Syracuse is a large city in south-eastern Sicily. Originally a Corinthian colony it developed into the most powerful Greek city in Sicily, eventually siding with the Carthaginians in the Punic wars only to be captured by Rome in 212 BC. The city had large limestone quarries. It was to these quarries that the nearly 7,000 Athenians captured after the failed Sicilian Expedition in 413 BC were condemned.
