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Easton's Bible Dictionary
A city on the south-east coast of Sicily, where Paul
landed and remained three days when on his way to Rome ( Acts
28:12 ). It was distinguished for its magnitude and splendour. It is now a
small town of some 13,000 inhabitants.
Hitchcock's Dictionary of Bible Names
that draws violently
Smith's Bible Dictionary
The celebrated city on the eastern coast of Sicily. "The
city in its splendor was the largest and richest that the Greeks possessed in
any part of the world, being 22 miles in circumference." St. Paul arrived thither
in an Alexandrian ship from Melita, on his voyage to Rome. ( Acts
28:12 ) The site of Syracuse rendered it a convenient place for the African
corn-ships to touch at, for the harbor was an excellent one, and the fountain
Arethusa in the island furnished an unfailing supply of excellent water.
International Standard Bible Encyclopedia
sir'-a-kus, sir-a-kus' (Surakousai; Latin Syracusae,
Ital. Siracusa):
Situated on the east coast of Sicily, about midway between Catania and the southeastern
extremity of the island.
The design of the present work scarcely permits more than a passing allusion to
Syracuse, the most brilliant Greek colony on the shores of the Western Mediterranean,
where Paul halted three days, on his way from Melita to Rome (Acts
28:12). The original Corinthian colony rounded in 734 BC (Thucydides vi.3)
was confined to the islet Ortygia, which separates the Great Harbor from the sea.
Later the city spread over the promontory lying northward of Ortygia and the harbor.
Syracuse assumed a pre-eminent position in the affairs of Sicily under the rule
of the tyrants Gelon (485-478 BC; compare Herodotus vii.154-55) and Hieron (478-467
BC). It nourisher greatly after the establishment of popular government in 466
BC (Diodorus xi.68-72). The Syracusans successfully withstood the famous siege
by the Athenians in 414 BC, the narrative of which is the most thrilling part
of the work of Thucydides (vi, vii).
Dionysius took advantage of the fear inspired by the Carthaginians to elevate
himself to despotic power in 405 BC, and he was followed, after a reign of 38
years, by his son of the same name. Although democratic government was restored
by Timoleon after a period of civil dissensions in 344 BC (Plutarch, Timoleon),
popular rule was not of long duration.
The most famous of the later rulers was the wise Hieron (275-216 BC), who was
the steady ally of the Romans. His grandson and successor Hieronymus deserted
the alliance of Rome for that of Carthage, which led to the celebrated siege of
the city by the Romans under Marcellus and its fall in 212 (Livy xxiv.21-33).
Henceforth Syracuse was the capital of the Roman province of Sicily. Cicero calls
it "the greatest of Greek cities and the most beautiful of all cities" (Cicero
Verr. iv.52).
George H. Allen
Tags:
apostle paul, bible commentary, bible reference, bible study, history, island, syracuse, three days
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