e immediate aid. The temptation was strong, for the
occupation of Messana by a Carthaginian garrison might prove dangerous
to the tranquillity of Italy. Still the Senate hesitated; for only six
years before Hiero had assisted the Romans in punishing the Campanian
mercenaries, who had seized Rhegium in the same way as the Mamertines
had made themselves masters of Messana. The voice of justice prevailed,
and the Senate declined the proposal. But the Consuls, thirsting for
glory, called together the popular assembly, who eagerly voted that the
Mamertines should be assisted; in other words, that the Carthaginians
should not be allowed to obtain possession of Messana. The Consul App.
Claudius, the son of the blind Censor, was to lead an army into Sicily.
But during this delay the Carthaginian party in Messana had obtained the
ascendency, and Hanno, with a Carthaginian garrison, had been admitted
into the citadel. Hiero had concluded peace with the Mamertines through
the mediation of the Carthaginians, so that there was no longer even a
pretext for the interference of the Romans. But a legate of the Consul
App. Claudius, having crossed to Sicily, persuaded the Mamertines to
expel the Carthaginian garrison. Hiero and the Carthaginians now
proceeded to lay siege to Messana by sea and land, and the Romans no
longer hesitated to declare war against Carthage. Such was the
commencement of the first Punic War (B.C. 264).

The Carthaginians commanded the sea with a powerful fleet, while the
Romans had no ships of war worthy of the name. But the Consul App.
Claudius, having contrived to elude the Carthaginian squadron, landed
near the town of Messana, and defeated in succession the forces of
Syracuse and Carthage. In the following year (263) the Romans followed
up their success against Hiero. The two Consuls advanced to the walls of
Syracuse, ravaging the territory of the city and capturing many of its
dependent towns. The king became alarmed at the success of the Romans;
and thinking that they would prove more powerful than the Carthaginians,
he concluded a peace with Rome. From this time till his death, a period
of nearly fifty years, Hiero remained the firm and steadfast ally of the
Romans.

The Romans, now freed from the hostility of Syracuse, laid siege to
Agrigentum, the second of the Greek cities in Sicily, which had espoused
the cause of the Carthaginians at the commencement of the war. The siege
lasted seven months, and numb