Archimedes was born about 287 BCE in Syracuse on the island of Sicily. He died in that same city when the Romans captured it following a siege that ended in either 212 or 211 BCE. One story told about Archimedes’ death is that he was killed by a Roman soldier after he refused to leave his mathematical work. However Archimedes died, the Roman general Marcus Claudius Marcellus regretted his death because Marcellus admired Archimedes for the many clever machines he had built to defend Syracuse.