HIERO II, born 306 BC, King of Syracuse 265 - 215 BC.
(Grand Camp.)
Start 270 BC how he become high commander of Syracuse, later king 265 BC.
Died 215 BC
HIERO (or Hieron) was born around 306 BC of unknown lineage. He served as an officer under Pyrrhos, a Greek adventurer who briefly controlled Syracuse c. 278-276 BC. Hiero's ascent to power began when he was elected co-commander of Syracusan armed forces driven from Syracuse by civil authorities. He executed a military coup of Syracuse about 275 BC after "he used some of his family connections to gain entry to the city," as Polybius writes. He consolidated his power by marrying Philistis, the daughter of a popular and influential Syracusan named Leptines. When veteran mercenaries who helped him seize power became unruly and disruptive, he led them into a battle in which they were cut to pieces by the enemy after he held back his reserves of Syracusan citizens.
From 278 to 275 BC he fought under Pyrrhus, king of Epirus, against the Roman invaders of Sicily, and after the departure of Pyrrhus in 275 BC he was chosen commander of the Syracusan army. Hiero's military successes against the Mamertines, a gang of Italic mercenaries who ran a pirate empire from the Sicilian city of Messana which they had captured. in 270 BC resulted in his election as tyrant by the grateful citizens of Syracuse.
In 265 BC Hiero won a further decisive victory over the Mamertines As a result, Hiero was proclaimed King of Syracuse by his grateful subjects.
Hiero's defeat of the Mamertines upset the delicate balance of power among the Greeks, Romans, and Carthaginians, all of whom sought the control of Sicily. Rome's support of the defeated Mamertines precipitated the First Punic War in 264 BC, in which Carthage and Syracuse were initially allied against Rome. The Romans gained early victories over the Greco-Punic forces and prepared to lay siege to Syracuse. Hiero reconsidered his position and decided that it would be wiser to be an ally of Rome than of Carthage. He negotiated a treaty with Rome in 263 BC under whose terms he agreed to pay tribute and provide supplies and grain to the Romans. Hiero honored this treaty the rest of his life and became a loyal ally of Rome. The treaty guaranteed him a peaceful and prosperous reign as long as the Romans and Carthaginians were occupied in fighting each other.
Hiero was an extremely able leader who captured the hearts and minds of his subjects. He rebuilt much of Syracuse during his reign of sixty years. Among his public works still remaining are an enormous sacrificial altar dedicated to Zeus and an enlarged Greek Theater. He also strengthened the defenses of Syracuse, especially Fort Euryalos, under the military guidance of Archimedes.
Plutarch describes Archimedes as a near relation of Hiero. He constantly sought Archimedes' advice on military and other matters. His long reign gave Archimedes the opportunity to peacefully pursue his studies.
Hiero and Philistis had one son, Gelo, and two daughters, Damarata and Heraclia. Gelo co-ruled with Hiero for many years and married Nereis, a daughter of Hiero's old mentor Pyrrhos. Gelo died about a year before Hiero while in his fifties. Hiero died in 215 BC at about the age of ninety and was succeeded by Gelo's fifteen-year-old son Hieronymos.
After Hiero came the deluge. Within three years of his death his grandson Hieronymos was assassinated, his two daughters and other members of his family were put to death by an angry mob, Syracuse was captured and looted by the Romans, and Archimedes was killed by a Roman soldier. Syracuse was reduced to a minor Roman provincial town, ending its illustrious 500-year history as an independent Greek city-state. It never regained its former glory.
Hieronymos -> Assassinated 3 years after Hiero II death.
The romans took Syracuse empire in 213 BE.
