Editing Hiero II of Syracuse

{{Short description|King of Syracuse}}
[[File:Moneta_Gerone_II.png|thumb|Coin of Hiero II of Syracuse]]
[[Image:HieroII syracusa.jpg|thumb|Great altar of Syracuse, built by Hiero II]]
'''Hiero II''' ({{IPAc-en|ˈ|h|aɪ|ər|oʊ}}; also '''Hieron''' {{IPAc-en|ˈ|h|aɪ|ər|ɒ|n}}; {{langx|grc|Ἱέρων}}; c. 308 BC – 215 BC) was the Greek [[tyrant]] of [[Syracuse, Sicily|Syracuse]], [[Greek Sicily]], from 275 to 215 BC, and the illegitimate son of a Syracusan noble, Hierocles, who claimed descent from [[Gelon]].<ref name="EB1911">{{EB1911|inline=y|wstitle=Hiero|display=Hiero ''s.v.'' Hiero II.|volume=13|page=453}}</ref> He was a former general of [[Pyrrhus of Epirus]] and an important figure of the [[First Punic War]].<ref name="tufts1">{{Cite web |url=http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/cgi-bin/ptext?lookup=Plb.+1.8 |website=Perseus (from: Histories. Polybius. Evelyn S. Shuckburgh. translator. London, New York. Macmillan. 1889. Reprint Bloomington 1962.) |date=1962 |archive-url=https://archive.today/20241028191043/https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Plb.+1.8 |archive-date=28 October 2024 |title=The Rise of Hiero II}}</ref> He figures in the story of famed thinker [[Archimedes]] shouting "Eureka".

==Rise to power==
[[File:Syracuse Philistis Tetradrachm 218 BC 80000114.jpg|thumb|right|Image of [[Philistis]] ''(left)'', the wife of Hiero II, from a coin.]]
When Pyrrhus left [[Sicily]] (275 BC) the Syracusan army and citizens appointed Hiero commander-in-chief. He strengthened his position by marrying the daughter of Leptines, one of the leading citizen of Syracuse. In the meantime, the [[Mamertines]], a body of  mercenaries from [[Campania]] who had been employed by [[Agathocles of Syracuse|Agathocles]] the late tyrant of Syracuse, had seized the stronghold of [[Messina]], and proceeded in harassing the Greeks around them. They were finally defeated in a pitched battle near [[Mylae]] along the [[Longanus]] river by Hiero, who was only prevented from capturing Messina by [[Carthage|Carthaginian]] interference. His grateful countrymen then made him [[king]] (275) but unlike the past kings or tyrants of Syracuse he ruled within the law and ruled with the assemblies of Syracuse and never purged his opponents.<ref name="EB1911"/>

==First Punic War==
In 264 BC he returned and attacked the Mamertines again. The Mamertines became desperate and called in the aid of [[Rome]].<ref>[https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/cgi-bin/ptext?lookup=Plb.+1.16 "Hiero and Rome" from Polybius, ''Histories'' at Perseus]</ref> Hiero at once joined the Punic leader [[Hanno, Messana garrison commander|Hanno]], who had recently landed in Sicily; but fighting a battle to an inconclusive outcome with the Romans led by the [[consul]] [[Claudius Caudex|Appius Claudius Caudex]], he withdrew to Syracuse.<ref name = "8-16"/><ref name="EB1911"/>

Pressed by the Roman forces, in 263 he concluded a treaty with Rome, by which he was to rule over the south-east of Sicily and the eastern coast as far as [[Tauromenium]].<ref name="EB1911"/><ref name = "8-16">[[Polybius]] i. 8–16; [[Joannes Zonaras|Zonaras]] Viii. 9.</ref>

==After the Punic War==
From this time until his death in 215 BC he remained loyal to the Romans, and frequently assisted them with men and provisions during the Punic war.<ref>[[Livy]] xxi. 49–51, xxii. 37, xxiii. 21.</ref> He kept up a powerful fleet for defensive purposes, and employed his famous kinsman [[Archimedes]] in the construction of those engines that, at a later date, played so important a part during the [[Siege of Syracuse (213–212 BC)|siege of Syracuse by the Romans]].<ref name="EB1911"/>

==Connection to the "eureka" story==
According to a story told by [[Vitruvius]],<ref>[[De architectura]] IX, Preface, 9-12.</ref> Hiero suspected he was being cheated by the goldsmith to whom he had supplied the gold to make a [[votive crown]] for a temple. He asked Archimedes to find out if all the gold had been used, as had been agreed. [[Archimedes]], on discovering the principle of [[displacement (fluid)|displacement]] needed to measure the [[density]] of the crown is said to have shouted "[[Eureka (word)|eureka, eureka!"]] while running naked through Syracuse. Supposedly, it was while noticing the rise in water level when getting a bath tub that Archimedes realized he could use water-displacement to measure the crown's irregular shape, and in his excitement about the discovery he dashed outside cheering and forgot to dress himself first. Vitruvius concludes this story by stating that Archimedes' method successfully detected the goldsmith's fraud; the smith had indeed taken some of the gold and substituted silver instead.

==Legacy and honors==
A picture of the prosperity of Syracuse during his rule is given in the sixteenth idyll of [[Theocritus]]. During the reign of Hieron II, various forms of architectural decoration were introduced in Sicily, which are summarised as ‘Hieronic architecture’. Contrary to some assumptions in scholarship, however, there is no evidence that these stylistic innovations were the result of a central programme on Hieron's part to legitimise his rule.<ref>Krüger, Anna-Lena (2022). ''Hieronische Architektur auf Sizilien. Überlegungen zu einem modernen Forschungskonstrukt'' [Hieronic architecture in Sicily. Reflections on a modern research construct]. Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz, {{ISBN|978-3-447-11792-0}}.</ref>

In the 16th century treatise ''[[The Prince]]'' (Chapter 6), [[Machiavelli]] cites Hiero as an exceptionally virtuous man and a rare example of someone who rose to princely power from previously being a private individual, comparing him to [[Moses]], [[Cyrus the Great|Cyrus]], [[Theseus]], and [[Romulus]].

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==Further reading==
*{{cite book |last1=de Lisle |first1=Christopher |editor1-last=Csapo |editor1-first=Eric |editor2-last=Goette |editor2-first=Hans Rupprecht |editor3-last=Green |editor3-first=J. Richard |editor4-last=Le Guen |editor4-first=Brigitte |editor5-last=Paillard |editor5-first=Elodie |editor6-last=Stoop |editor6-first=Jelle |editor7-last=Wilson |editor7-first=Peter |title=Theatre and Autocracy in the Ancient World |date=2022 |publisher=Walter de Gruyter GmbH & Co KG |isbn=978-3-11-098038-7 |pages=55–69 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=VISIEAAAQBAJ |language=en |chapter=The Autocratic Theatre of Hieron}}
*{{cite book |last1=Lehmler |first1=Caroline |title=Syrakus unter Agathokles und Hieron II.: die Verbindung von Kultur und Macht in einer hellenistischen Metropole |date=2005 |publisher=Verlag Antike |location=Berlin |isbn=978-3-938032-07-7}}
* {{cite book |last1=Walthall |first1=D. Alex |title=Sicily and the Hellenistic Mediterranean world: economy and administration during the reign of Hieron II |date=2024 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |location=Cambridge |isbn=9781009005234}}
{{s-start}}
|width=25% align=center|'''Preceded by:'''<br>'''Controlled by [[Pyrrhus of Epirus]]  '''
|width=25% align=center|'''[[List of Tyrants of Syracuse|Tyrant of Syracuse]]'''<br>275 BC – 215 BC
|width=25% align=center|'''Succeeded by:'''<br>'''[[Hieronymus of Syracuse|Hieronymus]]'''
|-
{{s-end}}

{{Authority control}}

[[Category:300s BC births]]
[[Category:215 BC deaths]]
[[Category:Sicilian tyrants]]
[[Category:Pyrrhic War]]
[[Category:Sicilian Greeks]]
[[Category:3rd-century BC monarchs in Europe]]
[[Category:3rd-century BC Syracusans]]