In comparison to many other cities in the Greek world, Syracuse seemed more often than not to be under the rule of a single man. Do we have any idea why this was the case? What was so unique about Syracuse that allowed relatively absolute rule to flourish?
This touches on some questions of my own.
Thucydides (1.17) had noticed a similar phenomenon:
Wherever there were tyrants, their habit of providing simply for themselves... made safety the great aim of their policy, and prevented anything great from proceeding from them.... All this is only true of the mother country, for in Sicily they attained to very great power.
I've wondered about that passage for a long time. What are great things, and what great things did the tyrants of Syracuse do? I also wonder why democracy sometimes broke out. I've never had the opportunity to look into it.