Abstract

This paper examines the dynamics of continuity and change in the cultural identity of Syracusan Kingdom from the late Hellenistic period until their integration into the Roman provincial system. Focusing on the political trajectory from the Agathocles time to the long and stable reign of Hiero II, and culminating in the Roman conquest of 212BC, the paper situates Syracuse within the broader context of Mediterranean power politics and imperial expansion. Particular attention is paid to the strategies that allowed the Syracusan Kingdom to flourish economically and culturally between 263BC and 215BC, followed by the rapid political changes after the death of Hiero II and the subsequent transformation of entire Sicily into Rome’s first province. Rather than treating Roman conquest as a moment of abrupt cultural breakup, an archaeological and material-culture-based approaches allow to assess long-term processes of acculturation. Urbanism, architecture, religious practices, coinage, pottery production, agriculture, and patterns of consumption are analysed to demonstrate that Greek cultural traditions remained deeply embedded in south-eastern Sicily well into the Roman Republican and early Imperial periods. Roman influence is shown to have been selective, gradual, and adaptive, often integrating itself into pre-existing Hellenistic frameworks. The several evidences from Syracuse and its former kingdom territories support an interpretation of ‘cultural ambidexterity’, in which local identities persisted while accommodating new political and administrative realities.

Keywords:Sicily; Syracusan Kingdom; Hiero II; Roman conquest; Cultural ambidexterity; Greek heritage; Roman administration