264 BC · Strait of Messina, Sicily Theater
264 BC
Rome's intervention in Sicily began when the Mamertines — Italian mercenaries who had seized the city of Messana — appealed to Rome for protection against Syracuse and a Carthaginian garrison already inside the city. Rome crossed the Strait of Messina, expelled the Carthaginian force, and defeated a combined Syracusan-Carthaginian army. This seemingly small intervention triggered the First Punic War — the first time Roman armies had fought outside the Italian peninsula. Neither Rome nor Carthage had intended a major war; neither could afford to back down.
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