 In the age of Christian persecutions massive catacombs were carved, whose size is second only to those of Rome.After a period of Vandal rule, 469–477, Syracuse and the island was recovered for Roman rule under Odoacer, 476–491 and Theodoric the Great, 491–526, by Belisarius for the Byzantine Empire (31 December 535).From 663 to 668 Syracuse was the seat of Emperor Constans II, as well as a capital of the Roman Empire and metropolis of the whole Sicilian Church.