Syracuse - Could have been champion

With history, again and again, you see the chance roll of the dice deciding the fate of a nation... will it play in the 'A' league... or be relegated to the some minor support role? Syracuse faced such a fate... lost the initiative at a critical time... and has been relegated to being a quaint seaside village in southern Sicily that serves tourists a great cup of coffee... what a shame.

Cast your minds back to 480BC...no, let's not rush... let's start in 734BC... that's when Syracuse was founded... by a boatload of Corinthians... possibly seeking extra religious freedom... our museum today was not clear on that point. Syracuse and its surrounds, offered excellent agricultural land coupled with a good water supply. Over time the influence of Greece grew... technology, new crops and slave labour were introduced... and Syracuse started a long period of prosperity. It developed an advanced culture capable of running a complex trade centre... developed arts and crafts that attracted the attention of the world... and started to challenge Athens as the prime Greek city. In its day it was a bit like Melbourne is today... second largest Greek city in the world... a place where all the smart Greek people live.

Now comes 480BC. Athens is in a heap of trouble... the Peloponnese put up resistance to the Athean  takeover... resulting in a long and bitter Peloponnesian War. But Athens looked over its shoulder towards its friends in Syracuse and saw that its sibling state was getting mighty powerful. It sent a contingent of soldiers to Syracuse. If Athens had have lost a couple more battles in the Peloponnese war... if Syracuse had been given a couple more years to consolidate its strength, our local town could have been a major player on the world stage. As it turned out... the Cartheginians took advantage of Athens' difficulties and landed a large force on Sicily. Syracuse had to marshal its resources and battle the Cartheginians... and were successful... but in the process lost a lot of its military power.

The Greek occupation of Syracuse lasted for over 400 years and left a great collection of historic ruins. The Romans were the next superpower... but they just wanted the wheat... no nonsense with empire building... just give us the wheat! Syracuse was at the wrong end of the island for Rome's convenience... and so Syracuse slowly sank into the sunset. It prospered under some of the subsequent rulers... but never regained the 'gravitas' it possessed in 480BC.