[Footnote 696: This Leptinus was brother to Dionysius.]

[Footnote 697: About $914,640.]

     About this time a law was enacted at Carthage, by which its inhabitants

were forbidden to learn to write or speak the Greek language; in order to

deprive them of the means of corresponding with the enemy, either by word of

mouth or in writing. ^698 This was occasioned by the treachery of a

Carthaginian, who had written in Greek to Dionysius, to give him advice of the

departure of the army from Carthage.

[Footnote 698: Justin. l, xx. c. 5.]

     Carthage had soon after another calamity to struggle with. ^699 The

plague spread in the city and made terrible havoc.  Panic terrors, and violent

fits of frenzy seized on a sudden the heads of the distempered; who, sallying

sword in hand out of their houses, as if the enemy had taken the city, killed

or wounded all who unhappily came in their way.  The Africans and Sardinians

would very willingly have taken this opportunity to shake off a yoke which was

so hateful to them; but both were subjected and reduced to their allegiance.

Dionysius formed at this time an enterprise in Sicily, with the same views,

which was equally unsuccessful. ^700 He died, some time after, and was

succeeded by his son of the same name.

[Footnote 699: Diod. l. xv. p. 344.]

[Footnote 700: This is the Dionysius who invited Plato to his court; and who,

being afterwards offended with his freedom, sold him for a slave. Some

philosophers came from Greece to Syracuse, in order to redeem their brother,

which having done, they sent him home with this useful lesson - that

philosophers ought very rarely or very obligingly to converse with tyrants.

This prince had learning, and affected to pass for a poet; but could not gain

that name at the Olympic games, whither he had sent his verses, to be repeated

by his brother Thearides.  It had been happy for Dionysius, had the Athenians

entertained no better an opinion of his poetry; for on their pronouncing him

victor, when his poems were repeated in their city, he was raised to such a

transport of joy and intemperance, that both together killed him; and thus,

perhaps, was verified the prediction of the oracle viz.; that he should die

when he had overcome his betters.]

     We have already taken notice of the first treaty which the Carthaginians

concluded with the Romans.  There was another, which, according to Orosius,

was concluded in the 402d year of the foundation of Rome, and consequently

about the time we are now speaking of.  This second treaty was nearly the same

with the first, except that the inhabitants of Tyre and Utica were expressly

comprehended in it, and joined with the Carthaginians.

     After the death of the elder Dionysius, Syracuse was involved in great

troubles. ^701 Dionysius the younger, who had been expelled, restored himself

by force of arms, and exercised great cruelties there.  One part of the

citizens implored the aid of Icetes, tyrant of the Leontines, and by descent a

Syracusan.  This seemed a very favorable opportunity for the Carthaginians to

seize upon all Sicily, and accordingly they sent a mighty fleet thither.  In

this extremity, such of the Syracusans as loved their country best, had

recourse to the Corinthians, who often assisted them in their dangers, and

were, of all the Grecian nations, the most professed enemies to tyranny, and

the most avowed and most generous assertors of liberty.  Accordingly the

Corinthians sent over Timoleon, a man of great merit, and who had signalized

his zeal for the public welfare, by freeing his country from tyranny, at the

expense of his own family.  He set sail with only ten ships, and arriving at

Rhegium, he eluded, by a happy stratagem, the vigilance of the Carthaginians;

who, having been informed, by Icetes, of his voyage and design, wanted to

intercept him in his passage to Sicily.

[Footnote 701: A. M. 3656.  A. Carth. 498.  A. Rome, 400. Ant. J. C. 348.

Diod. l. xvi. p. 252, Polyb. l. iii. p. 178.  Plut. in Timol.]

     Timoleon had scarce above a thousand soldiers under his command; and yet,

with this handful of men, he marched boldly to the relief of Syracuse.  His

small army increased in proportion as he advanced.  The Syracusans were now in

a desperate condition and quite hopeless.  They saw the Carthaginians masters

of the port; Icetes of the city, and Dionysius of the citadel.  Happily, on

Timoleon's arrival, Dionysius having no refuge left, put the citadel into his

hands, with all the forces, arms, and ammunition in it, and escaped by his

assistance to Corinth. ^702 Timoleon had, by his emissaries, artfully

represented to the foreign forces in Mago's army (which, by an error in the

constitution of Carthage, before taken notice of, was chiefly composed of

such, and even the greatest part of whom were Greeks), that it was astonishing

to see Greeks using their endeavors to to make barbarians masters of Sicily,

from whence they in a very little time, would pass over into Greece.  For

could they imagine, that the Carthaginians were come so far, with no other

view than to establish Icetes tyrant of Syracuse?  Such discourses being

spread among Mago's soldiers, gave this general very great uneasiness; and, as

he wanted only a pretence to retire, he was glad to have it believed that his

forces were going to betray and desert him, and upon this he sailed with his

fleet out of the harbor, and steered for Carthage.  Icetes, after his

departure, could not hold out long against the Corinthians; so that they now

got entire possession of the whole city.

[Footnote 702: Here he preserved some resemblance of his former tyranny, by

turning schoolmaster, and exercising a discipline over boys, when he could no

longer tyrannize over men.  He had learning, and was once a scholar to Plato,

whom he caused to come again into Sicily, notwithstanding the unworthy

treatment he had met with from Dionysius' father.  Philip, king of Macedon,

meeting him in the streets at Corinth, and asking him how he came to lose so

considerable a principality as had been left him by his father; he answered

that his father had indeed left him the inheritance, but not the fortune which

had preservd both himselfand that. - However, fortune did him no great injury,

in replacing him on the dunghill, from which she had raised his father.]

     Mago, on his arrival at Carthage, was impeached; but he prevented the

execution of the sentence passed upon him, by a voluntary death.  His body was

hung upon a gallows, and exposed as a public spectacle to the people. New

forces were levied at Carthage, and a greater and more powerful fleet than the

former was sent to Sicily. ^703 It consisted of two hundred ships of war,

besides a thousand transports; and the army amounted to upwards of seventy

thousand men.  They landed at Lilybaeum, under the command of Hamilcar and

Hannibal, and resolved to attack the Corinthians first. Timoleon did not wait

for, but marched out to meet them.  But, such was the consternation of

Syracuse, that of all the forces which were in that city, only three thousand

Syracusans, and four thousand mercenaries, followed him; and a thousand of the

latter deserted upon the march, through fear of the danger they were going to

encounter.  Timoleon, however, was not discouraged, but exhorting the

remainder of his forces to exert themselves courageously for the safety and

liberties of their allies, he led them against the enemy, whose rendezvous he

had been informed was on the banks of the little river Crimisa.  It appeared

at the first reflection inexcusable folly to attack an army so numerous as

that of the enemy, with only four or five thousand foot, and a thousand horse;

but Timoleon, who knew that bravery, conducted by prudence, is superior to

numbers, relied on the courage of his soldiers, who seemed resolved to die

rather than yield, and with ardor demanded to be led against the enemy. The

event justified his views and hopes.  A battle was fought; the Carthaginians

were routed, and upwards of ten thousand of them slain, full three thousand of

whom were Carthaginian citizens, which filled their city with mourning and the

greatest consternation.  Their camp was taken, and with it immense riches, and

a great number of prisoners.

[Footnote 703: Plut. p. 248-250.]

     Timoleon, ^704 at the same time that he despatched the news of this

victory to Corinth, sent thither the finest arms found among the plunder. For

he was passionately desirous of having this city applauded and admired by all

men, when they should see that Corinth alone, among all the Grecian cities,

adorned its finest temples, not with the spoils of Greece, and offerings dyed

in the blood of its citizens, the sight of which could tend only to preserve

the sad remembrance of their losses; but with those of barbarians, which by

fine inscriptions, displayed at once the courage and religious gratitude of

those who had won them.  For these inscriptions imported, That the

Corinthians, and Timoleon their general, after having freed the Greeks,

settled in Sicily, from the Carthaginian yoke, had hung up these arms in their

temples, as an eternal acknowledgment of the favor and goodness of the gods.

[Footnote 704: Plut. 248-250.]

     After this, Timoleon, leaving the mercenary troops in the Carthaginian

territories, to waste and destroy them, returned to Syracuse. On his arrival

there he banished the thousand soldiers who had deserted him; and took no

other revenge, than commanding them to leave Syracuse before sunset.

     This victory gained by the Corinthians, was followed by the capture of

many cities, which obliged the Carthaginians to sue for peace.

     In proportion as the appearance of success made the Carthaginians

vigorously exert themselves to raise powerful armies both by land and sea, and

prosperity led them to make an insolent and cruel use of victory; so their

courage would sink in unforeseen adversities, their hopes of new resources

vanish, and their grovelling souls condescend to ask quarter of the most

inconsiderable enemy, and without sense of shame, accept the hardest and most

mortifying conditions.  Those now imposed were, that they should possess only

the lands lying beyond the river Halycus; ^705 that they should give all the

natives liberty to retire to Syracuse with their families and effects; and

that they should neither continue in the alliance, nor hold any correspondence

with the tyrants of that city.

[Footnote 705: This river is not far from Agrigentum.  It is called Lycus by

Diodorns and Plutarch, but this is thought a mistake.]

     About this time, in all probability, there happened at Carthage a

memorable incident, related by Justin. ^706 Hanno, one of its most powerful

citizens, formed a design of seizing upon the republic, by destroying the

whole senate.  He chose, for the execution of this bloody plan, the day on

which his daughter was to be married, on which occasion he designed to invite

the senators to an entertainment, and there poison them all.  The conspiracy

was discovered, but Hanno had such influence, that the government did not dare

to punish so execrable a crime; the magistrates contended themselves with only

preventing it, by an order which forbade, in general, too great a magnificence

at weddings, and limited the expense on those occasions.  Hanno, seeing his

stratagem defeated, resolved to employ open force, and for that purpose armed

all the slaves.  However, he was again discovered; and to escape punishment,

retired, with twenty thousand armed slaves, to a castle that was very strongly

fortified; and there endeavored, but without success, to engage in his

rebellion the Africans, and the king of Mauritania.  He afterwards was taken

prisoner, and carried to Carthage, where, after being whipped, his eyes were

put out, his arms and thighs broken, he was put to death in presence of the

people, and his body, all torn with stripes, was hung on a gibbet.  His

children and all his relations, though they had not joined in his guilt,

shared in his punishment.  They were all sentenced to die, in order that not a

single person of his family might be left, either to imitate his crime or

revenge his death.  Such was the temper of the Carthaginians; ever severe and

violent in their punishments, they carried them to the extremes of rigor, and

made them extend even to the innocent, without showing the least regard to

equity, moderation, or gratitude.

[Footnote 706: Justin, lib. xxi, c. 4.]

     I now come to the wars sustained by the Carthaginians in Africa itself,

as well as in Sicily, against Agathocles, which exercised their arms during

several years. ^707

[Footnote 707: A. M. 3685.  A. Carth. 527.  A. Rome, 429.  Ant. J. C. 319.

Diod. l. xix. p 651-656, 710-712, 737-743, 760.  Justin. l. ii. c. 1-6.]

     This Agathocles was a Sicilian, of obscure birth and low fortune. ^708

Supported at first by the forces of the Carthaginians, he had invaded the

sovereignty of Syracuse, and made himself tyrant over it.  In the infancy of

his power, the Carthaginians kept him within bounds, and Hamilcar, their

chief, forced him to agree to a peace, which restored tranquillity to Sicily.

But he soon infringed the articles of it, and declared war against the

Carthaginians themselves, who, under the conduct of Hamilcar, obtained a

signal victory over him, ^709 and forced him to shut himself up in Syracuse.

The Carthaginians pursued him thither, and laid siege to that important city,

the capture of which would have given them possession of all Sicily.

[Footnote 708: He was, according to most historians, the son of a potter, but

all allow him to have worked at the trade.  From the obscurity of his birth

and condition, Polybius uses an argument to prove his capacity and talents, in

opposition to the standers of Timaeus.  But his greatest eulogium was the

praise of Scipio.  That illustrious Roman being asked, who, in his opinion,

were the most prudent in the conduct of their affairs and most judiciously

bold in the execution of their designs; answered Agathocles and Dionysius. -

Polyb. l. xv. p. 1003.  Edit Gronov.  However, let his capacity have been ever

so great, it was exceeded by his cruelties.]

[Footnote 709: The battle was fought near the river and city of Hymera.]

     Agathocles, whose forces were greatly inferior to theirs and who saw

himself deserted by all his allies, from their detestation of his horrid

cruelties, meditated a design of so daring, and, to all appearance, of so

impracticable a nature, that even after success, it yet appears almost

incredible.  This design was no less than to make Africa the seat of war, and

to besiege Carthage, at a time when he could neither defend himself in Sicily,

nor sustain the siege of Syracuse.  His profound secrecy in the execution is

as astonishing as the design itself.  He communicated his thoughts on this

affair to no person whatsoever, but contented himself with declaring, that he

had found out an infallible way to free the Syracusans from the dangers that

surrounded them; that they had only to endure with patience, for a short time,

the inconveniences of a siege; but that those who could not bring themselves

to this resolution, might freely depart the city.  Only sixteen hundred

persons quitted it.  He left his brother Antander there with forces and

provisions sufficient for him to make a stout defence.  He set at liberty all

slaves who were of age to bear arms, and, after obliging them to take an oath,

joined them to his forces.  He carried with him only fifty talents ^710 to

supply his present wants; well assured that he should find in the enemy's

country whatever was necessary to his subsistence.  He therefore set sail with

two of his sons, Archagathus and Heraclides, without letting any one person

know whither he intended his course.  All who were on board his fleet believed

that they were to be conducted either to Italy or Sardinia, in order to

plunder those countries, or to lay waste those coasts of Sicily which belonged

to the enemy.  The Carthaginians, surprised at so unexpected a departure,

endeavored to prevent it; but Agathocles eluded their pursuit, and made for

the main ocean.

[Footnote 710: 50,000 French crowns, or $55,000.]

     He did not discover his design till he had landed in Africa.  There

assembling his troops, he told them, in a few words, the motives which had

prompted him to this expedition.  He represented, that the only way to free

their country, was to carry the war into the territories of their enemies:

that he led them, who were inured to war and of intrepid dispositions, against

a parcel of enemies who were softened and enervated by ease and luxury: that

the natives of tha country, oppressed with the yoke of servitude, equally

cruel and ignominious, would run in crowds to join them on the first news of

their arrival: that the boldness of their attempt would alone disconcert the

Carthaginians, who had no expectation of seeing an enemy at their gates: in

short, that no enterprise could possibly be more advantageous or honorable

than this, since the whole wealth of Carthage would become the prey of the

victors, whose courage would be praised and admired by the latest posterity.

The soldiers fancied themselves already masters of Carthage, and received his

speech with applause and acclamations.  One circumstance alone gave them

uneasiness, and that was, an eclipse of the sun happening just as they were

setting sail.  In these ages, even the most civilized nations understood very

little the reason of these extraordinary phenomena of nature; and used to draw

from them (by their soothsayer) superstitious and arbitrary conjectures, which

frequently would either suspend or hasten the most important enterprises.

However, Agathocles revived the drooping courage of his soldiers, by assuring

them that these eclipses always foretold some instant change: that, therefore,

good fortune was taking its leave of Carthage, and coming over to them.

     Finding his soldiers in the good disposition he wished them, he executed,

almost at the same time, a second enterprise, which was even more daring and

hazardous than his first, of carrying them over into Africa; and this was, the

burning every ship in his fleet.  Many reasons determined him to so desperate

an action.  He had not one good harbor in Africa where his ships could lie in

safety.  As the Carthaginians were masters of the sea, they would not have

failed to possess themselves immediately of his fleet, which was incapable of

making the least resistance.  In case he had left as many hands as were

necessary to defend it, he would have weakened his army, which was

inconsiderable at the best, and put it out of his power to gain any advantage

by this unexpected diversion, the success of which depended entirely on the

swiftness and vigor of the execution.  Lastly, he was desirous of putting his

soldiers under a necessity of conquering, by leaving them no other refuge than

victory.  Much courage was necessary to adopt such a resolution.  He had

already prepared all his officers, who were entirely devoted to his service,

and received every impression he gave them.  He then came suddenly into the

assembly, with a crown upon his head, dressed in a magnificent habit, and,

with the air and behavior of a man who was going to perform some religious

ceremony, and addressing himself to the assembly, "When we," says he, "left

Syracuse, and were warmly pursued by the enemy, in this fatal necessity, I

addressed myself to Ceres and Proserpine, the tutelar divinities of Sicily;

and promised, that if they would free us from this imminent danger, I would

burn all our ships in their honor, at our first landing here.  Aid me,

therefore, O soldiers, to discharge my vow; for the goddesses can easily make

us amends for this sacrifice." At the same time, taking a flambeau in his

hand, he hastily led the way on board his own ship, and set it on fire.  All

the officers did the like, and were cheerfully followed by the soldiers.  The

trumpets sounded from every quarter, and the whole army echoed with joyful

shouts and acclamations.  The fleet was soon consumed.  The soldiers had not

been allowed time to reflect on the proposal made to them.  They had all been

hurried on by a blind and impetuous ardor; but when they had a little

recovered their reason, and, surveying in their minds the vast extent of ocean

which separated them from their own country, saw themselves in that of the

enemy, without the least resource, or any means of escaping out of it, a sad

and melancholy silence succeeded the transport of joy and acclamations, which,

but a moment before, had been so general in the army.

     Here again Agathocles left no time for reflection.  He marched his army

towards a place called the Great City, which was part of the domain of

Carthage.  The country through which they marched to this place afforded the

most delicious and agreeable prospect in the world.  On each side were seen

large meads watered by beautiful streams, and covered with innumerable flocks

of all kinds of cattle; country seats built with extraordinary magnificence;

delightful avenues planted with olive and all sorts of fruit-tress; gardens of

a prodigious extent, and kept with a care and elegance which delighted the

eye.  This prospect reanimated the soldiers.  They marched full of courage to

the Great City, which they took, sword in hand, and enriched themselves with

the plunder of it, which was entirely abandoned to them.  Tunis, which was not

far distant from Carthage, made as little resistance.

     The Carthaginians were in prodigious alarm, when it was known that the

enemy was in the country, advancing by hasty marches.  This arrival of

Agathocles made the Carthaginians conclude, that their army before Syracuse

had been defeated, and their fleet lost.  The people ran in disorder to the

great square of the city, while the senate assembled in haste, and in a

tumultuous manner.  Immediately they deliberated on the means for preserving

the city.  They had no army in readiness to oppose the enemy, and their

imminent danger did not permit them to wait the arrival of those forces which

might be raised in the country, and among the allies.  It was therefore

resolved, after several different opinions had been heard, to arm the

citizens.  The number of the forces thus levied amounted to forty thousand

foot, a thousand horse, and two thousand armed chariots.  Hanno and Bomilcar,

though divided between themselves by some family quarrels, were, however,

joined in the command of these troops. They marched immediately to meet the

enemy, and on sight of them, drew up their forces in order of battle.

Agathocles had, at most, but thirteen or fourteen thousand men. ^711 The

signal was given, and an obstinate fight ensued.  Hanno, with his sacred

cohort, the flower of the Carthaginian forces, long sustained the fury of the

Greeks, and sometimes even broke their ranks; but at last, overwhelmed with a

shower of stones, and covered with wounds, he fell dead on the field.

Bomilcar might have changed the face of things, but he had private and

personal reasons not to obtain a victory for his country.  He therefore

thought proper to retire with the forces under his command, and was followed

by the whole army, which by that means was forced to leave the field to

Agathocles.  After pursuing the enemy some time, he returned and plundered the

Carthaginian camp. Twenty thousand pair of manacles were found in it, with

which the Carthaginian had furnished themselves, in the firm persuasion of

their taking many prisoners.  The result of this victory was the capture of a

great number of strongholds, and the defection of many of the natives of the

country, who joined the victor.

[Footnote 711: Agathocles, wanting arms for many of his soldiers, provided

them with such as were counterfeit, which looked well at a distance.  And

perceiving the discouragement his forces were under on sight of the enemy's

horse, he let fly a great many owls, privately procured for that purpose,

which his soldiers interpreted as an omen and assurance of victory. - Diod.

Ad. Ann. 3 Olymp. p. 117.]

     This descent of Agathocles into Africa, doubtless gave birth to Scipio's

design of making a like attempt upon the same republic, and from the same

place. ^712 Wherefore, in his answer to Fabius, who ascribed to temerity his

design of making Africa the seat of the war, he forgot not to mention the

example of Agathocles, as an instance in favor of his enterprise, and to show,

that frequently there is no other way to get rid of an enemy, who presses too

closely upon us, than by carrying the war into his own country; and that men

are much more courageous when they act upon the offensive, than when they

stand only upon the defensive.

[Footnote 712: Liv. l. xxxviii. n. 43.]

     While the Carthaginians were thus warmly attacked by their enemies,

ambassadors came to them from Tyre. ^713 They came to implore their succor

against Alexander the Great, who was upon the point of taking their city,

which he had long besieged.  The extremity to which their countrymen, for so

they called them, were reduced, touched the Carthaginians as sensibly as their

own danger.  Though they were unable to relieve them, they at least thought it

their duty to comfort them; and deputed thirty of their principal citizens, to

express their grief that they could not spare them any troops, because of the

present melancholy situation of their own affairs.  The Tyrians, though

disappointed of the only hope they had left, did not however despond.  They

committed their wives, children, ^714 and old men, to the care of those

deputies; and, being delivered from all inquietude with regard to persons who

were dearer to them than any thing in the world, they thought only of making a

resolute defence, prepared for the worst that might happen.  Carthage received

this afflicted company with all possible mark of amity, and paid to guests who

were so dear and worthy of compassion, all the services which they could have

expected from the most affectionate and tender parents.

[Footnote 713: Diod. l. xvii. p. 519.  Quint. Curt. l. iv. c. 3.]

[Footnote 714: Some of their wives and children, - Diod xvii.- xli.]

     Quintus Curtius places this embassy from Tyre to the Carthaginians at the

same time that the Syracusans were ravaging Africa, and had advanced to the

very gates of Carthage.  But the expedition of Agathocles against Africa

cannot agree in time with the siege of Tyre, which was more than twenty years

before it.

     At the same time, Carthage was solicitous how to extricate itself from

the difficulties with which it was surrounded.  The present unhappy state of

the republic was considered as the effect of the wrath of the gods; and it was

acknowledged to be justly deserved, particularly with regard to two deities

towards whom the Carthaginians had been remiss in the discharge of certain

duties prescribed by their religion, and which had once been observed with

great exactness.  It was a custom, coeval with the city itself, in Carthage,

to send annually to Tyre, the mother city, the tenth of all the revenues of

the republic, as an offering to Hercules, the patron and protector of both

cities.  The domain, and consequently the revenues of Carthage, having

increased considerably, the portion on the contrary, of the god, had been

lessened, and they were far from remitting the whole tenth to him.  They were

seized with a scruple in this respect, they made an open and public confession

of their insincerity, and sacrilegious avarice; and to expiate their guilt,

they sent to Tyre a great number of presents, and small shrines of their

deities, all of gold, which amounted to a prodigious value.

     Another violation of religion, which to their inhuman superstition seemed

as flagrant as the former, gave them no less uneasiness. Anciently, children

of the best families in Carthage used to be sacrificed to Saturn.  They now

reproached themselves with having failed to pay to the god the honors which

they thought were due to him; and with having used fraud and dishonest dealing

towards him, by having substituted in their sacrifices, children of slaves or

beggars, bought for that purpose, in the room of those nobly born.  To expiate

the guilt of so horrid an impiety, a sacrifice was made to this bloodthirsty

god, of two hundred children of the first rank; and upwards of three hundred

persons, from a sense of this terrible neglect, offered themselves voluntarily

as victims to pacify, by the effusion of their blood, the wrath of the gods.

     After these expiations, expresses were despatched to Sicily, with the

news of what had happened in Africa and, at the same time, to request

immediate succors.  Hamilcar, on receiving this disastrous intelligence,

commanded the deputies to observe the strictest silence on the victory of

Agathocles, and spread a contrary report, that he had been entirely defeated,

his forces all cut off, and his whole fleet taken by the Carthaginians; and in

confirmation of this report, he showed the irons of the vessels pretended to

be taken, which had been carefully sent to him. The truth of this report was

not at all doubted in Syracuse; the majority were for capitulating, ^715 when

a galley of thirty oars, built in haste by Agathocles, arrived in the port,

and through great difficulties and dangers forced its way to the besieged.

The news of Agathocles' victory immediately flew through the city, and

restored life and resolution to the inhabitants.  Hamilcar made a last effort

to storm the city, but was beaten off with loss.  He then raised the siege,

and sent five thousand men to the relief of his distressed country.  Some time

after, having resumed the siege, and hoping to surprise the Syracusans, by

attacking them in the night, ^716 his design was discovered, and falling alive

into the enemy's hands, he was put to death with most exquisite tortures. ^717

Hamilcar's head was sent immediately to Agathocles, who, advancing to the

enemy's camp, threw it into a general consternation, by displaying to them the

head of their general, which manifested the melancholy situation of their

affairs in Sicily.

[Footnote 715: And the most forward of all the rest was Antander, the brother

of Agathocles, left commander in his absence, who was so terrified with the

report, that he was eager for having the city surrendered, and expelled out of

it eight thousand inhabitants who were of a contrary opinion.]

[Footnote 716: Diod. p. 767-769.]

[Footnote 717: He was cruelly tortured till he died, and so met with the fate

which his fellow-citizens, offended at his conduct in Sicily, had probably

allotted for him at home.  He was too formidable to be attacked at the head of

his army, and therefore the votes of the senate, whatever they were, being

according to custom cast into a vessel, it was immediately closed, with an

order not to uncover it till he was returned, and had thrown up his

commission, - Justin. l. xxii. c. 3.]

     To these foreign enemies was joined a domestic one, which was more to be

feared, as being more dangerous than the others; this was Bomilcar, their

general, who was then in possession of the first post in Carthage. ^718 He had

long meditated how to make himself tyrant, and attain the sovereignty of

Carthage, and imagined that the present troubles offered him the wished-for

opportunity.  He therefore entered the city, and being seconded by a small

number of citizens, who were the accomplices of his rebellion, and a body of

foreign soldiers, he proclaimed himself tyrant, and made himself literally

such, by cutting the throats of all the citizens whom he met with in the

streets.  A tumult arising immediately in the city, it was at first thought

that the enemy had taken it by some treachery; but when it was known that

Bomilcar caused all this disturbance, the young men took up arms to repel the

tyrant, and from the tops of the houses discharged whole volleys of darts and

stones upon the heads of his soldiers.  When he saw an army marching in order

against him, he retired with his troops to an eminence, with design to make a

vigorous defence, and to sell his life as dear as possible.  To spare the

blood of the citizens, a general pardon was proclaimed for all who would lay

down their arms.  They surrendered upon this proclamation, and all enjoyed the

benefit of it, Bomilcar, their chief excepted; for he, notwithstanding the

general indemnity promised by oath, was condemned to die, and fixed to a

cross, where he suffered the most exquisite torments.  From the cross, as from

a rostrum, he harangued the people, and thought himself justly empowered to

reproach them for their injustice, their ingratitude, and perfidy, which he

did by enumerating many illustrious generals, whose services they had rewarded

with an ignominious death.  He expired on the cross while uttering these

reproaches. ^719

[Footnote 718: Diod. p. 779-781.  Justin. l. xxii. c. 7.]

[Footnote 719: It would seem incredible, that any man could so far triumph

over the pains of the cross, as to talk with any coherence in his discourse,

had not Seneca assured us, that some have so far despised and insulted its

tortures, that they spit contemptuously upon the spectators. Quidam ex

patibulo suos spectatores con puerant. - De Vita Beata, c. 19.]

     Agathocles had won over to his interest a powerful king of Cyrene, named

Ophellas, ^720 whose ambition he had flattered with the most splendid hopes,

by leading him to understand that, contenting himself with Sicily, he would

leave to Ophellas the empire of Africa.  But as Agathocles did not scruple to

commit the most horrid crimes to promote his ambition and interest, the

credulous prince had no sooner put himself and his army in his power, than, by

the blackest perfidy, he caused him to be murdered, in order that Ophellas'

army might be entirely at his devotion.  Many nations were now joined in

alliance with Agathocles, and several strongholds were garrisoned by his

forces.  As he now saw the affairs of Africa in a flourishing condition, he

thought it proper to look after those of Sicily; accordingly, he sailed back

thither, having left the command of his army to his son Archagathus.  His

renown, and the report of his victories, flew before him.

[Footnote 720: Diod, p. 777-779, 791-802.  Justin. l. xxii. c. 7, 8.]

     On the news of his arrival in Sicily, many towns revolted to him; but bad

news soon recalled him to Africa.  His absence had quite changed the face of

things; and all his endeavors were incapable of restoring them to their former

condition.  All his strongholds had surrendered to the enemy; the Africans had

deserted him; some of his troops were lost, and the remainder were unable to

make head against the Carthaginians: he had no way to transport them into

Sicily, as he was destitute of ships; the enemy were masters at sea, and he

could not hope for either peace or treaty with the barbarians, since he had

insulted them in so outrageous a manner, by his being the first who had dared

to make a descent on their country.  In this extremity, he thought only of

providing for his own safety.

     After many adventures, this base deserter of his army, and perfidious

betrayer of his own children, who were left by him to the wild fury of his

disappointed soldiers, stole away from the dangers which threatened him, and

arrived at Syracuse with very few followers.  His soldiers, seeing themselves

thus betrayed, murdered his sons, and surrendered to the enemy. Himself died

miserably soon after, and ended, by a cruel death, ^721 a life that had been

polluted with the blackest crimes.

[Footnote 721: He was poisoned by one Maenon, whom he had unnaturally abused.

His tooth were putrefied by the violence of the poison, and his body tortured

all over with the most racking pains.  Maenon was excited to this deed by

Archagathus, grandson of Agathocles, whom he designed to defeat of the

succession. in favor of his other son Agathocles.  Before his death, he

restored the democracy to the people.  It is observable that Justin, or rather

Trogus, and Diodorus, disagree in all the material parts of this tyrant's

history.]

     In this period may be placed another incident related by Justin. ^722 The

fame of Alexander's conquests made the Carthaginians fear that he might think

of turning his arms towards Africa.

[Footnote 722: Justin. l. xxi. c. 6]

     The disastrous fate of Tyre, whence they drew their origin, and which he

had so lately destroyed; the building of Alexandria upon the confines of

Africa and Egypt, as if he intended it as a rival city to Carthage; the

uninterrupted successes of that prince, whose ambition and good fortune were

boundless; all this justly alarmed the Carthaginians.  To sound his

inclinations, Hamilcar, surnamed Rhodanus, pretending to have been driven from

his country by the cabals of his enemies, went over to the camp of Alexander,

to whom he was introduced by Parmenio, and offered him his services.  The king

received him graciously, and had several conferences with him.  Hamilcar did

not fail to transmit to his country whatever discoveries he made from time to

time, of Alexander's designs. Nevertheless, on his return to Carthage, after

Alexander's death, he was considered as a betrayer of his country to that

prince, and accordingly was put to death by a sentence, which displayed

equally the ingratitude and cruelty of his countrymen.

     I am now to speak of the wars of the Carthaginians in Sicily, in the time

of Pyrrhus, king of Epirus.  The Romans, to whom the designs of that ambitious

prince were not unknown, to strengthen themselves against any attempts he

might make upon Italy, had renewed their treaties with the Carthaginians, who,

on their side, were no less afraid of his crossing into Sicily.  To the

articles of the preceding treaties, there was added an engagement of mutual

assistance, in case either of the contracting powers should be attacked by

Pyrrhus. ^723

[Footnote 723: A. M. 3727.  A. Carth. 569.  Rome 471.  Ant. J. C. 277. Polyb.

l. iii. p. 250.]

     The foresight of the Romans was well founded: Pyrrhus turned his arms

against Italy, and gained many victories.  The Carthaginians, in consequence

of the last treaty, thought themselves obliged to assist the Romans, and

accordingly sent them a fleet of sixscore sail, under the command of Mago.

This general, in an audience before the senate, signified to them the concern

his superiors took in the war which they heard was carrying on against the

Romans, and offered them their assistance.  The senate returned thanks for the

obliging offer of the Carthaginians, but at present thought fit to decline it.

^724

[Footnote 724: Edit. Gronov.  Justin l. xviii. c. 2.]

     Mago, some days after, repaired to Pyrrhus, upon pretence of offering the

mediation of Carthage for terminating his quarrel with the Romans, but in

reality to sound him, and discover, if possible, his designs with regard to

Sicily, which common fame reported he was going to invade. ^725 The

Carthaginians were afraid that either Pyrrhus or the Romans would interfere in

the affairs of that island, and transport forces thither for the conquest of

it.  And indeed the Syracusans, who had been besieged for some time by the

Carthaginians, had sent pressingly for succor to Pyrrhus. This prince had a

particular reason to espouse their interests, having married Lanassa, daughter

of Agathocles, by whom he had son, named Alexander.

[Footnote 725: Ibid.]

     He at last sailed from Tarentum, passed the strait, and arrived in

Sicily.  His conquests at first were so rapid, that he left the Carthaginians,

in the whole island, only the single town of Lilybaeum.  He laid siege to it,

but meeting with a vigorous resistance, was obliged to retire, and the urgent

necessity of his affairs called him back to Italy, where his presence was

absolutely necessary.  Nor was it less so in Sicily, which, on his departure,

returned to the obedience of its former masters.  Thus he lost this island

with the same rapidity that he had won it.  As he was embarking, turning his

eyes back to Sicily, What a fine field of oattle, ^726 said he to those about

him, do we leave the Carthaginians and Romans! ^727 His prediction was soon

verified.

[Footnote 726: Plut. in Pyrrh. p. 398.]

[Footnote 727: The Greek expression is beautiful.  Indeed Sicily was a kind of

Palaestra, where the Carthaginians and Romans exercised themselves in war, and

for many years seemed to play the part of wrestlers with each other.  The

English language as well as the French, has no word to express the Greek

term.]

     After his departure, the chief magistracy of Syracuse was conferred on

Hiero, who afterwards obtained the name and dignity of king, by the united

suffrages of the citizens, so greatly had his government pleased. He was

appointed to carry on the war against the Carthaginians, and obtained several

advantages over them.  But now a common interest reunited them against a new

enemy, who began to appear in Sicily, and justly alarmed both; these were the

Romans, who having crushed all the enemies who had hitherto exercised their

arms in Italy itself, were now powerful enough to carry them out of it; and to

lay the foundation of that vast power there, to which they afterwards

attained, and of which it was probable they had even then formed the design.

Sicily lay too commodious for them, not to form a resolution of establishing

themselves in it.  They therefore eagerly snatched this opportunity for

crossing into it, which caused the rupture between them and the Carthaginians,

and give rise to the first Punic war.  This I shall treat of more at large by

relating the causes of that war.

From The First Punic War To Its Destruction

     The plan which I have laid down does not allow me to enter into an exact

detail of the wars between Rome and Carthage, since that relates rather to the

Roman history, which I shall only transiently and occasionally touch upon.  My

business is to relate such facts only as may give the reader a just idea of

the republic, whose history lies before me; by confining myself to those

particulars which relate chiefly to the Carthaginians, such as their

transactions in Sicily, Spain, and Africa, which are sufficiently extensive.

     I have already observed, that from the first Punic war to the ruin of

Carthage, a hundred and eighteen years elapsed.  This whole time may be

divided into five parts or intervals.

     I.  The first Punic war lasted twenty-four years.  24

     II. The interval between the first and second Punic war is also

         twenty-four years.  24

    III. The second Punic war took up seventeen years.  17

     IV. The interval between the second and third, is forty-nine years. 49

      V. The third Punic war, terminated by the destruction of Carthage,

         continued but four years and some months.  4

Article I: The First Punic War

     The first Punic war arose from the following cause.  Some Campanian

soldiers in the service of Agathocles, the Sicilian tyrant, having entered as

friends into Messina, they soon after murdered part of the townsmen, drove out

the rest, married their wives, seized their effects, and remained sole masters

of that important city. ^728 They then assumed the name of Mamertines.  In

imitation of them, and by their assistance, a Roman legion treated in the same

cruel manner the city of Rhegium, lying directly opposite to Messina, on the

other side of the strait.  These two perfidious cities, supporting one

another, became at last formidable to their neighbors; and especially Messina,

which, being very powerful, gave great umbrage and uneasiness both to the