The Greek city of Rhegium, in Calabria, on the Strait of Messina, asked the Romans for a garrison. The Romans sent a contingent of 4,000 men to the city. At first they honoured their duty. However, with the Romans being busy dealing with Tarentum and Pyrrhus, this contingent was not under strict discipline and, instigated by Decius, their commander, they coveted the riches of the city. They were inspired by the Mamertines, mercenaries who had been placed to garrison the city of Messana (in Sicily, on the other side of the narrow Strait of Messina) by Agathocles of Syracuse and seized the city, killing its male inhabitants, when he died in 289 BC. Decius presented letters which he claimed were written to Pyrrhus by some citizens who wanted to betray the city to him. He also got a man to announce that part of Pyrrhus’ fleet was anchored nearby. This provided a pretext for seizing the city. Many people were killed. Decius then ratified a friendship with the Mamertines. The Romans did not react immediately because they were busy dealing with Pyrrhus. They were reproached because they did not seem to give this matter great importance. During his second consulship in 278 BC, after Pyrrhus went to Sicily, Gaius Fabricius Luscinus was sent to Rhegium. He besieged the city and seized it. The surviving rebels were sent to Rome, where they were beaten with rods and executed for treason, their bodies cast away unburied. Decius committed suicide.