The First Punic War broke out on the island of Sicily in 264BCE. It was regarded as "the longest and most severely contested war in history" by the Ancient Greek historian Polybius. The fighting, which consisted predominantly of naval warfare, largely took place on the waters of the Mediterranean surrounding Sicily. The conflict began because Rome's imperial ambitions had been interfering with Carthage's ownership claims of the island of Sicily. Carthage was the dominant power of the western Mediterranean at the time, and had an extensive maritime empire; meanwhile, Rome was a rapidly expanding state that had a powerful army but a weak navy. The conflict lasted for 23 years and caused substantial materiel and human losses on both sides; the Carthaginians were ultimately defeated by the Romans. By the terms of the peace treaty, Carthage paid large war reparations to Rome and Sicily fell to Roman control—thus becoming a Roman province. The action of taking control of Sicily had further entrenched Rome's position as a superpower in the Mediterranean and the world as a whole. The end of the war also sparked a significant, but unsuccessful, mutiny within the Carthaginian Empire referred to as the Mercenary War. The First Punic War officially came to an end in 241BCE.