tions of territory from the Cyrenians. Sicfly was, in the meantime, the scene of a war which threatened total annihilation to Syracuse, the Athenians having invaded the island, and laid siege to that city. But when the Athenians were totally defeated (B. c. 416), the Carthaginians had their attention once more directed to Sicilian politics by an embassy from the Segestans, seeking their protection against the Syracusans, whose wrath they had provoked by their alliance with the Athenians.

SECTION IV.-History of Carthage during the Sicilian Wars.

FROM B. C. 416 TO B. c. 264.

THE Carthaginians gladly seized the pretext afforded them by the Segestan embassy; and a new expedition was sent against Sicily, under the command of Han'nibal, the son of Gis'gon. This new invasion was crowned with success; Selinun'tum and Himéra were taken by storm, and their inhabitants put to the sword. The Sicilians solicited a truce, which was granted on terms extremely favorable to the Carthaginians.

So elated was the state at this success, that nothing less than the entire subjugation of Sicily was contemplated. In'ules, the son of Han'no, and Han'nibal, at the head of a powerful armament, proceeded to besiege Agrigen'tum, the second city of the island. During the siege, which lasted eight months, the assailants suffered severely from pestilential disease, and the garrison from famine. After having endured with wonderful patience the severest extremities of famine, the Agrigentines forced their way through the enemies' lines by night, and retreated to Géla, abandoning the aged, the sick, and the wounded, to the mercy of the Carthaginians. Himil'co, who had succeeded to the chief command on the death of his father Han'nibal, ordered these helpless victims to be massacred. Géla soon shared the fate of Agrigen'tum; and Diony'sius I., the king of Syracuse, who had taken the command of the confederated Sicilians, deemed it prudent to open negotiations for peace. A treaty was concluded (B. c. 405), which neither party intended to observe longer than the necessary preparations for a more decisive contest would require. Scarcely were the Carthaginians withdrawn, when Diony'sius sent deputies to all the Greek states in Sicily, exhorting them by a simultaneous effort to expel all intruders, and secure their future independence. His machinations were successful; the Carthaginian merchants who, on the faith of the late treaty, had settled in the principal commercial town, were perfidiously massacred; while Diony'sius, at the head of a powerful army, captured several of the most important Carthaginian fortresses.

All the forces that the wealth of Carthage could procure were speedily collected to punish this treachery; and Himil'co advanced against Syracuse, and laid siege to it with the fairest prospects of success. But a plague of such uncommon virulence broke out in the Carthaginian camp, that the living were unable to bury the dead, and information of this state of things being conveyed to Sy'racuse, Diony'sius sallied forth with all his forces, and assaulted the Carthaginian camp. Scarce

any attempt was made at resistance: night alone put an end to the slaughter; and when morning dawned, Himil'co found that nothing but a speedy surrender could save him and his followers from total ruin. He stipulated only for the lives of himself and the Carthaginians, abandoning all his auxiliaries to the vengeance of the Syracusans.

The Carthaginians sent another armament, commanded by Mágo, a nobleman of high rank, to retrieve their losses in Sicily; but their forces were routed with great slaughter, and the leader slain. The younger Mágo, son of the late general, having received a strong reinforcement from Africa, hazarded a second engagement, in which the Syracusans were totally defeated. Diony'sius was induced by this overthrow to solicit a peace, which was concluded on terms honorable to both parties.

The conclusion of the Sicilian war was followed by a plague, which destroyed multitudes of the citizens of Carthage (B. c. 347); and scarcely had this visitation passed away, when insurrections broke out in the African provinces, and in the colonies of Sicily and Sardinia. But the Carthaginian senate showed itself equal to the crisis; by a course of policy in which firmness was tempered by conciliation, these dangers were averted, and the state restored to its former vigor and prosperity.

In the meantime, Syracuse was weakened by the death of Diony'sius I., who, though stigmatized as a tyrant by the Greek historians, appears to have been a wise and prudent sovereign. "No one," said Scip'io Africánus, "ever concerted his schemes with more wisdom, or executed them with more energy, than the elder Diony'sius." His son, Diony'sius II., was a profligate prince, whose excesses filled the state with tumult and distraction. The Carthaginians eagerly embraced the opportunity of accomplishing the favorite object of their policy, the conquest of Sicily; and a great armament was prepared, of which Mágo was appointed the chief commander.

Mágo, at the very first attack, made himself master of the harbor of Sy'racuse. The Syracusans, destitute of money, of arms, and almost of hope, solicited the aid of the Corinthians; and Timóleon, one of the greatest generals and purest patriots of antiquity, was sent to their assistance. A great portion of the Carthaginian army had been levied in the Greek colonies; Timóleon, hoping to work on their patriotic feelings, addressed letters to the leaders of these mercenaries, expostulating with them on the disgrace of bearing arms against their countrymen and though he did not prevail on any to desert, yet Mágo, having heard of these intrigues, felt such distrust of his followers, that he at once abandoned Sy'racuse, and returned home.

Great was the indignation of the Carthaginians at this unexpected termination of the campaign; Mágo committed suicide to escape their wrath: New forces were raised to retrieve their losses in Sicily; two generals, Han'nibal and Hamil'car were appointed to the command, and were intrusted with an army of seventy thousand men, and a fleet consisting of two hundred war-galleys, and a thousand ships of burden. Timóleon hasted to meet the invaders, though his forces barely amounted to seven thousand men. He unexpectedly attacked the Carthaginian army on its march, near the river Crimísus; and the confu

sion produced by the surprise terminated in a total rout.

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The Syracu

sans captured town after town, until at length the senate of Carthage was forced to solicit peace, and accept the terms dictated by the conqueror.

While Carthage was thus unfortunate abroad, her liberties at home narrowly escaped destruction. Han'no, one of the principal leaders of the state, resolved to make himself master of his country by poisonThis diabolical plot was ing the leaders of the senate at a banquet. frustrated by a timely discovery, and the exasperated traitor resolved to Having armed his slaves, to the number of hazard an open rebellion. twenty thousand, he took the field, and invited the native African tribes to join his standard. This appeal was disregarded; and before Han'no could levy fresh forces, he was surrounded by an army hastily raised, his followers routed, and himself made prisoner. He was put to death with the most cruel tortures; and, according to the barbarous custom of Carthage, his children and nearest relatives shared the same fate.

New dissensions in Syracuse afforded the Carthaginians a fresh pretext for meddling in the affairs of Sicily. Agathoc'les, an intriguing demagogue of mean birth, had acquired great influence among his countrymen, and, finally, by the secret aid of the Carthaginians, became master of the state. But he soon showed little regard for the ties of gratitude, and declared his resolution to expel his benefactors from the island. The Carthaginian senate immediately sent Hamil'car with a powerful army against this new enemy. Agathoc'les was completely defeated, and forced to shut himself up within the walls of Sy'racuse. The city was soon closely invested, and everything seemed to promise Hamil'car complete success at no distant day, when Agathoc'les suddenly baffled all his calculations, by adopting one of the most extraordinary measures recorded in history. Having assembled the Syracusans, he declared that he could liberate them from all dangers, if an army and a small sum of money were placed at his disposal; adding, that his plan would be instantly defeated, if its nature was divulged. An army of liberated slaves was hastily levied, the sum of fifty talents intrusted to his discretion, and a fleet prepared in secret; when all was ready, Agathoc'les announced his design of transporting his forces into Africa, and compelling the Carthaginians, by the dread of a nearer danger, to abandon Sicily.

Having eluded the vigilance of the blockading squadron, Agathocles arrived safely in Africa before the Carthaginians had received the slightest notion of his intention (B. c. 309). To inspire his soldiers with a resolution to conquer or die, he cut off all chance of retreat by burning his transports; then fearlessly advancing, he stormed Túnis and several other cities, the plunder of which he divided among his soldiers, and instigated the African princes to throw off the yoke of Carthage. Han'no and Bomil'car were sent to check the progress of this daring invader, with forces nearly four times as great as the Sicilian army; but Agathoc'les did not decline the engagement. His valor was rewarded by a decisive victory. Following up his success, Agathoc'les stormed the enemies' camp, where were found heaps of fetters and chains, which the Carthaginians, confident of success, had prepared for the invading army.

Dreadful consternation was produced in Carthage by the news of this unexpected defeat. Hamil'car, who was vigorously pressing forward the siege of Sy'racuse, was surprised by the unexpected order to return home and defend his own country. He broke up the siege, and sent home five thousand of his best troops. Having supplied their place by hiring fresh mercenaries, he again invaded the Syracusan territories; but was unexpectedly attacked, defeated, and slain.

:

Ophel'las, king of Cyrene, had joined Agathoc'les with all his forces; but the Syracusan monarch, jealous of his influence, had him privately poisoned. Having thus removed his rival, he thought he might safely revisit Sicily, and intrust the command of the African army to his son. But, during his absence, the fruits of all his former labors were lost the army under a young and inexperienced general, threw aside the restraints of discipline; the Greek estates, indignant at the murder of Ophel'las, withheld their contingents; and the African princes renewed their allegiance to Carthage. Agathoc'les hearing of these disorders, hasted to remedy them: but finding all his efforts vain, he fled back to Sicily, abandoning both his sons and his soldiers. The army, exasperated by his desertion, slew their leaders, and surrendered themselves to the Carthaginians; and Agathoc'les died soon after, either from grief or poison.

After the death of this formidable enemy, the Carthaginians renewed their intrigues in Sicily, and soon acquired a predominant influence in the island. Finding themselves in danger of utter ruin, the Greek colonies solicited the aid of Pyr'rhus, king of Epirus, who had married a daughter of Agathoc'les, and was then in Italy endeavoring to protect the colonies of Magna Græ'cia from the increasing power of the Romans (B. C. 277). Pyrrhus made a very successful campaign in Sicily, every Carthaginian town, except Lilybæ'um, submitted to his arms. But he was soon induced to return to Italy; and the fruits of his victories were lost almost as rapidly as they had been acquired, notwithstanding the heroic exertions of Híero, king of Syracuse.

SECTION V. From the Commencement of the Roman Wars to the Destruction of Carthage.

FROM B. C. 264 TO B. c. 146.

WHEN Pyrrhus was leaving Sicily, he exclaimed to his attendants, "What a fine field of battle we are leaving to the Carthaginians and Romans?" His prediction was soon verified, though the circumstances that precipitated the contest were apparently of little importance. A body of mercenaries in the pay of Agathoc'les, after the death of that monarch, treacherously got possession of Messina, and put all the inhabitants to the sword. Hiero, king of Syracuse, marched against the Mamertines, as the independent companies that had seized Messína were called, and defeated them in the field. Half the Mamertines invoked the aid of the Carthaginians, and placed them in immediate possession of the citadel, while the others sought the powerful protection of Rome. After much hesitation, the Romans consented to grant the required aid. The citadel of Messina was taken after a brief siege, and the Carthaginians were routed with great slaughter. Thus com

menced the first Punic war, which lasted twenty-three years, the details of which will be found in the chapters on Roman history.

In this war Carthage lost Sicily, and its supremacy in the western Mediterranean, which involved the fate of all its other insular possessions. The treasury was exhausted, and money was wanting to pay the arrears due to the soldiers. The mercenaries mutinied, and advancing in a body, laid siege to Túnis. Thence they marched against U'tica, while the light African cavalry that had joined in the rebellion ravaged the country up to the very gates of Carthage. The revolters were sub

dued; but not until they had reduced the fairest provinces of the republic to a desert. The mercenaries in Sardinia had also thrown off their allegiance; and the Romans, in violation of the recent peace, took possession of the island; an injury which Carthage was unable to

resent.

Hamil'car Bar'ca,* grieved to see his country sinking, formed a project for raising it once more to an equality with its imperious rival, by completely subduing the Spanish peninsula. His son Han'nibal, then a boy only nine years of age, earnestly besought leave to accompany his father on this expedition; but before granting the request, Hamil'car led the boy to the altar, and made him swear eternal hostility to Rome.

During nine years Hamil'car held the command in Spain, and found means, either by force or negotiation, to subdue almost the entire country. He used the treasures he acquired to strengthen the influence of the Barcan family in the state, relying chiefly on the democracy for support against his great rival Han'no, who had the chief influence among the nobility.

Has'drubal, the son-in-law of Hamil'car, succeeded to his power and his projects. He is suspected of having designed to establish an independent kingdom in Spain, after having failed to make himself absolute in Carthage. He built a new capital with regal splendor, which received the name of New Carthage; the richest silver-mines were opened in its neighborhood, and enormous bribes were sent to Carthage to disarm jealousy or stifle inquiry. Unlike other Carthaginian governors of provinces, he made every possible exertion to win the affections of the native Spaniards, and he married the daughter of one of their kings. The Romans were at length alarmed by his success, and compelled him to sign a treaty, by which he was bound to abstain from passing the Ibérus (Ebro), or attacking the territory of the Saguntines.

When Has'drubal fell by the dagger of an assassin, the Barcan family had sufficient influence to have Han'nibal appointed his successor, though he had barely attained his legal majority (B. c. 221). The youthful general having gained several victories over the Spaniards, boldly laid siege to Sagun'tum, and thus caused the second war with the Romans, for the details of which we must refer to the chapters on Roman history.

During the course of this war, the Carthaginian navy, the source of its greatness and the security of its strength, was neglected. The spirit of party also raged violently in Carthage itself. At the conclusion of the

Barca signifies "thunder" in the Phoenician language, and also in Hebrew, which is closely allied to Phoenician. The Hebrew root is P to thunder.