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Hiero Biography

Hiero Image

HIERO II (c.308-216 B.C.). A king of Syracuse, illegitimate son of a noble Syracusan named Hierocles. He first distinguished himself in the wars with Pyrrhus, and then, after Pyrrhus's departure from Sicily (275 B.C.), by his successes in the war with the Mamertines (q.v.). In consequence of his military triumphs he was, in 270 B.C., chosen King of Syracuse. In 264 he assisted the Carthaginians in the siege of Messana against the Mamertines; but when the Mamertines secured the aid of Rome, he was himself defeated by the Roman consul, Appius Claudius, and in 263 concluded a treaty with the Romans, to whom he thereafter remained faithful. The treaty secured to him the control of southeastern Sicily and of the eastern coast as far as Tauromenium (Taormina). In both Punic wars he assisted the Romans with money and troops. During the interval of peace between the two wars he visited Rome and was received with great honors, while he himself on this occasion distributed a vast quantity of grain to the people. Hiero was a wise and merciful sovereign, simple in his ways and just in his rule. We are told that he was prevented from laying aside the kingly power only by the unanimous votes of his subjects. He bestowed great care upon the financial department of his government, and his agricultural laws (leges Hieronicœ) were in force in Cicero's time. He was also a patron of the arts and beautified his city with many fine public buildings. His kinsman Archimedes (q.v.) he employed in the construction of a number of powerful engines of war.