 The taking of Syracuse ensured that the Carthaginians could not get a foothold in Sicily, which could have led to them giving support to Hannibal's Italian campaign, and this allowed the Romans to concentrate on waging the war in Spain and Italy.The island was used as a vital gathering point for the final victorious campaign in Africa 10 years later and would prove to be an important step onto both Africa and Greece in coming Roman conflicts.Syracuse was later extensively rebuilt and repopulated and would be an important city for the Roman empire until well into the 5th century, playing both a military and economic part in the creation of the empire.