🏺 Ancient Greece & Romehard
Siege of Syracuse
212 BCE · Sicily
Quick Facts
- Year
- 212 BCE
- Location
- Sicily
- Era
- 🏺 Ancient Greece & Rome
- Difficulty
- hard

The Roman siege of Syracuse is famous for the ingenious defensive machines designed by the mathematician Archimedes, including giant claws that lifted ships from the water and catapults of extraordinary range. The city held out for over two years against Roman forces under Marcellus. When the city finally fell, Archimedes was killed by a Roman soldier, allegedly while drawing geometric figures in the sand.
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When Syracuse finally fell, the Roman commander Marcellus reportedly wept at the beauty of the city he was about to sack. He had given specific orders to spare Archimedes, but a soldier killed him anyway.