List of Tyrants of Syracuse
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Syracuse was an ancient Greek City-State, located on the East coast of Sicily. The city was founded by settlers from Corinth in 734 or 733 BC, and was conquered by the Romans in 212 BC, after which it became the seat of Roman rule in Sicily. Throughout much of it’s history as an independent city it was governed by a succession of Tyrants, with only minimal periods of Democracy and Oligarchy.
[edit] Tyrants of Syracuse
- Gelon I (491 BC-478 BC)
- Hiero I (478 BC-466 BC)
- Thrasybulus (466 BC-465 BC)
- Democracy (465 BC-405 BC)
- Dionysius I, the Elder (405 BC-367 BC)
- Dionysius II, the Younger (367 BC-357 BC)
- Dion (357 BC-354 BC)
- Calippus (354 BC-352 BC)
- Hipparinus (352 BC - 351 BC)
- Aretaeus (352 BC-350 BC)
- Nysaeos (350 BC-346 BC)
- Dionysius II, the Younger (restored, 346 BC-344 BC)
- Timoleon (345 BC-337 BC)
- Oligarchy (347 BC-317 BC)
- Agathocles (317 BC-289 BC)
- Icetas (289 BC-280 BC)
- Toinon (280 BC)
- Sosistratus (280 BC-277 BC)
- Ruled by Epirus (277 BC-275 BC)
- Hiero II of Syracuse (275 BC-215 BC)
- Gelon II (240 BC-216 BC)
- Hieronymus (215 BC-214 BC)
- Adranodoros (214 BC-212 BC)
- Hippocrates (213 BC-212 BC)
- Epicydes (213 BC-212 BC)
In the aftermath of the devastating Roman defeat at the Battle of Cannae, Hiero II entered into an alliance with Hannibal, which would ultimately decide the city's fate politically. As a result of Syracuse's support for Carthage, the Romans under Marcus Claudius Marcellus would begin besieging the city in 214 BC. The city would hold out until 212 BC, when it is believed that the Romans were accidentally given access to the city by a Syracusan peace party.
