Page:History of Greece Vol XI.djvu/160

 134 HISTORY OF GREECE. captive thtsj unbrtunate members of his family. Upon then guiltless heads fell all the terrors of retaliation for the enormities of the despot. It was in vain that both Dionysius himself, and the Tarentines ' supplicated permission to redeem the captives at the highest ransom. In vain was Lokri besieged, and its ter- ritory desolated. The Lokrians could neither be seduced by bribes, nor deterred by threats, from satiating the full extremity of vindictive fury. After multiplied cruelties and brutalities, the wife and family of Dionysius were at length relieved from farther suffering by being strangled. 2 With this revolting tragedy termi- nated the inauspicious marital connection begun between the elder Dionysius and the oligarchy of Lokri. By the manner in which Dionysius exercised his power at Lokri, we may judge how he would behave at Syracuse. The Syracusans endured more evil than ever, without knowing where to look for help. Hiketas the Syracusan (once the friend of Dion, ultimately the murderer of the slain Dion's widow and sister), had now established himself as despot at Leontini. To him they turned as an auxiliary, hoping thus to obtain force sufficient for the expulsion of Dionysius. Hiketas gladly accepted the propo- sition, with full purpose of reaping the reward of such expulsion, when achieved, for himself. Moreover, a formidable cloud was now gathering from the side of Carthage. What causes had ren- dered Carthage inactive for the last few years, while Sicily was so weak and disunited we do not know ; but she had now be- come once more aggressive, extending her alliances among the lespots of the island, and pouring in a large force and fleet, so as to menace the independence both of Sicily and of Southern Italy. 3 The appearance of this new enemy drove the Syracusans to des- pair, and left them no hope of safety except in assistance from Corinth. To that city they sent a pathetic and urgent appeal, setting forth both the actual suffering and the approaching peril 1 It would appear that relations of amity, or amicable dependence, still subsisted between Dionysius the younger and the Tarentines. There was seen, in the prytaneum or government-house of Tarentum, a splendid chan- delier wite three hundred and sixty-five burners, a present from Dionvsius (Euphorion, ap. Athenaeum, xv. p. 700). 9 Strabo, vi. p. 259, 260; Athnseus, xii p. 541.
 * Diodor. xvi. 67.