Syracuse and its surrounding area have been inhabited since ancient times, as shown by the findings in the villages of Stentinello, Ognina, Plemmirio, Matrensa, Cozzo Pantano and Thapsos, which already had a relationship with Mycenaean Greece.Syracuse is founded in 734 or 733 BCE by Greek settlers from Corinth and Tenea, led by the oecist (colonizer) Archias, who calls it Sirako, referring to a nearby salt marsh.

The nucleus of the ancient city is the small island of Ortygia.

The settlers find the land fertile and the native tribes to be reasonably well-disposed to their presence.

The city grows and prospers, and for some time stands as the most powerful Greek city anywhere in the Mediterranean.