Hiero II (/ˈhaɪəroʊ/; alsoHieron/ˈhaɪərɒn/;Ancient Greek:Ἱέρων; c. 308 BC – 215 BC) was the Greektyrant ofSyracuse,Greek Sicily, from 275 to 215 BC, and the illegitimate son of a Syracusan noble, Hierocles, who claimed descent fromGelon.[1] He was a former general ofPyrrhus of Epirus and an important figure of theFirst Punic War.[2] He figures in the story of famed thinkerArchimedes shouting "Eureka".
When Pyrrhus leftSicily (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. Hiero was later able to prove his military worth against theMamertines, a body of mercenaries fromCampania who had been employed byAgathocles, the late tyrant of Syracuse, and seized the stronghold ofMessina, which they used as a base of operations to harass the Greeks around them. They were finally defeated in a pitched battle nearMylae along theLonganus river by Hiero, who was only prevented from capturing Messina byCarthaginian interference. Between 275 and 271 he seized total power in the city by allying himself with thedemos,[3] but unlike the past kings or tyrants of Syracuse, he ruled within the law, acknowledged the will of the assemblies of Syracuse, and never purged his opponents.[1]
Fighting the Mamertines prior to the formal start of the First Punic war, he was proclaimed king after a victory in 265 BC.[3] The next year, the Mamertines became desperate and called for Roman aid.[4] Hiero at once joined the Punic leaderHanno, who had recently landed in Sicily; but fighting a battle to an inconclusive outcome with the Romans led by theconsulAppius Claudius Caudex, he withdrew to Syracuse.[5][1]
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 asTauromenium.[1][5]
He died shortly after theBattle of Cannae in 216 BC.[3] Until his death he remained loyal to the Romans, and frequently assisted them with men and provisions during the Punic war.[6] He kept up a powerful fleet for defensive purposes, and employed his famous kinsmanArchimedes in the construction of those engines that, at a later date, played so important a part during thesiege of Syracuse by the Romans.[1]
According to a story told byVitruvius,[7] Hiero suspected he was being cheated by the goldsmith to whom he had supplied the gold to make avotive 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 ofdisplacement needed to measure thedensity of the crown is said to have shouted "eureka, eureka!" while running naked through Syracuse. Supposedly, it was while noticing the rise in water level when getting in 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.
A picture of the prosperity of Syracuse during his rule is given in the sixteenth idyll ofTheocritus. 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.[8]
In the 16th century treatiseThe 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 toMoses,Cyrus,Theseus, andRomulus.
One or more of the preceding sentences incorporates text from a publication now in thepublic domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Hieros.v. Hiero II.".Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 13 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 453.| Preceded by: Controlled byPyrrhus of Epirus | Tyrant of Syracuse 275 BC – 215 BC | Succeeded by: Hieronymus |
