people
Mamertines
Campanian mercenaries who seized Messana; their appeal to Rome began the First Punic War (264 BC).
Reading notes
- The History of Rome, Book 30 §31 Mamertines
The Mamertines of Messana, whose peril (264 BC) Scipio cites as the just cause of the First Punic War.
- The History of Rome, Book 31 §6 Mamertines
The Mamertines, the Campanian mercenaries holding Messana whose appeal drew Rome into the First Punic War.