List of tyrants of Syracuse
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]
Tyrants of Syracuse
Deinomenids (485-465)
- Gelon I (485 BC-478 BC)
- Hiero I (478 BC-466 BC)
- Thrasybulus (466 BC-465 BC)
Dionysii (405-344)
- 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 (345-337)
- Timoleon (345 BC-337 BC)
Agathocles (317-289)
- Agathocles (317 BC-289 BC)
Interregnum (289-276)
- Hicetas (289 BC-280 BC)
- Toinon (280 BC)
- Sosistratus (280 BC-277 BC)
- Pyrrhus of Epirus (278-276 BC)
Hieronids (275-214)
- Hiero II (275 BC-215 BC)
- Gelo II (until 216 BC)
- Hieronymus (215 BC-214 BC)
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 finally fell to the Romans.
References
- ↑ A Dictionary of the Ancient Greek World by David Sacks, Oswyn Murray, Margaret Bunson Page 10 ISBN 0-19-511206-7
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