566 



CARTHAGE. 



B. C. 409. 



Capture 

 and de- 

 struction of 

 Selinus, 



And of Hi- 



inera. 



Carthage, ly, that they should build two temples, * in which 

 '-/'*' the tablets containing the conditions of the treaty 

 mio-ht be consecrated ; and thirdly, that they should 

 cease to offer human sacrifices. 



When the Carthaginians began to look abroad 

 after this terrible overthrow, their attention was again 

 attracted towards Sicily. A dispute between the 

 cities of Egista and Selinus supplied them with a pre- 

 text. Hannibal, the grandson of Hamilcar, (Dio- 

 dorus, lib. xiii.) who was at this time one of the Suf- 

 fetes, had ascendency in their commonwealth, and 

 under his command they again hazarded all their 

 force, upon the chances of a Sicilian campaign. He 

 lauded (B. C. 409>) near the promontory of Lily- 

 bseum, and advanced to Selinus, which, after a vi- 

 gorous resistance, he took by assault. He appears 

 to have treated this city with an excess of barbarity, 

 which even Carthaginian ferocity does not prepare 

 us to expect. Sixteen thousand of the inhabitants 

 were put to the sword, five thousand were carried 

 away captives, and the miserable remainder escaped 

 to Agrigentum. The city itself was utterly destroy- 

 ed. Himera was his next object, not only from its 

 importance, and from its unvarying animosity to the 

 Carthaginians, but as it was the scene of his grand- 

 father's overthrow, he was eager to subdue it. The 

 citizens made a most desperate but ineffectual resist- 

 ance. Diodorus has given minute details of this siege, 

 which are highly curious, as they afford information 

 of the state of military science at this period. The 

 c?ty experienced the same fate as Selinus ; and Han- 

 nibal, leaving a small body of troops to assist the con- 

 federates, before the conclusion of the year returned 

 to Carthage, where he was received with the most 

 distinguished honour. 



The Carthaginians were so elated with their recent 

 success, that they seriously meditated the conquest 

 of the whole island of Sicily. They made the greatest 

 preparation for this renewed attack ; and having join- 

 ed Hamilcar, the son of Hanno, in commission with 

 Hannibal, who, from his age ai.d infirmities, was un- 

 equal to the various duties of the chief command, the 

 expedition set forth. 



Their first object was Agrigentum, a city second 

 only to Syracuse. (Diod. Sic. lib. xiii.) The Sicili- 

 ans had not been negligent in their preparations to 

 oppose this formidable invasion ; in consequence, the 

 Carthaginian generals had scarcely time to form the 

 siege, before they were attacked by a force which the 

 Syracusans sent to the assistance of their allies, un- 

 der the command of Daphneus. Hamilcar detached 

 a force to oppose them, but they were completely 

 worsted ; and, had the garrison availed themselves of 

 the opportunity, the whole army might have been 

 completely destroyed. They had reason to repent 

 of this negligence ; for Hamilcar, having corrupted a 

 part of the garrison, and received information that 

 the remainder were distracted by jealousies and dis- 

 Arrigen- sensions, carried the place by storm ; and, as usual, 

 turn ts put the inhabitants to the sword, and pillaged the 

 taken. whole city. 



The Syracusans now began to contemplate with 



alarm the progress which the Carthaginians had made. Carthage. 

 The domestic dissensions which ensued in conse- s " "Y"""' 

 quence of this alarm, gave Dionysius an opportunity 

 of assuming the sovereign power. Hamilcar next pro- 

 ceeded to ravage the territories of Camarma and Gela. ^'^ 

 He laid siege to the last city, and Dionysius in vain J^Gela. 

 endeavoured to relieve it. The inhabitants, by a suc- 

 cessful artifice, escaped, and left the city to the mercy 

 of the conqueror. Camarina shared the same fate ; 

 but Hamilcar finding his army weakened, partly by 

 the cruelties of war, and partly by a destructive pes- 

 tilence, offered terms of peace to the conquered. 

 The offer was gladly accepted by Dionysius, and a Treaty 

 treaty was immediately concluded. The terms were, w ' 1 ^ *'* 

 that Carthage should retain all her conquests in full nvsius ' 

 sovereignty, except Gela and Camarina, for which 

 she was to receive tribute. The independence of the 

 other Sicilian states was stipulated, and the authority 

 of Dionysius was completely acknowledged. That 

 crafty tyrant availed himself of this interval of re- 

 pose, to strengthen his power at home. Having 

 freed himself from all who could oppose his inordinate 

 ambition, he again turned his thoughts to wiping off 

 the stain which his reputation had received by the 

 success of Hamilcar. As soon as he had strengthen- 

 ed the fortifications of Syracuse, he began to collect 

 from every quarter all that could be necessary for his 

 naval and military equipments. Diodorus has given 

 us a minute detail of these preparations, and they ap- 

 pear to have been most formidable. When he was 

 ready to take the field, Dionysius convened the se- 

 nate of Syracuse, and announced his intention of at- 

 tacking the Carthaginians instantly, without any pre- 

 vious declaration of war. The assembly were indu- Treachery 

 ced to enter into his views, and in consequence the / Diony- 

 persons and property of all the Carthaginians, who, S1US< 

 upon the faith of treaties, were resident in the Sicilian 

 states, were at once abandoned to the fury and avarice 

 of the populace. The first account of these affairs 

 was conveyed to Carthage by a message from 

 Dionysius himself. The city was then wasted by the 

 plague, but the wonted spirit of the inhabitants was 

 not abated. They distributed several sums of money 

 for the purpose of procuring troops, and dispatched 

 orders to their garrisons in Sicily to be vigilant in 

 watching the motions of Dionysius, and appointed 

 Himilco commander in chief of their forces. 



Dionysius, in pursuance of the plan he had laid His pro- 

 down, without waiting for an answer from Carthage, ceedingsi 

 at once attacked Motya, a celebrated Carthaginian 

 colony, near Mount Eryx. He succeeded in carry- 

 ing the place by surprise. The resistance of the in- 

 habitants and garrison was, as usual, most obstinate. 

 Sieges were at this time seldom undertaken with any 

 other view than that of plunder. In consequence, 

 the garrison was always roused to that excess of va- Takes Mo- 

 lour which is the natural result of despair. Capitu- tva> 

 lation was invariably followed by indiscriminate pil- 

 lage, and the most dreadful slaughter. There is, be- 

 sides, something in the circumstances of a siege 

 which, beyond all other motives, gives birth to the 

 most obstinate valour. Every age and every country 



* Raleigh has made a curious mistake in his account of this treaty, he has translated the word f ships, instead of. 

 temples. 



