Page "First Punic War" Paragraph 5

According to the historian Polybius, considerable debate took place in Rome on the question of whether to accept the Mamertines ' appeal for help, and thus likely enter into a war with Carthage.

While the Romans did not wish to come to the aid of soldiers who had unjustly stolen a city from its rightful possessors, and although they were still recovering from the insurrection of Campanian troops at Rhegium in 271, many were also unwilling to see Carthaginian power in Sicily expand even further.

Leaving the Carthaginians alone at Messana would give them a free hand to deal with Syracuse ; after the Syracusans had been defeated, the Carthaginian takeover of Sicily would essentially be complete.

A deadlocked senate put the matter before the popular assembly, where it was decided to accept the Mamertines ' request and Appius Claudius Caudex was appointed commander of a military expedition with orders to cross to Messana.