Tyrants of Syracuse. Volume I: 480-367 BC

The Tyrants of Syracuse #1

by Jeff Champion

This is the story of one of the most important classical cities, Syracuse, and its struggles (both internal and external) for freedom and survival. Situated at the heart of the Mediterranean, Syracuse was caught in the middle as Carthage, Pyrrhus of Epirus, Athens and then Rome battled to gain control of Sicily. The threat of expansionist enemies on all sides made for a tumultuous situation within the city, resulting in repeated coups that threw up a series of remarkable tyrants, such as Gelon, Timoleon and Dionysius.In this first volume Jeff Champion traces the course of Syracuse's wars under the tyrants from the Battle of Himera (480 BC) against the Carthaginians down to the death of Dionysius I (367 BC), whose reign proved to be the high tide of the city's power and influence. One of the highlights along the way is the city's heroic resistance to, and eventual decisive defeat of, the Athenian expeditionary force that besieged them for over two years (415-413BC), an event with massive ramifications for the Greek world. This is the eventful life story of one of the forgotten major powers of the ancient Mediterranean world.

Genres: History, Nonfiction, Ancient History

250 pages, Hardcover

First published September 1, 2010

Reviews

[Warren Ehrenfried · Rating 5 out of 5]

I went into this hoping to quell some of my overwhelming affinity for Carthage. However, the more I read, the more I disliked the Greeks instead. Sicily during this time period was a bowling ball of torrential slaughter. There is no surprise the Romans would eventually so thoroughly conquer the Greeks, they were fractious and fickle in their alliances. The average Sicilian Greek would likely have lived a far better life under Carthaginian rule.

[Rindis · Rating 3 out of 5]

It often seems to me like Sicily doesn't get a lot of attention, now or in the ancient world, even though it's a very prominent land-mass that dominates the middle of the Mediterranean. This is more an accident of our fascination with Athens (whose worries were often more eastern than Mediterranean) and Rome (who made the Mediterranean a peaceful backwater for centuries), than a lack of importance. Both of Athens and Rome actually spent a great deal of time and military effort to get control of Sicily, though their efforts tend to lost in the tale of fighting closer to home.

But of course, Sicily had a population of its own, and the Greek colonies there tended to be quite wealthy. Of these, Syracuse was the most prominent and powerful, and so it is there that Jeff Champion focuses on, in what naturally extends to be something of a history of the island. While the title of this book indicates that it's about the period from Gelon to Dionysius (Vol 1: 480-367 BC), he does give a good background of Greek settlement of the island, beginning in the 8th Century BC. This introduces the troubles with the native population of Sicily (which I would like to know more about) as well as the general character of Greek government.

From there, Champion spends a chapter on the earlier tyrants of Sicilian cities other than Syracuse, before launching into Gelon's rule of Syracuse. After Gelon's short (and popular) reign, Syracuse returns to democracy for a few years before coming under control of Dionysius, one of the more infamous tyrants of the Classical period. Much time is spent with the Athenian siege of Syracuse, and the back-and-forth of Syracuse's efforts to dominate its neighbors, and its struggles with Carthage.

This is distinctly a 'popular' history book, aimed at laying the course of events out in a clear fashion by integrating the main ancient sources. As such, there's no real thesis here, or 'point' being made. But, it does a great job at untangling a history that is often only presented with Sicily as a side show, when it was center of its own tumultuous events.

[Matt McCormick · Rating 3 out of 5]

With all due respect to Mr. Champion the book simply details battle after battle that for anyone other than a military historian becomes a reading slog. The book's three-page conclusion was the most interesting. Had Champion focused more on these concepts the preceding 200 pages would have been more interesting.

[Sleepy Boy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Champion does good job of distilling the various ancient sources and putting together an easy to follow and informative narrative. He also provides a good look at the background of tyranny in Syracuse and how it rose to power under Gelon and Dionysius. I appreciate his writing style and am glad I have Vol II and his book on Pyrrhus of Epirus in my 'To Read' stack.

[David Cuatt · Rating 4 out of 5]

As an avid reader of Greek history, I found this book to be a wonderful addition to my library. Most books concentrate on Athens, Sparta, Thebes, etc. and the familiar ground of the Persian Wars. Sicily gets overlooked despite it's being at the crossroads between Greek, Carthaginian and Roman civilizations. Nicely written with maps and delving into the personalities of the tyrants themselves.

[Christopher · Rating 4 out of 5]

As much as history of the Syracusian city state and its rise as it is of the cycles of tyranny and democracy that were part of its political systems. Particular focus is given to Dionisius I and his formative influence on tyranny as well as the struggles with Carthage. Expect a more thorough review once I get to and complete the second part of Champion's work on this topic.

[Nathan Fong · Rating 4 out of 5]

Basically, a retelling of Diodorus’ historical account during this period with explanations or conjectures as to the politics, reasons for certain outcomes, and possible mindset of the tyrants and their people. Rather repetitious at times.

[Konrad · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great Narrative

Using a mixture of storytelling and factual narrative, Jeff Champion succeeds in telling the epic story of the early Sicilian tyrants succinctly.

[Dawid Łaziński · Rating 4 out of 5]

It’s a decent history book on a niche subject i.e. history of ancient Sicily. Torn between Carthage ruling over the western Mediterranean, local tribes and burgeoning Italian Greek colonies the island was witness to a perpetual warfare and struggle for dominance. Champion retells the events from the span of over a hundred years in a very intelligible way, rarely however does he delve into the matters of economy or social issues. It’s not that they’re completely missing but their role in the narrative is highly diminished, most strikingly in the part dedicated to three indigenous tribes which were given only a handful of sentences and remain an obscure, shapeless agent in the chain of events. Nevertheless, I liked the way the author tells the story and I appreciate him undertaking such a non-obvious subject.

[John · Rating 5 out of 5]

A fascinating and captivating history of the settlement of Sicily and the almost continuous wars between Greek colonists and the indigenous population, Greek city states, cities of Sicily, Carthaginians and Greeks. Besides being the story of these conflict and the development of warfare it is an excellent read on the culture; conflicts of governance between the democrats, oligarchs, tyrants; the economics of the period; religious practices, etc. Its value as a political treatise on the function of the polis can not be over estimated.

[John Warren · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed nice book to read not a lot books out there about the tyrants of Syracuse going to have to get the second one