Page:Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology (1870) - Volume 2.djvu/355

Rh HANNIBAL. war, from Scipio to the emperor Napoleon, have con- curred in their homage to his genius. But in com- paring Hannibal with any other of the great leaders of antiquity, we must ever bear in mind the peculiar circumstances in which he was placed. He was not in the position either of a powerful monarch, disposing at his pleasure of the whole re'- sources of the state, nor yet in that of a republican leader, supported by the patriotism and national spirit of the people that followed him to battle. Feebly and grudginglj'' supported by the govern- ment at home, he stood alone, at the head of an amiy composed of mercenaries of many nations, of men fickle and treacherous to all others but himself, men who had no other bond of union than their common confidence in their leader. Yet not only did he retain the attachment of these men, un- shaken by any change of fortune, for a period of more than fifteen years, but he trained up army after army ; and long after the veterans that had followed him over the Alps had dwindled to an inconsiderable remnant, his new levies were still as invincible as their predecessors. Of the private character of Hannibal we know very little — no man ever played so conspicuous a part in history of whom so few personal anecdotes have been recorded. Yet this can hardly have been for want of the opportunity of preserving them, for we are told (Corn, Nep. Hann. 13) that he was accompanied throughout his campaigns by two Greek writers, Silenus and Sosilus ; and we know that the works of both these authors were extant in later times ; but they seem to have been unworthy of their subject. Sosilus is censured by Polybius (iii. 20. § 5) for the fables and absurdi- ties with which he had overlaid his history ; and Silenus is only cited as an authority for dreams and prodigies. The former is said also to have acted as HannibaPs instructor in Greek, a language which, at least in the latter years of his life, he spoke with fluency (Cic. de Or. ii. 18), and in which he even composed, during his residence at the court of Prusias, a history of the expedition of Cn. Manlius Vulso against the Galatians. (Corn. Nep. I. c.) If we may believe Zonaras (viii. 24), he was at an early age master of several other languages also, Latin among the rest : but this seems at least very doubtful. Dion Cassius, how- ever, also bears testimony {^Fr. Vat. 67, p. 187, ed. Mai) to his having received an excellent educa- tion, not only in Punic, but in Greek learning and literature. During his residence in Spain Han- nibal had married the daughter of a Spanish chief- tain (Liv. xxiv. 41) ; but we do not learn that he left any children. The principal ancient authorities for the life of Hannibal have been already cited in the course of the above narrative: besides those there referred to, many detached facts and anecdotes, but almost all relating to his military operations, will be found in Valerius Maximus, Polyaenus, and Frontinus : and the leading events of the second Punic war are also given by the epitomizers of Roman history, Florus, Eutropius, and Orosius. Among modern writers it may be sufficient to mention Arnold, the third volume of whose History of Rome contains much the best account of the second Punic war that has yet appeared; and Niebuhr, in his Lec- tures on Roman History (vol. i. lect. 8—15). The reader who desires military commentaries on his operations may consult Vaudoncourt {Hist, des HANNIBALLIANUS. 341 Campagnes d''J?miUd en Italie, 3 tom. Milan, 1812) and Guischard (Memoires Militaires sur les Grecs et les Romains, 4to. La Haye, 1758). There are few separate histories of the second Punic war as a whole : the principal are Becker's Vorarheiten zu einer Geschichte des zweiten Punischen Krieges., and a work entitled Der Zweite Punische Krieg und der Kriegsplan der Karthager^ by Ludwig-Freiherr von Vincke. 11. Surnamed Monomachus, an officer in the army of the preceding, who, according to Polybius, was a man of a ferocious and sanguinary disposi- tion, and the real author or adviser of many cruel- ties which were attributed to the great commander. Among other things, he is said to have recom- mended Hannibal to teach his soldiers to live upon human flesh, a piece of advice which could not have been seriously meant, though it is gravely urged by Roman writers as a reproach against the son of Hamilcar. (Polyb. ix. 24 ; Liv. xxiii. 5 ; Dion Cass. Fr. Vat 72, p. 191, ed. Mai.) 12. A Carthaginian officer in the service of the great Hannibal, who was sent by him to Syracuse, together with Hippocrates and Epicydes, in order to gain over Hieronymus to the (Carthaginian alli- ance. He proceeded from thence to Carthage, leaving his two colleagues to conduct aifairs in Sicily. (Polyb. vii. 2, 4 ; Liv. xxiv. 6.) 13. Surnamed the Starling (d "T'ap), is mentioned by Appian {Pun. 68) as one of the leaders of the party favourable to Masinissa in the dissensions that arose at Carthage after the end of the second Punic war ; but we do not again meet with his name. [E. H. B.] HANNIBALLIA'NUS, half-brother of Con- stantine the Great. • Constantius Chlorus, by his second wife Flavia Maximiana Theodora, had three daughters, Constantia, Anastasia, and Eutropia ; also three sons, Delmatius, Julius Constantius, and Hanniballianus. These boys, who at the period of their father's death must have been prevented by their youth from disputing the sovereignty, were educated at Toulouse, and when they grew up to manhood their politic brother took care to gratify any ambitious longings which they might have cherished, by a liberal distribution of empty ho- nours. Hanniballianus, in acknowledgment of his royal blood, was invested with the scarlet gold- bordered robe, and received the high-sounding but as yet vague title of Nobilissimtis — distinctions which he enjoyed until A. d. 337, when he was involved in the cruel massacre of all those members of the Flavian house whose existence was supposed to threaten the security of the new Augusti. It must be observed, that the three sons of Theodora are, in the Alexandrian chronicle, distin- guished as Delmatius, Constantius, and Hanniballi- anus ; but by Zonaras they are named Constantinus, Hanniballianus, and Constantius, while Theophanes expressly asserts that Hanniballianus is the same with Delmatius. The conflicting evidence has been carefully examined by Tillemont, who decides in favour of the Alexandrian chronicle, although it must be confessed that the question is involved in much obscurity. [Delmatius.] (Chron. Alex. p. 648, ed. 1615 ; Zonar, xii. 33 ; Zozim. ii. 39, 40 ; Theophanes, Chron. ad ann. 296 ; Auson. Prof. 17 ; Liban. Or. 15 ; Tillemont, llisi. des Emp. vol. iv. Notes sur Constantin. n. 4.) [W. R.] HANNIBALLIA'NUS, FLA'VIUS CLAU'- z 3