The Mamertines (Mamertini "sons of Mars") were mercenaries of Italian origin who had been hired from their home in Campania by Agathocles, the king of Syracuse. But when Agathocles died in 289 BC he left many of these mercenaries idle and unemployed in Sicily. Most of them returned to their homes, but some, liking the climate and the prospect of adventure on a foreign island, remained. A mercenary is a soldier who fights, or engages in warfare primarily for private gain, usually with little regard for ideological, national or political considerations. ... Campania is a region of Southern Italy, bordering on Lazio to the north-west, Molise to the north, Puglia to the north-east, Basilicata to the east, and the Tyrrhenian Sea to the west. ... For the grindcore band, see Agathocles (band) Agathocles (361 BC - 289 BC), tyrant of Syracuse (317 BC - 289 BC) and king of Sicily (304 BC - 289 BC). ... Map of central Mediterranean Sea, showing location of Syracuse on the island of Sicily. ... Centuries: 4th century BC - 3rd century BC - 2nd century BC Decades: 330s BC 320s BC 310s BC 300s BC 290s BC - 280s BC - 270s BC 260s BC 250s BC 240s BC 230s BC 294 BC 293 BC 292 BC 291 BC 290 BC 289 BC 288 BC 287 BC 286... Sicilian disambiguates here; see also Sicilian language or Sicilian Defence. ...

Coins struck by the Mamertines.

Image File history File links MamS_017-42_ha. ... Image File history File links MamS_017-42_ha. ...

Capture of Messana

The then small band of desperados came across the walled Greek settlement of Messana (now Messina). Messana was a key strategic point, built on the north-eastern tip of Sicily, and it, along with the fort Rhegium on the toe of Italy, made the crossing points of the straits between Italy and Sicily. Being a peaceful people, the inhabitants allowed the travelling mercenaries into their home. After a time the mercenaries became restless and plotted to capture the town. One night the mercenaries betrayed their hosts and killed most of the population who were completely unprepared. In this way they claimed Messana for themselves. The surviving Messanians were thrown out and the property and women divided up. After their victory, the mercenaries named themselves the Mamertines after the Oscan war-god Mamers. Messina, Italy Strait of Messina, Italy. ... Categories: Italy-related stubs | Coastal cities | Towns in Calabria ... Oscan, the language of the Osci, is in the Sabellic branch of the Italic language family, which is a branch of Indo-European and includes Umbrian, Latin and Faliscan. ... Mamers is a commune of the Sarthe département, in France. ...

Mamertine dominion over north-eastern Sicily

The Mamertines held the town of Messana for over 20 years. They changed it from being a bustling town of farmers and traders to a raiding base. The Mamertines became pirates on land and sea. Taking advantage of the peacefulness of the Sicilians they looted the nearby settlements and captured unwary trade ships on the strait, carrying their plunder back to their base. They captured prisoners and demanded tribute. In this time they struck their own coins on which their name is printed and images of their gods and goddesses. Their exploits made them rich powerful and they began travelling further inland, even as far as Gela. Gela is a commune in the province of Caltanissetta, in the island of Sicily, Italy. ...

The decline of the Mamertines

The Mamertine presence did not go unnoticed forever. In around 270 BC, the Mamertine exploits came to the attention of Syracuse, by word of the refugees from the tormented settlements. Hiero II of Syracuse began to gather an army of citizens with which to rid the land of the destroyers of the peace and rescue his Greek kinsmen. Centuries: 4th century BC - 3rd century BC - 2nd century BC Decades: 320s BC 310s BC 300s BC 290s BC 280s BC 270s BC - 260s BC 250s BC 240s BC 230s BC 220s BC 275 BC 274 BC 273 BC 272 BC 271 BC - 270 BC - 269 BC 268 BC 267... Map of central Mediterranean Sea, showing location of Syracuse on the island of Sicily. ... Grave monument of Hiëro II in Syracuse Hiero II, tyrant of Syracuse from 270 to 215 BC, was the illegitimate son of a Syracusan noble, Hierocles, who claimed descent from Gelo. ...

Hiero met with the Mamertines when they were nearing Syracuse. Marching out his troops he first sent his unruly mercenaries forward and allowed them to be butchered by the Mamertines. The faithless part of his army disposed of, Hiero marched his citizen soldiers back to the city where he drilled them to a better fighting condition. Leading his confident army north he found the Mamertines again at the Longanus River on the plain of Mylae where he easily defeated them since the Mamertines were not accustomed to large pitched battles and had become reckless after beating Hiero's mercenaries. In the battle Hiero captured the Mamertine leaders and the remnants fled back to the safety of Messana. Hiero had restricted the Mamertine activity and placed them in a dire situation. The Longanus (also Longanos or Loitanus) River was a river in north-eastern Sicily on the Mylaean plain and was, as recorded by Polybius, the location at which the Mamertines were drastically defeated by Hiero II of Syracuse in around 269 BC. The small settlement of Longane was positioned near...

When Hiero returned to besiege their base (Messana) in 265 BC the Mamertines called for help from a nearby fleet from Carthage, which occupied the harbor of Messana. Seeing this, the Syracuse forces retired, not wishing to confront Cathaginian forces. Uncomfortable under the Cathaginian "protection", the Mamertines now appealed to Rome to be allowed into the protection of the Roman people. After a heated debate in the Roman senate, Rome dispatched troops to "liberate" and garrison Messana. In response, Syracuse allied itself with Carthage, imploring their protection. With Rome and Carthage now brought into direct conflict, the Syracuse/Mamertine conflict escalated into the First Punic War. Centuries: 4th century BC - 3rd century BC - 2nd century BC Decades: 310s BC 300s BC 290s BC 280s BC 270s BC - 260s BC - 250s BC 240s BC 230s BC 220s BC 210s BC Years: 270 BC 269 BC 268 BC 267 BC 266 BC - 265 BC - 264 BC 263 BC... A map of the central Mediterranean Sea, showing the location of Carthage (near modern Tunis). ... See also Roman Republic (18th century) and Roman Republic (19th century). ... The Roman Senate (Latin, Senatus) was a deliberative body which was important in the government of both the Roman Republic and the Roman Empire. ... A map of the central Mediterranean Sea, showing the location of Carthage (near modern Tunis). ... The First Punic War was fought between Carthage and the Roman Republic from 264 to 241 BC. It was the first of three major wars between the two powers for supremacy in the Mediterranean Sea. ...

Ironically, once the scale of the conflict has escalated beyond them, the Mamertines themselves are lost to the historical record, and their eventual fate is lost, swallowed up in the larger events of the Punic wars. The Punic Wars were a series of three wars fought between Rome and the Phoenician city of Carthage. ...

Legacy of the Mamertines

After the First Punic War the Mamertines are lost in history, although their name was not quite forgotten in the ancient world as Mamertine wine from the north-eastern tip of Sicily was still known and enjoyed in the first century AD. It was the favourite of Julius Caesar himself and it was he who made it popular after serving it at a feast to celebrate his third consulship. A bust of Julius Caesar. ...

Even centuries after the Mamertine occupation the inhabitants of Messana were still called Mamertines.

In Gustave Flaubert's novel Salammbô he 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." Gustave Flaubert Gustave Flaubert (December 12, 1821 – May 8, 1880) was a French novelist who is counted among the greatest Western novelists. ... Salammbô is the name of several literary and dramatic works: Salammbô, the original novel by Gustave Flaubert (1862) Salammbô, an opera composed by Ernest Reyer based on Flauberts novel (1890). ...

External links

• Mamertines by Jona Lendering
• Mamertine Coins