The Coinage Of Syracuse

The Sicilian settlement of Syracuse was founded in 734/733 BC from settlers from the Greek city of Corinth. The city maintained close ties to the Greek Mainland during it's early years, forming a distinct culture with other Greek communities in Southern Italy which the Romans later referred to as 'Magna Graecia'. The earliest coins we produced in silver during the later part of the 6th century BC and bore stylistic similarities to Mainland Greece. Syracuse begun minting bronze coins during the mid 5th Century BC in a period referred to as the 'Second Democracy', often featuring Dolphins, an Octopus, Nike, a Hippocamp or a Chariot as a common motif. This Democracy was overthrown by the tyrant and general Dionysius I in 406 BC following a series of successes against the Athenian & Carthaginians armies in Sicily. This instituted a 60-year period of successive tyrants until Timoleon revived the Republican government in a period known as the 'Third Democracy' which lasted until the tyrant Agathocles took power in 317 BC. A brief period of Republican government existed following Agathocles' death know as the 'Forth Democracy'. Following this interim a new series of local and foreign tyrants ruled until Hieronymus made the mistake of allying with Hannibal. As a result of Syracuse's support for Carthage, Rome besieged the city, Hieronymus was assassinated and a short-lived 'Fifth Democracy' was established, which was overthrown 2-years later by the Romans in 212 BC, at which point Syracuse lost full independence and fell under the control of Rome.  

Through the vast history of Syracuse coinage, the majority of bronze issues did not bare the names of ruling tyrants, but rather the city name (ΣΥΡΑΚΟΣΙΩΝ). Extensive archaeological contextual evidence allows numismatists to provide a concise chronology of issues based off stylistic elements. Often divided into the following periods. 

Dionysius the Elder (405 BCE–367 BCE)
Dionysius the Younger (367 BCE–356 BCE)
Dion (357 BCE–355 BCE)
Calippus (355 BCE–353 BCE)
Hipparinus (353 BCE–c.350 BCE)
Nysaeus (c.350 BCE–346 BCE)
Dionysius the Younger (restored, 346 BCE–344 BC

Timoleon (345 BCE–337 BCE)

Agathocles (317 BCE–289 BCE)

Hicetas (289 BCE–280 BCE)
Thinion & Sosistratus (279 BC–277 BCE)
Pyrrhus of Epirus (278–276 BCE)

Hiero II (275 BCE–215 BCE)
Gelo II (until 216 BCE)
Hieronymus (215 BCE–214 BCE)

Feel free to view our entire collection of Syracuse coins to own a piece of history yourself.