Note 1051 — Chapter XCVII · SICILIAN AND ITALIAN GREEKS. — AGATHOKLES. (continued 2)

The poet Theokritus (xvi. 75-80) expatiates on the bravery of the Syracusan Hiero II., and on the great warlike power of the Syracusans under him (B. C. 260-240), which he represents as making the Carthaginians tremble for their possessions in Sicily. Personally, Hiero seems to have deserved this praise—and to have deserved yet more praise for his mild and prudent internal administration of Syracuse. But his military force was altogether secondary in the great struggle between Rome and Carthage for the mastery of Sicily.