v59_0007 - SICILIA - SIRACUSA Hémilitron

SICILY - SYRACUSE

(344-317 BC)

Timoleon

After Dion's assassination in 354 BC, a period of instability ensued for ten years. Timoléon, originally from Corinth, landed in Sicily in 344 BC and took control of Syracuse. He restored Greek hegemony in Sicily by driving out the Carthaginians after the Battle of Crimisus in 339 BC. He set up a democratic government which unfortunately did not survive him, Agathokles seizing power from 317 BC. Nevertheless, for about twenty years, Syracuse knew a period of peace which allowed it to restore its finances and to develop an important program of urban construction, accompanied by the return of agricultural prosperity..