Syracuse (Gr.Συρακοῦσαι) 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 its history as an independent city, it was governed by a succession of tyrants, with only short periods of democracy and oligarchy. While Pindar in his odes had addressed the Sicilian tyrants (chariot-racing winners) in Olympic and Pythian games as kings, in 304 BC Agathocles himself adopted the absolute title of king (basileus).[1]
In the aftermath of the devastating Roman defeat at the Battle of Cannae, Hieronymus 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 began besieging the city in 214 BC. The city held out until 212 BC, when it is believed that the Romans were accidentally admitted to the city by a Syracusan peace party.
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