Answer:
The First Punic War began as a minor proxy conflict when the Mamertines who were a group of Italian mercenaries from Campania were hired by the king Agathocles of Syracuse to attack and occupy the city of Messana where they killed all the men and took the women as their wives.
Step-by-step explanation:
The First Punic War began because of a conflict of interests between Carthage and Rome in terms of control over Sicily. By the beginning of the war, this area was controlled by the Phoenicians, and aggressively minded Romans disagreed with this. The war began, when mercenaries from Campania.
Punic Wars: First Punic War (264–241 bce) The proximate cause of the first outbreak was a crisis in the city of Messana (Messina), commanding the straits between Italy and Sicily.... The First Punic War was fought to establish control over the strategic islands of Corsica and Sicily.