Page:Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology (1870) - Volume 2.djvu/347

Rh HANNIBAL. besides large supplies of provisions ; after which, again eluding the Romans, he repaired with his fleet to join that of Adherbal at Drepanum. His name is not mentioned as taking part in the great victory of that commander over P. Claudius in the following year (249), though it is probable that he was present, as immediately afterwards we find him detached, with a force of thirty ships, to Pa- normus, where he seized the Roman magazines of corn, and carried them off to Lilybaeum. (Polyb. i. 44, 46 ; Diod. Exc. Hoeschel. xxiv. 1 ; Oros. iv. 10.) 8. Sumamed the Rliodian, distinguished him- self during the siege of Lilybaeum by the skill and daring with which he contrived to run in and out of the harbour of that place with his single ship, and thus keep up the communication of the be- sieged with Carthage, in spite of the vigilance of the Roman blockading squadron. At length, how- ever, he fell into the hands of the enemy, who subsequently made use of his galley, of the swift- ness of which they had had so much experience, as a model after which to construct their own. (Polyb. i. 46, 47 ; Zonar. viii. 15, who erroneously calls him Hanno.) 9. A general in the war of the Carthaginians against their revolted mercenaries, B. c. 240-238, who was appointed to succeed Hanno, when the dis- sensions between that general and Hamilcar Barca had terminated in the deposition of the former. [Hanno, No. 12.] It is probable that the new com- mander, if not distinctly placed in subordination to Hamilcar, was content to follow his directions, and we hear nothing of him separately until the tAvo generals besieged Tunis with their combined forces. On this occasion Hamilcar encamped with a part of the anny on one side of the city, Hannibal on the other ; but the latter was so wanting in vigilance, that Matho, the commander of the be- sieged forces, by a sudden sally, broke into his camp, made a great slaughter among his troops, and carried off Hannibal himself prisoner. The next morning the unfortunate general was nailed to the same cross on which Spendius, the chief leader of the insurgents, had been previously crucified by Hamilcar. (Polyb. i. 82, 86 ; Diod. Exc. Vat. XXV. 1.) 1 0. Son of Hamilcar Barca, and one of the most illustrious generals of antiquity. The year of his birth is not mentioned by any ancient writer, but from the statements concerning his age at the battle of Zama, it appears that he must have been born in B. c. 247, the very year in which his father Hamilcar was first appointed to the command in Sicily. (Clinton, F. H. vol. iii. pp. 20, 52 ; but compare Niebuhr, Led. on Rom. Hist. vol. i. p. 158.) He was only nine years old when his father took him with him into Spain, and it was on this occasion that Hamilcar made him swear upon the altar eternal hostility to Rome. The story was told by Hannibal himself many years afterwards to Antiochus, and is one of the best attested in ancient history. (Polyb. iii. 11 ; Liv. xxi. 1, xxxv. 19 ; Corn. Nep. Hann. 2 ; Appian, Hisp. 9 ; Val. Max. ix. 3, ext. § 3.) Cliild as he then was, Hannibal never forgot his vow, and his whole life was one continual struggle against the power and domina- tion of Rome. He was early trained in arms under the eye of his father, and probably accom- panied him on most of his campaigns in Spain. We find him present with him in the battle in which HANNIBAL. SS.*? Hamilcar perished (b. c. 229) ; and though only eighteen years old at this time, he had already dis- played so much courage and capacity for war, that he was entrusted by Hasdrubal (the son-in-law and successor of Hamilcar) with the chief command of most of the military enterprises planned by that general. (Diod. Eccc. Hoesch. xxv. p. 511 ; Liv. xxi. 4 ; Appian, Hisp. 6.) Of the details of these campaigns we know nothing ; but it is clear that Hannibal thus early gave proof of that remarkable power over the minds of men, which he afterwards displayed in so eminent a degree, and secured to himself the devoted attachment of the army under his command. The consequence was, that on the assassination of Hasdrubal (b. c. 221), the soldiers unanimously proclaimed their youthful leader com- mander-in-chief, and the government at Carthage hastened to ratify an appointment which they had not, in fact, the power to prevent. (Polyb. iii. 13 ; Appian, Hisp. 8 ; Zonar. viii. 21.) Hannibal was at this time in the twenty-sixth year of his age. There can be no doubt that he already looked forward to the invasion and con- quest of Italy as the goal of his ambition ; but it was necessary for him first to complete the work which had been so ably begun by his two prede- cessors, and to establish the Carthaginian power as firmly as possible in Spain, before he made that country the base of his subsequent operations. This was the work of two campaigns. Immediately after he had received the command, he turned his arms against the Olcades, a nation of the interior, who were speedily compelled to submit by the fall of their capital city, Althaea. Hannibal levied large sums of money from them and the neigh- bouring tribes, after which he returned into winter quarters at New Carthage. The next year (220 ), he penetrated farther into the country, in order to assail the powerful tribe of the Vaccaeans, and re- duced their two strong and populous cities of Hel- mantica and Arbocala. On his return from this expedition, he was involved in great danger by a sudden attack from the Carpetanians, together with the remaining forces of the Olcades and Vac- caeans, but by a dexterous manoeuvre he placed the river Tagus between himself and the enemy, and the barbarian army was cut to pieces in the attempt to force their passage. After these successes he again returned to spend the winter at New Carthage. (Polyb. iii. 13 — 15; Liv. xxi. 5.) Early in the ensuing spring (b. c. 219) Hannibfil proceeded to lay siege to Saguntum, a city of Greek origin, which, though situated to the south of the Iberus, and therefore not included under the protection of the treaty between Hasdrubal and the Romans [Hasdrubal, No. 5], had con- cluded an alliance with the latter people. There could be little doubt, therefore, that an attack upon Saguntum would inevitably bring on a war with Rome ; but for this Hannibal was prepared, or rather it was unquestionably his real object. The immediate pretext of his invasion was the same of which the Romans so often availed themselves, — some injuries inflicted by the Saguntines upon one of the neighbouring tribes, who invoked the assist- ance of Hannibal. But the resistance of the city was long and desperate, and it was not till after a siege of. near eight months, in the course of which Hannibal himself had been severely wounded, that he made himself master of the place. (Polyb. iii. 17; Liv. xxi. 6 — 15; Appian, Hisp. 10 — 12;