Short answers, pulled from the story.
Sicilia formally became a Roman province in 227 BC, when Rome assigned an annual praetor, Gaius Flaminius, to the island. The western part of the island had come under Roman control in 241 BC at the conclusion of the First Punic War, but the eastern part, including Syracuse, was not incorporated until 212 BC.
During the Roman Republic, Sicily was the main source of grain for the city of Rome. A grain tribute called the decuma, equal to a tenth of the harvest, was imposed on most Sicilian communities from 227 BC. This tribute was contracted to private collectors called decumani and was regulated by rules known as the lex Hieronica.
The First Servile War, roughly 138-132 BC, was led by Antiochus Eunus, who established a capital at Enna and captured Tauromenium before being defeated by the consul Publius Rupilius near Messina. The Second Servile War, 104-101 BC, was led by Athenion of Cilicia in the west and Salvius Tryphon in the east, and was suppressed by Manius Aquillius.
Gaius Verres served as praetor of the province of Sicily from 73 to 71 BC. He was prosecuted by Cicero in Rome for extortion, theft of artworks including sacred votive offerings, and harsh enforcement of the grain tax for personal profit. After Cicero's first speech proved decisive, Verres fled into exile rather than face judgment.
After defeating Sextus Pompey at the Battle of Naulochus in September 36 BC, Augustus reorganised the province by establishing six coloniae for his veterans: Syracuse, Tauromenium, Panormus, Catania, Tyndaris, and Thermae Himerenses. He also replaced the old grain tithe with a property tax called the stipendium and visited Sicily in 22 or 21 BC to carry out further reforms.
The first reference to a Christian presence in Sicily is in the Acts of the Apostles, which records Paul of Tarsus stopping at Syracuse for three days while travelling from Malta to Rome. The first certain evidence for an organised church is an official letter from Rome to Cyprian, Bishop of Carthage, dated between 250 and 251, which refers to a parallel letter sent to Sicily during the Decian persecution.