page_title: Second Punic War
section_title: Sicily (213–212 BC)
hierarchical_section_title: Second Punic War / Course of the war / War spreads to Sicily and Greece (214–213 BC) / Sicily (213–212 BC)
caption_attribution_description: English: Hiero of Syracuse calls Archimedes to fortify the city. Private collection. Location: Ireland / Dublin / National Gallery of Ireland Italiano: Gerone di Siracusa chiama Archimede per fortificare la città. Collezione privata. Collocazione: Irlanda/ Dublino/ National Gallery of Ireland
context_page_description: The Second Punic War, also referred to as The Hannibalic War and by the Romans the War Against Hannibal, was the second of three Punic Wars between the Roman Republic and Carthage, with the participation of Macedonia and Syracuse polities and Numidian and Iberian forces on both sides. It was one of the deadliest human conflicts of ancient times. Fought across the entire Western Mediterranean region for 17 years and regarded by Livy as the greatest war in history, it was waged with unparalleled resources, skill, and hatred. It saw hundreds of thousands killed, some of the most lethal battles in military history, the destruction of cities, and massacres and enslavements of civilian populations and prisoners of war by both sides.
  The war began with the Carthaginian general Hannibal's conquest of the pro-Roman Iberian city of Saguntum in 219 BC, prompting a Roman declaration of war on Carthage in the spring of 218. Hannibal surprised the Romans by marching his army overland from Iberia to cross the Alps and invade Roman Italy, followed by his reinforcement by Gallic allies and crushing victories over Roman armies at the battles of Trebia in 218 and Lake Trasimene in 217.
context_section_description: Syracuse, located on the sea routes Hannibal needed to secure supply, and Lilybaeum both remained in Roman hands. Hannibal was aided by the fact that Hiero II, the old tyrant of Syracuse and a staunch Roman ally, had died and his successor Hieronymus was discontented with his position in the Roman alliance. Hannibal dispatched two of his lieutenants, who were of Syracusian origin, to negotiate with Hieronymus. They succeeded in winning Syracuse over, at the price, however, of making half of Sicily a Syracusan possession. The Syracusans' ambitions were great, but the army they fielded was no match for the arriving Roman force, leading to the Siege of Syracuse from 213 BC onwards.
  The Siege of Syracuse from 213 BC onwards, was marked by Archimedes' ingenuity in inventing war machines that made it impossible for the Romans to make any gains with traditional methods of siege warfare. It was imperative for the Romans to maintain control over Sicily, for otherwise the Carthaginians would be able to reinforce Hannibal in southern Italy with impunity. The Roman commitment would be matched by the Carthaginians.
  A Carthaginian army of 25,000 infantry, 3,000 cavalry and 12 elephants under Himilco was sent to relieve the city in 213, landing at and capturing Heraclea Minoa and followed up by taking Agrigentum. Himilco began taking over Roman-garrisoned towns in Sicily. The Roman garrison at Morgantina was betrayed from within, while the Roman garrison commander at nearby Enna heard of Morgantina's treachery and massacred Enna's civilian population. A general revolt against Roman rule in Sicily erupted, with Roman garrisons either being expelled from towns or exterminated by the rebels with Carthaginian support.
caption: Hiero of Syracuse calls Archimedes to fortify the city. Sebastiano Ricci, 1720.
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