Siracosa

Siracosa, is a city in the Istalian region of Silicia. The city can boast a long history and it is among the first selucians ancient colonies established in Alaria around the 6th century BCE.

Ancient History
The city was founded in 574 BCE as Siracum Major by selucian settlers, some decades after the foundation of Agirgento and among the first ancient colonies of Selucia founded in the Istalian lands. Siracosa and Argigento developed a certain competition to rose in prominence among the selucian settlements in Alaria, but unlike the former, Siracosa showed to be always more indipendent by Selucia and indeed it was among the selucian colonies which tried to expand its control on the new lands. When Sokoyll, the powerful autocton city of north Alaria, was defeated by the Qolshamin forces, Siracosa organized an army which sacked Sokayll and then established Siracosan control also on the interior of the island. The conquering of the island by the powerful Kingdom on the mainland was a real blow for Siracosa, being among the last one centers to bend under the Qolshamin dominion and for this reason it was attacked and almost destroyed.

It was Agirgento then that arose in prominence after the fall of the Kingdom of Qolshamih while Siracosa became ever more influnced by the powerful neighboring city-state. The Siracosans just before the arrival of the Augustan fleets rebelled to Agirgento causing an internal conflict between the selucian colonies which then were too weak to face the Augustans which took Alaria. The Augustan established an important fleet in Siracosa which began to grow once again thanks to the trade with the west. The large authonomy recognized to the selucian-istalian city-states helped Siracosa to grow in prominence in north Alaria and, unlike Agirgento, Siracosa resisted for several decades before to be finally subjugated by the southern Nicoman Kings.

Modern and recent history
During the modern era, the city followed the fate of the Kingdom of Istalia but conquered by the Ahmadi Caliphate in 15th century also the majatran invasors exploited the city as important port and naval base. When, however, the Ahamdi retired and the Kingdom was once again indipendent, Agirgento began to grow as main port in eastern Silicia and for Siracosa this represented the beginning of a decline which arrested only in 21th century.

During the last years of the Emirate of Quanzar, the remains of the ancient civilizations began to be escaved and the city arose in prominence as cultural and archeological center. Today the turism is among the most important sector of the city, and the Valley of the Shrines are among the most beautiful archeological sites, however the presence of one of the larger oil rafineries of Istalia close to its port makes the city also an important industrial hub.

Government
The local form of government of the city follow the model of the mayor–council government system, with a mayor (Istalian: sindaco) elected by voters, and a unicameral council as the legislative branch (Istalian: Consiglio). To the mayor is given almost total administrative authority and a clear, wide range of political independence, with the power to appoint and dismiss department heads and furthermore he prepares and administers the city budget, although most part of the decisions must be approved by the council.