val with war unless she complied with these unjust
demands. Resistance was impossible, and Sardinia and Corsica were now
formed into a Roman province, governed, like Sicily, by a Praetor sent
annually from Rome (B.C. 238). This act of robbery added fresh fuel to
the implacable animosity of Hamilcar against the grasping Republic. He
now departed for Spain, where for many years he steadily worked to lay
the foundation of a new empire, which might not only compensate for the
loss of Sicily and Sardinia, but enable him at some time to renew
hostilities against Rome.

Rome was now at peace, and in B.C. 235 the Temple of Janus, which had
remained open since the days of Numa, was closed for a second time. Two
new tribes were added to the Roman territory, thus making their total
number thirty-five.

The Temple of Janus did not long remain closed. The Illyrians, who dwelt
near the head of the Adriatic upon its eastern side, were a nation of
pirates, who ravaged the coasts of this sea. The Senate having sent
embassadors to the Illyrian queen, Teuta, to complain of these outrages,
she not only refused to attend to their complaints, but caused one of
the embassadors to be murdered. War was straightway declared, and a
Roman army for the first time crossed the Adriatic (B.C. 229). Demetrius
of Pharos, an unprincipled Greek, who was the chief counselor of Teuta,
deserted his mistress, and surrendered to the Romans the important
island of Corcyra. Teuta was obliged to yield to the Romans every thing
they demanded, and promised that the Illyrians should not appear south
of Lissa with more than two vessels. The suppression of piracy in the
Adriatic was hailed with gratitude by the Grecian states, and deserves
notice as the first occasion upon which the Romans were brought into
immediate contact with Greece. The Consul Postumius, who had wintered in
Illyria, sent envoys to Athens, Corinth, and other Grecian cities, to
explain what had been done. The envoys were received with honor, and
thanks were returned to Rome (B.C. 228).

The Romans had scarcely brought this trifling war to an end when they
became involved in a formidable struggle with their old enemies the
Gauls. Since the conquest of the Senones in B.C. 289, and of the Boii in
B.C. 283, the Gauls had remained quiet. The Romans had founded the
colony of Sena after the subjugation of the Senones; and in B.C. 268
they had still farther strengthened their dominion in those parts by