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Siracusa

Siracusa1 is a city of 124 thousand2 located in its own province on the east shore of the island of Sicilia,3 in Italia.4 The city became famous in the fifth century BCE when it was called Συράκουσαι (Surákousai). When it was conquered by Senatvs Popvlvsqve Romanvs (the Roman Empire) it became known as Syracusae. Later on, when ruled by Rhomania (the Byzantine Empire), it was called Συρακοῦσαι (Surakoũsai). In the local dialect of Italian it can be called Seragusa, but since unification it has taken on the official spelling of the national dialect. After the Roman imperial period it declined in importance.

UNESCO honors the city as a component of a World Heritage Site. Among the buildings recognized are a fifth century BCE Greek temple to the goddess Athena (later converted to a Christian cathedral), a Greek theatre, a Roman ampitheatre and a fort.5

The mechanical engineer, Archimedes, was born in and did his work in the city, serving its military defense through inventions. He applied mathematics to develop some rules governing mechanics such as the law of the lever, centers of mass, equilibrium and hydrostatic pressure.6

NameYearPopulationPolitical entity
Συράκουσαι (Surákousai)430 BCE130,0007city state of Συράκουσαι (Surákousai)
Syracusae200 BCE100,0007Senatvs Popvlvsqve Romanvs (Roman Republic)
Syracusae100 CE7Senatvs Popvlvsqve Romanvs (Roman Empire)
Syracusae361 CE7Senatvs Popvlvsqve Romanvs (Roman Empire)
Siracusa2011 CE124,0002Repubblica Italiana (Italy)

Historical maps

map of the metropolitan city of Catania, the provinces of Siracusa and Ragusa, and the nation of Malta, 430 BCE

map of the metropolitan city of Catania, the provinces of Siracusa and Ragusa, and the nation of Malta, 200 BCE

map of the metropolitan city of Catania, the provinces of Siracusa and Ragusa, and the nation of Malta, 1600-1700 CE

map of the metropolitan city of Catania, the provinces of Siracusa and Ragusa, and the nation of Malta, beginning of 1800 CE

map of the metropolitan city of Catania, the provinces of Siracusa and Ragusa, and the nation of Malta, 1900 CE

map of Italia (and somewhat subordinate territories), and the nation of Malta, 2000 CE, showing Siracusa

External references

Classical Greek theatre remains, Siracusa, Siracusa Province, island of Sicilia, Italia

Footnotes

1. Syracuse in English.
2. 2011 figure from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_cities_in_Italy, accessed January 29, 2018.
3. Sicily in English.
4. Italy in English.
5. UNESCO, World Heritage Sites (Firefly Books, 2010).
6. John Stillwell, Mathematics and its History (2nd ed., Springer, 2002).
7. Tertius Chandler, Four Thousand Years of Urban Growth, 2nd ed. (The Edwin Mellen Press, 1987), "Tables of the World's Largest Cities." The city was the fourth largest in the world in 430 BCE and eighth in 200 BCE. (In 430 BCE it was also the largest in what is now Italia.) In 100 CE it was smaller than Tonggoo, which was smaller than Rayy, which was smaller than Kavery, which was smaller than Zara, which had 60,000 residents. It was larger than Borach, which was larger than Babilu, which was larger than Ephesus, which had a population of 51,000. In 361 CE it was smaller than Varanasi, which was smaller than Aror, which was smaller than Marib, which was smaller than Kanchi, which was smaller than Auxum, which was smaller than Istakhr, which was smaller than Tambuk, which was smaller than Leptis, which had a population of 50,000. It was larger than Smyrna, which was larger than Vienne, which had a population of 45,000.