King Hiero and Rome
When news came to Rome of the successes of Appius
note
and his legions, the people elected Manius
Otacilius and Manius Valerius Consuls, and
despatched their whole army to Sicily, and both Consuls in
command. note Now the Romans have in all, as
distinct from allies, four legions of Roman
citizens, which they enrol every year, each of
which consists of four thousand infantry and
three hundred cavalry: and on their arrival most
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of the cities revolted from Syracuse as well as
from Carthage, and joined the Romans. note And
when he saw the terror and dismay of the
Sicilians, and compared with them the number
and crushing strength of the legions of Rome,
Hiero began, from a review of all these points, to
conclude that the prospects of the Romans were
brighter than those of the Carthaginians. Inclining therefore
from these considerations to the side of the former, he began
sending messages to the Consuls, proposing peace and friendship
with them. The Romans accepted his offer, their chief motive
being the consideration of provisions: for as the Carthaginians
had command of the sea, they were afraid of being cut off at
every point from their supplies, warned by the fact that the
legions which had previously crossed had run very short in
that respect. They therefore gladly accepted Hiero's offers
of friendship, supposing that he would be of signal service
to them in this particular. The king engaged to restore his
prisoners without ransom, and to pay besides an indemnity of
a hundred talents of silver. The treaty being arranged on
these terms, the Romans thenceforth regarded the Syracusans
as friends and allies: while King Hiero, having thus placed
himself under the protection of the Romans, never failed to
supply their needs in times of difficulty; and for the rest of
his life reigned securely in Syracuse, devoting his energies to
gaining the gratitude and good opinion of the Greeks. And in
point of fact no monarch ever acquired a greater reputation,
or enjoyed for a longer period the fruits of his prudent policy
in private as well as in public affairs.
