Hieron II. of Syrakus

Hieron II. (also Hiero II.; * around 306 v. Chr.; † At the beginning of 215 v. Chr.), Tyrann of Syrakus of 270 v. Chr. to 215 v. Chr., the illegitimate son of the Hierokles of Syrakus, a Syrakuser was noble one, which stated, to descend from Gelon. Hieron was an important shape in the first Puni war.

lives

as Pyrrhus of Epirus Sicily in the year 275 v. Chr. , appointed the army and population of Syrakus Hieron left her military commander. It strengthened its position by the marriage with the daughter of the Leptines, the most important citizen of the city.

At the same time the Mamertiner, a group of kampanischen mercenaries, had occupied which had been enlisted by Agathokles, the fortress of Messana, of where out they shifted the Syrakuser in fear and fright. They were struck at the end of Hieron in a battle with Mylae to confound ( with the sea-battle of Mylae between Rome and Karthago ten years later), which was prevented again from occupation Messanas only by the objection Karthagos. Its grateful compatriots made it in the year 270 v. Chr. to the Tyrannen.

In the year 264 v. Chr. Hieron turned into again to the attack on the Mamertiner, which asked now for their part the Roman republic for assistance. Hieron closed thereupon the punischen field gentleman Hanno , who had landed recently in Sicilies, withdrew itself on however again after Syrakus, after he had been struck by the consul Appius Claudius Caudex. On pressure of the Roman forces he saw himself to 263 v. Chr. forced to lock a contract with Rome that it the southeast Siziliens and the east coast to up after Tauromenium (Taormina) (Polybios 1,8-16; Zonaras 8.9) as rule area left.

From then on up to its death in the year 215 v. Chr. it held back opposite the Romans loyal and supported themselves it occasionally in the Puni wars with men and food supply (Livius 21,49-51; 22,37; 23,21). It financed a powerful fleet with defensive tasks and employed its famous member Archimedes with the construction of those machines, which should later play a so important role during the FE storage of Syrakus by the Romans.

A picture of the syrakusischen prosperity under its government becomes in 16. Idyll submitted by Theokrit, its preferential poet.

sources

• Diodorus Siculus 22.24-26.24
• Justin 23.4
• Livius 21,49-51; 22,37; 23.21
• Polybios 1.8-6.7
• Zonaras 8.9

literature

• Caroline Lehmler: Syrakus under Agathokles and Hieron II. The connection of culture and power in a brightistic metropolis, Frankfurt/M. 2005, ISBN 3-938032-07-3.