![]() His first campaign, suffered a setback on the River Cyamosorus wherein he lost most of his merecenary contingent (Polybius says that this defeat was intentional, with Hiero trying to remove unruly and untrustworthy troops) and Hiero returned to Syracuse where he raised a large citizen army. ![]() Hiero then stabilized relations with the Carthaginians, and marched against the Mamertines to re-establish Syracusan hegemony over the region. In 270 BC the Romans finally retook Rhegium from the rebellious garrison, and marched the surviving members of the group back to Rome where they were beheaded in the forum. ![]() In 275 a young army officer, Hiero, led an army coup in Syracuse and had himself appointed as general, a position which gave him executive control over the city. Fearing retribution from a victorious Syracuse the Mamertines in Messana entered into an Alliance with the Carthaginians and resisted Pyrrhus until he abandoned his Sicilian expedition in 275 BC. Pyrrhus sought to be seen as defender of Greek culture, also he was Agathocles' son-in-law. Desperately seeking help, the citizens of Syracuse sent a messenger to Pyrrhus of Epirus. Soon after this Hicetas died and the Carthaginians laid siege to Syracuse and were poised to put the entire island of Sicily under their direct control. With the two major powers on the island distracted the Mamertines extended their influence over most of north eastern Sicily. The Mamertines and the rogue garrison became allies as they spoke the same language, came from nearby regions of Italy, and were in very similar situations in their respective cities.Īt the same time Syracuse fell to the rule of a new tyrant, Hicetas, who engaged in a war with the city of Acragas and its ally Carthage. Soon after the Mamertine seizure, the garrison seized the city, under the command of a Decius Vibellius, and with the aid of the Mamertines. The Roman garrison in Rhegium, which is directly across the straits from Messana, and was comprised of citizens sine suffragio (citizens without voting rights) from Capua. Then they divided amongst themselves, the property and wives of the dead and exiled. Soon after being taken in by the citizens of Messana the Mamertines seized control of the city, killing many of its leaders in the dead of night and sending the rest into exile. ![]() In the next few years the Mamertines found a welcoming home in the city of Messana, a Greek colony on the north east end of Sicily, sometime between 288 and 283. At his death a mercenary band of Mamertines (Oscans who saw themselves as favored by the god of war Mamers,) whom he had employed to help seize the city, were expelled from Syracuse by its citizenry. The origins of the First Punic War date back to 289 BC when the tyrant of Syracuse, Agathocles, died. ![]()
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