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