his schemes were suddenly brought to a close. A band of conspirators, at the head of whom was Deinomenes, fell upon him in the streets of Leontini, and dispatched him with numerous wounds, before his guards could come to his succour, 214 BC. The short reign of Hieronymus had lasted only 13 months, and ancient, pro-Roman writers said his rule had presented the most striking contrast to that of his grandfather. Those writers, perhaps seeking to ingratiate themselves with the Roman victors, accused the young monarch of allowing himself to be seduced by the corrupting influences at court, and reputed to him a naturally bad disposition, at once weak and violent, and possessing the temperament of a childish tyrant. They wrote that from the moment of his accession he gave himself up to the influence of flatterers, who urged him to the vilest excesses: he assumed at once all the external pomp of royalty which Hiero had so studiously avoided; and while he plunged in the most shameless manner into every species of luxury and debauchery, he displayed the most unrelenting cruelty towards all those who became objects of his suspicion. However, Polybius appears inclined to doubt the inflammatory statements on this subject; and it is not improbable that they may have been exaggerated by the writers to whom he refers. Among the many libels and slanders heaped upon Hieronymus were comparisons to the Severan Roman Emperor Elagabalus, to whose character Hieronymus' was latterly compared. Among the instances cited for his contempt of public decency, he was said to have married a prostitute, Peitho, on whom he bestowed the title and honors of a queen. References |width=25% align=center|Preceded by:Hiero II |width=25% align=center|Tyrant of Syracuse215 BC – 214 BC |width=25% align=center|Succeeded by:Adranodoros |- 214 BC deaths 3rd-century BC Syracusans Sicilian tyrants 3rd-century BC Greek people Year of birth unknown