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HIERO H

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Originally appearing in Volume V13, Page 453 of the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.
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HIERO H ., See also:tyrant of See also:Syracuse from 270 to 216 B.C., was the illegitimate son of a Syracusan See also:noble, See also:Hierocles, who claimed descent from See also:Gelo. On the departure of See also:Pyrrhus from See also:Sicily (275) the Syracusan See also:army and citizens appointed him See also:commander of the troops. He materially strengthened his position by marrying the daughter of See also:Leptines, the leading See also:citizen. In the meantime, the Mamertines, a See also:body of Campanian mercenaries who had been employed by See also:Agathocles, had seized the strong-hold of Messana, whence they harassed the Syracusans. They were finally defeated in a pitched See also:battle near Mylae by Hiero, who was only prevented from capturing Messana by Carthaginian interference. His grateful countrymen then See also:chose him See also:king (270). In 264 he again returned to the attack, and the Mamertines called in the aid of See also:Rome. Hiero at once joined the Punic See also:leader See also:Hanno, who had recently landed in Sicily; but being defeated by the See also:consul Appius See also:Claudius, he withdrew to Syracuse. Pressed by the See also:Roman forces, in 263 he was compelled to conclude a treaty with Rome, by which he was to See also:rule over the See also:south-See also:east of Sicily and the eastern See also:coast as far as Tauromenium (See also:Polybius i. 8-16; See also:Zonaras viii. 9). From this See also:time till his See also:death in 216 he remained loyal to the See also:Romans, and frequently assisted them with men and provisions during the Punic See also:wars (See also:Livy xxi.

49-51, xxii. 37, See also:

xxiii. 21). He kept up a powerful See also:fleet for defensive purposes, and employed his famous kinsman See also:Archimedes in the construction of those engines that, at a later date, played so important a See also:part during the See also:siege of Syracuse by the Romans. A picture of the prosperity of Syracuse during his rule is given in the sixteenth idyll of See also:Theocritus, his favourite poet. See Diod. Sic. xxii. 24-See also:xxvi. 24; Polybius i. 8-vii. 7; See also:Justin xxiii. 4.

End of Article: HIERO H

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