he praetor, whose
province Sicily was, had received information of these events, he sent
ambassadors to Hieronymus; who, upon stating that the object of their
mission was to renew the alliance which had subsisted between the
Romans and his grandfather, were heard and dismissed in an insulting
manner, Hieronymus asking them sneeringly, "how they had fared at the
battle of Cannae? for that the ambassadors of Hannibal stated what
could hardly be credited." He said, "he wished to know the truth, in
order that before he made up his mind, he might determine which he
should espouse as offering the better prospect." The Romans replied,
that they would return to him when he had learned to receive embassies
with seriousness; and, after having cautioned, rather than requested
him, not rashly to change his alliance, they withdrew. Hieronymus sent
ambassadors to Carthage, to conclude a league in conformity with the
alliance with Hannibal. It was settled in the compact, that after they
had expelled the Romans from Sicily, (which would speedily be effected
if the Carthaginians sent ships and troops,) the river Himera, which
divides the island in nearly equal portions, should be the limit of
the Carthaginian and Syracusan dominions. Afterwards, puffed up by the
flattery of those persons who bid him be mindful, not of Hiero only,
but of king Pyrrhus, his maternal grandfather, he sent another
embassy, in which he expressed his opinion that equity required that
the whole of Sicily should be conceded to him, and that the dominion
of Italy should be acquired as the peculiar possession of the
Carthaginians. This levity and inconstancy of purpose in a hot-headed
youth, did not excite their surprise, nor did they reprove it, anxious
only to detach him from the Romans.

7. But every thing conspired to hurry him into perdition. For having
sent before him Hippocrates and Epicydes with two thousand armed men,
to make an attempt upon those cities which were occupied by Roman
garrisons, he himself also proceeded to Leontium with all the
remaining troops, which amounted to fifteen thousand foot and horse,
when the conspirators (who all happened to be in the army) took
possession of an uninhabited house, which commanded a narrow way, by
which the king was accustomed to go to the forum. The rest stood here
prepared and armed, waiting for the king to pass by. One of them, by
name Dinomenes, as he was one of the body-guards, had the task
assigned him of