What happened, /his/? >Syracuse was the most populoust city

Romans.

Arabs.

Mostly Arabs.

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>>1857324
But the Arab period and its immediate aftermath was one of the most prosperous in Sicilian history.

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I'm reading pic related right now, and after King Roger II (1130 –1154), everything that could go wrong, did.

Had Roger II lived for just ten more years, he could have turned Sicily into the cultural and economic capitol of Europe. During his reign, Sicily was healthier than England, and scholars would leave London in favor of Palermo. Instead he died of some stupid decease and his son, William The Bad took over, and everything went to shit.

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The fucking Spanish.

>>1857525
esto

Same reason why Constantinople is now a shithole

>>1857322
>Greek World

Excuse u, they were Ionians and thus descendants of the Athenians.

>>1857556
>Athens

Corinth was Syracuse's Mother City

>>1857546
There aren't nearly as many slimy roaches so what do you mean?

>>1857556
They were Dorians, not Ionians. Athens went full retard and sent the Sicilian Expedition because muuuh Ionians were threatened by Syracuse.

>>1857577
moors are muslim too

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>>1857525
But Sicily was quite wealthy well into the 18th century. Or, at least, it wasn't really that poor compared with the rest of Europe.

I blame the Piedmontese instead. They were the ones who, after taking over the island with promises of "freedom", brutally exploited it and oppressed the native population.

I feel like the most important aspect is an economic one. Grain lost it's importance eventually and on top of that the unification of Italy aka piedmontification really hurt Sicily. The Northern aristocrats dicked the south

>>1857519
This. The Normans ruined everything yet again.

>>1857586
The Athenians didn't give a single fuck about any of their Ionian allies. They were in it for the booty and because Nicias choose the worse possible time to be the absolute madman and try and outruse Alcibiades "The Rusemaster"

>>1857602
jesus, baroque architecture has to be some of the ugliest shit

>>1857525
>aragonese Corsika
>kingdom of Naples reaching that far north into Italy
what a shit map

>>1857322
Tbh, almost all of Italy was in decline from the late 17th century on and for the whole 18th century. Even Venice, Genoa and Florence were not up to the task.

Northern Italy had a very successful industrialization in the mid 19th century but that South never caught up.

>>1857322
Fields burnout and deforestation destroyed its ecosystem, and once the Mediterranean lost its trade relevance their position was more of a burden than an advantage to them. Also they basically stayed feudal until Italy took over, that hurt them a lot.

>>1859318
>almost all of Italy was in decline from the late 17th century on and for the whole 18th century
Only politically really. Venice for example was still economically florid right up to Campoformio, but the government was shit. Then the austrians took over and for a multitude of reasons caused destructive damage.

>>1857602
This. The Kingdom of the Two Sicilies was not as industrial as the north but it was rich in gold and culture.

Also the nobles of the south where overthrown and replaced with northern ones that turned the south into the shithole it is today.

>>1859736
>Also the nobles of the south where overthrown and replaced with northern ones that turned the south into the shithole it is today.

Lolno, the poor farmers preferring local lords capable of making them skip the draft and the taxes, instead of sacrificing (along with the North's absolute refusal to address the fact that latifunds were a really bad idea in 19th century) were the cause.