toward the close of the fifth century threatened the existence of Syracuse. The successful leadership of Dionysius the Elder (q.v.) enabled him to become tyrant of the city and make it the chief power of Magna CIrweia and Sicily. It was he who constructed the docks in the greater and lesser harbors, and surrounded the city with fortifications. His fierce and vic torious war with Carthage (n.e. 397) raised the renown of Syracuse still higher. The reigns of Dionysius the Younger (q.v.) and of Dion (q.v.) were unsettled; but after the restoration of pub lic liberty by Timoleon (n.c. 343) a brief season of tranquillity ensued, during which the pros perity of the city rapidly revived. Under Aga thocles (q.v.), however, the despotic form of government was again established (n.c. 317). This reign was marked by a war with Carthage, including an invasion of Africa, conducted with very doubtful success. In B.C. 275 Hiero (q.v.) was chosen general, and about B.C. 270 he assumed the title of King. He adopted the policy of loyal alliance with Rome, and preserved the independence of the State until his death in B.C. 216. His grandson, Hieronymus, joined the Car thaginians, and in consequence the city suffered a long siege, rendered famous by the devices of Archimedes, and was filially stormed and plun dered in B.C. 212 by Mareellus.
Under the Romans Syracuse slowly but stead ily declined, though it always continued to he the capital and first city of Sicily, and was made a colony by Augustus. Captured. pillaged, and burned by the Saracens (878), it sank into com plete decay, and is at present confined to its original limits. Ortygia, which, however, is no longer an island, but a peninsula. The tion of Syracuse, which is the of a prov ince of the same name, was about 32,000 in 1900. The mainland contains the chief remains of antiquity, which include a rock-cut theatre, a Roman amphitheatre, the great altar of Hiero 11., the remains of the ancient fortifications, and the great La or quarries. The cathedral on Ortygia has been built around an ancient Doric temple, and the columns of the temple form part of the The museum contains many inter esting remains of the pre-Hellenic population, found in graves and caves in the neighborhood. In the southern part of the town is the famous fountain of Arethusa. Consult: Freeman, His tory of Sicily (Oxford, 1891-94) ; Holm, Ge schichtc Siciliens (Leipzig, 1870-98) ; Cavallari and llolm, Topogratia arehrologica di Siracusa (Palermo, 1883), and Appcmlice (1891).