This situation continued until the First Punic War: the main task of the Roman fleet was patrolling along the Italian coast and rivers, protecting seaborne trade from piracy. Whenever larger tasks had to be undertaken, such as the naval blockade of a besieged city, the Romans called on the allied Greek cities of southern Italy, the "socii navales", to provide ships and crews. It is possible that the supervision of these maritime allies was one of the duties of the four new "praetores classici", who were established in 267 BC.