 During the Pyrrhic War of 280–275 BC, against a king of Epirus who alternately fought Rome in Italy and Carthage on Sicily, Carthage provided materiel to the Romans and on at least one occasion used its navy to ferry a Roman force.In 289 BC a group of Italian mercenaries known as Mamertines, previously hired by Syracuse, occupied the city of Messana (modern Messina) in the north-eastern tip of Sicily.Hard-pressed by Syracuse, the Mamertines appealed to both Rome and Carthage for assistance in 265 BC.