Page:Encyclopædia Britannica, Ninth Edition, v. 5.djvu/173

Rh first period was the battle of Himera, fought between Hamilcar and Gelo of Syracuse, about the year 480 B.C. Terillus, tyrant of Himera, on the north coast of Sicily, driven out by Thero of Agrigeutum, implored and obtained help from the Carthaginians. Thero was assisted by Gelo of Syracuse. An account of this battle is given by Herodotus. The forces of Hamilcar consisted of 3000 ships and 300,000 men, Phoenicians, Libyans, Iberians, Ligurians, Helysci (perhaps Volscians), Sardinians, and Corsicans. He was defeated with great loss. For seventy years the Carthaginians made no further effort for the subjugation of Sicily This battle is one of the most important in ancient history. The expedition in which it terminated was undertaken in conjunction with that of the Persians against the Greeks of Attica. The nearly simulta neous defeats of Himera and Salamis decided the question whether Semitic or Aryan nations should hold the empire of the West. The only other events of any importance in this period, of which we have an account, are the more complete subjugation of the African dependencies by the family of Mago, and the settlement of the disputed boundary between Carthage and Cyrene. The second period of 140 years (410-269 B.C.) is occupied with the attempts of Carthage to reduce Sicily to the con dition of a subject province. At this time her settlements were confined to the eastern corner of the island, while on the western coast Syracuse undertook the defence of Grecian nationality, and waged the battle of Aryans against Semites, until both combatants fell before the supremacy of Rome. The repulse of the Athenians from Syracuse, and the same rivalry between Egesta and Selinus which had invited Athenian interference in the affairs of the island, induced the Carthaginians to renew an enterprise which had been interrupted for seventy years. Hannibal, son of Cisco, stormed Selinus, and avenged at Himera the death of his grandfather. Overtures of peace were rejected, and preparations made for a more vigorous attack. In 40G Hannibal and Hirnilco destroyed the great city of Agri gentum, overthrew the mighty columns of her temples, and covered a flourishing site with a mass of ruins. Hannibal died before Agrigentum ; Himilco proceeded to attack Gela. Syracuse was now governed by Dionysius. who from an obscure position had raised himself to the rank of despot. In 405 a treaty made by Carthage secured to her the possession of her conquests, and to Dionysius a firmer position on the throne. But he no sooner felt himself secure than he hastened to drive the enemy from the island. War broke out in 398, all Sicily fell before the Punic arms, and Dionysius, driven by Himilco to take refuge within the walls of Syracuse was there besieged. Pestilence came to his assistance, and the Carthaginians were defeated ; 150,000 Punic corpses lay unburied on Grecian soil ; and Himilco, unable to bear the contempt of his fellow-citizens, starved himself to death. The Libyans rose in rebellion, and Carthage was threatened by an army of 200,000 men. The attempt of Mago between 396 and 392 to procure a more favourable result had little effect. Ten years afterwards he led another expedition. The defeat of Cabala nearly lost the possession of the whole of Sicily, but the brilliant victory of Corsica restored the balance, and the Halycus was accepted as the boundary between the two peoples Fourteen years of peace ensued. In 368 the misfortunes of Carthage encouraged Dionysius to a new but unsuccessful effort to complete the purpose of his life His death put an end to a renewal of the attempt, and his son and successor made peace with the Cartha ginians. The weak government of Dionysius II. was favourable to the extension of Carthaginian empire in Sicily ; but they found an antagonist of different mettle in the Corinthian Timoleon, who ; after liberating Syracuse from its tyrants, made war against Carthage for six years (345-340 B.C.). The defeat of the Crimissus (340 B.C.) was most crushing. The Holy Legion, composed of 2500 of the best families of Carthage, was destroyed, and the host of mercenaries cut to pieces. Peace restrained the Cartha ginians within their old boundary of the Halycus ; the Greek cities were declared free ; and Carthage promised never again to support a despot in Syracuse. The next thirty years contain little of note except trace of friendly intercourse between Carthage and Rome, and a record of assistance given to the Tyrians when besieged by Alexander the Great. She, however, sent ambassadors to Babylon to congratulate the conqueror on his return from Asia. Agathocles was the first to discover that the secular enemies of his countrymen were vulnerable in Africa. After becoming despot of Syracuse, and establishing his authority over the great towns in Sicily, he found that he had to reckon with the Carthaginians. Unsuccessful in the island, he transferred his forces to the mainland in 310, reduced Carthage to the last extremities, and would probably have obtained more signal success had not the revolt of Agrigentum called him home. Peace made in 306 continued till the death of Agathocles in 289. His loss encouraged the extension of Punic dominion, and at last obliged the Syracusans to call in the assistance of Pyrrhus, the chivalrous king of Epirus. He left Italy in 277, and in a short time drove the Carthaginians from the west and besieged them in the distant fortress of Lilybaeum. But his allies were untrue to him Carthage and Rome were leagued against him ; he left Sicily in 276, and his departure from Italy in the following year left the Cartha ginians to stand in sharp antagonism to the Latin branch of the Aryan stock. The third period of Carthaginian history extends from 264 to 146 B.C., from the outbreak of the first war with Rome to the final annihilation of the city by the conquerors. This is not the place for a detailed account of the Punic wars, which occupy a large space in every Roman history. We must content ourselves with a hasty summary. The first war, which lasted from 264 to 241 B.C., was a contest for the possession of Sicily. The Carthaginians in under taking it felt secure of their mastery over the sea. Their ambassadors told the Romans that they could not even wash their hands in the sea without permission of the Carthaginians. Montesquieu considers it one of the chief causes of the rise of Roman greatness that they were care ful to borrow from their enemies whatever was calculated to improve their own efficiency. The Romans not only built a Cjet but developed a novelty of tactics which precisely secured the object which they had in view. They were encouraged to further exertion by the victories of 260 B.C. and 256 B.C., and were schooled to caution by the defeat of the following year. The war was ended by the brilliant success of Catulus in 242 B.C., and Sicily was lost to the Carthaginians. The next three years and a half (241-237) were occupied by a civil war, which shows us on what insecure foundations the power of Carthage was based. The large army of mercenaries which had been employed against Rome was incautiously admitted into the city. Under pretence of demanding pay they rose against their employers, and were joined by the Libyans and Numidians, who cultivated the surrounding lands in unwilling subjection. The insurrection was quelled with difficulty, but a similar revolution in Sardinia was more successful ; 700 Carthaginians were barbarously murdered, and the possession of the island passed to the Romans. All we know of the twenty years which elapsed before the beginning of the second war with Rome is confined to the successes of Hamilcar and his family in Spain. In 218 B.C. Hannibal, who had sworn as a boy eternal enmity to