Siege of Syracuse (212 BC)

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Siege of Syracuse
Part of Second Punic War
Date 214 BC - 212 BC Location Syracuse Result Roman victory
Combatants
Roman Republic	Syracuse
Commanders
Marcus Claudius Marcellus
Casualties
	Archimedes

Second Punic War
Saguntum – Lilybaeum – Ticinus – Trebia – Cissa – Lake Trasimene – Ebro River – Cannae – 1st Nola – Dertosa – 2nd Nola – Cornus – 3rd Nola – 1st Capua – Silarus – 1st Herdonia – Syracuse – Upper Baetis – 2nd Capua – 2nd Herdonia – Numistro – Asculum – Tarentum – Baecula – Grumentum – Metaurus – Ilipa – Crotona – Utica – Bagbrades – Cirta – Po Valley – Great Plains – Zama

The Siege of Syracuse took place in 214-212 BC, when the Roman Republic put under siege the Magna Graecia Hellenistic city of Syracuse, on the east coast of Sicily. Despite famously being protected by weapons developed by Archimedes, the city fell, and the Romans took control of the Eastern Sicily.

[edit] Prelude

Events after Cannae showed to the Romans the importance of sieges in ancient warfare. Hannibal found it difficult to capture any cities with extensive fortifications in place, including Rome (despite rumours that he was seen but five miles from the city at one point). His lack of siege equipment was his downfall, however some cities sided with the Carthaginian general; among these there was the city of Syracuse on the eastern coast of Sicily, which rebelled against Roman rule in 213 BC.

A Roman force led by the General Marcus Claudius Marcellus consequently laid siege to the port city by sea and land. Among the Syracuse defenders was the mathematician and scientist Archimedes. It is often claimed that his presence helped to prolong the Syracusan defence; he organised multiple catapult and ballista fire upon the Roman besiegers. He also designed hooks to try and lift the boats out of the sea.

[edit] Siege

However the Romans were not outclassed by the genius of Archimedes; they had their own devices and inventions, including the Sambucae (scaling ladders mounted upon the Roman ships). The Romans used pulleys attached to their ship's mast to lower these ladders onto the huge walls of Syracuse. However, again Greek engineering and experience proved too much for the Romans, whose civilisation was a baby in comparison to that of Greece. Archimedes used his defensive devices to smash the ladders as they touched the walls.

The siege dragged on for many more months. The Romans could not keep their blockade tight enough to stop supplies reaching the city. The Carthaginians tried and failed to relieve the city from its Roman besiegers. In 212 BC however while the inhabitants were participating in a festival to their goddess Artemis, the Romans managed to get over the walls and into the outer city; here we can see another difference between the two cultures, the Greeks' strong love of religion in comparison with the Romans, to whom religion was not such a major part of their lives. After scaling the walls, the Romans began the onslaught. Marcus Cladius Marcellus had grown a respect for the inventions that had stopped him from taking the city on so many occasions, and he ordered that Archimedes should not be killed. Archimedes, who was now around 78 years of age, continued his studies after the breach by the Romans. While pondering at his home, his work was disturbed by a Roman soldier. The soldier, not knowing who he was, killed Archimedes, probably after Archimedes' outrage of the disturbance. The Romans now controlled the outer city, however the remainder of the population of Syracuse moved to the inner citadel of the city. The Romans besieged this smaller area now, and were a lot more successful in cutting off supplies. After an eight-month siege a Syracusan traitor opened the gates to the Romans who then executed or enslaved most of the city's population; the city was looted and sacked.

[edit] Aftermath

The city of Syracuse was now under the influence of Rome again, thus uniting the whole of Sicily as a Roman province. The island would be an important step onto both Africa and Greece in coming Roman conflicts. Syracuse would be an important city for the Roman empire until well into the 5th century, playing both a military and economic part in the creation of the empire; the retaking of Syracuse also ensured that the Carthaginians could not get a foothold in Sicily, which could have led them onto Italy and Rome where they may have been better prepared with suitable siege equipment.