There is a certain diffi culty in attempts to describe the period in Syracuse between the death of Timoleon and the coming to power of Agathocles. It was a time of great turmoil and political instability – Syracuse would reappear after 317 BC as a tyranny. This article is a review of the events and causes that shaped the fi nal outcome. The main points of interests are: an attempt to describe a type of government present in the given period, especially the function of the group of the so-called “Six Hundred Noblest,” and the career of Agathocles, an exemplary one considering the political realities of the time