The Carthaginians held Corsica, Sardinia, and various colonies in Spain
and possessions in Sicily. It was in Sicily that the cause of quarrel
between Rome and Carthage was found, and Rome picked the quarrel by
interference in a local matter at Messana. Hiero, king of Syracuse, as
we have seen, had come over to the Romans, who, after defeating the
Carthaginian army and taking Agrigentum (262 B. C.), determined to make
themselves masters of Sicily. For this a fleet was needed, and with
Roman energy they soon built one. Twice their squadrons were destroyed,
but in 260 B. C. the consul Duilius gained a great naval victory at
Mylæ, on the northeast coast of Sicily, and, from this time, Rome became
more and more nearly a match for Carthage on her element, the sea. The
Romans invaded Africa without success (255 B. C.), but were generally
victorious in Sicily.
In 247 B. C. the great Hamilcar Barca (father of Hannibal and Hasdrubal)
was appointed to the Carthaginian command in Sicily, and maintained
himself there with great patience and skill against all the Roman
efforts. But, in 241 B. C., the Roman commander Lutatius Catulus
utterly defeated the Carthaginian fleet off the Ægates Islands, on the
west coast of Sicily, and the Carthaginians then gave in. All Sicily,
except the territory of Rome’s faithful alley, Hiero of Syracuse, thus
became (241 B. C.) the first Roman province.