"Well, this is the last stop on the Italian wine tour," The Professor said. "Beautiful but rocky Sicily. Over there is Messina, home of Mamertine wine.

Mamertine was first brought into favor by Julius Caesar, who had it served at public banquets. A dry white, it ages well and often attains an alcoholic content of 15 percent or 30 proof.

The name Mamertine comes from the Mamertines, originally mercenaries of Italian origin who had been hired from their home in Campania by Agathocles, the king of Syracuse. Later they went out on their own, captured Messina by betrayal and held the city for over twenty years. They changed it from being a bustling town of farmers and traders to a raiding base against other Sicilian settlements. In this way they came to the attention of Hiero II of Syracuse.

The Mamertines called for help from a nearby fleet from Carthage, which occupied the harbor of Messana. Seeing this, the Syracuse forces retired, not wishing to confront Cathaginian forces. Uncomfortable under the Cathaginian "protection", the Mamertines now appealed to Rome to be allowed into the protection of the Roman people. After a heated debate in the Roman senate, Rome dispatched troops to "liberate" and garrison Messana. In response, Syracuse allied itself with Carthage, imploring their protection. With Rome and Carthage now brought into direct conflict, the Syracuse/Mamertine conflict escalated into the First Punic War.


After the First Punic War the Mamertines are lost in history, although their name was not quite forgotten in the ancient world as Mamertine wine from the north-eastern tip of Sicily was still known and enjoyed in the first century AD. It was the favourite of Julius Caesar himself and it was he who made it popular after serving it at a feast to celebrate his third consulship. Even centuries after the Mamertine occupation the inhabitants of Messana were still called Mamertines."