(Σικυών, modern Vassilika), a celebrated city of ancient Greece, in Achaia, about 2 miles from the south shore of the Corinthian Gulf, and about 10 N.W. of Corinth. The situation is one of the finest of any of the cities of Greece. It stands on a hill between the rivers Helisson and Asopus, and commands a wide prospect over the fertile plain of Achaia on the west; on the east, as far as the lofty hill that sustained the citadel of Corinth; while, on the north, the eye ranges over the waters of the gulf to the mountains of Parnassus, Helicon, and Cithaeron beyond. The hill is triangular, and round its edges run the walls of the city. Its southern portion being slightly elevated above the rest, formed the Acropolis. Like most other large Greek cities, Sicyon contained an agora or market-place, a theatre, a gymnasium, and innumerable temples. Of the last, the most important seems to have been that of Apollo, the patron of the city, in the market-place. The streets were regularly laid out, crossing one another at right angles. These may still be traced; but very few of the buildings have been preserved. There are, however, some remains of the theatre, and also of a stadium or race-course, both for the most part cut out of the ledge of rock between the upper and lower city. Sicyon is said to have been one of the most ancient cities in Greece; and there are many legends more or less improbable concerning its early history. During all the time when anything definite can be known about it, the town seems to have been peopled partly with Dorians and partly with Ionians; and for the greater part by far of this period the former race were the dominant party. The chief exception to this was an interval of more than 100 years, from about B.C. 676 to 560, during which it was governed by successive tyrants of the house of Orthagoras, an Ionian family. The last of these was Cleisthenes, whose daughter Agarista was married into the illustrious Athenian family of the Aleanoconide, and became the mother of a more famous Cleisthenes, the consolidator of democratic power at Athens. During the most stirring times of Greek history, Sicyon makes no great figure. In all the wars it was a steady adherent to Sparta, and opposed to Athens. It was more famous for its painting and sculpture than for political influence, and the city was rich in works of art. It gave its name to one of the great schools of painters in Greece, which was founded by Eupompos, and distinguished by the genius of Apelles. Sicyon was also the birthplace of the sculptor Lysippus. After the Roman conquest of Greece it fell into decay, though it continued to exist down to the Christian era.