now turned his arms against the so-called Mamertines[45] of
Messina, who troubled the Greek cities much, and had even made some of
them tributary to themselves. They were numerous and warlike; indeed,
in Latin, their name means the "children of Mars." Pyrrhus seized and
put to death any of them whom he found exacting tribute from the
Greeks, and after defeating them in a pitched battle, took many of
their outlying forts. The Carthaginians now were inclined to come to
terms with him. They offered, if peace were concluded, to pay him
tribute, and to supply a fleet for his use. To these proposals
Pyrrhus, dissatisfied with obtaining so little, answered that he would
only make peace and friendship with them on one condition, which was
that they would evacuate Sicily altogether, and regard the African sea
as their frontier towards Greece. Elated by the greatness of the force
at his disposal, and the success which attended his enterprises, he
now aimed at the realisation of the large hopes of conquest with which
he left Greece, and meditated an attack on Libya. He had a large
fleet, but required many rowers to man it, and these he proceeded to
obtain from the allied cities, not by gentle means, but by harsh,
arbitrary, and despotic commands. Not that he was originally of a
tyrannical disposition, but his character, which at first was open,
trustful, and sociable, gradually altered for the worse, as he became
less dependent upon public opinion and more firmly fixed upon his
throne, until at length he gained the reputation of an ungrateful and
suspicious despot. The Greek cities, though with much murmuring,
submitted to this arbitrary impressment, having no other alternative;
but Pyrrhus soon proceeded to even harsher measures. Thoinon and
Sosistratus were the leading men in Syracuse. It was they who had
first invited him into Sicily, and who, when he arrived there, had
placed their own city in his hands and induced most of the other Greek
communities to join him. Pyrrhus now regarded these men with
suspicion, and knew not whether to take them with him or leave them
behind. Sosistratus, terrified at the king's evident ill-will, made
his escape, upon which Pyrrhus charged Thoinon with plotting against
him with the other, and put him to death. This caused a sudden
revulsion of feeling from him. The Greek cities began to regard him
with mortal hatred, and some of them joined the Carthaginians, whilst
others invited the Mamertines t