Mamertines
This article needs additional citations for verification. (March 2010) |
The Mamertines (
In 280 BC, the Syracusans appealed to King Pyrrhus of Epirus for help against the Mamertines.[1]
Capture of Messina
The then-small band of desperados came across the walled
Dominion over northeastern Sicily
The Mamertines held the town of Messina for over 20 years. They changed it from a bustling town of farmers and traders to a raiding base. The Mamertines became pirates on land and sea. Taking advantage of the war-weary Sicilians, they looted the nearby settlements and captured trade ships on the strait, carrying their plunder back to their base. They captured prisoners and demanded tribute. During this period, they struck coins featuring their name and images of their gods and goddesses.[citation needed] Their exploits made them rich and powerful. They began travelling further inland, even as far as Gela, and demanding tribute.[2]
Decline
The Mamertine presence did not go unchallenged forever. In around 270 BC, the Mamertine exploits came to the attention of Syracuse, by word of the refugees from the settlements.
When Hiero returned to besiege their base at Messina in 265 BC, the Mamertines called for help from a nearby fleet from Carthage, which occupied the harbour of Messina. Seeing this, the Syracuse forces retired, not wishing to confront Carthaginian forces. Uncomfortable under the Carthaginian "protection," the Mamertines now appealed to Rome to be allowed into the protection of the Roman people. At first, the Romans did not wish to come to the aid of soldiers who had unjustly stolen a city from its rightful possessors. However, unwilling to see Carthaginian power spread further over Sicily and get too close to Italy, Rome responded by entering into an alliance with the Mamertines. In response, Syracuse allied itself with Carthage, imploring their protection. With Rome and Carthage brought into conflict, the Syracuse/Mamertine conflict escalated into the First Punic War.
Legacy
Once the scale of the conflict had escalated beyond them, the Mamertines were lost to the historical record and their fate is lost, swallowed up in the larger events of the Punic wars. After the First Punic War, however, their name was not quite forgotten in the ancient world since "Mamertine wine" from the vineyards of north-eastern tip of Sicily was still known and enjoyed in the 1st century. It was the favourite of Julius Caesar and it was he who made it popular after serving it at a feast to celebrate his third consulship.
Even centuries after the Mamertine occupation, the inhabitants of Messina were still called Mamertines.
In his novel Salammbô, Gustave Flaubert writes of the Greeks singing the 'old song of the Mamertines': "With my lance and sword I plough and reap; I am master of the house! The disarmed man falls at my feet and calls me Lord and Great King."