Hieron II (or Hiero II) (c. 308-215 BC)

Tyrant of Syracuse from 270 BC. He won a victory over the Mamertines (Campanian mercenaries) 270 BC, and, claiming descent from the tyrant Gelon, he was unanimously elected king by all the states of Sicily. In the first Punic War he sided with the Carthaginians, but in 263 became a friend and ally of Rome, to whom he remained faithful till his death.

Hieron was an admirer of the Greek poet Theocritus, whose ‘16th Idyll’ depicts the prosperity of Syracuse under his government. The Roman system of administration in Sicily was informally termed lex Hieronica, since the Romans took over most of his system when they annexed the island.