The Autocratic Theatre of Hieron II

Hieron II of Syracuse reigned for fifty-four years, from 269 to 215 BC – longer than any other Hellenistic monarch. His kingdom was relatively small and always required the support of external powers: first the Ptolemies and then the Romans. It survived his death in 215 BC by a mere eleven months, indicating how crucial Hieron himself had been to its preservation. The literary tradition on him is unequivocally positive. His success lay in defining his position in Syracuse and Sicily as traditional, benevolent, popular, divinely-favoured, and unshakeable. This definition took place in a vast range of media, but here I argue that the theatre that Hieron built in Syracuse was fundamental to the construction of his autocracy