History of the Jews in Sicily of the Temple of Jerusalem. Rabbi Akiva visited the city of Syracuse during one of his trips abroad. The Jews lived in many Sicilian cities such as Palermo, Messina and Catania. From the late 7th century, Sicily joined with Calabria to form the Byzantine Theme of Sicily. In the 6th century, communications were sent to Pope Gregory I about the plight of the Jews in the Kingdom of Sicily. In 831, Sicily came under the Arab dominion, which treated the Jews justly. In 1072 Sicily fell to the Normans and the Jews were again brought under the supremacy and jurisdiction
Sicily in 552. In 535, Emperor Justinian I made Sicily a Byzantine province and, as in Roman times, Greek continued to be the predominate language spoken on the island. After the advent of Islam, Sicily was invaded by the Arab forces of Caliph Uthman in 652, but the Arabs failed to make any permanent gains and returned to Syria after gathering some booty. Raids seeking loot continued until the mid-8th century. Byzantine Emperor Constans II decided to move from the capital Constantinople to Syracuse in Sicily during 660. The following year, he launched an assault from Sicily against the Lombard Duchy