Greek Syracuse and the defeat of the Athenian expedition

Athens sent a great fleet and army to besiege Syracuse, the strongest Greek city in Sicily. After two years the expedition was destroyed: its ships were beaten in the Great Harbour, and thousands of captured Athenians were held in the city's stone quarries, where many died. The disaster weakened Athens in its war with Sparta. Syracuse rivalled Carthage until Rome took it in 212 BC, when Archimedes was killed.