city state · Greece and the Aegean
Sicyon
Origins
Sicyon lay in a fertile plain west of Corinth, near the Gulf of Corinth. It was settled by Dorians from Argos in the early Iron Age and became an independent city. In the 7th century BCE it fell under the Orthagorid tyrants, whose rule Aristotle called the longest-lasting in Greece.
Rule and society
The tyrant Cleisthenes, early 6th century BCE, renamed the Dorian tribes, fought Argos and helped win the First Sacred War; his daughter Agariste married into the Athenian Alcmaeonids. Sicyon was later an oligarchy and a member of the Peloponnesian League. It became famous for bronze sculpture, especially Lysippus, and for its school of painting, where Apelles studied.
Decline and legacy
Demetrius Poliorcetes moved the city to a defensible plateau in 303 BCE. Aratus freed Sicyon from tyranny in 251 BCE and joined it to the Achaean League, which he then led. Sicyon passed under Rome in 146 BCE, gaining from the destruction of Corinth.
On the connections map
Open the full map →Connections (3)
- Sicyon was part of Peloponnesian League550 BCE – 366 BCE
- Sicyon was part of Achaean League251 BCE – 146 BCE
- Sicyon was conquered by Roman Republic146 BCE
More states of Greece and the Aegean →
Cite this page
- APA
- The Epoch Institute. (2026). Sicyon. In The Epoch Institute States Register. https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/sicyon
- MLA
- “Sicyon.” The Epoch Institute States Register, The Epoch Institute, 2026, https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/sicyon. Accessed .
- Chicago
- The Epoch Institute. “Sicyon.” The Epoch Institute States Register. 2026. https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/sicyon.
- Harvard
- The Epoch Institute (2026) ‘Sicyon’, The Epoch Institute States Register. Available at: https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/sicyon (Accessed: ).
Last reviewed October 2026Random state ↻