Himera, which he next besieged and took likewise by storm, after being more cruelly treated than Selinus, was entirely razed, two hundred and forty years after its foundation. He forced three thousand prisoners to undergo every kind of ignominious punishments; and at last murdered them all on the very spot where his grandfather had been killed by Gelon's cavalry, to appease and satisfy his manes by the blood of these unhappy victims.

These expeditions being ended, Hannibal returned to Carthage, on which occasion the whole city came out to meet him, and received him amidst the most joyful acclamations.

These successes reinflamed the desire, and revived the design, which the Carthaginians had ever entertained, of making themselves masters of the whole of Sicily.(615) Three years after, they appointed Hannibal their general a second time; and on his pleading his great age, and refusing the command of this war, they gave him for lieutenant, Imilcon, son of Hanno, of the same family. The preparations for this war were proportioned to the great design which the Carthaginians had formed. The fleet and army were soon ready, and set out for Sicily. The number of their forces, according to Timaeus, amounted to above six-score thousand; and, according to Ephorus, to three hundred thousand men. The enemy, on their side, were prepared to give the Carthaginians a warm reception. The Syracusans had sent to all their allies, in order to levy forces among them; and to all the cities of Sicily, to exhort them to exert themselves vigorously in defence of their liberties.

Agrigentum expected to feel the first fury of the enemy. This city was prodigiously rich,(616) and strongly fortified. It was situated, as was also Selinus, on that coast of Sicily which faces Africa. Accordingly, Hannibal opened the campaign with the siege of this city. Imagining that it was impregnable except on one side, he directed his whole force to that quarter. He threw up banks and terraces as high as the walls: and made use, on this occasion, of the rubbish and fragments of the tombs standing round the city, which he had demolished for that purpose. Soon after, the plague infected the army, and swept away a great number of the soldiers, and the general himself. The Carthaginians interpreted this disaster as a punishment inflicted by the G.o.ds, who revenged in this manner the injuries done to the dead, whose ghosts many fancied they had seen stalking before them in the night. No more tombs were therefore demolished, prayers were ordered to be made according to the practice of Carthage; a child was sacrificed to Saturn, in compliance with a most inhuman superst.i.tious custom; and many victims were thrown into the sea in honour of Neptune.

The besieged, who at first had gained several advantages, were at last so pressed by famine, that all hopes of relief seeming desperate, they resolved to abandon the city. The following night was fixed on for this purpose. The reader will naturally image to himself the grief with which these miserable people must be seized, on their being forced to leave their houses, their rich possessions, and their country; but life was still dearer to them than all these. Never was a more melancholy spectacle seen. To omit the rest, a crowd of women, bathed in tears, were seen dragging after them their helpless infants, in order to secure them from the brutal fury of the victor. But the most grievous circ.u.mstance was, the necessity they were under of leaving behind them the aged and sick, who were unable either to fly or to make the least resistance. The unhappy exiles arrived at Gela, which was the nearest city, and there received all the comforts they could expect in the deplorable condition to which they were reduced.

In the mean time, Imilcon entered the city, and murdered all who were found in it. The plunder was immensely rich, and such as might be expected from one of the most opulent cities of Sicily, which contained two hundred thousand inhabitants, and had never been besieged, nor consequently plundered, before. A numberless mult.i.tude of pictures, vases, and statues of all kinds, were found here; the citizens having an exquisite taste for the polite arts. Among other curiosities was the famous bull(617) of Phalaris, which was sent to Carthage.

The siege of Agrigentum had lasted eight months. Imilcon made his forces take up their winter-quarters in it, to give them the necessary refreshment; and left this city (after laying it entirely in ruins) in the beginning of the spring. He afterwards besieged Gela, and took it, notwithstanding the succours which were brought by Dionysius the Tyrant, who had seized upon the government of Syracuse. Imilcon ended the war by a treaty with Dionysius. The conditions of it were, that the Carthaginians, besides their ancient acquisitions in Sicily, should still possess the country of the Sicanians,(618) Selinus, Agrigentum, and Himera; as likewise that of Gela and Camarina, with leave for the inhabitants to reside in their respective dismantled cities, on condition of their paying a tribute to Carthage; that the Leontines, the Messenians, and all the Sicilians, should retain their own laws, and preserve their liberty and independence: lastly, that the Syracusans should still continue subject to Dionysius. After this treaty was concluded, Imilcon returned to Carthage, where the plague still made dreadful havoc.

(M102) Dionysius had concluded the late peace with the Carthaginians with no other view than to get time to establish his new authority, and make the necessary preparations for the war which he meditated against them.(619) As he was very sensible how formidable the power of this state was, he used his utmost endeavours to enable himself to invade them with success; and his design was wonderfully well seconded by the zeal of his subjects. The fame of this prince, the strong desire he had to distinguish himself, the charms of gain, and the prospect of the rewards which he promised those who should show the greatest industry; invited, from all quarters, into Sicily, the most able artists and workmen at that time in the world. All Syracuse now became in a manner an immense workshop, in every part of which men were seen making swords, helmets, shields, and military engines; and preparing all things necessary for building ships and fitting out fleets. The invention of vessels with five benches of oars (or _Quinqueremes_) was at that time very recent; for, till then, those with three alone(620) had been used. Dionysius animated the workmen by his presence, and by the applauses he gave, and the bounty which he bestowed seasonably; but chiefly by his popular and engaging behaviour, which excited, more strongly than any other conduct, the industry and ardour of the workmen;(621) and he frequently allowed those of them who most excelled in their respective arts the honour to dine with him.

When all things were ready, and a great number of forces had been levied in different countries, he called the Syracusans together, laid his design before them, and represented to them that the Carthaginians were the professed enemies to the Greeks; that they had no less in view than the invasion of all Sicily; the subjecting all the Grecian cities; and that, in case their progress was not checked, the Syracusans themselves would soon be attacked: that the reason why the Carthaginians did not attempt any enterprise, and continued unactive, was owing entirely to the dreadful havoc made by the plague among them; which (he observed) was a favourable opportunity, of which the Syracusans ought to take advantage. Though the tyranny and the tyrant were equally odious to Syracuse, yet the hatred the people bore to the Carthaginians prevailed over all other considerations; and every one, guided more by the views of an interested policy than by the dictates of justice, received the speech with applause. Upon this, without the least complaint made, or any declaration of war, Dionysius gave up to the fury of the populace the persons and possessions of the Carthaginians. Great numbers of them resided at that time in Syracuse, and traded there on the faith of treaties. The common people ran to their houses, plundered their effects, and pretended they were sufficiently authorized to exercise every ignominy, and inflict every kind of punishment on them, for the cruelties they had exercised against the natives of the country. And this horrid example of perfidy and inhumanity was followed throughout the whole island of Sicily. This was the b.l.o.o.d.y signal of the war which was declared against them. Dionysius having thus begun to do himself justice, (in his way,) sent deputies to Carthage, to require them to restore all the Sicilian cities to their liberties; and that otherwise, all the Carthaginians found in them should be treated as enemies. This news spread a general alarm in Carthage, especially when they reflected on the sad condition to which they were reduced.

Dionysius opened the campaign with the siege of Motya, which was the magazine of the Carthaginians in Sicily; and he pushed on the siege with so much vigour, that it was impossible for Imilcon, the Carthaginian admiral, to relieve it. He brought forward his engines, battered the place with his battering-rams, advanced to the wall towers, six stories high (rolled upon wheels,) and of an equal height with their houses; and from these he greatly annoyed the besieged, with his Catapultae, an engine(622) then recently invented, which hurled, with great violence, numerous volleys of arrows and stones against the enemy. At last, the city, after a long and vigorous defence, was taken by storm, and all the inhabitants of it put to the sword, those excepted who took sanctuary in the temples. The plunder of it was abandoned to the soldiers, and Dionysius, leaving a strong garrison and a trusty governor in it, returned to Syracuse.

The following year Imilcon being appointed one of the Suffetes, returned to Sicily with a far greater army than before.(623) He landed at Palermo,(624) recovered Motya by force, and took several other cities.

Animated by these successes, he advanced towards Syracuse, with design to besiege it; marching his infantry by land, whilst his fleet, under the command of Mago, sailed along the coast.

The arrival of Imilcon threw the Syracusans into great consternation.

Above two hundred ships laden with the spoils of the enemy, and advancing in good order, entered in a kind of triumph the great harbour, being followed by five hundred barks. At the same time, the land army, consisting, according to some authors, of three hundred thousand foot,(625) and three thousand horse, was seen marching forward on the other side of the city. Imilcon pitched his tent in the very temple of Jupiter; and the rest of the army encamped at twelve furlongs, or about a mile and a half from the city. Marching up to it, Imilcon offered battle to the inhabitants, who did not care to accept the challenge. Imilcon, satisfied at his having extorted from the Syracusans this confession of their own weakness and his superiority, returned to his camp; not doubting but he should soon be master of the city, considering it already as a certain prey which could not possibly escape him. For thirty days together, he laid waste the neighbourhood about Syracuse, and ruined the whole country. He possessed himself of the suburb of Acradina, and plundered the temples of Ceres and Proserpine. To fortify his camp, he beat down the tombs which stood round the city; and, among others, that of Gelon and his wife Demarata, which was prodigiously magnificent.

But these successes were not lasting. All the splendour of this antic.i.p.ated triumph vanished in a moment, and taught mankind, says the historian,(626) that the proudest mortal, blasted sooner or later by a superior power, shall be forced to confess his own weakness. Whilst Imilcon, now master of almost all the cities of Sicily, expected to crown his conquests by the reduction of Syracuse, a contagious distemper seized his army, and made dreadful havoc in it. It was now the midst of summer, and the heat that year was excessive. The infection began among the Africans, mult.i.tudes of whom died, without any possibility of their being relieved. At first, care was taken to inter the dead; but the number increasing daily, and the infection spreading very fast, the dead lay unburied, and the sick could have no a.s.sistance. This plague was attended with very uncommon symptoms, such as violent dysenteries, raging fevers, burning entrails, acute pains in every part of the body. The infected were even seized with madness and fury, so that they would fall upon any persons that came in their way, and tear them to pieces.

Dionysius did not suffer to escape so favourable an opportunity for attacking the enemy. Being more than half conquered by the plague, they made but a feeble resistance. The Carthaginian ships were almost all either taken or burnt. The inhabitants in general of Syracuse, old men, women, and children, came pouring out of the city to behold an event which to them appeared miraculous. With hands lifted up to heaven, they thanked the tutelar G.o.ds of their city, for having avenged the sanct.i.ty of the temples and tombs, which had been so brutally violated by these barbarians. Night coming on, both parties retired; when Imilcon, taking the opportunity of this short suspension of hostilities, sent to Dionysius, requesting leave to carry back with him the small remains of his shattered army, with an offer of three hundred talents,(627) which was all the specie he had then left. But this permission could only be obtained for the Carthaginians, with whom Imilcon stole away in the night, and left the rest to the mercy of the conqueror.

Such was the condition in which this Carthaginian general, who a few days before had been so proud and haughty, retired from Syracuse. Bitterly bewailing his own fate, and still more that of his country, he, with the most insolent fury, accused the G.o.ds as the sole authors of his misfortunes. "The enemy," continued he, "may indeed rejoice at our misery, but have no reason to glory in it. We return victorious over the Syracusans, and are defeated by the plague alone." His greatest subject of grief, and that which most keenly distressed him, was his having survived so many gallant soldiers, who had died in arms. "But," added he, "the sequel shall make it appear, whether it is through fear of death, or from the desire of leading back to their native country the miserable remains of my fellow-citizens, that I have survived the loss of so many brave comrades." And in fact, on his arrival at Carthage, which he found overwhelmed with grief and despair, he entered his house, shut his doors against the citizens, and even his own children; and then gave himself the fatal stroke, in compliance with a practice to which the heathens falsely gave the name of courage, though it was, in reality, no other than a cowardly despair.

But the calamities of this unhappy city did not stop here; for the Africans, who had ever borne an implacable hatred to the Carthaginians, but were now exasperated to fury, because their countrymen had been left behind, and exposed to the murdering sword of the Syracusans, a.s.semble in the most frantic manner, sound the alarm, take up arms, and, after seizing upon Tunis, march directly to Carthage, to the number of more than two hundred thousand men. The citizens now gave themselves up for lost. This new incident was considered by them as the sad effect of the wrath of the G.o.ds, which pursued the guilty wretches even to Carthage. As its inhabitants, especially in all public calamities, carried their superst.i.tion to the greatest excess, their first care was to appease the offended G.o.ds. Ceres and Proserpine were deities who, till that time, had never been heard of in Africa. But now, to atone for the outrage which had been done them in the plundering of their temples, magnificent statues were erected to their honour; priests were selected from among the most distinguished families of the city; sacrifices and victims, according to the Greek ritual, (if I may use that expression,) were offered up to them; in a word, nothing was omitted which could be thought conducive in any manner to appease and propitiate the angry G.o.ddesses. After this, the defence of the city was the next object of their care. Happily for the Carthaginians, this numerous army had no leader, but was like a body uninformed with a soul; no provisions nor military engines; no discipline nor subordination, was seen among them: every man setting himself up for a general, or claiming an independence on the rest. Divisions therefore arising in this rabble of an army, and the famine increasing daily, the individuals of it withdrew to their respective homes, and delivered Carthage from a dreadful alarm.

The Carthaginians were not discouraged by their late disaster, but continued their enterprises on Sicily. Mago, their general, and one of the Suffetes, lost a great battle, in which he was slain. The Carthaginian chiefs demanded a peace, which was granted, on condition of their evacuating all Sicily, and defraying the expenses of the war. They pretended to accept the terms; but representing that it was not in their power to deliver up the cities, without first obtaining an order from their republic, they obtained so long a truce, as gave them time sufficient for sending to Carthage. They took advantage of this interval, to raise and discipline new troops, over which Mago, son of him who had been lately killed, was appointed general. He was very young, but of great abilities and reputation. As soon as he arrived in Sicily, at the expiration of the truce, he gave Dionysius battle; in which Leptines,(628) one of the generals of the latter, was killed, and upwards of fourteen thousand Syracusans left dead in the field. By this victory the Carthaginians obtained an honourable peace, which left them in the possession of all they had in Sicily, with even the addition of some strong-holds; besides a thousand talents,(629) which were paid to them towards defraying the expenses of the war.

About this time a law was enacted at Carthage, by which its inhabitants were forbid to learn to write or speak the Greek language;(630) in order to deprive them of the means of corresponding with the enemy, either by word of mouth, or in writing. This was occasioned by the treachery of a Carthaginian, who had written in Greek to Dionysius, to give him advice of the departure of the army from Carthage.

Carthage had, soon after, another calamity to struggle with.(631) The plague spread in the city, and made terrible havoc. Panic terrors, and violent fits of frenzy, seized on a sudden the unhappy sufferers; who sallying, sword in hand, out of their houses, as if the enemy had taken the city, killed or wounded all who came in their way. The Africans and Sardinians would very willingly have taken this opportunity to shake off a yoke which was so hateful to them; but both were subjected, and reduced to their allegiance. Dionysius formed at this time an enterprise, in Sicily, with the same views, which was equally unsuccessful. He died(632) some time after, and was succeeded by his son of the same name.

We have already taken notice of the first treaty which the Carthaginians concluded with the Romans. There was another, which, according to Orosius, was concluded in the 402d year of the foundation of Rome, and consequently about the time we are now speaking of. This second treaty was very near the same with the first, except that the inhabitants of Tyre and Utica were expressly comprehended in it, and joined with the Carthaginians.

(M103) After the death of the elder Dionysius, Syracuse was involved in great troubles.(633) Dionysius the younger, who had been expelled, restored himself by force of arms, and exercised great cruelties there.

One part of the citizens implored the aid of Icetes, tyrant of the Leontines, and by descent a Syracusan. This seemed a very favourable opportunity for the Carthaginians to seize upon all Sicily, and accordingly they sent a mighty fleet thither. In this extremity, such of the Syracusans as loved their country best, had recourse to the Corinthians, who had often a.s.sisted them in their dangers; and were, besides, of all the Grecian nations, the most professed enemies of tyranny, and the most avowed and most generous a.s.sertors of liberty.

Accordingly, the Corinthians sent over Timoleon, a man of great merit, who had signalized his zeal for the public welfare, by freeing his country from tyranny, at the expense of his own family. He set sail with only ten ships, and arriving at Rhegium, he eluded, by a happy stratagem, the vigilance of the Carthaginians; who having been informed, by Icetes, of his voyage and design, wanted to intercept him in his pa.s.sage to Sicily.

Timoleon had scarce above a thousand soldiers under his command; and yet, with this handful of men, he marched boldly to the relief of Syracuse. His small army increased in proportion as he advanced. The Syracusans were now in a desperate condition, and quite hopeless. They saw the Carthaginians masters of the port; Icetes of the city; and Dionysius of the citadel.

Happily, on Timoleon's arrival, Dionysius having no refuge left, put the citadel into his hands, with all the forces, arms, and ammunition in it, and escaped, by his a.s.sistance, to Corinth.(634) Timoleon had, by his emissaries, artfully represented to the foreign soldiers, who (by that error in the const.i.tution of Carthage, which we have before taken notice of) formed the princ.i.p.al strength of Mago's army, and the greatest part of whom were Greeks; that it was astonishing to see Greeks using their endeavours to make barbarians masters of Sicily, from whence they, in a very little time, would pa.s.s over into Greece. For could they imagine, that the Carthaginians were come so far, with no other view than to establish Icetes tyrant of Syracuse? Such discourses being spread among Mago's soldiers, gave this general very great uneasiness; and, as he wanted only a pretence to retire, he was glad to have it believed, that his forces were going to betray and desert him; and upon this, he sailed with his fleet out of the harbour, and steered for Carthage. Icetes, after his departure, could not hold out long against the Corinthians; so that they now got entire possession of the whole city.

Mago, on his arrival at Carthage, was impeached, but he prevented the execution of the sentence pa.s.sed upon him, by a voluntary death. His body was hung upon a gallows, and exposed as a public spectacle to the people.

New forces were levied at Carthage, and a greater and more powerful fleet than the former was sent to Sicily.(635) It consisted of two hundred ships of war, besides a thousand transports; and the army amounted to upwards of seventy thousand men. They landed at Lilybaeum, under the command of Hamilcar and Hannibal, and resolved to attack the Corinthians first.

Timoleon did not wait for, but marched out to meet them. But such was the consternation of Syracuse, that, of all the forces which were in that city, only three thousand Syracusans and four thousand mercenaries followed him; and even of these latter a thousand deserted upon the march, through fear of the danger they were going to encounter. Timoleon, however, was not discouraged; but exhorting the remainder of his forces to exert themselves courageously for the safety and liberties of their allies, he led them against the enemy, whose rendezvous he had been informed was on the banks of the little river Crimisus. It appeared, at the first reflection, madness to attack an army so numerous as that of the enemy, with only four or five thousand foot, and a thousand horse; but Timoleon, who knew that bravery, conducted by prudence, is superior to number, relied on the courage of his soldiers, who seemed resolved to die rather than yield, and with ardour demanded to be led against the enemy.

The event justified his views and hopes. A battle was fought; the Carthaginians were routed, and upwards of ten thousand of them slain, full three thousand of whom were Carthaginian citizens, which filled their city with mourning and the greatest consternation. Their camp was taken, and with it immense riches, and a great number of prisoners.

Timoleon, at the same time that he despatched the news of this victory to Corinth, sent thither the finest arms found among the plunder.(636) For he was desirous of having his city applauded and admired by all men, when they should see that Corinth alone, among all the Grecian cities, adorned its finest temples, not with the spoils of Greece, and offerings dyed in the blood of its citizens, the sight of which could tend only to preserve the sad remembrance of their losses, but with those of barbarians, which, by fine inscriptions, displayed at once the courage and religious grat.i.tude of those who had won them. For these inscriptions imported, "That the Corinthians, and Timoleon their general, after having freed the Greeks, settled in Sicily, from the Carthaginian yoke, had hung up these arms in their temples, as an eternal acknowledgment of the favour and goodness of the G.o.ds."

After this, Timoleon, leaving the mercenary troops in the Carthaginian territories to waste and destroy them, returned to Syracuse. On his arrival there, he banished the thousand soldiers who had deserted him; and took no other revenge than the commanding them to leave Syracuse before sun-set.

This victory gained by the Corinthians was followed by the capture of a great many cities, which obliged the Carthaginians to sue for peace.

In proportion as the appearance of success made the Carthaginians vigorously exert themselves to raise powerful armies both by land and sea, and prosperity led them to make an insolent and cruel use of victory; so their courage would sink in unforeseen adversities, their hopes of new resources vanish, and their grovelling souls condescend to ask quarter of the most inconsiderable enemy, and without sense of shame accept the hardest and most mortifying conditions. Those now imposed were, that they should possess only the lands lying beyond the river Halycus;(637) that they should give all the natives free liberty to retire to Syracuse with their families and effects; and that they should neither continue in the alliance, nor hold any correspondence with the tyrants of that city.

About this time, in all probability, there happened at Carthage a memorable incident, related by Justin.(638) Hanno, one of its most powerful citizens, formed a design of seizing upon the republic, by destroying the whole senate. He chose, for the execution of this b.l.o.o.d.y plan, the day on which his daughter was to be married, on which occasion he designed to invite the senators to an entertainment, and there poison them all. The conspiracy was discovered; but Hanno had such influence, that the government did not dare to punish so execrable a crime; the magistrates contented themselves with only preventing it, by an order which forbade, in general, too great a magnificence at weddings, and limited the expense on those occasions. Hanno, seeing his stratagem defeated, resolved to employ open force, and for that purpose armed all the slaves. However, he was again discovered; and, to escape punishment, retired, with twenty thousand armed slaves, to a castle that was very strongly fortified, and there endeavoured, but without success, to engage in his rebellion the Africans and the king of Mauritania. He afterwards was taken prisoner, and carried to Carthage; where, after being whipped, his eyes were put out, his arms and thighs broken; he was put to death in presence of the people, and his body, all torn with stripes, was hung on a gibbet. His children and all his relations, though they had not joined in his guilt, shared in his punishment. They were all sentenced to die, in order that not a single person of his family might be left, either to imitate his crime, or revenge his death. Such was the temper of the Carthaginians; ever severe and violent in their punishments, they carried them to the extremes of rigour, and made them extend even to the innocent, without showing the least regard to equity, moderation, or grat.i.tude.

I come now to the wars sustained by the Carthaginians, in Africa itself as well as in Sicily, against Agathocles, which exercised their arms during several years.(639)

(M104) This Agathocles was a Sicilian, of obscure birth and low fortune.(640) Supported at first by the forces of the Carthaginians, he had invaded the sovereignty of Syracuse, and made himself tyrant over it.

In the infancy of his power, the Carthaginians kept him within bounds; and Hamilcar, their chief, forced him to agree to a treaty, which restored tranquillity to Sicily. But he soon infringed the articles of it, and declared war against the Carthaginians themselves; who, under the conduct of Hamilcar, obtained a signal victory over him,(641) and forced him to shut himself up in Syracuse. The Carthaginians pursued him thither, and laid siege to that important city, the capture of which would have given them possession of all Sicily.

Agathocles, whose forces were greatly inferior to theirs, and who moreover saw himself deserted by all his allies, from their detestation of his horrid cruelties, meditated a design of so daring, and, to all appearance, so impracticable a nature, that, even after being happily carried into execution, it yet appears almost incredible. This design was no less than to make Africa the seat of war, and to besiege Carthage, at a time when he could neither defend himself in Sicily, nor sustain the siege of Syracuse.

His profound secresy in the execution is as astonishing as the design itself. He communicated his thoughts on this affair to no person whatsoever, but contented himself with declaring, that he had found out an infallible way to free the Syracusans from the danger that surrounded them; that they had only to endure with patience, for a short time, the inconveniences of a siege; but that those who could not bring themselves to this resolution, might freely depart the city. Only sixteen hundred persons quitted it. He left his brother Antander there, with forces and provisions sufficient for him to make a stout defence. He set at liberty all slaves who were of age to bear arms, and, after obliging them to take an oath, joined them to his forces. He carried with him only fifty talents,(642) to supply his present wants, well a.s.sured that he should find in the enemy's country whatever was necessary to his subsistence. He therefore set sail with two of his sons, Archagathus and Heraclides, without letting any one person know whither he intended to direct his course. All who were on board his fleet believed that they were to be conducted either to Italy or Sardinia, in order to plunder those countries, or to lay waste those coasts of Sicily which belonged to the enemy. The Carthaginians, surprised at so unexpected a departure, endeavoured to prevent it; but Agathocles eluded their pursuit, and made for the main ocean.

He did not discover his design till he had landed in Africa. There, a.s.sembling his troops, he told them, in few words, the motives which had prompted him to this expedition. He represented, that the only way to free their country, was to carry the war into the territories of their enemies: that he led them who were enured to war, and of intrepid dispositions, against a parcel of enemies who were softened and enervated by ease and luxury: that the natives of the country, oppressed with the yoke of a servitude equally cruel and ignominious, would run in crowds to join them on the first news of their arrival: that the boldness of their attempt would alone disconcert the Carthaginians, who had no expectation of seeing an enemy at their gates: in short, that no enterprise could possibly be more advantageous or honourable than this; since the whole wealth of Carthage would become the prey of the victors, whose courage would be praised and admired by latest posterity. The soldiers fancied themselves already masters of Carthage, and received his speech with applauses and acclamations. One circ.u.mstance alone gave them uneasiness, and that was an eclipse of the sun, which happened just as they were setting sail. In these ages, even the most civilized nations understood very little the reason of these extraordinary phenomena of nature; and used to draw from them (by their soothsayers) superst.i.tious and arbitrary conjectures, which frequently would either suspend or hasten the more important enterprises.

However, Agathocles revived the drooping courage of his soldiers, by a.s.suring them that these eclipses always foretold some instant change: that, therefore, good fortune was taking its leave of Carthage, and coming over to them.

Finding his soldiers in the good disposition he wished them, he executed, almost at the same time, a second enterprise, which was even more daring and hazardous than his first, of carrying them over into Africa; and this was the burning every ship in his fleet. Many reasons determined him to so desperate an action. He had not one good harbour in Africa where his ships could lie in safety. As the Carthaginians were masters of the sea, they would not have failed to possess themselves immediately of his fleet, which was incapable of making the least resistance. In case he had left as many hands as were necessary to defend it, he would have weakened his army, (which was inconsiderable at the best,) and put it out of his power to gain any advantage from this unexpected diversion, the success of which depended entirely on the swiftness and vigour of the execution. Lastly, he was desirous of putting his soldiers under a necessity of conquering, by leaving them no other refuge than victory. Much courage was necessary to adopt such a resolution. He had already prepared all his officers, who were entirely devoted to his service, and received every impression he gave them. He then came suddenly into the a.s.sembly with a crown upon his head, dressed in a magnificent habit, and with the air and behaviour of a man who was going to perform some religious ceremony, and addressing himself to the a.s.sembly: "When we," says he, "left Syracuse, and were warmly pursued by the enemy; in this fatal necessity I addressed myself to Ceres and Proserpine, the tutelar divinities of Sicily; and promised, that if they would free us from this imminent danger, I would burn all our ships in their honour, at our first landing here. Aid me therefore, O soldiers, to discharge my vow; for the G.o.ddesses can easily make us amends for this sacrifice." At the same time, taking a flambeau in his hand, he hastily led the way on board his own ship, and set it on fire. All the officers did the like, and were cheerfully followed by the soldiers. The trumpets sounded from every quarter, and the whole army echoed with joyful shouts and acclamations. The fleet was soon consumed. The soldiers had not been allowed time to reflect on the proposal made to them. They all had been hurried on by a blind and impetuous ardour; but when they had a little recovered their reason, and, surveying in their minds the vast extent of ocean which separated them from their own country, saw themselves in that of the enemy without the least resource, or any means of escaping out of it; a sad and melancholy silence succeeded the transport of joy and acclamations, which, but a moment before, had been so general in the army.

Here again Agathocles left no time for reflection. He marched his army towards a place called the Great City, which was part of the domain of Carthage. The country through which they marched to this place, afforded the most delicious and agreeable prospect in the world. On either side were seen large meads, watered by beautiful streams, and covered with innumerable flocks of all kinds of cattle; country seats built with extraordinary magnificence; delightful avenues planted with olive and all sorts of fruit trees; gardens of a prodigious extent, and kept with a care and elegance which delighted the eye. This prospect reanimated the soldiers. They marched full of courage to the Great City, which they took sword in hand, and enriched themselves with the plunder of it, which was entirely abandoned to them. Tunis made as little resistance; and this place was not far distant from Carthage.

The Carthaginians were in prodigious alarm when it was known that the enemy was in the country, advancing by hasty marches. This arrival of Agathocles made the Carthaginians conclude, that their army before Syracuse had been defeated, and their fleet lost. The people ran in disorder to the great square of the city, whilst the senate a.s.sembled in haste and in a tumultuous manner. Immediately they deliberated on the means for preserving the city. They had no army in readiness to oppose the enemy; and their imminent danger did not permit them to wait the arrival of those forces which might be raised in the country and among the allies.

It was therefore resolved, after several different opinions had been heard, to arm the citizens. The number of the forces thus levied, amounted to forty thousand foot, a thousand horse, and two thousand armed chariots.

Hanno and Bomilcar, though divided betwixt themselves by some family quarrels, were however joined in the command of these troops. They marched immediately to meet the enemy; and, on sight of them, drew up their forces in order of battle. Agathocles(643) had, at most, but thirteen or fourteen thousand men. The signal was given, and an obstinate fight ensued. Hanno, with his sacred cohort, (the flower of the Carthaginian forces,) long sustained the fury of the Greeks, and sometimes even broke their ranks; but at last, overwhelmed with a shower of stones, and covered with wounds, he fell dead on the field. Bomilcar might have changed the face of things; but he had private and personal reasons not to obtain a victory for his country. He therefore thought proper to retire with the forces under his command, and was followed by the whole army, which, by that means, was forced to leave the field to Agathocles. After pursuing the enemy some time, he returned, and plundered the Carthaginian camp. Twenty thousand pair of manacles were found in it, with which the Carthaginians had furnished themselves, in the firm persuasion of their taking many prisoners. The result of this victory was the capture of a great number of strong-holds, and the defection of many of the natives of the country, who joined the victor.

This descent of Agathocles into Africa, doubtless gave birth to Scipio's design of making a like attempt upon the same republic, and from the same place.(644) Wherefore, in his answer to Fabius, who ascribed to temerity his design of making Africa the seat of the war, he forgot not to mention the example of Agathocles, as an instance in favour of his enterprise; and to show, that frequently there is no other way to get rid of an enemy who presses too closely upon us, than by carrying the war into his own country; and that men are much more courageous when they act upon the offensive, than when they stand only upon the defensive.

While the Carthaginians were thus warmly attacked by their enemies, amba.s.sadors arrived to them from Tyre.(645) They came to implore their succour against Alexander the Great, who was upon the point of taking their city, which he had long besieged. The extremity to which their countrymen (for so they called them) were reduced, touched the Carthaginians as sensibly as their own danger. Though they were unable to relieve, they at least thought it their duty to comfort them; and deputed thirty of their princ.i.p.al citizens to express their grief that they could not spare them any troops, because of the present melancholy situation of their own affairs. The Tyrians, though disappointed of the only hope they had left, did not however despond; they committed their wives, children,(646) and old men, to the care of these deputies; and thus, being delivered from all inquietude, with regard to persons who were dearer to them than any thing in the world, they thought alone of making a resolute defence, prepared for the worst that might happen. Carthage received this afflicted company with all possible marks of amity, and paid to guests who were so dear and worthy of compa.s.sion, all the services which they could have expected from the most affectionate and tender parents.

Quintus Curtius places this emba.s.sy from Tyre to the Carthaginians at the same time that the Syracusans were ravaging Africa, and had advanced to the very gates of Carthage. But the expedition of Agathocles against Africa cannot agree in time with the siege of Tyre, which was more than twenty years before it.

At the same time, Carthage was solicitous how to extricate itself from the difficulties with which it was surrounded. The present unhappy state of the republic was considered as the effect of the wrath of the G.o.ds: and it was acknowledged to be justly deserved, particularly with regard to two deities, towards whom the Carthaginians had been remiss in the discharge of certain duties prescribed by their religion, and which had once been observed with great exactness. It was a custom (coeval with the city itself) at Carthage, to send annually to Tyre (the mother city) the tenth of all the revenues of the republic, as an offering to Hercules, the patron and protector of both cities. The domain, and consequently the revenues of Carthage, having increased considerably, the portion, on the contrary, of the G.o.d, had been lessened; and they were far from remitting the whole tenth to him. They were seized with a scruple on this point: they made an open and public confession of their insincerity and sacrilegious avarice; and, to expiate their guilt, they sent to Tyre a great number of presents, and small shrines of their deities all of gold, which amounted to a prodigious value.

Another violation of religion, which to their inhuman superst.i.tion seemed as flagrant as the former, gave them no less uneasiness. Anciently, children of the best families in Carthage used to be sacrificed to Saturn.

They now reproached themselves with having failed to pay to the G.o.d the honours which they thought were due to him; and with having used fraud and dishonest dealing towards him, by having subst.i.tuted, in their sacrifices, children of slaves or beggars, bought for that purpose, in the room of those n.o.bly born. To expiate the guilt of so horrid an impiety, a sacrifice was made to this blood-thirsty G.o.d, of two hundred children of the first rank; and upwards of three hundred persons, through a sense of this terrible neglect, offered themselves voluntarily as victims, to pacify, by the effusion of their blood, the wrath of the G.o.ds.

After these expiations, expresses were despatched to Hamilcar in Sicily, with the news of what had happened in Africa, and, at the same time, to request immediate succours. He commanded the deputies to observe the strictest silence on the subject of the victory of Agathocles; and spread a contrary report, that he had been entirely defeated, his forces all cut off, and his whole fleet taken by the Carthaginians; and, in confirmation of this report, he showed the irons of the vessels pretended to be taken, which had been carefully sent to him. The truth of this report was not at all doubted in Syracuse; the majority were for capitulating;(647) when a galley of thirty oars, built in haste by Agathocles, arrived in the port; and through great difficulties and dangers forced its way to the besieged.

The news of Agathocles's victory immediately flew through the city, and restored alacrity and resolution to the inhabitants. Hamilcar made a last effort to storm the city, but was beaten off with loss. He then raised the siege, and sent five thousand men to the relief of his distressed country.

Some time after,(648) having resumed the siege, and hoping to surprise the Syracusans by attacking them in the night, his design was discovered; and falling alive into the enemy's hands, he was put to death with the most exquisite tortures.(649) Hamilcar's head was sent immediately to Agathocles, who, advancing to the enemy's camp, threw it into a general consternation, by displaying to them the head of this general, which manifested the melancholy situation of their affairs in Sicily.

To these foreign enemies was joined a domestic one, which was more to be feared, as being more dangerous than the others;(650) this was Bomilcar their general, who was then in possession of the first post in Carthage.