v36_0064 - SICILY - SYRACUSE Unité de bronze, (PB, Æ 21)

SICILY - SYRACUSE

(212-210 BC)

Roman occupation

After the death of Hiéron, in 215 before J. - C., his nephew succeeds to him; he was nicknamed "the little Hieron" to differentiate him from his august predecessor. The new monarch allied with Carthage and Hannibal who was then in southern Italy, in Capua. Unfortunately, he will regret this alliance; he was overthrown the following year and the Republic was restored. This gesture by the new rulers was not enough to prevent the Romans from invading Sicily and laying siege to Syracuse. Despite fierce resistance and the assistance of the war machines imagined by Archimedes, in particular the incendiary mirrors, the city falls. Marcellus, the Roman Imperator, tries in vain to save the great scientist who is assassinated by a soldier. Syracuse is given over to plunder. The Romans are masters of all of Sicily in 210 BC.