Today, I am delighted to welcome Jim to Yarde Book Promotions to discuss the history behind Syracuse Will Burn, the inspiration for its characters, and the challenges of bringing this remarkable era to life.
But first, let me intoduce you to Syracuse Will Burn
Syracuse Will Burn is set during one of the most turbulent periods in the history of the ancient Greek world. What first drew you to Syracuse in 407 BC, and why did you decide it would make the perfect setting for a novel?
Serendipity played a large part in the genesis of Syracuse Will Burn. Five years ago, my partner and I were on holidays in Syracuse, and the first thing that struck me on arrival was the drama of the setting. Syracuse is set on a spectacularly beautiful bay and when you cross the bridge onto the fortress island of Ortigia, history grabs you by the throat. The first thing you see is the ruins of the Temple of Apollo and when you stand in front of the cathedral you are standing on what was the agora of the ancient city. The cathedral itself is built within the walls of the Temple of Athena, the pillars of which are still visible. The walls that circle the island of Ortigia were built by Dionysius and strengthened by Archimedes and across the city is the famous amphitheatre which, at the height of its glory, could seat fifteen thousand people. The whole city is like a stage set. The only thing missing was Maria Callas standing on the ramparts that look out over the Ionian sea, singing the role of Medea. A perfect setting for murder.
The novel begins against the backdrop of war, with Syracuse facing the growing threat of Carthaginian expansion. What fascinated you most about this often-overlooked period of ancient history?
What is often forgotten is that the Carthaginian empire lasted for more than six hundred years and, for a large part of that time, it was the commercial and military super power in the Mediterranean, before the rise of Rome. At different times, the Carthaginians controlled between a third and a half of the island. Palermo itself was a Carthaginian city and much of the history of ancient Sicily is the story of the struggle for dominance between Carthage and the Greek cities of Sicily. Exploring the Carthaginian presence on the island is part of the cultural archaeology of Sicily. For a writer this is relatively new territory in which to carve out a niche.
Timon is an unusual protagonist—a young man whose gift for premonition changes the course of his life. What inspired his character, and how did you develop his place within the wider historical events?
One of the most dramatic incidents in the history of Syracuse is the story of the ill-fated attack by Athens in 415-413BC, which ended in disaster. An estimated 40,000 Athenians were lost in land and sea battles. To put that in context, the population of Athens at that time was approximately two hundred thousand people. Syracuse was saved, but I needed to create a character who, by a single action, would save the city. The question was, how would he know to warn the city? Prophecy was the answer. We have to remember that the ancient Greeks deeply believed in, and relied on, divination. They viewed it as a legitimate way to communicate with the gods, understand the present, and navigate the uncertainties of the future. As the story developed into a novel Timon’s role had to grow with it. His gift of prophecy made him a key figure in a city facing an existential threat.
General Hermocrates plays an important role in the story and in the history of Syracuse. What drew you to him as a historical figure, and what influence did he have on the direction of your novel?
In the end of the day, Syracuse Will Burn is a murder mystery and there had to be a primary victim. At this point, history came to the rescue. Hermocrates is a historical figure. He had played a key role in defeating Athens, but he had been exiled on suspicion of wanting to make himself tyrant of Syracuse. In late 407BC he was killed in a street fight while attempting to seize power. I have tweaked history to make that a murder. Thankfully, the details of his death are sufficiently vague as to allow me to get away with that. However, focussing on Hermocrates brought up the whole issue of the political factions fighting for power in Syracuse and the rise of Dionysius. In turn, the story of Dionysius is inextricably linked to the war against Carthage. That left me with the challenge of how to weave these disparate elements into a coherent story.
Ancient Syracuse was one of the wealthiest and most powerful cities in the Mediterranean. What aspects of daily life did you most enjoy bringing to life for modern readers?
Sadly, wars of conquest and colonisation have obliterated most of the architectural heritage of ancient Greece, and we are left only with fragments. In seeing the world through Timon’s eyes I had to recreate the streets, houses, and temples in my imagination. The story starts with Timon sitting on the steps of the amphitheatre looking out to sea; he has to walk from there to the Temple of Demeter and later he goes into the opulent houses of the High Priestess and Hipparinus who is one of the richest men in the city. I had to draw a map of the city as I needed it to be, and I had to sketch the lay-out of the inside of the houses. That was fun. The description of the Lady Artemisia’s bathroom, for example, is based on the bathroom of the Villa Kerylos in the south of France, which is a reconstruction of a Greek villa from the Hellenistic period. Interior design by proxy.
Your novel combines meticulous historical research with murder mystery and political intrigue. How did you balance historical authenticity with the demands of an engaging thriller?
One of the advantages of setting a story in ancient Greece is that a lot of the details of how people lived, what they ate or how they prayed are very sketchy. Even some of the dates are approximate. This gave me a degree of flexibility to shape events to suit me. At the same time, I had to stick to the basic facts of history. The greatest challenge was to avoid getting bogged down in the details of political life in Syracuse or the minutiae of Dionysius’ campaign against Carthage. It is a novel not a history book but, as this is the first in a series of three, I also had to create a world which is interesting and characters who are engaging. That meant telescoping some of the timelines to suit the needs of the story.
Ancient history often survives through incomplete or conflicting sources. What were some of the biggest research challenges you encountered while writing Syracuse Will Burn?
The biggest challenge was how to turn the bones of history into a coherent narrative. Most of what we know about ancient Greece is taken from the accounts of military historians such as Thucydides and his history of the Peloponnesian war. There is information about battles and wars but little information on the personalities of the leaders or what they had for breakfast. There are no diaries or memoirs and even the acknowledged sources were often writing hundreds of years after the events in question. Dionysius’ is one of the main characters whose wife dies tragically, both in fact and in the novel. She is the wife of one important man and the daughter of another. We know their names but hers is not recorded. I have given her the name Egeria and have tried to help her reclaim her voice.
Before becoming a novelist, you spent many years working in human rights and international advocacy. Has that experience influenced the way you approach historical storytelling?
Working in human rights involves a lot of research and analysis to identify the key facts and establish patterns of behaviour. The second part of the work is to humanise those patterns by pinning them to a person and a place so that people can identify with them. That analytical skill helped me to look at ancient Greece and see the parallels with life in 2026. What became clear in the process is that human nature does not change, and what we see is the recurring pattern of man’s inhumanity to man.
Syracuse Will Burn is the first in a planned trilogy. When you began writing, how much of Timon's wider journey had you already imagined?
The short answer is nothing. Syracuse Will Burn started as an exercise as part of an online writing course. It evolved into a short story which then became a novel. At the beginning I was focussed only on the night Timon hears the voice warning him of the Athenian attack. In that story he meets the High Priestess and General Hermocrates and he agrees to serve the goddess. There was nothing else planned. I decided to pick up the story six years later when he is nineteen. From that point on, I had to develop a career path for Timon which would establish him as a strong enough character to carry two more books.
For readers who may know little about ancient Syracuse, what do you hope they discover?
I hope they will realise what a wonderful and fascinating place Sicily is. The history of Sicily is both glorious and tragic with layers of culture spanning millennia as well as a vibrant city life that will change the way they see the world.
My thanks to Jim Loughran for taking the time to answer my questions. It has been fascinating to learn more about the history behind Syracuse Will Burn and the rich tapestry of ancient Sicily, where political ambition, war, and faith shaped the destinies of individuals and nations alike.
Jim Loughran
Jim Loughran was born in Northern Ireland and studied French and Spanish at Queens University Belfast. Following graduation he spent a year in Paris before completing his Post Graduate Certificate in Education. Jim taught French in Belfast and then moved to Dublin where he worked for ten years as a Media Planner in one of Dublin’s leading advertising agencies. During this time he also got involved, on a voluntary basis, with Amnesty International and was Chairperson of Amnesty Ireland for five years. He then joined the organisation on a full-time basis as Development Manager before taking on the role of Head of Media. He initiated ground breaking research into Irish links to the arms trade and produced two major reports: “Ireland and the Arms Trade – Decoding the Deals” and “Claws of the Celtic Tiger.”
Jim was head hunted by Irish based international human rights organisation Front Line Defenders, which works world-wide on the security and protection of human rights defenders at risk, to take up the newly created role of Head of Media and Communications. Prior to his retirement he was responsible for setting up the Human Rights Defenders Memorial Project, a unique collaborative project involving leading national and international organisations to document the killings of human rights defenders. He was the author of ‘Stop the Killings’ a major report which analysed the patterns of violence that led to the killings of human rights defenders in: Brazil, Colombia, Mexico, Guatemala, Honduras and the Philippines. These 6 countries collectively account for 80% of the killings of human rights defenders annually. He was jokingly referred to in the office as, ‘Head of Killings.’
Since he retired Jim has shifted his focus from writing press releases and opinion articles to historical fiction. His first published work, ‘Ill Met by Moonlight’ is a short story published in October 2025 by Briar Press, New York, as part of ‘These Dark Things,’ an anthology of 12 gothic short stories. His first novel, The Bratinsky Affair, was published in 2025 by Sharpe Books.
Jim lives in Dublin with his husband.
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Mary Anne xxx