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Cbe  ^torji?  of  tht  illations. 


SICILY. 


THE  STORY  OF  THE  NATIONS. 

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By  Arthur  Oilman, 
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ROME 
M.A. 
THE  JEWS 

HOSMKR. 

GERMANY.         By      Rev.      S. 

Baring-Gould,  M.A. 
CARTHAGE.    By  Prof.  Alfred 

J.  Church. 
ALEXANDER'S       EMPIRE. 

By  Prof.  J.  P.  Mahaffv. 
THE  MOORS  IN  SPAIN.    By 

Stanley  Lane-Poole. 
ANCIENT  EGYPT.     By  Prof. 

George  Rawlinson. 
HUNGARY.      By    Prof.  Armi- 

Nius  Vamb6ry. 
THE  SARACENS.  By  Arthur 

Oilman,  MA. 
IRELAND.     By  the  Hon.  Emily 

Lawless. 
CHALDEA.      By    Z6naide   A. 

Ragozin. 
THE     GOTHS.       By     Henry 

Bradley. 
ASSYRIA.        By    Z^naide    A. 

Ragozin. 
TURKEY. 

Poole. 
HOLLAND.      By    Prof.    J. 

Thoroli)  Rogers. 
MEDI.ffi.VAL    FRANCE.     By 

GUSTAVE  MaSSON. 

,  PERSIA.  By  S.  G.  W.  Ben- 
jamin. 

,  PHCENICIA.  By  Prof.  Geo. 
Rawlinson. 


By  Stanley  Lane- 
E. 


By   John    Mac- 


MEDIA.        By     Z^naVde      A. 

Ragozin. 
THE    HANSA    TOWNS.      By 

Helen  Zi.mmern. 
EARLY  BRITAIN.     By   Piof. 

Alfred  J   Church. 
THE  BARBARY  CORSAIRS. 

By  Stanley  Lane-Poole. 
RUSSIA.       By    W.     R.     Mor- 

FILL,  I\LA. 

THE  JEWS  UNDER  THE 
ROMANS.    By  W.  Douglas 

Morhlson. 
SCOTLAND. 

kintosh,  LL.D. 
SWITZERLAND.       By     Mrs. 

Lin  A  Lug  and  R.  Stead. 
MEXICO.     By  Susan  Hale. 
PORTUGAL.      By    H.    Morse 

StEI'HENS. 

THE  NORMANS.  By  Sarah 
Orne   Iewett. 

THE  BYZANTINE  EMPIRE. 
By  C.  W.  C.  Oman. 

SICILY  :  Phoenician,  Greek 
and  Roman.  By  the  late 
Prof.  E.  A.   Freeman. 

THE  TUSCAN  REPUB- 
LICS.    By  Bella  Duffy. 

POLAND.  By  W.  R.  MOR- 
fill,  ALA. 

PARTHIA.    By    Prof.    George 

Rawlinson. 

AUSTRALIAN 
WEALTH. 
Tregarthen. 

SPAIN.     15y  H.  E.  Watts. 

JAPAN.  By  David  Murray, 
Ph.D. 


COMMON- 
By     Greville 


London  :  T.  FISHER  UNWIN,  Paternoster  Square,  E.G. 


SICILY 

PHOENICIAN,  GREEK,  &  ROMAN 


BY 

EDWARD  A.  FREEMAN,  M.A.,  Hon.  d.c.l.,  ll.d. 

REGIUS     PROFESSOR    OF    MODERN     HISTOKV,     OXFORD,    FELLOW    OF    ORIEL 
COLLEGE,     HONORARY    FELLOW    OF    TRINITY    COLLEGE,    OXFORD 


SECOND  EDITION 


T.     FISHER     UNWIN 

PATERNOSTER   SQUARE 
NEW   YORK:   G.    P.    PUTNAM'S   SONS 

MDCCCXCIV 


Copyright  by  T.  Fisher  Unwin,  1892 

(For  Great  Ijritain) 

Copyright  by  G.  P.  Putnam's  Sons,  1892 

(For  the  United  States  of  America) 


PREFACE. 


In  undertaking  "to  contribute  a  short  History  of 
Sicily  to  the  series  called  The  Story  of  the  Nations," 
Mr.  Freeman  says,  in  the  Preface  to  his  greater  work 
on  the  same  subject,  that  he  did  so  "  on  the  express 
ground  that  Sicily  never  was  the  home  of  any  nation, 
but  rather  the  meeting-place  of  many."  The  original 
suggestion  had  been  that  he  should  write  a  volume 
on  Norman  Sicily.  But  in  view  of  the  necessity  of 
first  introducing  his  readers  to  the  earlier  stages  of 
Sicilian  history,  this  suggestion  finally  ripened  into 
the  proposal  to  write  the  whole  story  of  Sicily,  from 
the  earliest  days  of  the  Greek  colonisation  to  the 
time  of  Frederick  the  Second. 

The  idea  grew.  It  had  for  many  years  been  a 
favourite  saying  of  Mr.  Freeman  that  "  in  order  to 
write  a  small  history  you  must  first  write  a  large  one." 

ICSBdiS 


Vlli  PREFACE. 

In  this  way  the  "Little  History  of  Sicily"  gave 
birth  to  the  larger  one,  of  which  three  volumes,  reach- 
ing down  to  the  time  of  the  Athenian  siege  and  the 
tyranny  of  Dionysios,  have  already  been  issued  by 
the  Clarendon  Press.  Besides  this,  there  exist 
materials  for  a  continuation  of  the  larger  history 
down  to  the  period  of  the  Roman  Conquest  and  for 
a  later  volume  on  Norman  Sicily.  But,  unhappily 
for  his  readers,  he  has  not  been  spared  to  bring  the 
work,  either  in  its  greater  or  lesser  form,  to  com- 
pletion. 

With  the  exception  of  the  headings  from  p.  297 
onwards  and  the  Index,  which  has  been  drawn  up  as 
far  as  possible  on  the  lines  of  those  made  by  the 
author  himself  for  his  greater  work,  the  whole  of  the 
sheets  had  been  passed  for  press  by  Mr.  Freeman 
before  he  left  England  on  his  last  journey — a  journey 
to  Spain,  undertaken  with  a  special  view  to  the  better 
understanding  of  the  later  parts  of  his  great  work. 
The  present  volume  goes  down  to  the  end  of  the 
Roman  dominion,  and  the  last  part  of  the  book, 
which  deals  with  Sicily  as  a  Roman  Province,  covers 
a  period  which,  in  contradistinction  to  his  usual 
practice,  he  had  not  yet  written  in  the  larger  form. 
It  had  been  his  intention  to  add  to  the  present  a 
second  volume,  beginning  with  the  coming  of  the 
Saracens,  and  which  should,  according  to  the  hopes 


PREFACE. 


IX 


expressed  in  his  greater  work,  have  been  at  any  rate 

carried  on  "till  the  Wonder  of  the  World  is  laid  in 

his  tomb  at  Palermo,"  or,  it  may  be,  carried  on  yet 

further  to  the  time  when  the  "  island  story "  should 

be  merged  in  that  of  the  new  Italian  Kingdom. 

But  it  was  not  so  to  be.     The  "  life  and  strength  " 

that  he  had  hoped  for  failed  him  before  their  time, 

and,  in  the  language  of  the  Psalmist,   whose  words 

were    ever    on    his    lips    and    in    his   writings,     his 

strength  was  brought  down  in  his  journey,  his  days 

were  shortened.      He  died  at  Alicante  on  March  i6, 

1S92. 

A.  J.  E.  AND  M.  E. 


CONTENTS. 


Preface 


PAGE 

vii 


I. 
Characteristics  of  Sicilian  History       .         .         1-7 

Geographical  position  of  Sicily — Strife  of  East  and  West — 
Summary  of  the  History. 

II. 

Sicily  and  its  Inhabitants     ....         8-28 

Colonies  in  Sicily — Nature  of  Colonies — The  older  inhabitants 
— Phoenician  and  Greek  Settlers — Shape  of  Sicily — Nature 
of  the  land — The  Hill-towns — The  Phoenicians — PhcEnician 
Colonies  in  Sicily — Panormos,  Rlolya,  and  Eryx. 


HI. 


The  Legends    . 

HC-rakles— The  Nether  Gods- 
^Arethousa. 


-The  Palici  and  the  Goddesses 


IV. 
The  Greek  Settlements  in  Sicily 


39-56 


Foundation  of  Naxos — Foundation  of  Syracuse— Foundation 
of  Lcontinoi  and  Katane — Foundation  of  Megai  a — Foundation 
of  Zankle  and  Gela — Kamarina,  Ilimera,  and  Selinous — 
Foundation  of  Akragas — Foundation  of  Lipara. 


Xll  CONTENTS. 

PAGE 
V. 

The  First  Age  of  the  Greek  Cities     .         .       57-75 

The  Syracuse  Gainoroi — Tyranny — Phalaris  of  Akragas  — 
Expedition  of  Dorieus — The  Samians  at  Zankle — Wars  of 
Hippokrates — Galon  at  Syracuse — War  in  Western  Sicily. 

VI. 

The  First  Wars  with  Carthage  and  Etruria     76-86 

Persia  and  Carthage — Invasions  of  Sicily  and  Old  Greece — 
Battle  of  Himera — Death  of  Gelon — Reign  of  Hieron. 

VII. 

The  Greeks  of  Sicily  Free  and  Independent     87-103 

Fall  of  tyranny  at  Akragas— All  the  cities  free— Wealth  of 
Akragas — Politics  of  Syracuse — Rise  of  Ducetius — Foundation 
of  Kale  Akte — Great  preparations  of  Syracuse. 

VIII. 

The    Share    of    Sicily    in    the    Wars    of    Old 

Greece     104-139 

Sparta  and  Athens— Sikeliot  appeal  to  Athens— Hermokrates 
at  Gela  —  New  War  at  Leontinoi  —  Appeal  of  Segesta  to 
Athens  —  Hermokrates  and  Athenagoras  —  Recall  of  Alki- 
biades— Battle  before  Syracuse— Alkibiades  at  Sparta— The 
Athenians  on  the  hill— Coming  of  Gylippos— Second  Expedi- 
tion voted — Coming  of  Demosthenes  and  Eurymedon— Eclipse 
of  the  moon— Last  battle  and  retreat— End  of  the  Athenian 
invasion — Banishment  of  Hermokrates. 

IX. 
The  Second  Carthaginian  Invasion     .         .     140-155 

Expedition  of  Hannibal— Siege  and  taking  of  Selinous— 
Plannibal's  Sacrifice  —  Death  of  Hermokrates  —  Siege  of 
Akragas — Beginnings  of  Dionysios— Siege  and  forsaking  of 
Gela — Treaty  with  Carthage. 


CONTENTS.  Xlll 


The  Tyranny  of  Dionysios  ....     156-196 

The  tyranny  of  Dionysios — Revolt  against  Dionysios- -Con- 
quests of  Dionysios— F"ortification  of  Epipolai  — Dionysios' 
double  marriage — Siege  of  Motya— Foundation  of  Lilybaion — 
Sea-fight  off  Katane— Carthaginian  Siege  of  Syracuse— Defeat 
of  the  Carthaginians— Settlements  of  Dionysios— His  defeat 
at  Tauromenion— Wars  in  Italy— Destruction  of  towns  in 
Italy— Taking  of  Rhegion— Dionysios  in  the  Hadriatic— War 
with  Carthage — Death  of  Dionysios. 


XI. 

The  Deliverers 197-232 

Dionysios  and  his  Son— Dionysios  the  Younger— Coming  of 
Dion— Dion  delivers  Syracuse— Dion  and  Dionysios— Dion 
deprived  of  the  Generalship— Return  of  Dion— Recovery  of 
the  Island— End  of  Dion — Timoleun  in  Sicily— Recovery  of 
the  Island— New  Settlement  of  Sicily— War  with  Carthage- 
Battle  of  the  Krimisos— Last  days  of  Timoleon— Archido.mos 
and  Alexander. 

XII. 
The  Tyranny  of  Agathokles        .         .         .     233-260 

His  early  life- His  rise  to  power — His  conquests— Battle  of 
the  Himeras— He  lands  in  Africa— His  African  campaign- 
Murder  of  Ophelias— Agathokles  king— End  of  the  African  ex- 
pedition—Agathokles  and  Deinokrates— Death  of  Agathokles. 


XIII. 

The     Coming    of     Pyrrhos    and    the     Rise     of 

HiERON     261-275 

Various  tyrants — Pyrrhos  of  Epeiros— Hellas,  Carthage,  and 
Rome— Conquests  of  Pyrrhos— He  leaves  Sicily— Exploits  of 
Hieron — Hieron  king. 


XIV  CONTENTS. 

PAGE 
XIV. 

The  War  for  Sicily       .....     276-291 

The  Mamertines — Hieron's  alliance  with  Rome — Taking  of 
Akragas — Roman  taking  of  Panormos — Defence  of  Panormos 
— Hamilkar  Barak — Battle  of  Aigousa—  Carthage  gives  up 
Sicily. 

XV. 

Thf.  End  of  Sicilian  Independence     .         .     292-318 

Roman  power  in  Sicily — The  Ilannibalian  War — Death  of 
Hieronymos — Slaughter  of  Hieron's  descendants — Taking  of 
Leontinoi — Roman  siege  of  Syracuse — Massacre  at  Henna — 
Epipolai  in  Roman  hands — Punic  force  destroyed  by  pestilence 
— Taking  of  Syracuse — Exploits  of  Mutines — Outcry  against 
Marcellus — Sicily  an  outpost  of  Europe. 

XVI. 
Sicily  a  Roman  Province      ....     319-354 

Relations  of  cities  to  Rome — The  Roman  peace — First  Slave 
War—  Second  Slave  War — End  of  the  Slave  War — Pr.'etorship 
of  Verres — Death  of  Crcsar  foretold — Peace  of  Misenum — War 
between  Ctesar  and  Sextus — Cccsar  master  of  Sicily — Third 
Slave  War  —  Growth  of  Christian  legends  —  Beginning  of 
Teutonic  invasions — Rule  of  Theodoric — Gothic  War  of  Jus- 
tinian—Connexion with  East-Roman  Empire  —  Constantine 
the  Fifth. 

Index 355 


LIST   OF    ILLUSTRATIONS. 


THIi   THEATRE,    SYRACUSE  .  .  .  Froutispicce 

OLYMPIEION,    SYRACUSE 44 

HERAKLES    AND   THE    KERKOPES    (eARLY    SCULPTURE 

FROM    SE  LI  nous)         .... 
AKRAGAS,    FRO.M    THE    OLYMPIEION     . 
COIN    OF    SYRACUSE,    TIME   OF   THE    GAMOROI 
TEMPLE    OF    ATHENE,    SYRACUSE 
COIN    OF    HIMERA,    EARLY 
COIN    OF   ZANKLE,    SIXTH    CENTURY 
COIN    OF    NAXOS,    C.    500    B.C. 
COIN    OF    KAMARINA.       EARLY 
COIN    OF   SELINOUS.       EARLY 
DAMARATEION 

COIN    OF   GELA.       C.    480    B.C. 
COIN    OF    SELINOUS.      C.    440    B 
TEMPLE   AT    AKRAGAS 
AKTAION    AND    HIS    HOUNDS 
COIN    OF    PANORMOS.       C.    42O    B.C. 
COIN    OF    MESSANA.       C.    420    B.C. 
COIN    OF    SEGESTA.      C.    415    B.C. 
MAP   OF    SYRACUSE   DURING   THE    ATHENIAN    SIEGE 


52 

54 
60 
61 
64 
68 
68 
71 

75 
82 

85 
85 
88 

97 
102 
102 
112 

122 


XVI 


LIST   OF   ILLUSTRATIONS. 


COIN    OF    AKRAGAS.       C.    415    B.C.         .... 
5VRACUSAN      PENxfiKGNTALITRON      (PRIZE      ARMS      OF 

ASSINARIAN    GAMEs)  .... 

SVRACUSAN    STONE    QUARRIES 
COIN    OF    HIjMERA.       C.   430    B.C. 
COIN    OF    KATANli.       <r.    410    B.C. 
COIN  OF  SYRACUSE,     f.  409  B.C.      HEAD  OF  ARETHUS; 

MAP   OF   AKRAGAS 

SYRACUSE   UNDER    DIONYSIOS    .  .  .       '     . 

PASSAGE    IN    THE   CASTLE   OF    EURYALOS    . 

APPARENT    ARCH    IN    THE   WALL    OF    ERYX 

COIN    OF    MOTYA.       C.    4OO    B.C. 

MAP    OF    MOTYA    AND    ERYX         .... 

PHCENICIAN    CAPITAL    FROM    LILYBAION       . 

TAUROMENION  .  .      -      . 

COIN    OF   SYRACUSE.       DION's   TIME 

COIN      OF     SYRACUSE.  TIMOLEON's     TIME.  ZEUS 

ELEUTHERIOS 

TEMPLE   OF   SEGESTA 

COIN     OF    AGATHOKLES,     WITH     NAME     OF    SYRACUSE 

ONLY.       317    TO  r.  310    B.C. 
COIN    OF   AGATHOKLES,    WITH    NAME    ONLY.       C.    3IO- 

306    B.C.  ...... 

COIN    OF   AGATHOKLES,  WITH    ROYAL   TITLE.       r.   306- 

289    B.C.  ...... 

COIN    OF    MAMERTINI    AT    MESSANA.    C.   282  B.C. 

COIN    OF    HIKETAS.       287-278    B.C.     . 

COIN    OF    HIERON    II.       275-216  B.C. 

COIN    OF    QUEEN    PHILISTIS      C.    2  7  5-2 1 6    B.C.     . 

PRETENDED    TOMB    OF   THERON    AT    AGRIGENTUM 


I>AGU 
126 


^ 


STORY  OF  SICILY. 


I. 


CHARACTERISTICS   OF   SICILIAN    HISTORY. 


The  claim  of  the  history  of  Sicily  to  a  place  in  the 
Story  of  the  Nations  is  not  that  there  ever  has  been 
a  Sicilian  nation.  There  has  very  seldom  been  a  time 
when  there  was  a  power  ruling  over  all  Sicily  and 
over  nothing  out  of  Sicily.  There  has  never  been  a 
time  when  there  was  one  language  spoken  by  all  men 
in  Sicily  and  by  no  men  out  of  Sicily.  All  the 
powers,  all  the  nations,  that  have  dwelled  round  the 
Mediterranean  Sea  have  had  a  part  in  Sicilian  history. 
All  the  languages  that  have  been  spoken  round  the 
Mediterranean  Sea  have  been,  at  one  time  or  another, 
spoken  in  Sicily.  The  historical  importance  of  Sicily 
comes,  not  from  its  being  the  seat  of  any  one  nation, 
but  from  its  being  the  meeting-place  and  the  battle- 
field of  many  nations.  Many  of  the  chief  nations  of 
the  world  have  settled  in  Sicily  and  have  held  dominion 
in  Sicily.  They  have  wrought  on  Sicilian  soil,  not 
only  the  history  of  Sicily,  but  a  great  part  of  their 
own  history.      And,   above    all,   Sicily  has  been   the 

2 


2  CHARACTERISTICS    OF   SICILIAN  HISTORY. 

meeting-place  and  battle-field,  not  only  of  rival  nations 
and  languages,  but  of  rival  religious  creeds. 

It  follows  from  this  that,  while  the  history  of  Sicily 
has  had  a  great  effect  on  the  general  history  of  the 
world,  it  is  still,  in  a  certain  sense,  a  secondary  history. 
For  some  centuries  past,  and  also  in  some  earlier  times, 
this  has  been  true  in  the  sense  that  Sicily  has  been 
part  of  the  dominion  of  some  other  power  ruling  out 
of  Sicily.  But  Sicily  has  not  always  been  in  this  way 
a  dependent  land.  In  one  age  it  contained  the  greatest 
and  most  powerful  city  in  Europe.  In  another  age 
it  was  the  seat  of  the  most  flourishing  kingdom  in 
Europe.  Yet  its  history  has  alwa}'s  been  a  secondary 
history,  a  history  whose  chief  importance  comes  from 
its  relations  to  things  out  of  Sicily.  The  greatest 
powers  and  nations  of  the  world  have  in  several  ages 
fought  in  Sicily  and  for  Sicily.  Their  Sicilian  warfare 
determined  their  history  elsewhere. 

In  this  way  the  history  of  Sicily  is  one  of  the 
longest  and  most  unbroken  histories  in  Europe.  It 
does  not  belong,  wholly  or  chiefly,  either  to  what  is 
called  "  ancient "  or  to  what  is  called  "  modern " 
history.  Of  its  two  most  brilliant  periods,  one  belongs 
to  what  is  commonly  called  "  ancient,"  the  other  to 
what  is  commonly  called  "  modern."  And  nowhere 
is  it  more  hopeless  to  try  to  keep  the  two  asunder  ; 
nowhere  is  the  history  so  imperfect  if  we  try  to  look 
at  one  period  only.  For  the  history  of  Sicily  is  before 
all  things  a  history  of  cycles.  The  later  story  is  the 
earlier  story  coming  over  again.  That  is  to  say,  like 
causes  have  been  at  work  in  very  distant  times,  and 
they  have  led  to  like  results. 


GEOGRAPHICAL   POSITION   OF   SICILY.  3 

Now  all  these  characteristics  of  Sicilian  history 
come  from  the  geographical  position  and  the  geo- 
graphical character  of  the  land.  Sicily  is  an  island. 
It  is  a  great  island,  an  island  which,  in  the  days  when 
cities  were  powers,  could  contain  many  independent 
powers.  And  above  all,  it  is  a  central  island.  It  lies 
in  the  very  middle  of  the  great  inland  sea  which  parts 
and  unites  Europe,  Asia,  and  Africa.  That  is  to  say, 
as  long  as  the  civilized  world  consisted  only  of  the 
lands  round  the  Mediterranean  Sea,  Sicily  was  the 
very  centre  of  the  civilized  world.  Its  position  in- 
vited settlement  from  every  quarter,  and  its  size 
allowed  settlement  from  many  quarters  at  once. 
Sicily  therefore  became  the  battle-field  of  many 
nations  and  powers  ;  but  it  was  so  for  many  ages 
without  becoming  the  exclusive  possession  of  any  one. 
And  its  position  specially  marked  it  out  as  the  chosen 
battle-field  of  one  particular  form  of  strife.  Sicily 
lies  in  the  very  middle  of  the  Mediterranean.  It  forms 
a  breakwater  between  the  Eastern  and  the  Western 
basins  of  that  sea.  We  count  it  as  part  of  Europe  ; 
but  it  comes  nearer  to  Africa  than  any  other  part  of 
central  Europe.  As  it  is  a  breakwater  between  the 
two  seas,  it  is  a  bridge  between  the  two  continents. 
The  question  was  sure  to  come.  Shall  the  great 
central  island  belong  to  the  East  or  to  the  West  .-* 
Shall  it  be  part  of  Africa  or  part  of  Europe? 

On  this  last  question  the  whole  history  of  Sicily 
turned  as  long  as  Sicily  played  a  great  part  in 
the  history  of  the  world.  In  the  great  strife  between 
East  and  West,  and  between  the  religions  which  had 
been   adopted  in   East  and   West,  Sicily  has  at  two 


4         CHARACTERISTICS    OF   SICILIAN   HISTORY. 

periods  of  the  world's  history  played  a  foremost 
part.  The  land  has  been  twice  fought  for  by  Aryan 
and  Semitic  men,  speaking  Aryan  and  Semitic 
tongues,  and  professing  and  fighting  for  their  several 
religions.  In  both  cases  the  geographical  relations  of 
the  struggle  have  been  strangely  turned  about.  In 
the  strife  between  East  and  West,  the  East  has  be- 
come West,  and  the  West  East.  That  is  to  say,  in 
the  strife  for  Sicily,  the  Eastern  side  has  been  both 
times  represented  by  men  who  have  attacked  Sicily 
from  tlie  West.  Its  enemies  have  been,  not  men 
coming  straight  from  Asia,  but  men  of  Asia  who  had 
settled  in  Africa.  In  each  case  the  representatives  of 
the  West  (fighting  from  the  East),  have  been  men 
speaking  the  Greek  tongue,  and  the  representatives  of 
the  East  (attacking  from  the  West)  have  been  men 
speaking  a  Semitic  tongue.  That  is,  they  were  first 
the  Phcenicians,  then  the  Saracens.  In  each  case  the 
strife  has  been  made  keener  by  difference  of  religion. 
In  the  first  case  it  was  the  difference  between  two 
forms  of  heathendom,  between  the  two  very  different 
creeds  of  Greece  and  Phoenicia.  In  the  second  case 
it  was  the  keenest  difference  of  all,  the  keenest  be- 
cause the  two  religions  have  so  much  in  common, 
the  strife  between  the  two  great  forms  of  monotheism, 
Christianity  and  Islam.  In  both  cases  the  strife  has 
been  waged  in  Sicily  and  for  Sicily  ;  in  both  cases  the 
prize  has  in  the  end  passed  to  the  power  which  was  at 
the  time  strongest  in  the  neighbouring  land  of  Southern 
Italy.  That  is,  Sicily  passed  to  the  Romans  in  the 
first  strife,  to  the  Normans  in  the  second.  This 
forms  the  great  cycle  of  Sicilian   history  ;  the  main 


STRIFE    OF  EAST  AND    WEST.  5 

events  of  the  earlier  time  seem  to  be  acted  over  again 
in  the  latter. 

This  is  the  great  characteristic  of  Sicilian  history, 
but  it  is  not  quite  peculiar  to  Sicily.  The  same  kind 
of  cycle,  the  same  waging  of  the  great  strife  of  East 
and  West  at  different  times  and  by  different  actors,  is 
to  be  found  in  the  history  of  Cyprus  and  of  Spain  as 
well  as  in  that  of  Sicily.  But  Cyprus  is  much  smaller 
than  Sicily  ;  it  lies  in  a  corner  of  the  Mediterranean, 
its  revolutions  did  not  affect  the  general  history  of 
the  world  in  the  same  way  as  those  of  Sicily  which 
lies  in  the  middle.  Spain  is  geographically  much 
greater  than  Sicily ;  but  Spain  lies  at  what  in  early 
times  was  the  end  of  the  world,  and  the  historical 
importance  of  Spain  came  much  later,  as  it  lasted 
much  longer,  than  that  of  Sicily.  Sicily,  as  the  cen- 
tral land,  was  the  truest  centre  of  the  strife.  It  is  on 
its  central  position  that  the  whole  history  of  Sicily 
turns.  As  long  as  the  lands  round  the  Mediterranean 
were  the  whole  of  the  European  world,  the  strife  for 
Sicily,  the  central  land  of  them  all,  had  an  importance 
which  none  could  surpass.  So  it  was  in  the  former 
time  of  strife,  the  strife  between  the  pagan  Greek  and 
the  Phoenician.  By  the  second  time  of  strife,  the  strife 
between  the  Christian  Greek  or  Roman — we  may  call 
him  either — and  the  Saracen,  the  boundaries  of  the 
European  world  had  been  enlarged.  Sicily  was  no 
longer  the  centre  of  the  world,  and  its  fortunes, 
though  still  of  great  moment,  are  of  less  moment  than 
before.  In  later  times  again,  when  the  European 
world  has  spread  over  all  parts  of  the  earth,  when  the 
Ocean    has    become  the  central    sea    instead    of   the 


6  CHARACTERISTICS   OF   SICILIAN   HISTORY. 

Mediterranean,  Sicily  has  altogether  lost  its  central 
position  and  its  importance.  For  some  centuries 
Sicily  has  held  only  a  secondary  place  in  Europe,  and 
it  has  commonly  been  dependent  on  some  other 
power. 

We  may  therefore  sum  up  the  history  of  Sicily  in 
a  very  few  words.  It  is  the  central  land  of  the 
Mediterranean  sea ;  it  was  the  central  land  of 
Europe,  as  long  as  Europe  meant  only  the  lands  on 
the  Mediterranean  sea.  As  such  it  became  the 
battle-field  of  nations  and  creeds,  the  prize  for 
Europe  and  Africa  to  struggle  for.  The  first  time 
of  strife  was  between  Greeks  and  Phoenicians, 
between  representatives  of  West  and  East,  between 
men  of  Europe  and  men  of  Asia  transplanted  to 
Africa.  The  end  of  this  strife  was  the  victory  of 
Europe,  but  in  the  shape  of  the  incorporation  of 
Sicily  into  the  dominion  of  Rome.  Of  that  dominion 
Sicily  remained  a  part  for  many  ages,  till  the  second 
time  of  strife  came,  the  strife  which  was  waged  with  the 
Saracen  by  men  whom  we  may  call  either  Greek- 
speaking  Romans  or  Greeks  under  the  allegiance  of 
the  Eastern  Rome.  The  end  was  the  establishment 
of  the  Norman  kingdom  of  Sicily,  which  was  for  a 
short  time  the  most  flourishing  state  in  Europe. 
After  a  while  Sicily  lost  its  central  position  and 
with  it  its  special  character  as  the  meeting-place  of 
the  nations.  But  its  history  as  such  had  kept  it 
back  from  that  form  of  greatness  which  consists  in 
being  the  chief  seat  of  some  single  nation.  There 
has    been    no    Sicilian    nation.     The  later  historv  of 


SUMMARY   OF    THE    HISTORY.  7 

Sicily  has  thus  lost  its  distinguishing  chaiTicter.  It 
has  become  an  ordinary  part,  and  commonly  a  sub- 
ordinate part,  of  the  general  history  of  Europe,  and 
specially  of  that  of  Italy. 

In  this  way  Sicilian  history  begins  when  the  great 
colonizing  nations  of  antiquity,  the  Phoenicians  and  the 
Greeks,  began  to  settle  in  Sicil}^  Our  first  business 
therefore  is  to  see  what  manner  of  people  the 
Phoenicians  and  the  Greeks  were  at  the  time  of  their 
first  settlements,  what  manner  of  land  Sicily  was,  and 
what  earlier  inhabitants  the  new  settlers  found  in  it. 
Then  we  shall  go  on  with  the  history  of  the  two 
colonizing  nations  in  Sicily.  In  so  doing  we  shall 
have  to  say  again  many  things  that  have  already  been 
said  in  other  parts  of  the  Story  of  the  Nations. 
Indeed  the  most  part  of  the  Story  of  Sicily  must 
have  been  told  already.  But  it  has  been  told,  as  far 
as  Sicily  is  concerned,  piecemeal.  Things  have  been 
told,  not  in  their  relation  to  Sicily,  but  in  their 
relations  to  some  other  land  or  power.  Here  they 
will  be  told  as  parts  of  a  connected  Sicilian  story, 
a  story  of  which  Sicily  is  the  centre,  and  in  which 
other  lands  and  nations  find  their  place  only  in  their 
relations  to  Sicilian  affairs. 


11. 


SICILY   AND   ITS   INHABITANTS. 


[It  may  be  needful  to  explain  that,  during  the  present  chapter  and 
for  some  time  after  it,  we  have  no  contemporary,  or  even  continuous, 
narrative  to  follovif.  In  the  very  earliest  times  of  course  there  could  be 
none.  The  nearest  approach  to  a  narrative  is  the  description  of  Sicily 
and  its  native  inhabitants  and  of  the  Greek  settlements  there  which 
Thucydides  gives  at  the  beginning  of  his  sixth  book.  For  the  rest  we 
have  to  put  our  story  together  from  all  manner  of  Greek  sources.  We 
have  incidental  notices  of  Sicily  and  the  nation  of  Sicily  in  a  crowd  of 
Greek  writers  from  the  Odyssey  onwards.  Much  is  learned  more 
directly  from  later  Greek  writers,  as  the  geographer  Strabo  and  the 
Sicilian  historian  Diodoros  of  Agyrium.  If  his  work  were  perfect,  we 
should  have  a  continuous,  though  not  a  contemporary,  Sicilian  history. 
Something  too  may  le  got  from  Dionysios  of  Halikarnassos,  the 
historian  of  Rome.  All  these  preserve  to  us  valuable  notices  from 
earlier  writers,  especially  from  the  Sicilian  historians  Antiochos  and 
Philistos.  But  they  too  were  not  contemporary.  Of  Phoenician 
authorities  we  unluckily  have  none.  Among  modern  writers  Adolf 
Holm  has  got  together  in  his  GcschicJiii  Sicilicns  pretty  well  every 
scrap  that  can  be  found. 

We  spoke  in  our  first  chapter  of  the  way  in  which 
the  geographical  position  of  the  island  of  Sicily,  as  the 
central  island  of  the  Mediterranean  sea,  allowed,  and 
almost  compelled  it,  to  play  the  particular  part  in 
history  which  it  did  play.  We  have  now  to  see  how 
the  history  of  the  land  was  affected  by  its  geographical 


COLONIES  IN  SICILY.  9 

character  as  well  as  by  its  geographical  position.  We 
must  remember  the  general  state  of  the  world  at  the 
time  when,  first  the  Phoenicians  and  then  the  Greeks, 
began  to  plant  colonies  in  Sicily  and  other  lands.  To 
such  European  nations  as  have  already  come,  however 
dimly,  into  sight,  the  lands  round  the  Mediterranean 
were  the  whole  world,  and  the  inland  sea  itself  was 
what  the  Ocean  is  now.  Europe  contained  no  great 
kingdoms,  like  Asia  ;  the  more  advanced  a  people  was, 
the  greater  was  its  political  disunion.  The  indepen- 
dent city  was  the  accepted  political  unit.  In  Greece 
above  all,  the  nature  of  the  land,  the  islands,  the  penin- 
sulas, the  strongly  marked  inland  valleys,  fostered  the 
separate  being  of  each  city  in  its  fullest  development. 
Every  city  either  was  independent  or  thought  itself 
wronged  if  it  was  not  so.  It  was  only  in  the  more 
backward  parts  of  Greece  that  towns  or  districts  in 
the  early  days  grouped  themselves  into  leagues.  In 
Italy  the  growth  of  such  leagues  was  the  most  marked 
feature.  Outside  Greece  and  Italy  the  other  European 
nations  had  hardly  got  beyond  the  system  of  tribes, 
as  distinguished  alike  from  independent  cities  and 
from  great  kingdoms.  Among  the  Asiatic  nations  the 
Phoenicians  alone  had  at  all  fully  developed  the  same 
kind  of  political  system  as  the  Greeks.  With  them 
too  the  independent  city  was  the  rule.  They  alone 
among  barbarians  knew  anything  of  the  higher 
political  life.  They  were  the  only  worthy  rivals  of 
Greece. 

Now,  as  the  world  stood  then,  it  was  only  nations 
like  the  Phoenicians  and  Greeks,  whose  political 
system  was  one  of  independent  cities,  that  could  in 


10  SICILY  AND   ITS   INHABITANTS. 

the  Strict  sense  plant  colonies.  We  must  distinguish 
colonies,  as  we  now  understand  the  word,  from 
national  migrations.  In  an  early  state  of  things 
nothing  is  more  common  than  for  a  whole  people,  or 
a  large  part  of  a  people,  to  leave  their  own  land  for 
some  other.  Their  old  land  is  left  empty  or  much 
less  thickly  inhabited,  and  very  often  some  other 
people  steps  in  and  takes  possession  of  it.  Both 
Greeks  and  Phoenicians  and  the  other  ancient  nations 
of  Europe  and  Asia  must  have  come  into  their  lands 
in  this  way.  And  the  same  thing  went  on  again 
when  the  settlement  of  the  present  nations  of  Europe 
began,  at  what  is  commonly  spoken  of  as  the 
Wandering  of  the  Nations.  Then,  for  instance,  the 
English  settled  in  part  of  the  isle  of  Britain,  and 
gave  it  its  name  of  England.  The  older  England 
on  the  mainland  of  Europe  was  forsaken.  So  again 
in  Greece,  ever  since  the  Greeks  had  settled  there, 
there  had  been  many  movements  of  different  divi- 
sions of  the  Greek  nation,  Dorians,  lonians,  Achaians, 
changing  their  dwellings  from  one  part  of  Greece  to 
another,  or  going  across  into  Asia.  Real  planting  of 
colonies,  as  we  understand  the  word,  is  something 
quite  different  from  this.  It  is  not  the  movement  of 
a  whole  people  or  of  so  large  a  part  of  a  people  as  to 
leave  the  old  land  at  all  forsaken  or  weakened.  Part 
of  the  inhabitants  of  an  established  kingdom  or  city 
go  forth  to  seek  new  homes  in  a  new  land  ;  but  the 
kingdom  or  city  which  they  left  still  lives  on.  The 
two  become  what  the  Greeks  called  metropolis  or 
mother-city  and  colony.  And  the  Plioenician  and 
Greek  colonics,  founded  from  cities,  arose  as  indepen- 


NATURE   OF   COLONIES.  II 

dent  cities  from  the  beginning.  The  colony  owed 
the  metropolis  honour  and  reverence,  and  colony  and 
metropolis  were  ready  to  help  one  another  in  time  of 
need.  But,  as  a  rule,  a  Phcenician  or  Greek  colony 
was  not  politically  subject  to  the  metropolis  which 
planted  it.  In  later  times  colonies  have  been  founded 
from  kingdoms,  and  it  has  been  held  that  a  subject 
of  a  king,  wherever  he  went,  could  not  throw  off  his 
allegiance  to  his  sovereign.  Colonies  have  therefore 
been  held  to  be  part  of  the  dominions  of  the  king  of 
the  mother-country.  They  have  from  the  beginning 
been  dependent  instead  of  independent ;  and  when 
they  have  grown  strong,  they  have  often  had  to  win 
independence  by  force  of  arms. 

Now  Sicily  was  in  the  early  days  of  Europe  one 
of  the  greatest  of  colonial  lands.  It  was  a  chief  seat 
for  the  planting  of  colonies,  first  from  Phoenicia  and 
then  from  Greece.  It  is  the  presence  of  these 
Phoenician  and  Greek  colonies  which  made  the 
history  of  Sicily  what  it  was.  These  settlements 
were  of  course  made  more  or  less  at  the  expense  of 
the  oldest  inhabitants  of  the  island,  those  who  were 
there  before  the  Phoenicians  and  Greeks  came  to 
settle.  These  oldest  inhabitants  were  of  three  nations. 
Of  these  the  names  of  two  are  so  much  alike  that  one 
is  tempted  to  think  that  they  must  be  different  forms 
of  the  same  name.  And  yet  all  ancient  writers  speak 
of  them  as  wholly  distinct  nations.  These  are  the 
Sikans  {Sicaiii,  '^iKavoi)  and  the  Sikels  {Siculi, 
'2ik€\ol),  each  of  which  in  turn  was  said  to  have  given 
its  name  to  the  island.  It  was  first  Sikaiiia  CZcKavit], 
'S.LKavia),     then    Sikclia    or    Sicily    {Sicilia,    ^iKeXia). 


12  SICILY   AND   ITS    INHABITANTS. 

The  Sikans  claimed  to  be  aiitoditJiones,  sprung 
from  the  earth;  that  is,  they  were  the  earliest  in- 
habitants of  the  land  of  whom  anything  was 
known.  But  the  Greeks  believed  them  to  have 
come  from  Spain,  and  it  is  most  likely  that  they 
belonged  to  that  wide-spread  non- Aryan  race  of 
southern  Europe  of  which  the  Basques  are  now 
the  survival.  Nothing  is  known  of  the  Sikan  lan- 
guage, except  so  far  as  it  is  likely  to  survive  in  the 
names  of  places. 

The  Sikans  no  doubt  came  into  the  island  by  a 
progress  of  national  migration,  though  in  an  un- 
recorded time.  The  other  people  whose  name  is  so 
like  theirs,  the  Sikels,  certainly  did  so,  and  their 
settlement  in  the  island  is  all  but  historical.  Their 
tradition  was  that  they  had  come  into  the  island  from 
Italy  three  hundred  years  before  Greek  settlement  in 
it  began,  that  is  in  the  eleventh  century  B.C.  And  in  a 
general  way  this  belief  seems  quite  trustworthy,  though 
of  course  we  cannot  commit  ourselves  to  exact  dates. 
Of  the  Sikel  language  we  know  a  good  many  words, 
and  nearly  all  of  them  are  closely  akin  to  Latin.  We 
may  in  short  look  upon  the  Sikel  as  an  undeveloped 
Latin  people.  The  Latins  in  Italy  were  able  to 
develop  a  polity  and  a  national  life  of  their  own  ; 
the  Sikels  could  not  do  this,  because  at  an  early 
stage  of  their  being  they  came  across  nations  more 
advanced  than  themselves.  In  the  fifth  century  B.C. 
there  were  still,  as  Thucydides  witnesses,  some  Sikels 
left  in  Italy  ;  but  the  great  mass  of  the  nation  must 
have  crossed  into  the  great  island.  They  came 
nearer  than  any  other  people  to  being  the  real  folk  of 


THE   OLDER    INHABITANTS.  I3 

the  land,  and  they  gave  the  land  its  abiding  name. 
The  Sikans  indeed  appear  in  history  as  httle  more 
than  a  survival.  They  seem  to  have  been  driven 
into  the  western  part  of  the  island  by  the  advance 
of  the  Sikels.  And  there  they  came  under  the 
dominion  and  influence  both  of  Phoenicians  and 
Greeks.  Still  they  kept  some  towns,  chiefly  inland, 
and  we  hear  of  them  as  a  distinct  people  as  late  as 
the  fourth  century  B.C.  The  Sikels,  on  the  other 
hand,  play  a  great  part  in  the  histor}'  of  the  land  to 
which  they  gave  their  name.  But  their  story  is 
mainly  a  record  of  the  way  in  which  they  gradually 
became  practically  Greek.  On  the  east  coast  they 
came  for  the  most  part  under  the  dominion  of  the 
Greek  settlers  ;  but  on  the  north  coast  and  in  the 
inland  parts  they  kept  many  independent  towns. 
These  gradually  came  under  Greek  influence  ;  they 
adopted  Greek  ways  and  spoke  the  Greek  language, 
till  in  the  Roman  times  they  were  reckoned  as 
Greeks. 

Besides  Sikans  and  Sikels,  there  was  a  third  people 
in  the  island,  of  whom  we  hear  a  good  deal,  but  of 
whom  we  really  know  less  than  of  either  of  the  other 
two.  These  were  the  Elymians,  who  held  the  two 
towns  of  Segesta  and  Eryx  in  the  north-west  part 
of  Sicily.  They  professed,  like  the  Romans  and 
some  others,  to  be  descended  from  the  Trojans. 
This  kind  of  claim  always  means  that  the  people 
making  it  were  an  ancient  settlement,  but  that  they 
could  not  certainly  connect  themselves  with  any 
known  city  or  land.  In  history  the  Elymians  appear 
as    so    completely    brought    under    Phcenician    and 


14  SICILY  AND   ITS   INHABITANTS. 

Greek  influences  that  we  cannot  at  all  say  what  they 
originally  were.  We  know  nothing  of  their  language. 
Their  name  is  very  like  that  of  several  other  lands 
both  in  Europe  and  Asia  ;  but  it  is  always  dangerous 
to  make  guesses  because  of  mere  likenesses  of  name. 
They  are  most  famous  because  of  their  great  temple 
on  Mount  Eryx,  dedicated  to  a  goddess  in  whom  the 
Phoenicians  saw  their  own  Ashtoreth,  the  Greeks 
their  own  Aphrodite,  and  the  Latins  their  own  Venus. 
It  was  in  the  land  occupied  by  these  nations,  and 
largely  at  their  expense,  that,  first  the  Phoenician  and 
then  the  Greek  colonists  settled  themselves.  Both 
nations  had  already  planted  colonies  elsewhere.  The 
Phoenicians  had  settled  in  the  Greek  islands  from 
which  they  had  been  driven  by  the  Greeks,  and  also 
in  Africa  and  Spain.  The  Greeks  had  settled  in  the 
islands  and  in  Asia.  But  Sicily  was  a  land  in  some 
things  different  from  any  of  the  other  lands  in  which 
they  settled.  In  Greece  itself,  and  still  more  in  the 
Greek  islands,  and  afterwards  in  southern  Italy,  it 
was  easy  to  occupy  the  whole  land  from  sea  to  sea. 
On  the  other  hand,  most  of  the  Greek  colonies  on  the 
mainland,  whether  of  Europe,  Asia,  or  Africa,  were 
settlements  on  the  sea,  holding  a  mere  strip  of  coast 
with  a  barbarian  background  behind  them.  And 
whenever  powerful  kingdoms,  like  those  of  the 
Lydians  and  the  Persians  in  Asia,  grew  up  in  that 
barbarian  background,  the  independence  of  the  Greek 
cities  on  the  coast  was  threatened  and  sometimes 
destroyed.  Among  the  Greek  islands  again  some, 
as  Crete  and  Euboia,  were  large  enough  to  con- 
tain several    independent  cities  ;    but    none  were   of 


PHCENICIAN   AND    GREEK   SETTLERS.  15 

a  size  and  geographical  character  to  allow  of  any 
large  inland  region  really  far  away  from  the  sea. 
The  Phoenicians  also  were  used  to  much  the  same 
state  of  things.  Their  own  land  in  Asia  was  a  mere 
strip  of  coast  between  the  sea  and  the  mountains, 
studded  with  their  famous  cities,  Sidon,  Tyre,  and 
others.  And  their  colonics  in  Africa  and  Spain  were 
of  the  same  kind.  They  held  the  coast,  but  did  not 
spread  far  inland. 

In  Sicily  the  Phoenician  and  Greek  settlers  found 
themselves  under  geographical  conditions  different 
from  any  of  these.  Sicily  was  an  island  ;  it  was, 
according  to  the  ideas  of  those  times,  a  very  large 
island.  It  approached  to  the  nature  of  a  continent. 
It  was  not  only  large  enough  to  contain  many  cities  ; 
it  was  large  enough  to  have  its  coast  studded  with 
sea-faring  cities,  and  at  the  same  time  to  leave  a  large 
inland  region  really  away  from  the  sea.  Its  shape, 
nearly  triangular,  is  singularly  compact  ;  and  it 
allows  the  greatest  amount  of  coast  to  the  greatest 
amount  of  inland  country.  In  Sicily  therefore  a 
state  of  things  followed  unlike  anything  to  be  seen 
elsewhere.  Phoenician  and  Greek  settlers  could 
occupy  the  coasts,  but  only  the  coasts  ;  it  was  only 
at  the  corners  that  they  could  at  all  spread  from  sea 
to  sea.  A  great  inland  region  was  necessarily  left  to 
the  older  inhabitants.  But  there  was  no  room  in  Sicily, 
as  there  was  in  Asia,  for  the  growth  of  great  barbarian 
powers  dangerous  to  the  settlers.  Neither  Phoenician 
nor  Greek  was  ever  able  to  occupy  or  conquer  the 
whole  island  ;  but  neither  people  stood  in  any  fear  of 
being  conquered  or  driven  out,  unless  by  one  another. 


1 6  SICILY  AND    ITS   INHABITANTS. 

But  instead  of  conquest  came  influence.  Both  Phoe- 
nicians and  Greeks  largely  influenced  the  native  in- 
habitants. In  the  end,  without  any  general  conquest, 
the  whole  island  became  practically  Greek. 

We  have  said  that  the  shape  of  Sicily   is  nearly 
that  of  a  triangle.     The  ancient  writers  fancied  that 
it  was  much  more  nearly  a  triangle  than  it  is.     It 
was  thought  to  be  an   acute-angled  triangle  with  a 
promontory   at   each   of    its    angles,    Peloris    to   the 
north-east,  Pachynos  to  the  south-east,  and  Lilybaion 
to  the  west.     The  real  shape  of  Sicily  is  that  of  a 
right-angled    triangle,   with   the   right   angle    to   the 
north-east ;  the  north-western  angle    is  cut  off,  so  as 
to  form  a  short  fourth  side  to  the  west.     And  the 
angles  do  not  end  in  promontories.     Lilybaion,  now 
Cape   Boeo,    is  not  a  promontory  at  all ;    it  is   the 
most  western  point  of  Sicily,  but  it  is  not  high  ground, 
and  it  is  not  an  angle,  but   is  in  the  middle  of  the 
short  western  side.  Peloris  is  now  called  Capo  del  Faro, 
after  the  pharos  or  light-house  from  which  the  strait 
itself  between  Sicily  and  Italy  has  taken  the  name  of 
Faro.    There  are  high  hills  not  far  off,  but  the  actual 
ano-le  is  very  low  ground.     And  the  only  way  to  make 
a  promontory  of  Pachynos  is  to  make  the  island  of 
Passero  the  promontory,  and  that  is  not  at  the  angle 
but  on  the  east  side.     But  this  notion  of  the  triangle 
and  the  three  promontories  took  possession  of  men's 
minds.     When  therefore  they  began  to  find  sites  for 
all  the  stories    in  the    Odyssey,  the    little  island    of 
Thrinakie  spoken  of  there  was  ruled  to  be  Sicily,  and 
its  name    was    improved  into   Trinakria,  to  give    in 
Greek  the  meaning  o{  three  promontories.     After  all, 


SHAPE   OF  SICILY.  IJ 

Sicily  is  really  not  far  from  being  a  triangle,  and  it  i.s 
its  triangular  shape  which  makes  it  so  compact.  The 
north  side  runs  very  nearly  east  and  west,  the  east 
side  very  nearly  north  and  south ;  the  longest  side  is 
the  south-western.  All  three  are  much  more  nearly 
straight  than  most  coasts  ;  they  are  specially  so  as 
compared  with  the  coasts  of  Greece.  Compared 
with  them,  the  Sicilian  coasts  are  very  little  cut  up 
with  any  large  or  deep  inlets  of  the  sea.  But  there 
are  a  good  many  smaller  inlets  which  make  excel- 
lent harbours,  as  above  all  at  Syracuse,  and  also  at 
Panormos  or  Palermo.  Nor  is  the  coast  of  Sicily 
surrounded  by  islands  in  the  same  way  as  the 
coast  of  Greece.  There  are  a  {q\w  very  small  ones 
near  the  coast,  and  there  are  two  groups  of  some 
importance.  The  isles  of  Aigousa  or  the  Agates  off 
the  north-west  corner  are  bold  mountains  in  the  sea. 
And  to  the  north-east,  between  Sicily  and  Italy,  are 
the  volcanic  isles  of  Lipara,  the  isles  of  Aiolos  or  of 
Ilephaistos,  which  connect  the  volcanic  regions  of 
/Etna  and  of  Vesuvius,  The  islands  between  Sicily 
and  Africa,  Melita  (Malta),  Gaulos  (Gozo),  and 
Kossoura  (Pantellaria\  are  too  far  from  Sicily  to  have 
had  any  continuous  share  in  Sicilian  history,  though 
Melita  is  of  importance  at  times. 

Sicily  is  a  very  mountainous  land,  and  even  where 
there  are  no  high  mountains,  it  is  full  of  hills  and 
valleys.  There  are  no  large  plains  ;  that  of  Lentini 
or  Catania  on  the  east  side  is  the  chief.  On  the 
north  side  and  part  of  the  east,  the  mountains  come 
near  to  the  sea,  sometimes  quite  close,  forming  very 
grand  coast  scenery.     In  the  other  parts  the  moun- 

3 


l8  SICILY   AND   ITS   INHABITANTS. 

tains  keep  much  further  inland,  and  the  coast  is 
mainly  low,  though  at  a  few  points  on  the  south  side 
the  hills  come  down  to  make  promontories.  The 
great  mountain  of  all  is  of  course  yEtna,  the  greatest 
volcano  of  Europe.  It  rises  more  than  ten  thousand 
feet  above  the  sea,  and  it  is  so  near  to  the  sea  that  its 
whole  height  is  seen.  Yet  its  base  is  so  vast  and  the 
slope  so  gradual  that  it  needs  the  snow  near  the  top 
to  show  how  high  it  is.  None  of  the  other  heights 
of  Sicily  come  at  all  near  it.  The  loftiest  are  to  the 
north.  The  most  striking  after  ^tna,  though  by  no 
means  the  highest  (for  its  height  is  not  much  more  than 
two  thousand  feet),  is  Eryx  (Monte  San  Giuliano)  at 
the  north-west  corner.  It  comes  nearer  to  the  nature 
of  a  promontory  at  an  angle  than  any  of  the  supposed 
three.  So  hilly  a  land  is  naturally  full  of  springs  and 
streams,  but  there  is  no  room  for  great  rivers.  There 
is  no  such  thing  in  Sicily  as  a  navigable  river  or  an 
inland  haven.  The  greatest  river  system  is  that  of 
the  Symaithos  (or  Giarretta)  on  the  eastern  side, 
where  many  streams,  draining  many  valleys  and  the 
great  Leontine  or  Catanian  plain,  run  into  the  sea  by 
a  single  mouth.  Next  in  size  is  the  Himeras  or 
Fiitnie  Salso  on  the  south  side.  There  is  another 
river  on  the  north  side  (now  Fiunie  Grande)  of  the  same 
name,  and  the  two  rise  very  near  together,  but  the 
southern  one  has  a  much  longer  course.  The  rivers 
Halykos,  Mazaros,  Krimisos,  and  Orethos,  are  of 
more  importance  as  boundaries  or  from  events  that 
happened  near  them  than  from  their  size.  Many  of  the 
streams  of  Sicily,  specially  on  the  north  and  north- 
west sides,  are  what  are  called  fiiiiiiare ;  that  is,  in 


NATURE   OF    THE   LAND.  1 9 

winter   they  are   torrents,    rushing    fiercely  into    the 
sea,  while  in  summer  their  beds  are  nearly  dry. 

Sicily  has  been  always  famous  for  its  fruitfulness, 
and  not  without  reason.  The  few  wide  plains,  the 
lowlands  between  the  mountains  and  the  sea,  and 
many  of  the  inland  valleys,  are  wonderfully  rich  in 
their  growth.  Even  on  hilly  and  stony  ground  rich 
patches  of  corn  will  grow  between  the  stones.  Men 
believed  that  wheat  first  grew  in  Sicily,  as  the  gift  of 
the  goddesses  of  the  island,  and  in  the  plain  of 
Catania  it  was  said  to  be  still  growing  wild.  How- 
ever this  may  be,  it  is  certain  that  no  land  has  ever 
received  more  vegetable  gifts  from  other  lands  than 
Sicily ;  olives,  vines,  oranges,  the  American  prickly 
pear,  all  flourish.  But  the  sugar-cane  and  the  Egyptian 
papyrus  have  vanished,  or  nearly  so  ;  cotton  is  grown 
only  in  a  few  places  ;  the  palm  grows,  but  its  fruit 
docs  not  reach  perfection.  But  while  fruit-trees  of  all 
kinds  are  abundant,  there  is  a  strange  lack  of  what 
we  call  forest-trees.  There  were  plenty  of  them  in 
times  past,  but  now  there  are  very  few.  The  hill- 
sides are  mostly  quite  treeless,  and  a  valley  which 
looks  thickly  wooded  has  often  nothing  but  olives, 
almonds,  and  such  like.  Sicily  was  in  old  times 
famous  for  its  horses  and  its  sheep ;  the  traveller  is 
now  more  struck  with  the  asses,  mules,  and  goats ; 
but  there  are  more  sheep  inland  than  there  are  near 
the  coasts.  The  seas  abound  in  fish,  specially  the 
great  tunny.  In  all  ages  the  richness  of  the  land  has 
been  dwelled  upon  with  pride.  As  a  Roman  province, 
Sicily  was  the  chief  granary  of  Rome,  and  before 
and  after,  in  the  days  of  the   Greek    cities    and    of 


20  SICILY  AND   ITS   INHABITANTS. 

the  Norman  kings,  it  was  the  most  flourishing  land 
in  Europe. 

Some  of  the  present  customs  of  Sicily  seem  to  have 
come  down  from  the  earliest  times.  The  traveller 
is  struck  by  the  general  absence  of  villages  and 
country-houses  ;  the  mass  of  the  people  live  in  towns, 
and,  except  on  the  coast,  the  towns  are  mainly  on  the 
hill-tops.  This  fashion,  common  to  most  nations  at 
an  early  stage,  is  spoken  of  as  specially  characteristic 
of  the  Sikans  ;  it  has  gone  on  to  this  day,  because  the 
country  has  at  many  times,  and  in  modern  times  till 
quite  lately,  been  made  unsafe  by  plunderers  by  land 
or  sea.  Many  of  the  hill-towns,  both  Sikan  and 
Sikel,  are  thus  dwelled  in  to  this  day,  and  some  of  the 
Sikel  sites  play  a  great  part  in  Sicilian  history.  Such 
specially  are  the  inland  towns  of  Agyrium  (afterwards 
San  Filippo  d'Argiro),  and  Centuripa  fafterwards 
Centorbi),  both  on  high  hills,  and  above  all  Henna, 
the  seat  of  the  great  goddesses  of  Sicil}',  of  whom  we 
shall  presently  speak.  This  is  now  called  Castro- 
giovanni  ;  but  it  has  not  really  changed  its  nam2  ;  the 
name  has  nothing  to  do  with  any  JoJin.  The  Sara- 
cens corrupted  Castruni  Henncu  into  Casr-janni,  and 
that  was  misunderstood  and  translated  into  Castniui- 
Johamiis.  Cephaloedium  (now  Cefalu)  is  a  wonder- 
ful Sikel  site  on  the  north  coast.  The  old  town,  with 
some  precious  Sikel  remains,  stood  on  a  high  hill 
overhanging  the  sea  ;  below  are  Sikel  walls,  joining 
in  to  the  sea,  almost  like  the  Long  Walls  of  Athens. 
The  Sikan  sites  are  of  less  importance,  but  we  shall 
come  across  some  of  them,  and  the  Eh'mians  have  left 
us  Eryx  and   Scgesta.     Among  these  nations,  who 


THE   HILL-rOWNS.  21 

were  in  the  island  before  recorded  history  begins, 
came  the  settlers  from  the  two  great  colonizing  nations, 
who,  at  this  stage  of  their  history,  had  come  to  build 
their  cities  on  the  coast,  not  commonly  on  the  high 
hills,  and  never  very  far  inland.  We  must  first  speak 
of  the  Phoenicians  and  then  of  the  Greeks. 

The  Phoenicians  then,  the  foremost  of  barbarian 
nations,  the  only  real  political  rivals  of  the  Greeks, 
came  into  Sicily  and  other  western  lands  from  the 
narrow  strip  of  land  at  the  east  of  the  Mediterranean, 
between  Lebanon  and  the  sea,  where  were  their  old  and 
famous  cities  of  Sidon,  Tyre,  and  Arvad.  The  name 
by  which  we  call  them  (Greek  ^olpl^,  Latin  Pccnus, 
Punicus)  is  not  their  own  name,  but  one  which 
perhaps  marked  their  land  as  the  land  of  palm-trees. 
They  called  themselves  and  their  land  CJina  or 
Canaan.  For  of  a  truth  they  came  from  the  Canaan 
of  the  Old  Testament  ;  they  worshipped  the  gods  of 
Canaan,  Baalim  and  Ashtaroth,  with  their  foul  and 
bloody  rites,  burning  their  children  in  the  fire. 
Their  tongue  was  the  same  as  the  Hebrew,  and 
a  very  little  knowledge  of  Hebrew  will  explain 
many  Phoenician  names.  Thus  the  most  famous  of 
all,  Han7tibal,\s  the  Grace  of  Baal,  just  as  the  Hebrew 
Hananiah  is  the  Grace  of  Jehovah.  Turn  it  round, 
and  it  \s  Jeho/ianan,  Johannes,  our  familiar  Jo/ui.  To 
the  Greeks  the  Phoenicians  were  of  course  bai'barians, 
a  name  given  to  all  who  did  not  speak  Greek.  It  no 
doubt  implies  a  certain  degree  of  contempt  for  those 
who  did  not  speak  Greek  ;  but  it  proves  nothing  as  to 
the  measure  of  civilization  reached  by  the  people  so 


22  SICILY   AND    ITS   INHABITANTS. 

called,  or  even  as  to  the  degree  of  distance  between 
their  tongue  and  the  Greek.  The  PhcEnicians  were 
the  boldest  sea-faring  people  in  the  world  and  the 
most  cunning  traders.  In  this  way  they  spread  them- 
selves over  a  great  part  of  the  coast  of  the  Mediter- 
ranean, founding  in  some  places  mere  factories, 
in  others  actual  colonies.  They  occupied  many 
points  in  the  island  of  Cyprus  and  many  of  the 
iEgaean  islands,  and  seemingly  points  on  the  Greek 
coast  itself  At  this  early  time,  to  which  we  can  give 
no  exact  date,  they  were  far  advanced  in  material 
arts  above  the  Greeks  and  all  other  Europeans  ;  but 
they  are  said  not  to  have  been  an  inventive  people, 
but  rather  to  have  spread  abroad  the  inventions  of 
others.  Certain  it  is  that  the  Greeks  learned  much 
from  them  in  the  way  of  material  culture ;  and  they 
learned  a  much  more  precious  gift,  namely  the 
alphabet.  All  the  various  forms  of  written  letters  now 
used  in  Europe  have  come  in  different  wa}'S  from  the 
letters  which  the  Greeks  first  learned  of  the  Phoeni- 
cians. The  name  alphabet  shows  it  ;  it  comes  from 
the  first  two  Phoenician  letters,  alcph  and  bcth,  in 
Greek  alpJia  and  beta. 

Yet,  with  all  this,  the  Greek  was  a  Greek  and  the 
Phoenician  was  a  barbarian.  The  superiority  of  the 
Asiatic  was  in  material  inventions  ;  what  the  Greek 
learned,  he  developed  and  improved  as  no  barbarian 
ever  did.  It  is  the  art,  the  polity,  the  language,  of  Greece, 
not  that  of  Phoenicia,  which  has  influenced  the  world 
for  ever.  In  time  the  Phoenicians  were  glad  to  copy 
Greek  arts,  to  take  back  their  own  gifts  in  a  shape  in 
which  they  could  hardly  have  known  them.     But  at 


THE   PHCENICIANS.  23 

this  early  time  the  Phoenicians  were  the  more  advanced 
people,  above  all  in  everything  to  do  with  trade  and 
a  sea-faring  life.  While  the  Greeks  hardly  ventured 
to  stir  beyond  their  own  vEgaean  and  the  islands  just 
off  Western  Greece,  the  Phoenicians  sailed  everywhere 
in  the  Mediterranean,  and  even  made  their  way  into 
the  Ocean.  And  at  least  one  Phoenician  colony  was 
planted  on  the  Ocean  itself,  outside  what  men 
called  the  pillars  of  Herakles,  the  heights  on  each 
side  which  seem  to  guard  the  entrance  to  the 
Mediterranean.  This  was  Gadeira  or  Gades,  said 
to  be  the  oldest  settlement  of  all.  And  so  it  well  may 
be  ;  for  one  great  object  of  Phoenician  trade  w^as  the 
gold  of  Spain  (Tharshish,  Tartessos),  then  the  land 
of  gold  ;  the  nearer  colonies  were  posts  on  the  way. 
Gades,  hardly  changing  its  name  in  the  modern 
Cadi.':,  though  never  a  ruling  city,  has  been  a 
flourishing  haven  of  trade  through  all  the  ages  till 
now._ 

But  the  chief  land  of  Phoenician  settlement  was 
Africa,  and  that  brings  us  round  to  our  own  Sicily. 
Many  Phoenician  cities  were  planted  in  Africa,  Hippo, 
Utica,  and  others,  and  above  all  Carthage.  But  Car- 
thage, which  grew  to  be  the  greatest  of  all  Phoenician 
cities,  was  the  youngest  of  the  African  settlements.  Its 
name  {Kapxn^f^v,  Kartaco,  Carthago)  means  the  New 
City,  like  Greek  Ncapolis  or  English  Neiuton.  The  first 
syllable  is  the  word  for  city,  which  we  see  in  many 
Old  Testament  names,  as  KirjatJi-]Q2cc\v^.  But  we  have 
nothing  to  do  with  Carthage  as  yet.  Carthage  at  a  later 
time  plays  so  great  a  part  in  Sicilian  history  that  we 
are  tempted  to  bring  it  in   before  its   time,  and  to 


24  SICILY  AND   ITS   INHABITANTS. 

fancy  that  the  Phoenician  colonies  in  Sicily  were,  as 
they  are  sometimes  carelessly  called,  Carthaginian 
colonies.  This  is  not  so ;  the  Phoenician  cities  in 
Sicily  did  in  after  times  become  Carthaginian 
dependencies  :  but  they  were  not  founded  by  Carth- 
age. We  cannot  fix  an  exact  date  for  their  founda- 
tion, nor  can  we  tell  for  certain  how  far  they  were 
settled  straight  from  the  old  Phoenicia  and  how  far 
from  the  older  Phoenician  cities  in  Africa.  But  we 
may  be  sure  that  their  foundation  happened  between 
the  migration  of  the  Sikels  in  the  eleventh  century 
B.C.  and  the  beginning  of  Greek  settlement  in  the 
eighth.  And  we  may  suspect  that  the  Phoenician 
settlements  in  the  east  of  Sicily  were  planted  straight 
from  Tyre  and  Sidon,  and  those  in  the  west  from  the 
cities  in  Africa.  We  know  that  all  round  Sicily  the 
Phoenicians  occupied  small  islands  and  points  of  coast 
which  were  fitted  for  their  trade,  but  we  may  doubt 
whether  they  anywhere  in  Eastern  Sicily  planted 
real  colonies,  cities  with  a  territory  attached  to  them. 
In  the  west  they  seem  to  have  done  so.  For,  when 
the  Greeks  began  to  advance  in  Sicily,  the  Phoenicians 
withdrew  to  their  strong  posts  in  the  western  part  of 
the  island,  Motya,  Solous,  and  Panormos.  There  they 
kept  a  firm  hold  till  the  time  of  Roman  dominion. 
The  Greeks  could  never  permanently  dislodge  them 
from  their  possessions  in  this  part.  Held,  partly  by 
Phoenicians,  partly  by  Sikans  and  Elymians  who  had 
been  brought  under  Phoenician  influence,  the  north- 
western corner  of  Sicily  remained  a  barbarian  corner. 
Of  these  three  settlements  \\hich  the  Phoenicians 
kept  in  Western  Sicily,  Motya  has  the  shortest  history. 


PIICENICIAN    COLONIES   IN   SICILY.  25 

It  was  the  settlement  nearest  to  Africa,  planted  on  a 
small  island  in  a  sheltered  bay,  a  little  to  the  north  of 
Lilybaion,  the  most  western  point  of  Sicily.  There 
was  as  }'et  no  town  of  Lilybaion.  But  in  the  time 
of  Carthaginian  dominion,  in  the  fourth  century  B.C. 
Motya  was  forsaken,  and  a  very  strong  town  arose 
on  Lilybaion,  now  the  modern  Marsala.  Motya  has 
never  been  rebuilt,  but  large  remains  of  its  Phoenician 
walls  may  be  seen. 

The  other  two  Phoenician  towns  are  on  the  north 
side  of  Sicily,  where  the  coast  makes  a  bend  so  as  to 
form  a  bay  looking  to  the  east.  On  the  rocky  hill 
which  forms  the  southern  shore  of  this  bay  stood  the 
Pheenician  town  of  Solous,  Soluntum,  Solunto,  said 
to  be  so  called  from  Se/a,  the  rock,  a  name  which 
is  found  in  the  Old  Testament.  It  was  the  most 
important  Phoenician  outpost  against  the  Sikels,  and 
afterwards  against  the  Greeks,  to  the  east.  So  its  site 
is  not,  like  those  of  the  other  Phoenician  towns,  close 
on  the  sea,  but  on  the  inland  side  of  the  hill,  with  the 
sea  at  its  foot.  The  site  is  now  forsaken  ;  there  are 
large  remains  of  the  town,  but  they  date  only  from 
Roman,  not  from  Phoenician  times. 

But  the  greatest  of  all  Phoenician  settlements  in 
Sicily  lay  within  the  bay  of  which  the  hill  of  Solous 
is  one  horn,  but  much  nearer  to  the  other  horn,  the 
hill  of  Herkte,  now  Pellcgrino.  Here  the  mountains 
fence  in  a  wonderfully  fruitful  plain,  known  in  after 
times  as  the  Go/dcu  Shell  (Conca  d'oro).  In  the 
middle  of  it  there  was  a  small  inlet  of  the  sea,  parted 
into  two  branches,  with  a  tongue  of  land  between 
them,  guarded  by  a  small  peninsula  at    the  mouth. 


26  SICILY  AND   ITS    INHABITANTS. 

There  could  be  no  better  site  for  Phoenician  traders. 
Here  then  rose  a  Phoenician  city,  which,  though  on 
the  north  coast  of  Sicily,  looks  straight  towards  the 
rising  sun.  It  is  strange  that  we  do  not  know  its 
Phoenician  name  ;  in  Greek  it  was  called  Panovmos, 
the  All-haven,  a  name  borne  also  by  other  places. 
This  is  the  modern  Palermo,  which,  under  both 
Phoenicians  and  Saracens,  was  the  Semitic  head  of 
Sicily,  and  which  remained  the  capital  of  the  island 
under  the  Norman  kings.  The  ground  has  been  quite 
changed.  The  two  branches  of  the  All-haven  have 
become  dry  land,  and  the  modern  port  of  Palermo 
has  moved  away  from  the  old  city.  This  must  be 
borne  in  mind  ;  because  the  city  which  we  shall  have 
to  speak  of  down  to  the  Norman  times  is  still  the  old 
Panormos  planted  on  the  fork  of  the  two  havens,  quite 
unlike  the  Palermo  that  now  is. 

Thus  in  Sicily  the  East  became  West  and  the  West 
East.  The  men  of  Asia  withdrew  before  the  men  of 
Europe  to  the  west  of  the  island,  and  thence  warred 
against  the  men  of  Europe  to  the  east  of  them.  In 
the  great  central  island  of  Europe  they  held  their 
own  barbarian  corner.  It  was  the  land  of  Phoenicians, 
Sikans,  and  Elymians,  as  opposed  to  the  eastern  land 
of  the  Greeks  and  their  Sikel  subjects  and  pupils. 
We  must  remember  also  that  the  Phoenicians  w-ere 
settled  in  Africa  and  Spain,  and  that  they  gradually 
occupied  the  islands,  great  and  small,  around  Sicily 
and  to  the  west  of  it.  Into  all  these  lands  the 
Phoenicians  brought  their  tongue  and  their  creed. 
The  gods  of  Canaan  were  worshipped  in  Sicily.  Men 
dX    Panormos  and  Motya  made  their   children    pass 


PANORMOS,    MOTYA,   AND   EKYX.  27 

through  the  fire,  and  whatever  the  temple  on  Kryx 
was  at  first,  it  became  the  house  of  Ashtoreth. 
The  strife  between  the  Greeks,  who  had  at  least  a 
nobler  form  of  heathendom,  and  the  Phoenicians  was 
therefore  something  of  a  crusade  or  holy  war  from 
the  beginning,  and  men  clearly  felt  that  it  was  so. 
But  we  must  remember  that  the  Greeks  had  but  little 
warfare  with  the  Phoenician  settlements  in  Sicily  as 
long  as  they  were  independent ;  the  great  strife  began 
when  Carthage  rose  to  dominion. 

We  have  thus  gone  through  those  nations  that  were 
in  Sicily  before  the  Greeks.  That  is  the  primitive 
inhabitants,  Sikans,  Sikels,  and  Elymians,  and  the 
Pha:;nician  colonists  who  settled  among  them.  All 
of  them  together  have  left  but  small  traces  of  their 
presence.  The  chief  are  the  tombs  hewn  in  the  lime- 
stone rocks,  which  abound  in  many  parts,  specially  in 
the  deep  valleys  on  the  south-east.  These  are  doubt- 
less mostly  Sikcl,  but  they  may  have  been  Sikan  before 
that.  We  have  spoken  of  the  Phoenician  walls  at 
Motya  ;  they  may  well  be  Old-Phoenician;  the  work 
at  Eryx  and  Lilybaion  is  Carthaginian.  And  we  have 
mentioned  the  Sikel  building  at  Cefalu.  There  is 
very  little  more,  except  the  tombs  of  two  Phoenician 
women  in  the  Museum  at  Palermo.  There  are 
Phoenician  coins  with  Phoenician  legends  ;  of  the 
other  nations  we  have  no  coins,  till  they  came  to  coin 
after  Greek  models.  Of  the  Sikan  and  Elymian 
tongues  we  can  say  nothing  ;  the  Sikel  tongue,  we 
have  seen,  was  near  akin  to  the  Latin.  But  we  have 
no  writings  or  inscriptions  in  any  of  them.  The 
Phoenician  lan'Tuatje  and    all    about  the  Phoenicians 


28 


SICILY   AND   ITS    INHABITANTS. 


is  well  known,  but  not  by  reason  of  their  presence 
in  Sicily.  All  these  nations,  the  Phoenicians  thenn- 
selves  among  them,  make  only  a  preliminary  part  of 
our  subject.  The  real  history  of  Sicily,  as  a  land 
playinCT  a  great  part  in  the  affairs  of  the  world,  begins 
with  the  coming-  of  the  Greeks. 


III. 


THE   LEGENDS. 

[Here,  even  more  than  ia  other  parts  of  the  story,  we  have  to  pick 
up  scraps  of  knowledge  where  we  can.  Our  nearest  approach  to  any- 
thing continuous  is  in  the  fifth  book  of  Diodoros,  where  he  is  dealing 
with  the  legendary  times  of  Greece,  and  brings  in  many  of  the  stories 
of  his  own  island.  About  the  Palici  we  learn  most  from  the  late  Latin 
writer  Macrobius,  who  has  collected  a  great  deal  about  them  from 
many  sources  ;  but  Diodoros  has  something  to  say  too.  The  account  of 
Hadranus  comes  chiefly  from  two  notices  in  the  History  of  Animals  by 
the  late  Greek  writer  /Elian.  The  legend  ot  Demeter  and  Persephone 
is  scattered  over  the  whole  range  of  Greek  literature  ;  Init  in  its  special 
relation  to  Henna  it  comes  out  wholly  in  Latin  writers.  It  begins  in 
the  great  speech  of  Cicero  against  Verres,  and  goes  on  in  the  poets  Ovid 
and  Claudian.] 


In  the  history  of  Sicily,  perhaps  even  more  than 
elsewhere,  we  must  take  special  heed  to  distinguish 
genuine  tradition,  that  is  history  in  an  imperfect 
shape,  preserving  the  memory  of  real  events,  from 
two  forms  of  untrustworthy  statement.  There  are 
some  tales  which  are  sheer  invention,  devised  with  a 
purpose.  There  are  also  legends  which  have  grown 
up,  one  hardly  knows  how,  tales  which  are  not  true, 
but  in  which  there  is  no  conscious  purpose  to  deceive. 
Thus  the  tale  of  the  Sikcl  migration  from  Italy  is 
a  piece  of  genuine  tradition,  recording  a  real  event. 


30  THE   LEGENDS. 

The  talc  of  the  Trojan  origin  of  the  Elymians  is  a 
piece  of  sheer  invention.  Round  both  of  these  stories, 
as  statements  of  fact  or  supposed  fact,  legendary 
details  have  grown.  And  legendary  details  have 
grown  also  where  there  is  not  so  much  groundwork 
of  fact  or  supposed  fact  as  this.  Many  tales  grow  up 
out  of  some  local  worship  or  are  meant  to  explain  some 
local  phaenomenon.  Of  all  these  kinds  of  stories  we 
have  plenty  in  Sicily.  We  have  tales  which  grew  up 
among  the  Greeks  themselves  after  they  came  into 
the  island.  And  we  have  tales  which  the  Greeks 
took  over  from  the  Sikels,  and  tricked  out  according 
to  their  own  fancy. 

One  class  of  stories  arose  out  of  the  supposed 
necessity  of  finding  real  sites  for  all  the  places  spoken 
of  in  the  Odyssey.  This  the  Greeks,  above  all  in 
Sicily,  looked  on  as  a  kind  of  duty.  For  Odysseus 
had  sailed  to  the  West  ;  he  must  therefore  have 
visited  Sicily.  We  have  already  mentioned  how  the 
little  island  of  Thrinakic,  where  the  oxen  of  the  sun 
grazed,  was  held  to  be  Sicily,  and  how  the  name  was 
improved  into  Trinakria.  The  poet  of  the  Odyssey 
may  or  may  not  have  meant  some  real  isle  ;  he  may 
have  meant  some  corner  or  peninsula  of  Sicily, 
mistaken  for  an  island — as  some  said  that  Mylai  or 
Milazzo  was  the  place — he  assuredly  did  not  mean 
Sicily  itself  as  a  whole.  On  the  other  hand,  we 
cannot  doubt  that  the  picture  of  Skylla  and 
Charybdis  sprang  up  out  of  tales  told  by  sailors,  very 
likely  Phoenician  sailors,  about  the  wonders  of  the 
strait.  Then  the  monstrous  giants  of  the  Odyssey, 
Laistrygones  and  Kyklopes,  were  quartered  in  Sicily. 


HERAKLES.  3 1 

A  whole  crop  of  legends  therefore  grew  up  about 
Polyphemos,  the  nymph  Galateia,  and  her  other  lover 
Akis.  Others,  as  ^tna  came  to  be  better  known, 
changed  the  giant  shepherds  into  giant  smiths,  who 
forged  the  thunderbolts  of  Zeus  and  had  Hephaistos 
to  their  master.  These  are  all  purely  Greek  stories, 
into  which  little  or  nothing  of  native  belief  or  tradition 
has  crept  in. 

We  have  said  that  the  Trojan  origin  of  the  Ely- 

mians  was  sheer  invention  with  a  purpose.  The  story 

must  have  been  of  Elymian  invention,  but  invented 

after  the  Elymians  had  learned  something  of  Greek 

legend.     It  took  several  forms,  and  legendary  details 

grew  about  it.   But  it  concerns  us  most  that  it  clearly, 

among  the  Greeks  at  least,  displaced  an  older  Greek 

stor)-,  which  also  looks  very  like  invention    with    a 

purpose.     The  Greek  hero   Herakles  got  mixed  up 

with  the  Phoenician  Melkart,  and  in  that  character  he 

was  sent  on  various  errands  in  the  West,  as  far  as  the 

Ocean.     Many  stories  arose  about  him  in  Sicily,  about 

his  driving  away  the  oxen  of  Geryones,  about  their 

crossing  the  strait,  and  how  the  hero  first  received  the 

worship  of  a  god  in   the    Sikel    to\A-n    of   Agyrium, 

where  the  hoof-prints  of  his   oxen  were  to  be  seen. 

All  this  last  the  historian  Diodoros,  who  was  a  man 

of  Agyrium,  takes   care  to  tell    us    at  length.     But 

above  all  Herakles  wrestled  with  Eryx,  the  epoiiyinos 

of  the  mountain  and  town  so-called,  and  overthrew 

him.     He  thus  gained  a  right  to  his  land,  but  he  left 

it  to  him  on  a  kind  of  lease,  to  hold  till  a  Herakleid 

should  come  and  claim  it.     This  last  part  at  least  of 

the  story  was  clearly  made    up    in    the    interest   of 


32 


THE   LEGENDS. 


certain  Hcrakleids  who,  as  we  shall  see  in  time,  did 
come  to  claim  Eryx.  But  it  is  plain  that  the  story 
of  Herakles  at  Eryx  before  the  war  of  Troy  upsets 
the  story  of  the  Trojan  origin  of  the  Elymians.  And 
men  were  driven  to  strange  shifts  in  trying  to  reconcile 
the  two. 

The  story  of  the  famous  mythical  artist  Daidalos 
coming  to  Sicily  is  of  quite  another  kind.  Here  we 
can  see  traces  of  real  native  legend,  though  greatly 
tricked  out  by  Greek  fancy.  Daidalos,  having 
offended  Minos,  the  powerful  king  of  Crete,  flies  to 
Sicily,  or  rather,  as  we  arc  specially  told,  to  Sikania. 
There  he  is  entertained  by  the  Sikan  king  Kokalos  — 
every  pains  is  taken  to  point  out  that  he  was  Sikan 
and  not  Sikel— for  whom  he  builds  the  strong  city  of 
Kamikos.  He  does  also  many  other  wonderful  works 
in  all  parts  of  the  island  ;  among  others,  he  builds 
the  temple  on  Eryx.  That  is,  as  usual  in  such  cases, 
all  wonderful  works  were  attributed  to  him.  Pre- 
sently Minos  comes  with  a  great  fleet  to  Sicily  to 
punish  Daidalos  ;  but  he  is  killed  in  a  bath  by  the 
daughters  of  Kokalos.  His  followers,  or  some  of 
them,  settle  in  Sicily,  and  build  a  town  of  Minoa 
where  they  first  landed,  with  a  tomb  of  Minos  and 
a  temple  of  Aphrodite.  Here  we  have  both  Phceni- 
cian  and  Greek  elements.  The  story  had  put  on  a 
Greek  shape  ;  but  the  bringing  of  Minos  into  the 
story  was  most  likely  suggested  by  a  Phoenician 
settlement  at  Minoa.  But  King  Kokalos  and  his 
town  of  Kamikos  must  be  true  Sikan  tradition. 
Nobody  had  any  interest  in  inventing  them.  And 
Kamikos    was  a   real  town,  which   plays    a   part   in 


THE  NETHER    GODS.  33 

Sicilian  history,  though  a  small  one.  It  has  been 
placed  on  the  site  of  tlic  mountain  town  of  Calta- 
bellotta  near  Sciacca,  and  it  must  at  any  rate  have 
been  not  far  off. 

This  is  perhaps  our  only  bit  of  Sikan  story  ;  the 
Sikels  have  left  us  much  more.  We  have  already 
seen  at  Agyrium  a  Greek  story  fixed  on  a  Sikel  site. 
But  we  have  a  large  amount  of  Sikel  belief  and 
tradition  which  made  its  way  into  the  mythology  of 
the  Greeks.  As  was  natural  in  Sicily,  a  land  so  full 
of  volcanic  pha^nomena  of  all  kinds,  the  Sikel  religion 
was  a  worship  of  the  powers  of  nature,  and  above  all 
of  the  powers  under  the  earth.  The  coin  itself,  grow- 
ing up  from  the  earth,  was  looked  on  as  a  gift  from  the 
nether  powers.  Then  there  was  the  great  burning 
mountain  of  Aitna,  and  several  smaller  volcanos 
which  threw  up  only  mud,  as  at  Maccaluba  near 
Girgenti  ;  there  were  the  hot  springs  at  Termini  and 
near  Sciacca.  There  were  volcanic  lakes,  deep  holes 
in  the  earth,  and  many  things  which  fitted  in  with  the 
worship  of  the  nether-gods,  gods,  in  Sikel  belief, 
awful  but  kindly.  Some  bits  of  Sikel  religion  have 
come  down  to  us  almost  untouched  ;  others  have 
been  so  worked  into  Greek  legends  that  we  cannot 
even  guess  their  native  shape.  Thus  there  was  a 
Sikel  goddess  Hybla,  whom  the  Greeks  looked  on  as 
the  same  with  several  goddesses  of  their  own  my- 
tholog)^,  here  with  one,  there  with  another.  Three 
towns  in  Sicily  were  called  after  her,  one  in  the 
south-eastern  part  of  the  island,  now  Ragusa,  another 
on  the  coast  north  of  Syracuse,  near  the  place  where 
the  Greek  colony  of  Megara  was  afterwards  planted. 

4 


34  THE    LEGENDS. 

This  gave  its  name  to  the  H}-blaian  hills  not  far  off, 
famous  for  their  honey  ;  but  there  is  no  hill  strictly 
called  Mount  Hybla.  The  third  Hybla  is  inland,  not 
far  from  Catania,  and  is  now  called  Paterno.  The 
worshippers  of  the  goddess  here  were  specially 
skilled  in  the  interpretation  of  dreams.  Just  below 
her  temple  is  a  mud  volcano  and  some  mineral 
springs,  showing  plainly  enough  that  Hybla  was  a 
goddess  of  the  nether- world.  Then  there  was  the 
Sikel  fire-god  Hadranus,  who  had  a  temple  near 
JEtna,  not  far  from  Paterno,  where  a  town  Hadranum, 
now  Aderno,  was  afterwards  built.  In  his  temple  fire 
was  ever  burning.  The  story  goes  that  in  it  were  kept 
a  thousand  great  dogs,  who  knew  and  welcomed  good 
people  when  they  came  to  worship,  while  the  bad  they 
drove  away  or  tore  in  pieces,  according  to  the  measure 
of  their  sins.  They  also  guided  travellers  who  had  lost 
their  way,  in  which  we  may  see  some  training  like  that 
of  the  dogs  of  Saint  Bernard.  More  famous  than  these 
is  the  Sikel  holy  place  which  plays  the  greatest  part  in 
Sicilian  history.  This  was  the  temple  and  lake  of  the 
Palici,  the  Great  Twin  Brethren  of  Sikel  worship.  Their 
temple  stood  in  a  plain  north  of  the  hill-town  of 
Mensenum,  now  Mineo.  There  were  anciently  two 
volcanic  craters  ;  now  there  is  only  one,  within  which 
the  water  bubbles  up  in  several  places.  An  oath 
taken  here  was  the  most  binding  of  all  oaths,  and  it 
was  held  that  its  breach  was  always  followed  by  some 
fearful  judgment.  The  Palici  were  clearly  gods  of 
the  earth  ;  in  their  story  they  came  out  of  the  earth. 
They  were  kindly  gods  also,  who  gave  special  shelter 
to  slaves.     Here  we  have  an  almost  untouched  Sikel 


THE   PALICI  AND    THE    GODDESSES.  35 

worship  ;  the  Greeks  did  nothing,  save,  after  their 
manner,  to  invent  parents  for  the  Sikcl  gods,  to  say 
that  the  PaHci  were  sons  of  Zeus  and  a  nymph 
Thalcia,  or,  more  fittingly,  of  the  fire-god  Hadranus 
or  their  own  Hephaistos.  In  the  okl  Italian  religion, 
of  which  the  Sikel  creed  was  one  form,  the  gods  had 
no  parents. 

But  in  the  most  famous  of  all  seats  of  Sikcl  worship 
we  see  how  a  story  which  had  grown  up  in  Greece 
was  carried  bodily  into  Sicily,  how  it  was  fitted  to 
sites  and  phaenomena  there,  and  so  fully  took  posses- 
sion of  them  that,  amid  the  rich  adornments  of 
Greek  fancy,  it  is  not  easy  to  see  what  the  original 
Sikel  belief  was.  This  is  the  story  of  the  special 
patronesses  of  Sicily,  the  goddesses  of  Henna,  the 
powers  of  the  earth  that  sent  up  the  fruitful  corn. 
Their  Sikel  character,  whatever  it  was,  has  been  quite 
lost  in  the  Greek  story  of  Dcmeter  and  her  daughter 
Persephone,  called  specially  Kore,  the  Maid,  and  how 
the  Maid  was  carried  off  by  Ai'doneus,  the  god  of  the 
nether-world.  The  tale  was  carried  to  Sicily,  and 
fixed  at  Henna  and  the  neighbouring  lake  Fergus.  It 
grew  on  Sicilian  ground,  and  reached  its  height  in  the 
hands  of  the  Latin  poets.  In  the  oldest  form  of  the 
tale,  in  the  Homeridian  hymn  to  Demeter,  there  is  no 
thought  of  Henna  or  of  Sicily  at  all.  Later  on,  as  in 
the  odes  of  Pindar  and  in  various  other  notices,  the 
goddesses  appear  as  special  goddesses  of  Sicily,  but 
without  any  mention  of  Henna.  It  is  by  the  Greek 
poet  Kallimachos,  in  the  time  of  the  second  Hicron, 
that  Henna  is  first  spoken  of  as  having  anything 
to  do  with  the  fjoddesses.     Then    the  Latin  writers 


36  THE   LEGENDS. 

Cicero  and  Livy  describe  Henna  as  the  specially 
holy  place  of  the  goddesses,  and  fix  the  story 
to  its  neighbourhood.  Lastly,  in  the  Latin  poets, 
specially  in  Ovid  and  Claudian,  we  find  the  tale  told 
at  length,  as  happening  at  Lake  Fergus  and  other 
places  in  Sicily.  The  maiden  Persephone,  with  her 
playmates  the  nymphs, is  gathering  flowers  by  the  lake; 
as  she  goes  to  pluck  a  wonderful  narcissus  with  a 
hundred  heads,  Aidoneus  comes  up  through  one  of 
the  holes  by  the  lake,  with  his  chariot  and  his  black 
horses,  and  carries  off  1\\q  Maid.  In  the  plain  by  Syra- 
cuse, the  nymph  Kyana  rebukes  him  and  bids  him 
let  the  Maid  go.  Kyana  is  turned  into  the  fountain 
that  bore  her  name,  and  Aidoneus  carries  off  his  prize 
to  the  nether- world.  Then  come  the  wanderings  of 
Demeter  in  search  of  her  daughter,  just  as  in  the  ver- 
sion that  knows  nothing  of  Sicily.  In  the  end  Zeus 
settles  that  Persephone  shall  stay  half  the  year  with 
Aidoneus  as  queen  of  the  nether- world.  But  she 
receives  Sicily  as  a  wedding-gift,  and  she  is  to  stay 
the  other  half  year  with  her  mother  as  one  of  the 
two  great  goddesses  of  the  island. 

Here  is  the  local  belief  of  Sikel  Henna  so  adorned 
by  Greek  fancy  that  we  do  not,  as  in  the  case  of  the 
Palici,  see  what  it  was  that  the  story  started  from. 
Last  of  all,  we  have  another  very  famous  story,  which 
arose  out  of  physical  pha^nomena  in  Sicily,  but  which 
seems  to  be  wholly  a  Greek  story,  devised  after  the 
Greeks  had  settled  in  the  island.  In  the  island  of 
Ortygia,  on  which  the  town  of  Syracuse  began,  was  a 
spring  of  fresh  water  very  near  to  the  sea.  Hard  by, 
in  the  sea  itself,  was  another  fresh  spring,  bubbling 


ARETHOUSA.  37 

up  in  the  midst  of  the  salt  water.  The  two  things,  it 
was  thought,  must  have  something  to  do  with  one 
another.  So  the  story  grew  that  the  maiden  Arethousa, 
over  the  sea  in  Eh's,  was  pursued  by  tlie  river-god 
Alpheios.  She  prayed  to  her  mistress  Artemis,  who 
turned  her  into  a  fountain.  Her  waters  ran  under  the 
sea  till  they  turned  up  again  in  Ortygia,  and  her  lover 
Alpheios  also  followed  her  with  his  stream  through  the 
waves.  Both  in  Old  Greece  and  in  Sicily  men  were 
well  used  to  rivers  running  under  the  earth  and  coming 
up  again.  So  it  did  not  seem  impossible  that  they 
might  run  under  the  sea  also  ;  and  grave  writers  like 
Strabo  and  Pausanius  go  into  scientific  arguments 
whether  so  it  could  be.  Here  then  we  again  see  the 
powers  of  the  nether-world,  only  this  time  under  the 
sea  and  not  under  the  earth.  We  see  them  this  time 
also  in  a  purely  Greek  shape,  as  there  is  no  reason  to 
think  that  Arethousa  has  anything  to  do  with  any 
Sikel  worship  or  story.  It  can  be  shown  that  the 
legend  grew  out  of  the  local  worship  of  Artemis  in 
Elis.  It  was  simply  carried  to  Sicily  to  explain  the 
local  wonders  of  Syracuse. 

Thus  we  have  purely  Sikcl  beliefs,  as  in  the  stories 
of  Hybla,  Hadranus,  and  the  Palici.  We  have,  as  in 
the  story  of  Demeter  and  the  Korc,  a  Greek  tale 
fitted  to  a  Sikel  sanctuary,  and  practically  displacing 
the  old  Sikel  worship.  Lastly,  we  have,  in  the  story 
of  Alpheios  and  Arethousa,  a  Greek  story  simply 
carried  over  to  a  Sicilian  site.  Thus  the  Greek 
influenced  the  Sikel  and  the  Sikel  influenced  the 
Greek.  It  will  always  be  so  when  two  nations  meet 
which    are    near  enough  to  each  other,  as  any  two 


38 


THE   LEGENDS. 


European  nations  are  near  enough,  to  influence  one 
another.  The  Sikels  were  kinsfolk  of  the  Greeks  who 
had  lagged  behind.  They  were  not  savages,  nor  had 
they,  like  the  Phoenicians,  a  civilization  of  their  own 
quite  different  from  that  of  the  Greeks.  We  have 
now  to  tell  what  came  of  the  meeting  of  these  nations 
and  of  their  influence  on  one  another.  The  way  in 
which  the  Sikels  became  Greek,  that  is,  how  Sicily 
became  Greek,  is  the  great  feature  of  old  Sicilian 
story.  That  story  we  shall  begin  to  tell  in  our  next 
chapter. 


IV 


THE   GREEK   SETTLEMENTS   IN    SICILY. 

B.C.    735-580. 

[Of  llie  Greek  settlements  in  Sicily  we  have  the  precious  sketch  at 
tlie  beginning  of  the  sixth  book  of  Thiicydidcs,  in  which  some  say  that 
he  followed  the  Syracusan  writer  Antiochos.  The  books  of  Diodoros 
in  which  he  must  have  described  them  more  fully  are  unluckily  lost, 
save  some  fragments.  A  good  deal  may  be  learned  from  Strabo,  from 
whom  we  see  that  there  were  often  several  stories  current  about  the 
same  foundation.  And  there  are  casual  notices  in  many  places,  in 
Plutarch's  lesser  works  and  elsewhere.] 


The  Western  Greeks  at  least  had  some  vague 
notions  of  Sicily  and  the  Sikels  as  carl)'  as  the  time 
of  the  Odyssey.  We  there  hear  of  a  land  called 
Sikanic,  which  can  only  mean  Sicily,  and  of  a  people 
called  Sikels,  who  may  be  those  either  of  Sicily  or  of 
Italy.  With  them  the  Greeks  seem  to  have  carried 
on  a  brisk  trade  in  buying  and  selling  slaves.  The 
suitors  threaten  to  sell  Odysseus  to  the  Sikels,  and 
old  Laertes  is  waited  on  by  a  Sikel  woman.  But 
such  a  trade,  carried  on  along  the  coast,  as  all  inter- 
course between  Greece  and  Sicily  still  was  ages  after- 
wards, carried  on  too  most  likely  in  Phoenician 
vessels,    does    not    prove   much    intercourse    between 


40  rilE   GREEK   SETTLEMENTS  IN   SICILY. 

the  people  at  the  two  ends.  It  is  plain  that  Greek 
notions  of  Sicily  were  still  very  vague  when  settle- 
ment in  Sicily  began.  It  is  said  that  the  Phoenicians 
spread  tales  likely  to  frighten  any  other  people  from 
settling  there. 

For  a  long  time  Greek  settlement  was  directed  to 
the  East  rather  than  to  the  West.  And  it  was  said 
that,  when  settlement  in  Italy  and  Sicily  did  begin, 
the  earliest  Greek  colony,  like  the  earliest  Phoenician 
colony,  was  the  most  distant.  It  was  believed  that 
Kyme,  the  Latin  Cumae  in  Campania,  was  founded 
in  the  eleventh  century  B.C.  The  other  plantations 
in  Italy  and  Sicily  did  not  begin  till  the  eighth. 
Kyme  always  stood  by  itself,  as  the  head  of  a  group 
of  Greek  towns  in  its  own  neighbourhood  and  apart 
from  those  more  to  the  south,  and  it  may  very 
well  be  that  some  accident  caused  it  to  be  settled 
sooner  than  the  points  nearer  to  Greece.  But  it  is 
not  likely  to  have  been  settled  three  hundred  years 
earlier.  Most  likely  it  was  planted  just  long  enough 
before  the  nearer  sites  to  suggest  their  planting. 
Anyhow,  in  the  latter  half  of  the  eighth  century 
B.C.  Greek  settlement  to  the  West,  in  Illyria,  Sicily, 
and  Italy,  began  in  good  earnest. 

It  was  said  that  the  first  settlement  in  Sicily  came 
of  an  accident.  Chalkis  in  Euboia  was  then  one  of 
the  chief  sea-faring  towns  of  Greece.  Theokles,  a 
man  of  Chalkis,  was  driven  by  storm  to  the  coast  of 
Sicily.  He  came  back,  saying  that  it  was  a  good 
land  and  that  the  people  would  be  easy  to  conquer. 
So  in  735  B.C.  he  was  sent  forth  to  plant  the  first 
Greek  colony  in  Sicily.   The  settlers  were  partly  from 


FOUNDATION   OF  NAXOS.  41 

Chalkis,  partly  from  the  island  of  Naxos.  So  it  was 
agreed  that  the  new  town  should  be  called  Naxos, 
but  that  Chalkis  should  count  as  its  metropolis.  So 
the  new  Naxos  arose  on  the  eastern  coast  of  Sicil}-, 
on  a  peninsula  made  by  the  lava.  It  looked  up  at 
the  great  hill  of  Tauros,  on  which  Taormina  now 
stands.  The  Greek  settlers  drove  out  the  Sikels  and 
took  so  much  land  as  they  wanted.  They  built  and 
fortified  a  town,  and  part  of  their  walls  may  still  be 
seen.  As  the  first  Greek  settlers  in  the  land,  they 
set  up  an  altar  and  statue  of  Apollon  Archcgctcs,  the 
Leader  and  Beginner.  It  stood  outside  the  town  of 
Naxos,  and  became  the  religious  centre  of  the  Greeks 
of  Sicily,  the  Sikcliots  as  distinguished  from  the 
Sikels.  Hither  all  who  went  from  Sicily  to  any  of 
the  great  festivals  of  old  Greece  came  first  to  sacrifice 
to  the  common  god  of  all  Sikeiiots. 

Naxos,  as  the  beginning  of  Greek  settlement  in 
Sicily,  answers  to  Ebbsfleet,  the  beginning  of  English 
settlement  in  Britain.  The  oldest  of  Sikeliot  towns, 
it  never  became  one  of  the  greatest,  and  about  three 
hundred  years  after  its  foundation  it  was  altogcthci 
swept  away,  and  has  never  since  been  rebuilt.  Its 
settlers,  Chalkidian  and  Naxian,  belonged  to  the 
Ionian  division  of  the  Greek  nation.  In  the  very 
next  year,  it  is  said,  in  734  B.C.,  a  Dorian  city  was 
founded  in  Sicily,  which  has  a  much  greater  history. 
Corinth  on  the  isthmus,  with  its  two  havens  looking 
east  and  west,  was  one  of  the  greatest  sea- faring  cities 
of  Greece,  and  sent  out  colonies  both  ways.  A  joint 
enterprise  to  Sicily  and  the  lUyrian  coast  was  now 
decreed,  and  two  famous  Corinthian  colonies,  Kork\-ra 


42  THE   GREEK   SETTLEMENTS   IN   SIC  HA'. 

and  Syracuse,  arose  as  twin  sisters.  Chersikrates 
founded  Korkyra  and  Archias  founded  Syracuse. 
Corinth  seems  to  have  claimed  a  measure  of  authority 
over  her  nearer  colonies  which  was  not  usual  on  the 
part  of  a  Greek  metropolis.  In  the  case  of  Korkyra 
this  led  to  a  War  of  Independence,  and  to  bitter 
hatred  between  the  mother  and  the  daughter  city. 
But  no  such  authority  was  claimed  over  more  distant 
Syracuse.  Here  therefore  the  metropolis  and  the 
colony  were  always  on  the  best  of  terms,  and  the 
relations  between  them  form  the  most  pleasing  story 
in  Greek  political  life. 

Kyme  was  planted  on  a  high  hill  overlooking  the 
sea ;  Naxos  was  planted  all  but  in  the  sea,  on  a  low 
peninsula.  Syracuse  was  planted  altogether  in  the 
sea  on  a  low  island.  This  shows  how  the  Greeks  had 
advanced  since  the  days  when  all  towns  were  built  on 
inland  hill-tops.  The  Greeks  had  caught  up  the 
Phoenicians.  The  island  was  that  island  of  Ortygia 
which  contains  the  spring  of  Arethousa.  It  lies  close 
to  the  coast,  so  near  that  it  was  afterwards  joined  to 
it,  sometimes  by  a  mole,  sometimes  by  a  bridge. 
Running  north  and  south,  and  with  the  peninsula 
called  Plemmyrion  opposite  to  it  to  the  south,  the  two 
fence  in  an  inlet  of  the  sea  with  a  comparatively 
narrow  mouth,  which  forms  the  Great  Harbour  of 
Syracuse,  great  as  a  harbour,  though  small  as  a  bay. 
North  of  the  island  is  another  smaller  harbour,  so 
that  Syracuse,  like  her  mother  Corinth,  had  two 
havens,  though  they  were  much  nearer  to  each  other 
than  those  of  Corinth.  A  little  to  the  north  again 
is  a  lonsf   hill  at  its  east  end  which  rises  sheer  from 


FOUNDATION   OF   SYRACUSE.  43 

the  sea,  and  which  stretches  inland  till  it  ends  in  a 
point.  It  thus  looks  down  on  the  Great  Harbour 
and  on  another  bay  to  the  north,  with  another 
peninsula,  Xiphonia,  stretching  south  to  match 
Ortygia,  and  another  small  and  low  peninsula, 
Thapsos,  in  the  middle  of  the  bay  thus  formed.  On 
the  south  there  is  a  piece  of  low  ground  between 
the  island  and  the  hill.  And  there  is  a  wide  stretch 
of  low  and  swampy  ground  between  the  Great 
Harbour  to  the  east,  the  Syracusan  hill  to  the  north 
and  the  higher  inland  hills  to  the  west  and  south. 
Through  this  low  ground  runs  the  river  Anapos 
and  its  tributary  Kyana,  of  which  we  have  heard  in 
a  legend.  The  topography  of  Syracuse  is  of  the 
greatest  importance  for  its  history. 

When  the  Corinthian  settlers  came,  the  Island  and 
the  whole  land  were  held  by  Sikels  ;  but  it  is  quite 
possible  that  Phoenicians  had  a  factory  for  trade. 
The  first  Greek  town  arose  on  the  Island.  Syracuse 
grew  by  spreading  on  to  the  mainland  and  climbing 
up  the  hill.  But  it  would  seem  that  the  settlers  had, 
from  the  beginning  or  from  a  very  early  time,  more 
than  one  outpost  on  the  mainland  to  defend  the  land 
which  they  occupied.  They  had  one  post  called 
Acliradina  on  the  east  end  of  the  hill  overlooking  the 
sea,  and  another  called  Polidina — we  might  say  in 
English  Littleton — on  a  small  hill  in  the  low  ground 
just  west  of  the  Great  Harbour.  Here  arose  the 
Olyinpicion,  the  famous  temple  of  Olympian  Zeus. 
And  there  was  most  likely  another  outpost  on  the 
south  side  of  the  hill,  where  was  a  temple  of  Apollon, 
called  Tenicnitcs.     Each  of  these  outposts  protected 


FOUNDATION   OF   LEONTINOI   AND   KATANE.      45 

one  of  the  chief  roads  leading  to  Syracuse.  Achra- 
dina  and  Temenites  were  afterwards  taken  into  the 
city,  but  Polichna  never  was.  From  the  time  of 
Archias  till  now,  Syracuse  has  always  been  an  in- 
habited city ;  but  for  ages  past  it  has  shrunk  up 
again  within  its  first  bounds  on  the  Island.  No  part 
of  the  hill  is  at  all  thickly  inhabited.  From  the  Island 
the  Sikels  were  of  course  driven  out,  and  in  so  much 
land  as  the  Greeks  gradually  took  to  divide  among 
themselves,  they  were  brought  down  to  the  state  of 
villainage.  The  origin  of  the  name  Syracuse  {Syra- 
konsai  in  various  spellings)  is  not  clear.  It  never 
was  the  name  of  the  Island  as  such  ;  it  was  the  name 
of  the  city  on  the  Island,  and  spread  as  the  city  grew. 
By  the  foundation  of  Syracuse  Dorian  Greeks  had 
occupied  the  best  position  on  the  east  coast  of  Sicily. 
This  seems  to  have  stirred  up  the  lonians  of  Naxos — 
they  are  commonly  called  Chalkidians,  from  their 
metropolis  Chalkis — to  found  two  new  cities  be- 
tween Naxos  and  Syracuse.  This  was  in  B.C. 
729.  Theokles  himself  founded  Leontinoi,  the 
only  Greek  city  in  Sicily  on  an  inland  site. 
But  it  was  placed  on  a  point  needful  to  hold,  as 
commanding  the  way  from  the  inland  hills  to  the 
plain  of  Leontinoi,  the  largest  and  most  fruitful  in  the 
island.  The  town  lay  in  a  valley  between  two  hills,  with 
two  akropolcis  ;  it  still  lives  on  and  keeps  its  name 
as  Lentini.  The  other  Chalkidian  settlement  at  this 
time  was  Katanc,  Catiiia,  Catania,  founded  on  a  site 
close  by  the  sea,  but  not  actually  in  it,  like  Naxos 
and  Syracuse.  This  town  has  been  destroyed  many 
times  by  earthquakes  and  by  the  lava  of  /Etna,  but  it 


46  THE   GREEK    SETTLEMENTS   IN   SICILY. 

has  been  rebuilt  as  often  as  it  has  been  destroyed, 
and  it  is  now  a  far  greater  town  than  S}'racuse. 
The  working  of  the  lava  has  given  rise  to  both 
pagan  and  Christian  legends.  The  tale  went  that 
at  the  first  eruption  after  the  foundation  of  Katane, 
the  lava  parted  to  spare  the  Pious  Brethren,  Amphi- 
nomos  and  Anapios,  who  were  carrying  off  their 
parents  on  their  shoulders.  This  became  a  very 
favourite  story,  and  the  brethren  are  often  seen  on 
the  coins  of  Katane.  Of  two  other  Chalkidian  towns, 
Euboia — so  called  from  the  island  where  Chalkis 
stands — and  Kallipolis,  the  sites  are  unknown  ;  they 
must  have  been  somewhere  to  the  north  of  Naxos. 

Almost  at  the  same  time  that  the  Chalkidians  were 
thus  advancing  in  Sicily  itself,  there  came  a  new  Dorian 
settlement  from  Old  Greece.  This  was  from  Megara, 
which,  like  Corinth,  is  a  city  on  the  isthmus  with  two 
havens,  and  was  then  one  of  the  chief  sea-faring  and 
colonizing  cities  of  Greece.  In  B.C.  726  the  Megarian 
settlers,  under  their  founder  Lamis,  set  forth  to  seek 
a  home  on  that  part  of  the  east  coast  of  Sicily  which 
lay  between  Syracuse  and  the  Chalkidian  towns. 
There  they  met  with  some  strange  adventures. 
It  is  remarkable  that  they  seem  never  to  ha\e 
tried  to  settle  on  the  peninsula  of  Xiphonia,  a  site 
which  seems  the  best  after  Ortygia,  and  where  now 
is  the  town  of  Augusta.  First,  they  tried  to  settle 
a  little  to  the  north  of  Xiphonia,  at  a  place  called 
Trotilon,  where  the  river  Pantakyas,  Pantagias,  or 
Porcari,  runs  into  the  sea  with  a  wide  mouth,  hardly 
a  mile  or  two  from  the  place  where  it  is  a  tumbling 
brook  in  the  meadows.     Thence  they  moved  to  take 


FOUNDATION   OF  MEGARA.  47 

a  share  in  the  newly-founded  Chalkidian  settlement 
of  Leontinoi.  Theokles,  so  the  story  goes,  had 
planted  his  colony  by  agreement  with  the  Sikels, 
and  Greeks  and  Sikels  lived  together  in  Leontinoi 
as  fellow-townsmen.  Now  no  Greek  held  that  he 
owed  any  duty  to  a  barbarian,  unless  he  was  bound 
by  special  agreement,  and  both  towards  Greeks  and 
barbarians  an  agreement  was  often  kept  in  the  letter 
and  broken  in  the  spirit.  Theokles  told  the  Mega- 
rians  that  he  and  his  Chalkidians  could  do  no  harm 
to  the  Sikels,  because  they  were  bound  by  a  pro- 
mise, but  that  the  Megarians  were  not  so  bound,  and 
that  they  might  do  what  they  chose.  So  the  Mega- 
rians drove  out  the  Sikels,  and  dwelled  in  Leontinoi 
along  with  the  Chalkidians.  Presently  Theokles 
began  to  devise  another  trick  against  the  Megarians. 
The  Chalkidians,  when  warring  with  the  Sikels,  had 
vowed  an  armed  procession  to  the  Twelve  Gods.  It 
was  now  time  to  fulfil  the  vow  ;  but  the  Megarians 
had  no  right  in  it.  The  Chalkidians  went  through 
their  ceremony,  and  then  a  herald  proclaimed  that 
every  Megarian  must  leave  the  town  before  sunset. 
The  unarmed  Megarians  could  not  stand  against  the 
armed  Chalkidians  ;  so  they  set  forth  to  seek  a  third 
home,  while  the  Chalkidians  kept  Leontinoi  to  them- 
selves, without  either  Sikels  or  Megarians.  Then  the 
Megarians  tried  a  winter  on  Thapsos,  where  Lamis 
died.  Lastly  they  settled  on  a  point  of  the  bay 
between  Thapsos  and  Xiphonia,  near  the  greater 
Hybla.  As  is  not  very  uncommon  in  such  stories, 
they  are  said  to  have  been  helped  by  a  Sikel  prince 
who  betrayed  his  own  people.     His  name  is  Hyblon, 


48  THE   GREEK   SETTLEMENTS    IN   SICILY. 

called  after  his  town,  as  we  shall  find  some  other 
men.  The  wanderers  at  last  founded  a  town  on  the 
coast,  which  they  called  after  their  metropolis, 
Megara,  in  which  Hybla  was  pretty  well  swallowed 
up.  Megara  is  no  longer  an  existing  town,  but  con- 
siderable remains  may  be  seen. 

According  to  our  dates,  Greek  settlement  in  Sicily 
must  have  stopped  for  about  forty  years  after  the 
foundation  of  Megara,  and  it  is  certain  that  for  a 
while  Italy  rather  than  Sicily  was  chosen  as  the  land 
to  be  settled.  But  one  famous  city  seems  to  have 
been  founded  not  long  after  Megara.  This  is  Zankle, 
afterwards  called  Messana,  which  still  keeps  its  later 
name  in  the  form  of  Messina.  It  seems  to  have  been 
first  settled  in  an  irregular  way  by  pirates  from  Kyme. 
This  would  not  give  their  town  the  rights  of  a  re- 
gular Greek  colony  ;  but  it  was  afterwards  founded 
again  in  a  more  orderly  way  from  Kyme  and  Chalkis, 
with  a  founder  from  each.  It  was  a  wonderful  site, 
on  the  strait  at  the  foot  of  the  hills,  with  a  noble 
liarbour,  fenced  in  by  a  narrow  strip  of  land  in  front 
of  it.  Zankle,  or  rather  Daiiklon,  is  said  to  have 
meant  a  reaping-hook  in  the  Sikcl  tongue  ;  hence  the 
name.  The  settlers  at  Zankle  presently  turned  the 
north-east  corner  of  Sicily,  and  made  themselves  an 
outpost  on  the  northern  coast.  This  was  on  the 
peninsula  of  Mylai  or  Milazzo,  which  one  legend 
called  the  grazing-place  of  the  oxen  of  the  sun  in 
the  time  of  Odysseus.  Zankle  or  Messana  has  always 
been  a  prosperous  city,  but  in  Greek  times  it  never 
held  at  all  a  foremost  place  among  the  cities  of 
Sicily. 


FOUNDATION   OF  ZANKLI^   AND    GEL  A.  49 

The  foundation  of  Zankle  completed  the  Greek 
possession  of  the  eastern  coast  of  Sicily.  13y  far  the 
greater  part  of  that  coast  was  now  occupied  by  Greek 
settlements  ;  but,  unless  we  count  the  Zanklaian  out- 
post at  Mylai,  no  Greeks  had  as  yet  attempted  to 
occupy  either  the  northern  or  the  southern  coasts. 
About  B.C.  6S9  Greek  settlers  began  to  occupy  the 
southern  coast  also.  These  were  Dorians  from  the 
island  of  Rhodes,  with  some  companions  from  Crete, 
and  some  perhaps  from  other  islands.  The  new 
colony  was  planted  near  the  march  of  the  Sikans  and 
Sikels,  on  a  row  of  low  hills  between  the  sea  and  a 
rich  plain  fenced  in  by  mountains.  It  was  close  by 
the  river  Gclas,  so  called  in  the  Sikel  tongue  from 
the  coldness  of  its  waters,  which  shows  how  near 
the  Sikel  tongue  was  to  the  Latin  gclu  and  gelidits. 
The  new  settlers  first  occupied  a  point  of  the  hill, 
which  they  called  Lindioi,  after  one  of  the  Rhodian 
towns  ;  as  the  new  city  grew,  Lindioi  became  the 
akropolis  of  Gcia,  so  called  from  the  cold  river. 
Gela  became  a  famous  city,  but  it  has  neither  wholly 
perished  like  Naxos  nor  yet  has  it  lived  on  like 
Messina.  It  was  destroyed  after  a  life  of  several 
centuries  ;  and  after  many  more  centuries,  the  pre- 
sent town  of  Terranova  was  built  on  part  of  its  site. 

There  is  little  doubt  that  the  foundation  of  Gela, 
the  first  Greek  town  on  the  south  coast  of  Sicily, 
stirred  up- Syracuse  to  enlarge  her  borders.  No  town 
was  so  well  suited  as  Syracuse  to  be  at  once  a  land 
and  a  sea  power.  Her  object  was  to  occupy  the 
whole  south-eastern  corner,  and  to  have  a  sea-board 
on  the  southern  coast  as  well  as  the  eastern.      To 

5 


50  THE    GREEK   SETTLEMENTS   IN   SICILY. 

this  end  she  worked  steadily  but  slowly,  advancing 
both  inland  and  along  the  coast.  She  had  outposts 
at  Heloron  on  her  own  coast  and  at  Neaiton  or 
Netuin  inland.  Netum  is  A'o/o ;  but  the  present 
town  is  nearer  the  sea.  Next  Syracuse  struck 
further  inland,  clearly  aiming  at  the  south  coast. 
In  664  she  occupied  inland  Akrai,  now  Palazzuolo, 
a  hill  full  of  Sikel  tombs.  In  644  she  went  on  to 
Kasmenai,  now  Spaccaforno,  on  a  hill  some  way 
inland,  but  looking  down  on  the  southern  sea. 
Lastly  in  599  she  planted  Kamarina  on  the  southern 
sea.  Syracuse  now  held  the  whole  south-eastern 
corner  of  Sicily,  with  a  long  sea-board  round  the 
corner  and  an  unusually  large  inland  territory  to 
enable  her  to  hold  the  sea  on  both  coasts. 

What  followed  was  as  instructive  as  the  relations 
between  Corinth  and  Korkyra.  All  these  Syracusan 
towns  were  doubtless  meant  to  be,  not  separate 
commonwealths,  but  outposts  of  Syracuse,  held  by 
Syracusan  citizens.  At  this  time  none  of  them  coined 
money.  And  we  hear  of  no  disputes  between  Syra- 
cuse and  any  of  them,  except  one.  Kamarina  was  well 
suited  to  be  a  separate  city  and  it  sought  for  inde- 
pendence. A  war  followed,  in  which  each  side  found 
allies,  Greek  and  Sikel.  In  B.C.  553  the  men  of 
Kamarina  were  defeated,  and  their  town  was  swept 
from  the  earth  by  its  offended  metropolis. 

Meanwhile  there  was  no  Greek  settlement  on  the 
north  coast  westward  of  the  Zanklai  outpost  at  Mylai. 
But  presently,  about  648  B.C.  Zankle  went  on  to  found 
a  real  colony  much  farther  to  the  west,  namely 
Himera,    long   the   only    Greek    city   on    the    north 


KAMARINA,   HIMERA    AND   SE  LI  NOUS.  5 1 

coast.  Cephaloedium  and  other  Sikcl  points  lay- 
between  it  and  Zankle,  and  towards  the  west  it 
stood  right  in  the  teeth  of  the  Phoenicians.  It 
stood  on  a  not  very  high  hill  near  the  sea,  by  the 
mouth  of  the  northern  river  of  its  own  name.  It 
lived  only  two  hundred  and  forty  years,  and  now  it 
is  wholly  forsaken.  But  it  had  an  outpost  towards 
the  Phoenician  tcrritor}%  the  Hot  Baths  [Thenncv^ 
©epfxai.)  of  Ilimera,  which  the  legend  said  were 
thrown  up  by  the  nymphs  to  refresh  the  wearied 
Herakles  after  his  wrestling  at  Eryx.  The  baths 
still  remain,  and  the  modern  town  keeps  its  name  as 
Termini. 

We  must  now  go  back  a  little.  While  Syracuse 
and  Zankle  were  working  round  their  several  corners, 
after  the  foundation  of  Himera,  but  before  that  of 
Kamarina,  in  628  B.C.  the  Megarians  of  Sicily  planted 
Selinous  on  the  south  coast,  the  most  western  of 
Greek  cities  in  the  island.  It  answers  to  Himera  on 
the  north  side,  as  being  planted  as  an  outpost  of 
Hellas  on  the  very  march  of  Phoenicians,  Sikans,  and 
Elymians.  It  had  an  outpost  on  the  river  Mazaros, 
the  furthest  Greek  post  in  the  island.  The  akropolis 
stood  on  a  hill  above  che  sea,  between  the  rivers 
Hypsas  and  Selinous,  and  the  temples  and  other 
buildings  spread  over  that  hill  and  over  another 
hill  on  each  side,  a  wonderful  group.  Selinous,  like 
Himera,  is  now  quite  forsaken,  but  its  ruins  are  the 
grandest  in  Sicily. 

Between  Selinous  and  Gela  a  large  gap  still  lay  with- 
out any  Greek  city.  This  in  599  B.C.  was  filled  up 
by  the  foundation  of  Akragas,  Agrigcntuvi,  Girgenti, 


FOUNDATION   Ol-    AKRAGAS.  53 

which  has  always  lived  on  without  any  real  change  of 
name.  This  was  a  foundation  of  Gela,  which  could 
thus  endure  to  plant  an  independent  colony  on  her  own 
borders.  Greeks  from  other  places,  especially  from 
Gala's  own  metropolis  of  Rhodes,  joined  in  the  settle- 
ment. The  new  city  was  not  so  close  to  the  sea  as 
most  of  its  fellows.  It  stood  on  a  hill  between  two 
rivers  in  their  valleys,  Akragas  and  another  Hypsas. 
The  akropolis  arose  on  a  lofty  and  almost  isolated 
point  of  the  hill,  from  which  the  town  gradually 
spread  down,  as  Syracuse  spread  up.  And,  like 
Syracuse,  the  modern  town  has  shrunk  up  again  into 
its  oldest  part  ;  the  present  Girgenti  is  only  the  akro- 
polis of  Akragas.  But  though  the  city  spread,  it 
never  reached  the  sea  ;  its  small  haven  remained  at 
a  little  distance.  Akragas  had  a  great  trade  with  the 
opposite  coast  of  Africa  ;  but  it  never  became  a  real 
naval  power  like  Syracuse.  But  it  grew  rich  and 
powerful  in  many  ways,  and  was  certainly  the  second 
Greek  city  in  Sicily,  as  Syracuse  was  the  first.  The 
lower  city  is  now  forsaken,  but  nowhere  can  there  be 
seen  so  many  temples  more  or  less  perfect,  besides 
the  fallen  one  of  Zeus  Olympios,  the  greatest  in 
Sicily. 

Thus  in  about  140  years,  the  greater  part  of  the 
coast  of  Sicily  was  occupic  1  by  Greek  settlements. 
The  Phoenicians  and  their  neighbours  kept  their  own 
barbarian  corner.  Independent  Sikels  kept  the 
inland  parts  and  a  large  part  of  the  north  coast 
between  ^Nlylai  and  Ilimera.  But  the  cast  and  south 
coasts  were  Greek.  We  shall  come  to  see  that 
Akragas  was  not  the  youngest  Greek  city  in  Sicily  ; 


*■  'I 


1  IS 


FOUNDATION    OF  LI  PARA.  55 

but  it  was  the  last  independent  commonwealth  settled 
from  another  independent  commonwealth.  It  was 
not  however  the  last  attempt  at  such  settlement. 
Soon  after  the  foundation  of  Akragas,  about  580  B.C., 
a  body  of  settlers  from  Knidos  and  Rhodes,  under 
the  Knidian  Pentathlos,  strove  to  make  a  settlement 
in  the  heart  of  the  Phoenician  territory,  near  Lilybaion 
in  the  extreme  west  of  Sicily.  The  new  comers  found 
a  war  going  on  between  the  Greeks  of  Selinous  and 
the  Elymians  of  Scgesta  : — v^^e  shall  hear  of  several 
more  such  wars.  The  men  of  Segesta  had  Phoenician 
allies,  while  the  new  comers,  Greeks  and  Dorians, 
naturally  gave  help  to  the  men  of  Selinous,  also  Greeks 
and  Doiians.  But  the  Greeks  were  defeated,  and 
Pentathlos  was  killed.  His  followers  then  sailed  away 
round  the  north-west  corner  of  Sicily  to  the  isles  of 
Aiolos  ;  there  they  planted  a  colony  on  the  largest  of 
them,  the  isle  of  Lipara,  which  has  ever  since  been  an 
inhabited  town.  The  new  city  of  Lipara  looked  to 
Knidos  as  its  metropolis,  and  reverenced  the  dead 
Pentathlos  as  its  founder. 

Thus  the  islands  which  lay  between  Sicily  and 
southern  Italy,  two  great  lands  of  Greek  settlement, 
themselves  became  Greek.  The  islands  at  the  ex- 
treme west  of  Sicily,  Aigousa  and  its  fellows,  naturally 
followed  the  fortunes  of  the  neighbouring  mainland, 
and  the  islands  between  Sicily  and  Africa  were  not 
touched  by  Greek  settlement  at  any  time.  A  time 
of  nearly  a  hundred  years  now  follows,  which,  as  far 
as  the  Greek  settlements  were  concerned,  was  a  time 
of  comparative  peace  and  advance.     We  cannot  say 


56  THE   GREEK   SETTLEMENTS   IN   SICILY. 

that  there  were  no  wars,  either  between  Greeks  and 
Greeks  or  between  Greeks  and  Phcenicians  ;  but  there 
is  much  less  war  than  usual  for  so  long  a  time.  In 
the  course  of  the  sixth  century  B.C.  the  independent 
Phoenician  cities  of  Sicily  began  to  come  under  the 
power  of  their  great  sister-colony  Carthage.  Soon 
after  that  time  begins  the  first  great  war  of  any 
Sicilian  Greeks  with  Carthage,  the  first  time  when 
Syracuse  stood  forth  in  her  great  calling  as  the 
champion  of  Europe  against  Africa.  But  during  the 
greater  part  of  the  sixth  century  Phcenicians  and 
Greeks  in  Sicily  meddled  but  little  with  one  another. 
The  Phcjenicians  kept  their  own  corner  ;  the  Greeks 
strengthened  their  hold  on  the  parts  which  they  had 
won,  and  extended  their  borders  against  neighbour- 
ing Sikans  and  Sikels.  But  Syracuse  alone,  in  her 
south-western  corner,  held  any  considerable  inland 
territory.  By  the  time  the  great  strife  came,  Syracuse, 
though  not  holding  the  same  dominion  ov^er  the  other 
Greek  cities  as  Carthage  did  over  the  other  Phoinician 
cities,  was  as  clearly  the  first  among  them.  We  must 
now  go  on  to  tell  what  little  we  know  of  the  internal 
affairs  of  the  Greek  cities  while  this  work  of  settle- 
ment was  going  on,  and  also  what  we  know  of  the 
general  affairs  of  the  island  from  the  completion  of 
Greek  settlement  till  the  great  war  with  Carthage. 
That  will  be,  roughly,  the  history  of  the  sixth  century, 
B.C. 


V. 


THE    FIRST    AGE   OF   THE    GREEK   CITH'S. 


B.C.    735-480. 


[For  th-J  whole  period  of  this  chapter  we  are  still  without  any  con- 
temporary narrative  ;  it  is  only  quite  towards  the  end  that  we  have  a 
continuous  narrative  of  any  kind.  Then  in  his  fifth  and  seventh 
books  Herodotus  tells  the  story  of  Dorieus  and  of  the  reign  of  Hippo- 
krates  and  the  early  days  of  Gelon.  The  rest  we  have  to  put  together 
from  all  manner  of  sources,  mainly  Greek  writers  who  copied  earlier 
ones.  Aristotle  tells  us  something  in  the  Politics ;  so  do  Tlutarch, 
Pausanias,  Polyainos,  and  a  crowd  of  other  writers,  among  them  Dio- 
doros,  whose  continuous  narrative  is  still  missing,  but  who  gives  the 
laws  of  Charondas  out  of  their  place.  Perhaps  no  man  in  all  Greek 
history  or  legend  has  more  allusions  made  to  him  in  Greek  and  Latin 
writers  than  Phalaris.  But  we  have  no  narrative  of  his  acts,  beyond  a 
few  entries  in  the  Parian  Chronicle,  short  annals  carved  on  stone  in  the 
third  century  B.C.  The  earliest  reference  to  him  is  in  Pindar,  less  than 
a  hundred  years  after  his  time.  It  is  perhaps  needless  to  say  that  the 
Letters  which  were  once  believed  to  be  his  are  a  late  forgery  of  no 
value  whatever.  On  the  whole,  at  this  time  we  know  very  little  of  any 
of  the  Sicilian  cities  ;  but  we  know  somewhat  more  of  Syracuse  than  of 
the  olhcrs.] 

When  the  Greek  settlements  in  Sicily  began,  the 
old  kingship  of  the  Homeric  times  had  everywhere 
passed  away  or  had  become  nominal.  The  political 
tendency  was  to  oligarchy.     Thus  the  Bacchiads  at 


58         THE   FIRST  AGE   OF    THE   GREEK   CITIES. 

Corinth  were  a  house  which  had  been  a  royal  house. 
By  the  time  when  Syracuse  was  founded,  personal 
kingship  had  passed  away,  and  the  Bacchiads  ruled  as 
an  oligarchic  house,  choosing  magistrates  from  among 
themselves.  The  name  democracy  was  not  yet  known  ; 
but  the  thing  out  of  which  it  grew  was  forming  itself. 
In  all  the  old  commonwealths  citizenship  could  be 
had  only  either  by  descent  or  by  special  grant. 
Mere  residence  in  a  city,  even  from  generation  to 
generation,  gave  no  political  rights.  Neither  did 
residence  go  for  anything  in  the  old  cities  and 
boroughs  in  England  and  elsewhere ;  but  there  were 
commonly  means  of  obtaining  citizenship  in  other 
ways  than  by  birth.  In  both  cases  the  descendants 
of  the  old  citizens  kept  their  exclusive  rights,  while 
a  large  body  of  dwellers  in  the  town  grew  up 
around  them  who  were  not  citizens.  The  old  citizens, 
who  had  divided  the  lands  of  the  commonwealth 
among  themselves  or  had  kept  them  as  common 
property,  had  no  wish  to  share  their  rights  with  others. 
They  intermarried  among  themselves  ;  they  kept  all 
offices  to  themselves.  Their  numbers  naturally  grew 
smaller,  while  the  numbers  of  the  excluded  class  grew 
greater  and  greater.  Thus  these  old  citizens,  once  the 
whole  people,  forming  what  was  really  a  democracy 
among  themselves,  gradually  became  an  oligarchy,  as 
concerned  all  the  inhabitants  who  were  not  citizens. 
Then  the  excluded  body  wins  political  equality  with 
the  old  citizens,  either  at  once  and  by  violence  or  by 
gradual  stages.  Then  democracy  begins.  Such,  with 
differences  of  detail  arising  out  of  the  circumstances 
of  different  cities,  was  the  story  of  the  patricians  of 


THE   SYRACUSAN   GAMOROI.  59 

Rome  and  the  cupatrids  of  Athens.  Such  too  was 
the  story  of  the  Gauwroi  or  Landoivncrs  of  Syracuse. 
But  mark  the  difference.  At  Rome  and  at  Athens, 
the  exckided  class,  i\\Q  plebeians  or  demos,  were  a  class 
of  small  landowners,  for  Athens  and  Rome  were  inland 
cities  living  by  agriculture.  At  Syracuse,  a  city  in 
the  sea,  the  old  citizens  had  all  the  land  ;  the  new 
comers  would  be  traders  in  or  near  the  town. 

We  do  not  know  for  certain  what  led  men  to  leave 
Corinth  or  any  other  city  of  Old  Greece,  to  settle  in 
Sicily.  Some  may  have  left  their  homes  through 
political  discontent.  We  have  a  remarkable  notice 
that  many  settlers  went  to  Syracuse  from  the  small 
town  of  Tenea  in  the  Corinthian  territory.  Now  the 
people  of  Tenca  were  a  separate  people  from  the 
Corinthians.  They  were  said  to  be  descended  from 
Trojan  captives,  and  long  after,  when  Corinth  was 
taken  and  destroyed  by  the  Romans,  the  Teneats  were 
received  to  favour.  This  looks  as  if  the  Tcneat 
settlers  hoped  to  better  their  political  condition 
by  emigrating.  On  the  other  hand,  we  know 
that  at  least  one  Bacchiad,  the  poet  Eumelos,  went 
besides  Archias.  The  circumstances  of  a  colony  are 
levelling  ;  we  may  be  sure  that  every  free  settler  got 
at  least  a  lot  of  land  and  a  vote  in  the  assembly  of 
the  new  city.  But  it  does  not  follow  that  the  lots 
were  all  equal  or  that  there  may  not  have  been  dis- 
tinctions in  the  disposal  of  offices.  For  a  while,  as 
long  as  the  settlement  was  weak,  they  would  welcome 
new  citizens.  When  these  were  no  longer  needed,  the 
tendency  among  the  old  citizens  would  be  to  closer 
equality  among  themselves  and  to  sharper  separation 


6o         THE   FIRST  AGE    OF    THE    GREEK    CITIES. 

between  themselves  and  new  comers.  We  get  one  sign 
of  political  disputes  among  the  Gamoroi  themselves. 
When  Himera  was  founded  from  Zankle,  we  read 
that  the  Myletids,  banished  from  Syracuse  in  civil 
strife,  took  part  in  the  settlement.  This  looks  like 
the  banishment  of  a  whole  gens,  like  that  of  the 
Alkmaionids  at  Athens  and  the  Tarquinii  at  Rome  ; 
but  we  know  not  how  it  came  about. 

We  know  however  enough  to  say,  what  we  might 
have  taken  for  granted  without,  that  there  was  at 
Syracuse  a  general  assembly  of  the  whole  body  of  the 
Landoivners,  and  also  a  smaller  senate,  we  know  not 


COIN    OF    SVKACUSE,    TIMIC   OF    THE   (iAMOKOI. 

how  chosen  We  hear  of  the  general  assembly  (like 
the  coinitia  curiata  at  Rome)  sitting  as  a  court  on  a 
man  named  Agathokles,  who,  when  the  temple  of 
Athene  (now  the  great  church  of  Syracuse)  was  build- 
ing, defrauded  the  goddess  of  the  stones  that  were 
meant  for  the  work.  And  we  hear  of  the  senate  in  a 
story  of  a  shameful  quarrel  between  two  young  men 
of  the  ruling  order,  which  divided  the  whole  city  and 
led  to  political  disturbances.  A  wise  old  senator 
counselled  that  both  should  be  banished  before 
matters  grew  worse.  But  his  advice  was  not  followed, 
and  the  government  of   the  Landowners  was    over- 


62         THE    FIRST  AGE    OF   THE    GREEK   CITIES. 

thrown.  We  must  suppose  that  the  excluded  people 
took  one  side  in  the  personal  quarrel.  They  rose, 
and  called  in  the  help  of  the  Sikel  serfs  or  villains  who 
tilled  the  lands  of  the  Landowners.  Between  them 
they  drove  the  Landowners  out  of  the  city,  and  held 
Syracuse  for  themselves.  There  was  thus  a  new 
Syracusan  people,  and  one  not  purely  Greek  ;  they 
formed  the  first  democracy  under  that  name  that 
Syracuse  had  seen.  The  banished  Landowners  occu- 
pied the  outpost  of  Kasmenai  and  held  it  as  a  separate 
commonwealth,  much  as  the  Athenian  oligarchs  held 
Eleusis  after  the  Thirty  were  driven  from  Athens.  W^e 
have  no  exact  date  for  this  revolution  ;  but  there  can 
be  no  doubt  that  it  happened  in  the  first  years  of  the 
fifth  century  B.C.  We  shall  hear  of  the  oligarchs  at 
Kasmenai  again. 

We  may  be  sure  that  something  Hke  this  growth  of 
an  oligarchy  out  of  a  body  of  old  citizens  happened 
in  other  Sikeliot  cities  besides  Syracuse.  WHiat  dis- 
tinguishes Syracuse  is  that,  during  all  this  time,  about 
240  years  from  her  foundation  to  the  driving  out  of  the 
Landowners,  she  never  saw  a  tyrant.  We  do  hear  very 
vaguely  of  one  king  at  Syracuse  ;  but  the  mere  title 
of  king  went  on  in  many  Greek  commonwealths,  and 
of  King  Pollis  we  know  only  that  he  gave  his  name 
to  a  kind  of  wine.  A  tyrant  of  Syracuse  there  cer- 
tainly was  not  as  yet.  In  the  Greek  commonwealths 
the  word  tyrant  had  a  definite  meaning,  and  was  not 
simply  a  name  of  reproach  for  an  oppressive  ruler. 
The  tyrant  was  a  man  who  put  his  own  power  instead 
of  the  law,  one  who  took  to  himself  the  power,  or 


TYRANNY.  63 

more  than  the  power,  of  a  king  in  a  commonwealth 
where  there  was  no  king  by  law.  This  he  might  do 
in  various  ways  :  if  he  could  in  any  way  get  a  body- 
guard, that  was  enough.  Sometimes  he  was  a 
popular  leader  against  the  oligarchs  to  whom  the 
people  were  foolish  enough  to  vote  a  guard.  Some- 
times he  was  a  magistrate  or  general  who  turned  his 
lawful  powers  against  the  state.  Sometimes  he  held 
some  commission  which  put  public  money  in  his 
hands,  and  he  spent  it  in  hiring  mercenaries.  When  he 
had  got  power  in  any  of  these  ways,  he  commonly 
used  it  oppressively,  but  not  always.  The  name 
tyrant  does  not  of  itself  imply  the  oppressive  use  of 
power,  but  only  the  unlawful  way  of  gaining  it. 
Some  tyrants  were  bloody  and  greedy  and  com- 
mitted frightful  crimes  ;  others  allowed  the  usual 
course  of  the  commonwealth  to  go  on  whenever  their 
own  interests  were  not  concerned,  and  were  simply 
ready  to  step  in  with  their  spearmen  whenever  it 
suited  them.  The  tyrants  never,  till  a  much  later 
time,  called  themselves  kings  or  put  their  heads  on 
the  coin  ;  but  they  seem  to  have  been  pleased  if  any- 
body else  would  call  them  kings.  They  always  tried 
to  leave  their  power  to  their  sons,  and  they  often  did  ; 
but  the  son  seldom  knew  how  to  keep  what  the  father 
had  known  how  to  gain. 

Tyrants  were  more  common  in  the  Greek  cities  of 
Sicily  than  they  were  in  Old  Greece.  The  first 
recorded  tyrant  in  Sicily  is  Panaitios  of  Leontinoi 
about  B.C.  608,  He  is  said  to  have  been  general  in  a 
war  with  Megara,  the  first  recorded  war,  most  likely 
not  really  the  first  war,  between  Greeks  and  Greeks 


64 


THE    FIRST   AGE   OF    THE    GREEK   CITIES. 


in  the  island.  He  is  said  to  have  risen  by  means  of 
dissension  between  rich  and  poor,  most  hkely  between 
old  and  new  citizens.  But  we  know  nothing  more 
about  him  and  at  this  time  nothing  more  of  his 
city.  Far  more  fomous  was  another  tyrant  a  little 
later,  Phalaris  of  Akragas,  who  held  power  there 
from  about  B.C.  570  to  554.  No  man  in  all  Greek 
history  ever  came  to  be  more  talked  about  and  to 
have  more  stories  told  of  him  ;  but  we  have  no 
real  account  of  his  actions.  One  thing  is  to  be 
noticed,  that  he  rose  to  power  in  Akragas  only  tcM 


HIMERA,   EARLY. 


years  after  the  foundation  of  the  city,  when  neither  he 
nor  any  other  grown  man  could  have  been  born  in  it. 
A  story  which  places  him  at  Himera  and  makes  ihe 
poet  Stesichoros  warn  the  people,  by  the  fable  of  the 
horse  and  the  man,  not  to  give  him  a  body-guard,  must 
belong  to  some  other  tyrant  ;  stories  of  one  tyrant 
are  very  often  told  of  another.  At  Akragas  he  rose 
to  power  by  taking  public  money  that  was  in  his 
hands  and  using  it  to  hire  mercenaries.  He  made 
conquests  from  the  Sikans,  but  there  is  no  sign  that 
he  ruled  in  any  Greek  city  besides  Akragas.  He  is 
most  famous  for  keeping  a  brazen  bull   into  which 


PHALARIS    OF   AKRAGAS.  65 

men  were  put,  and  roasted  to  death  b)-  a  fire  under- 
neath the  image,  while  their  cries  represented  the 
roaring  of  the  bull.  The  story  is  as  old  as  the  poet 
Pindar.  No  doubt  cruelty  of  this  kind  was  suggested 
by  some  Phoenician  model  ;  the  worst  Greek,  as  a  rule, 
only  skiys,  he  seldom  tortures.  At  last  Phalaris  was 
overthrown  by  a  certain  Telemachos,  who  perhaps 
restored  liberty,  perhaps  only  put  a  milder  tyranny 
instead  of  that  of  Phalaris.  The  tyrant  and  his  chief 
supporters  are  said  to  have  been  roasted  in  his  own 
bull ;  but  this  sounds  legendary. 

Meanwhile  at  Katane  in  the  course  of  the  same 
century  we  see  the  rule  of  one  man  in  a  better  shape. 
When  a  Greek  city  was  torn  by  disputes,  the  citizens 
sometimes  gave  extraordinary  powers,  for  life  or  for 
a  time,  to  one  man  whom  they  could  trust.  He  was 
to  settle  everything  by  a  code  of  laws.  Such  an  one 
was  Charondas,  who  made  laws  for  Katane  and  for 
some  other  cities.  These  old  lawgivers  not  only 
made  political  constitutions,  but  put  forth  rules 
ordering  the  whole  life  of  the  citizens.  Some  scraps 
of  the  laws  of  Charondas  have  been  preserved,  which 
show  much  of  the  simple  shrewdness  of  old  times. 
Thus  he  allowed  a  man  to  put  away  his  wife  or  a 
woman  to  put  away  her  husband,  but  he  added  that 
in  such  a  case  they  must  not  marry  anybody  younger 
than  the  person  put  away.  And  a  story  is  told  of  his 
death,  which  is  also  told  of  more  than  one  other  law- 
giver. The  old  custom,  Greek  and  Teutonic,  was  to 
come  armed  to  the  assembly.  This  Charondas  for- 
bade. One  day,  so  the  story  ran,  Charondas  had 
gone    out  of    the    city    after    some   robbers,  and    of 

6 


66         THE   FIRST   AGE    OF    THE    GREEK   CITIES. 

course  went  armed.  While  he  was  away,  an 
assembly  was  held,  and  dispute  rose  high.  Cha- 
rondas  went  in  to  quiet  the  people  ;  but  he  forgot  to 
take  off  his  sword.  One  man  cried  out, "  Charondas, 
you  are  breaking  your  own  law."  "  No,"  he  said,  "  I 
will  rather  confirm  it,"  and  slew  himself. 

We  hear  of  tyrants  in  other  cities  besides  Panaitios 
and  Phalaris,  and  some  of  these  come  in  a  story 
which  makes  a  kind  of  appendix  to  the  Greek  colo- 
nization of  Sicily.  In  the  course  of  the  sixth  century 
B.C.  the  Phoenician  towns  in  Sicily  had  become 
dependencies  of  Carthage.  There  was  therefore  still 
less  hope  of  founding  new  Greek  settlements  in  the 
barbarian  corner  than  there  had  been  at  the  time 
of  the  expedition  of  Pentathlos.  The  independent 
Phoenician  towns  had  not  been  aggressive  ;  but  now 
that  they  are  under  the  supremacy  of  the  great 
ruling  city,  wars  between  Phoenicians  and  Greeks 
form  a  large  part  of  Sicilian  history.  They  began 
by  an  attempt  to  renew  the  enterprise  of  Pentathlos. 
This  was  made  by  Dorieus,  son  of  the  Spartan 
king  Anaxandridas,  about  the  )-ear  510  B.C.  He 
was  disappointed  of  the  succession  to  the  king- 
dom, and  went  to  seek  a  home  elsewhere.  After 
some  other  adventures,  he  was  bidden  by  the  Delphic 
oracle  to  go  and  recover  the  lands  of  his  forefather 
Herakles  in  Sicily,  those  lands  of  Eryx  which  Herakles 
had  left  to  be  given  up  whenever  a  descendant  of  his 
should  claim  them.  But  Dorieus  forfeited  his  right 
by  not  at  once  obeying  the  oracle.  Instead  of  going 
straight  to  Eryx,  he  turned  aside  to  war  against 
Greeks,  helping  the  men  of  Kroton  in  southern  Italy 


EXPEDITION   OF  DOKIEUS.  67 

against  Sybaris,  So,  when  he  came  to  Eryx,  he  was 
defeated  and  slain  with  many  of  his  men  in  a  battle 
with  the  Elymians  of  Scgesta  and  their  Phoenician 
allies.  Whether  Carthage  sent  troops  to  the  help  of 
her  dependencies  we  cannot  say.  But  Elymians, 
Phoenicians  of  Sicily,  and  Carthaginians,  were  all 
alike  concerned  to  hinder  a  Greek  settlement  in  those 
parts. 

So  Dorieus  failed  to  win  back  the  lands  of  his  fore- 
father and  to  found  a  Herakleia  on  Eryx.  Still 
something  came  of  his  attempt.  Euryleon,  one  of 
his  officers,  gathered  the  remnant  of  his  followers, 
and  went  to  help  the  people  of  Selinous  against  a 
tyrant  called  Peithagoras.  In  the  war  with  him 
Euryleon  occupied  the  post  called  Minoa,  of  which 
we  have  heard  in  the  story  of  Kokalos  and  Minos, 
and  set  it  up  as  a  town  called  Herakleia.  So  there 
was  a  new  Herakleia,  though  not  on  Eryx.  But 
Euryleon,  after  overthrowing  the  tyranny  of  Peitha- 
goras, made  himself  tyrant  of  Selinous.  Presently 
the  people  rose  and  slew  him. 

But  we  are  now  coming  to  much  more  famous 
tyrants  than  these.  A  great  line  of  rulers  arose  at 
Gela,  but  they  did  not  stay  there.  All  that  we  know 
of  Gela  in  these  times  is  that  there  were  disputes  in  the 
city,  and  that  at  one  time  one  party  seceded,  as  it  is 
called  in  the  Roman  history,  to  the  town  of  Makto- 
rion  in  the  Geloan  territory.  They  were  brought 
back,  neither  by  force  nor  by  persuasion,  but  by  the 
wonder-working  power  of  some  holy  things  of  the 
nether-gods— perhaps     of    the     two     goddesses     of 


68 


THE   FIRST  AGE    OF   THE   GREEK   CITIES. 


Sicily.  These  holy  things,  whatever  they  were, 
were  in  the  hands  of  Telines  of  Gela,  a  descendant 
of  one  of  the  first  settlers.  By  their  means,  we  are 
not  told  how,  he  brought  back  the  malecontents. 
He  was  rewarded  with  the  hereditary  priesthood  of 
the  deities  whom  he  served,  and  his  descendants 
became  great  in  Gela.  About  the  year  505  B.C.  the 
oligarchy  in  Gela  was  upset  by  the  tyrant  Kleandros, 


ZANKLE.      SIXTH   CENTURY. 


f^, 
.^k^ 


NAXOS.      C.    500   B.C. 

who  was  killed  about  seven  years  later,  and  his  power 
passed  to  his  brother  Hippokrates.  Hippokrates  was, 
as  far  as  we  can  see,  the  first  man  in  Greek  Sicily  who 
aimed  at  being  something  more  than  the  lord  of  a 
single  city.  He  strove  to  found  as  large  a  dominion 
as  he  could,  hiring  mercenaries,  Greek  and  Sikel,  and 
taking  towns  both  Greek  and  Sikel.  Thus  he  won 
Naxos  and  Leontinoi  and  the  lost  Kallipolis  and  the 
Sikel  Ergetion.     His  dominion  thus  spread  from  the 


THE    SAMIANS   AT   Z ANKLE.  69 

southern  to  the  eastern  sea,  leaving  Zankle  in  pos- 
session of  one  corner  and  Syracuse  of  the  other. 
His  dealings  with  these  two  cities  are  the  first  piece 
of  Sicilian  history  of  which  we  know  anything  in 
detail. 

Zankle  was  now  ruled  by  one  Skythes,  who  is  spoken 
of  as  king ;  perhaps  the  old  kingship  had  gone  on 
there.  Rhegion,  on  the  other  side  of  the  strait,  was 
ruled  by  the  tyrant  Anaxilas,  the  first  Italian  ruler 
who  plays  any  part  in  Sicilian  history.  This  was  the 
time  when  the  Persian  king  Darius  was  bringing 
back  the  Greek  cities  of  Asia  under  his  power,  and 
many  of  their  inhabitants  were  ready  to  seek  new 
homes  elsewhere.  About  the  year  493  B.C.  Skythes 
proposed  to  them  to  settle  in  a  body  in  Sicily. 
They  were  to  found  one  great  Greek  colony  on 
the  north  coast  where  there  was  no  Greek  city 
but  Himera,  at  a  point  called  Xa/e  Akte,  the  Fair 
Shore,  between  Cephalcedium  and  Mylai.  Many 
Samians  and  some  Milesians  agreed  to  come,  and 
set  sail.  Meanwhile  Skythes  was  warring  against 
Sikcls,  most  likely  with  a  view  to  the  new  settlement. 
But,  when  the  Greeks  from  Asia  were  drawing  near, 
Anaxilas  sent  a  message  to  them,  counselling  them 
that,  instead  of  taking  the  trouble  to  found  a  new  city 
at  Kale  Akte,  they  should  take  possession  of  Zankle. 
They  would  find  the  town  undefended,  while  Skythes 
and  his  army  were  engaged  in  the  Sikel  war.  The 
Samians  and  Milesians  were  not  ashamed  so  to  treat 
the  man  who  had  planned  such  a  service  for  them,  and 
when  Skythes  and  his  army  came  back,  they  found 
themselves    shut  out    of    their   own  town.     Skythes 


70         THE   FIRST   AGE    OF   THE    GREEK    CITIES. 

then  asked  help  of  Hippokrates.  The  story  reads  as 
if  Hippokrates  were  in  some  way  his  overlord  ;  for, 
when  he  came,  he  put  Skythes  in  prison  for  losing 
Zankle.  He  then  made  a  shameful  treaty  with  the 
Samians  in  Zankle.  They  were  to  keep  the  town, 
but  they  were  to  give  up  to  him  half  the  goods  in  it, 
and  he  was  to  take  all  the  goods  outside  the  walls. 
In  all  these  cases  the  inhabitants  are  reckoned  among 
the  goods  ;  and  Hippokrates  took  possession  of  the 
whole  army  of  Skythes  as  his  slaves.  Three  hundred 
of  the  chief  men  among  them  he  handed  over  to  the 
Samians,  bidding  them  put  them  to  death.  This  they 
would  not  do  ;  but  we  know  not  what  became  of 
them.  Hippokrates  thus  got  a  great  booty,  and  went 
back  to  Gela.  We  are  glad  to  hear  that  Skythes 
contrived  to  get  out  of  prison,  and  to  escape  to  Asia 
to  King  Darius,  by  whom  he  was  greatly  honoured. 
Nor  did  the  Samians  keep  Zankle  very  long.  For 
Anaxilas,  who  had  first  stirred  them  up,  presently 
turned  them  out,  and  took  the  town  to  himself.  He 
was  thus  lord  of  two  cities,  Rhegion  and  Zankle,  on  the 
two  sides  of  the  strait,  the  first,  but  not  the  last,  ruler 
of  Italy  who  also  ruled  in  Sicily.  And  he  is  said  to 
have  now  changed  the  name  of  Zankle  to  Messana ; 
but  that  change  most  likely  came  a  little  later. 

Hippokrates  now  engaged  in  a  war  with  Syracuse, 
hoping  to  add  the  south-eastern  corner  of  Sicily  to 
his  dominions.  He  defeated  the  Syracusans  in  a 
battle  by  the  river  Heloros  south  of  the  city,  and 
came  as  near  to  Syracuse  as  the  Olympieion,  near  the 
Great  Harbour.  It  is  not  easy  to  see  why  he  did  not 
go  on  further  to  attack  the  city.     But  somehow  there 


WARS    OF    HIPPOKRATES.  7I 

was  time  for  negotiations  with  distant  powers.  For 
Corinth  the  mother  and  Korkyra  the  sister  of 
Syracuse  forgot  their  differences  when  Syracuse 
was  in  danger.  They  joined  in  a  mediation,  and 
Hippokrates  made  peace  with  S)'racuse  on  receiving 
the  site  and  territory  of  Kamarina,  the  town  which 
the  Syracusans  had  destroyed.  He  now  founded  it 
afresh.  All  this  is  told  without  any  exact  date  ;  but 
it  was  most  likely  during  the  last  days  of  the  rule  of 
the  Landowners  at  Syracuse,  and  it  may  have  helped 
to  bring  about  their  fall. 

Hippokrates  died  in  the  year  B.C.  491,  while  he  was 


KAMARINA.     EARLY. 


besieging  the  Sikcl  town  of  Hybla,  the  Heraian 
Hybla  or  Ragusa,  which  lay  conveniently  between  his 
new  dominions  and  those  of  Syracuse.  Like  all 
other  tyrants,  he  wished  to  hand  on  his  power  to 
his  children  ;  but  his  two  sons  were  young  and 
unable  to  keep  it.  The  people  of  Gela  would  have 
nothing  to  say  to  them,  and  set  up  their  common- 
wealth again.  We  now  hear  for  the  first  time  of  a 
memorable  man,  Gclon,  son  of  Dcinomenes.  He  was 
a  descendant  of  that  Telines  who  had  brought  back 
the  Geloan  seceders  from  Maktorion,  and  he  was  his 
successor    in    his    priestly  office.      He   was   also   the 


72         THE   FIRST   AGE    OF   THE   GREEK   CITIES. 

commander  of  Hippokrates'  cavalry,  and  had  played 
a  great  part  in  his  wars.  He  was  one  of  four 
brothers,  Gclon,  Hieron,  Polyzelos,  and  Thrasy- 
boulos,  of  all  of  whom  we  shall  hear  again.  Gelon 
now  professed  to  take  up  the  cause  of  the  sons  of 
Hippokrates,  and  marched  against  Gela  in  their 
name.  But  instead  of  setting  them  up,  he  took  the 
tyranny  to  himself  Here  was  a  base  act,  but  we  are 
apt  to  blame  it  on  the  wrong  ground.  No  wrong 
was  done  to  the  sons  of  Hippokrates,  who  had  no 
right  to  the  unlawful  power  of  their  father  ;  but  a 
great  wrong  was  done  to  the  people  of  Gela, 
whose  newly  restored  freedom  was  destroyed  again. 
Through  life  we  shall  find  Gelon  quite  unscrupulous 
in  the  way  of  gaining  dominion.  But  he  was  a  great 
and  wise  ruler,  and  founded  a  great  power ;  and  he 
was  presently  called  to  the  noblest  work  that  could 
fall  to  the  lot  of  any  Greek. 

Gelon  thus  held  the  dominion  of  Hippokrates,  the 
greatest  as  yet  seen  in  Sicily.  He  was  soon  both  to 
enlarge  it  and  to  change  its  seat.  The  Landowners  had 
now  been  driven  from  Syracuse,  and  they  held  Kas- 
menai.  About  B.C.  485  they  prayed  Gelon  to  bring 
them  back  to  Syracuse.  So  he  did  ;  but  he  made 
himself  lord  over  both  them  and  the  commons.  He 
was  now  tyrant  of  S3'racuse  as  well  as  of  Gela ;  he 
made  Syracuse  the  head  of  his  dominions,  and  gave 
himself  to  enlarging  and  strengthening  it  in  every 
way.  And  some  of  the  ways  were  strange  enough. 
His  advance  was  of  course  threatening  to  Hyblaian 
Megara,  so  near  to  Syracuse.  The  oligarchic  govern- 
ment then  made  war  on  Gelon  without  the  consent 


GELON   AT   SYRACUSE.  73 

of  the  commons.  When  he  had  the  better  in  the 
war,  the  oHgarchs  were  naturally  in  mortal  fear, 
while  the  commons  feared  nothing,  and  most  likely 
looked  on  Gelon  as  a  deliverer.  To  all  men's  surprise, 
he  sold  the  commons  as  slaves  to  be  sent  out  of 
Sicily,  while  the  oligarchs  he  took  to  Syracuse  and 
made  citizens.  The  town  of  Mcgara  he  destroyed, 
and  joined  its  lands  to  those  of  Syracuse,  keeping 
Megara  only  as  a  fortress.  And  he  did  exactly  the 
same  to  the  people  of  Euboia,  the  town  whose  site  we 
do  not  know.  The  reason  he  gave  for  thus  treating  his 
friends  ill  and  his  enemies  well  was  that  he  thought 
the  commons  a  most  unpleasant  neighbour.  But  the 
commons  of  Syracuse  he  in  no  way  oppressed,  being 
most  likely  bound  to  them  by  some  promise.  And, 
when  the  men  of  Kamarina  revolted  and  slew  his 
governor,  he  pulled  down  the  town  and  made  the 
people  come  and  live  at  Syracuse.  At  last  he  made 
one  half  of  the  people  of  his  own  native  city  of  Gela 
remove  to  Syracuse  in  the  like  sort. 

So  Syracuse  grew  at  the  cost  of  the  other  cities  of 
Sicily.  As  the  population  grew  so  greatly,  the  town 
itself  needed  to  be  enlarged.  As  yet  the  Island  had 
been  the  city,  while  Achradina  was  only  an  outpost 
on  the  hill.  Gelon  now  carried  the  western  wall  of 
Achradina  down  to  the  Great  Harbour,  thus  taking 
Achradina  into  the  city.  But  both  it  and  the  Island 
kept  their  separate  defences.  The  agora,  the  meeting- 
place  and  market-place,  which  must  have  been  at 
first  in  the  Island,  was  now  moved  into  the  low  ground 
between  the  Island  and  the  hill,  which  had  now 
become  the  lower  Achradina.     Gelon  was  now  lord  of 


74         THE    FIRST   AGE    OF    THE    GREEK   CITIES. 

the  greatest  city  in  Sicily,  perhaps  in  all  Hellas,  and 
lord  of  the  greatest  dominion  that  had  ever  been  in 
Sicily  or  anywhere  in  Hellas.  As  such  he  felt  more 
like  a  king  of  Sicily  than  like  an  ordinary  tyrant  of 
Syracuse.  He  invited  men  from  all  parts  who  could 
be  useful  to  him  ;  he  hired  many  mercenaries  and 
gave  them  citizenship.  Next  in  power  to  him  was 
Theron,  tyrant  of  Akragas,  a  descendant  of  that 
Telemachos  who  had  overthrown  Phalaris.  He  had 
risen  to  power,  like  most  tyrants,  by  a  trick  ;  but  he 
used  his  power  mildly  and  left  a  good  name  behind 
him.  He  and  Gelon  were  fast  friends,  and,  like  princes 
in  later  times,  they  made  an  alliance  by  marriage. 
Gelon  took  Theron's  daughter  Damarata  to  wife. 
Their  alliance,  which  took  in  all  south-eastern  Sicily, 
was  to  some  extent  balanced  by  another  in  the  north- 
east where  Anaxilas  of  Rhegion  and  Zankle  was 
closely  allied  with  Terillos,  tyrant  of  Himera,  and 
married  his  daughter  Kydippe.  These  two  pairs  take 
in  all  Greek  Sicily,  save  two  cities.  One  was  Katane, 
of  which  we  hear  nothing,  but  which  could  not  have 
kept  much  real  independence  while  Gelon  held 
Naxos  and  Leontinoi  on  each  side  of  it.  The  other 
was  Selinous,  which  we  find  a  little  time  later  as  a 
dependent  ally  of  Carthage. 

Now  how  had  a  Greek  city  come  into  this  last 
case  .''  We  do  not  know  for  certain  ;  but  we  have 
dim  hints  of  a  w\ir  between  Greeks  and  Phrenicians 
earlier  than  the  great  one  of  which  we  shall  have  to 
speak  directly.  We  hear  of  a  war  to  avenge  the 
death  of  Dorieus,  in  which  Gelon  claimed  to  have 
taken  a  part,  and  said  that  he  had  asked  for  help  in 


WAR   IN    WESTERN   SICILY. 


75 


Old  Greece,  but  had  got  none.  This  could  not 
have  been  after  Gelon  became  tyrant  ;  but  he  may 
have  acted  as  an  officer  of  one  of  the  earlier  tyrants. 
It  would  seem  that  in  this  war  the  Carthaginians 
destroyed  the  new  town  of  Herakleia  between 
Selinous  and  Akragas,  and  this  must  surely  have 
been  the  time  when  Selinous  was  made  to  join  their 
alliance.  But  Gelon  claims  to  have  hindered  the 
barbarians  from  coming  further  west,  and  to  have 
ended  the  war  by  a  treaty  which  gave  some  com- 
mercial advantages  to  all  Greeks.  Something  of  this 
kind  must  have  happened  to  account  for  the  state  of 
things  which  we  find  a  little  later.  But  the  story  is 
told  very  darkly,  and  we  can  look  on  the  war  which 
followed  the  death  of  Dorieus  only  as  a  forerunner  of 
the  great  and  successful  war  with  Carthage  of  which 
we  have  now  to  speak. 


SELINOUS.      EARLY. 


VI. 


THE   FIRST   WARS   WITH    CARTHAGE   AND    ETRURIA, 


B.C.     480-473- 


[We  now  at  last  have  a  continuous  narrative  of  Sicilian  history  for 
about  two  hundred  years.  The  books  of  Diodoros  for  all  this  time  are 
extant.  He  copied  from  earlier  writers,  among  them  the  Syracusan 
historians  Antiochos  and  Philistos.  Sometimes  he  seems  to  copy  a 
piece  nearly  in  full,  and  gives  us  a  clear  and  vivid  account  of  things  ; 
at  other  times  he  is  very  confused,  and  seems  not  to  have  understood 
his  authorities.  Still  it  is  a  great  gain  to  have  a  continuous  narrative  of 
any  kind.  Of  Gelon's  dealings  with  the  Greeks  at  the  Isthmus  we  have 
the  account  of  Herodotus.  And  we  now  for  the  first  time  come  to 
absolutely  contemporary  sources,  though  not  in  the  form  of  narrative. 
The  odes  of  Pindar,  commemorating  the  victories  of  Kieron,  Theron, 
and  other  Sikeliots,  in  the  games  of  Old  Greece  are  full  of  references  to 
events  in  Sicily.  And  there  are  some  also  in  the  poems  of  Simonides, 
who,  like  Pindar,  was  entertained  by  Hieron.  Coins  too  begin  to  tell 
us  more  than  before,  and  in  the  legend  on  Hieron's  helmet  we  have  a 
contemporary  inscription  recording  a  fact.  We  have  also  a  dialogue 
composed  long  after  by  Xenophon  in  the  names  of  Hieron  and  Simo- 
nides, which  at  least  shows  the  kind  of  tradition  which  was  handed  on 
to  later  times.] 

The  fifth  century  before  Christ  commonly  seems  to 

us  the   most  brilliant  time  in  the  history  of  Greece, 

and  it  is  one  of  the  times  of  which  we  know  most. 

And  yet  its  most  brilliant  deeds  show  that  the  Greek 

76 


PERSIA    AND    CARTHAGE.  yy 

folk  had  in  some  sort  gone  back  in  the  world. 
Herodotus  speaks  of  a  time  when  all  Greeks  were 
free.  That  time  had  come  to  an  end  when  the 
Greeks  of  Asia  passed  under  the  power  of  the  kings, 
first  of  Lydia  and  then  of  Persia.  Hellas  was  thus 
cut  short ;  and  presently  she  had  to  defend  herself  in 
Old  Greece  also  ;  she  had  to  fight  to  beat  back  the 
Persian  invader.  And  so  in  Sicily  at  the  same 
moment  the  Greek  cities  had  to  fight  to  beat  back 
the  Carthaginian  invader. 

These  two  powers,  Persia  and  Carthage,  were  such 
as  the  barbarian  world  had  never  seen  before.  The 
Persian  dominion  was  the  greatest  in  extent  that  had 
ever  been  seen  in  the  East,  and  the  Persians,  in  their 
beginning  an  Aryan  people,  had  in  them  a  strong 
and  abiding  national  life  beyond  most  Eastern 
nations.  The  Phoenicians  again  were  the  most 
advanced  of  barbarian  nations  and  the  most  like  Euro- 
peans. And  Carthage  was  the  model  of  the  ruling 
city  for  all  time.  The  world  had  never  seen  such  a 
dominion  by  sea  as  she  now  had.  And  now  these  two 
great  powers  threatened  the  Greeks  on  both  sides,  and, 
there  is  little  reason  to  doubt,  threatened  them  in  con- 
cert. They  had  easy  means  of  communicating  through 
the  men  of  the  old  Phoenicia.  Sidon  and  Tyre  were 
now  under  Persian  supremacy  ;  but  they  were  still 
separate  states,  keeping  their  hatred  for  all  Greeks  and 
their  friendship  for  Carthage.  So  it  was  agreed  that 
Persia  should  attack  the  Greeks  of  Old  Greece,  and 
that  Carthage  should  attack  the  Greeks  of  Sicily. 
There  was  this  difference  between  the  two,  that  the 
Persian    king   could    not    attack    Greece   except    by 


78     FIRST    WARS    WITH   CARTHAGE   AND   ETRURIA. 

taking-  a  vast  army  over  a  long  march  in  the  face  of 
the  world.  But  the  Carthaginians,  being  so  much 
nearer  to  Sicily  and  having  a  starting-point  in  their 
Sicilian  dependencies,  could  send  a  force  against  the 
Greeks  of  Sicily  almost  at  any  moment.  Yet  it 
needed  time  to  gather  a  force  fit  for  the  purpose  by 
hiring  mercenaries  everywhere.  So  neither  power 
hurried.  At  last  the  Persian  king  Xerxes  set  out 
on  his  great  march.  The  Carthaginians  were  then 
planning  their  warfare  in  Sicily ;  but  their  actual 
coming  seems  to  have  been  sudden,  and  its  time  and 
place  were  fixed  by  events  which  were  happening  in 
the  island. 

Theron,  tyrant  of  Akragas,  seemingly  invited  by 
a  party  in  Himera,  drove  out  Terillos,  tyrant  of 
that  city,  and  held  the  town  himself  A  power  was 
thus  formed  which  stretched  right  across  Sicily  and 
barred  the  Carthaginian  advance  to  the  east.  Terillos 
and  his  son-in-law  Anaxilas  of  Rhegion  and  Zankle 
asked  for  help  at  Carthage.  So  their  treason  against 
Hellas  somewhat  hastened  the  Carthaginian  attack, 
and  settled  in  what  part  of  Sicily  it  should  be  made. 

Meanwhile  in  the  year  480  B.C.  Xerxes  was  marching 
against  Old  Greece,  and  the  patriotic  Greeks  who  met 
in  council  at  the  Isthmus  sent  envoys  to  Gelon  to  ask 
for  help.  He  had  the  best  reason  in  the  world  for  not 
sending  help  to  Old  Greece,  namely  that  he  needed 
all  his  forces  to  defend  Syracuse  and  all  Greek  Sicily 
against  the  Carthaginians.  But  a  wonderful  set  of 
speeches  are  given  by  Herodotus  as  having  passed 
between  Gelon  and  the  envo}'s.  They  are  quite 
unsuited  to  the  circumstances  of  the  time,  and  they 


INVASIONS   OF  SICILY   AND    OLD   GREECE.        jg 

were  evidently  made  up  afterwards  by  some  clever 
Syracusan,  as  a  satire  on  the  airs  which  the  cities  of  the 
mother-country  gave  themselves  towards  the  colonies. 
The  Lacedaemonian  and  Athenian  envoys  are  made  to 
insult  Gelon  in  the  very  act  of  asking  for  help.  It  is 
enough  to  say  that  Gelon  sent  no  help,  and  could  not 
send  any.  And  another  story  told  how  he  sent  an  agent 
to  watch  the  state  of  things  in  Greece.  If  the  King 
should  be  successful,  he  was  to  give  him  a  great  sum 
of  money  not  to  come  against  Sicily.  This  agent  was 
one  Kadmos  of  Kos,  who  had  been  tyrant  in  his  own 
island,  but  had  given  up  the  tyranny  and  had  settled 
at  Zankle  with  the  Samians.  It  was  thought  a 
wonderful  feat  of  virtue  that,  when  Kadmos  found 
that  the  money  was  not  wanted,  he  brought  it  back- 
safe  to  Gelon. 

And  now  the  blow  which  had  so  long  been  looked 
for  fell  suddenly.  Theron  was  at  his  new  possession 
of  Himera,  Gelon  was  waiting  at  Syracuse,  when  the 
crreat  fleet  sailed  from  Africa  under  the  command  of 
Hamilkar,  one  of  the  SJiopJictim  of  Carthage.  These 
were  the  chief  magistrates,  who  are  compared  to  the 
Roman  consuls  and  the  Spartan  kings  ;  the  name  is 
the  same  as  that  of  the  Hebrew  Judges.  The  Greek 
writers  commonly  speak  of  them  as  kings.  Hamilkar 
set  forth  with  a  vast  force.  The  ships  that  carried 
the  horses  and  war-chariots — for  the  Carthaginians 
still  kept  the  fashion  of  the  old  Canaan — were  sunk  on 
the  voyage.  The  rest  of  the  fleet  reached  Panormos, 
and  thence  the  ships  sailed  and  the  land  forces 
marched  to  Himera.  There  Hamilkar  pitched  two 
camps,  one  close  to  the  sea,  the  other  on  the  hill, 


8o     FIRST    WARS    WITH   CARTHAGE   AND   ETRURIA. 

west  of  the  town.  The  east  side  towards  the  river, 
and  the  landward  side  seem  to  have  been  left  open. 
We  hear  nothing  of  any  action  on  the  part  of 
Anaxilas  ;  but  the  Sclinuntines  were  bidden,  and 
they  promised  in  a  letter,  to  send  their  horsemen  to  the 
camp  on  a  certain  day.  Meanwhile  Theron  and  his 
force  made  a  sally  and  were  defeated.  So  the 
Carthaginians  held  the  country  and  plundered' every- 
where. But  Theron  was  able  to  send  a  message  to 
Gelon,  who  at  once  marched  to  his  help  with  his 
whole  force.  He  pitched  his  camp  on  the  right  bank 
of  the  Himeras,  and  his  horsemen  scoured  the  country 
and  took  many  of  the  Punic  plunderers.  The  hearts 
of  the  men  of  Himera  rose. 

The  story  goes  that  the  letters  from  Selinous  to 
Hamilkar  fell  into  the  hands  of  Gelon,  and  that  he 
settled  to  attack  the  Carthaginians  on  the  day  when 
the  Selinuntine  horsemen  were  looked  for.  That  day 
was  commonly  said  to  have  been  the  same  as  that  of 
the  battle  of  Salamis  in  Old  Greece.  The  two  fights 
were  certainly  fought  much  at  the  same  time,  in  the 
autumn  of  the  year  B.C.  4S0.  And  there  is  nothing 
against  the  story  that  they  were  fought  on  the  same 
day,  except  that  the  tale  sounds  too  good  to  be  true. 

We  have  two  quite  different  accounts  of  the  great 
battle  which  followed.  One,  as  it  was  told  at  Carthage, 
is  given  us  by  Herodotus.  He  says  that  the  Syra- 
cusan  version  was  different ;  that  we  get  from  Diodoros. 
In  the  Carthaginian  story  Hamilkar  stands  apart  from 
the  fight,  like  Moses  or  Samuel.  All  day,  while  the 
battle  goes  on,  he  throws  whole  burnt-offerings  into 
the  fire.     At  last,  towards  evening,  news  comes  that 


BATTLE   OF  HIMERA.  8l 

his  army  is  defeated  ;  he  then  throws  himself  into 
the  fire,  as  the  most  costly  gift  of  all.  For  this  he 
was  honoured  as  a  hero  wherever  Carthage  had 
power. 

This  is  a  grand  story,  and  truly  Semitic,  but  it 
tells  us  nothing  about  the  battle.  In  the  Syracusan 
story  also  a  sacrifice  offered  by  Hamilkar  has  a  chief 
place ;  but  that  is  the  whole  amount  of  likeness. 
Gelon  is  said  to  have  sent  horsemen  who  went  to  the 
camp  by  the  sea,  and  passed  themselves  off  for  the 
Selinuntines  who  were  looked  for.  As  such,  they 
were  let  in.  They  killed  Hamilkar,  as  he  was  sacri- 
ficing— to  Poseidon,  this  story  says — and  many  others, 
and  set  fire  to  the  ships.  Then,  at  a  given  signal, 
Gelon  attacked  the  land  camp,  but  was  kept  in  check 
by  the  bravery  of  the  Iberian  mercenaries.  The 
day  was  at  last  settled  by  the  coming  up  of  Theron 
with  the  garrison  of  Himera.  The  whole  barbarian 
host  was  killed  or  scattered,  a  {tw  only  escaping  to 
the  ships  that  were  still  at  sea.  Those  who  fled 
hither  and  thither  were  gradually  hunted  down  and 
made  slaves  ;  the  Akragantines  especially  caught  a 
vast  number,  and  set  them  to  work  at  Theron's  great 
buildings.  Thus  Greek  Sicily  was  saved  from  the 
Carthaginian  invader,  as  Old  Greece  was  saved  from 
the  Persian.  Only  the  Persian  was  driven  out  for 
ever,  while  after  seventy  years  the  Carthaginian  came 
again. 

Gelon  now  went  back  to  Syracuse,  and  was  received 
with  all  honours,  even  with  the  titles  of  the  gods, 
Benefactor  (€vepyeTr}<;),  Saviour  ((rcorrjp),  and  King 
(^ao-tXeu?).     And  indeed  from  this  time  he  and   his 

7 


82     FIRST    WARS    WITH    CARTHAGE    AND   ETRURIA. 

successors  are  spoken  of  by  Diodoros  as  kings,  and 
Pindar  freely  gives  that  title  to  Gelon's  successor 
Hieron,  while  he  does  not  give  it  to  Theron.  Pre- 
sently envoys  came  from  Carthage,  and  seemingly 
from  Anaxilas,  asking  for  peace.  Selinous  must  now 
have  been  set  free  from  Carthage,  as  we  presently 
hear  of  it  as  an  independent  city.  The  Carthaginians 
had  to  pay  a  large  sum  of  money,  and  to  build  two 
temples  at  Carthage  in  honour  of  the  Greek  goddesses 


DAMARATEION. 


of  Sicily.  But  they  were  not  disturbed  in  their 
possessions  in  western  Sicily.  And  a  story  was  told 
that  Gelon  made  it  one  of  the  terms  of  peace  that 
the  Carthaginians  should  give  up  the  practice  of 
human  sacrifices.  This  cannot  be  true ;  for  no 
people  interfered  in  this  way  with  the  religion  of 
another,  and  the  Carthaginians  certainly  did  not  give 
up  the  practice.  But  they  may  have  engaged  not  to 
sacrifice  Greeks ;  in  any  case  he  who  devised  the 
story  well  understood  the  difference  between  Greek 
and  Phoenician  religion,  and  all  that  was  implied  in  a 
struggle  between  the  two  nations. 


DEATH   OF  GELON.  83 

Gelon  himself  gave  great  gifts  to  the  gods  of  his 
own  people  at  Olympia  and  elsewhere.  He  built  the 
temples  of  Demeter  and  the  Kore  on  the  south  side  of 
Epipolai,  and  he  began  another  temple  near  ^^tna 
which  he  did  not  finish.  For  he  died  two  years  after 
his  great  victory,  in  the  year  478  B.C.  He  was  buried 
with  all  honour,  and  commemorated  by  a  stately 
tomb  in  the  low  ground  between  Epipolai  and  the 
Olympicion.  He  was  reverenced  at  Syracuse  as  a  hero 
and  a  second  founder,  and  in  after  days,  when  the 
statues  of  all  the  other  tyrants  were  taken  down,  those 
of  the  deliverer  of  Himera  were  spared. 

Gelon  left  a  young  son  and  three  brothers,  Hieron, 
Polyzelos,  and  Thrasyboulos.  His  power  was  to  pass 
to  Hieron,  but  Polyzelos  was  to  have  the  command 
of  the  army,  and  was  to  marry  Gelon's  widow  and 
take  care  of  his  son.  This  arrangement  did  not  last. 
Hieron  reigned  splendidly,  and  gained  great  fame 
by  getting  round  him  all  the  poets  and  philosophers 
of  his  time,  Simonides,  ^Eschylus,  Pindar,  besides 
Epicharmos,  the  founder  of  Sicilian  comedy.  And 
above  all,  his  chariots  and  horses  won  prizes  in  the 
games  of  Old  Greece,  and  their  victories  were  sung 
in  the  odes  of  Pindar.  But  his  rule  was  suspicious 
and  cruel.  He  set  spies  upon  all  the  acts  of  the 
citizens  of  Syracuse,  and  he  was  specially  jealous  of 
his  brother  Polyzelos,  who  was  much  beloved.  Him, 
it  is  said,  he  tried  to  get  rid  of  in  a  war,  perhaps  in 
Italy,  perhaps  against  the  Sikels.  Polyzelos  fled  to 
Theron  at  Akragas,  and  war  broke  out  between 
Theron  and  Hieron.     Some  say  that  the  two  tyrants 


84     FIRST     WARS    WITH   CARTHAGE   AND    ETRURIA, 

were  reconciled  by  the  poet  Simonides.  Another 
story  told  how  the  people  of  Himera,  oppressed  by 
Theroii's  son  Thrasydaios,  offered  their  city  to  Hieron, 
who  betrayed  them  to  Theron.  Then  Theron,  so 
well  spoken  of  at  Akragas,  went  to  Himera,  and 
slew  many  of  his  son's  enemies.  The  whole  story  is 
told  confusedly ;  but  Theron  and  Hieron  were  recon- 
ciled, and  Hieron  married  a  niece  of  Theron. 

The  chief  action  of  Hieron  within  Sicily,  that  of 
which  he  was  most  proud,  was  hardly  to  his  credit. 
He  wished  to  be  equal  to  his  brother,  to  have  the 
honours  of  a  founder.  To  win  them,  he  moved  the 
people  of  Naxos  and  Katane  to  Leontinoi.  He  then 
repeopled  Katane  with  new  citizens  from  various 
parts  ;  he  enlarged  its  territory  at  the  cost  of  the 
Sikels  ;  he  then  changed  the  name  of  the  town  to 
^Etna,  and  gave  himself  out  as  its  founder.  He 
called  himself  a  man  of  ^Etna,  and  as  Hieron  of 
^tna  he  won  some  of  his  victories  in  the  games. 
And  though  he  never  ventured  to  call  himself  king 
at  Syracuse,  he  set  up  his  young  son  Deinomenes  as 
King  of  JEtna. 

The  best  side  of  Hieron  is  seen  out  of  Sicily, 
where  he  carries  on  Gelon's  work  as  a  champion  of 
Hellas  against  barbarians.  Gelon  hardly  meddled  in 
Italian  affairs.  Hieron,  early  in  his  reign.  In  477, 
was  able,  without  striking  a  blow,  to  save  Lokroi 
from  a  threatened  attack  by  Anaxilas  of  Rhegion 
and  Zankle.  And  in  474  he  did  a  work  which  is 
placed  akxigside  of  the  day  of  Himera.  The 
Greeks  of  Italy  were  often  hard  pressed  by  the 
barbarians  ;  above  all,  Kyme  was  threatened  by  the 


REIGN   OF   HIE  RUN. 


85 


Etruscans.  Hieron  sent  help  to  the  Greeks,  and  the 
fleets  of  Syracuse  and  Kymc  won  a  great  victory, 
which  did  much  to  break  the  Etruscan  power,  and 
gave  Kyme  a  time  of  peace  and  prosperity.  But 
an  attempt  to  plant  a  Syracusan  colony  on  the  island 
of    Pithekoussa    or    Ischia    failed.     In    the    British 


GELA.      C.    4S0. 


SEI.INOUS.      C.   440. 

Museum  we  may  still  see  the  helmet  which  Hieron 
dedicated  for  the  Etruscan  victory  won  in  his  name. 

Here  Hieron  won  real  glory  ;  but  he  did  nothing 
to  help  other  Greeks  in  Italy  against  other  barbarians. 
Anaxilas  was  now  dead,  and  the  government  of 
his  two  cities  was  carried  on  by  his  steward 
Mikythos  on  behalf  of  his  two  sons.  Mikythos  sent 
help  to  the  people  of  Taras  or  Tarentum,  who  were 
threatened  by  the  Messapians  or  lapygians  in  the 
heel  of  the  boot.     This  is  almost  the  only  time  that 


86     FIRST    WARS    WITH   CARTHAGE   AND   ETRURIA. 

we  hear  of  that  people  as  dangerous  to  the  Greeks  ; 
but  it  sounds  Hke  a  foreshadowing  of  the  general 
action  of  the  nations  of  southern  Italy  which  was 
presently  to  come.  The  two  Greek  cities  were 
utterly  defeated  by  the  Messapians,  but  Mikythos 
kept  his  hold  on  both  Rhegion  and  Zankle. 

We  have  thus  had  to  speak  of  the  wars  of  Greeks 
against  barbarians,  both  in  Old  Greece  and  in  Sicily 
and  Italy.  Great  victories  were  won  ;  but  in  Old 
Greece  the  barbarians  were  driven  out  for  ever,  while 
in  Sicily  they  came  again.  In  Old  Greece  again  the 
wars  were  waged  by  free  commonwealths,  while  in 
Sicily  they  were  waged  by  tyrants.  We  have  now  to 
see  the  cities  of  Sicily  get  rid  of  their  tyrants,  and 
enter  on  a  time,  if  not  of  great  victories,  yet  of 
wonderful  prosperity  and  of  a  nearer  approach  Chan 
usual  to  peace  among  themselves. 


VII. 


THE   GREEKS    OF    SICILY   FREE   AND   INDEPENDENT. 


B.C.  472-433- 


[Our  main  authority  now  is  llie  continuous  history  of  Diodoros.  lie 
alone  gives  us  any  account  of  Ducctius.  Pindar  still  helps  us  a  little  at 
the  beginning,  as  he  has  odes  addressed  to  citizens  of  Himcra  and 
Kamarina  after  ihey  liad  recovered  independence.  The  acts  of  Empe- 
dokles  come  from  his  Life  by  Diogenes  Laertios,  compiled  from  various 
earlier  writers.  There  are  notices  in  Pausanias  and  elsewhere,  specially 
notices  of  Sicilian  luxury  in  Athenaios.  And  we  now  begin  to  feel  the 
use  of  inscriptions,  though  those  that  concern  us  as  yet  are  very  frag- 
mentary, and  were  graven,  not  in  Sicily,  but  at  Athens.] 

We  now  come  to  a  time  which  we  might  call  the 
golden  age  of  Greek  Sicily,  Its  cities  are  both 
independent  and  free.  The  tyrants  are  driven  out. 
No  Greek  is  under  a  barbarian  master,  nor  does  any 
Greek  city  bear  rule  over  any  other.  The  cities  are 
wonderfully  rich  and  flourishing,  and  are  able  to  raise 
great  buildings.  We  cannot  say  that  there  is  no  war 
either  against  barbarians  or  between  one  Greek  city 
and  another.  But  there  is  much  less  war  than  there 
is  in  the  times  either  before  or  after.  And  the 
most    remarkable  war  is  one  waged  between  Greek 


FALL    OF   TYRANNY  AT  AKRAGAS.  89 

cities  and  a  Sikcl  prince  who  was  striving  to 
bring  about  the  unity  and  dominion  of  his  own 
people. 

We  have  marked  our  dates  from  the  beginning  of 
deliverance,  though  it  did  not  come  all  at  once.  In 
the  year  B.C.  472  Theron  of  Akragas  died.  What- 
ever men  thought  of  him  at  Himera,  he  left  behind 
him  a  good  memory  in  his  own  city.  He  had  greatly 
enlarged  the  town  by  taking  in  the  great  slope  of 
the  hill  between  the  two  rivers.  He  had  made  the 
walls  which  arc  still  to  be  seen,  and  he  had  begun 
the  great  range  of  temples.  At  his  death  he  re- 
ceived the  honours  of  a  hero,  and  was  buried  in  a 
stately  tomb  in  the  burial-ground  west  of  the  city. 
The  tomb  in  another  part  which  is  shown  as  his  is 
of  much  later  date.  His  power  passed  to  his  son 
Thrasydaios,  who  had  ruled  so  ill  at  Himera.  He 
ruled  just  as  ill  in  Akragas.  When,  on  what  occasion 
we  are  not  told,  he  began  a  war  with  Hieron,  his 
power  at  once  broke  in  pieces.  Akragas  and 
Himera,  which  had  no  tic  but  that  of  a  common 
master,  parted  asunder,  and  became  again  indepen- 
dent commonwealths.  Peace  was  made  with  Hieron, 
and  Thrasydaios  fled  to  Old  Greece.  There  the 
people  of  the  old  Mcgara  put  him  on  his  trial  and 
put  him  to  death.  One  can  see  no  reason  for  this, 
unless  that  a  tyrant  was  looked  on  as  a  common 
enemy  of  mankind,  who  might  be  brought  to  justice 
anywhere. 

Here  was  a  great  blow  struck  at  the  cause  of 
tyranny  in  Sicily.  And  Hieron  hardly  strengthened 
it  when  in  467  he  stirred  up  the  sons  of  Anaxilas  to 


90   GREEKS   OF   SICILY   FREE   AND   INDEPENDENT. 

demand  from  Mikythos  an  account  of  his  rule  in 
Zankle  and  Rhegion.  The  faithful  steward  gave  in 
an  account  which  satisfied  everybody,  and  the  young 
men  asked  Mikythos  to  go  on  managing  things  for 
them.  But  he  would  not  stay  where  he  had  been  sus- 
pected. He  went  to  Old  Greece,  and  died  in  honour 
at  Tegea.  The  sons  of  Anaxilas  now  took  the  rule 
of  his  two  cities  into  their  own  hands  ;  but  they  could 
not  keep  it  so  well  as  Mikythos  had  done. 

The  next  year  the  great  stay  of  tyranny  in  Sicily 
was  taken  away.  In  466  Hieron  died  at  his  own  city 
of  -^tna.  There  his  son  Deinomenes  went  on  reigning, 
and  made  offerings  at  Olympia  in  his  father's  name. 
But  the  power  of  Hieron  at  Syracuse  and  in  the  rest 
of  his  dominions  passed  to  his  brother  Thrasyboulos, 
the  last  of  the  four  sons  of  the  elder  Deinomenes. 
But  the  people  of  Syracuse  were  now  weary  of 
tyranny,  and  they  presently  rose  to  upset  the  power 
of  Thrasyboulos.  But  it  was  a  hard  matter  to  get  rid  of 
him.  For  he  had  many  mercenaries  in  his  pay,  and 
the  men  of  /Etna  came  to  fight  for  the  house  of  their 
founder.  Between  them  they  held  the  fortified  parts 
of  Syracuse,  both  the  Island  and  Achradina  which 
Gelon  had  joined  on  to  it.  The  men  of  Syracuse 
were  driven  to  besiege  their  own  city  from  outside. 
But  the  cause  of  Syracuse  was  felt  to  be  the  cause  of 
freedom  everywhere.  From  all  parts,  Greek  and 
Sikel,  which  had  been  subject  to  Hieron  or  where  men 
had  dreaded  his  power,  helpers  flocked  to  Syracuse. 
The  tyrant  was  defeated  in  two  battles  by  land  and 
sea,  and  he  presently  agreed  to  surrender  everything 
and  go  away  quietly.     He  went  and  lived  at  Lokroi, 


ALL    THti    CITIES    FRF.E.  9 1 

where  the  memory  of  Hieron  was  doubtless  honoured. 
At  the  same  time  or  soon  after,  the  sons  of  Anaxilas 
were  driven  out  of  Zankle  and  Rhegion.  The  cities 
which  had  been  under  the  rule  of  the  lords  of 
Syracuse  again  set  up  for  themselves  ;  even  fallen 
Kamarina  rose  again,  this  time  not  as  an  outpost 
of  Syracuse,  but  as  a  free  colony  of  Gela.  Thus  all 
the  Sikeliot  cities  were  again  independent,  and  all 
were  free  commonwealths,  save  only  yEtna,  where 
Deinomenes  still  reigned.  So  the  famous  line  of  the 
tyrants  of  Gela  and  Syracuse  passed  away  from  both 
those  cities,  and  we  are  surprised  to  find  that  it  had 
lasted  only  eighteen  years. 

The  cities  were  now  free,  with  neither  tyrants  within 
nor  masters  from  outside.  But  it  was  not  easy  to 
settle  the  state  of  the  new  commonwealths  after  so 
many  changes.  The  tyranny  had  swept  away  the  old 
distinctions.  At  Syracuse,  the  city  of  whose  affairs 
we  hear  most,  there  are  no  signs  of  any  more  disputes 
between  the  old  Gamoroi  and  the  old  commons.  But 
new  distinctions  had  arisen.  In  the  first  zeal  of 
deliverance  men  set  up  the  feast  of  the  EleiitJieria 
in  honour  of  Zeus  E/cnt/icrios,  the  god  of  freedom, 
and  they  admitted  the  mercenaries  and  others  to 
whom  the  tyrants  had  granted  citizenship  to  the  same 
rights  as  themselves.  But  the  two  classes  did  not 
agree,  and  after  a  while  (463)  the  old  citizens,  being 
the  greater  number,  passed  a  vote  that  those  whose 
citizenship  dated  only  from  the  time  of  the  tyrants 
should  not  be  able  to  hold  magistracies.  The  ex- 
cluded class  flew  to  arms.  If  fewer  in  number,  they 
were    better  at    fighting,    and    they    again    held    the 


92    GREEKS   OF   SICILY  FREE   AND   INDEPENDENT. 

Island  and  Achradina  against  the  old  citizens.  This 
led  to  another  enlargement  of  the  city.  The  suburb 
of  Tycha,  outside  Achradina  on  the  north  side  of  the 
hill,  was  fortified  by  the  Syracusan  besiegers  of 
Syracuse,  and  became  part  of  the  city.  The  war 
went  on  for  about  three  years,  and  it  is  not  clear  how 
it  came  to  an  end.  But  at  last  (461)  the  mercenaries 
were  got  rid  of  somehow. 

Something  of  the  same  kind,  disputes  between  the 
old  citizens  and  the  new,  must  have  been  going  on  in 
other  cities  also.  For  a  general  vote  was  passed  by 
all  the  Sikeliot  commonwealths  that  all  the  mer- 
cenaries everywhere  should  be  settled  in  the  one 
territory  of  Messana.  This  implies  that  that  territory 
was  open  to  settlement.  It  is  moreover  the  first  time 
that  the  name  Messaua,  Alessene,  Messina,  is  given  to 
the  town  which  had  hitherto  been  called  Zankie.  The 
dates  are  confused  ;  but  it  was  certainly  about  this 
time  that  the  last  Mcssenian  war  was  going  on  in 
Peloponnesos.  Many Mcssenianswere  scattered  abroad, 
and  one  cannot  help  thinking  that  it  was  now  that  the 
Messenian  settlement  at  Zankie  happened,  and  that  the 
city  changed  its  name.  It  was  the  first  town  that  took 
that  name.  Messene  in  Peloponnesos  had  hitherto 
been  the  name  of  a  land,  and  the  town  of  Messene 
there  was  not  founded  till  a  hundred  years  later. 
Messana  had  the  most  motley  population  of  any  town 
in  Sicily,  and  its  policy  was  the  most  given  to  change, 
as  one  or  the  other  party  had  the  upper  hand. 

In  one  city  even  now  the  house  of  the  tyrants  still 
reigned.  But  Greeks  and  Sikcls  joined  to  drive 
Deinomenes  and  the  Hieronian  settlers  out  of  /Etna. 


WEALTH   OF  AKRAGAS.  93 

The  Sikcls  were  led  by  their  famous  prince  Ducetius, 
of  whom  we  shall  hear  again.  ALtna.  once  more 
became  Katane  ;  the  old  citizens  came  back ;  the 
honours  of  Hieron  were  abolished,  and  his  tomb  was 
destroyed.  But  his  settlers,  and  doubtless  their  king 
with  them,  were  allowed  to  occupy  the  Sikel  town  of 
Tnessa,  further  inland  and  nearer  to  the  mountain. 
Its  name  was  also  for  a  while  changed  to  ALtna. 

Thus  the  Greek  cities  of  Sicily  fell  back,  as  far  as 
they  could,  on  the  state  of  things  which  had  been 
before  the  rise  of  the  tyrants.  Each  city  was  again 
an  independent  commonwealth.  Those  cities  which, 
like  Syracuse  and  Akragas,  had  borne  rule  over 
others,  now  lost  their  dominion,  and  with  it  that  kind 
of  greatness  which  comes  of  dominion.  They  gained 
instead  freedom  at  home.  The  constitutions  of  the 
cities  were  everywhere  democratic,  or  more  nearly  so 
than  they  had  been  before.  And  the  cities  were 
wonderfully  rich  and  flourishing.  Above  all,  strange 
tales  are  told  of  the  wealth  and  luxury  of  the  rich 
men  of  Akragas.  But,  after  so  many  shocks  and 
changes,  above  all  after  so  many  movements  of  men 
from  one  place  to  another,  there  were  many  causes 
of  dispute  within  the  cities.  Men  in  Old  Greece 
contrasted  the  constant  changes  in  Sicily  with  the 
stability  of  the  older  cities  where  the  same  people 
had  lived  for  ages.  It  is  only  at  Syracuse  and 
Akragas  that  we  get  any  details.  At  Syracuse  there 
were,  naturally  enough,  disputes  about  the  rights  of 
particular  men  to  lands  and  citizenship.  And,  what 
no  democratic  forms  can  hinder,  there  seem  to  have 


94    GREEKS   OF  SICILY   FREE   AND   INDEPENDENT. 

grown  up  a  kind  of  official  class  which  kept  affairs 
in  its  own  hands.  Thus  there  arose  demagogues, 
leaders  of  the  people.  This  name  was  in  its  origin 
perfectly  honourable,  marking  a  lawful  and  useful 
position,  though  one  which  might  easily  be  abused. 
The  demagogue  commonly  spoke  against  the  ad- 
ministration of  affairs  at  the  time,  and  he  could 
sometimes  carry  a  vote  of  the  people  in  opposition 
to  the  magistrates.  And  it  marks  an  exclusive  kind 
of  feeling  on  the  part  of  a  governing  class  when  we 
hear  complaints  that  all  the  young  men  gave  them- 
selves up  to  making  speeches.  For  this  was  the  time 
when  oratory  was  becoming  an  art.  And  it  began  to  be 
so  first  in  Sicily.  The  first  teachers  of  rhetoric  were  the 
Syracusans  Korax  and  Tisias,  and  after  them  the 
more  famous  Gorgias  of  Leontinoi. 

There  was  always  a  certain  fear  that  the  dema- 
gogue might  grow  into  a  tyrant.  He  did  so  both  in 
earlier  and  later  times.  At  this  time  there  were  no 
tyrants  in  Sicily ;  but  there  were  men  who  were 
suspected  of  aiming  at  tyranny.  There  were 
several  such  at  Syracuse.  Thus  about  the  year 
454  one  Tyndarion  gave  himself  out  as  the  champion 
of  the  poor,  and  his  followers  formed  themselves 
into  a  voluntary  body-guard.  The  body-guard  was 
the  very  badge  of  tyranny.  Tyndarion  was  there- 
fore charged  with  treason,  and  was  sentenced  to 
death.  But  his  followers  rose,  and,  instead  of  being 
lawfully  put  to  death,  he  was  killed  in  the  tumult. 
Presently  the  Syracusans  adopted  a  law  in  imitation 
of  the  Athenian  ostracism.  That  name  is  often  mis- 
used.    At  Athens  it  meant  that,  when  the  state  was 


POLITICS   OF  SYRACUSE.  95 

thought  to  be  in  danger,  a  vote  was  taken  in  which 
every  citizen  wrote  on  a  tile  (oarpaKov)  the  name  of 
any  man  whose  presence  he  thought  dangerous.  If 
6000  citizens  named  the  same  man,  he  had  to 
leave  Athens  for  ten  years.  He  could  hardly  be 
said  to  be  banished,  and  he  was  in  no  way  disgraced. 
He  kept  his  property,  and  at  the  end  of  the  ten 
years  he  came  back  to  his  full  rights.  Indeed  his 
friends  were  often  able  to  carry  a  vote  to  call  him 
back  before  the  time.  At  Athens  this  law  worked 
well  for  a  season,  while  the  democracy  was  weak. 
When  the  democracy  was  fully  established,  it  became 
needless,  and  gradually  went  out  of  use.  We  know 
much  less  of  the  working  of  the  same  institution  at 
Syracuse.  There  it  \\'as  called  petalisni,  because  the 
name  was  written  on  a  leaf  (jrhaXov).  The  time  of 
absence  was  five  years.  We  know  nothing  of  the 
details,  whether  they  were  the  same  as  those  at 
Athens  or  not.  We  are  told  that  it  worked  badly, 
and  was  soon  abolished  by  general  consent.  For  it 
is  said  that,  while  it  was  in  force,  the  best  men  with- 
drew from  public  affairs  and  left  them  to  the  worst 
men  in  the  city.  There  may  be  some  truth  in  this  ; 
for,  after  so  many  changes,  political  differences  were 
likely  to  be  much  more  bitter  at  Syracuse  than  at 
Athens.  But  these  accounts  clearly  come  from 
writers  hostile  to  democracy.  And  it  is  quite  certain 
that  Syracuse  was  at  this  very  time  very  flourishing 
at  home  and  could  act  a  very  vigorous  part  abroad. 

The  constitution  of  Akragas  after  the  fall  of  the 
tyrants  seem  to  have  been  less  strictly  democratic 
than    that   of  Syracuse.      What   we  know   about   it 


g6    GREEKS   OF  SICILY  FREE   AND   INDEPENDENT. 

comes  from  the  Life  of  the  philosopher  Empedokles. 
About  him  there  is  a  silly  story,  how  he  threw  himself 
into  the  furnace  of  ^tna,  that  men  might  think  that 
he  had  become  a  god.  And,  as  so  often  happens, 
this  silly  story  has  stuck  to  his  name  rather  than  any 
of  his  real  actions.  There  is  something  very  strange 
about  Empedokles.  He  seems  to  have  given  himself 
out  as  having  a  divine  mission,  and  his  followers 
believed  that  he  did  many  wonders,  even  to  raising 
the  dead.  He  was  certainly  a  poet  and  a  physician, 
and  he  most  likely  had  a  knowledge  of  nature  beyond 
his  time.  He  cleansed  rivers  and  did  other  useful 
works.  And  he  was  the  foremost  man  in  the  common- 
wealth of  Akragas  in  that  day.  He  refused  the 
tyranny  or  supreme  power  in  some  shape  ;  he 
brought  about  the  condemnation  of  some  men  who 
were  aiming  at  tyranny  ;  he  lessened  the  power  of 
the  senate,  and  so  made  the  state  more  democratic. 
In  after  days,  when  the  Athenians  came  into  Sicily 
and  warred  against  Syracuse,  and  when  Akragas  was 
bitterly  jealous  of  Syracuse,  Empedokles  helped  the 
Syracusans  against  Athens.  For  thus  preferring  the 
interests  of  all  Sicily  to  the  passions  of  his  own  city, 
Empedokles  was  banished  from  Akragas.  He  went 
to  Old  Greece  and  died,  and  was  buried  at  the  elder 
Megara. 

One  can  believe  that  the  jealousy  between  Syracuse 
and  Akragas,  between  the  first  city  in  the  island  and 
the  second,  had  been  handed  on  from  the  days  of  the 
tyrants  or  earlier.  But  it  was  at  least  greatly  strength- 
ened by  events  in  the  wars  of  the  time.     For,  though 


gS     GREEKS    OF   SICILY   FREE   AND   INDEPENDENT. 

the  time  was  comparatively  peaceful,  there  were  wars. 
In  453  the  commonwealth  of  Syracuse  undertook  to 
chastise  the  Etruscan  pirates,  just  as  Hieron  had 
done.  A  fleet  went  forth  and  ravaged  the  whole 
Etruscan  coast.  Much  spoil  was  brought  in,  and  it 
would  almost  seem  as  if  the  Syracusans  made  some 
settlements  in  the  islands  of  Corsica  and  Elba ;  but, 
if  so,  they  did  not  last.  And  there  was  a  war  in  the 
west  of  Sicily,  of  which  we  can  make  out  nothing 
distinctly ;  but  it  looks  as  if  Akragas  and  Selinous 
won  some  advantages  over  the  Phoenicians.  In 
neither  of  these  meagre  accounts  do  we  see  Akragas 
and  Syracuse  coming  across  one  another  in  any  way, 
friendly  or  unfriendly.  It  was  another  war  with 
barbarians  in  which  we  hear  of  them  in  both  ways, 
and  which  led  to  a  lasting  jealousy  between  the  two 
cities. 

This  sprang  out  of  the  last  and  greatest  attempt  of 
the  Sikels  to  throw  off  the  dominion  of  the  Greeks  in 
their  own  island.  Many  of  the  Sikels  on  the  coast  had 
been  made  bondmen  ;  but  their  inland  towns  were 
independent,  and  had  largely  taken  to  Greek  ways. 
But  they  were  hampered  and  kept  in  the  background 
in  their  own  land,  and  the  more  they  felt  themselves 
the  equals  of  the  Greeks,  the  less  would  they  abide 
any  Greek  superiority.  They  had  now  a  great  leader 
among  them,  that  Ducetius  of  whom  we  have  already 
heard  as  helping  against  the  Hieronians  at  Katane. 
He  strove  to  unite  his  people,  and  to  win  back  for 
them  the  full  possession  of  their  own  island.  His 
schemes  must  have  been  very  like  those  of  Philip  of 
Macedon  a  hundred  years  later.     He  would  found  a 


RISE    OF  DUCETIUS.  99 

state  which  should  be  pohtically  Sikcl,  but  which 
should  have  all  the  benefit  of  Greek  culture.  He 
would  be  King-  of  Sicily  or  of  as  great  a  part  of  it  as 
he  could,  with  his  royal  throne  in  one  of  the  great 
Greek  cities.  But  Philip  inherited  an  established 
kingdom,  which  he  had  only  to  enlarge  and  strengthen ; 
Ducetius  had  to  create  his  Sikel  state  from  the  begin- 
ning. He  started  about  the  year  459,  by  founding 
the  town  of  Mena:inum,  now  Mineo,  on  the  hill  above 
the  lake  of  the  Palici,  the  special  gods  of  his  people. 
There  mighty  walls  are  to  be  seen,  most  likely  of  his 
building.  From  that  centre,  in  the  space  of  six  years, 
he  brought  together  most  of  the  Sikel  towns,  all,  it 
is  said,  except  the  Galeatic  Hybla,  into  an  union  of 
some  kind  under  his  own  headship.  Unluckily  we 
can  say  no  more ;  of  the  terms  of  union  we  know 
nothing.  For  the  power  thus  called  into  being 
he  founded  in  453  a  new  capital  close  by  the  holy 
lake,  and  bearing  the  name  of  Palica.  He  then  came 
down  from  the  hills  to  the  plain,  just  as  Philip  came 
down  from  Aigai  or  Edessa  to  Pclla.  This  was  a 
step  in  advance  ;  his  next  step,  if  possible,  would  have 
been  to  the  sea.  But  we  may  be  sure  that  he  wished 
above  all  things  to  put  his  state  under  the  protection 
of  the  great  Sikel  gods. 

As  yet  Ducetius  had  not  attacked  any  Greek  city. 
His  first  step  in  that  way  was  to  besiege  and  take 
Inessa,  now  called  JEtna..  Thither,  it  will  be  remem- 
bered, the  Hieronian  settlers  in  the  other  ^tna,  that 
is,  Katane,  were  allowed  to  move.  Ducetius  himself 
had  helped  to  place  them  in  the  Sikcl  town.  No 
Greeks  gave  any  help  to  the  remnant  of  the  friends 


100  GREEKS    OF   SICILY   FREE   AND   INDEPENDENT. 

of  the  tyrants,  perhaps  with  Deinomenes  still  calling 
himself  their  king.  It  was  otherwise  when  Ducetius 
attacked  the  Akragantine  town  or  post  of  Motyon. 
Ducetius  was  now  so  powerful  that  Akragas  had 
to  seek  help  at  Syracuse.  Ducetius  won  a  battle 
against  the  joint  forces  of  the  two  Greek 
cities,  and  took  Motyon.  The  Syracusan  general 
was  charged  with  treason  and  was  put  to  death. 
The  Syracusans  then  sent  a  greater  force,  and, 
while  the  Akragantines  besieged  and  recovered 
Motyon,  they  defeated  Ducetius  in  a  second  battle. 
Defeat  was  what  a  power  like  that  formed  by 
Ducetius  could  not  bear.  There  was  no  tradition  of 
union  among  those  whom  he  had  brought  together. 
All  gradually  forsook  him,  and  the  man  who  had 
striven  to  found  the  unity  of  his  people  was  left  alone, 
and  in  danger  of  his  life. 

Ducetius  now  took  a  bold  step.  He  would  throw 
himself  on  the  generosity  and  the  religious  feelings 
of  his  enemies.  He  rode  to  Syracuse  by  night  ;  how 
he  passed  the  gate  we  are  not  told  ;  but  in  the  morn- 
ing all  Syracuse  saw  the  dreaded  Sikel  king  sitting  as 
a  suppliant  at  the  altars  of  the  gods  of  the  agora. 
An  assembly  was  at  once  held.  Some  were  for  put- 
ting him  to  death  ;  but  there  was  a  general  cry  of 
"  Save  the  Suppliant."  Ducetius'  life  was  spared, 
but  he  was  not  allowed  to  stay  in  Sicily.  The  Syra- 
cusans sent  him  to  their  metropolis  Corinth,  under 
a  promise  to  live  there  quietly  on  a  maintenance 
which  the  commonw^ealth  of  Syracuse  supplied  him 
with. 

The  Akragantines  were  much  displeased  with  the 


FOUNDATION   OF   KALE   ARTE.  lOI 

Syracusans  for  thus  sparing  the  common  enemy. 
And  they  were  the  more  angry  at  what  presently 
happened.  Ducetius  no  doubt  learned  a  great  deal 
by  living  in  a  great  city  of  Old  Greece,  and  he  made 
friends  there.  Before  long  he  gave  out  that  the  gods 
had  bidden  him  to  plant  a  colony  in  Sicily.  He  set 
forth  with  companions  who  must  have  been  mainly 
Greeks,  and  began  his  settlement  at  the  same  place, 
Kale  Akte  on  the  north  coast,  where  Skythes  of 
Zankle  had  once  wished  the  lonians  of  Asia  to 
settle.  The  Akragantines  said  that  this  could  not 
have  happened  without  at  least  the  connivance  of 
the  Syracusans.  A  war  broke  out  in  which  each 
side  had  allies  ;  we  are  not  told  who  they  were.  The 
Syracusans  had  the  better  ;  peace  was  made  ;  we  are 
not  told  on  what  terms.  But  from  that  time  Akragas 
always  had  a  grudge  against  Syracuse. 

This  war  gave  Ducetius  time  to  go  on  with  his 
settlement.  Many  joined  him,  both  Greeks  and 
Sikels  ;  he  was  specially  helped  by  the  neighbouring 
Sikel  prince  Archonides  of  Herbita.  His  Greek 
name  is  worth  marking,  as  distinguished  from  the 
evidently  Latin  name  of  Ducetius.  The  new  town 
grew  and  prospered,  and  Ducetius  was  supposed  to 
be  again  planning  greater  things.  But  the  chances 
of  the  Sikels  came  to  an  end  when  he  died  of  disease 
in  444.  Many  of  the  Sikel  towns  remained  in- 
dependent ;  but  their  only  hope  now  was  to  make 
themselves  Greek,  which  they  gradually  did.  And 
Syracuse  conquered  some  of  those  which  were  near 
her  own  territory.  One  was  Trinacia,  the  town 
which  had  in  some  sort  given  its  name  to  the  island. 


102  GREEKS   OF    SICILY  FREE    AND   INDEPENDENT. 

Another  was  Ducetius'  own  Palica,  which  was  de- 
stroyed. Thus  all  the  great  schemes  of  the  Sikel 
prince  came  to  an  end.  But  he  had  done  something. 
He  had  at  least  founded  three  towns,  two  of  which 
lived  on  for  many  ages,  and  one  of  which,  Menaenum, 
now  Mineo,  lives  on  still. 

For  several  years  after  this  time  there  is  no  Sicilian 


PANORMOS.     C.  420  B.C. 


MESSANA.      C.   420   B.C. 

history.  We  hear  only  that  about  the  year  439,  or 
perhaps  somewhat  later,  Syracuse  began  to  make  great 
preparations  for  something.  She  built  a  fleet ;  she 
doubled  the  number  of  her  horsemen  ;  she  was 
thought  to  be  aiming  at  the  dominion  of  all  Sicily. 
Nothing  more  is  told  us  ;  but  it  is  plain  that  we 
have  here  the  beginning  of  the  story  which  we  shall 
have  to  tell  in  our  next  chapter.  The  Chalkidians 
of  Sicily  and  Italy  were  thoroughly  frightened,  and 


GREAT   PREPARATIONS   OF  SYRACUSE.         103 

they  began  to  seek  for  allies  in  Old  Greece.  Till 
this  time  Sicily  has  been  pretty  well  a  world  of  its 
own,  and  for  the  last  generation  a  very  prosperous 
world.  The  Greek  cities  were  free  and  flourishing. 
The  failure  of  the  plans  of  Ducetius  showed  what 
was  the  destiny  of  the  native  races,  Carthage  kept 
quiet.  She  was  no  doubt  only  biding  her  time,  and, 
before  her  time  came,  we  have  to  tell  what  happened 
when  Sicily  became  mixed  up  in  the  wars  of  Old 
Greece,  and  when  the  destiny  of  the  greatest  powers 
of  Old  Greece  was  fought  out  in  the  waters  of 
Syracuse. 


viri. 

THE   SHARE   OF   SICILY   IN    THE   WARS   OF   OLD 
GREECE. 

B.C.    433-409- 


[We  have  now,  for  the  only  time  in  the  history  of  Greek  Sicily,  the 
narrative  of  a  contemporary  historian  of  the  first  rank.  Through  the 
whole  of  this  chapter,  except  a  very  short  time  just  at  the  end,  we  have 
the  guidance  of  the  Athenian  Thucydides.  In  his  earlier  hooks  we  have 
to  pick  out  what  concerns  Sicily  from  the  general  story  of  the  Pelopon- 
nesian  war.  In  the  sixth  and  seventh  books  .Sicily  is  the  main  subject, 
and  they  are  the  noblest  pieces  of  contemporary  history  ever  written.  In 
the  eighth  book  we  have  again  to  pick  out  what  concerns  Sicily  from 
the  general  narrative,  and  just  before  the  end  we  lose  Thucydides,  and 
are  left  to  the  very  inferior,  but  still  conteipporarj',  Xenophon.  When 
Thucydides  is  to  be  had,  we  are  tempted  to  despise  Diodoros ;  and, 
during  the  greater  part  of  the  story,  his  account  is,  strange  to  say, 
below  the  usual  level  of  his  Sicilian  work.  But  in  some  places  he  gives 
us  valuable  matter  which  he  has  clearly  copied  from  the  contemporary 
Syracusan  historian  Philistos.  Philistos  was  indeed  more  than  a  contem- 
porary ;  in  nil  the  latter  part  of  the  war  he  was  an  actual  eyewitness  and 
actor.  The  earlier  Syracusan  historian  Antiochos  ended  with  the  con- 
ference at  Gela  in  B.C.  423.  And  we  have  some  subsidiary  contemporary 
sources.  There  are  many  references  to  things  that  concern  us  in  the 
plays  of  the  Athenian  comic  poet  Aristophanes,  and  the  Athenian  Iso- 
krates,  though  he  lived  so  long  that  he  seems  to  belong  to  a  later  time, 
was  contemporary  with  the  great  siege,  and  he  has  left  a  remark  or  two 
about  it.  Among  the  Lives  of  Plutarch,  too,  those  of  Nikias  and  Alki- 
biadcs,deal  with  this  time,  and  they  preserve  many  things  from  Philistos 

104 


SPARTA    AND   ATHENS.  IO5 

and  other  lost  writers.  And,  as  usual,  we  pick  up  things  occasionally  in 
writers  of  all  kinds,  as  Pausanias,  Polyainos,  Athenaios.  Altogether 
there  is  no  time  before  or  after  for  which  we  have  so  much  and  so  good 
materials.] 

We  have  now  come  to  a  time  in  which  the  Greek 
cities  of  Sicily  get  mixed  up,  in  a  way  in  which  they 
have  not  been  before,  with  the  disputes  of  the  mother- 
country.  The  more  part  of  the  Old  Greek  cities  were 
now  divided  into  two  great  alliances.  These  were 
Sparta  with  her  following,  and  Athens  with  hers. 
Sparta  was  the  head  of  the  Dorians,  Athens  of  the 
lonians.  Sparta  was  old-fashioned,  oligarchic,  slow 
to  act.  Athens  was  fond  of  new  things,  democratic, 
daring  in  enterprise.  Sparta  was  strong  by  land  and 
Athens  by  sea.  But  though  in  their  home  govern- 
ments Sparta  represented  oligarchy  and  Athens 
democracy,  yet  in  her  dealings  with  other  cities, 
Sparta  had  made  herself  better  liked  than  Athens. 
The  allies  of  Sparta  were  willing  allies  who  followed 
her  by  traditional  attachment.  The  so-called  allies 
of  Athens  were  mostly  cities  which  she  had  lately 
brought  under  her  dominion  and  which  paid  her 
tribute.  When  she  had  any  willing  allies,  they  were 
almost  always  cities  which  joined  her  out  of  some 
grudge  against  Sparta  or  some  other  member  of  the 
Lacedaemonian  alliance.  Before  many  years  had 
passed,  men  found  that  Sparta,  as  a  ruling  city,  was 
much  more  oppressive  than  Athens.  But  as  yet 
Sparta  represented  free  alliance  and  Athens  repre- 
sented subjection.  The  Lacedaemonian  cause  was 
therefore  popular  throughout  Greece. 

At  this  moment  the  two  crreat  alliances  were  at 


I06      SICILY  AND    THE    WARS   OF  OLD   GREECE. 

peace,  under  the  terms  of  a  truce  for  thirty  years 
made  in  the  year  445.  Even  before  that  time,  perhaps 
even  from  the  time  of  the  Persian  wars,  Athens, 
looking  for  dominion  and  influence  everywhere,  be- 
gan also  to  look  towards  the  West.  As  early  as  454, 
we  find,  as  an  inscription  shows,  Athens  meddling  in 
Sicilian  affairs  and  making  an  alliance  with  the 
Elymians  of  Segesta  against  some  enemy,  perhaps 
the  men  of  Sikan  Halikyai.  In  443  Athens  took  the 
lead  in  founding  the  colony  of  Thourioi,  near  the  site 
of  the  old  Sybaris.  And  the  beginnings  of  the  Pelo- 
ponnesian  war  itself  had  a  close  connexion  with 
Sicilian  and  Italian  affairs.  The  Korkyraians,  ever 
in  dispute  with  their  metropolis  Corinth,  asked  for 
help  of  Athens,  setting  forth  the  importance  of  their 
own  island,  as  holding  the  key  of  Italy  and  Sicily. 
This  was  in  B.C.  433.  And  in  this  same  year,  the  year 
of  her  alliance  with  Korkyra,  Athens  also  concluded 
alliances  with  Leontinoi  in  Sicily  and  with  Rhegion 
close  to  it.  That  is  the  beginning  of  the  whole  story. 
It  is  plain  that  Syracuse,  whom  we  left  at  the  end  of 
the  last  chapter,  strengthening  her  fleet  and  horse- 
men, was  beginning  to  attack,  or  at  least  to  threaten, 
her  Chalkidian  neighbours.  They  betake  themselves 
to  the  great  Ionian  city  for  help.  And  when  the  war 
actually  broke  out  in  431,  it  seems  taken  for  granted 
on  both  sides  that  Sicily  had  something  to  do  with 
the  matter,  though  for  several  years  nothing  really 
was  done  on  either  side.  Athens,  as  we  have  seen, 
was  the  ally  of  Rhegion  and  Leontinoi  ;  but  she  did 
nothing  for  them  for  several  years.  And,  at  the  very 
besfinnin"'  of  the  war,  the  Lacedc-emonians  bade  the 


SIR  ELIOT   APPEAL    TO   ATHENS.  I07 

Dorians  of  Sicily  and  Italy,  as  if  they  were  members 
of  their  alliance,  to  join  in  building  a  great  fleet.  But 
for  four  years  no  ships  of  war  passed  either  way  be- 
tween Sicily  and  Old  Greece.  The  allies  of  Sparta  in 
Sicily  thought  they  did  enough  by  vexing  the  allies 
of  Athens  in  their  own  island. 

In  the  year  427  we  begin  to  see  things  more 
clearly.  Syracuse  u'ith  her  allies  was  warring  against 
the  Chalkidian  Leontinoi  and  her  allies.  With  Syra- 
cuse, we  are  told,  were  all  the  Dorian  cities  of  Sicily 
except  Kamarina — we  hear  nothing  of  Akragas — and 
Lokroi  in  Italy.  With  Leontinoi  were  the  other  Chal- 
kidian cities — that  is,  Naxos  and  Katane — Kamarina, 
and  Rhegion  in  Italy.  We  hear  nothing  of  Messana  ; 
a  little  later  it  was  in  alliance  with  Syracuse.  The 
Syracusan  league  was  much  the  stronger,  and  Leon- 
tinoi was  hard  pressed.  Then  the  men  of  Rhegion 
and  Leontinoi,  as  allies  of  Athens,  sent  thither  to  ask 
for  some  real  help.  The  great  orator  Gorgias  of 
Leontinoi  was  one  of  the  envo}-s,  and  he  is  said  to 
have  made  a  great  impression  at  Athens.  It  was 
specially  expedient  at  that  moment  to  hinder  any 
Sikeliot  ships  coming  to  the  help  of  Sparta,  for 
Korkyra  was  torn  with  sedition  and  could  not  do 
much  for  her  allies.  But  Athens  did  not  choose  to 
run  any  great  risk  at  first.  A  small  fleet  was  sent, 
mainly  to  see  whether  it  was  well  to  do  anything 
more.  For  about  three  years  the  war  went  on  in  a 
small  way  till,  in  the  year  425,  Athens  sent  a  greater 
fleet  to  Sicily. 

Nothing  really  great  was  done  even  now  ;  but  we 
hear  several   things  which  tell  us  a  cri'cat  deal  as  to 


I08      SICILY  AND    THE    WARS    OF   OLD   GREECE. 

the  state  of  affairs  in  Sicily.  Messana  was  always 
changing  sides,  according  as  one  party  or  another  in 
its  mixed  population  got  the  chief  power.  One  tinne, 
in  426  two  Messanian  tribes,  attacked  by  the  Athe- 
nians at  Mylai,  joined  the  besiegers  in  winning  over 
Messana  itself  to  the  Athenian  side.  Presently  the 
city  changed  back  again  to  the  Syracusan  side.  In 
Rhegion  there  was  a  party  which  acted  with  Lokroi 
against  their  own  city.  Kamarina,  allied  with  Athens, 
wavered  ;  dislike  to  Syracuse  and  general  Dorian 
sympathies  were  forces  that  pulled  two  ways.  And 
we  hear  something  of  the  older  nations  of  Sicily. 
The  Elymians  of  Segesta  renewed  their  alliance  with 
Athens,  a  fact  of  which  nothing  came  at  the  time, 
but  a  great  deal  afterwards.  Among  the  Sikels  we 
hear  that  King  Archonides,  the  friend  of  Ducetius, 
was,  as  he  might  expect,  a  firm  ally  of  Athens.  In 
Inessa,  the  Sikel  town  of  which  we  have  heard  so 
often,  we  find  a  state  of  things  such  as  often  was  seen 
in  Greece  itself  in  the  Macedonian  times.  The  town 
was  a  separate  commonwealth,  but  it  was  controlled 
by  a  Syracusan  garrison  in  its  akropolis.  And  one 
story  most  curiously  illustrates  Sikel  feeling.  The 
Sikels  had  a  special  grudge  against  Naxos,  as  having 
been  the  beginning  of  Greek  settlement  in  their  land. 
But  they  hated  Syracuse  yet  more,  as  being  far  more 
dangerous.  So  when  the  Syracusans  and  Messanians 
attacked  Naxos,  a  large  body  of  Sikels  came  to  its 
help.  The  Messanians  were  so  much  weakened  that 
they  called  in  fresh  citizens  from  Lokroi.  This  grew 
into  an  union  between  the  two  commonwealths  of 
Messana    and    Lokroi.     Presently    a    new  revolution 


HERMOKRATES   AT   GEL  A.  lOQ 

drove  the  Lokrians  out  again.  All  these  things 
show  how  much  more  unstable  things  were  in  Sicily, 
and  specially  in  Messana,  than  they  were  in  Old 
Greece. 

Before  long  all  parties  in  Sicily  grew  tired  of  a  war 
in  which  nothing  of  any  moment  was  done  on  either 
side.  In  424  a  larger  Athenian  fleet  came,  and  its 
commanders  called  on  their  allies  for  more  vigorous 
action.  The  call  seemed  to  turn  men  the  other  way. 
Kamarina  and  Gela,  colony  and  metropolis,  first 
made  peace  with  one  another,  and  then  invited  the 
other  cities  to  join  with  her.  A  congress  was  held  at 
Gela  ;  and  there  we  for  the  first  time  come  across  one 
of  the  most  memorable  men  in  Sicilian  history.  This 
was  Hermokrates  of  Syracuse,  the  chief  man  in  that 
city.  He  was  suspected  of  not  being  a  friend  to  the 
democratic  constitution  ;  but  no  city  ever  had  a  wiser 
or  truer  leader  in  war  and  all  foreign  affairs,  and  men 
trusted  him  accordingly.  At  Gela  he  made  a  most 
remarkable  speech.  It  is  essentially  the  speech  of 
the  statesman  of  a  colony.  He  cares  for  more  than 
Syracuse  ;  he  cares  for  all  Greek  Sicily.  But  he  does 
not,  as  some  few  did,  care  for  the  whole  Greek  folk 
everywhere.  His  teaching  is  that  the  Sikeliot  cities 
should,  if  possible,  keep  peace  among  themselves  ; 
but  that,  in  any  case,  they  should  not  let  any  one 
out  of  Sicily  meddle  in  their  affairs.  They  should  all 
join  together  to  keep  any  strangers  out.  He  tells  the 
lonians  of  Sicily  that  the  friendship  of  Athens  is  all 
a  blind.  Athens,  like  all  other  states,  is  simply  seek- 
ing dominion  where  she  can  find  it.  It  is  the  com- 
mon business  of  them  all  to  keep  her  from  finding 
any  in  Sicily. 


no     SICILY   AND    THE    WARS    OF   OLD    GREECE. 

Two  things  maybe  noticed  in  this  speech.  Hermo- 
krates  speaks  of  all  Greeks  out  of  Sicily  as  strangers. 
He  does  not  even  except  his  own  metropolis  of 
Corinth.  And  he  speaks  as  if  all  Sicily  were  a  Greek 
land.  No  one  would  find  out  from  his  speech  that 
there  were  any  Phcenicians,  Sikels,  or  Elymians  in 
the  island.  That  is  to  say,  the  speech  is  one  made 
for  that  particular  moment.  Just  then  no  barbarian 
power  was  threatening,  and  a  Greek  power  was. 
And  when  he  argued  against  keeping  out  Athenians, 
he  could  not  ask  to  let  in  Corinthians.  Hermo- 
krates  knew  perfectly  well,  and  he  showed  it  when  the 
time  came,  how  precious  the  friendship  of  Corinth 
might  be  to  Syracuse,  and  how  the  enmity  of  Car- 
thage was  only  sleeping. 

Hcrmokrates  prevailed,  and  peace  was  made.  Each 
city  v^as  to  keep  what  it  had  at  the  time.  If  Athenians 
or  other  strangers  came  in  a  single  ship,  they  were  to 
be  received,  but  not  more.  The  peace  was  accepted 
by  the  Italiot  cities  also,  save  Lokroi,  where  hatred 
to  Athens  was  too  strong.  And  the  Athenian  com- 
manders were  forced  to  accept  it  also,  for  which  they 
were  fined  and  banished  when  they  got  home.  Some- 
thing was  gained.  There  was  general,  if  not  perfect, 
peace  in  Sicily  ;  there  were  disturbances,  but  only  in 
a  small  part  of  the  island  ;  and  the  next  time  the 
Athenians  tried  to  meddle,  they  could  do  nothing  at 
all. 

The  next  quarrel  that  broke  out  in  Sicily  is  memor- 
able because  it  became  one  of  the  occasions  of  the 
great  Athenian  invasion  some  years  later.     After  the 


NEW    WAR   AT   LEONTINOI.  Ill 

peace,  the  people  of  Leontinoi  thought  good  to 
strengthen  themselves  by  taking  in  a  body  of  new 
citizens.  This  they  did,  but  when  it  was  proposed  to 
give  the  new  citizens  lots  of  land,  the  oligarchic  party  in 
Leontinoi  grew  angry.  We  can  only  guess  how  things 
stood  ;  but  most  likely  the  lots  were  to  be  made  out  of 
folkland,  which  the  rich  men  may  have  occupied,  just 
as  they  did  at  Rome.  The  oligarchs  asked  for  help 
at  Syracuse.  Syracuse  was  a  democracy,  and  should 
not  have  helped  oligarchs  ;  but  the  temptation  to  win 
dominion  or  influence  at  Leontinoi  was  too  strong. 
A  bargain  was  struck.  The  commons  were  driven 
out  ;  the  oligarchs  removed  to  Syracuse  and  received 
citizenship  ;  the  commonwealth  of  Leontinoi  was 
merged  in  Syracuse,  and  the  town  became  a  Syra- 
cusan  fortress,  like  Megara.  Presently  some  of  the 
settlers  at  Syracuse  repented,  and  joined  the  ex- 
pelled commons  in  occupying  a  Leontine  fort  and  one 
of  the  two  akropokis  of  Leontinoi.  Thus  there  was 
again  a  shadow  of  the  Leontine  commonwealth,  which 
sought  for  help  at  Athens. 

Athens  was  now,  in  422,  much  less  powerful  than 
she  had  been  in  425.  Instead  of  sending  a  fleet,  she 
sent  only  two  ships  carrying  envoys,  who  were  to  try 
and  get  up  a  league  in  Sicily  to  check  the  encroach- 
ment of  Syracuse,  and  specially  to  restore  Leontinoi, 
Several  cities,  as  Akragas  and  Kamarina,  hearkened, 
but  nothing  was  done.  No  one  would  stir,  unless 
the  Athenians  came  with  a  powerful  fleet.  So 
Athens  had  to  leave  Sicily  alone  for  six  years, 
during  which  we  hear  nothing  more  of  Sicilian  affairs. 
The  Leontine  remnant  seem  to  have  held  out,  and 


112      SICILY   AND    THE    WARS   OF   OLD    GREECE. 


presently  a  new  source  of  quarrel  began  at  the  other 
end  of  the  island. 

This  was  one  of  the  frequent  border-quarrels 
between  the  Greeks  of  Selinous  and  the  Elymians  of 
Segesta.  Besides  boundaries,  they  quarrelled  about 
risfhts  of  marriage.  This  shows  that  the  two  cities 
must  have  had  the  coiimibiiim  or  right  of  inter- 
marriage, and  that  shows  that  the  Segestans  must  have 
largely  adopted  Greek  ways.  The  Segestans  first 
asked  help   of  Carthage,  the   common  enemy  of  all 


SEGESTA.      C.   415. 

Greeks  ;  getting  none  there,  they  remembered  their 
alliance  with  Athens  some  years  back.  So  in  416 
Segestan  envoys  came  to  i\thens  to  ask  for  help 
against  Selinous,  and  with  them  came  envoys  from 
the  remnant  of  the  Leontines  to  ask  for  help  against 
Syracuse.  Athens  and  Sparta  were  just  then  nomi- 
nally at  peace  ;  but  there  were  many  grounds  of 
quarrel,  out  of  which  war  might  break  out  again  at 
any  moment.  Athens  had  now  fully  recovered  her 
power.  She  was  full  of  hopeful  spirits,  eager  for  some 
bold  enterprise,  and  not  knowing  how  great  an 
undertaking  it  was  to  wage  a  really  effective  war  so 


APPEAL    OF    SEGESTA    TO   ATHENS.  II3 

far  off  as  Sicily.  Their  leader  was  the  famous 
Alkibiadcs,  the  most  dangerous  of  counsellors,  brave, 
eloquent,  enterprising,  but  utterly  unprincipled  and 
thinking  first  of  all  of  his  own  vain  glory.  He 
strongly  pleaded  for  helping  Segesta  and  Lcontinoi, 
looking  forward,  so  he  said  afterwards,  to  the  conquest 
of  all  Sicily  and  of  Carthage,  and  to  all  manner  of 
impossible  schemes.  He  was  opposed  by  Nikias,  the 
most  trusted  general  of  the  commonwealth,  an  honest 
man  and  a  good  officer,  but  by  nature  slow  to  act, 
and  who  knew  better  than  Alkibiades  how  vain  all 
his  schemes  were.  He  had  also  had  the  chief  hand 
in  making  the  peace  with  Sparta,  and  he  did  not  wish 
to  run  the  risk  of  breaking  it.  In  the  first  assembly 
in  which  the  matter  was  debated  at  Athens,  it  was 
voted  to  send  envoys  to  Sicily,  to  see  how  matters 
stood  there,  and  specially  to  find  out  whether  the 
Segestans  had  any  money,  as  they  boasted  of  having  a 
great  deal. 

The  story  went  that  these  envoys  and  the  other 
Athenians  who  went  with  them  were  taken  in  at 
Segesta  in  a  strange  way.  The  Segestans  took  them 
to  see  the  temple  on  Eryx  and  its  wealth,  where  the 
envoys  were  deceived  by  taking  silver-gilt  vessels 
for  solid  gold.  Then  they  got  together  all  the  gold 
and  silver  plate  in  their  city,  and  all  that  they  could 
borrow  anywhere  else,  and  asked  the  Athenians  to  a 
series  of  banquets,  at  which  each  man  passed  off  all  the 
plate  as  his  own.  So  the  envoys  went  back,  thinking 
that  Segesta  was  a  very  rich  city,  and  taking  with  them 
sixty  talents  as  an  earnest.  This  was  early  in  415.  And 
now,  though   Nikias   argued  as  strongly  as  he  could 

9 


114      SICILY   AND    THE    WARS    OF   OLD    GREECE. 

against  it,  the  expedition  to  Sicily  was  decreed. 
Three  generals  were  put  in  command,  Nikias  him- 
self, Alkibiades,  and  Lamachos.  Lamachos  was  not 
a  rich  man  or  a  political  leader  like  Nikias  and 
Alkibiades  ;  so  he  had  not  the  same  influence.  But 
he  was  one  of  the  two  best  soldiers  in  Athens. 
The  other  was  Demosthenes,  of  whom  we  shall 
presently  hear. 

And  now  the  greatest  force  that  had  ever  sailed 
from  any  Greek  haven  set  forth  to  help  Segesta  and 
Leontinoi.  Besides  the  force  of  Athens  herself  and 
her  subject  allies,  she  had  in  this  war  several  willing 
allies,  specially  Argos,  and  Korkyra,  ready  to  fight 
against  her  sister.  There  were  136  ships  of  war, 
5,100  heavy-armed,  1,300  light  troops.  But  where 
Syracuse  was  strongest,  Athens  was  weakest.  Only 
30  horsemen  were  sent  to  meet  the  famous  cavalry  of 
Syracuse. 

When  men  heard  in  Sicily  that  this  great  force  was 
coming,  the  more  part  disbelieved  the  story.  But 
Hermokrates  told  the  Syracusan  assembly  that  the 
news  was  true,  and  that  they  must  make  ready  in 
every  way  to  meet  the  danger.  They  must  make 
alliances  in  Sicily,  Italy,  and  everywhere,  specially  at 
Sparta,  Corinth,  and  even  Carthage.  But  they  were 
not  without  hopes.  He  knew  that  the  most  experienced 
of  the  Athenian  generals  disliked  his  errand,  and  he 
said  that  the  very  greatness  of  the  force  would 
frighten  men,  and  hinder  the  Athenians  from  getting 
allies. 

All  this  was  perfectly  wise  and  true,  as  was  everything 
that  Hermokrates  said  and  did  about  foreign  matters. 


HERMOKRATES  AND   ATHENAGORAS.  II5 

But  his  home  politics  were  suspected  ;  so  the  dema- 
gogue Athenagoras  arose  to  answer  him.  In  his 
speech  he  gave  the  best  definition  of  democracy 
ever  given.  It  is  the  rule  of  the  whole  people, 
as  opposed  to  oligarchy,  the  rule  of  a  part.  In  a 
democracy  the  rich  men,  the  able  men,  and  the  people 
at  large,  all  have  their  spheres  of  action.  The  able 
men  are  to  devise  measures,  and  the  people  at  large 
are  to  judge  of  them.  But  even  in  the  most  demo- 
cratic states  a  kind  of  official  class  often  silently 
grows  up,  men  who  are  put  forward  in  all  matters, 
and  who  sometimes  seem  to  keep  the  knowledge  of 
affairs  to  themselves.  Athenagoras,  the  opposition 
speaker,  talks  as  the  representative  of  those  who 
were  kept  in  the  dark.  He  will  not  believe  that  the 
Athenians  are  coming  ;  the  tale  is  got  up  by  official 
men  in  their  own  interests.  Here  he  was  quite 
wrong,  and  his  counsel  was  bad.  But  he  was  wrong 
simply  through  not  knowing  the  facts.  On  his  own 
showing,  his  speech  is  both  sensible  and  patriotic. 

It  was  as  Hermokrates  said.  The  greatness  of 
the  force  frightened  even  those  who  were  friendly  to 
Athens.  The  fleet  met  at  Korkyra  and  sailed  along 
the  Italian  coast  ;  but  it  was  only  at  Rhegion  that 
they  were  received  with  the  least  favour,  and  even 
there  they  were  not  allowed  to  come  within  the  walls. 
And  now  the  Athenian  generals  found  out  how  the 
envoys  had  been  cheated  at  Segcsta.  All  the  monc)- 
in  the  hoard  of  that  city  was  only  thirty  talents,  that 
is,  half  a  month's  pay  for  the  Athenian  fleet.  The 
generals  then  debated  what  to  do.  Nikias  simply 
wanted  to  <7et  the  fleet  home  again  with  as  little  damage 


Il6      SICILY  AND    THE    WARS   OF  OLD   GREECE. 

as  possible.  He  said  that  they  were  sent  to  settle 
the  affairs  of  Segesta  and  Selinous.  Let  them  go 
and  bring  those  two  cities  to  any  kind  of  agreement ; 
then  let  them  sail  round  Sicily,  show  men  what  the 
force  of  Athens  was,  and  then  go  home.  Alkibiades, 
who  had  much  wider  schemes  and  who  wished  to 
show  off  his  own  powers  of  diplomacy,  said  that  they 
should  first  make  all  the  allies  they  could  ;  then 
let  them  call  on  Syracuse  and  Selinous  to  do  justice 
to  Leontinoi  and  Segesta ;  and,  if  they  would  not, 
then  attack  them.  Lamachos,  who  looked  at  things 
simply  as  a  soldier,  was  for  attacking  Syracuse  at 
once.  Their  force,  he  said,  was  now  in  perfect  order  ; 
the  Syracusans  were  frightened  and  unprepared.  If 
they  waited,  their  own  strength  would  lessen,  the  fear 
of  them  would  go  off,  and  the  enemy  would  be  ready 
to  resist  them.  But  the  other  generals  did  not  agree 
to  this.  So  Lamachos  joined  the  opinion  of  Alki- 
biades. The  Athenians  sailed  about  to  seek  for  allies, 
while  the  Syracusans  made  ready  for  the  defence. 

The  only  allies  they  found  at  this  stage  were  Naxos 
and  Katane.  The  Naxians  were  really  zealous  for 
the  Leontines,  At  Katane  men  were  divided  ;  but 
the  more  part  were  for  Athens.  By  the  accident  of 
some  Athenian  soldiers  making  their  way  into  the 
town  while  Alkibiades  was  speaking  in  the  assembl}', 
the  enemies  of  Athens  were  frightened  away,  and  the 
rest  accepted  the  Athenian  alliance.  Katane  now 
became  the  Athenian  headquarters.  Messana  would 
only  give  a  market  outside  the  walls.  Kamarina 
would  receive  one  ship  only,  according  to  the  treaty. 
All  this  caused  the  fleet  to  sail  backwards  and  for- 


RECALL    OF  ALKIBIADES.  II7 

wards.  One  time  they  sailed  into  the  Great  Harbour 
of  Syracuse  ;  they  made  a  proclamation  for  the  Leon- 
tines  to  join  them,  and  then  sailed  out  again.  They 
did  a  little  plundering  and  skirmishing,  not  always 
successfully.  In  all  these  ways  the  Syracusans  got 
used  to  the  sight  of  the  great  fleet  going  to  and  fro, 
and  doing  nothing.  Their  fear  of  it  therefore  wore 
off,  just  as  Lamachos  had  said  that  it  would. 

At  this  point  Alkibiades  was  called  back  to  Athens, 
to  take  his  trial  on  a  charge  of  impiety.  The  famous 
story  of  the  Hermes-breaking  and  all  that  followed 
it,  so  memorable  in  the  history  of  Athens,  does  not 
concern  us  in  Sicily,  except  as  it  turned  Alkibiades 
from  the  general  of  the  Athenians  into  the  best 
counsellor  of  Sparta  and  Corinth  against  his  own 
city.  For  he  did  not  go  back  to  Athens  for  his 
trial,  but  escaped  to  Peloponnesos,  where  we  shall 
hear  of  him  again.  Meanwhile  the  command  of  the 
Athenian  force  in  Sicily  was  left  practically  in  the 
hands  of  Nikias.  Now  Nikias  could  always  act  well 
when  he  did  act  ;  but  it  was  very  hard  to  make  him 
act,  above  all  on  an  errand  which  he  hated.  One 
might  say  that  Syracuse  was  saved  through  the 
delays  of  Nikias.  He  now  went  off  to  petty  expe- 
ditions in  the  west  of  Sicily,  under  cover  of  settling 
matters  at  Segesta.  He  really  did  nothing  except 
take  the  one  Sikan  town  of  Hykkara  on  the  north 
coast,  which  was  hostile  to  Segesta,  and  sell  all  its 
people.  Himera  refused  to  join  Athens;  nothing  was 
done  at  Selinous  ;  the  Athenians  could  not  take  the 
Sikel  town  of  Galeatic  Hybla  near  /Etna,  the  seat  of 
the  goddess  so  called.     Then  they  went  into  winter- 


Il8      SICILY  AND    THE    WARS    OF   OLD   GREECE. 

quarters  at  Katane  (B.C.  415-414).  The  Syracusans 
by  this  time  quite  despised  the  invaders.  Their 
liorscmcn  rode  up  to  the  camp  of  the  Athenians  at 
Katane,  and  asked  them  if  they  had  come  into  Sicily 
merely  to  sit  down  there  as  colonists. 

But  the  great  danger  against  which  Hermokrates 
had  warned  his  fellow  citizens  was  not  to  pass  away 
so  easily  as  this.  The  invaders  were  still  in  the 
land,  and  their  leader  could  act  vigorously  when- 
ever he  did  act.  By  a  clever  stratagem,  a  false 
message  which  professed  to  come  from  the  Syracusan 
party  in  Katane,  Nikias  beguiled  the  whole  Syracuse 
force  to  come  out  to  a  supposed  attack  on  the  Athenian 
camp.  Meanwhile  the  Athenian  army  went  on  board 
the  ships  and  sailed  in  the  night  into  the  Great 
Harbour.  There  they  encamped  near  the  Olympieion; 
but  Nikias  took  care  to  do  no  wrong  to  the  temple 
and  its  precinct.  A  battle  was  fought  next  day  on 
the  low  ground  by  the  Anapos.  The  Athenians  had 
the  better,  but  the  Syracusan  horsemen  kept  them  from 
pursuing.  Nikias  made  this  an  excuse  for  doing 
nothing  more,  saying  that  he  could  not  act  without 
more  horsemen  and  more  money.  So  the  day  after 
the  battle  the  Athenian  fleet  sailed  away  again,  and 
took  up  their  quarters  for  the  rest  of  the  winter  at 
Naxos.  One  asks  which  did  most  for  the  deliverance 
of  Syracuse,  Hermokrates  or  Nikias. 

Hermokrates  meanwhile  bade  his  countrymen 
keep  up  their  spirits.  They  had  done  as  well  in 
battle  as  could  be  expected  ;  they  only  wanted  dis- 
cipline. And  to  that  end  it  would  be  well  to  have 
fewer  generals  and  to  give  them  greater  powers.     So 


BATTLE   BEFORE   SYRACUSE.  llCj 

at  the  next  election,  instead  of  fifteen  generals  they 
chose  only  three,  of  whom  Hermokrates  was  one.  They 
then  went  and  burned  the  empty  Athenian  camp  at 
Katane,  and  spent  the  rest  of  the  winter  in  prepara- 
tions and  fresh  fortifications.  The  city  was  now  again 
enlarged  by  taking  the  Tememites,  the  precinct  of 
Apollon,  within  the  walls. 

The  winter  (B.C.  415-414)  was  chiefly  spent  on  both 
sides  in  sending  embassies  to  and  fro  to  gain  allies. 
Nikias  also  sent  home  to  Athens,  asking  for  horse- 
men and  money,  and  the  people,  without  a  word  of 
rebuke,  voted  him  all  that  he  asked.  A  very  instruc- 
tive debate  took  place  in  the  assembly  of  Kamarina, 
where  envoys  from  both  sides  were  heard.  Hermo- 
krates again  preached  Sicilian  unity,  and  called  on 
Kamarina  to  help  herself  by  helping  Syracuse.  The 
Athenians,  he  said,  did  not  care  for  the  Leontines 
and  their  Ionian  kindred.  They  only  wanted  do- 
minion, and  they  would  treat  Sikeliot  allies  just  as 
they  treated  their  allies  nearer  home.  While  they 
were  talking  in  Sicily  about  the  freedom  of  the 
Chalkidians,  they  were  holding  their  metropolis 
Chalkis  in  bondage.  Then  the  Athenian  orator 
Euphemos  answered  that  the  Athenians  did  every- 
where what  suited  their  own  interests.  They  made 
their  allies  subject  or  left  them  free,  just  as  suited 
them.  They  had  made  some  of  their  allies  into 
subjects,  because  it  suited  their  interest  to  do  so  ; 
others  they  had  left  free,  for  the  same  reason.  In 
Sicily,  at  that  distance,  it  was  their  interest  to  have 
free  allies.  It  was  not  Athens,  he  said,  but  S}'racuse, 
that  threatened  the  freedom   of  anybody  in   Sicily. 


120      SICILY  AND    THE    WARS   OF   OLD   GREECE. 

The  men  of  Kamarina  were  mostly  inclined  to 
Athens  ;  but  it  seemed  safer  to  be  neutral.  So  they 
voted  that,  as  the  Syracusans  and  Athenians  were 
both  their  friends,  they  could  not  help  either  of  them 
against  the  others. 

The  Athenians  also  sought  alliances  among 
barbarians  as  well  as  among  Greeks.  IMost  of  the 
Sikels  took  their  side,  but  not  all.  And  their  help 
was  valuable,  as  supplying  horsemen,  Horsemen  too 
came  from  Segesta,  The  Etruscans  also,  old  enemies 
of  Syracuse,  sent  some  help.  But  nothing  came  of 
an  Athenian  embassy  to  Carthage.  The  Cartha- 
ginians, we  may  be  sure,  were  already  biding  their 
time  for  their  great  attack  on  Greek  Sicily.  But 
they  meant,  whenever  they  made  it,  to  make  it  for 
their  own  profit,  and  not  to  strengthen  so  dangerous 
a  power  as  Athens. 

But  the  most  important  embassy  of  all  was  that 
which  the  Syracusans  sent  to  Corinth  and  Sparta. 
Corinth  zealously  took  up  the  cause  of  her  colony 
and  pleaded  for  Syracuse  at  Sparta.  And  at  Sparta 
Corinth  and  Syracuse  found  a  helper  in  the  banished 
Athenian  Alkibiades,  who  was  now  doing  all  that  he 
could  against  Athens.  He  told  them  everything,  true 
and  false,  about  the  wonderful  schemes  of  Athens  at 
the  beginning  of  the  war.  He  told  the  Spartans  to 
occupy  a  fortress  in  Attica,  which  they  soon  after- 
wards did,  and  a  great  deal  came  of  it.  But  he  also 
told  them  to  give  vigorous  help  to  Syracuse,  and 
above  all  things  to  send  a  Spartan  commander.  The 
mere  name  of  Sparta  went  for  a  great  deal  in  those 
days  ;  but    no  man  could   have  been  better   chosen 


ALKIDIADES   AT   SPARTA.  121 

tlian  the  Spartan  who  was  sent.  He  was  Gylippos, 
the  dehvcrer  of  Syracuse.  He  was  more  hke  an 
Athenian  than  a  Spartan,  quick  and  ready  of  re- 
source, which  iew  Spartans  were.  We  shall  see  what 
he  did  presently  ;  but  he  had  no  chance  of  doing 
anything  just  yet.  We  must  remember  that  at  this 
stage  Peloponnesian  help  to  Syracuse  has  not  yet 
come,  but  is  making  ready. 

And  now  at  last,  when  the  spring  came  (414)  Nikias 
was  driven  to  do  something.  He  had  again  moved 
his  headquarters  from  Naxos  to  Katane.  Money 
and  horsemen  had  come  from  Athens,  but  their  horses 
were  to  be  found  in  Sicily.  Meanwhile  Lamachos — 
for  it  must  have  been  he — planned  an  attack  such  as 
he  had  doubtless  meant  from  the  beginning.  It  is  very 
strange  that  the  strong  point  called  Euryalos  at  the 
western  end  of  the  hill  of  Epipolai  had  never  been 
fortified.  Almost  at  the  same  moment  Hermokrates 
determined  to  guard  it  and  Lamachos  to  attack  it. 
The  Athenian  ships  now  carried  the  army  to  a  point 
in  the  bay  of  Megara  as  near  as  might  be  to  the  west 
end  of  the  hill,  and  then  took  up  its  station  at 
Thapsos.  From  the  coast  the  Athenians  marched 
with  all  speed  and  climbed  up  the  hill.  At  that  very 
moment  Hermokrates  was  holding  a  review  of  the 
Syracusan  force  in  the  meadows  of  the  Anapos.  He 
sent  600  men  to  guard  Euryalos,  not  knowing  that 
the  enemy  were  already  there.  So  first  the  600,  and 
then  the  whole  Syracusan  force  that  followed,  were 
driven  back  by  the  Athenians.  The  Athenians  now 
occupied  all   that   part  of  the   hill  which  lay  outside 


SYRACUSE  SHOWING  THE  ATHENIAN  SIEGE. 


City  Wall  ... 
Athenian  Well. 
Syracusan  Wallb      =^ 

AA First  Wall 

B3 Second  Wall 

CC Third  Wall 


=  J. , Jfirst  Mia  fcfvX>:^r5:^:o:n=g«^//^'''*y'< 

Mile    C   ^1  \^:i-^=,_J/  '^^v 

.Flemmyrion 


I.IAP   OF  SYRACUSE   DURING   THE  ATHENIAN   SIEGE. 


THE   ATHENIANS   ON   THE   HILL.  1 23 

the  walls  of  Syracuse.  They  were  joined  by  their 
horsemen,  Greek  and  Si]-:cl,  and  after  nearly  a  year, 
the  siege  of  Syracuse  really  began. 

The  object  of  the  Athenians  now  was  to  build  a 
wall  across  the  hill  and  to  carry  it  down  to  the  sea 
on  both  sides.  Syracuse  would  thus  be  hemmed  in. 
The  object  of  the  Syracusans  was  to  build  a  cross- 
wall  of  their  own,  which  should  hinder  the  Athenian 
wall  from  reaching  the  two  points  it  aimed  at. 
This  they  tried  more  than  once  ;  but  in  vain.  There 
were  several  fights  on  the  hill,  and  at  last  there 
was  a  fight  of  more  importance  on  the  lower 
ground  by  the  Great  Harbour.  The  Athenian  wall 
had  been  carried  down  the  south  side  of  the  hill  ; 
it  was  carried  across  the  low  ground  in  the  shape  of  a 
double  line,  and  it  had  nearly  reached  the  water.  The 
Syracusans  were  doing  all  that  they  could  to  stop  it 
by  means  of  a  counter-wall.  The  Athenian  army 
therefore  went  down,  and  a  battle  followed  on  the 
low  ground  by  the  Anapos.  The  Syracusans  were 
defeated,  as  far  as  fighting  went ;  but  they  gained  far 
more  than  they  lost.  For  Lamachos  was  killed,  and 
with  him  all  vigour  passed  away  from  the  Athenian 
camp.  At  the  same  moment  the  Athenian  fleet  sailed 
into  the  Great  Harbour,  and  a  Syracusan  attack  on  the 
Athenian  works  on  the  hill  was  defeated.  Nikias 
remained  in  command  of  the  invaders  ;  but  he  was 
grievously  sick,  and  for  once  in  his  life  his  head  seems 
to  have  been  turned  by  success.  He  finished  the  wall 
on  the  south  side;  but  he  neglected  to  finish  it  on 
the  north  side  also,  so  that  Syracuse  was  not  really 
hemmed  in.     But  the  hearts  of  the  Syracusans  sank; 


124      SICILY  AND    THE    WARS   OF   OLD   GREECE. 

they  grew  wroth  with  Hcrmokrates  and  his  colleagues 
and  chose  other  generals.  At  last  a  party  which  had 
always  been  favourable  to  Athens  prevailed  so  far 
that  a  day  was  appointed  to  discuss  terms  of  sur- 
render. It  was  at  this  darkest  moment  of  all  that 
deliverance  came.  On  the  very  day  that  had  been 
fixed  for  the  assembly,  a  Corinthian  ship,  under  its 
captain  Gongylos,  sailed  into  the  Little  Harbour. 
He  brought  the  news  that  other  ships  were  on  their 
way  from  Peloponnesos  to  the  help  of  Syracuse, 
and,  yet  more,  that  a  Spartan  general  was  actually  in 
Sicily,  getting  together  a  land  force  for  the  same  end. 
As  soon  as  the  good  news  was  heard,  there  was  no 
more  talk  of  surrender.  That  day  was  the  turning- 
point  of  the  whole  war. 

It  was  as  Gongylos  said.  The  Peloponnesian  fleet  was 
not  large,  hardly  twenty  ships,  nearly  all  from  Corinth 
and  her  colonies.  And  they  were  somewhat  slow  in 
coming  ;  but  they  were  at  last  on  their  way.  Gylippos 
at  first  heard  that  Syracuse  was  altogether  hemmed 
in.  He  gave  up  all  hope  for  Sicily,  but  he  thought  of 
saving  the  Dorian  cities  of  Italy.  Nikias  heard  of 
their  coming  ;  but  he  only  sent  four  .ships  to  watch, 
and  they  were  too  late.  For  presently  Gylippos  heard 
that  the  Athenian  wall  was  not  finished  on  the  north 
side,  and  that  it  was  still  possible  to  get  into  Syracuse 
by  way  of  the  hill.  So  he  bade  the  Corinthians  go 
on  to  Syracuse  by  sea  ;  he  himself  sailed  to  Himera, 
and  waited  awhile,  collecting  troops,  Greek  and  Sikel. 
Himera,  Gela,  and  Selinous  all  sent  help.  The  Sikel 
king  Archonides  of  Herbita,  the  friend  of  Ducetius, 
had  lately  died.     He  had  been  a  firm  ally  of  Athens  ; 


COMING    OF   GYLIPPOS.  I25 

but  now  Gylippos  was  able  to  win  a  large  Sikcl  force 
to  his  side.  Nikias  heard  all  this;  but  he  still  loitered; 
the  north  v/all  was  not  carried  to  the  brow  of  the  hill. 
And  one  day  the  Athenian  camp  was  startled  by  the 
appearance  of  a  Lacedsemonian  herald,  offering-  them 
a  truce  of  five  days,  that  they  might  get  them  out  of 
Sicily  with  bag  and  baggage. 

Gylippos  was  now  on  the  hill.  He  of  course  did 
not  expect  that  the  Athenian  army  would  really 
go  away  in  five  days,  l^ut  it  was  a  great  thing 
to  show  both  to  the  besiegers  and  to  the 
Syracusans  that  the  deliverer  had  come,  and  that 
deliverance  was  beginning.  Nikias  had  kept  such 
bad  watch  that  Gylippos  and  his  troops  had  come  up 
the  hill  and  the  Syracusans  had  come  out  and  met 
them,  without  his  knowledge.  The  Spartan,  as  a 
matter  of  course,  took  the  command  of  the  whole 
force  ;  he  offered  battle  to  the  Athenians,  which  they 
refused  ;  he  then  entered  the  city. 

The  very  next  day  he  began  to  carry  out  his 
scheme.  This  was  to  build  a  group  of  forts  near  the 
western  end  of  the  hill,  and  to  join  them  to  the  city 
by  a  wall  running  east  and  west,  which  would  hinder 
the  Athenians  from  ever  finishing  their  wall  to  the 
north.  Each  side  went  on  building,  and  some  small 
actions  took  place.  The  Athenians  also  occupied  the 
point  called  Plemmyrion  on  the  south  side  of  the  mouth 
of  the  Great  Harbour.  This  served  them  both  to 
watch  the  mouth  and  to  secure  a  better  station  for 
their  ships.  To  meet  this  stroke,  the  S)-racusans 
occupied  Polichna,  and  constant  skirmishings  went  on 
between  the  two  outposts.     Gylippos  too  finished  his 


126      SICILY  AND    THE    WARS   OF  OLD   GREECE. 

forts  and  wall,  and  cut  off  the  Athenians  from  all 
communication  to  the  north.  The  whole  stress  of 
the  war  was  now  in  the  Great  Harbour  and  the  south 
side  of  the  hill. 


Another  winter  (B.C.  414-413)  now  came  on,  and 
with  it  much  sending  of  envoys.  Gylippos  went 
about  Sicily  collecting  fresh  troops.  All  the  Dorian 
cities,  save  Akragas,  which  remained  neutral,  now  gave 
help,  Kamarina  among  them.  The  cause  of  Syracuse 
was  felt  to  be  the  common  cause.      Envoys  were  sent 


to  Sparta  and  Corinth,  and  at  last  a  considerable 
force  from  various  parts  of  the  Peloponnesian  alliance 
was  got  ready.  The  main  part  was  very  long  in 
coming  ;  but  a  few  came  more  speedily  ;  among  them 
a  gallant  band  from  Thespia  in  Boiotia. 

Meanwhile  Nikias  wrote  a  letter  to  the  Athenian 
people.  This  was  an  unusual  step ;  hitherto  he 
had  sent  only  messages.  He  told  the  people  that  he 
wished  them  to  know  the  exact  truth,  in  how  bad  a 
case  the  army  and  fleet  were.  The  ships  were  worn 
out;  the  men  were  deserting;  Gylippos  had  come  into 
Syracuse,  and  by  his  wall-building  the  besiegers  were 


SECOND   EXPEDiriON    VOTED.  127 

themselves  more  truly  besieged.  He  did  not  say, 
perhaps  he  did  not  fully  understand,  how  completely 
all  this  was  his  own  fault.  But  he  asked  to  be  relieved 
of  his  command  on  the  ground  of  sickness  and  long 
service.  And  he  told  the  people  that  they  must 
choose  between  two  things.  They  must  either  recall 
the  fleet  and  army  before  Syracuse,  or  else  they  must 
send  out  another  force  quite  equal  to  that  which  they 
had  first  sent  out  two  years  before. 

This  letter  came  at  a  time  when  the  Lacedaemonian 
alliance  had  determined  to  renew  the  war  with 
Athens,  and  when  they  were  making  everything  ready 
for  an  invasion  of  Attica.  To  send  out  a  new  force 
to  Sicily  was  simple  madness.  Wc  hear  nothing  of 
the  debates  in  the  Athenian  assembly,  whether  any 
one  argued  against  going  on  with  the  Sicilian  war, 
and  whether  any  demagogue  laid  any  blame  on 
Nikias.  But  the  assembly  voted  that  a  new  force 
equal  to  the  first  should  be  sent  out  under  Demo- 
sthenes, the  best  soldier  in  Athens,  and  Eurymedon. 
The  people  refused  to  relieve  Nikias  of  his  command, 
but  ordered  two  of  his  officers,  Menandros  and  Euthy- 
demos,  to  share  it  with  him.  Eurymedon  was  sent 
out  with  this  message,  and  with  120  talents  in  money  ; 
he  then  sailed  back  to  join  Demosthenes. 

At  Syracuse,  since  the  coming  of  Gylippos,  Hermo- 
krates,  though  no  longer  general,  was  again  listened 
to,  as  an  adviser.  He  and  Gylippos  were  now  exhort- 
ing the  Syracusans  to  attack  the  fleet  of  the  besiegers 
before  the  new  Athenian  force  came  out.  He  told 
them  that  the  Athenians  had  not  always  been  strong 
by  sea  ;  they  had  taken  to  it  only  at  the  time  of  the 


128      SICILY  AND    THE    WARS   OF   OLD    GREECE. 

Persian  invasion  ;  till  then  the  Syracusans  had  had 
more  to  do  with  the  sea  than  they.  What  the  Athe- 
nians had  done,  the  Syracusans  might  do  also.  And 
he  said  that  the  strength  of  the  Athenians  lay,  not  in 
their  real  power,  but  in  their  daring  which  frightened 
everybody.  The  Syracusans  had  only  to  meet  them 
with  equal  daring.  Thus  stirred  up,  they  made  an 
attack  on  Plemmyrion  by  land  and  sea.  At  sea,  after 
a  hard  fight,  the  Syracusans  were  defeated  ;  but 
Gylippos  took  the  Athenian  forts  on  Plemmyrion, 
and  the  besieging  fleet  had  now  to  go  to  the  inner  part 
of  the  harbour,  to  the  small  piece  of  coast  between 
the  two  Athenian  walls.  Here  they  were  pent  up  close 
to  the  Syracusan  docks,  and  constant  skirmishes  went 
on. 

Meanwhile  the  Syracusans  were  strengthened  by 
help  both  in  Sicily  and  from  Peloponnesos.  Their 
main  object  now  was  to  strike  a  blow  at  the  fleet  of 
Nikias  before  the  new  force  came.  To  this  end  the 
Corinthian  officers  taught  them  to  make  some  changes 
in  their  naval  tactics.  The  Athenian  sailors  did  not 
think  much  of  directly  meeting  an  enemy's  ship  beak 
to  beak.  Their  skill  lay  mainly  in  skilful  manoeuvres, 
sailing  backwards  and  forwards,  and  attacking  the 
enemy  at  any  weak  point.  For  this  they  had  less 
room  in  the  Great  Harbour  than  in  the  open  sea ;  so 
the  Corinthians  taught  the  Syracusans  to  make  their 
beaks  very  heavy  and  strong  for  the  direct  attack. 
So  taught,  and  skilfully  guided  by  the  Corinthian 
Ariston,  the  besiegers  attacked  the  besieging  camp  by 
land  and  sea.  In  the  second  day's  fighting  the  Syra- 
cusans had  the  great  delight  of  defeating  the  dreaded 


COMING    OF   DEMOSTHEN&S   AND   EURYMEDON.   1 29 

Athenians  on  their  own  clement.     Their  spirits  rose 
high  ;  S}'racuse  did  indeed  seem  to  be  delivered. 


It  had  been  just  when  the  Syracusans  were  most 
downcast  that  they  were  cheered  by  the  coming  of 
the  Corinthians  and  of  Gylippos.  And  just  now 
that  their  spirits  were  highest,  they  were  dashed  again 
by  the  coming  of  Demosthenes  and  Eurymedon. 
A  fleet  as  great  as  the  first,  seventy-five  ships, 
carrying  5,000  heavy-armed  and  a  crowd  of  light 
troops  of  every  kind,  sailed  into  the  Great  Harbour 
with  all  warlike  pomp.  The  Peloponnesians  were 
already  in  Attica ;  they  had  planted  a  Pelopon- 
nesian  garrison  there,  which  brought  Athens  to 
great  straits  ;  but  the  fleet  was  sent  out  to  Syra- 
cuse all  the  same.  Demosthenes  knew  what  to  do  as 
well  as  Lamachos  had  known.  He  saw  that  there 
was  nothing  to  be  done  but  to  try  one  great  blow, 
and,  if  that  failed,  to  take  the  fleet  home  again.  The 
worst  thing  of  all  for  the  Athenians  was  the  wall  that 
Gylippos  had  built  along  the  hill  from  west  to  east. 
Demosthenes  first  attacked  it  from  the  south  side,  but 
in  vain.  His  next  plan  was  to  march  all  round  the  west 
end  of  the  hill,  and  climb  up  by  night  at  the  point  on 
the  north  side  where  the  Athenians  had  gone  up  first 
ot  all.  Demosthenes,  Menandros,  and  Eurymedon, 
leaving  Nikias  in  the  camp,  set  out  with  provisions 
for  five  da}-s,  with  masons  and  carpenters  and  all  that 
was  wanted,  and  marched  round  to  the  north  side  of 
Epipolai.  The  attack  was  at  first  successful,  and  the 
Athenians  took  two  of  the  Syracusan  forts.  But 
the  Thespian  allies  of  Syracuse  stood  their  ground; 

10 


130      SICILY  AND    THE    WARS   OF  OLD   GREECE. 

and  drove  the  assailants  back.  Utter  confusion  fol- 
lowed. The  moon  gave  light  enough  to  sec,  but  not 
to  tell  friend  from  foe.  The  watchword  got  known, 
and  as  there  were  Dorian  Greeks,  using  the  same  war- 
cry,  on  both  sides,  the  Athenians  did  not  know  Argeian 
friends  from  Corinthian  enemies.  At  last  the  Athe- 
nians were  driven  over  the  hill-side,  and  many  died 
by  leaping  or  falling  from  the  cliffs.  The  soldiers 
who  had  come  first  with  Nikias,  and  who  knew  the 
country,  for  the  most  part  escaped  to  the  camp  ;  the 
new  comers  lost  their  way,  and  were  cut  down  in  the 
morning  by  Syracusan  horsemen. 

The  last  chance  was  now  lost,  and  Demosthenes 
was  eager  to  go  home.  But  Nikias  would  stay  on  ; 
he  said  that  he  knew  from  his  friends  in  Syracuse 
that  the  Syracusans  were  worse  off  than  they  were. 
He  would  not  even  agree  when  Demosthenes  and 
Eurymedon  prayed  him  to  move  the  camp  to  Thapsos 
or  Katane.  But  when  sickness  grew  in  the  camp, 
when  fresh  help  from  Sicily  and  the  great  body  of  the 
allies  from  Peloponnesos  came  in  to  Syracuse,  he  at 
last  agreed  to  go.  Just  at  that  moment  the  moon 
was  eclipsed.  Few  men  then  knew  what  an  eclipse 
of  the  moon  really  was,  and  Nikias  and  his  army 
were  frightened  at  it  as  a  warning  against  start- 
ing. Nikias  consulted  his  soothsayers,  and  he  gave 
out  that  they  must  stay  tw^ent3^-nine  days,  another 
full  revolution  of  the  moon. 

This  resolve  was  the  destruction  of  the  besieging 
army.  The  object  of  Gylippos  and  the  Syracusans 
now  was  to  destroy  the  enemy  in  the  harbour,  lest  they 
should  get  out  and  carry  on  the  war  from  some  other 


ECLIPSE   OF   THE   MOON.  131 

point.  An  attack  was  made  by  land  and  sea.  The 
land  attack  was  beaten  back,  chiefly  by  the  Etruscan 
allies  of  Athens  ;  but  by  sea  the  Syracusans  had  the 
better,  and  Eurymcdon  was  killed.  The  hopes  and 
spirits  of  the  Syracusans  grew  higher  than  ever. 
They  fully  felt  the  greatness  of  their  position,  as  the 
centre  of  the  war  which  divided  all  Greece,  with  so 
many  allies  on  their  side,  their  mother-city  Corinth, 
and  the  great  name  of  Sparta  herself  In  the  eyes 
of  most  Greeks  at  the  time,  Athens  was  the  enemy 
of  independence  everywhere  ;  let  them  destroy  the 
armament  now  before  Syracuse,  and  the  enemy  would 
be  so  weakened  as  to  be  no  longer  dangerous.  The 
Athenians,  on  their  side,  had  given  up  all  hope  of 
taking  Syracuse  ;  their  only  hope  was  to  get  home 
with  as  little  damage  as  might  be,  and  help  their  own 
city  which  was  now  so  hardly  pressed.  It  was  felt  on 
both  sides  that  all  would  turn  on  one  more  fight  by  sea, 
the  Athenians  striving  to  get  out  of  the  harbour,  and 
the  Syracusans  striving  to  keep  them  in  it. 

The  Syracusans  now  blocked  up  the  mouth  of  the 
harbour  by  mooring  vessels  across  it.  The  Athenians 
left  their  position  on  the  hill,  a  sign  that  the  siege  was 
over,  and  brought  their  whole  force  down  to  the  shore. 
It  was  no  time  now  for  any  skilful  manoeuvres  ;  the 
chief  thing  was  to  make  the  sea-fight  as  much  as 
might  be  like  a  land-fight,  a  strange  need  for 
Athenians.  New  devices  were  devised  on  each  side. 
The  Athenians  tried  grappling  irons,  called  iron  hands  ; 
the  Syracusans  covered  their  prows  with  leather  to 
escape  their  grasp.  Nikias,  at  his  best  now  things 
were   at   the   worst,  went    round    exhorting  all     the 


132      SICILY  AND    THE    WARS   OF  OLD   GREECE. 

Athenian  captains.  He  stayed  on  shore  with  the  land 
force,  while  the  other  generals  went  on  board. 

The  last  fight  now  began,  no  Athenian  ships 
against  80  of  the  Syracusans  and  their  allies.  Never 
before  did  so  many  ships  meet  in  so  small  a  space. 
The  Syracusans  had  the  great  advantage  of  having 
the  whole  shore  open  to  them,  while  the  Athenians 
had  only  the  small  space  between  their  walls.  The 
Athenian  ships  sailed  straight  for  the  mouth  of  the 
harbour  ;  the  Syracusans  attacked  them  from  all 
sides.  The  fight  was  long  and  confused  ;  at  last  the 
Athenians  gave  way  and  fled  to  the  shore.  The 
battle  and  the  invasion  were  over.  Syracuse  was  not 
only  saved  ;  she  had  begun  to  take  vengeance  on  her 
eneinies. 

But  there  were  still  40,000  men  in  the  Athenian 
camp,  and  Hermokrates  feared  that  they  might  gain 
some  friendly  point,  Greek  or  Sikel,  and  might  still  be 
dangerous.  But  these  40,000  men  were  utterly  broken 
in  spirit  ;  even  the  devout  Nikias  did  not  ask  for  the 
bodies  of  the  dead.  The  men  positively  refused,  when 
Demosthenes  wished  them  to  try  one  more  chance  by 
sea.  There  was  therefore  nothing  for  them  to  do  but  to 
seek  some  place  of  safety  by  land  ;  and  it  was  the 
object  of  Gylippos  and  Hermokrates  to  hinder  them 
from  so  doing.  But  the  day  was  a  high  day,  a  feast 
of  Herakles,  and  in  the  maddening  joy  of  the  great 
deliverance  men  would  not  turn  out  to  do  any  more 
work  at  least  till  the  morrow.  Hermokrates  therefore 
sent  a  false  message,  in  the  name  of  Nikias'  friends  in 
Syracuse,  saying  that  the  roads  were  already  stopped, 
and   it  was  in  vain  to  set  out  that  night.     By  this 


LAST   BATTLE   AND    RETREAT.  I33 

means  Gylippos  found  time  to  stop  all    the    roads, 
bridges,  and  passes. 

The  Athenians  waited  one  day,  and  then  set  out, 
hoping  to  make  their  way  to  some  safe  place  among 
the  friendly  Sikels  in  the  inland  country.  The  sick 
had  to  be  left  behind,  and  the  horsemen  and  heavy- 
armed  had  to  carry  their  own  provisions,  for  their  slaves 
had  all  run  away.  In  this  strait  Nikias,  sick  and 
weak  as  he  was,  did  all  that  he  could  to  maintain 
order  and  to  keep  up  the  spirits  of  his  men.  They 
marched  along,  but  very  slowly,  as  the  Syracusan 
horsemen  and  darters  harassed  them  at  every  step. 
It  seldom  came  to  hand  to  hand  fighting.  When  it 
did,  the  Athenians  still  had  the  advantage.  But  when 
they  got  into  a  narrow  and  stony  gorge  which  led  to 
their  first  point,  a  gorge  just  beyond  the  present  town 
of  Floridia,  they  found  it  impossible  to  get  on,  because 
of  the  darters  above  and  the  heavy-armed  who  stopped 
the  pass.  On  the  sixth  day,  after  frightful  toil,  they 
determined  to  change  their  course.  They  would  now 
strike  into  the  road  to  Heloron  and  march  nearer  the 
coast,  till  they  could  reach  the  inland  country  by 
going  up  the  bed  of  one  of  the  rivers.  They  hoped 
to  find  Sikcl  allies  at  the  first  of  them,  the  Kakyparls 
or  Cassibile. 

They  set  out  in  two  divisions,  that  of  Nikias  going 
first.  Much  better  order  was  kept  in  the  front 
division,  and  by  the  time  Nikias  reached  the  river, 
Demosthenes  was  six  miles  behind.  But  instead  of 
Sikel  friends,  the  banks  were  guarded  by  Syracusan 
enemies.  The  Athenians  drove  them  off,  their  last 
success  in  the  war.     But  they  did  not  now  think  of 


134      SICILY   AND    THE    WARS   OF  OLD    GREECE. 

trying  the  bed  of  the  Kakyparis,  but  rather  of  some 
stream  further  on.  They  halted  for  the  night  by 
another  stream,  the  Erineos.  And  in  the  morning  a 
Syracusan  force  came  up  with  the  frightful  news  that 
the  whole  division  of  Demosthenes  were  prisoners. 
They  called  on  Nikias  to  surrender  also.  A  truce  was 
made  for  Nikias  to  send  a  horseman  to  find  out  the 
truth,  and  he  came  back  to  say  that  the  Syracusans 
had  overtaken  the  division  of  Demosthenes  in  a  diffi- 
cult  piece    of  ground,  and  had  by  many  harassing 


SYRACUSAN   PENTfeKONTALITRON. 
[Prize  Arms  oj  Assinarian  Ga7nes.) 

attacks  brought  them  to  surrender.  Demosthenes 
made  no  terms  for  himself,  but  the  Syracusans 
promised  that  of  the  6,000  men  that  he  had  left  none 
should  be  put  to  death  either  at  once  or  by  lack  of 
food  or  intolerable  bonds.  They  now  called  on  Nikias 
to  do  the  like.  This  he  refused,  but  he  proposed  to 
G}^lippos  that  the  Athenian  army  that  was  left  should 
be  allowed  to  go  free  out  of  Sicily  on  condition  of 
Athens  repaying  to  Syracuse  all  the  costs  of  the  war, 
and  leaving  citizen  hostages  till  the  money  was  paid. 


SVKACUSAN    bTONE   QUARRY. 


136      SICILY  AND    THE    WARS    OF   OLD   GREECE. 

This  was  refused  ;  the  Athenians  tried  in  vain  to 
escape  in  the  night.  The  next  morning  they  set  out, 
harassed  as  before,  and  driven  wild  by  intolerable 
thirst.  They  at  last  reached  the  river  Assinaros, 
which  runs  by  the  present  town  of  Noto.  There  was 
the  end. 

The  Athenians  had  doubtless  meant  to  go  up  the  bed 
of  the  river,  and  they  did  not  expect  to  find  so  distant 
a  stream  guarded  by  S}-racusan  troops.  But  so  it 
was.  Yet  the  Athenians  were  so  maddened  by  thirst 
that,  though  men  were  falling  under  the  darts  and  the 
water  was  getting  muddy  and  bloody,  they  thought 
of  nothing  but  drinking.  Then  a  body  of  Pelo- 
ponnesians  were  sent  down  to  slay  them  in  the  river 
bed.  Nikias  then  prayed  Gylippos  to  deal  with  him 
as  he  pleased,  but  to  spare  the  slaughter  of  his  men. 
No  further  terms  were  made  ;  most  of  the  horsmen 
contrived  to  cut  their  way  out ;  the  rest  were  made 
prisoners.  Most  of  them  were  embezzled  by  Syra- 
cusans  as  their  private  slaves ;  but  about  7,000 
men  out  of  the  two  divisions  were  led  prisoners 
into  Syracuse.  They  were  shut  up  in  the  stone- 
quarries,  with  no  further  heed  than  to  give  each  man 
daily  half  a  slave's  allowance  of  food  and  drink. 
Many  died  ;  many  were  sold  ;  some  escaped,  or  were 
set  free  ;  the  rest  were  after  a  while  taken  out  of  the 
quarries  and  set  to  work.  The  generals  had  made  no 
terms  for  themselves.  Hermokrates  wished  to  keep 
them  as  hostages  against  future  Athenian  attempts 
against  Sicily.  Gylippos  wished  to  take  them  in 
triumph  to  Sparta.  The  Corinthians  were  for  putting 
them  to  death  ;  and  so  it  was  done, 


END    OF   THE   ATHENIAN   INVASION.  137 

So  ended  the  Athenian  invasion  of  Sicily,  the 
greatest  attempt  ever  made  by  Greeks  against  Greeks, 
and  that  which  came  to  the  most  utter  failure.  It  is 
wonderful  that  Athens  could  bear  up  as  she  did  for 
several  years  after  such  frightful  loss.  In  Sicily  war 
still  went  on  between  Syracuse  and  the  Chalkidians 
in  the  island  ;  but  the  most  notable  result  was 
that  Syracuse  and  Sclinous  now  repaid  the  help  that 
they  had  received  from  Corinth  and  the  whole  Pelo- 
ponnesian  alliance  by  sending  ships  to  serve  against 
Athens  (B.C.  412).  Hermokrates  and  the  Syracusans 
won  special  credit  by  their  conduct  in  the  war  that 
was  waging  along  the  coast  of  Asia.  The  Spartans 
had  now  joined  in  an  alliance  against  Athens  with 
the  Persian  king  Darius  and  his  satrap  Tissa- 
phernes.  They  took  pay  from  the  barbarian  and 
acknowledged  him  as  master  of  all  the  Greek 
cities  of  Asia.  Hermokrates  did  not  directly  refuse 
the  alliance  ;  but  he  withstood  the  satrap  when  he 
tried  to  cut  down  the  men's  pay,  while  the  bribed 
Spartan  officers  connived  at  it.  And  when  the  people 
of  Miletos  pulled  down  the  castle  which  Tissapherncs 
had  built  in  their  city,  the  Spartan  commanders  bade 
them  be  quiet  and  serve  the  King  ;  but  Hermokrates 
and  the  Syracusans  stood  their  friends.  The  Sikeliot 
contingent  was  foremost  in  every  battle,  and  they  won 
themselves  favour  everywhere  by  their  good  conduct. 
But  Hermokrates  naturally  drew  on  himself  the  bitter 
hatred  of  the  satrap  Tissapherncs. 

Meanwhile  party  strife  was  going  on  at  S}-racusc. 
There,  just  as  at  Athens  after  the  driving  back  of  the 
Persians,  the  tendency  of  deliverance  and  victory  was 


138      SICILY  AND    THE    WARS   OF  OLD   GREECE.' 

to  make  things  more  democratic.  A  popular  leader 
named  Diokles  had  now  the  chief  influence  at 
Syracuse,  and  he  is  said  to  have  drawn  up  a  new 
code  of  laws.  He  was  of  course  opposed  to 
Hermokrates,  and  it  was  doubtless  through  him  that 
(B.C.  409)  a  decree  was  passed  deposing  and  banishing 
both  him  and  the  other  generals  who  were  in  command 
in  the  ^gaean.  This  seems  to  us  very  unjust ;  but  it  is 
only  fair  to  remember  that  the  Sikeliot  ships  had  been 
sent  in  the  hope  of  a  speedy  overthrow  of  the  power  of 
Athens  by  the  joint  force  of  Peloponnesos  and  Sicily. 
Nothing  of  the  kind  had  happened,  and  there  was 
doubtless  sore  disappointment  at  home.  When  the 
decree  came  out,  the  officers  and  seamen  wished 
Hermokrates  and  his  colleagues  to  keep  their  command 
in  defiance  of  the  orders  from  home.  But  they  told 
their  men  to  submit  to  the  decree  of  the  common- 
wealth, and  consented  only  to  keep  the  command  till 
their  successors  came  out.  Then  they  withdrew. 
Many  of  the  officers  swore  that,  when  they  got  back 
to  Syracuse,  they  would  do  all  that  they  could  to 
bring  about  the  restoration  of  Hermokrates  and  his 
colleagues.  But  he  himself  took  other  means  to  the 
same  end  which  showed  that  the  suspicions  against 
him  at  home  were  not  wholly  without  ground.  Hated 
by  Tissaphernes,  he  was  on  good  terms  with  the  rival 
satrap  Pharnabazos,  and  from  him  he  received  a 
large  sum  of  money  to  bring  about  his  return  to 
Syracuse  how  he  could. 

Meanwhile  the  Sikeliots  in  the  ALgxan  were  able 
to  show  that  they  could  do  good  service  even  without 
Hermokrates.     They  still  kept  up  their  character  for 


BANISHMENT   OF  HERMOKRATES.  139 

bravery  and  good  conduct.  A  strange  adventure 
happened  to  some  of  them  who  were  taken  prisoners 
by  the  Athenians.  They  too  were  shut  up  in  stone- 
quarries,  to  avenge  the  sufferings  of  the  Athenians  at 
Syracuse.  But  they  contrived  to  dig  their  way  out 
through  the  rock.  Presently  all  the  forces  of  Sicily 
were  needed  elsewhere.  While  the  men  of  Selinous 
were  warring  on  the  coast  of  Asia,  news  came  out  that 
Selinous  was  no  longer  a  city.  The  Sikeliots  presently 
sailed  back,  being  able  to  do  the  Peloponnesian  cause 
one  last  service  on  the  way.  They  helped  to  win 
back  for  Sparta  the  fort  of  Pylos,  which  Demosthenes 
had  set  up  on  Lacedaemonian  ground  in  one  of  the 
earlier  expeditions  against  Sicily.  That  was  the  last 
Sikeliot  exploit  in  the  eastern  seas.  There  was 
reason  indeed  to  call  for  every  ship  and  every  man 
of  Greek  Sicily  for  work  in  his  own  island.  The 
news  that  had  come  from  Selinous  was  true.  A 
more  frightful  blow  than  the  Athenian  invasion 
threatened  every  Greek  city  in  Sicily.  The  second 
Carthaginian  invasion  had  begun. 


lUMERA.      C.   430   B.C. 


IX. 


THE   SECOND   CARTHAGINIAN    INVASION. 


B.C.   413-404- 

[For  tliis  chapter  our  authority  is  ahnost  wholly  the  narrative  of 
Diodoros.  He  followed  various  earlier  writers,  and  sometimes  quotes 
them.  Those  available  now  were  Philistos  the  contemporary  Syracusan 
historian,  Ephoros  the  general  historian  of  Greece,  and  Timaios,  the 
later  Sicilian  writer.  This  is  one  of  the  best  parts  of  Diodoros' 
narrative,  and  it  is  plain  that  he  must  have  made  large  use  of  Philistos ; 
still  it  is  a  fall  from  Thucydides.] 


Carthage  had  been  quiet,  as  far  as  concerned 
Sicily,  all  through  the  Athenian  war.  The  schemes 
of  Athens  had  threatened  her  ;  but  nothing  had 
come  of  the  proposal  of  Hermokrates  to  seek 
Carthaginian  help  for  Syracuse.  After  the  defeat  of 
the  Athenians,  there  seems  to  have  been  perfect 
peace  between  Greeks  and  Phoenicians  in  Sicil}-. 
But  two  local  wars  were  going  on  at  the  two  ends  of 
the  island,  out  of  one  of  which  much  was  to  come. 
The  Athenian  war  was  in  a  manner  continued  in  the 
warfare  which  Syracuse  was  carrying  on  without 
much  zeal  against  the  allies  of  Athens,  Katane  and 
Naxos.     And    in    western    Sicily    the    story   of    the 

140 


EXPEDITION    OF   HANNIBAL. 


141 


causes  which  led  to  the  Athcniem  invasion  were 
acting  over  again.  Segesta  and  Sclinous  were  still 
fighting  on  their  borders,  greatly  to  the  advantage  of 
Selinous.  It  was  no  use  now  for  Segesta  to  ask  help 
at  Athens.  Help  was  sought  at  Carthage,  and,  after 
some  debates  in  the  Carthaginian  senate,  it  was 
granted.  Segesta  professed  herself  a  dependent  ally 
of  Carthage. 

The  man  at  Carthage  who  was  most  eager  for  war 
was  the  Shophet  Hannibal  son  of  Giskon,  grandson 
of  Hamilkar  who  died  at  Himera.  He  could  have  had 
no  spite  against  Selinous.     In  that  town  there  was  a 


KATANE.      C.   410. 

party  friendly  to  Carthage,  and  his  father,  banished 
from  Carthage,  had  found  shelter  there.  But  the  one 
passion  of  his  soul  was  to  avenge  his  grandfather. 
He  hated  all  Greeks,  specially  those  of  Himera. 
Being  made  general  with  full  powers,  he  first  sent 
over  a  body  of  Africans,  and  took  into  pay  another 
body  of  Campanians,  who  had  been  hired  for  the 
Athenian  service,  but  had  come  too  late.  Had  they 
been  wandering  about  Sicily  all  this  time  ?  Hannibal 
contrived  by  subtle  diplomacy  to  make  S}'racuse 
neutral  ;  yet,  when  the  Selinuntines  asked  for  S}'ra- 
cusan    help,    it   was    voted,   but    not  sent.     But    the 


142      THE    SECOND    CARTHAGINIAN   INVASION. 

dread  of  Syracuse  caused  Segesta  to  crave  for 
further  help  from  Carthage,  and  in  the  spring  of  the 
year  B.C.  409,  help  came  indeed. 

Hannibal  spent  the  winter  in  bringing  together  a 
vast  army  from  all  parts.  Two  things  are  to  be 
noticed  about  it.  A  large  body  of  Carthaginians 
gave  their  personal  service,  and  Hannibal  somewhere 
found  Greeks  who  were  not  ashamed  to  take  his  pay 
against  their  brethren.  With  60  triremes  and  1,500 
other  vessels  of  all  kinds,  carrying  4,000  horsemen 
and  all  kinds  of  military  engines,  he  sailed  from  Car- 
thage to  Lilybaion.  He  then  left  his  ships  at  Motya, 
and  marched  straight  upon  Selinous.  The  news  of 
his  landing  was  brought  to  Selinous  before  he  got 
there,  or  the  city  might  have  been  taken  unawares. 
As  it  was,  there  was  no  time  to  make  ready  for  a 
siege.  The  Selinuntines  were  rich  and  prosperous  ; 
they  feared  their  Segestan  enemies  so  little  that  they 
had  let  their  defences  go  out  of  repair.  They  were 
busy  building  the  greatest  of  the  temples  which  w^e 
now  see  in  ruins,  and  Hannibal's  coming  kept  them 
from  ever  finishing  it.  He  advanced  from  the  west  ; 
he  took  the  Selinuntine  outpost  of  Mazara  ;  and  he 
seems  to  have  encamped  on  the  western  hill  of 
Selinous.  He  then  brought  up  his  men  and  his 
engines,  and  attacked  the  central  hill,  the  hill  of  the 
akropolis.  Horsemen  were  sent  to  ask  for  help 
from  Akragas  and  Syracuse,  but  the  men  of  both 
cities  were  slow  to  march.  Selinous,  left  alone,  held 
out,  we  are  told,  for  nine  days  of  constant  fighting. 
At  last  the  Iberians  made  their  way  in  ;  the  rest 
followed  ;  a  general  massacre  took  place  for  a  while  ; 


SIEGE   AND    TAKING    OF   SELINOUS.  143 

but  some  men  escaped,  and  many  women  and 
children  were  spared  as  slaves.  No  such  blow  had 
ever  before  fallen  on  any  Greek  city  of  Sicily. 

Those  who  escaped  found  a  kindly  shelter  at 
Akragas.  And  presently  a  body  of  3,000  Syracusans 
under  Diokles  came,  too  late  for  any  fighting.  But 
Diokles  and  Empedion,  the  chief  friend  of  Carthage 
at  Selinous,  who  was  among  the  refugees,  made  some 
kind  of  terms  with  Hannibal.  Selinous  ceased  to 
exist  as  a  city,  even  as  a  dependent  city.  It  became 
part  of  the  dominion  of  Carthage.  Its  walls  were 
slighted  ;  but  the  remnant  who  had  escaped  to 
Akragas  were  allowed  to  go  back  to  the  site.  But 
it  does  not  appear  that  Hannibal  wrought  any  greater 
damage  than  was  needed  for  his  purposes.  The 
destruction  of  the  temples  was  clearly  not  his  doing, 
but  the  work  of  an  earthquake.  But  he  had  done 
all  that  his  Segestan  allies  could  have  asked  for. 
They  would  never  again  be  threatened  by  the 
Selinuntines. 

Hannibal  had  now  seemingly  done  all  that  his 
commission  from  Carthage  bade  him  do.  But  he 
had  a  further  errand  of  his  own  ;  he  came  to  avenge 
the  death  of  his  grandfather  Hamilkar.  Himera 
was  not  to  be  let  off  so  easily  as  Selinous.  There 
neither  men  nor  stones  were  to  be  spared.  With  his 
whole  force,  strengthened  by  some  Sikans  and  Sikels 
who  had  joined  him,  he  marched  on  Himera,  and 
attacked  the  town  with  his  engines,  and  also  with 
mines.  The  men  of  Himera  bore  up  stoutly  for  the 
first  day.  At  night  help  came.  The  force  which 
Diokles  had  led  to  Akragas  had  now  grown  to  5,000 


144      ^"-f-^^   SECOND    CARTHAGINIAN   INVASION. 

and  others  were  dropping  in.  A  battle  was  fought 
beneath  the  walls,  in  which  first  the  Greeks  and  then 
the  barbarians  had  the  better.  At  this  moment,  the 
Sikeliot  fleet  coming  back  from  Asia,  which  had 
doubtless  received  orders  on  its  voyage,  came  in  sight 
of  Himera.  Then  Hannibal  cunningly  spread  abroad 
a  false  report  that  he  was  going  to  leave  Himera, 
to  march  to  Motya,  to  go  on  board  his  fleet,  and  to 
sail  straight  for  Syracuse.  Both  Diokles  and  the 
officers  of  the  fleet  fell  into  this  trap  ;  they  thought 
their  first  duty  was  to  save  Syracuse.  Diokles 
marched  back  to  Syracuse  in  such  haste  as  to  forget 
the  sacred  duty  of  burying  the  dead.  Himera  was  to 
be  forsaken  ;  its  inhabitants  were  to  be  taken  by  the 
ships  in  two  parties  to  Messana.  One  party  was 
taken  safely ;  the  rest  kept  up  the  defence  for  one 
day.  The  next  morning,  just  as  the  ships  came 
within  sight  to  save  the  second  party,  the  barbarians 
broke  into  the  city,  and  all  was  over. 

And  now  Hannibal  had  his  own  work  to  do.  A 
massacre  of  course  began  ;  but  a  mere  massacre  was 
not  what  he  wanted.  He  gave  the  spoil  to  his 
soldiers  ;  the  women  and  children  were  made  slaves. 
Then  all  the  men  who  were  left,  about  3,000,  were 
taken  to  the  place  where  Hamilkar  had  died.  There 
they  were  insulted,  tortured,  and  at  last  put  to  death 
as  an  offering  to  the  ghost  of  Hamilkar.  The  walls 
of  Himera  were  broken  down  ;  the  temples  were 
plundered  and  burned  ;  the  city,  in  short,  was  swept 
away.  To  this  day  there  are  mighty  ruins  at 
Selinous  ;  but  the  hill  of  Himera  stands  empty. 

So  did  Hannibal,  with  a  mighty  sacrifice,  avenge 


HANNIBAL'S   SACRIFICE. 


145 


the  death  of  his  grandfather.  lie  had  cut  Hellas 
short  by  two  of  her  cities,  and  went  back  to  Carthage 
with  all  honour. 


And  now  we  hear  again  of  Hermokrates.  He  had 
two  objects,  to  bring  about  his  own  recall  at  Syracuse, 
and  to  do  something  for  the  Greek  cause  in  Sicily. 
With  the  money  that  Pharnabazos  had  given  him, 
he  built  five  triremes  ;  he  hired  mercenaries  ;  volun- 
teers joined  him  ;  and  at  the  head  of  2,000  men  he 
marched  to  Syracuse.     But  the  people  were  afraid  of 


SYRACUSE.      C.   409.      HEAD  OF  ARETIIUSA. 

him  and  would  not  vote  his  recall,  and  he  did  not 
wish  to  use  force.  He  then  thought  of  doing  some 
exploit  which  should  win  him  favour.  With  no  com- 
mission from  any  commonwealth,  he  made  war  on  the 
Carthaginians  on  his  own  account.  He  occupied  the 
akropolis  of  Selinous,  and  rebuilt  the  wall,  where  his 
work  is  still  to  be  seen.  Men  flocked  to  help  him, 
and,  with  6,000  men,  he  did  what  no  Greek  had  done 
before,  what  no  Greek  since  Dorieus  had  tried  to  do. 
He  marched  into  the  very  heart  of  the  Carthaginian 
territory.     The  men  of  Motya  were  driven  back  into 

II 


146      THE    SECOND    CARTHAGINIAN   INVASION. 

their  island.  He  then  went  where  no  Greek  soldier 
had  ever  been,  into  the  land  of  Panormos,  where  he 
won  battles  and  gathered  the  rich  fruits  of  the  Golden 
Shell.  Pyrrhos,  Atilius,  and  Robert  Wiscard,  all  learned 
the  way  from  Hermokrates  of  Syracuse.  After  this, 
many  at  Syracuse  wished  to  recall  him  ;  but  the  vote 
could  not  be  carried.  He  then  made  up  his  mind  to 
do  something  which  would  still  more  strongly  work 
on  Syracusan  feeling.  He  marched  to  Himera ;  he 
took  up  the  bones  of  the  men  whom  Diokles  had  left 
unburied,  and  took  them  to  Syracuse.  The  dead  at 
last  received  their  honours,  and  Diokles  was  banished ; 
but  Hermokrates  was  not  recalled. 

Now  at  last  he  determined  to  use  force.  And  well 
would  it  have  been  for  Syracuse  if  he  had  come  in, 
even  as  tyrant.  As  it  was,  he  contrived  to  enter  the 
city  with  a  small  party  of  Syracusans  only  ;  but  the 
people  withstood  him  and  he  was  killed  in  the  agora. 
Most  of  his  followers  were  killed  or  banished.  A  few 
only  escaped,  those  who  were  wounded  and  taken  for 
dead.  Among  these  was  a  m.emorable  man  indeed, 
Dionysios,  son  of  another  Hermokrates.  We  should 
hardly  have  looked  to  find  him  in  the  following  of 
Hermokrates  son  of  Hermon.  For  the  dangerous 
point  of  Hermokrates  was  that  he  was  thought  to  be 
disloyal  to  the  democratic  constitution.  No  one 
doubted  that  he  sought,  first  of  all,  the  independence 
and  greatness  of  Syracuse  and  then  the  independence 
and  well-being  of  all  the  Greek  cities,  Dionysios 
professed  attachment  to  democracy,  but  only  as  a 
means  of  getting  power  for  himself 

About  this  time  a  new  town  was  founded,  which 


DEATH   OF  HERMOKRATIlS.  147 

came  in  some  sort  to  represent  the  fallen  Himera. 
At  the  Baths  of  Himera  the  Carthaginians  planted  a 
colony  of  Phoenicians  and  Africans.  But  it  somehow 
came  again  into  Greek  hands  ;  so  that  the  effect  of 
the  destruction  of  Himera  was  that  a  new  town,  a 
Greek  town,  though  a  dependency  of  Carthage,  arose 
nearer  to  the  Phoenician  strongholds  than  Himera 
had  been.  Its  name  in  Greek  was  Thcrina  Hinicraia, 
and  it  still  keeps  the  name  of  Termini,  and  has  still  its 
hot  baths.  Its  people  are  often  spoken  of  as  men  of 
Himera, 

No  one  doubted  that  a  general  Carthaginian  attack 
on  the  Greek  cities  of  Sicily  would  come  before  long. 
And  those  cities,  fewer  by  two  than  they  had  been, 
were  making  every  preparation.  S}'racuse  got  her 
fleet  ready,  and  found  help  in  Italy  and  other  quarters. 
Akragas,  expecting  to  be  attacked  first,  strengthened 
herself  in  every  way,  hiring  mercenaries  and  getting 
a  Lacedaemonian  commander  named  Dexippos,  who 
men  hoped  would  be  another  Gylippos.  Meanwhile 
Hannibal  was  ordered  to  lead  another  host  against 
the  Greeks.  He  had  done  his  own  work  ;  he  asked 
to  be  let  off  on  the  ground  of  age  ;  but  he  had  to  go, 
only  with  his  kinsman  Himilkon  as  a  colleague.  The 
two  set  forth  with  a  thousand  ships  of  all  kinds, 
and  an  army  of  the  usual  kind,  reckoned  at  100,000 — 
some  said  three  times  as  many. 

The  point  aimed  at  was  Akragas,  but  the  Syracusan 
fleet  was  afloat,  and  began  the  war  with  a  successful 
fight  off  the  western  coast.  Then  came  the  great 
siege  of  Akragas.     Hannibal  pitched  his  camp  on  the 


MAI'    OF    AKRAGAS. 


SIEGE    OF  AKRAGAS.  I49 

right  bank  of  the  Hypsas,  near  the  south-west  corner 
of  the  city,  and  planted  a  detachment  on  the  heights 
on  the  left  bank  of  the  river  Akragas  to  watch  against 
any  help  that  might  come  from  Gela  and  the  other 
cities  to  the  east.  Then  he  called  on  the  men  of 
Akragas  to  make  peace  with  Carthage,  and  to  join 
him  against  the  other  cities.  When  they  refused,  the 
siege  began  in  the  ravine  west  of  the  city.  The 
Carthaginians  destroyed  the  tombs  of  Theron  and 
others.  Presently  a  plague  fell  on  them,  of  which 
Hannibal  died,  and  which  men  looked  on  as  the 
punishment  of  his  sacrilege.  But  when  Himilkon 
satisfied  the  conscience  of  the  army  by  burning  his 
son  to  Moloch,  they  took  heart  again. 

Meanwhile  the  Syracusan  general  Daphnaios  was 
leading  30,000  men  from  Syracuse,  Gela,  Kamarina, 
and  other  cities,  to  the  help  of  Akragas.  The  de- 
tachment on  the  heights  came  down  to  meet  them, 
but  they  were  defeated  and  driven  to  their  main 
camp,  and  the  allies  took  their  post  on  the  hill.  Then 
the  Akragantines  called  on  Dexippos  and  their  own 
generals  to  lead  them  out  to  battle,  which  they  would 
not  do.  The  people  then  streamed  out  of  the  city, 
and  held  an  irregular  military  assembly,  in  which  the 
allies  seemed  to  have  joined.  Everybody  believed 
that  Dexippos  and  the  Akragantine  generals  had 
been  bribed.  A  tumult  broke  out ;  fear  of  Sparta 
protected  Dexippos  ;  but  the  Akragantine  generals 
were  attacked.  Four  out  of  five  were  stoned,  and 
others  were  chosen  in  their  place.  Daphnaios  now  took 
the  lead.  He  shrank  from  attacking  the  Carthaginian 
camp  ;  but  he  cut  off  its  supplies.     But  when  Himil- 


150      THE    SECOND    CARTHAGINIAN   INVASION. 

kon  brought  his  fleet  from  the  west  and  cut  off  the 
corn-ships  that  were  bringing  food  from  Syracuse,  the 
cry  of  bribery  arose  again,  and  now  reached  both 
Dexippos  and  the  Syracusan  officers.  For  one 
reason  or  another,  all  the  allies  marched  off,  and  left 
Akragas  to  its  fate. 

Akragas,  it  must  be  remembered,  was  the  second 
Greek  city  in  Sicily  in  point  of  power,  and  perhaps 
the  first  in  wealth  and  splendour.  It  was  full  of  rich 
and  bountiful  men, and  of  noble  buildings,  among  which 
the  great  temple  of  Olympian  Zeus  in  the  lower  part 
of  the  city  was  fast  drawing  to  perfection.  Sud- 
denly the  Akragantine  generals  gave  out  that  there 
was  not  food  enough  to  go  on,  that  the  defence  was 
to  be  given  up,  and  the  city  itself  forsaken.  As  many 
as  40,000  men,  women,  and  children,  many  of  them 
used  to  every  luxury,  had  suddenly  to  leave  every- 
thing and  seek  new  homes.  All  who  could  not  under- 
take the  journey,  the  old  and  sick,  were  left  behind. 
Some  too  would  not  go,  among  them  Gellias,  the 
richest  and  most  bountiful  man  in  Akragas,  who 
sought  refuge  in  the  temple  of  Athene  on  the  akropoHs. 
The  flight  was  by  night.  Next  morning  the  bar- 
barians broke  in,  and  slew  and  plundered.  Gellias 
and  his  friends  set  fire  to  the  temple  and  died  in  the 
flames.  Himilkon  kept  the  town  as  winter-quarters 
for  his  army.  He  sent  much  spoil  to  Carthage, 
specially  pictures  and  statues,  for  the  Carthaginians 
had  learned  to  value  Greek  art.  So,  after  an  eight 
months'  siege,  Akragas  had  fallen,  though  not  so 
utterly  as  Selinous  and  Himera. 

The  alarm  was  great  evcrj'where.     The  Akragan- 


BEGINNINGS   OF  DIONYSIOS.  I5I 

tine  refugees  went  to  Syracuse,  and  accused  the 
Syracusan  generals  of  treason.  They  were  strongly 
supported  by  Dionysios,  who  had  so  strangely  escaped 
when  Hermokrates  was  killed,  and  who  had  since 
niade  himself  a  name  by  good  service  before  Akragas. 
In  his  speech  he  in  some  way  broke  the  rules  of  the 
assembly,  and  the  magistrates  fined  him.  But  a  rich 
man,  Philistos  by  name,  paid  the  fine,  and  told  him 
to  go  on  ;  as  often  as  the  magistrates  fined  him,  so  often 
he  would  pay  the  fine  for  him.  The  people  listened  to 
Dionysios,  and  passed  a  vote,  deposing  the  generals 
and  choosing  others,  of  whom  Dionysios  was  one. 
Philistos  was  for  a  long  while  a  firm  friend  of  Diony- 
sios, and  he  was  one  of  the  chief  writers  of  Sicilian 
history.  Unhappily  we  have  only  fragments  of  his 
writings. 

Thus  in  the  year  B.C.  406,  Dionysios  took  the  first 
step  towards  making  himself  tyrant.  The  assembly 
now  listened  to  him,  and  voted  what  he  pleased.  The 
Syracusans  recalled  the  exiles,  that  is  the  friends  of 
Hermokrates,  and  found  quarters  at  Leontinoi  for 
the  refugees  from  Akragas.  Two  sets  of  people  were 
thus  attached  to  Dionysios.  Every  one  now  expected 
that  the  next  attack  of  the  Carthaginians  would  be 
on  Gela.  There  was  a  Syracusan  force  there  under 
Dexippos.  But  the  Geloans  asked  for  more  help,  and 
another  body  was  sent  under  Dionysios.  He  threw 
himself  into  the  political  disputes  of  the  city  ;  he 
stirred  up  the  popular  party  against  the  oligarchs, 
and  procured  the  condemnation  to  death  of  the 
Gcloan  generals.  Out  of  their  confiscated  goods  he 
gave  the  soldiers  double  pay,  thereby  gaining  more 


152      THE   SECOND   CARTHAGINIAN   INVASION. 

partisans.  Then  he  went  back  to  Syracuse  to  say 
that  Himilkon  had  tried  to  bribe  all  the  Syracusan 
generals,  and  that  he  alone  had  refused  the  bribe.  A 
vote  was  then  passed,  in  the  year  B.C.  405,  to  depose 
the  other  generals  and  make  Dionysios  general  with 
full  powers.  This  was  in  itself  a  legal  office.  It  did 
not  mean  that  its  holder  was  set  above  the  laws,  but 
only  that,  as  a  military  commander,  he  could  use 
his  own  discretion,  without  consulting  colleagues  or 
waiting  for  orders  from  home.  But  it  was  a  power 
open  to  abuse,  and,  in  the  hands  of  Dionysios,  it  was 
only  a  second  step  towards  the  tyranny.  He  still 
wanted  the  body-guard.  He  did  not  venture  to  ask 
for  it  in  Syracuse  ;  so  he  marched  to  Leontinoi 
at  the  head  of  all  the  men  under  forty.  There  he 
held  an  irregular  military  assembly,  and  told  them 
how  traitors  had  sought  to  slay  him.  Then  they 
voted  him  a  guard  of  600  men,  which  he  presently 
raised  to  1,000.  He  then  dismissed  and  appointed 
officers  as  he  pleased,  and  specially  sent  away 
Dexippos. 

Dionysios  now  was  tyrant.  He  had  abused  his 
legal  office  of  general  to  win  for  himself  a  power 
beyond  the  law.  He  was  now  able  to  act  as  he 
pleased.  He  could  hold  assemblies,  and  men,  under 
fear  of  his  mercenaries,  voted  as  he  bade  them.  Thus 
Daphnaios  and  another  of  the  deposed  generals  were 
put  to  death  by  what  we  should  call  a  bill  of  attainder. 
Dionysios  began  to  give  himself  something  of  the 
airs  of  a  further  prince.  He  married  the  daughter  of 
his  old  captain  Hermokrates.  But  as  yet  he  had  no 
strong  castle  ;  he  lived  in  a  house  near  the  docks. 


SIEGE   AXD   EORSAKING    OF   GELA.  1 53 

Meanwhile  Gcla,  which  he  had  been  sent  to  defend, 
was  besieged  by  Himilkon.  On  a  hill  outside  the 
city  was  a  famous  temple  and  statue  of  Apollun.  The 
Carthaginians,  worshippers  of  their  own  Baalim  and 
Ashtaroth,  made  war  on  the  gods  as  well  as  the  men 
of  Greece,  and  they  sent  Apollon  as  a  captive  to  their 
metropolis  at  Tyre.  There  he  was  heard  of  again 
seventy  years  later,  when  the  Macedonian  Alexander 
besieged  Tyre.  The  men  of  Gela  made  ready  for 
the  defence.  It  was  proposed  that  the  women  and 
children  should  be  sent  to  Syracuse  ;  but  the  women 
prayed  that  they  might  stay  and  share  the  fate  of 
their  husbands.  Dionysios  came  to  their  help  with  a 
great  force  by  land  and  sea,  horse  and  foot,  Sikeliot, 
Italiot,  and  mercenary.  But  he  tarried  so  long  on  the 
road  as  to  give  great  suspicion.  And  when  he  reached 
Gela  and  made  an  elaborate  plan  for  attack  on  the 
Punic  camp,  the  different  divisions  failed  to  act  in 
concert,  and  the  division  which  he  himself  commanded 
did  nothing  at  all.  Still  greater  suspicion  was  now 
awakened,  and  most  of  all  when  he  gave  out  that 
Gela  must  be  forsaken,  and  that  its  inhabitants  must 
get  to  Syracuse  how  they  could.  And  on  the  road 
he  did  the  like  by  Kamarina.  Not  a  Greek  city  w^as 
left  along  the  whole  southern  coast  of  Sicily. 

On  the  road  indignation  burst  forth.  The  horse- 
men, the  rich  men  of  Syracuse,  took  the  lead.  They 
rode  to  the  city  with  all  speed,  so  as  to  be  there 
before  the  tyrant  could  follow.  They  entered  by  the 
gate,no  one  suspecting  them  ;  but  they  disgraced  a  good 
cause  by  going  to  Dionysios'  house  and  shamefully 
maltreating  his  wife,  the  daughter  of  Hermokratcs. 


T54      ^'^^   SECOND    CARTHAGINIAN  INVASION. 

It  does  not  seem  that  the  people  in  general  took  their 
side  ;  they  had  not  made  a  good  beginning,  and  men 
may  have  thought  that  an  oligarchy  would  be  worse 
than  the  tyranny.  Presently  Dionysios  was  at  the 
gate,  which  he  found  shut  against  him.  But  he  made 
his  way  in  by  burning  the  gate  with  a  great  heap  of 
tall  reeds.  He  then  slew  and  banished  as  he  thought 
good,  and  was  fully  master  of  Syracuse.  Some  of  the 
horsemen  escaped  to  Inessa  or  .^tna.  And  the 
refugees  from  Gela  and  Kamarina  were  afraid  to  enter 
Syracuse  and  joined  the  Akragantines  at  Leontinoi. 
Two  settlements  of  Dionysios'  enemies  were  thus 
formed. 

There  can  be  no  doubt  that  the  suspicion  against 
Dionysios  was  perfectly  true.  He  who  had  com- 
plained so  bitterly  of  the  other  generals  had,  even  if 
his  complaints  were  true,  done  worse  than  they.  He 
had  betrayed  everything,  including  two  Greek  cities, 
to  the  barbarians.  This  at  first  seems  strange,  as  in 
after  times  Dionysios  was  as  ready  as  Gelon  to  make 
himself  the  champion  of  Hellas.  But  the  matter 
became  clear  by  the  treaty  which  he  presently  made 
with  Himilkon.  They  two  settled  the  fate  of  Sicily, 
and  that  on  terms  most  of  which  must  have  been  most 
galling  to  Dionysios,  or  to  any  Syracusan.  Syracuse 
was  cut  short  and  hampered  in  every  wa}',and  Carthage 
was  in  every  way  strengthened.  Carthage  was  to  keep 
her  old  Phoenician  dependencies,  as  also  the  Sikans, 
Selinous,  Akragas,  and  the  new  town  of  Therma,  as 
her  immediate  subjects.  Gela  and  Kamarina  were  to 
be  unwalled  towns,  paying  tribute.     Thus  Carthage 


TREATY    WITH   CARTHAGE. 


155 


got  the  dominion  of  the  whole  south  coast  and  an 
enlarged  territory  on  the  north.  On  the  other  hand, 
the  Sikels  were  to  be  free  ;  so  was  Messana  ;  and 
Lcontinoi,  with  its  mixed  population,  was  to  be  again 
a  separate  commonwealth  independent  of  Syracuse. 
Syracuse  was  thus  quite  hemmed  in  with  no  means  of 
advance  in  any  way.  But  the  price  of  all  this  was  that 
Carthage  gave  Dionysios  a  guaranty  of  his  dominion 
over  Syracuse,  of  which  one  would  like  to  see  the 
exact  words.  It  is  plain  that  what  Dionysios  wanted 
was  to  have  the  support  of  Carthage  till  he  had 
fully  established  his  own  power  at  home.  Then  he 
would  cast  the  treaty  aside,  and  win,  for  Syracuse 
and  for  himself,  all  that  had  been  set  free  or  given  up 
to  Carthage.     And  to  a  great  extent  he  did  so. 


KAMARINA.      C.   415. 


X. 


THE   TYRANNY   OF   DIONYSIOS. 

B.C.  405-367. 

[The  main  authority  for  the  reign  of  Dionysios  is  still  the  narrative  of 
Diodoros.  This  part  of  his  work  is  of  very  different  degrees  of  value. 
Some  parts  are  very  good  and  full,  evidently  reproducing  older  writers, 
largely  Philistos.  In  other  parts  he  is  very  meagre  and  confused,  and 
towards  the  end  of  the  tyrant's  life  he  tells  us  very  little.  We  have  also 
a  little  really  contemporary  matter  from  two  Attic  writers,  the  orator 
Lysias  and  the  pamphleteer  Isokrates.  There  is  also  a  series  of  letters 
attributed  to  the  philosopher  Plato,  dealing  largely  with  Syracusan 
affairs,  beginning  in  Dionysios'  time.  There  is  no  reason  to  think  they 
were  really  written  by  Plato  ;  but  they  were  most  likely  written  by 
some  one  of  his  school  not  long  after ;  so  they  may  well  give  us  Plato's 
views  of  things.  Plutarch's  Life  of  Dion  also  begins  in  Dionysios'  time. 
The  fame  of  the  tyrant  was  so  great  that  the  references  to  him  and 
stories  about  him  in  later  writers  are  endless,  almost  equal  to  those 
about  Phalaris.  And  we  begin  to  have  some  documentary  evidence,  in 
the  form  of  Attic  inscriptions  with  decrees  in  honour  of  Dionysios.  But 
we  unluckily  have  no  documents  from  Syracuse  of  his  age.] 


Dionysios  was   now  tyrant  of  Syracuse,  and   he 

remained  so  for  the  rest  of  his  life.     Several  attempts 

were  made  to  get  rid  of  him  ;  but  he  kept  his  power 

for  thirty-eight  years,  and  he  handed  it  on  to  his  son. 

He  knew  how  to  keep  power.    He  stuck  at  no  cruelty 

or  treachery  that   could   serve   his  purposes,  but  he 

does  not  seem  to  have  taken  any  pleasure  in  wanton 

156 


THE    TYRANNY    OF   DIONYSIOS.  I57 

oppression,  and  he  strictly  kept  liimself  from  the 
kinds  of  excess  whicli  oxerthrew  many  t}'rants.  As 
a  ruler,  he  established  a  greater  power  than  had  ever 
been  seen  before  in  the  Greek  world.  He  was  never 
lord  of  all  Sicily  ;  but  he  came  nearer  to  being  such 
than  any  man  had  ever  done  before,  and  his  power 
reached  far  beyond  Sicily.  Syracuse  he  made  at 
once  the  head  of  a  great  dominion,  and  in  itself 
the  greatest  city  of  Hellas  and  of  Europe.  And  his 
reign  marks  an  epoch  in  the  history  of  the  world.  He 
was  the  beginner  of  many  things  which  were  carried 
out  more  fully  by  the  Macedonian  kings.  With  him 
begins  a  wider  and  more  complicated  world  than  that 
of  the  separate  Greek  commonwealths,  a  world  more 
like  the  modern  world,  with  political  powers  of 
various  kinds  side  b}'  side.  And  his  reign  marks  a 
great  advance  in  the  military  art,  both  in  the  inven- 
tion of  engines  of  war  and  in  the  use  of  different 
kinds  of  troops  in  concert.  He  is  at  his  best  in  his 
wars  with  Carthage.  He  is  at  his  worst  when  he 
destroys  Greek  cities  or  peoples  them  with  barbarian 
mercenaries.  These  were  chiefly  Italians,  the  fore- 
shadowing of  a  time  when  Sicily  was  to  pass  under 
the  dominion  of  an  Italian  cit}-.  His.  long  reign 
covers  a  great  space  in  Greek  history.  When  he 
began,  the  Peloponnesian  war  was  not  yet  ended  ; 
when  he  died,  Philip  of  Macedon  was  growing  up. 

With  Carthage  he  waged  four  wars,  which  enable  us 
to  part  his  reign  into  periods.  During  the  first  period, 
of  eight  years  (405-397),  he  was  strengthening  his 
power  in  Syracuse  and  Sicih'  generally.  He  kept 
peace  with  Carthage  ;  but  he  was  evidently  waitinj^ 


158  THE    TYRANNY   OF  DIONYSIOS. 

till  he  could  throw  aside  the  galling  treaty.  His  first 
act  was  to  build  a  strong  place  for  his  own  defence. 
To  this  end  he  turned  the  whole  Island  of  Syracuse 
into  a  fortress.  He  built  a  new  wall  between  it  and 
the  mainland  ;  he  built  a  strong  castle  on  the 
isthmus  and  another  at  the  extreme  point  of  the 
Island.  The  former  was  his  own  dwelling.  These 
strongholds  he  filled  with  mercenaries,  and  he  allowed 
no  one  but  his  most  trusted  friends  to  live  in  the 
Island.  The  Island  thus  held  the  same  place  as  the 
akropolis  in  other  cities,  and  it  is  often,  though  incor- 
rectly, so  called.  Men  said  that  he  had  bound 
Syracuse  down  with  chains  of  adamant. 

He  first  broke  the  treaty  by  a  Sikel  war  (404-403), 
which  nearly  brought  about  his  overthrow.  He 
marched  against  the  Sikel  town  of  Herbessus  ;  but 
now  that  the  Syracusans  had  arms  in  their  hands,  a 
large  body  revolted  and  made  a  league  with  the  horse- 
men at  iEtna.  Dionysios  gave  up  the  siege  of  Herbes- 
sus ;  he  went  back  to  Syracuse,  and  there  was 
besieged  by  the  revolters.  It  was  as  in  the  time  of 
Thrasyboulos,  only  Thrasyboulos  had  had  no  such 
stronghold  as  Dionysios  had.  The  Syracusans  again 
attacked  the  city  from  the  hill,  and  they  got  ships 
from  Rhegion  and  Messana  to  attack  the  Island.  They 
prevailed  so  far  that  many  of  the  tyrant's  mercenaries 
went  over  to  them,  tempted  by  offers  of  citizenship. 
This  desertion  seems  to  have  quite  broken  Dionysios' 
purpose,  and  in  a  debate  with  his  intimate  friends, 
Philistos  and  others,  he  sought  for  means  of  escape. 
But  Heloris,  who  is  called  his  adopted  father, 
answered,  in  words  which  were  often  quoted,  that  the 


RF.VOLT   AGAINST   DIONYSIOS.  159 

robe  of  the  ruler  was  a  noble  winding-sheet.  Another 
friend  bade  him  ride  to  the  Campanians  in  the  service 
of  Carthage,  who  were  quartered  somewhere  on  the 
north  coast.  He  took  heart  again  ;  he  did  not  ride 
to  the  Campanians,  but  he  did  send  a  message  asking 
their  help.  Meanwhile  he  lulled  his  enemies  to  sleep 
by  pretending  to  negotiate,  offering  to  go  away  in 
five  days  with  his  private  property.  The  besiegers 
were  so  foolish  as  to  give  up  all  watchfulness,  and  to 
send  away  the  horsemen  from  ^tna.  The  Campanians 
and  other  mercenaries  were  thus  able  to  come  to  the 
help  of  Dionysios,  and  he  now  went  forth  and  defeated 
the  disorderly  besiegers  in  a  battle.  It  was  his  policy 
to  seem  merciful  ;  so  he  checked  the  slaughter  and 
buried  the  slain.  He  then  made  a  merit  of  this  to 
the  rest  of  his  enemies  who  had  escaped  to  ^tna.  He 
invited  them  to  come  back  on  an  amnesty,  and  some 
came.  But  others,  when  he  boasted  of  burying  the 
dead,  answered  that  they  hoped  soon  to  be  able  to 
do  as  much  for  him. 

The  siege  was  now  at  an  end.  It  was  the  Campa- 
nians who  had  won  the  victory  for  the  tyrant.  He 
did  not  trust  them,  but  sent  them  away  with  great 
rewards.  They  marched  towards  the  Carthaginian 
territory  in  the  west,  and  were  v/elcomed  at  the 
Sikan  town  of  Entella,  which  was  friendly  to  Carthage. 
But  in  the  night  they  slew  the  men  and  took  the 
town  and  the  women  to  themselves.  Entella  became 
a  Campanian  town,  the  first  place  in  Sicily,  but  not 
the  last,  which  was  seized  in  this  way  by  Italian 
mercenaries.  A  new  element  was  thus  added  to  the 
mixed  population  of  the  island, 


l6o  THE    TYRANNY   OF   DIONYSIOS. 

Sicily  now  began  to  be  mixed  up  again  with  the 
affairs  of  Old  Greece.  The  Peloponnesian  War  had 
ended  in  the  utter  destruction  of  the  Athenian  power. 
Sparta  was  now  supreme  in  Greece,  and  the  city  which 
had  professed  to  set  all  Greeks  free  was  now  holding 
down  the  towns  everywhere  under  narrow  oligarchies. 
It  was  the  interest  of  Dionysios  to  attach  himself 
as  closely  as  might  be  to  Sparta,  and  it  was  the 
interest  of  Sparta  to  support  the  power  of  Dionysios. 
But  to  support  tyrants  anywhere  was  against  the 
policy  of  Corinth  in  any  age.  There  was  therefore  a 
difference  between  Sparta  and  Corinth  with  regard  to 
Syracusan  affairs,  and  it  is  possible  that  this  difference 
may  have  helped  to  bring  about  the  open  breach 
between  Sparta  and  Corinth  which  took  place  some 
years  later  (B.C.  395).  It  is  certain,  though  the  story  is 
told  with  a  good  deal  of  confusion,  that,  about  this 
time,  there  were  agents  of  both  cities  at  Syracuse,  the 
Spartan  Aristos  working  for  Dionysios  and  the 
Corinthian  Nikoteles  taking  the  popular  side.  We 
are  further  told  that  the  Spartan  brought  about  the 
murder  of  the  Corinthian.  At  one  stage  no  less  a 
person  than  Lysandros  himself  came  as  Spartan  envoy 
to  S}'racuse,  and  the  alliance  between  the  two  oppres- 
sive powers  was  firmly  settled. 

Dionysios  went  on  strengthening  himself  with  more 
mercenaries  and  more  fortifications.  He  now  felt  strong 
enough  altogether  to  despise  the  treaty  with  Carthage, 
and  to  attack  whom  he  would.  And  he  used  bribes 
quite  as  freely  as  arms.  He  drove  away  the  refugee 
horsemen  from  ^tna,  and  then  raised  the  old  cry  of 
Dorian  against  Chalkidian.      Beginning  in  the  year 


CONQUESTS   OF  DIONYSIOS.  l6l 

B.C.  403,  he  attacked  several  cities,  Greek  and  Sikel, 
Leontinoi,  Henna,  Herbita,  but  he  did  little  more 
than  harry  their  lands.  Herbita  was  then  ruled  by  a 
remarkable  man,  a  second  Archonides.  He  founded 
a  new  city,  Halsesa,  on  the  same  north  coast  where 
the  other  Archonides  had  helped  Ducetius  to  found 
Kale  Aktc.  Sicily  was  then  enriched  by  a  new  city  ; 
but  meanwhile  it  lost  an  old  one,  and  another  was 
handed  over  to  barbarians.  One  does  not  see  that 
Dionysios  had  any  ground  of  offence  against  either 
Naxos  or  Katane,  except  that  they  were  Chalkidian. 
But  in  403  he  got  possession  of  both  by  treachery  ; 
and  sold  their  people  into  slavery.  Naxos,  oldest  of 
Greek  cities  in  Sicily,  he  utterly  destroyed  and  gave  its 
lands  to  the  neighbouring  Sikels.  The  altar  of  Apollon 
Archegctes  ceased  to  stand  on  Greek  soil.  Katane 
he  gave  as  a  dwelling-place  to  his  Italian  mercenaries. 
The  Leontines  thought  it  was  wise  to  surrender 
quietly,  and  they  fared  better.  Leontinoi  again  ceased 
to  be  a  separate  city,  and  became  once  more  a  mere 
Syracusan  outpost.  But  its  people  were  not  sold. 
They  were  taken  to  Syracuse  and  received  citizenship, 
such  citizenship  as  was  where  Dionysios  was  tyrant. 

Thus  was  Hellas  cut  short  in  a  way  which  had 
never  before  been  known  in  Sicily.  Greek  rulers 
had  destroyed  Greek  cities.  Barbarians  had  occupied 
Greek  cities.  But  no  Greek  as  yet  had  handed  over 
a  Greek  city  to  barbarians.  Dionysios  had  given 
over  Katane  to  Campanians  and  the  site  of  Naxos  to 
Sikels.  It  is  not  always  easy  to  understand  his 
motives,  the  more  so  as  he  was  all  this  time  making 
ready  for  an  enterprise  for  which  one  would   have 

12 


l62 


THE    TYRANNY   OF  DIONYSIOS. 


thought  that  he  would  have  been  glad  of  the  help  and 
good  will  of  all  the  Greeks  of  the  island.  He  had  not 
thought  of  keeping   the   treaty  with    Carthage   one 


SYRACUSE   UNDER    DIONYSIOS. 


moment  longer  than  he  was  obliged  ;  he  was  planning 
his  first  Punic  war.  But  a  Punic  war  was  sure  to  bring 
with  it  a  Carthaginian  attack  on  Syracuse  ;  his  first 
object    therefore  was  the  strengthening  of  the  city. 


FORTIFICATION   OF   EPIi'OLAI.  163 

He  had  learned,  both  in  the  Athenian  war  and  in  his 
later  war  with  the  revolted  Syracusans,  how  dangerous 
to  the  city  was  the  undefended  state  of  the  hill.  We 
know  not  whether  any  of  the  walls  and  forts  built 
during  the  Athenian  siege  were  still  standing  ;  but,  if 
any  were  left,  they  did  not  amount  to  a  complete  fortifi- 
cation of  the  hill.  This  great  work  Dionysios  now,  in 
the  year  402,  undertook,  and  he  carried  it  out  in  a 
wonderfully  short  time.  He  carried  on  the  north 
wall  of  Achradina  and  Tycha  as  far  as  the  neck  of 
Euryalos.  There  he  built  a  strong  castle,  and  carried 
the  wall  along  the  south  side,  seemingly  to  the  point 
called  PortcUa  del  Fusco.  There  the  wall  must  have 
comedown  the  hill  into  the  lower  ground,  and  it  must 
have  been  carried  down  to  the  shore  of  the  Great 
Harbour.  It  was  a  wonderful  work,  most  carefully 
done,  and  a  great  deal  of  it  is  left.  And  this,  unlike 
the  fortification  of  the  Island,  was  not  a  mere 
strengthening  of  his  own  power,  but  a  real  strengthen- 
ing of  the  city.  It  was  a  work  of  which  any  lawful 
king  or  magistrate  might  have  been  proud.  To  such 
an  end  the  people  worked  gladly  along  with  the 
tyrant,  and  the  work  did  something  to  make  his 
tyranny  less  hateful. 

Thus  Dionysios  made  Syracuse,  at  all  events  in 
extent,  the  greatest  city  of  Hellas  and  of  Europe.  He 
was  now  ready  to  wage  war  with  the  great  barbarian 
commonwealth.  We  know  not  whether  these  events 
have  anything  to  do  with  the  fact  that  about  this  time 
he  founded  a  new  city  at  the  foot  of  yEtna.  This 
was  close  by  the  temple  of  the  Sikel  fire-god 
Hadranus.  We  know  not  whom  he  planted  there,  but 


DIONVSIOS'    DOUBLE    MARRIAGE.  165 

the  town  took  the  name  of  the  god,  Iladraniim,  now 
Adcrno,  and  its  people  looked  on  themselves  as  his 
special  servants.  As  for  the  older  cities,  there  was  now, 
between  Dionysios  and  the  Carthaginians,  only  one 
free  Greek  commonwealth  left  in  Sicily,  namely 
Messana.  And  by  this  time  the  dread  of  Dionysios 
was  spreading  beyond  Sicily.  The  Chalkidian  town 
of  Rhcgion  began  a  war  with  Dionysios,  which  de- 
layed his  Punic  enterprise  somewhat.  But  as  Rhegion 
was  but  feebly  supported  by  Messana,  both  cities 
were  soon  glad  to  make  peace.  And  just  then  it  suited 
Dionysios  not  to  press  hardly  on  them.  To  strengthen 
his  interest  in  Italy,  he  thought  of  taking  a  wife  there. 
But  the  Rhegines,  whom  he  first  asked,  refused  him. 
Some  say  that  they  added  the  insult  that  he  might, 
if  he  pleased,  take  the  hangman's  daughter.  But  at 
Lokroi  they  gave  him  Doris,  the  daughter  of  one  of 
their  chief  men.  On  the  same  day  that  he  married 
Doris,  he  also  married  the  Syracusan  Aristomache, 
both  of  them  with  all  usual  forms.  For  a  man  to 
have  two  wives  at  once  was  utterly  against  all  Greek 
custom.  But  Dionysios  kept  them  both  ;  he  had 
children  by  both,  and  treated  them  with  equal  honour. 
All  this  time  he  was  making  ready  for  the  war  with 
Carthage.  He  hired  mercenaries  ;  he  built  ships  of 
greater  size  than  had  been  seen  before,  quinquercmes, 
with  five  banks  of  oars,  as  well  as  triremes  with  three. 
Pie  invented  the  catapult,  a  machine  for  hurling  great 
stones,  and  made  various  military  improvements. 
His  skill  was  shown  above  all  in  making  troops  of 
different  kinds  act  in  concert.  By  hiring  the  best 
soldiers  of  all   kinds  he  was   able   to   do   this   more 


1 66  THE    TYRANNY   OF  DIONYSIOS. 

thoroughly  than  generals  of  commonwealths  who  com- 
manded only  their  own  citizens.  When  all  was  ready, 
he  gathered  an  assembly,  and  set  forth  the  grounds  for 
a  war  with  Carthage.  He  would  begin  at  once  ;  for 
Carthage,  he  said,  was  just  now  weakened  by  a  plague. 
Every  one  agreed.  If  they  hated  the  tyrant,  they 
hated  the  Carthaginians  still  more  ;  and  they  thought 
that  in  war-time,  with  arms  in  their  hands,  they  might 
find  some  chance  of  getting  rid  of  him.  Then  he  went 
through  the  form  of  sending  an  embassy  to  Carthage 
to  declare  war  unless  they  agreed  to  set  free  all  the 
Greek  cities  in  Sicily.  But,  without  waiting  for  an 
answer,  he  gave  leave  to  the  Syracusans  to  plunder 
the  rich  houses  and  stores  of  the  Carthaginian  mer- 
chants who  were  living  at  Syracuse.  We  see  by  this, 
as  by  some  cases  of  intermarriage,  that  there  was  a 
good  deal  of  intercourse  between  the  Greek  and  the 
Phoenician  city  when  they  were  not  at  war.  And  in 
the  other  Greek  towns  which  were  under  Carthaginian 
dominion  or  supremacy,  the  people  rose  and  put  to 
death  all  the  Carthaginians  among  them  with  insult 
and  torture.  Though  a  tyrant  was  at  the  head,  it  was 
a  general  rising  of  the  Greeks  of  Sicily  against  bar- 
barian enemies  and  masters. 

And  now  the  first  Punic  war  of  Dionysios  began 
in  the  year  B.C.  397.  How  and  where  to  begin  he 
had  learned  from  his  old  captain  Hermokrates.  He 
carried  the  war  at  once  into  the  Phoenician  corner  of 
Sicily.  Never  had  any  such  force  gone  forth  from  any 
Greek  city.  When  the  lord  of  Syracuse  made  war, 
it  was  as  if  Athens  had  sent  forth  her  fleet,  and  the 
Peloponnesian  alliance  its  arm\',  on  the  same  errand. 


Ari'AKENT   ARCH    IN   THE   WALL   OF   ERYX. 


i68 


TUB    TYRANNY   OF  DIONYSIOS. 


With  80,000  foot  and  3,000  horse,  Dionysios  marched 
along  the  south  coast,  while  200  ships  sailed  along 
in  concert.  The  Greek  towns  on  the  road,  which  had 
just  risen  against  the  Punic  yoke,  added  such  forces 
as  they  could.  He  crossed  the  stream  of  Mazaros  ; 
then,  finding  that  the  Elymians  of  Eryx  were  ready 
to  revolt  against  their  Carthaginian  masters,  he 
marched  thither  and  received  them  as  allies.  Then 
he  began  the  great  undertaking  of  this  war,  the  siege 
of  Motya. 

Motya,  on  the  western  side  of  Sicily,  was,  like  his 
own  Ortygia  on  the  eastern  side,  an  island  joined  tc 


MOTYA.       C.    4CX). 

the  mainland  by  a  mole.  But  Motya,  unlike  Ortygia, 
was  surrounded  by  its  own  haven,  and  the  town  had 
not  spread  on  to  the  mainland.  There  was  but  little 
space  on  the  island  ;  so  the  houses  of  the  rich  men  of 
INIotya  were  of  many  stories,  rising  high  above  the 
wall.  The  citizens  were  stout-hearted,  and  there  was 
a  Carthaginian  garrison,  among  whom,  strange  to 
say,  there  were  some  mercenary  Greeks.  They  broke 
down  the  mole,  and  made  ready  for  the  defence. 

The  mole  that  was  thus  destroyed  was  merely  a  road. 
Dionysios  began  the  siege  by  making  it  afresh  and 
making  it  much  wader,  so  that  he  could  bring  up  his 
engines  on  it  to  play  on  the  walls  of  Motya.   Hebrought 


MAP   OF    MOTYA    AND    ERVX. 


I/O  THE    TYRANNY  OF  DIONYSIOS. 

his  ships  into  the  harbour.  There  was  then  a  long 
peninsula  to  the  north-west  of  Motya,  where  there 
now  are  a  number  of  islands  ;  the  ships  were  placed 
north  of  Motya  by  the  isthmus.  Meanwhile  Dionysios 
went  and  made  alliances  with  the  neighbouring 
Sikans,  and  laid  siege  to  Entella  and  Segcsta  which 
held  out  for  the  Carthaginians.  The  two  Elymian 
towns,  Eryx  and  Segesta,  were  thus  on  different 
sides.  When  the  mole  was  finished,  he  went  back 
to  Motya.  Meanwhile  Himilkon  tried  to  call  off 
Dionysios  from  Motya  by  sending  ten  ships  to  make 
a  dash  on  the  Great  Harbour  of  Syracuse.  So  they 
did,  and  destroyed  such  ships  as  they  found  in  it  ;  but 
nothing  more  came  of  the  diversion.  Then  Himilkon 
made  another  sudden  dash  on  the  Greek  ships  in  the 
haven  of  Motya.  They  were  drawn  up  on  land  :  but 
the  engineers  of  Dionysios  contrived  to  drag  them 
across  the  isthmus.  Then  they  were  in  the  open  sea, 
and  sailed  round  to  the  north  of  the  haven.  But 
Himilkon  did  not  care  to  attack  a  force  that  was 
stronger  than  his  own,  and  Motya  was  left  to  its  fate. 
And  now  began  the  real  fighting  for  Motya.  It 
w^as  like  the  Punic  sieges  of  Selinous  and  Himera 
turned  the  other  way.  The  distinctive  thing  at 
Motya  was  the  tall  houses.  The  engines  of  Dionysios 
were  made  of  vast  height  to  reach  them.  Bridges 
w^ere  thrown  across,  and  men  fought  high  in  the  air, 
many  falling  down  from  the  height.  This  went  on 
for  some  days.  Every  evening  Dionysios  called  off 
his  men,  and  the  defenders  took  rest.  This  suggested 
a  night  attack  ;  by  that  means  the  Greeks  entered, 
and    the    city  was  taken.     The  Motyans  fought  on 


SIEGE   OF  MOTYA.  I7I 

with  true  Semitic  stubbornness  ;  but  the  city  was  in 
the  hands  of  the  besiegers.  Dionysios  stopped  the 
slaughter  as  soon  as  he  could,  that  the  people  might 
be  sold  as  slaves.  To  the  Greek  traitors  who  had 
taken  service  with  the  barbarians  he  was  harsher. 
They  were  crucified,  a  piece  of  cruelty  which  the 
Greeks  now  began  to  learn  from  the  Carthaginians. 
The  rich  spoil  of  the  merchant  city  was  given  to  the 
soldiers. 

This  was  the  greatest  success  that  any  Greek  had 
ever  won  in  Phcenician  warfare.  Yet  in  Sicily  itself 
less  came  of  the  taking  of  Motya  than  might  have 
been  looked  for.  It  may  be  that  Dion)sios  found 
that  such  distant  conquests  could  not  really  be  kept. 
He  left  a  garrison,  chiefly  of  Sikels,  in  Motya  ;  he 
left  his  brother  Leptines  with  the  fleet  to  watch  the 
coast,  and  he  also  left  forces  to  go  on  with  the  sieges 
of  Segesta  and  Entella.  He  himself  went  back  to 
Syracuse  for  the  winter.  The  next  year  (396) 
Carthage  began  to  put  forth  her  full  strength  for  the 
war.  Himilkon,  now  Shophet,  came  with  a  vast 
army  and  won  back  all  that  Dionysios  had  gained. 
Leptines  could  not  hinder  the  Punic  fleet  from  reach- 
ing Panormos.  Eryx  was  taken  by  treachery  ;  the 
siege  of  Segesta  was  raised  ;  above  all,  Motya  was 
won  back  by  storm.  Unluckily  we  have  no  details. 
And  now  Himilkon  determined  to  choose  another 
point  for  the  chief  seat  of  Phoenician  power  in  Western 
Sicily.  He  forsook  Motya,  and  founded  another 
town  on  the  point  of  Lilybaion,  where  we  wonder 
that  no  town  had  been  founded  before.  Lilybaion 
became  a  wonderfully  strong   fortress,  of  which  the 


FOUNDATION   OF  LILYBAION.  173 

ditches  and  parts  of  the  walls  arc  still  to  be  seen. 
Under  the  Arabic  name  of  Marsala,  it  is  the  chief 
seat  of  the  Sicilian  wine-trade. 

Having  thus  provided  for  the  defence  of  the 
Carthaginian  dominion,  Himilkon  determined  to 
attack  the  Greeks  of  Eastern  Sicily.  He  took  his 
fleet  and  army  along  the  north  coast  to  attack 
Messana.  He  did  not  even  stay  to  chastise  the  men 
of  Therma,  but  he  sailed  to  Lipara  and  made  the 
islanders  pay  thirty  talents.  Then  he  attacked  Messana, 
The  walls  had  been  neglected,  and  the  horsemen  of 
the  city  were  with  Dionysios.  So  Messana  fell  into 
the  hands  of  the  Carthaginians  ;  but  most  of  the 
people  escaped.  Himilkon's  object  now  was  to 
march  against  Syracuse,  but,  before  that,  he  went 
through  a  solemn  ceremony  of  destruction,  which, 
though  wrought  only  against  stones  and  not  against 
men,  reminds  one  of  Hannibal's  sacrifice  at  Himera. 
He  destroyed  the  town  of  Messana  in  a  solemn  and 
symbolic  way,  to  mark  his  hatred  of  the  Greeks.  But 
he  could  build  up  as  well  as  pull  down,  and,  on  his 
road,  he  struck  a  blow  at  Dionysios  in  this  way  also. 
This  leads  us  to  the  foundation  of  another  Sicilian 
town  which  came  to  be  famous.  The  Sikels  were 
now  falling  away  from  Dionysios,  and  Himilkon 
wished  specially  to  win  over  those  Sikels  to  whom 
Dionysios  had  given  the  lands  of  Naxos.  They  were 
beginning  to  settle  as  a  community  on  the  neighbour- 
ing hill-side  of  Tauros.  He  gave  them  all  help,  and 
the  new  town  of  Tauromenion,  in  its  origin  a  Sikcl 
town,  arose.  Meanwhile  Dionysios  was  building- 
ships,    strengthening    fortresses,    hiring    mercenaries, 


SEA-FIGHT   OFF  KATANE.  175 

doing  everything  for  the  defence  of  Syracuse. 
Among  other  things  he  persuaded  the  Campanians 
to  whom  he  had  granted  Katane  to  go  inland  and 
settle  at  yEtna.  Of  the  state  of  Katane  itself  at  this 
moment  we  hear  nothing ;  but  was  in  some  way 
under  the  power  of  Dionysios. 

The  great  object  on  each  side  was  of  course  to  attack 
and  to  defend  Syracuse.  On  the  road  thither  it  was  a  . 
great  object  with  Dionysios  to  attack  the  new  settle- 
ment at  Tauromenion,  and  with  Himilkon  to  defend 
it.  It  was  made  the  meeting-place  of  the  Carthaginian 
fleet  and  army.  They  were  to  go  on  in  concert  ;  but 
the  land  army  was  stopped  in  its  march  by  a  fresh 
outpouring  of  lava  from^tna,  and  they  had  to  march 
all  round  the  foot  of  the  mountain  to  reach  Katane. 
Dionysios  thus  gained  the  start  of  them.  He  reached 
Katane  with  his  fleet  and  army,  and  brought  on  a 
fight  between  the  two  fleets  while  the  land  army  of 
Carthage  was  still  on  its  roundabout  road.  The  fight 
was  an  utter  defeat  on  the  Greek  side.  Dionysios 
bade  his  brother  Leptines,  who  commanded  the  fleet, 
to  keep  all  his  ships  together,  because  of  the  greater 
numbers  of  the  enemy.  Instead  of  doing  this,  he 
dashed  on  with  thirty  of  his  best  ships  far  ahead  of 
the  rest.  So,  after  much  hard  fighting,  first  his  own 
division,  and  then  the  rest  of  the  fleet,  were  over- 
powered by  the  Carthaginians.  More  than  a  hundred 
ships  and  2,000  men  were  lost. 

It  was  now  clear  that  the  Carthaginian  force  by 
land  and  sea  would  go  against  Syracuse  as  soon  as 
Himilkon  brought  up  his  land  force.  The  Greek 
army  generally  was  anxious  to  risk  a  battle  by  land. 


176  THE    TYRANNY   OF  DIONYSIOS. 

But  to  Dionysios  the  safety  of  Syracuse  was  the  first 
of  objects.  He  therefore  hastened  back  ;  but  many 
of  those  who  were  Sikeh'ots,  but  not  Syracusans,  for- 
sook him.  He  accordingly  marched  to  Syracuse, 
and  two  days  later  Himilkon  reached  Katane  by  his 
roundabout  march.  He  did  not  hurry ;  he  gave  his 
men  of  both  forces  a  rest.  He  then  tried  in  vain  to 
win  over  the  Campanians  at  ^tna,  and  then  went  on 
to  Syracuse.  Two  thousand  vessels  of  all  kinds,  208  of 
them  ships  of  war,  sailed  into  the  Great  Harbour  with 
all  military  pomp,  like  the  fleet  of  Demosthenes  and 
Eurymedon  twenty  years  before.  The  Carthaginian 
land-army  marched  round  by  the  westward  of  the  hill 
of  Syracuse  and  entered  the  low  ground  by  the  Anapos. 
There,  on  Polichna  and  the  flats  near  to  it,  the  great 
camp  was  pitched.  The  worshipper  of  Melkart  was 
not  like  the  pious  Nikias  ;  Himilkon  made  his  head- 
quarters in  the  sacred  precinct  of  Zeus.  Syracuse 
was  thus  again  besieged,  and  by  a  far  more  terrible 
foe  than  her  Athenian  besiegers. 

From  the  moment  of  his  return  to  Syracuse 
Dionysios  had  begun  to  take  every  means  for  the 
defence.  He  sent  off  embassies  to  Sparta  and  also  to 
Corinth — the  war  between  the  two  cities  had  not  yet 
broken  out — at  once  to  ask  for  help  from  his  allies 
and  to  hire  mercenaries  in  Peloponnesos.  Mean- 
while Himilkon  began  with  an  offer  of  battle  which 
was  declined.  He  then  took  to  harrying  the  land 
and  destroying  its  monuments.  He  came  close  up 
to  the  enlarged  town,  and  plundered  the  temple  of 
the  goddesses  of  Sicily,  Demeter  and  Persephone. 
From   that    time,    so    the   Greeks   believed,    success 


CARTHAGINIAN   SIEGE   OF  SYRACUSE.  177 

began  to  forsake  him.  His  army  was  full  of  super- 
stitious fears,  and  the  Syracusans  had  the  better  in 
several  sallies.  He  presently  saw  that  the  siege 
would  be  a  long  one  ;  so  he  fenced  his  camp  in  with 
a  wall,  and  built  three  forts  on  different  points,  one 
on  Plemmyrion.  But  he  sinned  yet  more  in  the  eyes 
of  the  Syracusans  by  destroying  the  tombs  of  Gclon 
and  Damarata,  which  came  within  the  circuit  of  his 
camp. 

Meanwhile  Polyxenos  came  back  with  thirty  ships 
from  the  allies  in  Old  Greece  and  Italy  under  the 
command  of  the  Spartan  admiral  Pharakidas,  A 
strange  episode  followed.  Dionysios  and  Leptines 
sailed  out  with  some  ships  of  war  to  convoy  the 
provision  ships  of  Syracuse.  In  their  absence,  the 
Syracusan  ships,  under  whose  command  we  are  not 
told,  defeated  a  part  of  the  Carthaginian  fleet,  and 
the  rest  refused  their  challenge  to  come  out  and 
fight.  Men's  spirits  were  raised  by  this  success  ; 
they  began  to  think  of  getting  rid  of  the  tyrant  ;  they 
did  better  against  the  enemy  when  he  was  away.  In 
the  midst  of  all  this  Dionysios  came  back,  and  he 
ventured  to  summon  the  people  to  a  public  assembly. 
This  is  one  of  many  signs  that,  under  his  tyranny, 
though  all  things  were  done  according  to  his  will, 
yet  the  usual  forms  of  the  constitution  went  on. 
Dionysios  praised  the  people  for  their  exploit  ; 
he  bade  them  be  of  good  courage,  and  he  would 
soon  put  an  end  to  the  war.  Then,  it  is  said,  a 
speaker  named  Theodoros,  a  horseman  and  a  man  of 
renown  in  the  city,  ventured  to  make  a  long  speech, 
denouncing  all   the  acts  of  Dionysios.     The  people 

13 


178  THE    TYRANNY   OF  DIONYSIOS. 

hoped  that  their  alHes  would  help  them.  They 
looked  specially  to  Pharakidas,  but  he  answered  that 
he  had  no  orders  from  Sparta  to  overthrow  the  power 
of  Dionysios,  but  to  help  the  Syracusans  and  Diony- 
sios  against  the  Carthaginians.  The  people  were  so 
wroth  at  this  that  Dionysios  called  for  his  mercenaries 
and  dismissed  the  assembly. 

This  is  a  good  example  of  the  state  of  a  city  under 
a  tyranny.  If  the  legal  course  of  things  was  likely  to 
go  against  him,  the  tyrant  could  at  once  appeal  to 
force.  But  Dionysios  learned  a  lesson  ;  he  began  to 
treat  the  Syracusans  more  mildly,  and  he  presently 
had  an  opportunity  of  winning  a  worthier  fame  than 
he  had  ever  yet  won.  The  vengeance  of  the  goddesses 
— so  the  Greeks  deemed — now  fell  on  the  barbarians 
for  the  plunder  of  their  temple.  That  is  to  say,  a 
plague  arose  in  the  besieging  arm}'.  It  was  autumn, 
and  in  autumn  the  swampy  ground  west  of  the 
harbour,  where  many  of  them  were  encamped,  became 
deadl}'.  Thousands  died  ;  at  last  the  dead  were  left 
unburied.  When  the  Punic  army  was  seriously 
weakened,  Dionysios  laid  his  plans  for  a  general 
attack  by  land  and  sea.  He  was  zealously  supported 
by  his  forces  of  all  kinds,  Syracusans  and  allies.  But 
he  had  a  band  of  turbulent  mercenaries  whom  he 
wished  to  get  rid  of,  and  those  he  contrived  to  get  slain 
by  the  swords  of  the  Carthaginians.  Otherwise  the 
work  of  that  day  makes  a  thrilling  and  a  glorious 
tale.  The  Punic  camp  was  attacked  on  all  sides  by 
land  and  sea  ;  Dionysios  himself  made  a  long  march 
to  make  the  attack  from  the  west.  The  forts 
were  taken  ;  but  the  most  stirring  part  of  the  story  is 


DEFEAT   OF   THE    CARTHAGINIANS.  179 

where  the  Syraciisan  ships  suddenly  attacked  the 
Carthaginians,  who  had  no  time  to  make  ready. 
IVIany  of  their  ships  were  sunk,  many  were  set  on 
fire  ;  the  old  and  young  who  had  stayed  in  the  city 
manned  what  ships  they  could,  and  came  at  least  to 
share  in  the  plunder.  A  great  day's  work  was  done  ; 
but  the  camp  was  not  taken,  and  Dionysios  took  up 
his  quarters  for  the  night  hard  by  the  Olympieion  in 
order  to  besiege  it  the  next  day. 

Himilkon  perhaps  knew  that  Dionysios  had  reasons 
of  his  own  for  not  punishing  the  enemy  to  extremities. 
After  some  negotiations  he  and  Dionysios  secretly 
agreed  that,  on  the  payment  of  300  talents,  Himilkon 
should  go  away  with  all  the  Carthaginian  citizens  in 
his  army;  the  allies  and  mercenaries  he  was  to  leave 
to  their  fate.  This  suited  the  purposes  of  Dionysios, 
as  it  would  hold  up  the  Carthaginians  to  hatred 
throughout  Sicily  as  men  who  betrayed  their  allies. 
The  terms  were  agreed  to.  The  money  was  paid, 
and  the  Carthaginians  set  sail  in  the  night.  The 
Corinthians,  who  knew  nothing  of  the  agreement, 
sailed  after  them  and  destroyed  some  ships.  Then 
Dionysios  led  his  army  to  attack  the  Punic  camp. 
The  Sikel  allies  of  Carthage,  knowing  the  country, 
had  gone  away  in  the  night.  The  mercenaries  were 
there  still,  but  they  were  disheartened  by  the  treachery 
of  Himilkon,  and  worn  out  by  sojourn  in  the  unhealthy 
ground  crowded  with  dead  bodies.  The  more  part 
threw  down  their  arms  and  only  asked  for  their  lives. 
They  were  taken  and  sold  as  slaves.  The  brave 
Spaniards  stood  to  their  arms,  but  offered  peace  and 
alliance  to  the  tyrant.      Dion)'sios  knew  their  worth  ; 


l8o  THE    TYRANNY  OF  DIONYSIOS. 

he  took  them  into  his  service,  and  they  helped  him 
well  on  many  later  days. 

No  treaty  followed  the  withdrawal  of  Himilkon 
from  the  siege  of  Syracuse.  Things  stayed  for  several 
years  as  they  practically  were.  Dionysios  made  no 
attempt  on  the  Carthaginian  possessions  in  Western 
Sicily.  On  the  other  hand,  the  Greek  cities  were  at 
least  delivered  from  Phoenician  rule,  though  they  had 
to  accept  the  dominion  or  supremacy  of  the  Syracusan 
tyrant  instead.  It  seems  strange  that  Dionysios  did 
not  press  his  advantage  further.  Carthage  was 
grievously  weakened  by  the  war,  by  the  plague,  and 
by  a  revolt  of  the  mercenaries  in  Africa.  The  Cartha- 
ginians thought  that  all  this  was  the  punishment  for 
the  sacrilege  done  against  the  Sicilian  goddesses.  So 
they  built  them  a  temple  at  Carthage,  and  learned  of 
the  Greeks  who  were  among  them  what  was  the  right 
way  of  worshipping  them.  Their  consciences  being 
thus  satisfied,  they  plucked  up  heart,  and  were  able 
to  put  down  the  revolt.  It  almost  looks  as  if 
Dionysios,  for  his  own  ends,  did  not  wish  to  press 
Carthage  too  hard. 

The  successful  result  of  Dionysios'  first  Punic  war 
seems  to  have  largely  spread  his  fame  in  Old  Greece. 
A  little  later  than  the  deliverance  of  Syracuse,  the 
Athenians,  now  at  war  with  Sparta  and  in  alliance 
with  Corinth,  sought  to  win  Dionysios  to  their  side. 
It  was  soon  after  their  great  naval  victory  at  Knidos 
(B.C.  394),  and  they  were  pressing  their  schemes  in  all 
quarters.  They  passed  (B.C.  393)  a  decree  in  honour 
of  Dionysios,  of  his  brother  Leptines,  and  others  of 
his  friends.     It  was  hard  to  find  a  way  to  describe 


SETTLEMENTS   OF  DIONYSIOS.  l8l 

him  ;  he  appears  in  the  decree  as  "ruler  of  Sicily" 
(St/ceX/a?  apx^iv).  An  embassy  was  sent  with  the 
decree,  one  of  whose  members  was  the  orator  Lysias, 
a  man  of  Syracusan  descent.  But  Dionysios  did  not 
become  an  ally  of  Athens  till  he  could  be  an  ally  of 
both  Sparta  and  Athens  at  once. 

Meanwhile  Dionysios  had  much  work  to  do  in 
Sicily,  and  he  had  many  difficulties.  He  too,  like  the 
Carthaginians,  had  to  deal  with  a  revolt  among  his 
mercenaries,  and  he  had  to  give  up  to  them  the  town 
of  Leontinoi.  And  the  people  of  Naxos  and  Katane, 
driven  out  by  himself,  and  the  people  of  Messana, 
driven  out  by  Himilkon,  were  wandering  about,  seek- 
ing for  dwelling-places.  He  restored  Messana,  but  he 
did  not  give  it  back  to  its  old  inhabitants.  He  peopled 
it  with  colonists  from  Italy  and  from  Old  Greece. 
Some  came  from  Lokroi,  whence  he  had  taken  his 
Italiot  wife.  For  her  sake  he  always  .showed  every 
favour  to  that  city,  while  he  in  every  way  persecuted 
the  Rhegines  who  had  so  deeply  scorned  him.  He 
also  planted  a  body  of  settlers  from  the  old  Messenian 
land  in  Peloponnesos.  But  this  gave  offence  to  their 
enemies  the  Spartans,  his  most  powerful  allies,  and 
this  led  to  the  foundation  of  a  new  Greek  city,  nearly 
the  last  that  was  founded  in  Sicily. 

On  the  north  coast,  it  will  be  remembered,  there 
was  only  one  of  the  old  Greek  settlements,  that  of 
Himera.  That  was  now  in  a  manner  represented  by 
the  new  town  of  Therma,  which  often  took  its  name. 
Dionysios  now  took  part  of  the  territory  of  the  Sikel 
town  of  Abacrenum,  between  Cephalccdium  and  the 
Messanian  outpost  of  Mylai.     He  there  built  a  town 


l82  THE    TYRANNY   OF   DIONYSIOS. 

on  a  high  hill  overhanging  the  sea,  which  forms  the 
other  horn  of  a  bay  between  itself  and  Mylai.  Here 
he  planted  600  settlers  from  the  old  Messenia,  and 
called  the  town  Tyndaris,  after  the  Great  Twin 
Brethren  of  Peloponnesos.  The  new  city  grew  and 
flourished,  and  soon  had  6,000  citizens.  This  kindled 
the  wrath  of  Dionysios'  enemies  at  Rhegion.  They 
seized  on  the  opposite  peninsula  of  Mylai,  and  there 
planted  a  body  of  those  men  of  Naxos  and  Katane 
whom  Dionysios  had  driven  from  their  homes.  They 
tried  to  take  Messana  itself,  but  in  vain.  And  it 
is  to  be  noticed  that  their  general  was  Heloris,  a 
Syracusan  exile.  Was  he  the  same  as  Heloris  whom 
we  have  heard  of  as  Dionysios'  counsellor  and  adopted 
father  ?  The  new  Messanians  won  back  Mylai,  and 
the  Naxians  and  Katanaians  were  again  wanderers. 
Thus  the  north-eastern  corner  of  Sicily  was  held  by 
men  who  were  really  attached  to  Dionysios.  And  he 
went  on  further  to  extend  his  power  along  the  north 
coast.  Sikel  Cephaloedium  was  betrayed  to  him,  and 
even,  it  is  said,  Phoenician  Solous.  The  new  Himera 
would  naturally  be  friendly  to  him. 

Dionysios  had  thus  become  a  great  power  in 
Northern  Sicily,  and  he  was  advancing  in  the  central 
lands  also.  Henna  itself  was  betrayed  to  him.  The 
Sikel  towns  were  now  fast  taking  to  Greek  ways,  and 
we  hear  of  commonwealths  and  tyrants  among  them, 
just  as  among  the  Greeks.  Agyris,  lord  of  Agyrium, 
was  said  to  be  the  most  powerful  prince  in  Sicily  after 
Dionysios  himself.  He  had  gained  dominion  by 
slaying  the  chief  men  ;  but  Agyrium  was  very  power- 
ful under  him  and    numbered    20,000  citizens.     With 


HIS   DEFEAT  AT    TAUROMENION.  183 

him  Dionysios  made  a  treaty,  and  also  witli  other 
Sikel  lords  and  cities.  This  seems  to  have  been  going 
on  at  the  same  time  as  the  war  at  Messana,  and 
Dionysios  was  specially  anxious  to  chastise  the 
Rhegines.  But  there  were  several  difficulties  in  his 
way,  specially  the  new  Sikel  town  of  Tauromcnion, 
which  he  hated  above  all  things.  It  was  now  (B.C.  394) 
winter,  and  the  hill  of  Tauros  was  covered  with  snow. 
Greek  citizen-soldiers  were  not  fond  of  winter  warfare  ; 
but  the  mercenaries,  if  well  paid,  would  doubtless  go 
anywhither  at  any  time.  Dionysios  accordingly  led 
his  force  in  person  to  attack  the  new  city.  He  seized, 
we  are  told,  one  akropolis,  that  is  most  likely  the  hill 
where  the  theatre  is.  He  thence  got  into  the  town  ; 
but  the  people  rose,  and  not  only  drove  out  the 
assailants,  but  sent  them  tumbling  down  the  hill-side. 
Dionysios  himself  escaped,  but  he  was  very  nearly 
taken  alive. 

This  discomfiture  at  Tauromenion  checked  the  plans 
of  Dionysios  for  a  while.  Several  towns  threw  off 
his  dominion.  We  hear  specially  of  Akragas,  now 
free  from  the  Carthaginians,  and  doubtless  wishing  to 
be  free  from  Dionysios  also.  And  the  Carthaginians 
also  began  to  stir  again.  In  B.C.  393  their  general 
Magon,  seemingly  without  any  fresh  troops  from 
Africa,  set  out  from  Western  Sicily  to  attack  Messana. 
Unlike  the  Punic  commanders  gcneralh',  Magon  tried 
to  win  friends  in  Sicily  b}'  good  treatment.  Most  of  the 
Sikels  therefore  joined  him,  specially  those  of  Abacas- 
num,  at  whose  cost  Dionysios  had  founded  his  town 
of  Tyndaris.  But  Dionysios  marched  against  him, 
defeated  him  in  a  battle,  and    himself  crossed    the 


184  THE    TYRANNY  OF   DIONYSIOS. 

Strait  to  make  an  unsuccessful  attempt  on  Rhegion. 
Next  year  a  large  force  came  from  Carthage  to  support 
Magon  ;  many  of  the  Sikels  again  joined  him.  His 
expedition  was  mainly  aimed  at  Agyrium  ;  but  its 
tyrant  Agyris  was  firm  on  the  side  of  Dionysios.  The 
story  is  not  at  all  clearly  told  ;  but  a  peace  between 
Dionysios  and  the  Carthaginians  followed,  by  which 
the  Sikels  were  handed  over  to  him,  and  he  was 
specially  allowed  to  attack  Tauromenion.  He  took  it 
the  next  year  (391) ;  but  we  have  no  such  account  of 
its  taking  as  we  had  of  his  vain  attempt  to  take  it. 

Dionysios  was  now  at  the  height  of  his  power  in 
Sicily.  We  hear  nothing  more  of  the  movement  at 
Akragas  ;  otherwise  all  the  Greek  cities  were  under 
his  dominion  or  supremacy.  He  commanded  the 
whole  east  coast,  and  the  greater  part  of  the  north 
and  south  coasts.  The  Sikel  stronghold  of  Tauro- 
menion he  settled  with  his  own  mercenaries  ;  the 
other  Sikels  were  either  his  subjects  or,  like  Agyrium, 
his  allies.  In  short  Dionysios  and  Carthage  might  be 
said  to  divide  Sicily  between  them,  and  Dionysios 
had  the  larger  share.  There  was  now  peace  between 
the  two  powers  for  about  nine  years  (392-383).  and 
Dionysios  now  began  to  give  his  chief  thoughts  to 
things  out  of  Sicily.  In  Southern  Italy  the  Rhegines 
were  his  enemies  and  the  Lokrians  his  friends.  The 
other  Italiot  cities  had  formed  a  league  to  withstand 
his  power.  He  now,  in  B.C.  390,  planned  another 
campaign  in  Italy  ;  its  object  was,  if  possible,  to 
attack  and  take  Rhegion  without  any  direct  hostilities 
against  the  other  cities.  But  his  new  attack  on 
Rhegion   was    beaten    back    by  the    prompt   help  of 


WARS   IN   ITALY.  1 85 

tlic  League,  favoured  by  a  storm  which  drove  off  the 
Syracusan  ships.  Dionysios  could  do  nothing  till  the 
next  year  (389),  when  he  was  not  ashamed  to  make  a 
treaty  with  the  Lucanians,  the  barbarian  enemies  who 
were  pressing  on  the  Greek  cities  of  Italy.  They 
were  to  attack  them  by  land  and  himself  by  sea. 
The  war  began  by  incursions  of  the  Lucanians  on  the 
lands  of  Thourioi,  which  led  the  Thourians,  without 
waiting  for  their  allies,  to  invade  the  Lucanian  terri- 
tory, where  they  were  entrapped  and  utterly  defeated. 
The  battle  was  fought  near  the  shore,  where  the  ships  of 
Dionysios  were  afloat  under  his  brother  and  admiral 
Leptines.  Some  of  the  Thourians  swam  to  the  ships 
and  were  kindly  received  by  Leptines.  But  when 
Leptines  went  on  further  to  make  an  agreement 
between  the  Lucanians  and  the  Italiots,  by  which  the 
war  was  stopped  for  a  season,  that  did  not  at  all  suit 
the  purposes  of  Dionysios.  He  removed  Leptines 
from  his  command  as  admiral,  and  gave  it  to  his 
other  brother  Thearidas.  And  he  determined  to 
make  war  in  person  the  next  year. 

So  he  did  (B.C.  389);  and  he  began  by  attacking  the 
Italiot  cities  more  directly  by  laying  siege  to  Kaulonia, 
The  Italiots  now,  Kroton  leading  the  way,  gathered 
a  large  army  for  the  relief  of  Kaulonia,  under  the 
command  of  the  Syracusan  exile  Heloris,  as  a  special 
enemy  of  Dionysios.  But  the  tyrant  met  them  on 
the  way  ;  Heloris  was  slain  and  his  army  defeated. 
The  remnant  escaped  to  a  strong  but  waterless  hill, 
where  Dionysios  and  his  army  watched  them  from 
below.  The  next  day  they  sent  a  herald  asking  to 
be  allowed  to  go  away  on  pa}'mcnt  of  ransom  ;  but 


1 86  THE    TYRANNY   OF  DIONYSIOS. 

Dionysios  demanded  that  they  should  surrender  at 
discretion.  To  this  they  could  not  yet  bring  them- 
selves ;  but  after  several  hours  more  of  endurance, 
they  gave  way.  Dionysios  stood  with  a  rod,  and 
reckoned  them  as  they  came  down,  above  10,000  in 
number.  They  were  in  great  fear,  looking  for  death 
or  slavery.  But  Dionysios  let  them  all  go  free.  We 
are  also  told  that  he  made  treaties  with  their  several 
cities  by  which  he  left  them  independent.  We  are 
not  told  what  cities  they  were,  but  Kroton  and 
Thourioi  must  have  been  among  them,  as  we  do  not 
find  him  warring  against  either  of  them  for  some 
time  to  come.  But  he  certainly  made  no  peace 
with  Rhegion  or  with  Kaulonia. 

Dionysios  naturally  won  much  credit  by  his  treat- 
ment of  the  Italiot  soldiers.  But  it  was  quite  of 
a  piece  with  his  general  conduct.  Dionysios,  though 
he  stuck  at  no  crime  that  served  his  purpose,  had  not, 
like  some  tyrants,  any  pleasure  in  bloodshed  for  its 
own  sake.  He  hated  the  Rhegines  ;  he  doubtless 
hated  the  Syracusan  exile  Heloris.  But  Heloris  was 
dead,  and  he  had  no  particular  reason  to  hate  the 
men  of  Kroton  and  Thourioi.  He  saw  that  he  v^-ould 
gain  more  by  winning  a  reputation  for  generous  con- 
duct than  he  could  gain  by  selling  his  prisoners  as 
slaves.  There  was  no  wonderful  virtue  in  the  act ; 
but  it  shows  that  Dionysios  did  not  belong  to  the 
very  worst  class  of  oppressors,  those  who  delight 
in  wrong  simply  as  wrong. 

The  Rhegines  at  all  events  were  none  the  less 
afraid  of  the  hatred  of  Dion}\sios.  Finding  them- 
selves without  allies,  they  sent  him  a  humble  message, 


DESTRUCTION   OF   TOWNS   IN   ITALY.  1 87 

praying  for  mercy.  The  siege  of  Kaulonia  was  still 
going  on,  and  he  could  put  off  his  action  against 
Rhcgion.  He  spared  them  for  the  present,  on  con- 
dition of  their  giving  up  all  their  ships,  seventy  in 
number,  and  putting  100  hostages  into  his  hands. 
Then  he  went  on  to  finish  the  siege  of  Kaulonia. 
Here  again  his  different  ways  of  treating  different 
people  comes  out  strongly.  He  had  no  special  spite 
against  Kaulonia  ;  it  simply  stood  in  the  way  of  his 
plans.  So,  when  he  took  the  town,  he  destroyed 
it,  and  gave  its  territory  to  his  beloved  Lokrians. 
The  citizens  he  carried  to  Syracuse,  and  not  only 
gave  them  citizenship,  but  an  exemption  from  taxes 
for  five  years.  The  next  year,  he  did  the  like 
to  the  town  of  Hipponion,  its  land  and  people. 
Only  we  do  not  hear  of  the  exemption  from  taxes. 
The  men  of  Hipponion  had  not  endured  so  long  a 
siege  as  the  men  of  Kaulonia. 

But  all  this  was  simply  the  beginning  of  what 
Dionysios  had  most  of  all  at  heart,  his  attack  on 
Rhegion.  But,  as  he  had  so  lately  made  a  treaty 
with  Rhegion,  he  had  to  find  some  excuse  for  renew- 
ing the  war.  He  still  had  the  hostages  whom  the 
Rhegines  had  given  ;  so  they  were  greatly  in  his 
power.  He  first  asked  them  for  provisions  for  his 
arm)',  promising  to  send  back  an  equal  store  from 
Syracuse,  whither  he  professed  to  be  going.  He 
seemingly  hoped  that  they  would  refuse,  so  that  he 
might  treat  the  refusal  as  a  hostile  act.  They 
did  give  him  provisions  for  some  days  ;  but,  as 
Dionysios,  pleading  sickness  and  other  excuses, 
stayed     in    their    neighbourhood     instead    of    going 


l88  THE    TYRANNY   OF  DIONYSTOS. 

to    Syracuse,    they   presently    stopped    the    supply. 
This    he    affected    to   treat   as   a   wrong    done    by 
the  Rhegines  ;   to  put   himself  wholly  in   the  right, 
he  first  gave  back  the  hostages,  and  then  besieged 
the  town.      The  siege  of   Rhegion  was  one  of  the 
greatest  of  Dionysios'  acts  of  warfare.     He  had   to 
use    all    his  forces ;    for    the    Rhegines,    under   their 
general  Phyton,  made  a  most  valiant  defence,  holding 
out  against  all    attacks  under  every  possible  disad- 
vantage for  more  than  ten   months.      They  had  no 
ships,  no  allies,  and  their  stock  of  provisions  had  been 
lessened  by  what  they  had   given   Dionysios.      The 
tyrant  tried  to  bribe  Phyton  to  betray  the  city,  as  the 
generals  of  several  other  cities  had  done.     But  the 
general  of  Rhegion  stayed  firm  in  his  duty.     Diony- 
sios, on  his  part,  took  his  full  share  in  the  work,  and 
was  once  so  badly  wounded  by  a  spear  that  his  life 
was  for  a  while  despaired  of.     At  last,  under  sheer 
stress  of  hunger,  when  many  had  died    for   lack    of 
food  and   the  rest  had  lost  all  strength,  the   valiant 
men  of  Rhegion    were  driven  to   surrender   at   dis- 
cretion.    Dionysios    had    gained    one   of    the    great 
objects  of  his  life  ;  he  was  master  of  the  city  which 
he  most   hated.     And    now   he    showed    in    a    more 
notable  way  than  ever  what  manner  of  man  he  was. 
In  one  way  he  was  really  less  harsh  than  many  other 
conquerors  had  been.     It  was  not  very  wonderful  in 
Greek  warfare  to  slaughter  all  the  men  and  sell  all 
the  women  and  children  of  a  captured  town.     Diony- 
sios   made    no   general    massacre.     He  sent   all   the 
people  of   Rhegion  to    Syracuse,    not   indeed  to   be 
made  citizens    like  those  of  Kaulonia.      Those    who 


TAKING    OF  RHEGION.  189 

could  pay  a  certain  ransom  were  let  go  ;  those  who 
could  not  were  sold.  But  it  was  not  usual  in 
Greek  warfare  to  put  any  man  to  death  with  torture 
and  mockery.  But  now  Dionysios  seemed  to  gather 
his  whole  hatred  of  the  Rhegines  into  the  person 
of  their  brave  general  who  had  refused  his  bribes. 
He  exposed  Phyton  in  mockery  on  one  of  his  loftiest 
war-engines  ;  then  he  told  him  that  he  had  just 
drowned  his  son.  And  Phyton  answered  that  his 
son  was  luckier  than  his  father  by  one  day.  Then 
he  caused  Phyton  to  be  led  through  the  whole  army 
with  scourging  and  insult  of  every  kind.  At  last 
Dionysios'  own  soldiers  began  to  murmur  at  his 
cruelty,  and  he  had  Phyton  and  all  his  kinsfolk 
drowned.  He  appears  to  have  destroyed  the  town 
of  Rhegion  and  to  have  given  its  lands,  like  those  of 
the  other  cities  that  he  took,  to  the  Lokrians. 

It  was  a  memorable  year  (B.C.  387)  for  Greece  and  for 
Europe  in  which  Dionysios,  by  the  taking  of  Rhegion, 
made  himself,  beyond  all  doubt,  the  chief  power,  not 
only  in  Sicily,  but  in  Greek  Italy  also.  It  was  the 
year  of  the  Peace  of  Antalkidas,  which  established  for 
a  while  the  power  of  Sparta  in  Old  Greece  and  gave 
over  the  Greeks  of  Asia  to  the  dominion  of  the 
Persian.  It  was  also  the  year  in  which  Rome  was 
taken  by  the  Gauls.  The  presence  of  these  last 
barbarians  in  various  parts  of  Italy  supplied  Diony- 
sios with  the  means  of  hiring  Gaulish  mercenaries. 
Some  of  these,  as  well  as  Iberians,  he  sent  at  a  later 
time,  with  other  troops,  to  the  help  of  his  Spartan 
allies  in  the  wars  of  Old  Greece.  The  Peace  of 
Antalkidas     supplied     patriotic     orators     with     the 


1 90  THE    TYRANNY   OF  DIONYSIOS. 

opportunity  of  painting  Hellas  as  enslaved  at  both 
ends,  in  the  East  under  the  Persian  and  in  the  West 
under  Dionysios.  So  spoke  the  Athenian  Isokrates;  so, 
with  more  effect,  spoke  Lysias,  once  envoy  to  Diony- 
sios, at  the  Olympic  festival  next  after  the  Peace  of 
Antalkidas  (B.C.  384).  To  that  festival  Dionysios  sent 
a  splendid  embassy.  Lysias  called  on  the  assembled 
Greeks  to  show  their  hatred  of  the  tyrant,  to  hinder 
his  envoys  from  sacrificing  or  his  chariots  from  run- 
ning. His  chariots  did  run  ;  but  they  were  all 
defeated.  Some  of  the  multitude  made  an  attack 
on  the  splendid  tents  of  his  envoys.  He  had  also 
sent  poems  of  his  own  to  be  recited  ;  but  the  crowd 
would  not  hear  them.  This  was  rather  out  of  hatred 
of  the  tyrant  than  for  any  fault  in  the  poems  ;  for 
there  is  no  doubt  that  Dionysios  was  a  poet  of  some 
merit.  He  was  now  at  peace  with  Athens,  and  he 
sent  tragedies  to  be  acted  there.  They  gained 
inferior  prizes  more  than  once,  and  at  last  one  of 
them  won  the  first  prize. 

It  was  said  that  Dionysios  was  so  annoyed  at  the 
ill-fate  of  his  poems  that  he  began  to  suspect  every- 
body, and  to  turn  his  rage  against  his  nearest  friends. 
Whether  from  this  cause  or  from  any  other,  he 
certainly  banished  two  of  the  chief  of  them,  the 
historian  Philistos,  to  whom  he  owed  his  first  rise, 
and  his  own  brother  the  admiral  Leptines.  Lepti- 
nes  was  soon  restored  ;  but  Philistos  remained  in 
banishment  till  the  death  of  Dionysios.  Dionysios, 
perhaps  in  his  character  of  poet,  affected,  like 
Hieron,  the  company  of  men  of  letters  ;  but  they 
found    that    the    poet    was    also    the    tyrant.       The 


DIONYSIOS   IN    THE   H ADRIATIC.  igi 

philosophers  Aristippos  of  Kyrene  and  Plato  of 
Athens  both  visited  him ;  but  he  ill-treated  both, 
and  he  is  said  to  have  caused  Plato  to  be  sold  as  a 
slave.  And  his  fellow  poet  Philoxenos  he  is  said  to 
have  sent  to  the  stone-quarries  for  free  criticism  on 
his  verses. 

Ikit  however  hated  Dionysios  might  be  both  at 
home  and  abroad,  he  was  still  strong  both  at  home 
and  abroad.  His  next  field  of  enterprise  was  the 
coasts  and  islands  of  the  Hadriatic.  Here  the  city  of 
Ankon  or  Ancona  on  the  Italian  coast  was  planted  by 
S}-racuse  exiles  trying  to  escape  from  his  power.  Other 
colonies  in  those  seas  he  himself  founded  or  helped 
others  to  found.  Thus  the  people  of  Paros,  with  his 
help,  planted  settlements  on  the  islands  of  Pharos  and 
Issos,  and  he  himself  founded  Lissos  on  the  Illyrian 
coast.  He  then  formed  alliance  with  some  of  the 
lUyrians  and  with  a  banished  prince  of  Molottis  named 
Alketas.  Him  he  was  able  to  restore  ;  but  he  failed  in  a 
scheme  of  making  his  way  into  Greece  on  this  side,  and 
even,  it  is  said,  robbing  the  Delphian  temple.  This 
was  too  much  even  for  his  friends  the  Spartans,  and 
a  Lacedaemonian  force  checked  all  further  advance. 
He  next  took  up  the  old  Syracusan  quarrel  with  the 
Etruscans.  For  a  war  against  them  it  was  easy  to 
find  an  excuse  in  their  constant  piracies.  His  real 
object  seems  to  have  been  to  plunder  the  rich  temple 
of  Agylla  on  the  west  coast  of  Italy,  whence  he  carried 
off  spoil  in  money,  slaves,  and  other  things  to  the 
value  of  1,500  talents.  Even  at  Syracuse  he  did  not 
fear  to  plunder  the  temples  ;  from  the  Olympieion 
he  carried  off  the  golden  robe  of  the  statue  of  Zeus, 


ig2  THE    TYRANNY  OF  DIONYSIOS. 

saying  in  mockery  that  such  a  garment  was  too  hot 
in  summer  and  too  cold  in  winter. 

The  Etruscan  campaign  might  perhaps  win  back 
for  Dionysios  some  credit  both  at  home  and  abroad 
as  a  Hellenic  champion  against  the  barbarians.  He 
would  get  more  still  when,  in  the  year  ^8^,  he  began 
another  Punic  war.  At  no  time  in  our  story  do 
we  more  lament  the  lack  of  a  contemporary  narra- 
tive. Dionysios  took  advantage  of  the  disaffection 
towards  Carthage  felt  by  some  of  her  dependencies 
to  contract  alliances  with  them.  We  are  not  told 
what  cities  are  meant ;  some,  we  may  suppose,  of 
the  Carthaginian  dependencies  in  Sicily,  perhaps  the 
Elymian  towns.  Carthage,  on  the  other  hand,  sent, 
for  the  first  time,  a  force  into  Italy  to  act  along  with 
the  tyrant's  enemies  there.  A  campaign  followed, 
the  geography  of  which  is  hopeless.  Dionysios  first 
won  a  great  battle  in  which  the  Shophet  Magon  was 
killed.  The  Carthaginians  then  asked  for  peace  ; 
Dionysios  refused  it  except  on  condition  of  Carthage 
withdrawing  altogether  from  Sicily  and  paying  the 
costs  of  the  war.  Such  terms  needed  the  consent  of 
the  home  government  of  Carthage.  A  truce  was 
made;  while  it  lasted,  the  new  Carthaginian  com- 
mander, the  son  of  Magon,  made  every  preparation 
for  a  new  struggle.  In  a  second  battle  Dionysios  was 
defeated  and  his  brother  Leptines  killed  ;  the  slaughter 
was  among  the  greatest  that  Greeks  ever  underwent 
at  the  hands  of  barbarians.  Envoys  now  came  from 
Carthage  with  full  powers.  The  terms  of  peace  were 
now  quite  the  opposite  to  what  Dionysios  had  pro- 
posed just  before.     He  had  to  pay  a  thousand  talents, 


WAR    WITH   CARTHAGE.  ig3 

and  to  make  the  Hal}-kos  the  boundary  between  his 
dominions  and  those  of  Carthage.  That  is  to  say,  he 
gave  up  to  Carthage  SeHnous  and  its  territory  and 
part  of  the  territory  of  Akragas. 

Hellas  was  thus  again  cut  short  on  Sicilian  soil, 
though  not  so  utterly  as  had  been  the  case  when 
Dionysios  first  rose  to  power.  If  we  had  as  clear 
accounts  of  his  later  days  as  we  have  of  the  earlier,  we 
should  better  understand  the  difference  between  the 
two  periods.  But  we  have  a  very  meagre  account  of 
the  war  which  led  to  the  loss  of  Selinous,  and  of 
the  last  sixteen  years  of  his  reign  we  know  next  to 
nothing.  But  we  can  see  that  about  the  year  379 
both  he  and  the  Carthaginians  were  warring  in  Italy. 
They  were  seeking  to  set  up  again  some  of  the  towns 
which  he  had  destroyed  ;  but  they  had  to  give  up  the 
attempt  and  go  back  to  Africa  on  account  of  a  plague 
and  the  revolt  of  their  subjects.  On  the  other  hand, 
Dionysios  took  Kroton,  which  had  escaped  him  in  his 
earlier  campaign,  and  robbed  the  temple  of  the  Laki- 
nian  Hera  of  a  precious  robe,  which  he,  oddly  enough, 
sold  to  the  Carthaginians  for  a  huge  sum.  There  is 
also  a  story  how  he  planned  the  building  of  a  wall 
across  the  narrowest  point  of  the  south-western 
peninsula.  This  was,  he  said,  to  keep  out  the 
Lucanians  ;  but  the  Greeks  north  of  the  proposed  wall 
saw  that  it  was  meant  only  to  strengthen  his  own 
power  in  Italy.  After  this  we  hear  nothing  of  his 
doings  in  Sicily  or  Italy  for  about  eleven  years. 

In  Old  Greece  meanwhile,  where,  from  the  year  B.C. 
369  onwards,  Athens  and  Sparta  were  allies  against 
Thebes,  we  hear  more  than  once  of  his  sending  bar- 

14 


194  THE    TYRANNY   OF  DIONYSIOS. 

barian  mercenaries,  Gaulish  and  Iberian,  to  help  the 
Spartans.  And  now  (369-367)  we  find  two  Attic 
inscriptions  recording  the  relations  of  the  Athenian 
democracy  with  the  tyrant.  All  manner  of  honours 
are  voted  to  him  and  his  sons,  and  in  the  second  an 
alliance  is  concluded  between  Athens  and  "  the  ruler 
of  Sicily,"  without  any  mention  whatever  of  the  people 
of  Syracuse.  Each  is  to  help  the  other  in  case  of 
attack  by  any  enemy.  It  is  some  little  comfort  to 
think  who  the  enemies  of  Dionysios  at  that  moment 
were. 

For,  just  at  the  end  of  his  reign,  he  renewed  the 
greatest  exploit  of  his  earlier  days,  the  invasion  of  the 
Phoenician  possessions  in  Western  Sicily.  An  excuse 
for  a  new  Punic  war  could  be  easily  found  in  real  or 
alleged  Carthaginian  encroachments  on  the  dominions 
of  Dionysios.  In  such  a  war  as  this  he  knew  that 
Greek  feeling,  in  and  out  of  Sicily,  would  go  with  him. 
With  a  great  force, given  as  30,000  foot,  3,000  horse,  and 
300  ships  of  war,  he  again  marched  westward.  Carthage 
was  believed  to  be,  as  so  often  happened,  deeply 
weakened  by  the  usual  causes,  pestilence  and  the  revolt 
of  her  African  subjects.  He  was  at  first  successful.  He 
recovered  Greek  Selinous;  he  took  Entella,  nowin  the 
hands  of  the  Campanians,  and  he  took  Eryx  itself  for 
the  second  time.  He  then  began  to  besiege  the  new 
town  of  Lilybaion,  which  had  taken  the  place  of  his  old 
conquest  of  Motya.  But  he  found  the  resistance  too 
strong  for  him.  At  sea  however  he  deemed  himself 
so  strong  that  he  sent  back  the  more  part  of  his  fleet  to 
Syracuse,  keeping  130  ships  at  anchor  at  Drepanathe 
haven  of  Eryx.     But  the  Carthaginians,  taking  heart, 


DEATH   OF  DIONYSIOS.  I95 

made  a  sudden  dash  and  carried  off  most  of  them. 
Then  winter  came,  and  both  sides  withdrew  from  the 
war.  This  is  all  that  we  hear.  Before  long  a  treaty 
was  again  made  between  Syracuse  and  Carthage.  We 
are  not  told  its  terms  ;  but  as  Selinous,  when  we  next 
hear  of  it,  appears  as  a  Carthaginian  possession,  the 
Syracusan  conquests  were  most  likely  given  back  to 
Carthage. 

But  it  was  not  the  elder  Dionysios  who  made  the 
treaty.  We  have  come  to  the  end  of  the  reign  and 
life  of  a  man  who  had  done  such  great  things  and 
had  so  largely  changed  the  face  of  the  world  of  his 
day.  In  the  year  ^,6^  Dionysios  the  tyrant  died, 
after  a  reign  of  38  years.  The  cause  of  his  death 
is  said  to  have  been  a  strange  one.  It  was  now  for 
the  first  time  that  a  tragedy  of  his  was  thought 
worthy  of  the  first  prize  at  Athens.  The  news  was 
brought  to  him  with  all  speed.  His  delight  was 
unbounded  ;  he  sacrificed  to  the  gods,  and  indulged 
in  an  excess  of  wine  which  was  unusual  Vvdth  him. 
A  fever  followed,  and  he  died.  His  career  had  been 
indeed  a  wonderful  one.  He  had  destroyed  the 
freedom  of  his  native  city,  but  he  had  made  it  both 
the  greatest  city  and  the  greatest  power  of  Europe. 
No  man  had  won  greater  successes  over  the  barbarian 
enemies  of  Greece  ;  but  no  man  had  done  more  to 
destroy  Greek  cities,  and  to  plant  barbarians  in  his 
own  island.  With  his  great  gifts,  he  might,  as  a 
lawful  king  or  as  the  leader  of  a  free  people,  have 
made  himself  the  most  illustrious  name  in  all 
Greek  history.  As  it  was,  he  was  a  tyrant  ;  he 
reigned  as  such,  and  he  was  remembered  as  such.    All 


196  THE    TYRANNY   OF  DIONYSIOS. 

that  we  can  say  for  him  is  that  worse  tyrants  still 
came  after  him  His  reign  was  unusually  long  for  a 
tyrant,  and  he  was  able  to  leave  his  power  to  his  son. 
He  himself  had  said  that  he  was  able  to  reign  so 
long,  because  he  had  abstained  from  wanton  outrages 
against  particular  persons.  His  reign  marks  an  sera 
in  the  history  of  Greece  and  of  the  world.  He  began 
a  state  of  things  which  the  Macedonian  kings  con- 
tinued. It  is  well  to  note  that  when  Dionysios  died, 
Philip  son  of  Amyntas  was  already  fifteen  years  old, 
and  that  eight  years  later  he  won  for  himself  the 
Macedonian  kingdom. 


XL 


THE  DELIVERERS. 
B.C.  i^T—ixj. 

[Our  chief  authorities  now  are  still  the  narrative  of  Diodoros  and 
Plutarch's  Lives  of  Dion  and  Timoleon.  Plutarch  is  commonly  the 
fuller.  There  are  also  Latin  lives  of  both  by  Cornelius  Nepos.  Some- 
thing may  be  learned  from  the  letters  attributed  to  Plato,  with  the 
cautions  already  given.] 


The  great  power  of  the  elder  Dionysios,  the  greatest 
power,  as  it  is  emphatically  said,  in  Europe,  now  passed 
to  the  weaker  hands  of  his  son.  The  father  had 
done  great  things,  even  if  they  were  largely  evil 
things.  He  had  changed  the  whole  face  of  Sicily, 
and  had  thereby  gone  far  towards  changing  the  face 
of  the  whole  Greek  world.  He  had  given  Syracuse, 
as  the  capital  of  a  ruler,  a  position  such  as  Athens 
herself  had  hardly  held  as  a  commonwealth  bearing 
rule  over  other  commonwealths.  He  had  done 
greater  things  against  barbarians  in  their  own  land 
than  any  Greek  leader  had  done  before  him.  Yet, 
besides  the  loss  of  political  freedom  in  his  own  and 

other  cities,  he  had  on  the  whole  done  more  against  the 

197 


IgS  THE   DELIVERERS. 

Greek  nation  than  for  it.  In  his  very  first  dealings  he 
had  helped  the  Carthaginians  to  win  more  than  he 
could  ever  win  back  from  them.  In  Sicily  itself  he  had 
destroyed  some  Greek  cities  and  peopled  others  with 
barbarians.  He  had  sacrificed  several  Italiot  towns 
to  the  advancement  of  one,  and  he  had  decidedly 
helped  towards  barbarian  advance  in  Italy.  It  is 
only  in  his  most  distant  enterprises,  in  his  compara- 
tively obscure  Hadriatic  colonies,  that  he  at  all 
enlarged  the  borders  of  Hellas.  His  career  tended, 
on  the  whole,  to  a  great  lessening,  not  only  of  Sicilian 
freedom,  but  of  Sicilian  prosperity.  From  his  time 
the  Sicilian  and  Italian  Greeks  began  to  find  that 
they  could  not  stand  alone.  The  main  feature  of  the 
times  that  followed,  for  about  a  hundred  years  begin- 
ning with  the  reign  of  his  son,  is  the  constant  inter- 
course between  Old  Greece  and  the  Greeks  of  Italy 
and  Sicily.  That  intercourse  takes  a  new  shape. 
The  Greeks  of  Italy  and  Sicily  are  ever  sending 
to  Old  Greece  for  help  against  domestic  tyrants, 
against  barbarian  enemies,  or  against  both  together. 
A  succession  of  deliverers  go  forth,  some  of  them 
to  do  great  things.  But  we  shall  presently  have  to 
distinguish  between  the  republican  leader  who  goes 
out  simply  to  deliver,  and  the  prince  who  does  indeed 
work  deliverance,  but  who  thinks  that  he  has  a  right 
to  reign  over  those  whom  he  delivers. 

The  history  of  the  younger  Dionysios  illustrates 
the  nature  of  the  Greek  tyrannies  in  many  ways. 
As  in  many  other  cases,  what  the  father  won  the  son 
lost.  The  tyrant's  son,  born,  as  the  saying  is,  in  the 
purple,  was  commonly  a  weaker  man  than  his  father. 


DIONYSIOS   AND    HIS   SON.  iQQ 

And  the  elder  Dionysios,  in  his  extreme  jealousy 
of  everybody,  had  kept  his  son  shut  up  in  his  palace, 
and  allowed  him  no  share  in  political  or  military 
affairs.  He  was  not  without  ability  or  without  ten- 
dencies to  good  ;  but  he  was  in  every  way  weaker 
than  his  father.  Not  having  his  father's  strength 
of  purpose,  he  was  easily  impressed  both  for  good 
and  for  evil.  He  was  less  cruel,  because  less  deter- 
mined, than  his  father,  but,  for  the  same  reason,  he 
fell  into  the  vices  from  which  his  father  was  free.  It 
is  a  characteristic  story  that  the  old  Dionysios  found 
his  son  in  an  intrigue  with  another  man's  wife.  He 
rebuked  his  son,  and  asked  if  he  had  ever  heard  of 
his  doing  anything  of  that  kind.  "  No  ;  but  then  your 
father  was  not  tyrant."  "  And  your  son  never  will  be 
tyrant,  if  you  do  such  things."  The  new  tyrant  was 
the  son  of  his  father's  Lokrian  wife  Doris,  and  was 
about  25  years  old  at  his  accession.  He  was  ac- 
knowledged, perhaps  as  general  with  full  powers,  by 
some  kind  of  vote  of  an  assembly  which  had  no 
will  of  its  own.  He  then  gave  his  father  a  splendid 
funeral,  and  a  tomb,  contrary  to  Greek  practice,  in 
the  Island.  The  elder  Dionysios,  at  the  time  of 
his  death,  was  at  war  with  both  Carthaginians  and 
Lucanians.  The  new  tyrant  presently  made  peace 
with  both.  The  Halykos  again  became  the  frontier 
between  his  power  and  that  of  Carthage.  In  Italy 
he  is  said  to  have  founded  two  new  towns  on  the 
coast  of  Apulia.  Otherwise  he  simply  kept  his 
father's  dominion,  without  extending  it  or  doing 
anything  memorable  in  any  way. 

Under  a  tyranny,  above  all  where  the   tyrant   is 


200  THE    DELIVERERS. 

weak    and    needs    guidance,    family    and    personal 
relations,  marriages,  and  the  power  of  men  whom  we 
may   call    ministers,   become  of  importance,  just  as 
they  do  among  lawful  princes.     Two  men  specially 
stand  out  during  the  reign  of  the  younger  Dionysios. 
The  historian  Philistos,  who  had  had  so  great  a  hand 
in  setting  up  the  power  of  his  father,  was    recalled 
from   exile,  either  at   the  beginning  of  his  reign  or 
somewhat  later.     He  was  now  an  old  man,  but  he 
was  still  vigorous,  and  he  was  attached  to  the  system  of 
the  elder  tyrant.      The  other  was  Dion,  the  brother 
of    Dionysios'    Syracusan    wife    Aristomache.       His 
father  Hipparinos  had  had  a  hand  in  setting  up  the 
tyranny.     Aristomache  had  two  sons,  much  younger 
than  Dionysios,  and  two  daughters,  Sophrosyne  and 
Arete — mark  the   tyrant's  choice    of  names    for  his 
children — who   were   married,  the  one  to   her   half- 
brother  Dionj^sios,  the  other  to  her  uncle  Dion.     It 
was  only  marriage  with  a  sister  by  the  mother's  side 
which  was  a  sin   against  Greek  feelings.     Dion  was 
enriched  and  favoured  by  the  elder  tyrant,  and  was 
largely  employed  by  him  in  public  affairs,  specially 
in  embassies  to  Carthage.     He  was  an  able  man  and 
a  good   soldier,  stern   and  haughty  in    manner,   yet 
capable  of  winning  influence,  strict  in  life,  and  with  a 
tendency  to  philosophical  speculations.     He  had  had 
a  hand  in  bringing  Plato  to  Sicily  in  the  days  of  the 
elder  Dionysios.     Now  that  the  younger  tyrant  had 
succeeded   and  he  himself  stood  high    in    his   confi- 
dence, he  hoped  to  work  great  things  by  the  help  of 
his    favourite    philosophy.     He   had    no   thought   of 
restoring  the  old   democratic  constitution,  which  was 


DIONYSIOS    THE    YOUNGER.  201 

by  no  means  according  to  Platonic  notions.  But  he 
wished  to  make  Dionysios  rule  well  instead  of  ill,  and 
even  to  turn  him  from  a  t}'rant  into  something  like  a 
constitutional  king.  To  this  end  he  persuaded  Plato 
to  come  again  to  Syracuse,  to  act  as  a  kind  of 
spiritual  adviser  to  the  tyrant.  Not  much  good  was 
likely  to  come  of  this.  Plato  was  a  speculator  on 
constitutions,  but  he  had  no  practical  knowledge  of 
affairs.  Dionysios  listened  to  the  philosopher  for  a 
while  with  pleasure  ;  geometry  became  fashionable  at 
his  court  ;  he  talked  of  making  reforms  and  even  of 
giving  up  the  tyranny.  But  nothing  was  really  done. 
Philistos  and  his  party  pressed  Dionysios  on  the 
other  side,  and  set  him  against  Dion.  The  peace 
with  Carthage  was  not  yet  settled,  and  Dion  was 
charged  with  treasonable  dealings  with  the  enemy. 
He  w^as  accordingly  suddenly  sent  away  from  Sicily, 
but  was  allowed  to  receive  the  income  of  his  propert}'. 
His  wife  Arete,  the  half-sister  of  the  tyrant,  and  his 
young  son  Hipparinos,  remained  at  S}'racuse. 

Dionysios  meanwhile  kept  up  a  strange  kind  of 
friendship  for  Plato.  He  was  jealous  that  the  philo- 
sopher thought  more  of  Dion  than  he  did  of  Diony- 
sios. He  kept  him  for  a  while  at  Syracuse,  and  even 
persuaded  him  to  pay  him  a  second  visit.  But  nothing 
came  of  it.  Dionysios  at  last  seized  Dion's  property 
and  divided  it  among  his  own  friends.  This  was 
during  Plato's  second  visit ;  after  that  Plato  was  very 
glad  to  get  away.  Presently  the  t}Tant  took  on  him 
to  give  the  wife  of  Dion  to  another  man  named  Timo- 
krates,  and  he  took  pains  to  lead  her  }'oung  son  into 
vice.    He  also  banished  one  of  his  chief  officers,  named 


202  THE   DELIVERERS. 

Herakleides,  who  then  passed  for  a  friend  of  Dion's. 
The  tyranny  in  short  was  getting  worse  and  worse. 

All  this  happened  during  the  first  seven  years  of 
the  reign  of  the  younger  Dionysios  (B.C.  367-360). 
Meanwhile  Dion  visited  several  parts  of  Old  Greece, 
and  was  everywhere  received  with  honour.  At  Sparta 
he  received  a  most  special  honour,  being  admitted  to 
full  Spartan  citizenship,  a  gift  which  was  most  rarely 
bestowed  on  any  stranger.  At  Athens  he  made  the 
acquaintance  of  Kallippos,  one  of  Plato's  followers  ; 
indeed  he  made  friends  everywhere.  He  began  to 
plan  schemes  for  upsetting  the  tyranny  of  Dionysios, 
and  he  met  with  encouragement  in  many  quarters. 
Herakleides  too  was  planning  for  the  same  object ;  but 
he  and  Dion  did  not  agree,  and  each  followed  his  own 
course.  It  is  certain  that  no  good  came  of  the  friend- 
ship of  Kallippos  ;  as  for  the  rivalry  of  Herakleides, 
it  is  only  fair  to  remember  that  we  have  the  story 
only  as  it  was  told  by  the  friends  of  Dion.  At  any 
rate  Dion  was  ready  for  his  enterprise  before  Hera- 
kleides was.  He  had  gradually  raised  a  small  force 
of  mercenaries  and  volunteers  ;  but  of  Syracusan 
exiles,  of  whom  there  are  said  to  have  been  as 
many  as  a  thousand  seeking  shelter  in  different  parts 
of  Greece,  he  could  get  only  twenty-five  or  thirty  to 
join  him.  At  last,  in  the  summer  of  the  year  B.C. 
357,  ten  years  after  the  death  of  the  old  Dionysios, 
he  set  forth  on  his  errand  of  deliverance.  His  force 
was  so  small  that  all  could  be  carried  in  five 
merchant-ships. 

Dion  and  his  small  fleet  did  not  follow  the  usual 
coasting  route  of  ships   going  from   Old   Greece    to 


COMING    OF  DION.  203 

Sicily.  The  Italian  coast  was  watched  by  a  force 
under  Philistos.  Dion  therefore  struck  straight  across 
the  open  sea  from  Zakynthos  to  Sicily.  His  steersman 
guided  him  right  to  the  south-east  corner  and  there 
recommended  him  to  land.  But  Dion  did  not  think 
it  wise  to  land  so  near  Syracuse.  Then  a  wind 
drove  him  to  the  coast  of  Africa.  Thence  he  was 
soon  able  by  a  change  of  weather  to  reach  the  south 
coast  of  Sicily  at  Herakleia  or  Minoa,  now,  by  the 
late  treaty,  a  border  fortress  of  Carthage  and  called 
by  the  Punic  name  of  Ras  Melkart.  Here  the  officer 
in  command,  Synalos  by  name,  was  a  Greek  in  the 
service  of  Carthage  and  a  friend  of  Dion's.  He 
received  him  and  his  followers  friendly,  and  while  at 
Herakleia  Dion  heard  a  precious  piece  of  news, 
namely  that  Dionysios  was  not  at  Syracuse,  but  had 
gone  with  the  more  part  of  his  fleet  to  look  after  the 
towns  which  he  had  founded  on  the  Hadriatic.  Timo- 
krates,  to  whom  the  tyrant  had  given  Dion's  wife,  was 
left  in  command  at  Syracuse.  As  soon  asTimokrates 
heard  that  Dion  had  landed,  he  sent  a  letter  to 
Dionysios,  but  the  messenger  professed  to  have  lost 
the  letter  by  a  strange  accident  ;  so  the  tyrant  only 
heard  the  news  some  days  later  by  common  fame.  It 
was  a  great  point  for  Dion  to  reach  Syracuse  before 
Dionysios  should  come  back  ;  so  he  marched  with  all 
speed,  Greeks,  Sikans,  and  Sikels  joining  him  at  every 
step  as  he  went  along.  The  march  was  done  in  three 
days.  The  night  before  the  last  day  they  encamped 
before  the  hill  of  Akrai,  the  inland  outpost  of  Syra- 
cuse. There  Dion  heard  more  of  the  state  of  things 
in  the  city.      Epipolai  was  guarded  by  some  of  the 


204  T^I^   DELIVERERS. 

barbarian  soldiers  to  whom  the  elder  Dionysios  had 
given  Katane  and  other  towns.  Dion  cunningly 
spread  a  rumour  abroad  that  he  was  not  going  to 
march  straight  on  Syracuse,  but  on  those  towns  first. 
The  barbarians  believed  the  story,  and  in  spite  of  all 
the  efforts  of  Timokrates  who  came  out  of  the  Island 
to  keep  them  in  order,  they  marched  off  to  defend 
their  own  homes.  Thus  Dion  was  able  to  reach 
Syracuse  without  opposition.  He  started  from 
Akrai  before  daybreak,  and  reached  the  crossing  of 
the  Anapos  just  as  the  s'un  was  rising.  He  offered 
sacrifices  ;  the  prophets  foretold  good  luck  ;  and  the 
whole  army  marched  on  with  their  sacrificial  wreaths 
on  their  heads,  as  if  in  a  religious  procession.  By 
this  time  men  could  see  them  from  the  hill  of 
Syracuse.  The  whole  city  rose.  The  people  set  on 
the  few  mercenaries  who  were  left  in  the  outer  city, 
who  contrived  to  form  and  encamp  on  part  of 
Epipolai.  Timokrates  tried  to  get  back  to  the 
Island,  but  he  could  not  do  so  for  the  crowds. 
He  rode  awa}'  by  the  northern  road.  The  tyrant's 
soldiers  were  thus  left  without  a  commander,  and 
Dion  was  able  to  enter  Syracuse  without  hindrance. 
Meanwhile  some  of  the  people  set  upon  the  tyrant's 
spies  and  other  agents.  Others  went  in  their  best 
clothes  to  welcome  their  deliverer  at  the  gate,  the 
gate  of  Tcmenites,  in  the  new  wall  of  the  elder  Diony- 
sios. There  they  saw  Dion  in  splendid  armour,  lead- 
ing his  troops,  with  his  brother  Megaklcs  and  his  friend 
Kallippos  on  each  side  of  him.  When  he  reached 
the  gate,  he  announced  by  sound  of  trumpet  that  Dion 
and  Megakles  were  come  to  deliver  Syracuse  and  all 


DION  DELIVERS   SYRACUSE.  205 

the  Greek  cities  of  Sicily  from  the  tyrant.  Then  he 
marched  on  through  Achradina,  the  people  pressing 
on  him  on  both  sides  with  wreaths  and  sacrifices  and 
drink-offerings.  At  last  he  was  able  to  mount  a  tall  sun- 
dial which  the  elder  Dionysios  had  made  near  the  gates 
between  Achradina  and  the  Island.  There  he  made  a 
speech  as  to  an  assembly  of  the  Syracusan  people,  and 
called  on  them  to  elect  generals.  They  at  once  chose 
Dion  and  Megakles  generals  with  full  powers.  But 
Dion  said  that  they  must  have  colleagues  ;  so  the 
people  chose  as  many  as  twenty,  some  of  them  taken 
from  among  the  exiles  who  had  come  back  with  Dion. 


SYRACUSE.      DION  S   TIME. 

He  then  attacked  and  drove  out  the  barbarians 
on  Epipolai  ;  he  set  free  those  who  were  shut  up  in 
the  tyrant's  prisons,  and  built  a  wall  of  defence 
between  the  Island  and  the  delivered  parts  of  the  cit}'. 
Dion)'sios,  owing  to  the  loss  of  Timokratcs'  letter,  did 
not  come  back  with  his  fleet  till  seven  days  after 
Dion's  entrance.  And  then  he  found  that  all  Syra- 
cuse, except  the  Island,  had  passed  away  from  his 
dominion. 

Never  had  any  man  had  such  a  run  of  good  luck  as 
Dion  had  up  to  his  time.  It  was  now  that  his  diffi- 
culties began.  It  was  always  easy  to  raise  suspicion 
against  Dion  on  account  of  his  long  connexion  with 


206  THE   DELIVERERS. 

the  house  of  the  tyrants.     And  in  truth,  notwithstand- 
ing his  popular  bearing  on  the   day  of  his  entry,  it 
may  be    doubted  whether    Dion   at  any  time  really 
thought  of  restoring  freedom  to  Syracuse  in  the  sense 
in  which  most  Syracusans  would  understand  freedom. 
He  had  not  lived  in  a  democracy  ;  he  and  his  friend 
Plato  seem  to  have  dreamed  all  manner  of  impossible 
constitutions.      There  should  be  a  king  with  limited 
powers,  or  perhaps  more  than  one  king,  after  the  man- 
ner of  Sparta.      In  short  the  Syracusans  wished   to 
rule  themselves,  like  any  other  free  Greek  city  ;  Dion 
wished  to  rule  them  himself  or  with  a  few  colleagues. 
He  wished  no  doubt  to  rule  them  justly  and  well  ; 
but   still    to    rule  them.      His   haughty  manner    too 
helped  before  long  to  make  him  personally  unpopular. 
We  hear  casually  that  he  had  a  body-guard,  like  a 
tyrant.     Dionysios  was  quite  clever  enough  to  know 
all  this,  and  to  make  his  advantage  out  of   it.     His 
first  trick  was  to  try  to  open  negotiations  with  Dion 
personally,  and  not  with  the  Syracusan  people.     Dion 
told  the  tyrant  not  to  speak  to  him,  but  to  the  people. 
Another  message  then  came  ;    Dionysios,  like  more 
modern  oppressors,  promised  to  make  various  reforms. 
At  this  the  people  had  the  sense  to  laugh,  and  Dion 
told  the  tyrant's  envoys  that  no  offer  could  be  listened 
to  except  a  complete  abdication  of  the  tyranny.     If 
he  did  this,  Dion  would,  out  of  old  friendship,  procure 
good  terms  for  him  personally.     Dionysios  pretended 
to  agree  ;  he  asked  that  envoys  should  be  sent  into  the 
Island  to  settle  terms.     But  when  they  came,  he  kept 
them  there,  and  sent  his  mercenaries  to  make  a  sudden 
attack  on  the  wall  which  now  hemmed  in  the  Island 


DION   AND   D I  ON  Y  SI  OS.  207 

by  land.  A  sharp  battle  followed,  in  which  Dion 
showed  great  courage,  and  received  a  wound.  In  the 
end  the  barbarians  were  driven  back  into  the  fortress. 

Dionysios  now  sent  letters  to  Dion  from  his  wife  and 
sister  whom  he  still  kept  in  the  Island.  These  Dion 
read  out  to  the  assembly.  But  one  letter  was  headed 
"from  Hipparinos  to  his  father;"  this  the  people 
told  him  to  keep  to  himself ;  it  was  too  private  to  be 
opened  publicly.  But  Dion  opened  and  read  it  aloud. 
And  it  proved  not  to  be  from  his  son,  but  from  the 
tyrant.  Dionysios  called  on  Dion  to  remember  their 
old  friendship,  and  not  to  serve  an  ungrateful  people. 
He  did  not  wish  to  rule  any  longer  himself;  he  would 
willingly  give  up  his  power  to  Dion.  If  Dion  refused 
this,  he  would  do  dreadful  things  to  his  sister  and 
wife  and  son. 

It  is  not  perhaps  very  wonderful  that  the  reading 
of  this  letter  raised  suspicions  against  Dion  among  the 
people.  And  these  suspicions  grew  stronger  when  a 
rival  to  Dion  for  the  good  will  of  the  Syracusans 
presently  came  on  the  field.  This  was  Herakleides, 
who  now  came  with  a  number  of  triremes,  some 
say  twenty,  some  only  seven,  and  1,500  more 
soldiers.  He  was  skilful  in  warfare  and  of  more 
popular  manners  than  Dion  ;  so  he  easily  won  the 
favour  of  the  people.  The  assembly  presently  elected 
him  admiral.  Then  Dion  said  that  this  could  not  be 
without  his  own  consent ;  but  he  presently  himself 
proposed  the  election  of  Herakleides  with  a  guard 
equal  to  his  own.  This  satisfied  nobody  ;  men  began 
to  call  Dion  a  tyrant,  and  to  say  that  they  had  only 
exchanged  a  drunken  master  for  a  sober  one.     And 


2o8  THE   DELIVERERS. 

presently   Herakleides  was  able    to   do  real  services 
which  might  seem  to  equal  those  of  Dion. 

Dionysios  had  come  back  to  Syracuse  with  only 
part  of  his  fleet  ;  the  rest  was  still  off  the  coast  of 
Italy  under  the  command  of  Philistos.  The  historian 
of  Sicily,  vigorous  in  his  old  age,  was  now  the  main- 
stay of  the  power  of  the  tyrant.  He  came  from 
Italy  with  the  ships  and  troops  which  had  been  left 
there.  He  failed  in  an  attempt  to  win  back  Leontinoi, 
which  had  revolted  from  Dionysios.  He  next  met 
Herakleides  in  a  sea-fight.  Some  of  the  crews  of  the 
tyrant's  ships  must  have  joined  the  patriots;  other- 
wise Herakleides  could  not  have  had  sixty  ships  to 
face  the  same  number  which  Philistos  commanded. 
The  Syracusans  had  the  better,  and  Philistos,  after 
doing  his  best  for  his  master,  was  taken  alive.  To 
the  disgrace  of  the  delivered  commonwealth,  the  old 
man  was  put  to  death  with  insult,  and  his  body  was 
dragged  into  the  streets  and  thrown  into  the  stone- 
quarries. 

With  the  death  of  Philistos  Dionysios  began  to  lose 
heart ;  but  he  still  went  on  with  his  tricks  to  discredit 
Dion.  The  victory  had  naturally  made  Herakleides 
the  favourite.  Dionysios  now  sent  another  message 
to  Dion,  offering  to  give  up  the  Island  on  condition  of 
being  allowed  to  withdraw  safely  to  Italy  and  to  keep 
the  profits  of  a  large  private  estate  in  the  Syracusan 
territory.  Dion  again  told  the  tyrant  to  make  his  pro- 
posal to  the  people  and  not  to  him.  At  the  same  time 
he  counselled  the  assembly  to  accept  the  terms.  But 
the  people  hoped  to  take  the  tyrant  alive,  and  refused  to 
hearken.     Dionysios  now  thought  mainly  of  his  own 


DION   DEPRIVED    OF    THE   GENERALSHIP.      209 

personal  safety.  He  contrived  to  escape  by  sea,  taking 
with  him  most  of  his  treasures  and  furniture,  but  leaving 
the  best  of  his  mercenaries  still  in  the  Island  under 
the  command  of  his  son  Apollokratcs,  who  must  have 
been  young  for  such  a  trust.  This  rather  discredited 
Herakleidcs,  as  men  said  that  he  ought  to  have  kept 
better  watch.  And  the  story  goes  that  he  was  thereby 
stirred  up  to  make  yet  further  attacks  on  Dion, 
setting  on  men  to  propose  measures  which  Dion  had 
to  withstand.  At  last  he  was  able  to  carry  a  vote  by 
which  Dion  was  deprived  of  his  generalship,  and 
twenty-five  new  generals  were  appointed,  of  whom 
Herakleides  himself  was  one.  Hitherto  he  had  not 
been  one  of  the  body  of  generals,  but  had  held  a 
separate  command  at  sea.  And  it  was  further  voted 
to  refuse  pay  to  the  men  who  had  come  from  Pelopon- 
nesos  with  Dion.  These  men  were  not  common 
mercenaries  ;  they  had  come  from  zeal  in  the  cause, 
and  had  done  great  things  for  it ;  but  they  could  not 
afford  to  serve  for  nothing  in  a  strange  country. 

The  Peloponnesians  gathered  round  Dion,  and 
prayed  him  to  lead  them  against  the  Syracusans. 
Meanwhile  the  party  of  Herakleides  tried  to  win 
them  over  by  offers  of  citizenship.  There  had  been 
a  talk  of  division  of  lands,  and  most  likely  they  were 
to  get  land  instead  of  their  pay.  But  the  soldiers 
clave  to  Dion,  and  Dion  refused  to  act  against  the 
Syracusans.  He  accordingly  went  away  with  his 
followers,  3,000  in  number.  They  marched  towards 
Leontinoi ;  on  the  road  they  were  followed  by  the 
new  Syracusan  generals  with  their  force.  Dion's  men 
were  much  better  soldiers  than  the  Syracusans,  and 

15 


210  THE   DELIVERERS. 

they  easily  drove  off  their  assailants,  Dion  striving 
to  shed  as  little  Syracusan  blood  as  might  be.  He  and 
his  men  were  welcomed  at  Lcontinoi  and  received  to 
citizenship. 

The  Syracusans  had  thus  (B.C.  356)  got  rid  of  their 
deliverer  about  nine  months  after  their  deliverance. 
There  were  faults  on  both  sides  ;  but  Dion  undoubtedly 
had  an  honest  purpose  to  get  rid  of  the  tyranny,  what- 
ever kind  of  government  he  may  have  wished  to  set 
up  in  its  stead.  The  Syracusans  had  now  to  besiege 
Ortygia  for  themselves,  without  Dion's  help  or  that 
of  his  men.  And  their  prospects  grew  worse  when 
Dionysios  sent  a  large  stock  of  provisions  for  his  garri- 
son, and  an  able  officer  named  Nypsios  from  the  Cam- 
panian  Neapolis  or  Naples.  He  came,  like  Gylippos, 
at  the  very  moment  when  the  garrison  had  made  up 
their  minds  to  come  to  terms  with  the  citizens.  The 
Syracusan  generals,  who  must  have  been  guilty  of 
some  negligence  in  letting  Nypsios  enter  the  Great 
Harbour,  repaired  their  fault  by  leading  out  the  ships 
of  the  commonwealth  to  attack  the  mercenaries  while 
they  were  still  busy  in  getting  the  provisions  on  shore. 
A  Syracusan  victory  followed  ;  but,  just  as  after  the 
greater  victory  over  the  Athenians,  the  night  was 
given  up  to  revelry  and  drunkenness.  N}'psios  saw 
his  opportunity ;  in  the  dead  of  the  night  he  sent 
forth  his  mercenaries  with  orders  to  deal  with  the 
citizens  as  they  would.  They  scaled  the  wall  with 
which  Dion  had  hemmed  in  the  Island,  slaying  the 
drunken  guards.  But  that  night  there  was  little 
slaughter,  save  of  such  as  tried  to  resist  ;  the  minds 
of   the    mercenaries    were    bent    on    plundering    the 


RETURN   OF   DION.  211 

houses  and  carrying  off  the  women  and  children. 
This  work  went  on  all  night  through  the  lower  part 
of  the  city.  In  the  morning,  those  who  had  come 
to  their  senses  and  had  contrived  to  escape  to  the 
parts  of  the  town  which  the  enemy  had  not  reached, 
held  an  assembly,  and  with  one  voice  voted  to  send 
to  Leontinoi  and  to  pray  Dion  to  come  at  once  to 
their  help  with  his  soldiers. 

As  soon  as  the  message  came,  Dion  at  once  held 
an  assembly  of  his  soldiers.  He  left  it  to  them  to 
say  whether  they  would  go  and  deliver  men  who  had 
treated  them  so  unworthily.  For  himself  he  had  no 
choice  ;  he  must  go,  if  only  to  die  in  the  ruins  of  his 
native  city.  The  whole  body  voted  to  go  with  him, 
and  they  set  out  by  night.  On  the  way  he  was  met 
by  contradictory  messages.  At  night-fall  Nypsios 
had  withdrawn  his  soldiers  into  the  Island.  The 
enemies  of  Dion  then  gave  out  that  there  was 
no  longer  any  need  of  Dion's  help.  The  gates 
were  shut  against  him,  and  a  message  was  sent, 
bidding  him  not  to  come  on.  But  his  friends  sent 
another  message,  bidding  him  to  continue  his  march. 
Perplexed  between  the  two  messages,  he  marched  on, 
but  with  less  speed  than  before.  At  last,  when  he  was 
near  Megara,  about  seven  miles  off,  a  most  pressing 
message  came  from  Herakleides  himself,  praying  him 
to  come  with  all  speed.  As  soon  as  Nypsios  heard 
that  the  gates  were  shut  against  Dion,  he  let  out  his 
mercenaries  again.  This  night  was  yet  more  frightful 
than  the  other.  For  this  time  they  did  not  only 
plunder  and  carry  off,  but  burned  houses  and  slew  all 
whom  they  met.     Dion's  bitterest  enemies  now  felt 


212  THE   DELIVERERS. 

that  their  only  hope  was  in  him.  After  this  last 
message,  his  men  came  on  with  all  speed.  They 
came  up  Epipolai  on  the  north  side  by  the  gates 
called  Hexapyla.  All  that  part  of  the  city  was 
clear ;  they  had  next  to  carry  the  wall  of  Achradina, 
which  Nypsios  and  some  of  his  men  defended.  Within 
the  wall,  they  had  to  fight  their  way  as  they  could 
among  the  burning  houses  and  the  streets  choked 
with  dead  bodies.  But  they  pressed  on  ;  the  mer- 
cenaries made  a  last  stand  near  the  gate  of  Ortygia. 
The  more  part  escaped  into  the  fortress  ;  those  who 
were  caught  outside,  as  many  as  four  thousand,  were 
slaughtered. 

Dion  had  thus  saved  Syracuse  a  second  time,  and 
his  second  entrance  was  of  a  very  different  kind  from 
the  first.  His  men  had  to  put  out  the  flames  and 
to  clear  away  the  dead.  As  soon  as  might  be,  an 
assembly  was  held.  The  more  part  of  Dion's  chief 
enemies  had  fled  ;  Herakleides  and  his  uncle  Theo- 
dotes  confessed  their  fault  and  craved  his  pardon. 
Many  of  Dion's  friends  urged  him  to  put  them  to 
death,  and  to  free  the  city  from  their  intrigues.  But 
Dion  forgave  them,  after  a  somewhat  pedantic  speech, 
saying  that  it  was  his  business  as  a  philosopher  to 
outdo  his  enemies  in  virtue.  He  then  repaired  the 
wall  which  hemmed  in  the  Island  ;  he  buried  the 
dead,  and  ransomed  the  captives.  In  another 
assembly  Herakleides  himself  proposed  that  Dion 
should  be  made  general  with  full  powers  by  land 
and  sea.  But  it  is  said  that  the  sailors  who  had 
shared  Herakleides'  victory  objected  ;  so  the  com- 
mand was  divided,  Herakleides  taking  the  command 


RECOVERY   OF   THE   ISLAND.  2I3 

by  sea.  War  with  Dion)-sios  went  on  for  some  while  ; 
but  each  side  charged  the  other  with  negh'gcnce  and 
treason,  till  Dion  and  Herakleides  were  again  formally- 
reconciled  through  the  intervention  of  a  Spartan 
named  Gaisylos,  who  had  come  from  Sparta  to  act, 
if  need  be,  the  part  of  Gylippos.  We  should  like  to 
know  something  more  about  his  mission  ;  but  our 
account  is  most  meagre  in  everything  but  what  per- 
sonally concerns  Dion.  At  any  rate  Gaisylos  behaved 
thoroughly  well,  claiming  nothing  for  himself,  but 
binding  Herakleides  by  the  most  solemn  oaths  to  be 
faithful  to  Dion, 

Soon  after  this  came  the  full  completion  of  de- 
liverance. We  do  not  hear  again  of  Nypsios  ;  but 
Apollokrates  the  son  of  Dionysios  found  that  he 
could  hold  out  no  longer.  He  sailed  away  under  a 
truce  which  he  made  with  Dion,  by  which  he  was 
allowed  to  take  away  his  mother  and  sisters,  and  so 
much  of  his  goods  and  treasure  as  he  could  take  in 
five  triremes.  But  the  fortress  and  the  military 
stores  in  it  were  given  up  to  Dion.  And  as  nothing 
is  said  of  the  mercenaries,  it  would  seem  that  they 
passed  into  Dion's  service.  Dion  now  went  into  the 
Island  and  was  welcomed  by  his  sister  Aristomache, 
the  widow  of  the  old  Dionysios,  by  his  wife  Arete, 
whom  he  took  back  again,  and  his  son  Hipparinos. 

The  joy  throughout  Syracuse  was  great  ;  but  it  was 
soon  damped.  Dion  went  to  live  in  his  own  house 
and  not  in  the  fortress  ;  but  he  kept  possession  of  the 
fortress  when  men  hoped  that  he  would  destroy  it 
altogether.  We  cannot  blame  him  when  he  refused, 
what  many  wished,  to  destroy  the  tomb  of  the  elder 


214  THE   DELIVERERS. 

Dionysios,  and  to  cast  out  his  bones.  But  he  kept 
power  in  his  own  hands,  and  kept  on  his  haughty- 
demeanour.  He  had  no  thought  of  restoring  tlie 
democracy  as  it  had  stood  before  the  tyranny  began. 
He  was  still  corresponding  with  Plato  and  with 
friends  at  Sparta  and  Corinth,  cities  used  to  aris- 
tocratic government.  Among  them  they  dreamed  of 
another  beautiful  scheme  of  government,  in  which 
what  we  may  call  king,  lords,  and  commons  were  all 
to  have  their  proper  places.  Herakleides  and  his 
party,  whether  they  knew  anything  of  all  this  or  not, 
at  least  knew  that  Dion  had  not  restored  the  old 
Syracusan  commonwealth,  but  kept  all  power  to 
himself.  They  naturally  complained.  And  now  Dion 
yielded  to  his  friends  who  again  suggested  the  death 
of  Herakleides.  Dion  had  refused  to  put  him  to  death 
when  it  could  have  been  done,  if  not  by  a  legal  sentence, 
at  least  by  military  execution  ;  he  now  sank  to  con- 
nive at  the  secret  murder  of  Herakleides.  Whatever 
he  had  done  before,  whatever  he  dreamed  of  doing, 
he  was  now  practically  tyrant. 

As  such  he  was  before  long  to  undergo  the  tyrant's 
fate.  With  the  position  of  a  tyrant  he  had  not  learned 
to  practise  the  system  of  caution  and  suspicion  by 
which  tyrants  maintained  their  power.  He  still  put 
faith  in  his  Athenian  friend  Kallippos,  who  all  the 
while  was  plotting  against  him.  He  had  warnings 
and  visions,  and  his  son  threw  himself  from  a  window 
and  was  killed.  His  wife  Arete  and  his  sister  Aristo- 
mache  knew  better  what  was  going  on.  They  made 
Kallippos  take  the  Great  Oath,  the  most  solemn  of 
oaths  in  the  name  of  the  great  goddesses  of  Sicily, 


END    OF  DION.  215 

that  he  \v<is  phmning-  no  ill  against  Dion.  But  he 
cared  not  for  the  oath,  and  he  presently  compassed  the 
death  of  Dion  at  the  hands  of  some  young  Zakyn- 
thians.  These,  one  would  think,  must  have  been 
men  who  had  followed  Dion  when  he  set  sail  from 
their  island,  but  who  turned  against  him  now  that  he 
was  looked  on  as  a  tyrant. 

Several  years  of  confusion  followed  the  death  of 
Dion,  who  had  begun  so  well  and  had  ended  so  ill. 
Kallippos  kept  himself  in  power  for  about  a  year.  He 
gave  himself  out  as  a  deliverer,  and  wrote  a  letter 
to  that  effect  to  his  own  city  of  Athens.  He  threw 
Aristomache  and  Arete  into  prison,  where  Arete  gave 
birth  to  a  son.  Next  one  Hiketas,  a  friend  of  Dion, 
professed  to  have  the  two  women  released  and  sent 
to  Peloponnesos,  but  he  had  them  drowned  on  the 
voyage.  The  child  seems  to  have  lived.  Presently 
men  began  to  complain  of  Kallippos  ;  but  for  a  while 
he  got  the  better  of  his  enemies,  who  found  shelter  at 
Leontinoi.  Then  a  new  claimant  appeared,  Hipparinos, 
son  of  the  old  Dionysios  by  Aristomache,  nephew 
therefore  of  Dion.  He  would  naturally  strive  to  get 
dominion  in  Syracuse  if  he  could,  and  he  might  even 
give  himself  out  as  the  avenger  of  his  mother  and 
uncle.  When  Kallippos  was  warring  against  Katane, 
Hipparinos  contrived  to  enter  Syracuse  with  his 
brother  Nysaios,  and  to  get  possession  of  the  Island. 
Kallippos  had  to  put  up  with  the  tyranny  of  Katane 
instead  of  that  of  Syracuse,  and  Hiketas  got  hold  of 
the  tyranny  of  Leontinoi.  Hipparinos  was  presently 
killed  in  a  drunken  fit,  and  Nysaios  kept  the  Island. 


2l6  THE   DELIVERERS. 

Lastly,  their  elder  half-brother,  Dionysios  himself 
(B.C.  346),  tried  his  luck  again.  He  had  been  living  at 
Lokroi,  his  mother's  city,  since  he  had  left  Syracuse, 
and  had  made  himself  hated  there  by  his  cruelty  and 
debauchery.  He  now  saw  another  chance,  and  he 
contrived  to  drive  his  brother  Nysaios  from  the  Island, 
which,  with  his  son  Apollokrates,  he  occupied,  and 
was  tyrant  once  more.  And  all  this  time  Plato  was 
dreaming  dreams  and  writing  letters  and  sketching 
another  constitution  for  Syracuse,  in  which  Dionysios 
and  Hipparinos  and  the  young  son  of  Dion  should 
all  be  constitutional  kings  at  once. 

It  would  seem  that  none  of  these  tyrants  who  came 
in  one  after  the  other  had  occupied  all  Syracuse  ;  they 
could  have  held  only  the  Island.  At  any  rate  there 
were  somewhere  citizens  of  Syracuse  who  were  able  to 
act.  Besides  all  these  tyrants,  the  Carthaginians  were 
again  beginning  to  be  threatening.  Men  feared  lest, 
not  only  freedom  but  Greek  life  altogether,  should 
be  wiped  out  in  Sicily.  They  sought  for  help  ;  they 
sought  it  in  Old  Greece,  at  the  hands  of  their 
metropolis  Corinth.  Hiketas  too  at  Leontinoi  was 
believed  to  be  making  plots  in  concert  with  Carthage  ; 
but  he  openly  joined  in  the  appeal  to  Corinth,  and  the 
free  Syracusans  chose  him  general. 

And  now  the  purest  hero  in  the  whole  tale  of  Sicily, 
till  his  likeness  came  again  in  our  own  day,  steps  on 
the  field.  What  Dion  had  professed  to  do,  what  at 
one  time  we  may  believe  he  really  meant  to  do, 
Timoleon  did.  During  our  whole  story  we  are  struck 
with  the  true   and    generous    zeal    for   the   suffering 


T I  MO  LEON.  217 

Sicilian  colony  which  is  shown  by  the  Corinthian 
commonwealth  generally.  In  Timoleon  this  zeal 
reaches  its  height.  He  was  a  noble  Corinthian,  son 
of  Timodamos,  and  he  first  distinguished  himself 
by  saving  the  life  of  his  brother  Timophanes  in  battle. 
But  when  Timophanes  presently  seized  the  tyranny, 
after  exhorting  him  in  vain  to  give  up  his  ill-gotten 
power,  he  joined  with  yEschylus  the  brother-in-law  of 
Timophanes  in  putting  him  to  death,  though  he  did 
not  himself  strike  the  blow.  To  slay  a  tyrant  was 
among  the  Greeks  counted  as  the  noblest  of  deeds  ; 
but  some  doubted  whether  it  should  be  done  by  a 
brother-in-law  and  a  brother.  Men's  minds  therefore 
were  divided  ;  some  honoured  Timoleon  as  the  slayer 
of  a  tyrant,  while  others  loathed  him  as  the  murderer 
of  a  brother.  And  among  these  last,  to  Timoleon's 
great  grief,  was  Damarista,  the  mother  both  of  himself 
and  of  his  slain  brother.  According  to  one  account, 
the  Syracusan  embassy  came  very  soon  after  these 
events,  while,  according  to  another,  a  space  of  twenty 
years  had  passed.  In  any  case,  when  the  Syracusan 
embassy  came  to  ask  help  from  Corinth,  Timoleon 
was  called  to  take  the  command.  He  was  bidden  to 
go  forth  as  a  kind  of  ordeal  ;  his  former  act  should  be 
judged  by  his  acts  in  his  new  character. 

Just,  as  in  the  case  of  Gylippos,  more  turned  on  the 
man  that  was  sent  than  on  the  force  that  was  put 
under  his  command.  Corinth  gave  Timoleon  only 
seven  ships,  but  one  of  these  was  specially  consecrated 
to  the  goddesses  of  Sicily.  For  the  priestess  of 
Demeter  and  Persephone  at  Corinth  dreamed  that 
the  goddesses  told  her  that    they  were  going  on  a 


2l8  THE   DELIVERERS. 

voyage  to  Sicily  with  Timoleon.  And  he  and  his 
men  had  many  signs  on  the  voyage  to  show  that  the 
goddesses  were  with  them.  They  were  further 
strengthened  by  human  help  ;  for,  of  the  sister  cities 
of  Syracuse,  Leukas  gave  one  ship,  and  Korkyra, 
once  more,  as  in  the  days  of  Hippokrates,  for- 
getting her  quarrel  with  her  mother,  gave  two.  But 
the  force  that  went  was  but  small,  a  few  Corinthian 
volunteers  and  about  1,200  mercenaries.  And  these 
were  mostly  men  of  bad  repute,  who  had  served  with 
the  Phokian  leaders  who  had  robbed  the  Delphian 
temple.  For  we  must  remember  that  we  have  come 
to  the  days  when  Philip  of  IMacedon  had  become  a 
great  power  in  Greece.  He  had  already  taken  Olynthos, 
but  he  had  not  yet  fought  the  battle  of  Chaironeia. 
With  such  a  force  as  this  Timoleon  set  forth  to  drive 
Dionysios  a  second  time  out  of  his  stronghold  in  the 
Island  of  Syracuse.  And  on  the  way,  when  the  fleet 
reached  Rhegion,  now  again  a  free  city,  they  found 
there  a  Carthaginian  fleet  of  twenty  ships,  with  envoys 
from  Hiketas.  He  had,  he  said,  defeated  the  tyrant ;  he 
had  recovered  Syracuse,  all  but  the  Island,  and  there 
he  was  going  to  besiege  Dionysios  with  the  help  of 
the  Carthaginians.  He  would  be  glad  to  receive 
Timoleon  himself,  and  to  consult  with  him  as  to 
operations  ;  but  the  Carthaginians  would  not  allow 
the  Corinthian  ships  to  come  to  Syracuse.  There  was 
more  reason  than  ever  to  go  on,  as  Hiketas  now 
plainly  showed  that  he  was  in  league  with  Carthage  ; 
but  it  was  hard  to  go  on  in  the  face  of  the  Punic  fleet. 
By  a  clever  trick,  planned  with  the  Rhegincs,  who  were 
zealous  in  his  cause,  Timoleon  contrived  to  get  his  ships 


TIMOLEON    IN   SICILY.  2ig 

out,  and  to  land  at  Tauromcnion  without  the  know- 
ledge of  the  Carthaghiians. 

Timoleon  was  now  on  Sicilian  ground,  and  at 
Tauromenion  he  found  his  first  ally.  The  chief  man 
there,  one  hardly  knows  his  exact  position,  was 
Andromachos,  father  of  the  historian  Timaios.  He 
had  done  much  for  the  city,  enlarging  it  and  bringing 
in  new  settlers.  He  now  joined  Timoleon  zealously. 
But  the  prospects  of  the  deliverer  were  dark.  Diony- 
sios  held  the  Island,  and  Hiketas  the  rest  of  Syra- 
cuse. The  other  towns,  Greek  and  Sikel,  were  held 
by  tyrants,  all  of  whom  would  be  against  Timoleon  ; 
the  Carthaginians  meanwhile  were  strong  in  the  West, 
besides  their  fleet  in  the  eastern  sea.  One  Punic  trireme 
was  sent  to  Tauromenion,  with  envoys,  bidding 
Andromachos  drive  the  Corinthians  away.  The 
envoy  held  the  palm  of  his  hand  upwards,  and  said 
that,  if  the  Corinthians  were  not  sent  away,  the  city 
of  Tauronienion  should  be  turned  upside  down  in  the 
like  sort.  Then  Andromachos  turned  his  hand  both 
ways,  and  said  that,  if  the  Punic  ship  did  not  sail 
away  at  once,  it  should  be  turned  upside  down  in  the 
like  sort.  The  Carthaginians  did  no  more,  but  sailed 
away  to  Syracuse,  whither  Hiketas  called  them. 
Timoleon  was  presently  invited  by  the  people  of 
Hadranum,  at  the  foot  of  ^tna,  the  town  which 
Dionysios  the  Elder  had  founded  by  the  temple  of 
the  Sikel  fire-god.  Timoleon  marched  thither  ;  so 
did  Hiketas  with  a  larger  force.  But  Timoleon  came 
suddenly  on  him  and  defeated  him.  He  was  gladly 
welcomed  by  the  people  of  Hadranum  ;  and  the  tale 
was    told    that,   while    the    fight  was  going   on,  the 


220  THE   DELIVERERS. 

doors  of  the  innermost  shrine  of  Haclranus  opened  of 
themselves,  and  the  god  was  seen  sweating  and 
brandishing  his  spear,  as  having  a  share  in  the  toil 
and  the  victory  of  Timoleon. 

Timoleon  now  for  a  while  kept  his  head-quarters 
at  Hadranum.  His  wonderful  success  made  men 
believe  that  he  was  under  the  special  care  of  the 
gods.  Allies  now  began  to  flock  in  to  him.  Several 
cities  joined  him,  specially  Tyndaris,  the  other  founda- 
tion of  the  elder  Dionysios  on  the  northern  coast. 
And  the  tyrant  Mamercus  of  Katane  sought  his 
alliance.  And  presently  a  more  wonderful  message 
came  than  all.  Dionysios  grew  tired  of  being 
besieged  in  Ortygia,  and  he  gave  up  all  hope  of  being 
able  to  win  back  anything  beyond  Ortygia.  And  of 
the  two,  he  liked  better  to  fall  into  the  hands  of 
Timoleon  than  into  those  of  Hiketas.  So  he  offered 
to  surrender,  as  it  is  put,  to  the  Corinthians.  He 
would  give  up  the  stronghold  and  the  horses  and  arms, 
and  the  mercenaries,  on  condition  of  being  sent  safely 
to  Corinth  with  his  private  property.  This  offer 
Timoleon  gladly  accepted.  He  sent  two  Corinthian 
officers  with  a  small  body  of  men,  to  take  possession 
of  the  Island,  and  Dionysios,  with  his  goods  and  a 
few  friends,  was  sent  in  a  trireme  to  Corinth.  There 
the  fallen  tyrant  lived  as  a  private  man  for  the  rest 
of  his  days.  It  was  thought  the  great  wonder  of  the 
time  to  see  one  who  had  been  so  powerful  living  in  a 
private  station,  more  wonderful  than  if  he  had  been 
slain  or  kept  as  a  prisoner.  He  became  the  great 
sight  of  Corinth,  and  many  stories  are  told  of  the 
sharp  sayings  that  he  made  to  people  who  came  to 


RECOVERY   OF    THE   ISLAND.  221 

see  him.  One  may  be  enough,  as  it  was  made  to  so 
famous  a  man.  King  Phih'p  of  Macedon  asked  him 
how  his  father,  with  so  much  else  to  do,  had  found 
time  to  write  tragedies.  Dionysios  answered  that  he 
wrote  them  in  the  time  which  himself  and  Philip  and  all 
the  rest  who  passed  for  happy  spent  at  the  wine-cup. 
His  old  friend  Plato  had  died  before  he  came  to 
Corinth,  or  we  might  have  had  some  reflexions  on  his 
fall. 

The  surrender  of  Ortygia  to  Timoleon  happened 
within  fifty  days  after  his  landing  in  Sicily.  The 
Corinthians  now  thought  it  worth  while  to  send  out 
a  larger  force.  When  they  were  off  the  coast  of  Italy, 
they  were  hindered  from  going  on  by  a  Carthaginian 
fleet ;  so  they  spent  the  time  in  a  work  of  the  same 
kind  as  that  on  which  they  were  sent,  namely  in 
helping  the  people  of  the  Greek  town  of  Thourioi 
against  the  neighbouring  barbarians.  Meanwhile 
Hiketas  went  on  besieging  Ortygia,  while  Timoleon 
still  stayed  at  Hadranum.  Thither  Hiketas  sent  two 
men  to  murder  him,  who  were  hindered  in  a  wonderful 
way.  They  sought  to  slay  Timoleon  while  he  was 
sacrificing  to  the  local  god  Hadranus.  Put  a  man  in 
the  crowd  knew  one  of  them  as  the  man  who  had 
killed  his  father,  and  slew  him  on  the  spot.  Then 
the  other  was  conscience-stricken,  and  confessed  his 
purpose.  So  Timoleon  was  thought  more  and  more 
to  be  under  the  special  care  of  the  gods. 

Hiketas  now  prayed  the  Carthaginian  commander 
Magon  to  come  to  his  help  with  his  whole  force. 
The  Punic  ships  now  filled  the  Great  Harbour,  and, 
for  the  first  time  in  all  the  wars  between  Carthage 


222  THE   DELIVERERS. 

and  Syracuse,  a  Punic  force  was  admitted  into  the 
Syracusan  city.  Timoleon's  men  in  the  Island  were 
now  in  great  straits  ;  but  he  contrived  to  send  them 
provisions  in  Httle  boats  ;  and  when  Hiketas  and 
Magon  went  to  besiege  Katane,  Neon,  the  officer  in 
command  in  Ortygia,  made  a  sudden  sally  and 
occupied  Achradina.  And  about  the  same  time 
the  Corinthians  in  Italy  contrived  to  elude  the  Punic 
fleet  there  and  to  cross  the  strait.  Timoleon  now 
took  the  command,  and  marched  to  Syracuse.  There 
Hiketas  and  Magon  still  held  all  the  city  outside 
Ortygia  and  Achradina,  as  well  as  the  Great  Harbour. 
But  Timoleon  was  able  to  encamp  by  the  Anapos, 
the  old  camping-ground  of  so  many  armies.  Magon 
presently  grew  suspicious  of  Hiketas,  and  sailed 
away.  When  he  reached  Carthage,  he  was  so  fearful 
of  the  punishment  of  this  cowardice  that  he  killed 
himself,  and  the  Carthaginians  could  only  crucify  his 
dead  body. 

The  gods  had  thus  again  fought  for  Timoleon.  He 
now  planned  a  threefold  assault  on  those  parts  of 
Syracuse  which  were  still  held  by  Hiketas.  He  him- 
self attacked  on  the  south  side  of  the  hill,  and  other 
Corinthian  officers  led  on  their  troops  on  the  north 
side  and  from  Achradina.  All  the  posts  were  taken  ; 
Hiketas  contrived  to  escape  to  Leontinoi.  All  Syra- 
cuse was  delivered,  and  it  was  a  real  deliverance. 
TimiOleon  did  not  do  this  time  as  Dion  did  ;  he  did  not 
give  the  least  suspicion  that  he  wished  to  keep  more 
than  lawful  power  in  his  own  hands.  Dion  had  kept 
possession  of  the  stronghold  of  the  tyrants;  Timoleon 
called  on  the  Syracusans  to  come  and  help  with  their 


NEW  SETTLEMENT   OF  SICILY. 


223 


own  hands  in  destroying  it.  The  whole  fortress  was 
swept  away,  and  courts  of  justice  were  built  on  the 
site.  But  Syracuse  and  the  other  Sicilian  cities  were 
in  a  sad  state  through  all  these  tyrannies  and  wars. 
Some  towns  were  quite  forsaken  ;  the  tyrants  and 
their  mercenaries  held  the  fortresses,  while  the  citizens 
lived  in  the  country.  Stags  and  wild  boars  were  said 
to  occupy  some  towns,  and  in  Syracuse  itself  the 
grass  grew  thick  in  the  agora.  Timoleon  saw  that 
one  great  need  of  Syracuse  and  all  Sicily  was  an 
increase  of  citizens.      He  wrote  to  Corinth,  and   at 


SYRACUSF.      TIMOLEON's  TIME.      ZEUS  ELEUTHERIOS. 

his  request  the  Corinthians  made  proclamation  at  the 
various  games  of  Greece,  and  sent  messengers  to  the 
islands  and  to  many  parts  of  Asia,  calling  on  all 
banished  Syracusans  and  other  Sikeliots  to  come 
home  again.  Many  such  flocked  to  Corinth,  but  the 
number  was  by  no  means  so  great  as  was  needed. 
Another  Corinthian  proclamation  invited  all  Greeks 
everywhere  to  take  a  part  in  what  was  in  truth  a 
second  Corinthian  settlement  of  Syracuse,  with 
Timoleon  as  its  second  founder.  Many  came  at 
this  invitation,  and  were  carried  to  Sicily  under  the 
auspices  of  the  metropolis.  Others  flocked  to 
Timoleon  of  their  ow^n  accord  from  various  parts  of 


224  ^^^   DELIVERERS. 

Sicily  and  Italy.  At  last  as  many  as  60,000  return- 
ing exiles  and  new-comers  were  brought  together  in 
restored  Syracuse.  Two  Corinthian  citizens,  Kephalos 
and  Dionysios,  were  sent  to  legislate  for  what  might 
almost  be  looked  on  as  a  new  commonwealth. 
Citizens  of  an  aristocratic  city,  they  were  wise  enough 
to  restore  the  old  constitution  of  the  democracy  and 
to  enact  the  laws  of  Diokles  afresh. 

All  these  reforms  took  time.  And  while  they  were 
going  on,  Timoleon  had  other  work  to  do.  He  had 
to  set  the  rest  of  Greek  Sicily  free  both  from  domes- 
tic tyrants  and  from  barbarian  masters.  Of  the 
tyrants  the  nearest  was  Hiketas  at  Leontinoi. 
Timoleon  marched  against  him,  and,  according  to  one 
account,  he  now  underwent  the  only  failure  that  is 
recorded  of  him.  The  walls  of  Leontinoi  were  too 
strong  for  him.  He  therefore  marched  northwards  to 
the  inland  town  of  Engyum,  and  to  Apollonia  near 
the  northern  coast.  These  were  Sikel  towns  which  had 
by  this  time  fully  taken  to  Greek  ways.  They  were 
held  by  a  tyrant  named  Leptines,  a  Syracusan  by 
birth,  who  had  murdered  Kallippos  the  murderer  of 
Dion.  He  submitted  on  terms,  and  Timoleon  sent 
him  to  Corinth,  that  the  Greeks  of  Old  Greece  might 
see  another  fallen  tyrant.  A  little  later,  it  would 
seem,  Hiketas  thought  it  time  to  submit,  to  give  up 
his  mercenaries  to  Timoleon,  and  to  pull  down  his 
stronghold  at  Leontinoi.  He  was  then  allowed  to  live 
there  as  a  private  man. 

The  Carthaginians  were  still  threatening,  and 
making  ready  for  greater  efforts  in  Sicily.  Timoleon, 
like  Dionysios,  thought  it  well  to  strike  first,  the  more 


WAR    WITH   CARTHAGE.  225 

SO  as  he  was  in  great  straits  (ov  money  to  pa)'  his 
mercenaries.  He  sent  two  of  his  Corinthian  officers 
on  a  raid  into  the  Carthaginian  territory  (B.C.  343-342). 
There  they  won  over  several  towns  to  the  Greek  side, 
and  brought  back  great  spoil,  which  was  useful  both 
for  paying  the  soldiers  and  for  making  ready  for  the 
greater  campaign  that  was  coming. 

Before  long  the  great  day  of  trial  came.  Another 
huge  Carthaginian  fleet  and  army  was  gathered 
together  at  Lilybaion.  The  numbers  were  less 
than  in  some  earlier  invasions  ;  but  what  specially 
distinguished  this  ex|X^dition  was  that  the  need  was 
deemed  so  great  as  to  call  for  the  presence  of  the 
Sacred  Band,  the  hope  and  defence  of  Carthage, 
made  up  of  the  noblest  and  bravest  of  her  citizens. 
This  time  then  it  was  not  wholly  against  hirelings 
that  the  war  had  to  be  waged.  The  Punic  com- 
manders, liamilkar  and  Asdrubal,  determined  at 
once  to  march  against  the  Corinthians,  that  is  against 
Syracuse.  Timoleon's  object  was  to  march  west- 
wards as  fast  as  he  could,  and  to  meet  the  barbarians 
before  they  were  able  to  do  damage  to  any  Greek- 
territory.  His  force  was  but  small,  12,000  at  the  out- 
side, against  70,000  of  the  enemy.  And  just  now, 
when  Syracuse  and  the  other  Sikeliot  cities  were  in 
the  very  act  of  settling  down  after  the  times  of  con- 
fusion, no  great  force  could  be  drawn  from  them. 
A  large  part  of  Timoleon's  army  was  made  up  of  mer- 
cenaries. And  his  march  was  delayed  by  a  mutiny 
among  them.  They  demanded  their  pay  at  once. 
Timoleon  won  over  most  of  them,  but  he  was  obliged 
to  allow  a  thousand  of  them  to  go  back  to  Syracuse. 

16 


226  THE   DELIVERERS. 

Yet,  after  this  loss  of  time,  he  was  able  to  meet  the 
enemy  quite  in  the  western  part  of  Sicily,  three  times 
as  near  to  Lilybaion  as  to  Syracuse.  He  came  in  time 
to  save  Entella  from  the  Carthaginians,  and  then  he 
met  them  in  the  greatest  battle  in  the  open  field  ever 
fought  between  Greeks  and  Phoenicians,  the  battle  by 
the  river  Krimisos. 

On  their  march,  as  they  drew  near,  the  Greek  army 
was  met  by  a  number  of  mules  laden  with  the  plant 
called  scliiioji,  which  gave  its  name  to  the  town  of 
Selinous.  This  is  commonly  translated  parsley,  but 
it  is  really  wild  celery.  The  soldiers  called  out  that 
this  was  a  bad  omen,  as  the  plant  was  one  used  in 
funerals.  But  Timoleon,  with  ready  wit,  said  that  it 
was  the  best  of  omens  ;  it  was  the  plant  of  which  the 
wreath  of  victory  was  made  in  the  Isthmian  games 
of  Corinth.  So  he  put  a  wreath  of  it  on  his  own 
head,  and  the  officers  and  soldiers  did  the  like.  It 
was  in  the  forenoon  of  a  June  day  that  they  reached 
the  top  of  the  hill  by  the  river,  and  rested  awhile. 
Hills  and  plain  were  covered  with  clouds  and  mist  ; 
but  they  heard  the  hum  of  a  great  army  below. 
Presently  the  sun  shone  forth,  and  they  saw  the 
enemy  crossing  the  river.  First  came  the  war- 
chariots  ;  then  the  Sacred  Band  in  heavy  armour, 
with  huge  shields.  Timoleon  first  sent  down  the 
horse  to  charge  them  before  they  had  fully  crossed 
the  stream  and  got  into  order.  He  himself  followed 
with  the  phalanx,  and  led  them  on  with  a  shout  so 
loud  that  his  men  thought  that  a  god  was  speaking 
by  his  voice.  But  there  w^as  hard  fighting  with  the 
Sacred    Band  ;    the    Greeks   had    to    do    what    was 


BATTLE    OF    THE   KRIMISOS.  227 

a  most  rare  thing  for  Greeks,  to  throw  away  their 
spears  and  fight  with  their  swords,  like  Spaniards  or 
Romans.  But  at  last  the  whole  mass  of  these  brave 
Carthaginians  was  cut  to  pieces.  By  this  time  the 
rest  of  the  Punic  army  had  crossed  the  river  ;  but 
now,  as  men  thought,  the  gods  declared  openly  for 
their  favourite.  A  fierce  storm  came  on  ;  rain  and 
hail  dashed  in  the  faces  of  the  barbarians,  and  the 
lightning  dazzled  their  eyes.  The  Greek  victory  was 
complete  ;  well  nigh  the  whole  of  the  great  Punic 
host  was  killed  or  taken  prisoners  or  swept  away  by 
the  river. 

As  a  battle,  the  fight  by  the  Krimisos  ranks  along 
with  that  of  Himera.  As  an  immediate  blow  to 
Carthage  it  was  the  greater  of  the  two,  because  of  the 
destruction  of  the  Sacred  Band.  But  it  did  not  give 
Greek  Sicily  so  long  a  time  of  rest  as  the  battle  of 
Himera  had  done.  What  men  most  thought  of  at  the 
time  was  the  way  in  which  the  gods  were  held  to 
have  given  visible  help  to  Timolcon.  The  spoil 
was  something  wonderful.  Great  gifts  were  made  to 
the  gods,  and  a  special  share  was  sent  to  Corinth, 
with  an  inscription  which  said  how  the  Corinthians 
and  Timoleon  their  general  had  freed  the  Greeks  of 
Sicily  from  the  Carthaginians. 

Timoleon  had  beaten  the  barbarians  ;  he  had  still 
to  deal  with  the  tyrants.  Mamercus  at  Katane  had 
turned  against  him  and  had  asked  for  help  at  Car- 
thage. Just  now  Carthage  could  only  send  a  body 
of  Greek  mercenaries ;  but  they  seem  to  have  set  up 
Hiketas  again  in  the  tyranny  of  Leontinoi,  and  there 
was  another  tyrant  Hippon  at  Messana.     These  men 


228  THE   DELIVERERS. 

gained  some  victories  over  some  of  Timolcon's  mer- 
cenaries, men  who  had  had  a  share  in  the  sacrilege 
at  Delphi.  So  men  said  that  the  gods  favoured 
Timoleon  wherever  he  went  himself,  but  that  they 
punished  his  guilty  followers  when  he  was  not  with 
them.  Presently  all  these  tyrants  were  put  down 
by  Timoleon,  Hiketas  was  taken  at  Leontinoi  and 
put  to  death  as  a  tyrant  and  traitor.  His  wife  and 
daughters  were  sent  to  Syracuse,  where  the  Syracusans 
condemned  them  to  death  in  vengeance  for  the 
murder  of  the  wife  and  sister  of  Dion  by  Hiketas. 
It  was  held  to  be  the  one  stain  on  the  character  of 
Timoleon,  that,  though  he  did  nothing  to  promote  this 
cruelty,  he  did  nothing  to  hinder  it.  Mamercus  sur- 
rendered to  Timoleon  on  condition  that  he  should 
have  a  trial  before  the  Syracusan  assembly  and  that 
Timoleon  should  not  speak  against  him.  Timoleon 
held  his  peace  ;  when  Mamercus  saw  how  strongly 
the  Syracusans  were  against  him,  he  tried  to  dash  his 
head  against  the  stone  seats  of  the  theatre  where  the 
assembly  was  held.  But  he  failed,  and  he  was  put  to 
death  as  a  robber.  As  for  Hippon,  he  fell  into  the 
hands  of  the  Messanians  themselves,  who  put  him 
solemnly  to  death,  sending  for  the  boys  to  see,  as  the 
punishment  of  a  tyrant  was  held  to  be  an  edifying 
sight.  These  things  seem  harsh  to  us  ;  but  we  should 
remember  that  all  Greeks  held  that  a  tyrant  who  had 
risen  by  trampling  all  law  underfoot  had  lost  all  right 
to  the  protection  of  law,  and  that  he  might  be  rightly 
dealt  with  as  a  wild  beast. 

And  now  peace  was  made  with   Carthage.      The 
Halykos  was  still  to  be  the  boundary  ;  so  Carthage 


LAST  DAYS  OF    TIMOLEON.  229 

still  kept  Sclinous  and  Heraklcia  ;  but  those  of  the 
inhabitants  who  chose  were  allowed  to  move  freely 
into  the  Greek  territory.  And  the  Carthaginians 
bound  themselves  by  a  clause  most  unlike  their  first 
treaty  with  Dionysios  ;  they  were  not  to  give  help  to 
any  tyrant.  There  were  still  some  to  put  down  at 
Centuripa  and  Agyrium.  The  people  of  the  last 
Sikcl  town,  when  set  free  from  their  tyrant  Apol- 
loniades,  were  admitted  to  S)-racusan  citizenship,  and 
they  received  Greek  settlers  in  their  territory.  So 
greatly  had  the  distinction  between  Greek  and  Sikel,  so 
clearly  marked  a  hundred  years  before,  now  died  out. 
Timoleon  also  put  an  end  to  the  Campanians  at  ALtn^, 
and  he  sent  fresh  settlers  to  Gela  and  Akragas. 
Akragas  now  again  became  a  place  of  some  import- 
ance, though  it  never  rose  again  to  its  old  greatness. 
Thus,  if  not  all  Sicily,  yet  nearly  all  that  part  of  Sicily 
which  had  ever  been  either  Greek  or  Sikel,  was  now 
free.  It  became  again  a  land  of  free  commonwealths, 
without  either  foreign  masters  or  domestic  tyrants. 

Timoleon's  work  was  now  done.  He  laid  down  his 
office  of  general,  and  with  it  all  extraordinary  powers. 
He  became  a  private  man,  and,  as  a  private  man,  he 
chose  rather  to  live  in  the  land  which  he  had  delivered 
than  to  go  back  to  his  own  Corinth.  He  sent  to 
Corinth  for  his  wife  and  children,  and  spent  the  rest 
of  his  days  on  an  estate  close  to  Syracuse  which  the 
Syracusan  people  had  given  him.  He  became  blind, 
and  he  seldom  visited  the  city  or  took  any  part  in 
public  affairs.  But  when  the  Syracusan  people  wished 
for  his  advice,  he  was  brought  in  a  carriage  into  the 
theatre,  and  he  told  them  what  was  best.     Once  or 


230  THE    DELIVERERS. 

twice  men  spoke  against  him  ;  then  all  that  he  said 
was  that  the  wish  of  his  heart  was  now  fulfilled  ;  every 
man  in  Syracuse  could  speak  as  he  pleased.  At  last, 
about  eight  years  after  his  first  coming  into  Sicily,  he 
died  (B.C.  336).  As  a  special  honour,  he  was  buried 
within  the  city,  and  around  his  monument  in  the 
agora  was  built  a  range  of  public  buildings  called 
after  him  the  Timoleonteion.  So  died,  and  so  was 
honoured,  the  man  of  the  worthiest  fame  in  the  whole 
story  of  Sicily,  the  man  who  thought  it  enough  to 
deliver  others  and  who  sought  nothing  for  himself 

But  though  neither  Sicily  nor  any  other  part  of 
the  Greek  world  ever  saw  such  another  as  Timoleon, 
and  though  the  immediate  work  of  Timoleon  lasted 
only  a  short  time,  yet  the  example  of  Dion  and 
Timoleon  had  a  great  effect.  It  became  the  custom 
now  for  the  Greeks  of  Italy  and  Sicily,  when  they 
were  pressed  by  any  enemies,  at  once  to  ask  for  help 
in  Old  Greece.  We  must  remember  the  state  of  Old 
Greece  at  the  time.  When  Timoleon  sailed  for  Sicily, 
Philip  of  Macedon  was  fast  advancing  to  the 
supremacy  of  Greece,  and  before  Timoleon  died,  the 
battle  of  Chaironeia  in  B.C.  338  had  actually  given 
him  that  supremacy.  This  was  a  state  of  things 
which  made  many  in  Greece  dissatisfied,  and  anxious 
to  try  their  fortunes  in  the  West.  Presently  came  the 
wonderful  conquests  of  Alexander  ;  and  the  establish- 
ment of  Greek  kingdoms  in  Asia  and  Egypt  by  his 
generals  stirred  up  ambitious  princes  to  attempt  the 
like  in  other  lands.  There  were  now  no  great  citizens 
like  Timoleon  or  even  like  Dion  ;  but  several  kings  of 


ARCHIDAMOS    AND  ALEXANDER.  23I 

Sparta  and  of  Epeiros  showed  themselves  eager  for 
western  adventure.  But  even  the  best  of  them  were 
not  Hke  Timoleon.  They  were  ready  to  be  deUvcrers 
in  the  sense  of  driving  out  barbarians  from  Greek 
lands,  but  they  did  so  to  form  kingdoms  for  them- 
selves. A  succession  of  them  came,  the  first  even 
during  the  life-time  of  Timoleon.  This  was  Archi- 
damos  king  of  Sparta,  who  had  played  a  considerable 
part  in  the  older  state  of  things  in  Greece,  and  who 
was  glad  to  escape  from  the  new  by  trying  his  fortune 
elsewhere.  The  Tarantines,  pressed  by  the  Luca- 
nlans  and  Messapians,  asked  help  of  their  metro- 
polis Sparta,  just  as  the  Syracusans  had  asked  help 
of  their  metropolis  Corinth,  Archidamos  came  out 
to  their  help  ;  but  he  was  slain  (B.C.  338)  in  a  battle 
with  the  barbarians  at  Manduria  or  Mandurium,  on 
the  same  day,  men  said,  as  Philip's  victory  at  Chairo- 
neia. 

We  can  only  guess  at  the  objects  of  Archidamos. 
The  next  who  came,  the  Molottian  king  Alexander, 
uncle  of  the  more  famous  Macedonian  of  the  same 
name,  certainly  came  to  found  a  dominion  for  itself 
over  Greeks  and  barbarians  (B.C.  332-331).  He  began 
the  work  with  some  success  ;  he  even  made  a  treaty 
with  Rome,  then  a  strong  power  in  Central  Italy, 
but  which  had  not  reached  so  far  south.  But  he 
was  presently  murdered,  and  his  schemes  died  with 
him.  Neither  of  these  princes  actually  touched  Sicily. 
But  their  coming  was  clearly  suggested  by  the  careers 
of  Dion  and  Timoleon,  and  some  of  those  who  came 
after  them  on  the  same  errand  had  directly  to  do  with 
Sicilian  affairs.     Meanwhile  wc  have  nothing  to  say 


232 


THE   DELIVERERS. 


about  Sicily  itself  for  several  years,  till  a  new  power 
arises  which  l:rinL,fs  Sicily  into  a  wider  connexion 
with  the  world  in  general  than  any  that  came  before 
it. 


^f?& 


XII. 


THE   TYRANNY   OF   AGATIIOKLES. 
B.C.    317-289. 

[We  still  have  the  continuous  narrative  of  Diodoros  through  the 
greater-  part  of  the  reign  of  Agathokles  ;  for  the  latter  part  we  have  only 
fragments.  At  this  time  Diotluros  no  doubt  largely  followed  the  History 
of  Timaio?  of  Tauromenion,  who  was  a  bitter  hater  of  Agathokles. 
There  is  no  other  continuous  narrative,  except  the  short  one  in  the  Latin 
epitomator  Justin.  But  there  are  many  references  to  Agathokles  in  the 
later  collectors,  Polyainos  and  the  like,  and  we  are  getting  on  so  far 
that  we  get  a  little  help  from  the  Latin  historian  Titus  Livius  of 
Pataviuni,  commonly  spoken  of  as  Livy.  Poly  bios  himself  has  some 
discussion  of  the  acts  of  Agathokles,  but  no  narrative  of  them.] 


It  is  grievous  to  think  that  the  freedom  and  well- 
being  which  Timoleon  brought  back  to  Syracuse  and 
to  all  Greek  Sicily  lasted  hardly  more  than  twenty 
years.  The  tyrants  could  do  more  lasting  evil  than 
the  deliverers  could  do  good.  Seventeen  years  after 
Tiinoleon's  death  we  again  hear  of  civil  disputes  in 
the  Greek  commonwealths  of  Sicily,  and  of  wars 
between  one  commonwealth  and  another.  Three 
years  later  again  there  came  a  tyranny  which  in  some 
things  was  worse  than  any  that  Timoleon  had  over- 
thrown.     A    man    in    many   things    like    Dionysios, 


234  THE    TYRANNY   OF   AGATHOKLES. 

even  more  enterprising  and  far  more  cruel,  made 
Syracuse  again  the  centre  of  a  great  dominion.  This 
was  Agathokles  son  of  Karkinos.  About  him  several 
things  are  to  be  noted.  Dionysios  was  a  born  Syra- 
cusan,  and,  after  all  his  dealings  with  Carthage  and 
with  other  barbarians,  he  was  on  the  whole  a  champion 
of  Hellas,  and,  whenever  he  showed  himself  in  that 
character,  he  was  zealously  supported  by  all  Greek 
Sicily.  Agathokles,  on  the  other  hand,  was  not  a 
Syracusan  by  birth,  and,  though  he  did  greater  things 
against  the  Carthaginians  than  any  other  Greek,  he 
was  never  so  distinctly  as  Dionysios  the  champion  of 
united  Greek  Sicily.  Dionysios  too  lived  before,  and 
Agathokles  after,  the  great  victories  of  Alexander  in 
Asia.  This  made  a  great  difference  in  the  position 
of  the  two  men.  Agathokles  saw  the  Macedonian 
captains  founding  kingdoms  for  themselves,  and  he 
made  himself  a  king  to  match  them.  And  there  was 
a  great  difference  between  the  kind  of  tyranny 
practised  by  the  two  men.  Dionysios  was  harsh  and 
suspicious  ;  but,  while  he  stuck  at  no  useful  crime, 
he  seldom  showed  himself  wantonly  cruel.  Agathokles 
affected  a  frank  and  jovial  demeanour,  and  thus  kept 
the  good  will  of  the  lower  people  ;  but  ever  and  anon 
he  did  deeds  such  as  Dionysios  never  did.  Dionysios 
never  wrought  a  massacre  ;  to  Agathokles  it  some- 
times seems  as  if  a  massacre  was  really  a  kind  of 
amusement. 

The  father  of  Agathokles,  banished  from  Rhegion, 
settled  at  Therm  a  (the  Baths  of  Himcra)  on  the 
northern  coast  of  Sicily,  then  a  Greek  town  under  Car- 
thaginian dominion.      Warned  by  an  oracle  that  the 


HIS   EARLY   LIFE.  235 

child  would  do  great  mischief,  Karkinos  ordered  him 
to  be  exposed  ;  but  his  mother  saved  him  and  per- 
suaded her  brother  to  bring  him  up.  Afterwards  he 
was  received  by  his  father,  and  when  Timolcon  was 
planting  new  citizens  at  Syracuse,  the  whole  family 
moved  thither.  There  Agathokles  passed  his  youth 
in  the  trade  of  a  potter  ;  but  he  was  strong  and  hand- 
some, and  he  specially  won  the  favour  of  a  leading 
man  named  Damas,  whose  widow  he  afterwards 
married,  and  received  great  wealth  with  her.  He 
was  a  valiant  soldier,  and  Damas  got  him  promotion 
in  the  army.  He  distinguished  himself  in  a  war  with 
Akragas,  and  also  in  an  expedition  which  Syracuse, 
following  the  best  side  of  Hieron  of  old,  sent  into 
Italy  to  help  Kroton  against  the  neighbouring 
Bruttians.  But  the  generals  Sosistratos  and  Hera- 
kleides  refused  Agathokles  the  rewards  of  his  valour. 
They  were  then  the  chief  men  in  Syracuse,  and  a  bad 
report  is  given  of  them.  They  were  the  leaders  of 
an  oligarchic  club  of  600  men,  whom  Agathokles 
denounced  as  conspiring  to  set  up  a  tyranny. 
Banished,  it  would  seem,  he  became  an  adventurer 
and  mercenary  captain  in  Italy.  One  time  we  find 
him  defending  Rhegion,  the  city  of  his  forefathers, 
against  a  Syracusan  army.  Presently  Sosistratos  and 
his  party  were  banished,  and  Agathokles  was  recalled. 
The  banished  men  sought  help  from  the  Carthaginian 
general  Hamilkar,  and  Agathokles  again  distinguished 
himself  in  the  war  against  them.  Next  we  hear  of 
a  Corinthian  named  Akestorides  being  general  at 
Syracuse,  as  if  he  had  been  another  Timoleon.  He 
seeks    the    life    of  Agathokles,    who    again    escapes. 


236      THE    TYRANNY   OF  AGATHOKLKS. 

Another  change  brings  back  Sosistratos  and  Hera- 
kleides,  who  call  Hamilkar  to  their  help,  while 
Arathokles    commands    a    force     from    the    inland 

o 

towns,  the  old  Sikel  towns  which  had  now  taken  to 
Greek  ways.  But  he  wins  over  Hamilkar,  and  by 
his  mediation,  he  is  again  received  at  Syracuse,  on 
taking  a  most  solemn  oath  to  be  faithful  to  the 
commonwealth.  Presently  he  was  chosen  general, 
and  was  charged  with  a  special  commission  to  bring 
about  peace  among  contending  parties. 

Never  did  any  man  more  foully  betray  a  trust  than 
Agathokles  did.  Some  of  the  party  of  Sosistratos 
had  left  Syracuse,  and  were  trying  to  establish  them- 
selves in  one  of  the  inland  towns.  Under  cover  of 
marching  against  them,  Agathokles  got  together 
his  soldiers,  and  being  joined  by  his  partisans  in 
Syracuse,  they  made  a  general  massacre,  which  lasted 
for  two  days,  of  the  whole  party  of  the  six  hundred. 
Then  he  called  an  assembly  ;  he  congratulated  the 
people  on  winning  back  their  freedom  ;  he  said  that, 
as  this  was  done,  he  wished  to  lay  aside  his  office 
and  to  live  as  a  private  man.  They  of  course  again 
elected  him  general  with  full  powers,  the  style  under 
which  Dionysios  had  seized  the  tyranny.  But 
Agathokles  did  not  put  on  the  state  of  a  tyrant ;  he 
trusted  himself  to  the  people,  and  had  no  body-guard. 
Slaughter  and  banishment  ceased  till  he  found  it 
convenient  to  try  them  again.  So  in  the  year  B.C. 
317,  began  the  new  tyranny  over  Syracuse  and  a  great 
part  of  Sicily. 

The  object  of  Agathokles,  even   more  than  that  of 
Dionysios,  was  to  make  himself  lord  of  all  Sicily,  or 


HIS   RISE    TO   rOWER.  237 

of  as  great  a  part  of  it  as  he  could.  He  first  brought 
under  his  power  many  of  the  inland  towns — a  little 
time  back  we  should  have  said  the  Sikel  towns — and 
he  even — with  the  connivance,  it  is  said,  of  Hamilkar — 
carried  his  arms  into  the  Punic  territory.  When  this 
was  known  at  Carthage,  Hamilkar  was  recalled  ;  a 
lucky  death  saved  him  from  the  fate  which  he  might 
have  met  at  home,  and  another  general  of  his  own 
name,  Hamilkar,  son  of  Gisgon,  was  sent  out  to  take 
his  place.  We  hear  nothing  clearly  about  the  doings 
of  Agathokles  for  some  time,  but  about  the  year  315, 
we  find  him  warring  against  Messana,  which  was 
saved  by  Carthaginian  help.  But  he  took  Abaca^num, 
the  Sikel  town  from  whose  territory  Dionysios  had 
cut  off  his  new  town  of  Tyndaris,  and  there  did  a 
small  massacre,  only  forty  of  the  party  opposed  to 
him.  All  this  showed  how  dangerous  he  was  to  all 
the  Sicilian  commonwealths.  Akragas,  above  all, 
ever  jealous  of  Syracuse  and  now  the  special  shelter 
of  Syracusan  exiles,  took  counsel  how  best  to  withstand 
him. 

As  had  been  so  often  done  before,  the  enemies  of 
Agathokles  sent  for  a  leader  from  Old  Greece, 
naturally  not  from  Corinth,  metropolis  of  Syracuse, 
but  from  Sparta,  even  now  renowned  as  the  head  of 
all  Dorian  states.  Fallen  from  her  old  power,  she 
still  kept  her  laws  and  her  kings.  As  King  Archida- 
mos  had  gone  to  help  the  Greeks  in  Italy  against 
barbarian  neighbours,  so  Akrotatos,  son  of  King 
Kleomenes,  came  to  help  the  Greeks  of  Sicily  against 
a  Greek  tyrant.  They  no  doubt  hoped  that  he  would 
be  as  Timoleon  ;  he  was  not  even  as  Archidamos  or  as 


238  THE    TYRANNY   OF  AGATHOKLES. 

Alexander.  He  did  nothing  in  war  ;  he  disgusted 
men  by  his  pride  and  his  luxury,  most  unhke  a 
Spartan.  At  last  he  caused  the  murder  of  Sosistratos 
the  Syracusan  exile  ;  and  then  he  had  to  flee.  But, 
deprived  of  this  expected  help,  the  Akragantines 
and  Geloans  lost  heart,  and  under  the  mediation  of 
Hamilkar,  a  treaty  was  made  with  Agathokles. 
Therma,  Herakleia,  and  Selinous,  were  to  remain 
Carthaginian  possessions  ;  the  other  Greek  cities  in 
Sicily  were  to  be  free,  but  under  the  overlordship  of 
Syracuse  or  her  master.  Messana  alone  stood  aloof, 
and  there  the  Syracusan  exiles  were  still  received.  It 
was  thought  at  Carthage  that  more  favourable  terms 
might  have  been  had,  and  Hamilkar  was  greatly 
blamed. 

Messana  had  been  left  out  of  the  treaty.  About 
the  year  312  we  again  find  Agathokles  warring  against 
that  city.  He  did  not  take  it,  but  he  contrived  to  get 
into  his  hands  600  men  from  Messana  and  Taul'o- 
menion  and  slew  them.  He  then  marched  against 
Akragas,  which  was  saved  by  the  coming  of  a  Punic 
fleet ;  but  he  went  on  and  ravaged  several  places  in 
the  Punic  territory.  He  was  now  thoroughly  com- 
mitted to  war  with  Carthage.  The  Syracusan  exiles 
therefore  took  the  opportunity  to  pray  for  a  great 
Punic  force  to  be  sent  into  Sicily.  Even  in  the  time 
of  Dionysios  we  should  have  called  them  traitors  ; 
but  men  now  felt  that  the  yoke  of  Carthage  was  less 
heavy  than  the  yoke  of  Agathokles.  But,  besides 
asking  for  Punic  help,  they  did  what  they  could 
themselves.  Two  gallant,  but  unsuccessful,  attempts 
were  made  by  the  exiles  to  free  Centuripa  and  Galaria, 


HIS    CONQUESTS.  239 

two  inland  towns  which  were  held  by  Agathokles' 
garrisons.  His  recovery  of  them  was  marked  by  much 
slaughter.  These  successes  encouraged  him  to  march 
against  the  Punic  camp  which  was  pitched  on  the 
hill  of  Eknomos,  the  hill  stands  boldly  out  in  the  sea 
by  the  mouth  of  the  southern  Himeras.  By  sea  the 
Carthaginian  fleet  made  an  attack  on  Syracuse ;  they 
sailed  into  the  Great  Harbour ;  but  they  did  nothing 
but  sink  an  Athenian  merchant-ship  and  cut  off  the 
hands  of  the  crew.  By  land  the  Punic  force  did  nothing. 
It  was  at  the  moment  weaker  than  the  army  of 
Agathokles,  who  brought  his  full  strength  to  the  attack 
on  Eknomos,  The  barbarians  therefore  refused  his 
challenge  to  battle,  and  he  went  back  to  Syracuse 
with  such  spoil  as  he  could  gather  in  the  country 
round  about. 

The  danger  from  the  advance  of  Agathokles  was 
well  known  at  Carthage,  It  was  therefore  deter- 
mined to  take  to  the  Sicilian  war  in  good  earnest ; 
and  Hamilkar  was  sent  forth  with  another  of  those 
great  fleets  and  armies  that  we  have  so  often  heard 
of  This  one  was  notable  for  two  things.  One  was 
the  great  number  of  Balearic  slingers  ;  the  other  was 
that,  as  in  the  expedition  in  Timoleon's  day,  an  un- 
usual number  of  Carthaginian  citizens,  many  of  them 
men  of  high  rank,  were  sent  to  serve.  But  a  great 
storm  met  them  on  their  way  and  sank  many  ships, 
specially  those  that  carried  the  native  Carthaginians. 
The  blow  was  so  heavily  felt  at  Carthage  that  the 
walls  were  hung  with  black  as  a  sign  of  mourning. 
Hamilkar  saved  what  he  could  of  the  fleet,  and  made 
up  his  numbers  by  levies  in  Sicily,  till  he  sat  down  again 


240  THE    TYRANNY   OF   AGATIIOKLES. 

on  Eknomos  at  the  head  of  40,000  foot  and  5,000 
horse.  This  was  much  smaller  than  the  armies  which 
the  earlier  Punic  generals  had  commanded  ;  but  Punic 
military  skill  had  grown  since  then,  and  Hamilkar 
no  longer  trusted  to  the  brute  force  of  multitudes. 
Agathokles  set  out  to  meet  them,  and  did  one  of 
his  worst  deeds  on  the  road.  He  cunningly  surprised 
Gela  ;  he  slew  many,  plundered  the  rest,  and  marched 
on.  He  must  have  heard  on  the  way  that  twenty  of 
his  ships  had  been  taken  by  the  Carthaginians  in  the 
strait  of  Messana. 

He  now  came  to  the  broad  vale  of  the  southern 
Himeras.  As  Hamilkar  held  the  hill  of  Eknomos  on 
the  right  bank,  he  occupied  another  hill  on  the  other 
side,  the  river  flowing  between  them.  Neither  side 
for  a  while  took  courage  to  cross  the  stream,  for  there 
were  old  sayings  that  many  men  should  be  slain  in  that 
place.  At  last  the  battle,  one  of  the  greatest  battles 
between  Greeks  and  Phoenicians — we  could  wish  that 
the  Greeks  had  had  a  worthier  leader — was  brought 
on  by  chance.  The  Carthaginian  troops  were  scattered 
over  the  dale  to  plunder  ;  Agathokles  sent  down  his 
men  to  do  the  like,  and  planted  an  ambush  of  picked 
men  just  on  his  own  side  of  the  river.  The  Greeks 
ventured  close  up  to  the  Carthaginian  camp,  and 
drove  away  the  beasts  of  burthen.  Punic  soldiers 
came  out  to  follow  them,  and  they  were  cunningly  led 
to  the  spot  where  the  liers-in-wait  sprang  up  and  cut 
them  in  pieces.  Then  Agathokles  thought  the  time 
was  come  for  a  general  attack.  He  led  his  whole 
force  to  the  Punic  camp  ;  the  Greeks  began  to  fill  up 
the  ditch,  to  tear  up  the  palisades,  and  to  make  their 


BATTLE   OF   THE   HIMERAS.  24I 

way  in.  The  main  body  were  driven  back  by  the 
Balearic  slingers,  who  were  specially  trained  with 
their  own  weapon,  and  who  met  the  Greeks  with  a 
storm  of  great  stones.  Still  the  Greeks  broke  in  at 
various  points,  and  the  camp  had  almost  again  fallen 
into  their  hands,  when  the  scale  was  turned  by  the 
landing  of  a  new  body  of  Punic  troops.  These  had 
doubtless  been  sent  from  Carthage  to  make  up  for 
those  who  had  been  lost  in  the  shipwreck.  They  at 
once  set  upon  the  Greeks,  who  were  now  hemmed  in 
on  both  sides  and  gave  way.  Agathokles  and  his 
army  were  now  driven  to  flight.  It  was  the  very 
noon  of  a  hot  summer's  day  ;  the  heat  was  frightful  ; 
some  died  of  the  heat  and  the  toil,  or  of  quenching  their 
thirst  with  the  unwholesome  waters  of  the  salt  river. 
The  battle  was  utterly  lost,  the  first  time  that  a  great 
battle  between  the  Greeks  and  Phoenicians  had  been 
lost  hy  the  Greeks.  The  Carthaginians  had  stormed 
several  Greek  towns ;  but  Gelon,  Dionysios,  and 
Timoleon  had  all  had  the  better  in  their  chief  battles. 
It  fared  otherwise  with  Agathokles. 

All  the  towns  of  central  and  eastern  Sicily  now 
began  to  fall  away  from  Agathokles  and  to  join  the 
Carthaginians.  His  cruelties  had  made  him  generally 
hated  ;  and  Hamilkar  took  care  to  act  in  exactly  the 
opposite  way,  and  to  win  men  and  cities  over  by  good 
treatment.  But  Agathokles  had  a  greater  plan  than 
all  in  view.  By  his  cunning  stratagems  he  was  able 
to  draw  off  the  Punic  forces  to  Gela  ;  he  got  safely 
to  Syracuse,  and.  was  able  to  gather  in  provisions  and 
all  that  he  needed,  while  he  made  ready  for  the  most 
daring  enterprise  that  anyman  had  ever  yet  thought  of 

17 


242  THE    TYRANNY   OF  AGATHOKLES. 

This  was  no  other  than  to  carry  the  war  into 
Africa.  Agathokles  believed  that  in  no  other  way 
could  he  strike  so  heavy  a  blow  at  Carthage.  He 
might  thereby  recover  his  own  position  in  Sicily 
by  drawing  the  Carthaginians  off  to  the  defence  of 
their  own  homes.  The  blow  would  be  more  than  un- 
looked  for  ;  it  was  something  that  had  never  come 
into  men's  minds.  Since  the  Phoenicians  had  settled 
in  Africa,  no  enemy  was  known  to  have  attacked 
them  in  their  own  land.  That  land  was  fruitful  and 
rich  beyond  all  lands  ;  none  offered  such  a  plunder. 
The  Carthaginians  were  hated  by  their  African 
subjects,  and  moreover  were  not  loved  by  the  other 
Phoenician  towns.  Agathokles  therefore  held  that  the 
weak  point  of  Carthage  was  really  in  Africa,  that  a 
bold  attack  would  at  once  lead  to  the  revolt  of  her 
African  subjects,  and  that,  if  nothing  more  came,  the 
Punic  forces  would  be  withdrawn  from  Sicily.  He 
formed  his  plan  therefore,  and  told  it  to  no  man.  He 
made  everything  ready,  including  a  good  deal  of 
extortion,  and  some  slaughtering,  among  those  whom 
he  suspected.  But  both  his  mercenaries  and  the 
mass  of  the  Syracusans  still  trusted  him,  even  after 
his  great  defeat.  When  he  told  them  that  he  was 
going  to  sail  somewhither  for  the  advantage  of 
Syracuse,  they  still  believed  him. 

Syracuse  was  not  at  this  time  really  besieged  ; 
but  a  Punic  fleet  watched  the  mouths  of  the  harbours. 
Agathokles  had  therefore  to  watch  his  time  to  get 
out.  At  last,  at  a  lucky  moment,  he  contrived  to 
sail  forth  with  his  fleet,  taking  with  him  a  large 
force,  citizen  and  mercenary,  Greek  and    barbarian. 


HE   LANDS  IN  AFRICA.  243 

He  left  his  brother  Antandros  to  command  in 
Syracuse ;  his  two  sons,  Archagathos  and  Hera- 
klcides,  went  with  him.  Many  guesses  were  made  as 
to  his  intended  course  ;  but  none  knew.  The  next 
day  the  whole  fleet  was  frightened  by  an  ecHpse  of 
the  sun  (Aug.  15th,  B.C.  310)  ;  but  all  still  obeyed,  and 
on  the  seventh  day  of  their  voyage  they  reached 
Africa.  They  landed  in  the  peninsula  opposite  to 
Carthage,  a  little  way  south-west  of  the  promontory 
now  known  as  Cape  I?on.  The  Carthaginian  fleet 
had  followed  them  ;  but  the  Greeks  landed  first. 
Agathokles  then,  with  a  solemn  ceremony,  burned  his 
ships  as  an  offering  to  the  goddesses  of  Sicily,  The 
action  seemed  mad  ;  but,  if  they  were  defeated,  they 
could  not  sail  back  in  the  teeth  of  the  Punic  fleet, 
and  if  they  were  victorious,  the  Punic  fleet  would  be 
theirs. 

So  the  first  European  army  that  ever  set  foot  in 
Phoenician  Africa  landed  under  the  command  of 
Agathokles  of  Syracuse.  He  led  the  way,  and  many 
others  in  dificrent  ages  came  after  him.  For  a  while 
he  went  on  conquering  and  to  conquer.  The  fruitful 
and  well-tilled  land,  the  rich  houses  and  gardens  of 
the  great  men  of  Carthage,  lay  as  a  spoil  before 
him.  Presently  he  reached  the  town  of  Tunis, 
lying  at  the  end  of  the  lake  at  whose  mouth  Carthage 
stands,  and  looking  out  at  the  great  city  itself  We 
are  not  told  how  Agathokles  got  possession  of  it  ;  the 
men  of  Tunis  may  well  have  welcomed  him  as  a 
deliverer  from  Carthaginian  dominion.  At  any 
rate  he  made  Tunis  his  head-quarters  throughout 
the  war.      The  Carthaginians  now  made  all  things 


244  ^^^    TYRANNY   OF   AGATHOKLES. 

ready  for  defence,  and  put  two  generals,  Hannon 
and  Bomilkar,  at  the  head  of  their  army.  This 
was  on  the  strange  ground  that  they  were  personal 
enemies,  and  would  therefore  each  try  to  excel  the 
other.  Hannon  was  a  brave  soldier,  and  did  his 
duty ;  Bomilkar  was  already  suspected  of  aiming  at 
tyranny,  and  was  perhaps  in  league  with  Agathokles. 
A  battle  followed  between  Tunis  and  Carthage, 
which  reversed  the  fortunes  of  the  fight  by  the 
Himeras.  The  Greeks  won  a  great  victory,  putting 
the  Sacred  Band  of  Carthage  to  flight,  and  taking 
the  Punic  camp.  The  whole  open  country  was 
now  in  the  hands  of  Agathokles.  The  Cartha- 
ginians could  only  keep  themselves  shut  up  in  their 
city.  Their  consciences  smote  them  that  they  had 
neglected  the  due  honours  of  their  gods.  So  they 
sent  sacred  embassies  to  their  metropolis  Tyre,  and 
caused  five  hundred  children  of  the  chief  houses  of 
Carthage  to  pass  through  the  fire  to  Moloch. 

The  Carthaginians  had  one  small  comfort  ;  they 
had  got  hold  of  the  brazen  prows  of  the  ships  that 
Agathokles  had  burned.  These  were  sent  to  Hamil- 
kar  in  Sicily  with  the  true  story  for  his  own  ear,  but 
with  orders  to  spread  abroad  a  report  that  Agathokles 
had  been  utterly  defeated  by  land  and  sea,  and  that 
these  prows  were  the  spoils.  This  caused  great  fear 
in  Syracuse,  and  Antandros  drove  out  all  friends  and 
kinsfolk  of  the  exiles,  as  dangerous  persons  at  such  a 
time.  Hamilkar  treated  them  well  ;  he  then  marched 
close  up  to  the  walls  and  called  on  the  city  to  sur- 
render. Antandros  for  a  moment  thought  of  yield- 
ing ;  but  the  Aitolian  Erymnon  had  a  stouter  heart. 


HIS  AFRICAN   CAMPAIGN.  245 

Just  at  the  moment  the  true  talc  came.  Agathoklcs 
had  sent  a  vessel  directly  after  his  victory,  which  was 
chased  by  a  Punic  ship  close  to  Syracuse  in  the 
sight  of  all  the  people.  By  great  striving  the  Syra- 
cusan  ship  came  in  with  the  news.  There  was  no 
more  thought  of  surrender,  and  an  attempt  of 
Hamilkar  to  storm  the  walls  was  defeated.  He  then 
(310)  went  away  from  Syracuse  for  several  months. 
He  was  called  on  to  send  part  of  his  army  to  the 
defence  of  Carthage,  and  he  could  do  nothing  against 
Syracuse  till  he  had  gatliered  fresh  troops. 

Meanwhile  Agathokles,  from  his  head-quarters  at 
Tunis,  was  receiving  the  submission  of  many  African 
towns,  and  pressing  Carthage  hard  without  actually 
besieging  it.  He  then  carried  his  arms  to  some  dis- 
tance ;  he  took  Hadrumetum  (now  Susa)  on  the  coast, 
and  Thapsos,  and  pressed  some  way  into  the  interior. 
This  enabled  the  Carthaginians  to  attack  his  camp 
by  Tunis  ;  but  he  turned  back  and  drove  them  away. 
His  affairs  were  also  prospering  in  Sicil}',  and  a 
ghastly  sign  of  victory  was  brought  to  him.  One 
day  he  rode  out  in  person  before  the  Carthaginian 
camp  and  showed  them  the  head  of  Hamilkar.  Even 
in  their  amazement  and  grief,  they  all  bowed  in 
reverence  to  the  head,  as  if  it  had  been  their  li\ing 
commander.  The  head  of  Hamilkar  told  a  truer 
story  than  the  brazen  prows  had  told.  After  some 
months  waiting  (309),  Hamilkar,  in  concert  with  the 
Syracusan  exile  Deinokrates,  had  got  together  a  great 
army,  Greek  and  barbarian,  for  another  and  more 
dangerous  attack  on  Syracuse.  The  plan  was  to  sit 
down  and  besiege  the  city  from  the  01)mpieion,  as 


246  THE    TYRANNY   OF  AGATHOKLES. 

SO  many  had  done  before.  But  the  soothsayers 
told  Hamilkar  that  the  sacrifices  foretold  that  he 
should  sup  in  Syracuse  the  next  day.  This  stirred 
him  up  to  an  immediate  attack.  The  army  went 
round  in  the  night  by  the  same  path  that  De- 
mosthenes had  gone.  They  tried  in  the  like  sort 
to  climb  up  Epipolai  on  the  north  side,  a  harder 
work  since  Dionysios  had  built  his  walls  and  his 
strong  castle.  This  attack  was  badly  managed,  and 
was  utterly  defeated.  Hamilkar  himself  was  taken 
prisoner ;  he  was  led  through  the  city,  shamefully 
abused,  and  at  last  put  to  death.  His  head  was  sent 
to  Agathokles,  who,  as  we  have  seen,  knew  what  to 
do  with  it. 

A  strange  mutiny  followed  in  the  army  of  Aga- 
thokles, which  shows  how  dangerous  dealings  were 
with  mercenary  soldiers.  A  drunken  brawl  arose 
between  his  son  Archagathos  and  an  Aitolian  officer 
named  Lykiskos,  in  which  Lykiskos  was  killed.  The 
whole  body  of  mercenaries  rose.  They  demanded 
the  death  of  Archagathos  ;  they  demanded  their 
pay  ;  they  chose  new  generals,  and  took  possession 
of  Tunis,  leaving  Agathokles  to  himself  The  Cartha- 
ginians, hearing  this,  offered  higher  pay  and  rewards 
to  the  soldiers,  if  they  would  come  over  to  their 
service.  Many  of  the  officers  were  inclined  to 
accept  the  offer ;  Agathokles  feared  that  he  was 
about  to  be  handed  over  to  the  enemy,  when  he 
tried  one  last  chance.  He  threw  aside  his  general's 
dress  ;  he  harangued  the  soldiers ;  he  told  them  of  all 
their  exploits  ;  he  called  on  them  not  to  betray  him; 
he  would  rather  die    by  their  hands  than    by  those 


MURDER   OF   OPHELLAS.  247 

of  the  Carthaginians.  They  were  stirred  at  once  ; 
shouts  were  raised  in  his  favour  ;  he  was  called  on 
to  put  on  his  general's  dress  again,  and  to  lead  them 
as  before.  He  struck  while  the  iron  was  hot.  The 
enemy  were  looking  for  the  mercenaries  to  join  them; 
but  the  trumpet  sounded  the  war-note  ;  the  Greeks 
charged,  and  drove  the  Carthaginians  back  to  their 
camp.  Two  hundred  only  deserted  to  the  Cartha- 
ginians. 

Agathokles  was  thus  strangely  successful,  and  he 
went  on  winning  successes  ;  but  he  saw  that  to  take 
Carthage  was  still  beyond  his  power.  He  therefore 
sought  for  an  ally  in  Ophelias,  the  Macedonian 
officer  who  commanded  at  Kyrene  for  Ptolem}'  lord  of 
Egypt.  The  old  kings  of  Kyrene,  and  the  common- 
wealth too,  had  passed  away ;  the  land  had  become 
part  of  Ptolemy's  dominion.  Agathokles  proposed 
to  Ophelias  to  join  him  in  the  conquest  of  Carthage. 
He  would  leave  Africa  to  Ophelias,  and  he  would  then 
go  back  to  drive  the  Phoenicians  out  of  Sicily. 
Ophelias  believed  him  ;  he  gathered  an  army  and 
many  colonists  from  all  parts,  and  after  a  march  of 
two  months  he  reached  the  Syracusan  camp  at  Tunis 
(307).  Agathokles  received  them  friendly  ;  but  after 
a  few  days  he  accused  Ophelias  of  plotting  against 
him,  and  set  upon  him  with  his  own  men.  Then  he 
slew  him.  The  army  of  Ophelias,  not  knowing  what 
to  do,  entered  the  service  of  Agathokles. 

Agathokles  had  now  a  stronger  force  than  ever, 
and  about  this  time  new^s  came  that  all  the  Mace- 
donian commanders  in  the  East,  now  that  the  house 
of  Alexander    was    extinct,    had    taken    the  title  of 


248  THE    TYRANNY   OF  AGATIIOKLES. 

kings.  The  general  or  tyrant  of  Syracuse,  carrying 
on  a  successful  war  in  Africa,  thought  he  was  as 
great  as  any  of  them,  and  called  himself  king  also. 
First  of  Sicilian  rulers,  he  put  his  name  and  kingly 
title  on  the  coin,  but  he  did  not  go  so  far  as  to  put 
his  head.  Nor  did  the  new  king  wear  the  diadem  ; 
a  sacred  wreath  belonging  to  a  priesthood  that  he 
held  was  enough  for  him.  In  the  strength  of  his 
kingship  he  went  on  to  new  conquests,  taking  Utica 
and  other  towns  which  still  clave  to  Carthage,  and 
slaughtering  their  inhabitants  as  usual.  Carthage 
was  now  more  closely  hemmed  in  than  ever  ;  but 
there  was  still  no  sign  of  the  city  being  taken. 

The  kings  of  that  age  called  themselves  simply 
"  King,"  without  adding  the  name  of  any  particular 
kingdom.  So  King  Agathokles  did  not  call  himself 
King  of  Syracuse  or  King  of  Sicily.  This  last  he 
was  far  from  being  ;  besides  the  Phoenician  posses- 
sions, many  of  the  Hellenic  and  hellenized  towns 
had  turned  against  him.  After  the  defeat  and  death 
of  Hamilkar  at  Syracuse,  the  Akragantincs  thought 
themselves  strong  enough  to  take  up  the  cause  of 
independence  against  Agathokles,  without  help  either 
from  Carthage  or  from  Deinokrates  and  the  exiles. 
They  proclaimed  an  alliance  of  all  cities  that  would 
join  under  the  leadership  of  Akragas ;  they  were 
ready  to  help  any  that  were  ready  to  throw  off  the 
dominion  of  Agathokles.  A  crowd  of  towns,  both 
strictly  Greek  and  those  Sikel  towns  which  had 
become  practically  Greek,  speedily  joined  them. 
Gela,  metropolis  of  Akragas,  was  the  first ;  then  came 
I  Icnna,  by  this  time  no  doubt  reverenced  everywhere 


AGATHOKL&S   KING.  249 

as  the  holy  seat  of  the  goddesses.  Presently  others 
were  won,  till  the  lieutenants  of  the  absent  Agathokles 
seem  to  have  kept  nothing  for  their  master  beyond 
the  actual  territory  of  Syracuse.  Akragas  had  thus 
far  been  in  alliance  with  Carthage ;  but  such  an 
alliance  was  unnatural,  and  had  been  made  simply 
out  of  common  enmity  to  Agathokles.  Presently 
the  Akragantines  and  their  allies  began  to  deliver 
the  towns  that  were  in  bondage  to  Carthage,  among 
which  we  can  specially  see  Herakleia  on  the  south 
coast,  the  scene  of  the  legend  of  Minos,  now  known 
as  the  Phoenician  J^as  JMclkart.  Thus  there  were 
three  wars  going  on  in  Sicily  at  once.  The  Akragan- 
tine  alliance  was  at  war  both  with  Carthage  and  with 
Agathokles,  and  Agathokles  and  Carthage  were  at 
war  with  one  another.  But  both  of  these  last  were 
too  busy  in  Africa  to  do  much  in  Sicily.  Punic  ships 
cruised  off  the  harbour  of  Syracuse  to  keep  corn- 
ships  from  coming  in,  and  that  was  about  all.  For 
about  two  years  (309-307)  the  Akragantine  alliance 
was  able  to  go  on  with  very  little  hindrance  in  the 
work  of  deliverance.  At  last  (307),  its  general  Xeno- 
dikos  ventured  to  attack  the  Syracusan  territory  itself 
But  he  was  defeated  by  Leptincs  and  Damophilos, 
the  generals  of  Agathokles.  The  Akragantines  were 
so  disheartened  by  this  failure  that  they  gave  up 
their  great  schemes  of  deliverance,  and  their  alliance 
fell  asunder.  Xenodikos  remained  general  of  the 
single  commonwealth  of  Akragas  only. 

Just  after  this  victory  of  his  generals,  Agathokles, 
the  new  king,  came  back  from  Africa,  leaving  his  son 
Archafjathos  in  command  there.     He  sailed  to  Scli- 


250  THE    TYRANNY   OF  AGATIIOKLES. 

nous,  and  thence  struck  a  blow  at  Carthage  and 
Akragas  at  once  by  seizing  the  lately  freed  town  of 
Herakleia.  He  then  crossed  to  the  northern  side  of  the 
island,  to  his  own  birthplace  of  Therma,  still  a  Punic 
possession.  There  he  made  some  kind  of  terms ; 
thence  he  went  on  and  took  the  hill-town  of  Cepha- 
loedium  with  its  ancient  walls  by  the  sea  ;  thence  he 
struck  inland,  and  failed  in  an  attempt  to  take  Cen- 
turipa  by  treason.  He  failed  in  a  like  attempt  on 
Apollonia,  but  after  two  days'  fighting  he  took  it  by 
storm.  It  is  important  to  mark  these  once  Sikel 
towns,  now  spoken  of  without  any  distinction  from  the 
Greek  towns,  and  seeming  to  be  thought  of  equal 
importance. 

Just  at  this  time  the  cause  of  the  independence  of 
the  Sicilian  cities  against  Agathokles  was  again  pro- 
claimed, this  time  by  the  Syracusan  exile  Deino- 
krates.  Many  flocked  to  him  from  all  parts  ;  as  a 
private  adventurer,  he  was  not  so  well  to  be  trusted 
as  an  established  commonwealth  like  Akragas,  but  his 
fellow  exiles,  tried  in  warfare,  were  better  soldiers  than 
the  levies  of  Akragas  and  the  other  cities.  He  kept 
Agathokles  himself  in  check  ;  he  offered  battle,  which 
the  tyrant  did  not  venture  to  accept.  The  cause  of 
the  t}'rant  seemed  sinking  both  in  Sicily  and  in 
Africa.  There  Archagathos  still  held  Tunis  ;  but  he 
underwent  several  defeats  from  the  Carthaginians,  and 
earnestly  prayed  his  father  to  come  to  his  help.  Just 
at  that  moment  fortune  turned  in  Agathokles'  favour. 
He  himself,  with  the  help  of  some  Etruscan  ships, 
overcame  the  Punic  fleet  before  S}Tacuse  ;  he  brought 
in  provisions  to  the  cit)',  and  had  the  sea  clear  for 


END   OF   THE   AFRICAN   EXPEDITION.  25 1 

the  way  to  Africa.  About  the  same  time  Leptines 
invaded  the  Akragantine  territory  and  defeated 
Xenodikos,  who  was  so  blamed  by  his  own  people 
for  his  two  defeats  that  he  withdrew  to  Gela. 
Greatly  cheered  by  these  two  victories,  Agathokles 
left  Leptines  in  Sicily  and  again  sailed  back  to 
Africa. 

But  he  found  that  he  had  no  real  hope  of  success 
there.  He  himself  suffered  a  defeat  in  attacking  the 
Punic  camp  before  Tunis.  A  wonderful  night  fol- 
lowed in  both  camps.  The  Carthaginians  burned 
their  choicest  captives  to  their  gods.  In  so  doing  they 
set  fire  to  their  camp,  and  they  might  easily  have 
been  set  upon  and  routed  in  the  confusion.  But 
Agathokles'  own  camp  was  in  no  less  confusion. 
Seeing  that  success  was  hopeless,  and  having  a  private 
quarrel  with  his  son  Archagathos,  he  determined  to 
decamp  privily  with  his  other  son  Herakleides  and  to 
leave  Archagathos  and  the  army  to  their  fate.  But 
the  scheme  was  found  out  by  Archagathos  and  the 
soldiers,  and  Agathokles  was  put  in  bonds  in  his  own 
camp.  But  a  cry  came  that  the  enemy  was  attacking 
the  camp.  At  such  a  moment  who  could  lead  them 
like  their  old  general  and  king .?  Agathokles  was 
brought  out  in  chains  ;  the  one  cry  was  to  set  him 
free.  But  the  moment  he  was  free,  he  got  away  ;  he 
found  a  boat  and  sailed  off  with  a  few  companions 
for  Sicily  (November,  B.C.  307).  The  soldiers  slew 
his  sons  and  then  made  peace  with  the  Carthaginians. 
So  the  famous  African  expedition  of  Agathokles 
came  to  an  end  in  utter  discomfiture.  He  had  not 
strengthened  his  own  power  ;  he  had  not  seriously 


252  THE    TYRANNY   OF    AGATHOKLES. 

weakened  the  power  of  Carthage.  But  he  had 
planned  and  carried  out,  and  for  a  while  succeeded 
in,  the  most  daring  enterprise  that  man  had  ever 
planned.  And  if  he  himself  came  back  defeated,  he 
pointed  the  way  to  others  who  came  back  victorious. 

One  mourns  again  that  the  first  man  to  brave  the 
Phoenician  at  home  should  have  been  such  an  one  as 
Agathokles.  Soured  by  disappointment,  he  came 
back  to  Sicily  in  a  more  savage  mood  than  ever.  He 
landed  at  Selinous  ;  he  made  first  for  Segesta,  the 
old  Elymian  city  of  which  we  have  not  lately  heard 
much.  It  is  said  to  have  been  in  alliance  with  him  ; 
but  no  barbarian  ever  treated  a  city  of  enemies  worse 
than  Agathokles,  in  his  wrath  and  disappointment, 
treated  his  friends.  He  demanded  a  great  contribu- 
tion, and  when  the  people  of  Segesta  were  loath  to 
pay  it,  he  charged  them  with  plotting  against  him. 
On  this  ground  he  slew  the  great  mass  of  the  people, 
save  only  the  boys  and  maidens,  whom  he  sold  to  the 
Bruttians,  in  Italy.  And  he  not  only  slew,  but,  what 
the  worst  Greeks  seldom  did,  he  put  to  death  by 
torture.  He  is  said  to  have  revived  the  old  device  of 
Phalaris ;  only,  instead  of  a  brazen  bull,  it  was  a 
brazen  bed,  on  which  he  could  not  only  hear  but  see 
the  sufferings  of  the  victims.  Then,  having  emptied 
the  town  of  its  old  inhabitants,  he  peopled  it  afresh 
with  a  mixed  multitude,  and  gave  it  the  new  name  of 
Dikaiopolis — City  of  Righteousness.  But  the  name 
of  Segesta  soon  came  back,  and  the  new  inhabitants 
took  up  the  old  Trojan  tradition.  But  the  city  never 
was  what  it  had  been  before  ;  the  great  temple,  which 


254  ^^^    TYRANNY   OF   AGATHOKLES. 

must  have  been  in-building  when  Agathokles  came, 
is  still  unfinished. 

It  seems  to  have  been  while  Agathokles  was  at 
Segesta  that  he  heard  the  news  from  Africa,  the 
murder  of  his  sons  and  the  rest.  In  his  wrath  he  sent 
orders  to  his  brother  Antandros,  who  commanded  for 
him  at  Syracuse,  to  put  to  death  all  the  kinsfolk, 
young  and  old,  of  the  men  who  had  served  with  him 
in  Africa.  And  the  thing  was  done.  It  is  wonderful 
that  the  man  who  did  such  deeds  as  these  two  last 
was  allowed  to  live  for  seventeen  years  longer,  and 
then  did  not  die  in  any  public  outbreak. 

The  most  wonderful  thing  in  the  life  of  Agathokles 
is  the  strange  course  of  ups  and  downs  that  he  went 
through.  When  his  power  seemed  on  the  point  of 
wholly  passing  away,  it  rose  up  again  higher  than 
before.  It  was  so  when,  just  after  his  great  defeat  in 
Sicily,  he  went  on  his  expedition  to  Africa  ;  it  is  so 
now  that  he  has  come  back  defeated  from  Africa  to 
find  stronger  enemies  in  Sicily  than  ever.  A  great 
part  of  Greek  Sicily  was  already  joined  against  him 
under  the  leadership  of  Deinokrates.  When  he  came 
back  discomfited  from  Africa,  his  own  general  Pasiphi- 
los,  thinking  that  his  power  was  now  at  an  end,  joined 
Deinokrates,  carrying  with  him  a  large  force  and  the 
possession  of  many  towns  which  he  held  for  Agatho- 
kles. We  can  see  that  among  these  were  Therma  and 
Cephaloedium,  which  he  had  seized  on  his  first  return 
from  Africa.  Indeed  it  would  seem  that  Agathokles 
could  just  now  have  kept  very  little  beyond  Syracuse 
and  its  immediate  territory.  The  desertion  of  Pasi- 
philos  is  said  to  have  put  the  tyrant  so  utterly  out  of 


AGATHOKLES   AND   DEINOKRATES.  255 

heart  that  he  thought  of  giving  up  all  attempts  to 
keep  any  great  dominion.  He  certainly  entered  into 
a  negotiation  which  had  very  much  that  look  ;  but  it 
seems  far  more  likely  that  he  was  acting  in  subtlety. 
He  sent  to  Deinokrates,  proposing  to  give  up  all 
dominion  at  Syracuse.  Syracuse  should  again  be  a 
free  city,  and  Deinokrates  should  come  back  as  one 
of  its  citizens.  For  himself  he  only  asked  for  two 
towns,  his  own  birth-place  Therma  and  Cephaloedium, 
just  to  live  in.  This  did  not  at  all  suit  the  purposes 
of  Deinokrates.  Whatever  he  had  been  when  he  had 
left  Syracuse,  he  had  now  put  on  habits  of  command  ; 
he  wished  to  be  a  ruler  of  some  kind  ;  he  had  no 
mind  to  go  back  to  Syracuse  as  one  citizen  in  a  com- 
monwealth. It  must  have  been  amusing  when  Aga- 
thoklcs  sent  over  and  over  again  to  beg  for  his  two 
towns,  and  Deinokrates  kept  putting  him  off  with  all 
manner  of  excuses.  But  all  this  while  Agathokles 
was  practising  with  the  followers  of  Deinokrates  till 
he  won  many  of  them  to  his  interests.  He  then  made 
a  treaty  by  which,  to  be  safe  on  the  side  of  Carthage, 
he  acknowledged  the  right  of  the  Carthaginians  to  all 
that  they  had  ever  held  in  Sicily.  This  would  take 
in  his  own  Therma  which  he  had  been  just  asking  for 
himself  In  return  for  his  acknowledgement  he 
received  a  large  supply  of  money  and  corn,  which  was 
very  useful  to  him  just  then. 

Agathokles  now  thought  it  was  time  to  try  his 
luck  against  Deinokrates.  He  had  much  the  smaller 
army  of  the  two,  but  he  knew  that  many  of  Deino- 
krates' men  would  come  over  to  him.  And  so  they 
did.     The    armies    met    at    a  place  called  Torgium, 


256  THE    TYRANNY   OF  AGATHOKLES. 

which  seems  to  be  the  modern  Caltavulturo,  lying 
some  way  inland  both  from  Termini  and  Cefalu 
(Therma  and  Cephaloedium),  the  towns  which  just 
now  were  most  concerned.  When  the  battle 
began,  two  thousand  men  of  Deinokrates'  army 
went  over  to  Agathokles.  This  still  left  Deino- 
krates' force  much  the  stronger,  but  it  was  enough  to 
throw  everything  into  confusion.  Deinokrates'  men 
gave  way ;  Agathokles  pursued  awhile  and  then 
made  a  proclamation.  He  did  not  want  to  do  them 
any  further  hurt ;  they  had  learned  by  defeat  at  the 
hands  of  a  smaller  army  that  it  was  no  use  standing 
against  him  ;  they  had  better  go  quietly  to  their  own 
homes.  And  so  most  of  them  did.  But  there  was 
one  body,  perhaps  Syracusan  exiles,  who  kept 
together  and  occupied  a  strong  post  in  the  night. 
They  came  to  terms  with  Agathokles  under  solemn 
oaths  ;  but,  as  soon  as  they  had  laid  down  their 
arms,  his  darters  shot  them  to  death.  Not  many 
tyrants  would  have  done  such  a  deed  as  this  ;  but  it 
adds  little  to  the  shame  of  the  man  who  had  just 
wrought  the  massacres  at  Segesta  and  Syracuse. 

And  now  a  strange  agreement  was  come  to 
between  Agathokles  and  Deinokrates.  There  may 
have  been  some  dealing  between  them  all  along ; 
there  certainly  was  some  special  feeling  between 
them.  For  Agathokles  at  the  very  beginning  of  his 
tyranny,  when  he  slew  others,  let  Deinokrates  go  ; 
and  now  men  noticed  that,  while  he  broke  faith  with 
every  one  else,  he  always  kept  it  with  Deinokrates. 
Deinokrates  now  entered  the  service  of  Agathokles, 
bringing   with   him    the  remnant  of  his  army.     He 


AGATHOKLES   AND    DEINOKRATES.  257 

perhaps  saw  that  he  had  no  chance  of  bcini,^  the  first 
man  in  Sicily,  but  that  under  Agathoklcs  he  mit^^ht 
be  the  second,  and  as  such,  more  powerful  than  he 
could  be  as  a  single  citizen  or  magistrate  of  Syracuse. 
He  became  Agathoklcs'  most  trusted  general.  His 
first  act  in  that  character  was  to  slay  Pasiphilos,  and 
to  hand  over  the  towns  in  his  possession  to  his  new 
master. 

Thus  Agathoklcs,  baffled  in  all  his  attempts  in 
Africa,  rose  again  to  a  greater  position  in  his  own 
island  than  he  had  ever  held  before.  He  came 
nearer  to  being  King  of  Sicily  than  any  man  had 
done  before  him.  He  was  master  of  all  the  lands 
and  cities  east  of  the  Halykos,  unless  possibly  of 
Akragas.  If  he  did  hold  Akragas,  he  was  master  of 
all  Greek  Sicily,  from  which  Sikel  Sicily  was  no  longer 
distinguished.  And  his  dominion  seems  to  have 
remained  unbroken  for  the  remaining  seventeen 
years  of  his  life.  As  in  the  case  of  Dionysios,  we 
know  much  more  of  his  earlier  days  than  of  his  later. 
But  we  see  the  undisputed  lord  or  king  of  Greek 
Sicily  in  an  altogether  new  position.  Dionysios 
spread  his  power  into  Italy,  and  even  beyond 
Hadria  ;  but  the  world  had  now  altogether  changed 
since  the  time  of  Dionysios.  All  Greece  and  the 
East,  all  the  Hellenic  and  Hellenistic  lands,  were  now 
disputed  for  among  the  kings  who  had  divided  the 
dominion  of  Alexander  among  them.  Of  those 
kings,  Agathoklcs,  as  we  have  seen,  claimed  to  be 
the  peer.  And  in  truth  his  dominion  over  Greeks 
and    hcllenizcd    Sikels    had   much    in    common    with 

18 


258  THE    TYRANNY   OF   AGATHOKhis. 

their  dominion  over  Greeks  and  other  hellenized 
nations.  Now  that  we  have  got  from  commonwealths 
to  tyrants  and  from  tyrants  to  kings,  history  becomes 
more  and  more  personal,  more  influenced  by  the 
alliances  and  family  connexions  of  particular  persons. 
That  in  B.C.  304  Agathokles  made  a  piratical  attack 
on  the  island  of  Lipara  comes  within  his  usual 
Sicilian  range  ;  that  we  should  find  him  warring  in 
Italy  is  only  what  he  had  himself  done  in  earlier 
days;  that  he  should  even  win  for  himself  a  dominion 
east  of  Hadria  is  no  more  than  Dionysios  had  done. 
What  is  special  to  Agathokles,  what  marks  his  age, 
is  that  we  find  him  warring  among  the  Macedonian 
princes  as  one  of  their  number.  He  wins  the  island 
of  Korkyra,  twin-sister  of  Syracuse,  by  hard  fighting 
from  the  Macedonian  king  Kassandros;  he  then  gives 
it  as  a  dowry  with  his  daughter  Lanassa  to  the 
Epeirot  King  Pyrrhos  ;  when  Lanassa  tires  of 
Pyrrhos  as  a  husband  and  of  her  father  as  an  ally, 
she  offers  herself  and  her  island  as  an  acceptable 
gift  to  Demetrios  the  Besieger.  Agathokles  himself 
in  his  later  years,  but  perhaps  before  Lanassa's 
marriage,  himself  takes  a  Macedonian  wife,  seemingly 
the  step-daughter  of  King  Ptolemy  of  Egypt.  His 
latter  years  are  known  only  in  a  most  fragmentary 
way  ;  but  we  see  him  several  times  waging  war  in 
southern  Italy,  and  indulging  in  treachery  and 
slaughter  to  the  last.  But  all  this  latter  time  of 
his  life  belongs  to  lands  out  of  Sicily.  Demetrios 
the  Besieger,  who  would  allow  only  himself  and  his 
father  to  be  kings  and  had  nicknames  for  all  the 
other    princes,    called    Agathokles    the    Lord  of   the 


DEATH   OF  AGATHOKLES  259 

Island.  And  so  he  was.  After  his  settlement  with 
Deinokrates,  we  hear  nothing  of  any  wars  in  Sicily. 

At  last,  when  Agatholcles  was  seventy-two  years  old 
and  had  reigned  twenty-eight  years,  he  began  to  think 
of  his  old  warfare,  and  began  to  plan  another  expedition 
against  Carthage.  To  this  end  he  got  together  a 
great  army  and  fleet,  and  had  a  camp  pitched  near 
JEtm.,  where  his  grandson  Archagathos  commanded. 
But  Agathokles  felt  himself  failing,  and  thought  it 
time  to  provide  for  the  succession.  For  this  he 
chose  his  son  Agathokles,  which  naturally  gave 
offence  to  his  grandson  Archagathos,  the  son  of  his 
elder  son,  who  moreover  had  shown  greater  capacity 
for  command.  The  old  Agathokles  sent  orders  to 
Archagathos  to  give  up  the  command  of  the  army  to 
his  uncle.  On  this  he  rebelled  ;  he  slew  his  uncle,  and 
began  to  conspire  the  death  of  his  grandfather.  He  is 
said  to  have  engaged  one  Mainon,  a  special  favourite 
of  the  old  tyrant,  whom  he  had  spared  in  the  massacre 
at  Segesta  on  account  of  his  beauty,  to  get  rid  of  him 
by  a  lingering  poison.  When  Agathokles  felt  that 
his  end  was  coming,  he  sent  away  his  wife  and  his 
young  children  to  the  care  of  King  Ptolemy  in 
Egypt,  and  was  quite  alone.  He  held  one  more 
assembly  of  the  people.  He  told  them  not  to 
continue  his  power  to  any  one  else,  and  specially  to 
punish  the  rebellion  and  impiety  of  his  grandson. 
And  so  he  died,  his  body,  some  said,  being  put  on 
the  pile  for  burning  before  he  was  fully  dead. 

So  in  the  year  289  B.C.  ended  the  dominion  of 
Agathokles,  the  bloodiest  of  all  the  tyrants  of  whom 
we  have  to  speak,  but  who  seems  to  have  kept  the 


26o 


THE    TYRANNY   OF   AGATHOKLES. 


good  will  of  at  least  the  mob  of  Syracuse  through  his 
whole  reign.  Syracuse  and  all  Sicily,  after  so  many 
revolutions,  had  almost  lost  the  power  of  free  govern- 
ment. The  death  of  Agathokles  is  followed  by  a 
time  of  utter  confusion,  till  yet  another  deliverer 
comes,  not  a  Timoleon,  not  an  Agathokles,  but  a  king 
of  heroic  stock,  and  himself  as  near  to  a  kingly  hero 
as  the  times  allowed.  When  he  had  tried  and  failed, 
all  was  over.  Sicily  had  no  hope  but  to  fall  into  the 
hands  of  the  strongest  of  her  neighbours. 


AGATHOKLES,   WriH   NAME  OF   SYRACUSE   ONLY. 


AGATHOKLES,    WITH    NAME   ONLY. 


/iOAliluKLES,    WITH    KUVAL    1111.1 


XTII. 

THE   COMING   OF   TYRRIIOS   AND   THE    RISE   OF 
IIIERON. 

B.C.    289-264. 


[For  the  acts  of  Pyrrhos  we  have  no  contemporary  narrative,  nor  any 
continuous  narrative  except  his  Life  by  Phitarch.  We  have  only  frag- 
ments of  Diodoros,  and  a  fragment  or  two  of  Dionysios  of  Halikarnassos 
also  helps  us.  Of  Livy  we  have  only  the  Epitome.  But  so  famous  a 
man  of  course  supplied  much  material  to  the  compilers  and  collectors 
of  later  times.  So  there  is  a  great  deal  of  incidental  matter  about  him. 
In  all  these  latter  times,  inscriptions,  so  rare  in  the  early  days  of  Sicily, 
are  getting  more  and  more  numerous.  And  now  that  we  have  got  into 
the  age  of  kings,  coins  begin  to  be  of  a  new  use,  as  being  marked  with 
their  heads  and  names.  And  towards  the  end  of  our  period  we  begin  to 
get  again  the  guidance  of  a  historian  of  the  first  rank,  though  not  con- 
temporary. The  early  acts  of  llieron  are  recorded  in  the  first  book  of 
Polybios.] 

On  the  death  of  Agathokles  it  is  said  that  the 
Syi'acusans  rcstoi'cd  the  democracy.  But  there  is 
no  reason  to  think  that  the  democracy  had  been 
formally  abolished.  What  is  meant  doubtless  is  that 
the  special  powers  which  had  been  granted  to  Aga- 
thokles were  not  granted  to  any  one  else,  and  that 
for  the  rnomcnt  no  one  was  able  to  seize  them  by 


262 


THE    COMIMG    OF   PYRRHOS. 


force.     So  there  was  freedom  again,  but  only  for  a 
little  while. 

Mainon  of  Segesta,  who  was  said  to  have  poisoned 
Agathokles,  was  banished.  He  betook  himself  to  the 
camp  of  Archagathos  ;  he  murdered  him,  and  took 
the  command  of  the  army  himself.  With  that  he 
warred  against  Syracuse  ;  but  the  S}'racusan  general 
Hiketas  withstood  him  till  he  made  an  alliance  with 
the  Carthaginians.  What  became  of  Mainon  we  are 
not  told  ;  but  Hiketas  fled,  and  the  citizens  had  to 
submit  to  give  hostages  to  the  Carthaginians  and  to 


MAMERTINI   AT   MESSANA. 


receive  their  exiles.  This  seems  to  mean  the  bar- 
barian mercenaries  of  Agathokles,  chiefly  Campanians, 
who  had  been  serving  under  Archagathos.  Things 
now  happened  exactly  as  they  had  happened  nearly 
two  hundred  years  before,  after  the  fall  of  Thrasy- 
boulos.  The  mercenaries  and  the  citizens  did  not 
agree  ;  but  at  last  a  peaceful  settlement  was  made 
with  the  mercenaries,  by  which  they  were  to  leave 
Sicily  and  go  back  to  their  homes.  They  set  out 
and  reached  Messana,  where  they  were  received 
friendly.  But,  just  as  their  countrymen  had  done 
at  Entclla  in  the  time  of  Dionysios,  they  seized   on 


VARIOUS    TYRANTS.  263 

the  town,  slew  the  men,  and  took  the  women  and 
children  to  themselves.  There  they  founded  a  new 
state,  a  robber  state,  which  spread  havoc  through  all 
eastern  Sicily.  They  took  the  name  of  Maincrtines, 
from  the  Latin  god  of  war,  Mamers  or  Mars,  answer- 
ing to  the  Greek  Ares.  And  they  called  the  towm  of 
Messana  Civitas  Mamei'tiuoruvi,  which  remained  its 
official  name  for  many  ages. 

The  Syracusan  general  Hiketas  must  have  betrayed 
his  trust  ;  for  we  presently  find  him  spoken  of  as 
tyrant,    in    which   character   he    reigned    nine   years 


(288-279),  Other  tyrants  arose  elsewhere,  as  Tynda- 
rion  at  Tauromenion  and  Phinti'as  at  Akragas.  This 
last  puts  his  name  on  the  coin  with  the  title  of  king ; 
Hiketas  also  puts  his  name,  but  without  the  title  ;  we 
have  not  any  heads  as  yet.  The  old  rivalry  between 
Syracuse  and  Akragas  broke  forth  again  ;  Hiketas 
overthrew  Phinti'as  in  a  battle  near  the  Heraian 
Hybla.  But  Phinti'as  was  supported  by  Carthage ; 
the  Punic  troops  pressed  Syracuse  hard,  while  Phin- 
ti'as was  able  to  form  a  large  dominion.  We  read 
incidentally  that  Agyrium  revolted  against  him,  which 
shows  how  far  his  power  had  stretched,     Thus  nearly 


264  THE    COMING    OF   PYRRHOS. 

all  Sicily  was  divided  between  two  Greek  and  two 
barbarian  powers  :  Phinti'as  at  Akragas,  Hiketas  at 
Syracuse,  the  Carthaginians,  and  the  Mamertines. 
These  last  carried  their  ravages  so  far  as  to  reach  the 
southern  coast  and  to  destroy  the  city  of  Gela. 

We  hear  of  the  cruelty  of  Phinti'as,  and  also  how  he 
afterwards  mended  his  ways.  But  he  must  iiave  been 
hated  at  Akragas  ;  for  we  find  that  he  was  driven 
out,  and  that  the  Akragantincs  even  took  in  a  Cartha- 
ginian garrison  to  keep  him  from  coming  in  again. 
Yet  in  the  course  of  his  reign  he  did  at  least  one 
good  act.  When  Gela,  the  metropolis  of  Akragas, 
was  destroyed  by  the  Mamertines,  he  built  a  new 
town  for  the  homeless  citizens.  It  stood  just  within 
the  territory  of  Akragas,  at  the  foot  of  the  hill  of 
Eknomos  and  by  the  southern  river  Himeras,  just 
where  Agathokles  underwent  his  great  defeat  at 
the  hands  of  Hamilkar.  He  called  his  new  town 
after  his  own  name,  Phintias  ;  but  the  people  still 
called  themselves  Geloans,  just  as  the  people  of 
Therma  called  themselves  Himeraians.  Phintias  was 
the  last  Greek  city  founded  in  Sicily,  and  it  abides 
still  by  the  name  of  Licata. 

About  the  year  279  the  power  of  Hiketas  at  Syra- 
cuse was  upset  by  one  Thoinon.  Presently  we  find 
Thoinon  commanding  a  garrison  in  the  Island,  while 
one  Sosistratos  commands  in  the  rest  of  the  city. 
The  two  quarrelled,  and  led  their  soldiers  against  one 
another.  Yet  they  do  not  seem  to  have  been  strictly 
tyrants,  such  as  held  parts  of  the  city  at  the  time 
when  Timoleon  came  ;  they  were  rather  mere  insub- 
ordinate officers.   Meanwhile  the  Carthaginians  pressed 


PVRRHOS    OF   EPEIROS.  265 

S)'racuse  hard  by  land  and  sea,  and  the  Punic  fleet 
entered  the  Great  Harbour.  In  this  strait  the  rival 
commanders  and  all  the  citizens  agreed  to  ask  for 
help  from  outside.  A  cry  went  up,  not  only  from 
Syracuse  but  from  all  Greek  Sicily,  calling  on  the 
greatest  Greek  prince  of  the  time  to  come  and  help 
all  the  Greeks  of  the  island,  alike  against  Cartha- 
ginians, Mamertines,  and  tyrants. 

This  was  Pyrrhos,  King  of  Epeiros,  the  last  and 
most  famous  of  the  men  who,  from  Archidamos 
onwards,  came  from  Old  Greece  to  help,  or  to  pro- 
fess to  help,  the  Greeks  of  Sicily  and  Italy.  He 
was  now  in  Italy,  warring  against  the  Romans  on 
behalf  of  the  Tarantines.  He  was  about  forty  years 
old,  having  been  born  in  318,  just  before  Agathokles 
rose  to  power.  He  was  the  near  kinsman  of  the 
I^peirot  King  Alexander  who  had  died  in  Italy,  and 
he  was  believed,  like  him,  to  come  of  the  heroic  stock 
of  Achillcus.  Those  were  wild  days  in  Greece  and 
the  neighbouring  lands,  when  each  of  the  kings  strove 
to  win  all  the  territory  that  he  could,  and  many  of 
them  arose  and  fell  several  times.  Pyrrhos  had  his 
ups  and  downs  from  his  childhood.  He  had  been  in 
exile  and  had  come  back  more  than  once  ;  he  won 
and  lost  Macedonia  more  than  once.  But  he  had 
greatly  enlarged  his  hereditary  kingdom,  and  he  was 
now  reigning  in  honour  as  the  most  renowned  prince 
of  his  time.  For  though  he  was  as  ambitious  and  as 
fond  of  fighting  as  any  of  the  other  kings,  he  had 
higher  qualities  than  the  rest.  He  was  held  after  his 
death  to  have  been  the  greatest  commander  after 
Alexander.     And  assuredly  no  man  ever  was  braver 


266  THE    COMING    OF   PYRRHOS. 

or  more  skilful  in  battle  ;  but  he  was  too  much  of  a 
knight-errant  to  carry  out  a  whole  war  wisely.  He 
was  not  treacherous  or  wantonly  cruel  ;  he  was  beloved 
by  his  soldiers  and  subjects  and  admired  by  his  enemies. 
In  short  he  was  the  very  model  of  a  warrior-king,  a 
character  as  much  above  Agathokles  as  it  was  below 
Timoleon.  In  281  he  had  been  asked  by  the  Taran- 
tines  to  come  to  their  help,  and  the  next  year  he  had 
gone  over  himself  with  a  great  force  of  all  kinds, 
including  elephants.  Since  the  wars  of  Alexander, 
these  beasts  had  been  brought  into  Europe,  and  now 
they  appeared  for  the  first  time  in  the  West. 

The  war  of  Pyrrhos  with  the  Romans  is  one  of  the 
most  famous  in  history,  through  the  many  stories 
that  are  preserved  of  it.  His  war  in  Sicil}^  is  not 
nearly  so  well  known  ;  but  it  is  a  memorable  tale. 
The  two  are  really  parts  of  one  enterprise.  Pyrrhos 
sought  to  free  the  Greeks  of  the  West  from  all  bar- 
barians, Carthaginians,  Romans,  or  any  others, 
and  then  to  set  up  a  great  Greek  power  in  the  West 
such  as  the  other  kings  had  set  up  in  the  East.  Of 
republican  freedom  there  would  be  an  end  ;  and  in 
truth  there  was  an  end  already.  Pyrrhos,  as  a  king, 
did  not  come,  like  Timoleon,  simply  to  deliver, 
but  to  reign  over  those  whom  he  delivered.  The 
like  had  been  the  aim  of  the  princes  who  came 
before  him  ;  but  he  came  nearer  to  success  than  any 
of  them.  If  he  had  succeeded,  the  whole  history  of 
the  world  would  have  been  changed  ;  Rome,  if  not 
altogether  conquered,  could  not  have  come  to  be  the 
head  even  of  Italy.  As  it  was,  Pyrrhos  simply  came 
like    a    thunderbolt    on     Italy    and     Sicily,    and    did 


HELLAS,   CARTHAGE,   AND    ROME.  267 

nothing  lasting.  It  must  be  marked  that  the  Romans 
and  Carthaginians,  whom  we  shall  presently  find  such 
fierce  enemies,  are  as  yet  friendly  powers,  and  the 
coming  of  Pyrrhos  made  them  allied  powers.  He 
had  to  fight  against  both.  It  might  seem  that,  as  in 
the  days  of  Gelon,  two  great  barbarian  powers  were 
leagued  against  Hellas,  Carthage  and  Rome,  as  once 
Carthage  and  Persia.  But  Rome,  though  in  the 
Greek  sense  a  barbarian  power,  was  not  like  Carthage 
or  Persia.  It  was  a  power  thoroughly  European, 
ready  to  take  up  the  championship  of  Europe  against 
Asia  and  Africa  when  Greece  could  no  longer  hold  it. 
It  was  the  two  years'  warfare  of  Pyrrhos  in  Sicily 
(278-276)  which  showed  that  so  it  must  be.  In 
Italy  he  won  two  great  battles  over  the  Romans ;  but 
his  victories  were  so  dearly  bought,  with  such  hard 
fighting  and  with  such  heavy  loss,  that  they  were 
almost  like  defeats.  When  he  was  prayed  to  come 
into  Sicily,  he  was  glad  to  make  a  truce  with  the 
Romans  and  to  try  his  luck  in  a  new  field.  In  Sicily 
he  had  no  great  battles  to  fight ;  but  he  had  hard 
work  none  the  less.  He  had  to  take  his  whole  force, 
elephants  and  all,  by  sea  ;  for  the  Mamertines  held 
the  strait,  and  were  leagued  with  the  Carthaginians 
to  keep  him  out  of  Sicily.  He  avoided  them,  and 
landed  at  Tauromenion,  where  the  tyrant  Tyndarion 
joined  him.  He  was  joyfully  welcomed  at  Katane  ; 
as  he  came  near  to  Syracuse,  Thoinon  came  to  meet 
him  with  a  body  of  ships  ;  he  and  Sosistratos  gave 
up  to  him  all  their  troops,  stores,  and  military 
engines,  and  the  whole  city  received  him  with  de- 
light.    His  fleet,  Epcirot  and  Syracusan,  was  so  strong 


268  THE    COMING    OF   PYRRHOS. 

that  the  Punic  ships  in  the  Great  Harbour  sailed 
away  without  striking  a  blow.  Of  the  besieging  land 
force  we  hear  nothing.  Akragas,  it  will  be  remem- 
bered, was  held  by  a  Carthaginian  garrison.  Pyrrhos 
set  forth  to  do  his  first  feat  of  arms  on  Sicilian  soil 
by  winning  the  second  city  in  Sicily  from  the  bar- 
barians. On  the  road  he  was  met  by  the  news  that 
the  Akragantines  had  themselves  driven  out  the 
Punic  troops,  and  prayed  him  to  come  to  their  help. 
Sosistratos,  now  an  officer  in  the  King's  service,  was 
sent  on,  and  he  received  the  submission  of  Akragas  and 
of  thirty  other  towns. 

Thus,  if  it  was  deliverance  to  be  transferred  from 
the  fear  of  barbarians  and  the  rule  of  domestic 
tyrants  to  the  rule  of  a  Greek  king,  all  Greek  Sicily 
was  delivered  without  striking  a  blow.  From  Tauro- 
mcnion  to  Akragas  Pyrrhos  was  as  truly  king  as  he 
was  at  Passaron  and  at  Ambrakia.  That  dominion 
on  both  sides  of  the  sea  which  Agathokles  had  begun 
from  the  western  side  was  now  more  fully  carried  out 
by  his  son-in-law  from  the  eastern  side.  Pyrrhos 
was  spoken  of  as  King  of  Sicily  ;  he  seems  almost 
to  have  looked  on  it  as  a  hereditary  kingdom.  He 
is  said  to  have  designed  a  division  of  his  dominions, 
giving  Sicily  to  Alexander,  his  son  by  Lanassa  and 
therefore  grandson  of  Agathokles,  and  Italy  to  his 
other  son  Helenos.  But  the  King  of  Greek  Sicily 
would  be  King  of  all  Sicily  ;  only  a  very  small  part 
of  his  work  was  done  if  the  barbarians  still  held  all 
the  north-western  part  of  the  island,  including  more 
than  one  subject  Greek  city.  He  would  do  what  Pcnt- 
athlos  and   Doricus  and   Hermokratcs  and   Dionysios 


CONQUESTS   OF   PVRRIIOS.  269 

had  only  tried  to  do.  He  first  marched  against  the 
great  Punic  stronghold  of  Herakleia  ;  it  fell  into  his 
hands,  whether  by  storm  or  surrender  is  not  said. 
The  subject  Greeks  of  Selinous  joyfully  welcomed 
the  Greek  king.  City  after  city  joined  him  ;  the  new 
Trojans  of  Segesta  were  among  them.  And  now  he 
drew  near  to  a  spot  trodden  by  no  foot  of  invading 
Greek  since  Herakles  himself  had  won  it.  Eryx,  on 
its  hill-top  above  the  sea,  had  willingly  submitted 
to  Dionysios  ;  it  never  saw  him  as  a  conqueror.  It 
was  now  a  Punic  stronghold,  defended  by  the  Punic 
wall  which  still  abides.  The  engines  were  brought 
up  the  mountain-side  and  set  to  play  on  the  defences  ; 
but  it  was  by  the  hand-to-hand  fighting  of  the  King 
himself  and  his  immediate  companions  that  Eryx  was 
won.  Vowing  games  and  sacrifices  to  Herakles, 
Pyrrhos  was  the  first  man  to  plant  his  ladder  against 
the  wall,  and  to  stand  victorious  on  its  battlements. 
The  soldiers  of  Pyrrhos  called  their  king  the  Eagle  ; 
he  had  now  soared  to  an  eyrie  worthy  of  him  ;  the 
descendant  of  Achilleus  had  won  back  the  heritage  of 
Herakles. 

But  there  was  a  richer  prize  to  win.  From  Eryx 
Pyrrhos  marched  on  into  that  garden  of  Sicily  of 
ivhich  Hermokrates  alone  had  once  for  a  moment 
gathered  the  fruits.  We  read  without  details  that 
he  took  Panormos,  that  he  took  her  guardian  rock 
of  Herkte.  We  can  say  no  more  ;  but,  for  the  first 
time  of  three,  the  Semitic  head  of  Sicily  became 
European  ground.  The  Roman  and  the  Norman 
were  to  come,  each  in  his  turn  ;  but  it  was  the  man 
of  Epeiros  that  showed  them  the  way. 


270  THE   COMING    OF  PYRRHOS. 

But  here  was  the  term  of  his  victories.  Solous  had 
become  his  along  with  Panormos,  but  the  great 
Plioenician  stronghold  remained.  When  Dionysios 
had  entered  the  barbarian  corner,  his  great  blow  had 
been  struck  at  Motya.  Motya  was  no  more  ;  but 
Pyrrhos,  on  his  way  to  Eryx,  had  passed  by  Lily- 
baion  which  had  taken  its  place.  And  while  he  was 
winning  Eryx  and  Panormos,  the  Carthaginians  had 
been  making  Lilybaion  stronger  than  ever.  We  are 
amazed  to  hear  that  Pyrrhos  needed  urging  on  to 
attack  the  great  fortress.  The  Carthaginians  offered 
peace  ;  they  would  give  up  all  claim  to  everything 
else  in  Sicily,  but  they  would  keep  Lilybaion.  They 
doubtless  hoped,  if  they  kept  Lilybaion,  to  win  back 
all  the  rest  before  long.  Pyrrhos  was  disposed  to 
agree  to  the  terms.  This  is  perhaps  not  very  won- 
derful. He  had  done  enough  in  Sicily  to  gratify  his 
love  of  enterprise  ;  he  had  done  far  more  than  any 
Greek  had  done  before  him  ;  he  was  needed  in  Italy, 
where  the  Romans  were  not  shut  up  in  one  fortress, 
but  were  pressing  hard  on  his  allies  ;  the  state  of  Mace- 
donia and  Greece  offered  many  calls  to  his  ambition. 
But  his  officers,  above  all  his  Sicilian  officers,  told 
him  that  he  must  go  on.  To  the  Sicilians  it  was 
a  matter  of  life  and  death  ;  now  or  never  the  Phoeni- 
cians must  be  driven  out  of  the  island,  and  Sicily 
must  become  wholly  Greek.  The  King  therefore 
answered  that  he  would  make  peace  with  Carthage 
on  the  surrender  of  everything  in  Sicily.  This  was 
refused,  and  the  siege  of  Lilybaion  began. 

Lilybaion  was  no  more  to  be  taken  by  Pyrrhos  than 
it  was  by  Dionysios.     After  a  toilsome  siege  of  two 


HE    LEAVES   SICILY.  27I 

months  he  gave  up  the  attempt.  It  was  perhaps  now 
that  he  won  several  fortresses  from  the  Mamertines. 
But  he  no  more  recovered  Messana  than  he  won 
Lilybaion.  His  whole  work  really  went  for  nothing 
as  long  as  those  two  great  points  were  held  by  the 
barbarians.  He  is  said  to  have  talked  of  getting 
together  a  great  fleet,  and  carrying  the  war  into 
Africa  like  his  father-in-law  Agathokles.  But  he  did 
nothing.  He  went  back  to  Syracuse  as  to  the  capital  of 
his  new  kingdom,  but  the  man  who  had  hitherto  been 
the  mildest  and  best  beloved  of  generals  and  kings  now, 
in  his  disappointment,  became  cruel  and  suspicious. 
He  put  Thoinon  to  death,  and  Sosistratos  had  to  flee. 
The  new  kingdom  began  to  break  up ;  some  towns 
revolted  to  the  Carthaginians,  some  to  the  Mamer- 
tines. The  King  rejoiced  when  (B.C.  276)  a  message 
came  from  Italy,  praying  him  to  come  once  more  to 
help  the  Tarantines  and  the  Samnites  against  Rome. 
He  set  out,  and  made  his  way  into  Italy,  almost  as  a 
fugitive,  after  hard  fighting  with  Carthaginians  by  sea 
and  Mamertines  by  land.  In  Italy  he  again  began 
the  war  with  the  Romans  ;  but  he  was  defeated  in  the 
battle  of  Beneventum  in  275.  He  went  back  to 
Epeiros  the  next  year,  and  again  began  to  mix  in  the 
wars  of  Macedonia  and  Greece.  In  272  he  was  killed 
at  Argos  ;  the  same  year  Taras  surrendered  to  the 
Romans.  The  work  of  the  deliverers  from  beyond 
Hadria  in  Italy  and  Sicily  was  over.  Or  we  may,  if 
we  please,  say  that  it  stopped  for  eight  hundred  or  for 
thirteen  hundred  years. 

When   Pyrrhos  left   Sicil}',  he  is  reported  to  have 


272  THE    RISE    OF   HIERON. 

said  :  "  What  a  wrestling-ground  I  leave  here  for  the 
Romans  and  Carthaginians."  And  so  it  proved, 
though  not  at  once.  Just  at  that  moment  Rome  and 
Carthage  had  been  driven  into  alliance  by  common 
fear  of  him,  and  they  did  not  become  open  enemies 
for  twelve  years.  After  Pyrrhos  was  gone,  one  more 
attempt  was  made  to  keep  the  Greek  towns  of  Sicily, 
or  some  of  them,  together,  first  as  a  confederacy  and 
then  under  a  native  king.  The  chief  enemies  now 
were  the  Mamertines.  Compared  with  them,  the 
Carthaginians  were  beginning  to  be  looked  on  almost 
as  friends  ;  they  were  at  least  a  regular  government 
and  not  a  mere  band  of  robbers.  They  had  won 
back  all  that  Pyrrhos  had  taken  from  them,  and  a 
good  deal  more.  Akragas  was  in  their  hands  some 
years  later  ;  so  they  most  likely  got  possession  of  it 
now.  But  part  of  the  kingdom  of  Pyrrhos,  Syracuse 
and  all  the  towns  of  the  east  coast,  and  some  of  the 
inland  towns  also,  still  kept  together,  and  defended 
themselves  against  the  Mamertines.  There  was  now 
at  Syracuse  a  certain  Hieron  son  of  Hierokles,  who 
professed  to  be  a  descendant  of  the  famous  Gelon  ; 
he  might  be  so  through  that  son  of  Gelon  of  whom 
we  have  nothing  to  say.  Many  stories  were  told  of 
him,  how  he  was  the  son  of  a  slave-woman  and  was 
exposed  in  his  childhood,  somewhat  like  Agathokles, 
and  how  a  wolf  took  away  his  book  when  he  was  a 
boy,  like  his  forefather  Gelon.  It  is  more  certain  that 
he  was  an  officer  under  Pyrrhos  and  won  the  king's 
high  esteem  and  favour.  He  was  still  very  young 
when,  after  Pyrrhos  was  gone,  the  soldiers  chose  him 
general.     The  citizens  at  first  objected  ;  but  he  had 


EXPLOITS  OF   HIER6n.  273 

powerful  friends  who  gained  their  consent,  and  he 
gradually  won  general  favour.  He  next  strengthened 
himself  by  a  marriage  with  the  daughter  of  Leptines, 
a  leading  man  in  Syracuse,  and  the  beautiful  head  of 
Queen  Philistis  is  to  be  seen  on  many  of  the  coins  of 
King  Hieron. 

But  he  was  not  king  yet.  As  general  of  the 
Syracusans  and  their  allies,  he  warred  against  the 
Mamertines  ;  he  gave  help  too  to  the  Romans  when 
they  subdued  and  chastised  a  legion  of  their  Cam- 
panian  soldiers  who  had  done  by  Rhegion  just  as  the 
Campanians  of  Agathokles  had  done  by  Messana. 
He  warred  too  against  the  Mamertines  in  Sicily.  In 
one  campaign,  having  taken  several  towns  from  them, 
he  distrusted  his  old  mercenaries,  and  in  a  battle  with 
the  enemy,  he  left  them  to  be  cut  in  pieces,  while  he 
led  off  the  Syracusan  citizens  in  safety.  Dionysios 
had  once  done  the  like ;  so  did  other  commanders, 
Roman  and  Carthaginian  ;  there  was  in  truth  no 
other  way  to  get  rid  of  dangerous  and  mutinous 
troops.  But  if  we  blame  Hieron  for  this  as  an  act 
of  treachery,  we  shall  find  little  to  blame  in  him 
after;  he  did  the  best  that  could  be  done  in  a  bad 
time.  He  next  led  another  army  into  the  Mamertinc 
territory  ;  he  defeated  the  freebooters  in  a  battle  by 
the  river  Longanos  near  Mylai,  and  pressed  them  very 
hard.  It  was  thought  that  he  miglit  have  taken 
Messana  except  for  Punic  jealousy.  Syracuse  and 
Carthage  were  allied  against  the  Mamertines,  but 
Carthage,  aiming  at  the  dominion  of  all  Sicily, 
did  not  wish  Messana  to  fall  into  Syracusan  hands. 
But  the   Mamertines   were  now  shut  up  in   Messana 


274 


THE    RISE   OF  HIERON. 


and  shorn  of  their  power  of  doing  mischief.  In  the 
general  joy  at  this  great  success,  Hieron,  when  he 
came  home  was  chosen  King  of  the  Syracusans  and 
their  AlHes. 

There  was  thus  one  more  chance  for  Greek  Sicily, 
under  a  Greek  king,  a  Sicilian  king.  But  it  was  too 
late  ;  if  Agathokles  had  been  such  a  man  as  Hieron 
instead  of  what  he  was,  things  might  have  been 
otherwise.  Hieron  did  what  he  could  ;  but  all  that 
he  could  do  was  to  secure  well-being,  but  not  freedom. 


HIERON    II. 


for  one  corner  of  Sicily.  For  fifty  years  he  reigned 
over  Syracuse  wisely  and  justly ;  he  was  the  first 
native  Sicilian  ruler  to  put  his  head  on  the  coin  ;  in 
all  other  things  he  affected  very  little  of  the  state  of 
kingship.  But  in  matters  of  foreign  policy  he  had  to 
shape  himself  to  the  time.  When  he  was  chosen 
king,  he  seemed  to  have  a  great  career  before  him  ; 
the  only  fear  was  how  far  Carthage,  his  nominal  ally, 
might  stand  in  his  way.  Rome  too  was  his  ally,  and 
to  Rome  he  had  done  a  great  service ;  nor  had  Rome 
any  pretence  as  yet  for  meddling  in  the  affairs  of 


JIIERON  KING. 


275 


Sicily.  A  very  few  years  later  he  found  that  the  only 
way  to  keep  any  measure  of  dominion  for  himself  or 
of  freedom  for  his  people  was  to  become  the  depen- 
dent ally  of  Rome. 


QUEEN    PHILISTIS. 


XIV. 


THE   WAR   FOR   SICILY. 
B.C.  264-241. 

[Through  the  whole  of  this  chapter  we  have  a  guide  second  only  to 
Thucydides  in  the  first  book  of  Polybios.  He  is  not  contemporary,  but  he 
lived  near  enough  to  the  time  to  be  well  informed.  He  represents  Roman 
traditions.  Of  Livy  we  have  only  the  epitome,  and  of  Diodoros  only 
fragments.  There  is  a  life  of  Hamilkar  by  Cornelius  Nepos.  The 
secondary  courses  are  much  the  same  as  before.  It  is  a  great  loss  that 
we  have  not  the  history  of  Philinos  of  Akragas,  who,  though  a  Greek, 
wrote  from  the  Carthaginian  side.] 


The   first    war  between    Rome   and    Carthage    is 

known  in  general  history  as  the  First  Punic  War.     It 

is  spoken  of  by  writers  nearer  to  the  time  as  the  War 

for  Sicily.     And  so  it  was.     It  was  a  war  between  the 

two  great  commonwealths  which  lay  on  each  side  of 

Sicily  for  the  dominion  of  the  great  island  which  lay 

between  them.     That  was  what  things  had  come  to. 

Carthage,  mistress  of  a  great  part  of  Sicily,  wished 

for  the  rest.     Rome,  now  mistress  of  Italy,  wished  for 

the  island  that  lay  so  near  to  Italy.     It  was  Rome's 

first  taste  of  really  foreign  dominion  out  of  her  own 

peninsula.     Between  these  two  great  powers,  there 

276 


THE  MAMERTINKS.  277 

was  little  hope  A^r  Ilieroii  and  his  iiKlcpcndent  king- 
dom of  Syracuse.  The  blow  must  have  come  sooner 
or  later  ;  it  did  come  much  sooner  than  any  one  could 
have  looked  for,  and  it  came  in  a  shape  by  no  means 
honourable  to  Rome. 

It  v^^as  Hieron,  the  Greek  king,  who  was  really 
pressing  the  Mamertines  and  threatening  altogether 
to  free  Sicily  from  their  presence.  Carthage  was 
playing  fast  and  loose.  Still  Carthage,  Rome,  and 
Syracuse,  were  all  held  to  be  friendly  powers,  and 
Carthage  was  supposed  to  be  in  alliance  with  Syra- 
cuse against  the  Mamertines.  At  last,  in  ];.c.  265, 
Hieron  was  pressing  the  freebooters  so  hard  that  they 
found  that  they  must  seek  allies  somewhere.  There 
was  a  Carthaginian  party  among  them,  and  a  Cartha- 
ginian garrison  was  admitted  into  Messana.  But  the 
general  feeling  was  for  Rome  ;  the  head  of  Italy  might 
be  ready  to  give  help  to  Italians  against  Phoenicians 
and  Greeks.  But  Rome  had  no  quarrel  with  either 
Syracuse  or  Carthage  ;  and  Rome  had  just  before,  with 
Syracusan  help,  heavily  chastised  her  own  soldiers  for 
doing  at  Rhegion  what  the  Mamertines  had  done  at 
Messana.  The  Mamertines  were  therefore  for  a  while 
afraid  to  ask  for  help  from  Rome.  At  last  however 
they  did.  After  much  debate  at  Rome,  help  to  the 
Mamertines  was  granted.  They  became  dependent 
allies  of  Rome,  like  the  towns  and  nations  of  Italy  ; 
Messana  in  short  became  a  piece  of  Italy  on  the 
Sicilian  side  of  the  strait.  But  help  to  the  Mamertines 
meant  war  with  both  Syracuse  and  Carthage.  So  in  B.C. 
264  the  First  Punic  War,  the  War  for  Sicily,  began. 

Of  that  war,  simply  as  a  war  between  Rome  and 


278  THE    WAR   FOR    SICILY. 

Carthage,  there  is  no  need  for  the  Story  of  Sicily  to 
speak  at  any  length.  The  fate  of  Sicily  was  decided 
for  her  by  others  ;  her  own  people,  Greeks  and  Sikels 
who  had  practically  become  Greeks,  could  do  little 
indeed.  The  tale  of  three-and-twenty  years'  fighting 
might  be  told  by  saying  that,  while  the  rest  of  Sicily 
became  a  Roman  province,  the  Mamertines  stayed  in 
the  relation  of  Italian  allies,  and  King  Hieron,  after 
he  became  the  friend  of  Rome,  kept  his  kingdom  of 
Syracuse  as  long  as  he  lived,  as  happy  as  a  good  king 
could  make  it,  and  as  independent  as  a  state  could  be 
which  knew  that  in  all  foreign  affairs  it  must  follow 
the  lead  of  a  greater  power.  But  in  this  long  war  a 
great  deal  happened  in  Sicily  which  is  of  the  deepest 
local  interest  to  this  and  that  place.  Some  of  the 
most  stirring  events  that  ever  happened  in  Sicily 
happened  during  these  years.  And  some  of  these  we 
must  tell,  while  we  leave  the  general  course  of  the 
war  to  those  who  have  to  tell  the  story  of  Rome  and 
of  Carthage.  But  we  may  notice  that,  though  a  good 
deal  was  done  by  land,  yet  the  characteristic  feature 
of  the  war  was  its  great  battles  by  sea,  and  also  the 
number  of  fleets  that  were  destroyed  by  storms.  All 
this  was  off  the  coast  of  Sicily.  The  wonderful  thing 
is  that  Rome,  whose  main  strength  before  and  after 
was  always  by  land,  could  in  this  war,  after  many  ups 
and  downs,  overcome  the  greatest  sea-faring  power  of 
the  world  on  its  own  element. 

Very  soon  after  the  Romans  entered  Sicily,  in  the 
year  263,  they  marched  with  their  whole  force  against 
the  King  of  Syracuse.  They  began  by  taking  the 
sacred  town  of  Hadranum  by  storm.     The  slaughter 


HIERON'S   alliance    with    ROME.  279 

done  by  a  Roman  army  on  taking  a  town  by  storm 
was  something  to  which  the  Greeks  were  quite  unac- 
customed. Several  towns  were  frightened  into  sub- 
mission, and  Hieron's  kingdom  was  sadly  cut  short 
before  the  consuls  drew  near  to  Syracuse.  Then  he 
submitted,  and  made  terms  of  peace.  It  was  not  the 
interest  of  Rome  to  press  him  hard.  He  agreed  to 
pay  a  hundred  talents  of  silver,  and  to  become  the  ally 
of  Rome.  To  become  the  ally  of  Rome  practically 
meant  to  become  dependent  on  Rome.  Having  been 
thus  driven  to  change  sides,  Hieron  became  the  most 
faithful  and  zealous  ally  of  the  Romans,  helping  them 
in  every  way  and  receiving  all  favour  and  honour  back 
again.  The  course  taken  by  the  war  barely  touched 
Syracuse  ;  so  the  well-being  of  the  city  and  of  the 
rest  of  Hieron's  dominions  was  hardly  at  all  disturbed. 
Hieron  was  the  first  of  many  kings  whom  the  Romans 
called  their  allies  ;  a  new  state  of  things  in  short 
began  with  him.  The  kingdom  left  to  him  took  in 
the  old  territory  of  Syracuse  and  the  towns  of  the 
east  coast  as  far  north  as  Tauromenion.  For  the  rest 
of  Sicily  Romans  and  Carthaginians  went  on  fighting. 
In  the  next  year,  262,  it  is  worth  noting  that  the 
people  of  Segesta,  who  had  a  Carthaginian  garrison 
in  their  town,  rose  and  slew  them  and  joined  the 
Romans.  Agathokles  had  rooted  out  the  old  Klymian 
people  of  Segesta  ;  but  the  mi.xed  multitude  whom  he 
had  planted  there  did  as  men  always  do  in  such  cases; 
they  took  up  the  old  traditions  of  the  place.  They 
gave  themselves  out  for  Trojans  ;  and  it  was  very 
convenient  for  the  Romans  to  greet  them  as  brethren 
and  to  deal  with  Segesta  as  a  favoured  ally. 


TAKING    OF   AKKAGAS.  281 

About  the  i^amc  time  one  c^f  tlie  greatest  Greek 
cities  of  Sicily  came  to  the  end  of  its  history  as  a 
Greek  city.  Akragas  was  now  a  Carthaginian  pos- 
session, and  it  was  determined  to  make  it  the  great 
centre  of  Carthaginian  power  in  Sicily.  This  led  to 
the  great  Roman  siege  of  that  city.  By  a  strange 
turning-about  of  things  from  what  we  have  been  used 
to  sec,  Akragas  was  defended  by  Punic  armies.  And 
of  course,  whichever  side  succeeded,  it  meant  the 
dying  out  of  the  Greek  life  of  the  place.  The  siege 
was  a  long  one,  with  various  exploits  on  both  sides. 
At  last  the  Carthaginian  commander  Hannibal,  find- 
ing no  hope  of  holding  the  place,  cut  his  way  out. 
The  city  was  for  a  moment  left  to  itself ;  but  the 
Romans  burst  in,  and  all  was  over.  The  horrors  of  a 
Roman  storm  followed  ;  those  who  were  not  slain  were 
sold  into  slavery.  Akragas,  fairest  of  mortal  cities, 
after  rising  again,  though  not  to  its  old  greatness, 
from  its  first  Carthaginian  overthrow,  finally  sinks  into 
the  provincial  town  of  Agrigentum.  As  such  it  had 
a  third  life  ;  but  the  great  city  of  Theron  gradually 
shrank  up  into  the  present  town  within  the  old 
akropolis. 

This  was  in  261.  The  next  year  is  famous  for  the 
first  battle  by  sea  won  by  Romans  over  Carthaginians, 
the  great  victory  of  Gaius  Duilius  in  the  bay  of 
Mylai.  This  was  followed  by  a  great  deal  of  fight- 
ing in  various  parts  of  Sicily  and  the  taking  of  many 
towns  by  the  contending  armies.  Then  Henna  was 
taken,  first  by  a  Punic,  and  then  by  a  Roman,  force. 
The  Carthaginians  strengthened  Drcpanathe  haven  of 
Eryx,  and  made  it  one  of  their  chief  stations  during 


282  THE    WAR    FOR    SICILY. 

the  remainder  of  the  war.  More  interesting  perhaps 
is  the  fact  that  in  258  the  consuls  Aiilus  AtiHus  and 
Gaius  Sulpiciusmade,Hke  Ilermokrates  and  Dionysios, 
an  inroad  into  the  land  of  Panormos.  There  perhaps 
Atilius  heard  enough  to  enable  him  before  long  to 
repeat  the  exploit,  not  only  of  Hermokrates  and 
Dionysios,  but  of  Pyrrhos  himself. 

The  next  year  comes  the  hard-fought  sea-fight  off 
Tyndaris,  a  dearly  bought  victory  for  Rome.  Then 
for  two  years  the  scene  changes  to  Africa.  The  tales, 
true  and  false,  about  Marcus  Atilius  Regulus  touch 
Sicily  only  in  this,  that  it  is  plain  that  his  attack 
on  Carthage  on  African  soil  was  suggested  by  the 
invasion  of  Agathokles.  But  the  year  254  is  one  of 
the  most  memorable  in  Sicilian  history.  The  other 
Atilius,  Aulus,  had  learned  his  lesson,  and  now  he 
practised  it.  We  have  now  for  the  first  time  to  call 
up  the  picture  of  Panormos  with  its  double  haven, 
the  old  city  with  its  long  street,  between  the  two 
branches  of  the  sea,  and  the  new  city,  the  peninsula 
keeping  guard  between  the  haven  and  the  outer  sea. 
Besides  these  it  is  plain  that  a  fortified  suburb  had 
grown  up  between  the  southern  branch  of  the  haven 
and  the  river  Oreto.  Against  this  great  city,  the 
ancient  head  of  Phoenician  Sicily,  the  consul  Aulus 
and  his  colleague  Gaius  Cornelius  now  led  the  fleet 
and  army  of  Rome.  The  fleet  sailed  into  the 
haven  ;  the  soldiers  were  landed  between  the  south 
wall  and  the  river  ;  the  New  City,  attacked  by  land 
and  sea,  was  taken  by  storm,  and  the  Old  City 
presently  surrendered  in  sheer  fright.  Those  of  the 
inhabitants  who  could  pay  a  ransom    were  spared  ; 


ROMAN    TAKING    OF   PANOKMOS.  283 

chc  rest  were  sold  for  slaves.  Panormos  and  the 
land  of  Panormos  became  a  Roman  possession,  save 
only  that  the  hill  of  Herkte  was  not  yet  taken,  but 
was  held  by  Punic  troops  as  a  thorn  in  the  side  of 
its  Roman  possessors.  But,  after  the  fall  of  Panor- 
mos, not  a  few  towns  rose  against  their  Punic 
ofarrisons  and  called  in  the  Romans.  It  is  a 
speaking  fact  that  among  them  was  Phoenician 
Solous.  Carthage  was  clearly  not  loved  by  her 
subjects,  even  by  those  of  her  own  blood. 

Thus  was  the  great  Semitic  city  of  Sicily  for  the 
second  time  won  for  Europe.  The  Greek  under 
Pyrrhos  had  made  his  way  in  for  a  moment  ;  the 
Roman  was  to  keep  his  hold  abidingly.  Panormos 
was  indeed  again  to  see  Semitic  masters  ;  but  not 
till  nearly  eleven  hundred  years  after  the  entry  of 
Atilius  and  Cornelius.  As  a  piece  of  general  Euro- 
pean history,  the  taking  of  Panormos,  presently 
followed  by  its  defence,  is  the  greatest  event  of  the 
War  for  Sicily.  Strange  to  say,  this  great  success 
was  immediately  followed  by  a  time  of  great  down- 
heartcdness  among  the  Romans.  They  won  some 
successes,  as  the  taking  of  Thcrma  and  of  Lipara  on 
its  island.  Yet  they  are  described  as  keeping  out  of 
the  way  of  the  Carthaginian  armies,  through  sheer 
dread  of  the  elephants.  There  is  something  strange 
in  this.  The  use  of  elephants  in  the  Punic  armies 
was  something  new.  The  elephants  of  India  had 
been  brought  into  Italy  and  Sicily  by  Pyrrhos,  and 
that  had  led  the  Carthaginians  to  tame  the  elephants 
of  their  own  continent  and  to  employ  them  in  war 
in    the    like    sort.      They    now    take    the    place    in 


284  THE    WAR   FOR    SICILY. 

the  Punic  armies  which  liad  formerly  been  held  by 
the  war-chariots.  But  it  is  not  easy  to  see  why 
the  Romans  were  so  specially  afraid  of  them  just 
at  this  time.  It  was  not  the  first  time  that  they 
had  met  the  Funic  elephants  in  Sicily,  and  before 
that  they  had  met  and  overcome  the  elephants  of 
Pyrrhos  at  Beneventum.  Anyhow  the  elephants 
were  presently  to  be  put  to  their  trial  on  a  great 
scale.  It  was  of  course  the  great  object  at  Carthage 
to  win  back  Panormos,  and  a  failure  of  the  Romans 
to  take  Herkte  may  have  raised  their  hopes  higher. 
The  Punic  general  Asdrubal  now  (251)  set  forth  to 
attack  Panormos,  which  was  defended  by  the  pro- 
consul Lucius  Caecilius  Metellus.  The  whole  cam- 
paign was  by  land  ;  nothing  is  said  of  ships  on 
either  side.  Asdrubal  marched  from  Lilybaion  with 
a  great  army  of  the  usual  kind,  and  with  no  less 
than  120  elephants,  the  force  in  which  he  chiefly 
trusted.  They  entered  the  land  of  Panormos  by  the 
passage  in  the  hills,  and  found  themselves  with  the 
river  Oreto  between  them  and  the  city.  The  plan 
of  Metellus  was  to  keep  within  the  city  and  to  draw 
on  the  enemy  near  to  the  south  wall.  Asdrubal  was 
filled  with  scorn  at  the  supposed  cowardice  of  the 
enemy,  and  the  captains  of  the  elephants  asked 
specially  that  they  might  take  the  lead  in  the 
attack.  Metellus  had  lined  the  south  wall  and  its 
ditch  with  light-armed  troops,  who,  as  the  elephants 
drew  near,  kept  up  a  ceaseless  shower  of  darts  and 
arrows.  The  beasts  presently  became  unmanageable, 
and  the  Punic  ranks  began  to  fall  into  confusion. 
Then  Metellus  saw  his  time  ;  he  threw  open  the  gate, 


DEFENCE   OF   PANORMOS.  285 

and  charged  with  his  legionaries.  The  Punic  army 
was  utterly  routed ;  the  elephants  galloped  hither  and 
thither  about  the  plain,  with  or  without  their  riders. 
In  the  end  sixty  were  taken  alive  and  sent  to  Rome. 
Panormos  was  saved  for  Rome  and  for  Europe. 

The  Roman  despondency  now  altogether  passed 
away.  There  now  seemed  to  be  a  hope  of  winning 
those  strongholds  in  the  extreme  west  of  the  island 
which  were  now  all  that  Carthage  held  in  Sicily.  As 
we  find  Herkte  in  Roman  hands  a  little  later,  it  was 
most  likely  taken  soon  after  the  defence  of  Panormos. 
But  the  height  of  Eryx,  the  new  fortress  of  Drepana, 
and  the  older  fortress  of  Lilybaion,  were  still  held  by 
Carthage.  The  greatest  efforts  of  Rome  were  now 
made  to  take  them.  The  rest  of  the  war,  a  space  of 
ten  years,  gathers  altogether  round  these  points,  the 
centre  of  warfare  being  the  great  siege  of  Lilybaion, 
which  went  on  all  the  time.  Many  stirring  deeds 
were  done  on  both  sides  ;  and  in  the  end,  though  the 
Romans  defeated  Carthage  in  the  war,  they  were  no 
more  able  to  take  the  great  Carthaginian  stronghold 
than  Dionysios  and  Pyrrhos  had  been. 

Of  the  first  year  of  the  siege  of  Lilybaion  we  have 
a  minute  account,  recording  many  stirring  events.  It 
is  not  quite  easy  to  see  why  the  Carthaginians  chose 
this  moment  to  destroy  Sclinous,  which  had  long  been 
a  Greek  town  under  Punic  rule,  and  to  move  its 
inhabitants  to  the  besieged  Lilybaion.  But  this 
notice  marks  the  end  of  Sclinous  as  even  a  subject 
city.  The  walls  no  doubt  were  slighted  ;  but  there  is 
no  reason  to  think  that  the  temples  were  destroyed, 
for    which    there  was  no  motive.     At  Lil)'baion  the 


286  THE    WAR    FOR    SICILY. 

siege  now  began  by  land  and  sea.  The  Roman  ships 
were  moored  off  the  mouth  of  the  harbour  to  keep 
anything  from  going  in  :  they  tried  in  vain  to  block 
up  the  haven.  But  Phoenician  seamanship  was  so 
much  better  than  theirs  that  for  a  while  skilful 
captains  continued  to  make  their  way  in.  One 
specially,  out  of  the  many  bearers  of  the  name  of 
Hannibal,  distinguished,  we  know  not  why,  as  the 
Rhodian,  went  in  and  out  for  a  long  time  as  he 
pleased  with  his  single  ship.  But  he  and  his  ship 
were  at  last  taken.  We  are  not  told  what  became  of 
Hannibal  himself,  but  his  ship  became  a  model  to 
Roman  ship-builders,  and  no  one  was  able  to  repeat 
his  exploit.  By  land  the  Romans  strove  hard  to  fill 
up  the  great  ditch  which  defended  the  city,  and  the 
Carthaginians  tried  to  burn  the  Roman  engines.  In 
this  they  at  last  succeeded.  After  the  first  \ear  the 
long  siege  seems  to  have  become  a  mere  blockade. 
We  hear  but  few  details.  In  249,  after  the  great 
defeat  of  the  consul  Publius  Claudius  off  Drepana  by 
the  Punic  general  Asdrubal,  the  siege  was  all  but 
given  up  ;  but  it  still  went  on. 

The  defeat  off  Drepana  was  followed  the  next  year 
by  a  great  destruction  of  a  Roman  fleet  by  a  storm, 
after  which  the  Romans  sent  out  no  more  ships  till 
quite  the  end  of  the  war.  But  the  consul  Lucius 
Junius  struck  a  bold  stroke  by  land.  With  the 
remnant  of  his  fleet  he  sailed  round  to  the  foot  of 
Eryx  ;  he  landed  ;  by  a  sudden  blow  he  seized  the 
town  and  temple  and  turned  the  mountain  into  a 
Roman  stronghold.  Eryx,  like  Panormos,  had  been 
held  for   a  moment  by    Pyrrhos  ;  now  Rome  laid  a 


HAMTLKAR    BARAK.  287 

more  lasti'nt^  grasp  on  the  house  of  the  goddess  in 
whom  men  saw  the  mother  of  yEneas.  But  now  the 
last  few  years  of  the  war  were  to  be  made  illustrious 
by  the  coming  of  the  greatest  man  who  had  as  yet 
liad  a  share  in  it.  Carthage  had  long  been  so  far 
advancing  in  all  that  makes  a  power  great  that 
even  the  average  of  her  statesmen  and  generals 
is  now  distinctly  higher  than  that  of  Rome.  She 
now  sent  forth  a  captain  greater  than  any  that 
had  been  before  him,  the  father  of  a  son  yet 
more  famous  than  himself,  though  perhaps  not  of 
greater  gifts.  The  Punic  proper  names  were  so  few 
that  it  is  not  always  easy  to  distinguish  their  bearers  ; 
we  have  now  come  to  the  greatest  Hamilkar,  the 
father  of  the  greatest  Hannibal.  Hamilkar,  called 
Barak  or  the  Thunderbolt,  was  now  put  at  the  head 
of  the  Punic  forces  in  Sicily.  His  exploits  were 
wonderful  ;  but  their  nature  shows  what  the  character 
of  the  war  had  now  become.  Both  the  contending 
commonwealths  were  nearly  worn  out  with  the  long 
struggle.  But  Rome  and  her  allies  had  now  posses- 
sion of  all  Sicily  except  Drepana  and  Lilybaion,  and 
of  those  Lilybaion  was  blockaded.  There  was  really 
no  room  for  any  enterprises  on  a  great  scale  ;  the 
question  was  whether  Rome  or  Carthage  could  bear 
up  longest,  and  all  that  even  Hamilkar  could  do  was 
to  try  to  wear  Rome  out.  He  first  with  his  fleet  laid 
waste  the  shores  of  southern  Italy.  He  then,  by  a 
sudden  blow,  seized  the  height  of  Herkte  just  above 
Panormos.  The  city  itself  he  does  not  seem  to  have 
attacked  ;  but  he  occupied  a  centre  from  which 
he    could    work    every    kind    of    annoyance    on    the 


288  THE    WAR    FOR    SICILY. 

Romans  in  Panormos  and  elsewhere.  He  fought  no 
pitched  battles  ;  he  attacked  none  of  the  great  Roman 
strongholds  ;  but  he  defeated  every  attempt  to  dis- 
lodge his  force  from  the  hill,  and  he  laid  waste  the 
Roman  territory  by  sea  and  land. 

For  three  years  Hamilkar  thus  worked  hard  from  his 
post  on  Herkte  to  wear  out  the  Roman  power.  It 
might  look  like  a  confession  of  failure  when,  of  his 
own  free  will,  he  left  Herkte  and  chose  another  point. 
This  time  the  Thunderbolt  fell  on  Eryx.  But  he  was 
able  to  seize  only  the  lower  town  ;  the  akropolis,  with 
the  temple  of  Ashtoreth  or  Aphrodite,  remained  in  the 
hands  of  the  Romans.  The  combatants  were  thus 
close  to  one  another  ;  for  two  years  endless  skirmishes 
went  on,  without  any  marked  advantage  to  cither 
side.  Romans  and  Carthaginians  alike  had  to  fight  for 
every  morsel  of  food  they  got.  The  War  for  Sicily 
was  now  waged  on  the  one  height  of  Eryx,  save  that 
outside  of  Lilybaion  there  were  still  Roman  besiegers, 
and  inside  of  it  there  were  still  Punic  defenders.  But 
they  seem  to  have  done  little  more  than  watch  one 
another  ;  we  hear  of  no  special  exploits  on  either 
side. 

In  this  way  the  forces  of  the  two  commonwealths 
which  were  striving  for  the  dominion  of  Sicily  were 
both  wearing  away.  The  Romans  had  quite  given 
up  all  action  by  sea,  and,  after  the  first  days  of  Hamil- 
kar's  occupation  of  Herkte,  we  hear  nothing  of  any 
such  on  the  part  of  Carthage.  When  Hamilkar  had 
been  two  years  on  Eryx,  there  was  no  Punic  fleet 
anywhere  in  Sicilian  waters.  In  the  year  241  the 
Romans,  under  the  energetic  consul  Gains  Lutatius 


BATTLE   OF  AIGOUSA.  289 

Catulus,  held  that  the  moment  was  come  for  one  final 
attempt  by  sea  which  must  bring  the  war  to  an  end  one 
way  or  the  other.  Ships  were  built  after  the  pattern  of 
the  famous  ship  of  the  Rhodian  Hannibal ;  the  crews 
were  well  practised,  and  the  fleet  set  forth.  There  was 
no  Carthaginian  fleet  to  withstand  the  Romans.  They 
took  Drepana  ;  they  renewed  the  naval  blockade  of 
Lilybaion  ;  nothing  was  left  to  Carthage  save  Lily- 
baion  itself  and  Hamilkar's  stronghold  on  Eryx.  For 
five  years  naval  affairs  had  been  neglected  at  Carthage  ; 
but  now  it  was  impossible  to  avoid  fitting  out  a  fleet. 
It  was  made  ready  and  manned  in  haste  ;  it  had  to 
carry  provisions  to  Hamilkar  on  Eryx  as  well  as  to 
meet  the  Romans  off  Drepana  or  Lilybaion.  The 
object  of  Lutatius  was  to  meet  the  Punic  fleet  while  it 
was  still  laden,  before  it  had  reached  Eryx.  And  this 
he  succeeded  in  doing  by  going  forth  in  the  teeth  of 
a  contrary  wind.  It  was  perhaps  the  highest  tribute 
ever  paid  by  enemy  to  enemy,  when  Lutatius  deter- 
mined to  attack  at  once  in  the  face  of  the  storm 
rather  than  wait  for  a  better  wind  and  allow  the 
Carthaginians  to  sail  round  to  Eryx.  If  they  did  so, 
they  would  take  Hamilkar  and  his  veterans  on  board, 
and  Lutatius  judged  that  it  was  less  dangerous  to  face 
the  storm  than  to  face  Hamilkar.  The  last  fight  of 
the  war  then  began  off  the  isle  of  Aigousa.  Even 
naval  skill,  the  special  boast  of  Carthage,  seemed  to 
have  gone  over  to  the  Roman  side.  The  heavily  laden 
Punic  ships  could  not  bear  up  against  the  Romans  ; 
the  War  for  Sicily  was  ended  by  the  utter  defeat  of 
Carthage  on  her  own  element. 


20 


290  THE    WAR    FOR    SICILY. 

The  two  commonwealths  had  each  thrown  its  last 
cast,  and  Rome  had  won.  Lilybaion  and  Eryx  were 
not  taken  ;  but  Carthage  was  defeated,  not  only  in  the 
battle  but  in  the  war,  A  commission  was  sent  to 
Hamilkar,  empowering  him  to  make  peace  with  the 
Romans  on  any  terms  that  he  thought  good.  Lutatius 
had  no  such  powers,  but  the  two  generals  agreed  on 
terms,  subject  to  the  approval  of  the  Roman  people. 
Carthage  was  to  give  up  all  claim  on  Sicily,  to  with- 
draw all  troops  from  Sicily  ;  to  abstain  from  war  with 
Hieron,  and  to  pay  2,200  talents  within  twenty  years. 
At  Rome  these  terms  were  thought  too  favourable  to 
Carthage  ;  the  money  was  raised  to  3,200  talents,  to 
be  paid  within  ten  years.  And  a  clause  was  added 
by  which  Carthage  was  to  give  up  all  claim  on  the 
islands  between  Italy  and  Sicily.  This  meant  the 
isles  of  Lipara  ;  on  those  islands  it  was  clearly  neces- 
sary that  Carthage  should  give  up  all  claim.  But  the 
words  were  afterwards  construed,  strangely  and  not 
very  fairly,  to  imply  a  cession  of  Sardinia  and  Corsica. 
Hamilkar  did  not  refuse,  and  peace  was  made.  The 
unconquered  garrisons  of  Lilybaion  and  Eryx 
marched  out  and  were  carried  away  to  Carthage. 
The  War  for  Sicily  was  over,  and  the  island,  as  far 
as  Carthage  was  concerned,  was  left  to  the  dominion 
of  Rome. 

With  the  first  appearance  of  Rome  as  an  actor  in 
Sicilian  affairs,  all  hope  of  maintaining  any  real 
Sicilian  independence  had  passed  away.  It  was  plain 
that  the  dominion  of  the  island  must  fall  to  one  or 
the  other  of  the  two  great  contending  commonwealths. 
At  the  time  men  may  have  doubted  whether  Rome 


CARTHAGE    GIVES    UP   SICILY. 


291 


or  Carthage  had  the  better  chance.  We  can  see  that 
the  advance  of  Rome  could  not  be  checked,  and  we 
see  further  that  it  was  well  that  it  could  not  be  checked. 
If  Greek  Sicily  could  not  remain  free,  if  it  could  not 
be  independent  under  a  Greek  king,  it  was  better  that 
it  should  at  least  have  European  masters.  The  fight 
of  Aigousa  determined  that  Sicily  should  remain 
European  for  1068  years.  In  fact  it  determined  that 
it  should  remain  European  for  ever ;  it  made  the 
second  Semitic  occupation  something  whollyunnatural. 
The  barbarian  corner  of  Sicily  was  now  won  for 
Europe ;  the  Greek  subjects  of  Carthage  passed  under 
the  less  unnatural  rule  of  Rome  ;  the  kingdom  of 
Hieron  still  remained  untouched  within  its  own 
borders,  but  practically  a  dependency  of  Rome.  We 
have  still  some  stirring  tales  to  tell  before  all  Sicily 
passes  under  immediate  Roman  government ;  but  its 
complete  subjection  is  now  only  a  question  of  time. 


XV. 


THE   END  OF   SICILIAN   INDEPENDENCE. 


B.C.  241-21  I. 

[As  we  have  now  come  to  the  great  Hannibalian  War,  the  secondary 
materials,  anecdotes,  allusions,  references  of  all  kinds,  are  endless.  From 
tlie  beginning  of  the  war  we  have  the  continuous  narrative  of  Livy, 
founded  in  many  parts  on  Polybios.  We  have  Polybios'  own  books  from 
the  second  to  the  fifth,  and  fragments  of  those  that  follow.  Of  Dio- 
doros  we  have  only  fragments.  There  is  the  Life  of  Marcellus  by 
Plutarch,  and  the  Life  of  Hannibal  by  Cornelius  Nepos.  The  Latin 
poet  Silius  Italicus  wrote  a  long  poem  on  the  war,  in  which  there  is 
much  mention  of  Sicily,  and  he  is  very  careful  in  his  Sicilian  geography. 
The  only  actually  contemporary  materials  for  this  time  are  some  verses 
of  the  poet  Theokritos,  addressed  to  King  Hieron,  and  some  fragments 
of  the  poem  of  the  Italian  Ennius  on  the  war.] 


The  establishment  of  the  Roman  power  in  Sicily  is 
not  only  a  marked  event  in  the  history  of  the  island  ; 
it  marks  a  memorable  stage  in  the  growth  of  the 
Roman  dominion,  and  thereby  in  the  general  history 
of  the  world.  The  event  of  the  first  \\'ar  between 
Rome  and  Carthage  was  to  give  Rome  her  first 
province  and  her  first  dependent  kingdom.  Others 
of    both    kinds    followed    in    abundance  ;    but  Sicily 

supplied  the  first  of  each  class.     Hieron,  in  form  a 

292 


ROMAN  POWER   IN   SICILY.  2g3 

free  ally  of  Rome,  was  practically  dependent.  He 
was  perfectly  free  in  the  administration  of  his  own 
kingdom  ;  but  he  knew  that  in  his  foreign  policy  he 
had  nothing  to  do  but  to  follow  the  lead  of  Rome. 
The  first  of  his  class,  he  was  far  better  treated  than 
the  royal  dependents  of  Rome  were  in  later  times. 
The  prosperity  and  the  internal  independence  of 
Syracuse  were  untouched  as  long  as  he  lived,  and  if 
they  perished  soon  after  his  death,  it  was  through  the 
fault  of  a  foolish  successor.  The  territory  of  the 
Mamertines  was  a  piece  of  Italy  on  the  Sicilian  side 
of  the  strait.  In  the  rest  of  the  island,  the  part 
subject  to  Carthage,  Rome  now  stepped  into  the 
position  of  Carthage  ;  it  became  the  Roman  province 
of  Sicily.  That  is,  it  became  a  land  subject  to  Rome, 
or  rather  a  possession  of  Rome,  ruled  by  a  Roman 
governor.  The  full  organization  of  all  Sicily  as  a  land 
subject  to  Rome,  and  the  exact  relation  of  all  its 
towns  to  the  ruling  commonwealth,  did  not  come  yet. 
But  so  much  of  the  island  as  had  been  under  the 
power  of  Carthage  now  becomes  Roman  provincial 
soil,  the  property  of  the  Roman  people. 

Meanwhile  the  dominions  of  Hieron,  so  long  as 
Hieron  lived,  enjoyed  all  the  advantages  that 
can  be  had  from  the  government  of  a  good  king. 
And  it  was  well  for  them  that  their  king  lived  to  be 
ninety  years  old,  and  reigned  forty-seven  years  after 
he  became  the  ally  of  Rome.  To  that  character  he 
clave  steadily  ;  in  all  the  wars  which  Rome  waged 
with  the  Gauls,  in  the  time  between  the  two  Punic 
wars,  Hieron  constantly  sent  help.  And  after 
the    second,    the    Hannibalian    war,    broke    out,    he 


294      ^^^^    ^^^   OF  SICILIAN    INDEPENDENCE. 

was  ever  zealous  in  helping  his  ally  with  pro- 
visions and  troops.  Syracuse  itself  was  untouched 
by  war  ;  but  Hieron  kept  up  a  powerful  fleet,  and 
caused  the  defences  of  the  city  to  be  strengthened, 
and  every  kind  of  nnilitary  engine  to  be  kept  in 
readiness  under  the  care  of  his  kinsman  Archimedes, 
the  most  renowned  of  mechanical  philosophers.  He 
adorned  the  city  with  many  buildings.  Foremost 
among  them  was  the  second  temple  of  Olympian 
Zeus  in  the  agora  ;  then  there  was  the  great  altar  for 
the  feast  of  Zeus  Eleutherios  near  the  theatre,  and  the 
repairs  of  the  theatre  itself  There  Hieron's  name 
and  the  names  of  others  of  his  family  may  still  be 
read  carved  on  the  stone.  His  rule  was  mild  and 
just  ;  he  observed  the  old  laws  and  abstained  from  all 
kingly  pomp.  Still  he  kept  the  Island  as  a  separate 
stronghold,  the  dwelling-place  of  the  king  and  the 
place  of  his  treasury  and  store-houses.  He  settled 
the  taxation  ;  all  land  paid  a  tithe  to  the  state  ;  and 
the  law  of  King  Hieron  remained  in  force  long  after 
his  time,  when  all  Sicily  had  become  a  province.  He 
was  famous  among  other  Greek  kings,  and  kept  a 
strict  friendship  with  the  Egyptian  Ptolemies,  to 
which  it  has  commonly  been  thought  that  the 
presence  of  the  paper-plant  of  the  Nile  in  the 
waters  of  Syracuse  is  owing.  His  bounty 
reached  to  Greeks  far  away  ;  he  largely  helped 
the  Rhodians  when  their  city  had  suffered  from  an 
earthquake.  Like  the  former  Hieron,  he  had  poets 
to  sing  his  praises,  and  the  pastoral  poems  of  Thco- 
kritos,  of  which  the  scene  is  chiefly  laid  in  Sicily, 
mark  his  time  as  the  odes  of  Pindar  mark  the  time 


THE   HANNIBALIAN    WAR.  295 

of  the  old  tyrants.  Almost  the  only  drawback  to  his 
prosperity  was  the  death  of  his  only  son  Gelon,  a  son 
who  walked  in  his  ways,  in  his  life-time. 

Towards  the  end  of  the  good  old  king's  reign,  the 
Hannibalian  war  began  in  the  year  218.  Its  early 
stages  barely  touched  Sicily,  and  they  were  marked 
by  one  conquest  which  Rome  won  from  Carthage, 
that  of  the  island  of  Melita.  But  in  216  King  Hieron 
died,  and  the  good  time  of  his  kingdom  was  over. 
It  was  said  that  Hieron  had  wished  to  restore  the 
commonwealth.  That  means  that  he  did  not  wish 
that  the  special  powers  which  had  been  granted  to 
himself  should  be  granted  to  any  one  else  after  him. 
This  is  not  unlikely.  If  Gelon  had  been  alive,  nothing 
could  have  been  better  than  that  he  should  succeed 
his  father  ;  but  there  was  now  no  one  left  but  Gelon's 
son  Hieronymos,  a  lad  of  fifteen,  who  had  already 
begun  to  show  evil  tendencies.  But  the  old  king 
was,  it  is  said,  talked  over  by  his  daughters,  who 
hoped  that  their  husbands,  Hadranodoros  and  Zoippos, 
might  rule  in  their  nephew's  name.  So  he  made  a 
will,  bequeathing  the  kingdom  to  Hieronymos,  and 
putting  him  under  the  care  of  fifteen  guardians, 
among  whom  were  his  two  uncles.  The  will  had  to 
be  confirmed  by  the  Syracusan  assembly,  which 
assented,  but  not  very  willingly,  and  the  reign  of  the 
last  king  of  Syracuse  began. 

Hieronymo.s,  young  as  he  was,  bad  a  will  of  his 
own,  and  that  an  evil  will.  Hadranodoros  contrived 
to  get  rid  of  his  colleagues,  and  hoped  to  rule  his 
nephew  at  his  pleasure.  Hieronymos  gave  a  certain 
amount  of  heed  both  to  him  and  to  Zoippos  ;  but  he 


296      THE   END    OF  SICILIAN   INDEPENDENCE. 

ruled  for  himself.  He  is  charged  with  every  kind 
of  cruelty  and  excess  ;  what  seems  best  proved 
against  him  is  that,  whereas  his  grandfather 
and  his  father  Gelon  had  lived  among  the 
people  of  Syracuse  in  the  simplest  way  and  had 
respected  all  constitutional  forms,  Hieronymos 
surrounded  himself  with  the  extreme  of  ro}'al 
pomp,  and  never  consulted  senate  or  assembly.  In 
short,  according  to  Greek  ideas,  from  a  lawful  king 
he  became  a  tyrant.  Then  came  the  great  political 
question  of  the  day.  Now  that  Hannibal  was  winning 
his  great  victories  in  Italy,  and  Rome  seemed  almost 
at  the  last  gasp,  it  was  by  no  means  clear  that  the 
Roman  alliance  was  the  safest  for  Syracuse.  It  was 
quite  possible  that  help  given  to  Carthage  might  be 
rewarded  with  the  possession  of  all  Sicily.  Hadrano- 
doros  and  Zoippos  both  took  the  Punic  side  ;  another 
adviser,  Thrason,  who  pleaded  for  Rome,  was  got  rid 
of,  and  in  215  an  embassy  was  sent  to  Hannibal,  then 
in  Campania  after  his  victory  at  Cannae,  offering  the 
alliance  of  Syracuse  to  Carthage.  The  envoys  were 
of  course  gladly  received  ;  Hannibal  referred  them  to 
the  government  of  Carthage  for  the  conclusion  of  a 
formal  treaty  ;  meanwhile  he  sent  agents  to  look 
after  Carthaginian  interests  in  Syracuse.  These  were 
two  brothers,  Hippokrates  and  Epikydes,  men  of 
mixed  descent,  Carthaginian  by  birth,  but  grandsons 
of  a  Syracusan  who  had  been  banished  by  Agathokles 
and  had  settled  and  married  at  Carthage.  Hippo- 
krates gained  great  influence  over  the  young  king. 
Hieronymos  fully  made  up  his  mind  to  join  Carthage. 
When   the  pra:;tor  in  the  Roman   province,    Appius 


DEATH   OF  HIERONVMOS.  297 

Claudius,  called  on  him  to  keep  his  faith  to  Rome,  he 
gave  a  mocking  answer.  He  sent  two  embassies  to 
Carthage.  The  first  proposed  that  he  and  the  Cartha- 
ginians should  drive  the  Romans  out  of  Sicily  and 
divide  the  island  between  them,  with  the  river  Himcras 
for  the  boundary.  He  then  rose  in  his  demands,  and 
asked  for  all  Sicily.  The  Carthaginians  consented  ; 
it  suited  their  purpose  for  the  time,  and  Hicronymos 
became  their  ally  and  the  enemy  of  Rome. 

15ut  a  party  in  Syracuse  was  favourable  to  Rome, 
and  the  misrule  of  Hieronymos  had  made  him  many 
enemies.  He  set  out  on  a  campaign  against  the 
Roman  province,  but  was  presently  killed  by  con- 
spirators at  Leontinoi.  Two  of  the  slayers,  Theodotos 
and  Sosis,  set  out  at  once,  hoping"  to  be  the  first  to 
take  the  news  to  Syracuse.  But  a  slave  of  the  king's 
got  there  before  them,  and  Hadranodoros,  who  looked 
on  himself  as  his  nephew's  successor,  was  able  to 
make  some  preparations  for  defence.  But  when 
Sosis  and  Theodotos  came  from  Leontinoi,  bearing 
the  diadem  of  Hieronymos  and  the  royal  robe  stained 
with  his  blood,  popular  feeling  broke  forth ;  the 
soldiers  of  Hadranodoros  would  not  support  him  ;  the 
rule  of  the  senate  and  people  was  proclaimed,  and 
Hadranodoros  was  called  on  to  submit  to  the  restored 
commonwealth.  He  was  at  first  inclined  to  do  so  ; 
but  his  wife  Damareta,  daughter  of  Hieron,  stirred  him 
up  to  cleave  to  power.  But  he  had  not  strength  of 
mind  to  take  any  decided  course  either  way.  The 
next  day  he  went  out  of  the  Island,  gave  up  the  keys, 
and  made  his  submission  to  the  new  state  of  things. 
He  was  at  once  elected  general,  along  with  Thcmistos, 


298      THE   END   OF   SICILIAN  INDEPENDENCE. 

the  husband  of  Harmonia  the  sister  of  Hieronymos. 
With  them  were  joined  several  of  his  slayers.  They 
were  of  course  on  the  Roman  side,  and  envoys  were 
sent  to  Appius  Claudius  to  negotiate  a  renewal  of 
the  old  friendship  between  Syracuse  and  Rome, 

Thus  far  things  had  gone  on  the  whole  quietly  ;  no 
blood  had  been  shed  but  that  of  Hieronymos.  But 
the  prospect  of  renewed  friendship  with  Rome  did 
not  at  all  suit  the  purposes  of  Hippokrates  and 
Epikydes.  At  the  time  of  the  death  of  Hieronymos, 
they  were  absent  on  a  military  command  against  the 
neighbouring  Roman  garrisons.  They  tried  in  vain 
to  keep  the  news  of  the  king's  death  from  their 
soldiers,  who  presently  forsook  them.  They  then 
went  to  Syracuse ;  they  pleaded  that  they  were 
officers  of  Hannibal's,  who  had  come  to  Syracuse  and 
served  Hieronymos  only  because  their  own  commander 
had  sent  them.  They  wished  now  to  go  back  to 
Hannibal,  and  asked  for  a  guard,  as  the  roads  were 
not  safe.  The  generals  granted  their  request,  but 
foolishly  did  not  send  them  off  at  once.  They  thus 
had  time  to  intrigue  with  various  kinds  of  people, 
largely  with  the  mercenaries  and  the  deserters  from 
the  Roman  service,  against  the  alliance  with  Rome. 
They  gave  out  that  the  object  of  the  generals  was, 
under  cover  of  the  Roman  alliance,  to  bring  Syracuse 
wholly  under  the  power  of  Rome,  and  to  rule  them- 
selves under  Roman  patronage.  Damareta  and 
Harmonia  are  said  to  have  stirred  up  their  husbands 
to  join  in  the  plot.  The  other  generals  professed  to 
have  found  evidence  against  them  ;  but,  instead  of 
bringing   them   to  trial,  they  had    them   murdered  at 


SLAUGHTER    OF   HIERON'S   DESCENDANTS.     299 

the  door  of  the  senate-house,  and  then  got  the  senate 
to  pass  a  vote  approving  the  deed.  Then  they 
harangued  the  pubHc  assembly,  and  pretended  to 
carry  a  vote  that  tlie  whole  house  of  the  tyrants — so 
the  descendants  of  good  King  Hieron  were  now 
called — should  be  put  to  death.  Those  who  answered 
to  that  description  in  Syracuse  were  all  women.  Not 
only  were  Damareta  and  Harmonia  slain,  but  a  far 
more  pitiful  slaughter  was  done.  Zoippos,  the 
husband  of  Hieron's  other  daughter  Herakleia,  was 
away  at  Alexandria.  He  had  advised  the  Cartha- 
ginian alliance  ;  but  he  disapproved  of  Hieronymos' 
misdeeds,  and,  when  he  was  sent  to  Egypt  on  an 
embassy,  he  chose  to  stay  there  rather  than  come 
back  to  Syracuse.  His  wife  and  two  daughters  were 
left  at  S)'racuse ;  they  were  now  slaughtered  with 
horrible  cruelty. 

This  was  one  of  the  worst  deeds  in  S}'racusan 
history  ;  but  it  was  the  deed  of  the  generals,  not  of 
the  people.  When  the  assembly  found  out  how  they 
had  been  deceived,  orders  were  sent,  but  too  late,  to 
stop  the  slaughter.  One  is  rather  surprised  that  the 
generals  who  had  done  such  a  deed  were  not  deposed, 
or  rather  swept  away  in  a  burst  of  wrath.  But  the 
anger  of  the  people  showed  itself  only  by  a  strong 
turn  of  general  feeling  towards  the  Carthaginian  side. 
In  this  state  of  mind  Hippokrates  and  Epikydes  were 
chosen  generals  instead  of  the  two  slain  men.  They 
still  had  to  dissemble  ;  negotiations  were  going  on 
with  Appius  Claudius,  and  he  sent  envoys  on  to  the 
new  consul  who  had  come  into  Sicily,  the  famous 
Marcus  Claudius  Marccllus.     The  two  brothers  fra\-e 


300      THE   END    OF   SICILIAN   INDEPENDENCE. 

out  that  there  was  a  plot  to  give  the  city  altogether 
up  to  Rome.  And  they  had  the  more  weight  when 
a  Punic  fleet  came  to  Pachynos,  and  when  Appius 
Claudius  thought  it  prudent  to  bring  the  Roman  fleet 
to  the  mouth  of  the  Great  Harbour.  He  came  only  to 
watch  ;  but  the  people  were  greatly  stirred,  and  they 
were  kept  from  violence  only  by  the  speech  of  a 
certain  Apollonides,  who  persuaded  them  to  keep  in 
the  Roman  alliance,  and  to  conclude  the  treaty  which 
was  under  negotiation  with  Marcellus. 

A  new  subject  of  dispute  grew  out  of  the  terms  of 
the  treaty,  which  shows  how  the  old  feelings  charac- 
teristic of  Greek  commonwealths  still  lived  on.  The 
treaty  provided  that  all  the  towns  that  had  been 
under  the  rule  of  King  Hieron  should  be  under  the 
rule  of  the  Syracusan  commonwealth.  Every  Greek 
knew  what  that  meant.  The  king  might  rule  in  the 
interest  of  his  whole  kingdom  ;  a  commonwealth  of 
Syracuse,  aristocratic  or  democratic,  would  rule  in  the 
interest  of  Syracuse  only.  In  this  Hippokrates  and 
Epikydes  saw  their  advantage.  They  were  foolishly 
sent  to  Leontinoi  with  a  force  of  mercenaries  and 
deserters,  to  get  them  and  their  men  out  of  the  way. 
They  were  after  all  officers  of  Hannibal's,  who  cared 
for  Syracuse  only  so  far  as  suited  the  interests  of 
Carthage.  They  therefore  did  not  scruple,  in  a  style 
that  might  have  been  very  becoming  in  a  Leontine 
patriot,  to  stir  up  the  Leontines  to  assert  their  in- 
dependence of  Syracuse,  and  also  to  make  inroads 
into  the  Roman  territory.  Marcellus  naturally  sent 
Jo  Syracuse  to  complain  of  this  breach  of  the  treaty 
which  had  just  been  made.     The  generals  answered 


TAKING    OF   LEONTINOI.  30I 

that  Lcontinoi  was  a  town  subject  to  Syracuse,  and 
that  Syracuse  would  join  with  Rome  to  put  down  the 
revolt. 

Syracuse  might  thus  even  now  have  remained  in  the 
Roman  alliance,  if  Marcellus  had  not  turned  all  Greek 
feeling  in  Sicily  against  him  by  an  act  in  which  he 
perhaps  thought  that  he  was  rather  merciful  than  other- 
wise. The  inland  parts  of  the  island  had  now  not  seen 
war  for  more  than  fifty  years,  and  now  war  was  going 
to  be  waged  by  Romans.  The  received  war-law  of 
Rome  was  far  harsher  than  anything  to  which  Greeks 
were  used  anywhere.  Very  bloody  deeds  were  often 
done  even  by  Greek  commonwealths,  and  worse 
excesses  had  now  and  then  been  done  both  by  mobs 
and  by  tyrants.  But  nowhere  in  Greece  was  there 
any  systematic  practice  like  the  indiscriminate 
slaughter  when  the  Romans  took  a  town  by  storm. 
And  the  bloodiest  military  executions  among  Greeks 
were  inflictions  of  simple  death,  without  the  addition 
of  needless  pain  or  mockery.  Marcellus  now  set  out 
for  Leontinoi  without  waiting  for  the  Syracusan 
contingent  which  was  to  join  him.  A  fierce  assault 
carried  the  town.  The  usual  massacre  must  have 
followed  for  a  while,  and  some  plunder  was  certainly 
done.  But  Marcellus  stopped  it  as  soon  as  he  could. 
No  citizen  of  Leontinoi,  no  soldier  who  was  not  a 
deserter,  suffered  anything  further :  the  consul  even 
ordered  the  plundered  goods  to  be  restored.  In  all 
this  Marcellus  was  certainly  acting  much  less  harshly, 
than  Roman  generals  often  did.  But  there  were  two 
thousand  men  in  Leontinoi  to  whom,  by  Roman  law, 
he  could  show  no  mercy.     These  were  the  deserters 


302      THE    END   OF   SICILIAN   INDEPENDENCE. 

who  were  all  scourged  and  beheaded.  We  may 
safely  say  that  no  such  sight  had  ever  been  seen  in 
eastern  Sicily.  The  scourging,  yet  more  than  the 
beheading,  turned  general  feeling  strongly  against 
the  Romans.  The  story  further  lent  itself  to  any 
amount  of  exaggeration,  Hippokrates  and  Epikydes, 
who  contrived  to  escape  to  Herbessus,  began  to  spread 
reports  abroad  that  the  whole  people  of  Leontinoi 
had  been  treated  in  the  way  in  which  only  the 
deserters  had  been. 

The  result  of  these  falsehoods  was  that  the  Syracu- 
san  soldiers,  citizens  and  mercenaries,  refused  to  act 
against  either  Leontinoi  or  Herbessus.  They  wel- 
comed Hippokrates  and  Epikydes,  when  they  ventured 
to  come  out  and  meet  them.  The  mercenaries  were 
further  stirred  up  by  a  forged  letter  from  the 
Syracusan  generals  to  Marcellus,  in  which  they  were 
made  to  thank  him  for  his  treatment  of  the  deserters 
at  Leontinoi,  and  to  pray  him  to  do  the  like  by  all 
the  mercenaries  in  the  Syracusan  service.  The  wrath 
of  the  mercenaries  was  naturally  great  ;  the  generals 
fled,  without  waiting  to  disclaim  the  letter  ;  Hippo- 
krates and  Epikydes  had  some  ado  to  keep  the 
mercenaries  from  massacring  all  the  men  in  the  army 
who  were  Syracusan  citizens.  The  generals  fled  to 
Syracuse  ;  they  were  followed  by  a  messenger  who 
was  sent  by  the  two  brothers  to  repeat  all  the  false 
tales  which  had  been  told  to  the  army.  The  city  was 
divided  ;  but  the  more  part,  specially  of  the  lower 
people,  were  now  on  the  Carthaginian  side.  When 
Hippokrates  and  Epikydes  came  to  the  Hexapyla, 
the  P'enerals  found  none  who  would  withstand  them. 


ROMAN   SIEGE    OF   SYRACUSE.  303 

They  fled  with  their  partisans  into  Achradina  ;  but 
the  wall  was  stormed  ;  some  of  the  generals  and  their 
partisans  were  slain  ;  others,  of  whom  Sosis  was  one, 
escaped  to  the  Roman  camp.  An  irregular  assembly, 
in  which  slaves,  strangers,  and  criminals  were  allowed 
to  take  a  part,  restored  the  two  brothers  to  their 
office  of  general.  It  is  not  clear  whether  any  formal 
vote  on  behalf  of  Carthage  was  passed.  But  Syracuse 
was  now  held  in  the  Carthaginian  interest  by  merce- 
naries, deserters,  and  the  lowest  class  of  her  own 
people.  A  large  party  still  clave  to  Rome,  but  they 
were  overpowered.  The  Roman  siege  of  Syracuse 
(214-212)  began. 

Marcellus  led  his  troops  by  a  round-about  path  to 
the  old  camping-ground  by  the  Olympieion,  leaving 
the  northern  part  of  the  city  untouched.  His  object 
was  to  act  in  concert  with  the  fleet  in  the  Great 
Harbour.  He  still  made  two  attempts  at  negotiation. 
His  message  was  that  he  did  not  come  to  besiege 
Syracuse ;  he  came  to  demand  the  restoration  of 
those  Syracusans  who  had  taken  refuge  in  the  camp, 
and  the  deliverance  of  those  who  were  now  held  down 
by  the  yoke  of  strangers.  Let  the  fugitives  be  restored, 
let  the  authors  of  the  massacre  be  given  up,  and  all 
would  still  be  well.  If  not,  Rome  must  appeal  to  arms. 
Epikydes  heard  the  envoys  outside  the  gate  ;  he  told 
them  that  they  would  find  a  siege  of  Syracuse  harder 
than  a  siege  of  Leontinoi,  and  shut  the  gate  in  their 
faces. 

The  work  of  the  siege  now  began.  It  was  a  siege 
carried  on  mainly  from  the  north  side.   If  the  camp  by 


304      THE   END    OF  SICILIAN   INDEPENDENCE. 

the  Olympieion  was  kept  up,  it  was  quite  secondary  to 
the  main  Roman  post  by  the  Hexapyla,  where  Appius 
attacked  by  land,  while  Marcellus  led  the  fleet  against 
the  cliffs  of  Achradina.  He  had  many  engines  and 
crafty  devices  on  board  his  ships,  towers  such  as  those 
which  were  brought  against  the  walls  in  ordinary 
sieges  by  land,  a  machine  too  for  throwing  ladders, 
by  which  it  was  hoped  that  the  walls  on  the  cliffs 
might  be  scaled.  But  there  was  one  within  the  walls 
of  Syracuse  who  knew  much  better  how  to  manage 
such  matters  than  any  one  in  the  Roman  camp  or 
fleet.  Archimedes  still  lived,  and  he  devoted  his 
whole  powers  to  the  defence  of  the  besieged  city. 
Hippokrates  and  Epikydes  had  the  sense  to  let  him 
have  full  play  ;  men  said  that  one  old  man  was  the 
soul  of  Syracuse,  and  that  all  the  rest  were  only  his 
body.  He  pierced  the  walls  with  eyelet  holes  for 
sharpshooters  ;  he  lined  the  battlements  with  artillery 
of  every  kind  for  the  throwing  of  stones  and  all 
missiles,  all  proportioned  and  balanced  with  wonder- 
ful skill.  He  had  iron  hands  by  which  the  soldiers 
who  drew  near  to  the  wall  were  caught  up  into  the  air. 
He  had  special  devices  to  meet  the  Roman  devices  ; 
the  towers  and  the  ladders  were  useless  ;  the  ships 
that  bore  them  were  crushed  by  stones  or  huge  lumps 
of  lead  skilfully  aimed,  or  they  were  caught  up  and 
let  fall  again  with  the  chance  of  sinking.  Against 
the  skill  of  Archimedes  the  Romans  could  do  nothing 
by  land  or  sea.  If  so  much  as  a  stick  or  a  piece  of 
rope  was  seen  on  the  wall,  they  ran  away,  crying  out 
that  Archimedes  was  bringing  his  engines  against 
them.     At   last   the  two  Claudii  gave  up  the  attack 


MASSACRE   AT   HENNA.  305 

both  by  land  and  sea.  Appius  stayed  to  watch 
Syracuse  from  the  old  quaitcrs  by  the  Olympicion, 
and  Marcellus  set  out  to  recover  the  other  towns 
which  had  revolted. 

This  failure  of  the  great  Roman  attack  on  Syracuse 
went  far  to  change  the  whole  face  of  the  war.  Hanni- 
bal saw  that  Sicily  must  now  become  its  main  field.  He 
himself  stayed  in  Italy  ;  there  was  his  special  mission  ; 
but  he  wrote  to  Carthage  to  plead  that  strong  rein- 
forcements should  be  sent  to  Sicily.  Himilkon 
accordingly  came  with  horse,  foot,  and  elephants.  He 
took  Hcrakleia  and  Agrigentum.  But  he  failed  in  an 
attempt  to  relieve  Syracuse  by  land  and  sea ;  the 
Punic  fleet  which  had  come  with  provisions  for  the 
besieged  town  sailed  away  without  giving  any  further 
help.  But  again  the  Romans  helped  their  enemies  by 
a  deed  of  blood  which  this  time  could  not  be  ex- 
cused even  by  the  Roman  laws  of  war.  Lucius 
Pinarius,  who  commanded  in  PIcnna,  had  reason, 
seemingly  good  reason,  to  believe  that  there  was  a 
plot  to  give  up  the  Roman  garrison  to  the  enemy  ; 
but  his  way  of  meeting  the  danger  was  to  summon 
the  whole  people  of  Henna  to  their  regular  assembly, 
and  then  to  fall  upon  them  and  massacre  them. 
Marcellus  had  not  commanded  this  crime,  but  he  in 
no  way  censured  it.  Such  a  deed,  done  too  in  the 
holy  city  of  Henna,  turned  general  Sicilian  feeling 
yet  more  strongly  against  Rome.  Many  towns  went 
over  to  Himilkon.  All  that  Marcellus  could  do  during 
the  winter  (213-212)  was  to  watch,  rather  than  to 
besiege,  Syracuse  on  both  sides.  Titus  Ouinctius 
Crispinus  commanded  the  post  by  the   Olympieion 

ai 


306      THE   END    OF   SICILIAN   INDEPENDENCE. 

and  the  ships  in  the  Great  Harbour,  while  the  pra 
consul  himself  pitched  a  camp  on  the  north  side, 
seemingly  not  far  from  Thapsos. 

There  were  many  Syracusans  in  the  camp  of  Mar- 
cellus,  the  late  general  Sosis  among  them  ;  and  there 
was  still  in  Syracuse  itself  a  large  party  which 
would  gladly  have  returned  to  the  Roman  alli- 
ance. But  the  mercenaries  and  deserters  who,  under 
Epikydes,  had  the  upper  hand  in  the  town,  kept  a 
narrow  watch  over  them.  Communications  were 
however  opened  between  the  Roman  partisans  inside 
and  outside  the  city  ;  the  envoys  were  taken  to 
and  fro  in  a  strange  way ;  they  were  carried  in 
fishingrboats,  covered  up  with  the  nets,  Marcellus 
offered  that  Syracuse,  on  submission,  should  even 
now  remain  a  free  city  governed  by  its  own  law. 
But  the  plot  was  betrayed  to  Epikydes,  and,  therein 
showing  his  Punic  breeding,  he  caused  eighty 
partisans  of  Rome  to  be  put  to  death  by  torture. 
Still  all  intercourse  did  not  cease  between  besieged 
and  besiegers.  Conferences  went  on  about  the  ransom 
of  a  Lacedaemonian  named  Damippos.  He  had  been 
sent  from  Syracuse  to  try  to  stir  up  King  Philip  of 
Macedonia,  who  had  made  a  treaty  with  Hannibal, 
but  had  given  him  no  real  help.  Damippos  fell  into 
the  hands  of  the  Romans  ;  Rome  had  just  then  her 
own  reasons  for  dealing  gently  with  Sparta,  and  Mar- 
cellus was  not  disinclined  to  show  him  some  favour. 
At  a  conference  held  in  a  tower  between  the  Roman 
camp  and  the  north  wall  of  S>'racuse,  a  Roman 
officer  marked  a  point  where  it  would  not  be  hard   to 


EPIPOLAI  IN   ROMAN  HANDS.  307 

scale  the  wall.  He  told  Marccllus,  who  did  not  hurry, 
but  waited  for  a  good  opportunity. 

Such  an  opportunity  presently  came.  There  was  a 
three  days'  feast  to  Artemis  kept  in  Syracuse,  when 
there  was  every  chance  that  bad  watch  would  be  kept 
and  that  many  would  be  drunk.  As  the  Romans 
were  not  pressing  the  city  at  all  closely,  Archimedes' 
engines  were  not  at  work  ;  there  was  nothing  to  be 
feared  beyond  the  ordinary  risks  of  war.  A  chosen  party 
was  sent  at  night  under  the  guidance  of  the  Syracusan 
Sosis.  They  scaled  the  wall  near  the  Hexapyla, 
and  met  with  no  resistance  from  the  sleepy  and 
drunken  guards.  Presently  the  Roman  trumpet  was 
blown  from  the  wall  ;  the  startled  sentinels  ran  hither 
and  thither;  the  Hexapyla  was  opened,  and  the  whole 
Roman  army  marched  in.  They  had  now  possession 
of  the  whole  open  ground  of  Epipolai  ;  but  the  older 
quarters  of  the  city  had  still  to  be  besieged.  Epiky- 
des  held  Achradina  and  the  Island,  and  at  the  other 
end  the  castle  of  Euryalos  was  still  held  against  them. 
There  was  still  much  to  do  ;  but  it  was  something  to 
have  got  within  the  wall  of  Dionysios.  Marccllus,  a 
stern  man  but  with  a  good  deal  of  the  hero  in  him, 
looked  down  on  the  great  and  famous  city,  the  vastest 
in  all  Europe,  which  he  had  gone  so  far  to  win.  He 
thought  of  its  old  glories  and  of  all  that  it  might  still 
have  to  go  through  before  he  had  full  possession.  He 
looked  and  wept — there  seems  no  reason  to  doubt 
the  tale — in  mingled  joy  and  wonder  and  hope  and 
fear. 

Marccllus  had  now,  as  had  been  done  more  than 
once  before  in  Syracusan  histor)',  to  besiege  the  inner 


308      THE   END   OF   SICILIAN  INDEPENDENCE 

town   of  Syracuse  from    the   outer.     He   once  more 
offered  terms,  but  the  walls  of  Achradina  were  manned 
by  deserters,  and  the  herald  could  not  even  get  a  hear- 
ing.    He  turned  his  mind  to  the  castle  on  Euryalos, 
where     an    Argeian    mercenary    called    Philodamos 
commanded.     Sosis  was  sent  to  negotiate  with  him, 
but   Philodamos  put  him   off  for  a  while,  as  he  was 
hoping    for    relief    from     Hippokrates.      Meanwhile 
Marcellus  pitched  a  camp  on  the  middle  of  the  hill, 
between  the  two  later  quarters  of  Tycha  and  Teme- 
mites,the  latter  of  which  had  now  grown  into  a  Ncapolis 
or  Neiutozvn.    Their  defences  seem  to  have  been  much 
weaker   than    those  of  Achradina;    the  inhabitants 
presently  sent  to  Marcellus,  offering  to  surrender  and 
begging  only  for  their  lives  and  dwellings.     He  took 
them   at  their  word.     The  two  quarters  were  syste- 
matically  plundered  ;    but   slaughter  was  forbidden, 
and  the  people  were  seemingly  allowed  to  go  back 
to  their  empty  houses.     Soon  after,  Philodamos,  de- 
spairing of  help,  surrendered  the  castle  of  Euryalos 
and  was  allowed  to  join  Epikydes  in  the  Island.   The 
Romans  had   now   full   occupation  of  the  whole  hill 
outside  the  wall    of  Achradina.      The  siege  of   the 
inner  city  of  Syracuse  now  began. 

If  Philodamos  had  waited  a  little  longer,  he  might 
have  given  his  friends  some  help.  Things  looked  as 
if  the  besiegers  were  going,  like  the  Athenians,  to 
be  themselves  besieged  by  land  and  sea.  Bomilkar 
brought  a  Punic  fleet  into  the  Great  Harbour. 
Himilkon  and  Hippokrates  came  with  a  land  army, 
Punic  and  Sicilian,  and  occupied  a  point  in  the  low 
ground  to  the  south  of  the  camp  of  Titus  Ouinctius. 


PUNIC   FORCE    DESTROYED    BY   PESTILENCE.  ^Og 

A  general  attack  was  made  ;  Epikydes  helping  with 
a  sally  from  Achradina.  But  the  Romans  beat  off 
their  assailants  everywhere.  For  a  while  all  remained 
watching  one  another.  Marcellus  was  on  the  hill ; 
Epikydes  was  in  the  inner  city  ;  Himilkon  and 
Hippokrates  with  their  army,  and  Ouinctius  with 
his,  were  encamped  in  the  lower  ground,  and  the 
Carthaginian  and  Roman  fleets  lay  in  the  harbour. 
Presently  a  new  and  terrible  power  stepped  in. 

It  was  now  the  autumn  of  the  year  212  ;  and  the 
marshy  ground  by  the  Anapos,  as  ever,  became  un- 
healthy. Pestilence  broke  out  among  the  armies 
encamped  there,  as  it  had  done  in  the  days  of  the 
former  Himilkon.  It  did  not  greatly  touch  either  the 
besieged  or  the  besiegers  within  the  city  ;  they  were  in 
a  purer  air  ;  but  it  fell  on  the  army  of  Ouinctius,  and 
still  more  heavily  on  the  army  of  Himilkon.  Mar- 
cellus was  able  to  help  Ouinctius'  soldiers  by  moving 
them  to  healthier  ground  on  the  hill  ;  the  Sicilian 
soldiers  who  had  come  with  the  Carthaginians  also 
found  healthy  spots  in  the  neighbourhood.  But  the 
Punic  force  was  utterly  swept  away,  and  with  it  the 
two  commanders  Himilkon  and  Hippokrates.  The 
only  hope  of  Epikydes  was  now  in  Bomilkar  and  the 
Punic  fleet.  Bomilkar  went  to  Africa  to  ask  for  rein- 
forcements. The  reinforcements  were  granted  ;  they 
came  to  Sicily,  but  not  to  Syracuse.  Epikydes  went 
to  stir  him  up  ;  he  set  sail,  but  he  neither  entered  the 
harbour  of  Syracuse  nor  met  the  Roman  fleet  in 
battle.  He  sailed  away,  it  is  not  easy  to  see  why,  to 
Tarcntum. 

Epikydes  did  not  come  back  to  Syracuse.     He  was 


310      THE   END   OF   SICILIAN  INDEPENDENCE. 

really  the  officer,  not  of  Syracuse  but  of  Carthage, 
and  he  may  have  thought  that  he  could  do  Carthage 
better  service  elsewhere.  His  absence  left  Syracuse 
in  the  hands  of  the  mercenaries  and  deserters.  These 
last,  in  case  of  Roman  success,  had  nothing  to  look 
for  but  the  rods  and  the  axe  ;  all  others,  citizens  and 
soldiers,  might  have  some  hope  of  making  terms.  So 
yet  again  an  attempt  at  negotiation  was  made.  It 
began  with  the  Sicilian  troops  in  the  neighbourhood. 
Marcellus  said  that  he  was  still  willing  to  leave  Syra- 
cuse a  free  city,  enrolled  of  course  as  a  dependency 
of  Rome,  and  paying  to  Rome  the  revenue  that  had 
been  formerly  paid  to  King  Hieron.  Envoys  were 
sent  to  announce  these  terms  to  the  mercenary  captains 
who  now  had  Syracuse  in  their  power.  These  cap- 
tains the  envoys  contrived  to  slay,  by  the  help  of  their 
friends  in  Syracuse,  An  assembly  was  then  held,  the 
last  assembly  of  the  Syracusan  people.  Generals  were 
chosen,  who  began  to  treat  with  Marcellus  on  the 
proposed  terms.  This  sounded  like  a  death-warrant 
to  the  deserters ;  they  persuaded  the  mercenaries  to 
share  their  luck  ;  they  slew  the  new  generals,  and 
broke  off  all  communications  with  the  Romans.  But 
presently  the  ordinary  mercenaries  began  to  see  that 
their  case  and  that  of  the  deserters  was  not  the  same. 
The  mere  mercenaries  might  make  terms,  while  the 
deserters  could  not.  A  Spanish  captain  named 
Mericus  entered  into  communication  with  Marcellus  ; 
great  rewards  were  promised  him,  and  he  agreed  to 
betray  his  post  in  the  Island  in  the  night. 

When   the   appointed   time  came,  a  Roman  party 
came  by  water,  and  was  admitted  by  Mericus.     At 


TAKLXG    OF   SYRACUSE.  31 T 

:l.i\-bi'cak  Marccllus  made  a  pretended  attack  on  the 
wall  of  Achradina.  All  the  forces  in  Syracuse  went 
to  defend  it  ;  larger  parties  of  Roinans  were  admitted 
by  Mericus  till  the  Island  was  wholly  in  their  power. 
And  now  comes  the  strange  part  of  the  story.  The 
deserters  contrived  to  escape  ;  it  is  implied  that  their 
escape  was  conniv^ed  at.  This  looks  as  if  Mericus 
had  made  some  stipulation  for  them  ;  if  so,  Marcellus 
might  shut  his  eyes  to  their  escape  ;  he  could  not  par- 
don them,  if  they  came  into  his  hands.  But  a  hard 
fate  fell  on  the  citizens,  a  large  part  at  least  of  whom 
were  still  inclined  to  Rome.  They  came  out  of  the 
gate  of  Achradina,  asking  simply  for  their  lives.  The 
clemency  of  Marcellus  was  afterwards  much  boasted  of; 
but  it  did  not  go  far  beyond  forbidding  any  general 
massacre.  It  comes  out  afterwards  that  some  special 
enemies  of  Rome  were  put  to  death  and  their  houses 
and  lands  were  forfeited  ;  but  for  the  mass  of  the 
people  the  rule  was  the  same  that  had  been  followed  at 
the  entrance  of  the  Romans  into  Tycha  and  Neapolis. 
In  truth  it  would  have  been  impossible  to  keep  the 
soldiers  from  the  expected  reward  of  their  long  toils. 
The  houses  of  S}'racusc  were  given  up  to  plunder  ; 
but  slaughter  and  outrage  were  forbidden,  and  the  in- 
habitants were  allowed  to  keep  their  empty  houses. 
Marcellus  took  possession  of  the  royal  hoard  for  the 
Roman  people  ;  but  it  proved  less  rich  than  had  been 
looked  for.  And  he  began  that  shameless  robbery  of 
statues,  pictures,  and  other  works  of  art,  \\hich  went 
on  constantly  from  this  time.  He  took  away  all  that 
he  could  to  adorn  his  triumph. 

Slaughter  and  outrage  were  forbidden  ;  but,  when 


312      THE   END   OF   SICILIAN  INDEPENDENCE. 

pillage  is  allowed,  some  slaughter  is  sure  to  follow. 
And  the  taking  of  Syracuse  was  marked  by  the  slay- 
ing of  the  most  memorable  man  in  Sicily.  We 
have  heard  nothing  of  Archimedes  since  quite  the 
early  days  of  the  siege  ;  indeed,  since  he  drove  away 
Marcellus  and  Appius,  there  had  been  no  need  of  his 
engines.  The  story  goes  that  Marcellus  sent  for 
him  ;  was  it  to  lead  him  in  his  triumph?  When  the 
message  came,  the  philosopher  was  busy  with  a 
mathematical  problem  ;  he  asked  to  be  allowed  to 
finish  it ;  the  soldier  seemingly  misunderstood  him, 
and  in  his  haste  drew  his  sword  and  killed  him. 
Marcellus  is  said  to  have  lamented  his  death  and  to 
have  shown  favour  to  his  kinsfolk.  Others  were  slain 
by  one  chance  or  another ;  and  those  who  kept  their 
lives  and  houses,  but  had  lost  all  their  goods,  were  in 
a  wretched  case.  Many  had  to  sell  themselves  or 
their  children  for  food.  But  Rome  rewarded  those 
who  had  served  her  Sosis  and  Mericus  both  received 
Roman  citizenship.  Sosis  was  also  given  a  house  in 
Syracuse  and  lands  in  the  neighbourhood.  INIericus 
and  those  who  had  helped  him  to  let  the  Romans 
into  the  Island  received  lands  elsewhere. 

Such  was  the  end  of  the  long  history  of  Syracuse 
as  an  independent  city,  often  as  a  ruling  city,  the 
greatest  city  of  Sicily  and  of  Europe.  For  more  than 
a  thousand  years  it  remained,  in  one  shape  or  another, 
part  of  the  Roman  dominion.  Marcellus  had  now  to 
deal  with  the  other  towns  which  had  come  under  the 
Roman  dominion.  The  kingdom  of  Hieron  was 
swept  away ;    nor   was    there    any   hope    of  uniting 


EXPLOITS    OF  MUTINES.  313 

eastern  Sicily  as  a  whole  or  any  other  shape.  Each 
town  was  dealt  with  according  to  its  deserts  towards 
Rome.  Those  towns  which  had  never  fallen  away  or 
which  had  come  back  before  the  fall  of  Syracuse  were 
received  to  different  degrees  of  favour.  Those  which 
had  simply  come  in  through  fear  after  Syracuse  had 
fallen  Marcellus  dealt  with  as  conquered  enemies,  and 
as  at  Syracuse,  he  portioned  out  rewards  and  punish- 
ments as  he  thought  good.  In  these  measures  we 
see  the  beginnings  of  the  different  relations  in  which 
the  towns  of  Sicily  stood  to  Rome  and  to  one  another 
in  after-times. 

But  it  was  only  in  part  of  Sicily  that  Marcellus 
could  thus  act  at  pleasure.  Many  towns  still  clave  to 
the  Punic  alliance.  Hannon  and  Epikydes  still  held 
Akragas,  and  they  were  now  strengthened  by  Hanni- 
bal sending  to  them  a  valiant  captain  of  Numidian  horse 
named  Mutines.  He  was  of  the  mixed  breed  called 
Libyphocnicians,  who  were  shut  out  from  honours 
in  the  Carthaginian  commonwealth,  but  his  merits  as 
a  soldier  had  won  him  honour  and  trust  in  the  camp 
of  Hannibal.  At  the  head  of  his  light  cavalry  he 
scoured  the  country  unhindered.  He  harried  the 
lands  of  the  allies  of  Rome,  and  became  the  centre 
of  the  Carthaginian  party  everywhere.  But  Hannon 
envied  his  exploits,  and,  having  his  own  commission 
straight  from  the  Carthaginian  government,  he  de- 
spised the  officer  merely  sent  by  Hannibal.  On  the 
other  hand,  Mutines  cared  greatly  for  Hannibal  and 
Mutines'  soldiers  cared  greatly  for  Mutines ;  but  neither 
cared  much  for  Carthage  and  still  less  for  Hannon.  It 
was  therefore  not  hard  for  Roman  intrigues  to  shake 


3r4      THE    END   OF   SICILIAN   INDEPENDENCE. 

their  allegiance  when  once  they  felt  wronged.  Hannon 
and  Epikydes  marched  as  far  as  Phintias,  by  the  old 
battle-ground  of  the  southern  Himeras.  Marcellus 
marched  from  Syracuse  to  meet  them  ;  a  battle  fol- 
lowed ;  Mutines  was  there,  and  the  Romans  were 
driven  to  their  camp.  A  strange  mutiny  followed 
among  the  Numidians  ;  part  rode  away  to  Herakleia; 
Mutines  went  to  bring  them  back  ;  Hannon  would 
needs  fight  a  battle  while  Mutines  was  away  ;  the 
Numidians  sent  word  to  Marcellus  that  they  would 
not  fight  against  him.  On  the  day  of  battle  they 
stood  aloof,  and  without  them  Hannon's  army  was 
easily  beaten.  Marcellus  took  much  spoil  and  eight 
elephants,  and  went  back  to  Syracuse  as  a  conqueror. 
This  was  his  last  exploit  in  Sicily.  He  was  suc- 
ceeded in  his  command  by  the  praetor  Cethcgus,  and 
went  back  to  Rome,  hoping  for  a  triumph.  The 
conquest  of  Syracuse  was  certainly  the  greatest 
success  that  Rome  had  ever  seen  ;  but  the  war  was 
not  over,  and  Marcellus  had  come  without  his  army. 
He  was  therefore  refused  the  triumph,  and  was  allowed 
only  the  lesser  honour  of  the  ovation.  In  that  the 
general  walked  instead  of  being  drawn  in  a  chariot ; 
flutes  were  played  instead  of  trumpets,  and  the  sacri- 
fice to  Jupiter  on  the  Capitol  was  a  ram  and  not  a 
bull.  But  the  rich  spoil  of  Syracuse,  the  plunder 
of  gods  and  men,  the  engines  of  Archimedes,  the 
captive  elephants,  made  so  great  a  show  that  the 
ovation  of  Marcellus  was  as  splendid  as  any  triumph. 
At  the  election  of  consuls  for  the  next  year  (B.C. 
2II-2I0),  he  was  again  chosen  with  Marcus  Valerius 
La;vinus.     All  Sicily  was  frightened  at  the  thought  of 


OUTCRY  AGAINST   MARCELLUS.  3T5 

Marccllus  coming  back  ;  embassies  went  to  Rome 
to  beg  for  mercy  ;  the  fright  grew  greater  wlien  tlie 
Senate  voted  that  Sicily  should  be  the  province  of 
one  of  the  consuls,  and  when  the  lot  gave  it  to  Mar- 
cellus.  It  seemed,  men  said,  as  if  Syracuse  were 
going  to  be  sacked  a  second  time.  Marcellus  talked 
big,  and  said  that  the  outcry  was  raised  by  the  intri- 
gues of  his  enemies  in  Rome.  But  he  found  the  feeling 
against  him  so  strong  that  he  thought  it  well  to 
exchange  provinces  with  Lsevinus.  The  Sicilians 
were  then  formally  heard  in  the  Senate,  and  set  forth 
their  griefs  against  Marcellus.  Many  senators  spoke 
strongly  against  him  ;  but  it  w'as  not  thought  expe- 
dient to  pass  any  formal  censure.  His  acts  were  con- 
firmed ;  but  Lajvinus  was  bidden  to  deal  as  gently 
with  S)Tacuse  as  Roman  interests  would  allow.  Then 
the  Sicilians  found  it  expedient  to  ask  pardon  ot 
Marcellus  and  to  crave  his  favour.  Marcellus  and  his 
house  became,  according  to  Roman  fashion,  hereditary 
patrons  of  Syracuse.  And  lying  legends  arose  about 
his  clemency  in  Sicily  and  how  much  he  was  beloved 
there. 

While  Marcellus  was  at  Rome  (210),  reinforcements 
came  from  Carthage  to  Akragas  ;  Mutines  still  fought, 
and  won  over  towns  for  Carthage  ;  Ccthegus  had  much 
ado  to  keep  his  army  from  mutiny.  Presently 
Lacvinus  came  to  his  province.  He  seems  to  have 
done  something  to  satisfy  the  complaints  at  Syracuse  ; 
but  the  chief  work  to  be  done  was  at  Akragas.  But 
Lacvinus  could  do  nothing  as  long  as  Mutines  rode  to 
and  fro  unhindered.  At  last  the  foolish  jealousy  of 
Hannon   reached    such    a   pitch     that    he    deprived 


3l6      THE   END    OF   SICILIAN   INDEPENDENCE. 

Mutines  of  his  command  and  gave  it  to  his  own  son. 
Then  Mutines  held  that  all  ties  between  him  and 
Carthage  were  broken,  and  the  Numidians  would 
serve  under  no  captain  but  Mutines.  He  and  they 
sent  to  Laevinus,  offering  to  betray  the  town.  So 
they  did.  A  party  of  Romans  were  let  in  by  the 
southern  gate  ;  Hannon,  Epikydes,  and  a  few  others, 
startled  at  the  Roman  war-shout,  were  able  to  make 
their  wa}-  out  by  one  of  the  side-gates  ;  a  crowd  of 
others  tried  to  follow  them  in  vain  ;  and  Akragas 
was  a  second  time  a  Roman  conquest.  Laevinus 
came  to  sit  in  judgement  ;  he  had  no  commission  to 
be  merciful  to  Akragas,  and  with  a  revolted  city  he 
dealt  yet  more  sharply  than  Marcellus  had  dealt  with 
Syracuse.  The  mass  of  the  people  were  sold  into 
slavery  ;  some  special  enemies  of  Rome  were  put  to 
death.  But  some,  the  remains  doubtless  of  a  Roman 
party,  were  left  to  keep  up  some  shadow  of  life  till, 
a  few  years  later,  they  were  strengthened  by  the 
addition  of  settlers  from  other  parts  of  the  island. 
The  history  of  Akragas  now  ends.  There  is  only 
provincial  Agrigentum. 

The  work  was  now  nearly  done.  There  were  still 
sixty-six  towns  in  arms  against  Rome.  But  the  fall 
of  Akragas  spread  fear  everywhere.  Some  towns 
surrendered  freely  ;  some  were  betrayed,  some  were 
taken  by  storm.  Rewards  and  punishments  were 
dealt  out  among  their  people,  according  to  their 
merits  in  Roman  eyes.  The  war,  strictly  so  called, 
was  over.  Laevinus  could  exhort  the  people  of 
Sicily,  now  that  peace  was  come,  to  sit  down  quietly 
and  till  their  fields,  and  grow  the  corn  which  was  to 


SICILY  AN   OUTPOST  OF   EUROPE.  317 

feed  themselves  and  Rome  also.  It  was  rather  as  a 
civil  magistrate  than  as  a  general  that  he  had  to  put 
down  a  gang  of  robbers  that  he  found  at  Agathyrnum. 
Four  thousand  ruffians  of  every  kind  had  seized  the 
town,  and  made  it  a  centre  of  brigandage.  Oddly 
enough  Laevinus  found  an  use  for  them.  He  took  them 
over  to  Italy  to  defend  the  lands  of  Rhegion  against 
their  fellow  robbers  the  Bruttians.  He  then  went  on 
to  Rome  ;  he  reported  to  the  Senate  the  peaceful 
state  of  his  province,  and  presented  Mutines  and  his 
comrades  to  receive  their  rewards,  in  the  case  of 
Mutines  that  of  Roman  citizenship.  He  then  went 
back  to  Sicily  for  several  years.  He  and  other 
Roman  commanders  found  the  use  of  the  island  as 
the  outpost  of  Europe  against  Africa.  From  the 
havens  of  Sicily  many  expeditions  were  made  against 
the  coasts  of  Africa,  which  Carthage  sometimes 
threatened  to  return,  but  never  did.  The  land  was 
quiet  ;  its  corn  began  to  feed  the  Roman  armies  and 
Rome  herself. 

In  the  very  last  stage  of  the  war  Sicily  becomes  at 
least  the  scene  of  greater  events.  Publius  Cornelius 
Scipio,  chosen  consul  for  the  year  205,  made  Sicily 
the  starting-point  for  his  great  enterprise.  His  plan 
was  to  go  in  the  path  of  Agathokles,  to  carry 
the  war  into  Africa,  to  draw  Hannibal  out  of  Italy 
to  the  defence  of  Carthage.  All  his  preparations 
were  made  in  Sicily  ;  it  was  from  Lilyba^um 
that  he  set  forth,  and  it  was  to  Lilybaeum  that 
he  came  back.  His  plan  had  succeeded.  Hannibal 
came  back  to  Africa,  to  meet  Scipio  in  arms,  to 
fight  his  last  battle  and   to  undergo  his  first  defeat. 


3l8      THE   END   OF  SICILIAN  INDEPENDENCE. 

At  Hannibal's  bidding  Carthage  accepted  the  peace 
by  which  she  ceased  to  be  a  ruHng  city,  and  became 
practically  a  dependency  of  Rome.  The  long  strife 
was  over  ;  Europe  had  conquered  Africa.  Sicily  was 
delivered  from  all  fear  of  Phoenician  rule,  but  only  at 
the  cost  of  submitting  to  Roman  rule.  Sicily  has 
now,  for  a  long  time  to  come,  no  history  but  that  of  a 
subject  province,  an  appendage  to  the  history  of  Rome, 
Old  and  New.  For  six  hundred  years  she  vanishes 
from  all  direct  share  in  the  history  of  the  world.  This 
long,  and  mostly  dreary,  interval  parts  off  the  great 
times  of  Sicily  through  which  we  have  passed  from 
the  great  times  of  Sicily  which  are  still  far  distant.  Still 
it  is  a  time  from  which  we  may  learn  much,  and  it  has 
some  stirring  tales  here  and  there.  And  one  change 
took  place  greater  than  all.  When  Sicily  next  shows 
herself  as  having  even  a  passing  share  in  the  great 
events  of  the  world,  it  will  be  a  Christian  Sicily  of  which 
we  shall  have  to  speak.  The  altars  of  Baal  have  to  pass 
away  from  Panormus  and  the  altars  of  Zeus  from 
Agrigentum.  On  the  day  of  the  victory  of  Scipio  the 
number  of  )'ears  that  part  us  from  the  victory  of 
Gelon  at  Himera  is  greater  than  those  that  part  us 
from  the  preaching  of  Saint  Paul  at  Syracuse. 


XVI. 


SICILY   A   ROMAN    TROVINCE. 


B.C.  20I-A.D.  827. 


[In  this  clmptcr  we  have  to  deal  with  the  history  of  more  than  a  thou- 
sand years;  but  it  is  only  a  small  part  of  that  time  which  needs  to  be 
treated  at  any  length.  It  is  needless  to  say  that  we  have  no  continuous 
history  taking  in  all  that  time,  and  that  we  have  no  special  Sicilian  his- 
tory at  all.  Our  story,  just  as  at  the  very  beginning,  has  for  the  most 
part  to  be  put  together  from  all  manner  of  casual  sources.  But  for 
several  periods  we  have  the  help  of  good  authorities,  contemporary  or 
nearly  so.  Thus  for  the  Slave-wars,  besides  other  notices,  we  have  a  good 
account  in  Diodoros.  He  was  not  actually  contemporary,  but  he  was  deal- 
ing with  his  own  island  while  the  memory  of  things  were  fresh.  The  great 
speeches  of  Cicero  against  Verres  are  a  store  of  knowledge  about  Sicily 
at  that  time,  as,  more  than  six  hundred  years  after,  the  letters  of  Pope 
(Gregory  the  Great  are  for  Sicily  in  his  day.  Between  them,  a  pretty 
full  account  of  the  war  of  Sextus  Pompeius  may  be  made  out  from  the 
histories  of  Appian  and  Dion  Cassius,  and  such  mention  as  there  is  of 
Sicily  in  the  Vandal  and  Gothic  wars  of  Belisarius  comes  from  the  high 
contemporary  authority  of  Procopius,  the  best  historian  that  we  have 
had  to  deal  with  since  Polybios.  Otherwise  our  authorities  are  piece- 
meal. There  are  of  course  notices  here  and  there  in  more  general  writers, 
from  Suetonius  and  Tacitus  onwards.  For  the  earlier  times  we  have 
notices  of  the  country  from  Strabo  and  the  elder  Pliny  in  their  general 
works.  In  the  latter  part  the  Lives  of  the  Saints  and  other  ecclesias- 
tical sources  give  a  great  deal  of  help  ;  but  great  care  must  be  taken  to 
distinguish  legend  from  fact.  But  at  the  very  least  they  are  useful  for 
local  matters,  and  sometimes  tliey  are  of  a  much  higher  character. 
And   in  the  earlier  times  we  have  abundant  help  from  inscriptions  and 

319 


320  SICILY  A    ROMAN   PROVINCE 

coins.     The  great  mass  of  the  Sicilian  inscriptions  date  from  the  Roman 
times.    We  would  gladly  exchange  any  of  them  for  a  few  of  earlier  days.] 

All  Sicily  was  now  a  Roman  province.  Part  of  it, 
the  first  province  that  Rome  held,  became  such  when, 
at  the  end  of  the  War  for  Sicily,  Carthage  ceded  to 
Rome  all  her  possessions  in  the  island.  That  is,  part 
of  Sicily,  from  being  a  province  of  Carthage,  became 
a  province  of  Rome.  But  the  kingdom  of  Hieron 
remained  a  separate  state  till  his  death.  Then  the 
second  War  for  Sicily  ended  in  bringing  the  whole 
island  to  the  same  state  of  subjection.  The  system 
of  provinces  thus  began  in  Sicily  ;  it  went  on  when 
the  islands  of  Corsica  and  Sardinia  were  ceded  by 
Carthage.  It  was  not  till  later  that  Rome  took  syste- 
matically to  turning  independent  lands  into  provinces. 
The  kingdom  of  Hieron  was  a  necessary  appendage 
to  the  older  Sicilian  province.  Yet  it  was  none  the  less 
the  first  example  of  a  kingdom  dependent  on  Rome, 
an.d  also  the  first  example  of  the  way  in  which  such  a 
dependency  was  brought  down  to  a  state  of  subjec- 
tion. 

For  subjection  it  practically  was  everywhere.  Yet 
we  must  not  think  that  every  inch  of  ground  within  a 
province  stood  in  exactly  the  same  relation  to  the 
ruling  city.  It  suited  Rome  to  allow  very  different 
degrees  of  internal  freedom  to  cities  all  of  which,  in 
their  external  relations,  were  practically  her  subjects. 
One  city  might  have  joined  Rome  as  a  free  ally  when 
its  alliance  was  valuable  to  Rome.  It  might  keep  its 
old  formal  alliance,  sometimes  an  alliance  on  equal 
terms,  though  practically  it  could  have  no  dealings 
with  other  powers  but  such  as  Rome  thought  good. 


RELATIONS    OF    CITIES    TO    ROME.  32 1 

Such  a  city,  though  geographically  within  the  bounds 
of  the  province,  was  not  strictly  part  of  the  province  ; 
it  was  an  ally  of  Rome,  not  a  subject  ;  it  held  its 
privileges  by  virtue  of  a  treaty.  Other  towns  might 
have  privileges  above  others,  not  by  virtue  of  a  treaty, 
but  by  the  favour  of  the  ruling  city.  Such  a  town 
might  be  free  in  its  internal  administration  ;  it  might 
be  exempt  from  all  tribute  to  Rome.  And,  even  in  the 
districts  which  were  altogether  subject,  the  towns  still 
kept  the  character  of  separate  communities  with  their 
own  magistrates  and  assemblies,  though  they  could  not 
do  anything  of  importance  without  leave  from  the 
sovereign  power.  That  power  was  represented  in  the 
proN'ince  by  a  proconsul  or  other  Roman  governor,  in 
Sicily  by  a  prcBtor.  Practically  the  praetor  or  other 
governor  could  do  pretty  much  what  he  chose,  subject 
to  the  fear  of  being  accused  at  Rome  when  he  went  out 
of  office.  And  this  check  was  but  a  slight  one  ;  for, 
besides  the  power  of  briber)^  the  Roman  senators  and 
knights  were  commonly  unwilling  to  condemn  their  own 
chief  men  at  the  accusation  of  strangers.  The  Roman 
governors  were  therefore  often  very  oppressive,  treat- 
ing the  provinces  as  fields  for  their  own  enrichment. 
We  shall  see  something  of  this  as  we  go  on. 

Examples  of  all  the  relations  of  which  we  have 
spoken  were  to  be  seen  in  Sicily.  Three  towns  were 
allies  of  Rome  {fa:de}'atcs).  Messana,  now  officially 
called  Civitas  Mamertina,  kept  its  place  as  an  Italian 
ally  on  Sicilian  soil.  The  other  two  were  Netum  and 
Tauromenium — we  may  now  begin  to  use  the  Latin 
names — which  seem  to  have  had  more  favourable 
treaties  than  Messana.     They  were  both  in  the  king- 

22 


322  SICILY  A   ROMAN   PROVINCE. 

dom  of  Hieron,  and  they  must  have  earned  favour  by- 
special  services  during  the  last  war.  Their  position 
and  that  of  other  alHed  cities  within  the  provinces  was 
a  good  deal  like  that  of  the  republic  of  San  Marino 
and  the  principality  of  Monaco  in  modern  Europe. 
They  remained  what  the  kingdom  of  Hieron  had 
been,  with  the  great  practical  difference,  that  they 
were  isolated  towns  and  not  a  considerable  territory. 
Five  other  towns  had  the  lesser,  but  not  unimportant, 
privileges  of  being  exempt  from  tribute  to  Rome,  and  of 
keeping  a  free  local  administration  i^Civitates  libcrcc  et 
iuiuiuncs  sine  fccdere).  These  were  Centuripa,  Haleesa, 
Segesta,  Halicy^e,  and  Panormus.  The  rest  of  Sicily 
stood  in  the  simple  provincial  relation.  The  towns 
kept  their  constitutions  as  municipalities  ;  but  in 
every  province  the  Roman  People  was  sovereign  and 
landlord.  As  landlord,  it  received  in  Sicily  the  tithe  of 
the  crops  by  way  of  rent.  Hieron  had  also  taken  the 
tithe  ;  but  that  was  as  a  native  sovereign  to  defray 
the  cost  of  a  native  government.  Now  it  went  out  of 
the  country,  as  tribute  to  a  foreign  power.  We  must 
also  remember  that,  by  the  general  rule  in  all  cases  of 
Roman  allies  and  dependencies,  the  different  towns,  in 
whatever  relation  they  stood  to  Rome,  stood  in  no 
relation  to  one  another.  They  were  quite  isolated.  A 
citizen  of  one  town  could  not  hold  land  in  the  terri- 
tory of  another,  while  a  Roman  could  hold  land  any- 
where. Sometimes  the  same  right  was  granted  to 
specially  favoured  towns.  Thus  the  people  of  the  old 
Sikel  town  of  Centuripa  might  hold  land  in  any  part 
of  Sicily.  They  got  great  wealth  by  this  privilege, 
and  contrived  to  oust  the  people  of  Leontinoi  from 
nearly  the  whole  of  their  land. 


THE   ROMAN   PEACE.  323 

It  is  important  to  remember  these  differences  in  the 
condition  of  the  different  towns,  and  the  large  amount 
of  separate  being  which  some  of  them  kept  under  the 
Roman  dominion.  Such  local  independence  was  a 
privilege  very  well  worth  having ;  still  it  was  a  poor 
substitute  for  the  full  freedom  of  older  times,  when 
each  city  could  itself  play  a  part  in  the  affairs  of  the 
world.  On  the  other  hand,  peace,  the  Roman  Peace, 
was  spread  over  the  land ;  cities  could  not  make  war 
on  one  another,  as  they  did  in  the  old  time.  Whether 
peace  may  not  be  too  dearly  purchased  at  the  price 
of  freedom  and  political  life  is  another  question. 

The  Roman  Senate  and  People  certainly  did  not 
mean  to  act  oppressively  towards  the  lands  which 
their  victory  over  Carthage  put  into  their  hands.  The 
fault  lay  in  the  system  which  gave  one  commonwealth 
a  practically  boundless  power  over  another.  And  it 
lay  still  more  in  the  great  powers  which  the  Roman 
officials  held  in  the  provinces,  and  in  the  way  in  which 
they  often  winked  at  unlawful  acts  on  the  part  of  other 
Romans.  Yet  there  was  clearly  a  disposition  to  do 
what  could  be  done  for  the  conquered  land.  Thus 
when,  in  the  year  146  B.C.,  Carthage  was  taken  and 
destroyed  by  the  younger  Publius  Scipio,  he  gave  back 
to  the  cities  of  Sicily  many  works  of  art  which  had 
been  carried  off  to  Carthage  in  the  various  Punic  wars. 
Among  these  he  gave  back  to  Agrigentum  a  brazen 
bull  which  was  said,  though  its  claim  was  very  doubt- 
ful, to  be  the  real  bull  of  Phalaris.  As  one  effect 
of  the  Roman  government,  we  may  mark  from  this 
time  a  certain  change  in  the  relative  importance  of 
the    Sicilian    towns.       Cities    like    S3racuse,    which 


324  SICILY  A    ROMAN   PROVINCE. 

had  been  the  seat  of  great  independent  powers, 
lost  greatly  in  every  way  by  becoming  mere  provincial 
towns.  Their  trade  and  wealth  lessened,  and  they 
began  gradually  to  decay.  The  process  began, 
though  it  took  a  long  time  fully  to  carry  it  out,  by 
which  Syracuse  shrank  up  again  into  its  island  and 
Agrigentum  into  its  akropolis,  as  we  see  them  now. 
On  the  other  hand,  now  that  the  growing  of  corn 
became  almost  the  only  business  of  the  island,  some 
of  the  inland  towns  which  were  centres  of  the  corn- 
trade  grew  greatly  in  importance.  It  is  needless  to 
say  that  the  distinction  between  Greeks  and  Sikels 
is  now  quite  forgotten.  Even  the  Phoenician  towns 
seem  largely  to  have  become  Greek.  In  Cicero's  time 
the  whole  people  of  Sicily  could  be  spoken  of  as 
Greeks.  The  truth  is  that  Rome  herself  came  to  be 
so  much  under  Greek  influences  that  she  carried 
somewhat  of  a  Greek  element  even  into  her  bar- 
barian conquests.  Much  more  then  did  the  Roman 
conquest  help  to  make  a  land  wholly  Greek  which 
was  already  mainly  so. 

On  the  whole,  Sicily  under  the  Roman  dominion 
must  be  spoken  of  as  declining  land.  Great  evils 
came  of  the  excessive  cultivation  of  corn.  Both  rich 
Sicilians  and  Roman  speculators  became  masters  of 
great  estates,  which  they  tilled  by  gangs  of  slaves. 
The  endless  wars  and  conquests  of  Rome  led  to  a  vast 
increase  of  slavery  and  the  slave-trade,  and  the  corn- 
growers  of  Sicily  bought  captives  from  all  parts. 
In  the  slavery  of  antiquity  the  domestic  slave,  above 
all,  the  educated  slave,  such  as  many  were,  had  a  good 
chance  of  freedom,  and  at  Rome  even  of  citizenship. 


FIRST   SLAVE    WAR.  325 

But  nothing  could  be  more  hopeless  than  the  state  of 
the  slaves  who  worked  in  the  fields.  They  had  no 
chance  of  freedom  ;  they  were  cruelly  treated  ;  they 
were  not  allowed  enough  of  food  and  clothing  ;  they 
were  sometimes  even  mockingly  told  by  their  masters 
that  they  might  supply  their  wants  by  robbing  on  the 
highway.  On  the  one  hand,  the  whole  country  was 
made  unsafe  ;  on  the  other,  the  wrongs  of  the  slaves 
at  last  led  them  to  revolt.  The  Slave  Wars  of  Sicily 
form  some  of  the  most  striking  incidents  in  the 
otherwise  not  stirring  history  of  the  provincial  land 

The  slaves  revolted  twice,  and  both  times  they 
cost  the  Roman  government  no  small  trouble  before 
the  island  could  be  made  quiet  again.  It  must  be 
remembered  that  most  of  the  Sicilian  slaves  who 
tilled  the  ground  were  captives  taken  in  war,  men 
well  used  to  fighting.  They  came  largely  from  Asia, 
and  many  of  them  were  Cilician  pirates.  When 
therefore  they  had  once  taken  up  arms  and  made  an 
union  among  themselves,  they  were  able  to  make  a 
formidable  stand.  The  first  Slave  War  broke  out  in 
the  year  B.C.  134.  It  was  a  time  when  the  slaves  rose 
in  several  other  parts  of  the  world  ;  but  it  is  hard  to 
say  whether  the  Sicilian  revolt  had  anything  to  do 
with  the  others.  In  Sicily  the  outbreak  took  place  at 
Henna.  A  rich  citizen  of  that  town,  Damophilos  by 
name,  and  his  wife  Megallis,  were  specially  cruel  to 
their  slaves,  of  whom  they  had  a  vast  number.  But 
their  young  daughter  had  always  treated  the  slaves 
well,  and  had  given  them  whatever  comfort  she  could 
under  the  bad   treatment  of  her  parents.      Another 


326  SICILY  A    ROMAN   PROVINCE. 

citizen    of   Henna,  named  Antigenes,  had   a  Syrian 
slave  called  Eunous,  who  professed  to  have  the  gift 
of  prophecy,  and  who  played  various  tricks,  breath- 
ing fire  and  the  like.     He  gave  out  that  the  Syrian 
froddess  had  revealed  to  him   that  he  should  be  a 
king.     Presently  the  slaves  of  Damophilos  conspired 
with  the  other  slaves  in  Henna.      They  proclaimed 
Eunous  king  ;  they  took  possession  of  the  town,  and 
did  as  they  pleased  with  their  former  masters  and  the 
other  inhabitants.    Damophilos  was  put  to  death  with 
many  others  ;  his  wife  was  given  to  the  slave-women, 
who  tortured  her  and  threw  her  down  the  brow  of  the 
hill.     But  the  slaves  remembered  her  daughter's  kind- 
ness ;  to  her  they  did  no  harm,  but  sent  her  under  a 
trusty  guard  to  some  friends  at  Catina.     The  slaves 
flocked  together  from  all  parts  ;  Eunous  was  presently 
at  the  head  of  six  thousand  men,  armed  with  such  arms 
as  they  could  get.     Such  of  the  freemen  of  Henna  as 
were  makers  of  arms  they  kept  alive  as  prisoners  to 
make  them  swords  and  spears.     Eunous  took  on  him 
the  state  of  a  king,  with  the  name  of  Antiochos,  after 
the  kings  of  his  own  country.     He  also  gave  the  title 
of  queen  to  the  Syrian  slave-woman  who  lived  with 
him  ,  lawful  marriage  of  course  could  not  be  among 
slaves.     King  Eunous  was  nothing  great  in  himself; 
but  he  had  a  wise  counsellor  in  one  Achaios.     Slaves 
were  often  called  after  their  countries,  and  here  was  a 
slave,  no  barbarian,  but  an  Achaian,  a  Greek  of  the 
leading  commonwealth  of  Greece,  who  had  become  a 
slave,   most   likely   by   being   kidnapped    by   pirates. 
Presently  another   body  of  revolted    slaves    showed 
themselves  under  a  Cilician  named  Kleon.     It  was 


SECOND   SLAVE    WAR.  2)-7 

thought  that  he  and  Eunous  would  fight  against  one 
another  ;  but  Kleon  submitted  himself  to  Eunous  as 
king.  KIcon  was  a  good  captain  ;  so  with  him  and 
Achaios  the  affairs  of  King  Eunous  went  on  very 
well  for  a  time. 

For  three  years  or  more  this  revolt  went  on.  The 
slave  king,  or  his  general  Kleon,  was  able  to  defeat 
more  than  one  Roman  praetor  with  his  army.  The 
slaves  seem  to  have  had  full  possession  of  the  open 
country  ;  but  we  do  not  hear  of  any  of  the  chief 
towns  falling  into  their  hands,  except  Henna,  where 
the  revolt  began,  and  Tauromenium,  which  they  could 
hardly  have  taken  by  force  ;  it  must  have  been  be- 
trayed to  them.  At  last  in  132  the  consul  Publius 
Rupilius  overcame  them.  He  besieged  King  Antio- 
chos  and  his  followers  in  Tauromenium,  where  they 
held  out  till  they  were  brought  to  the  eating  of  human 
flesh.  At  last  Kleon  died  fighting  mafnully  in  a  sally. 
The  town  was  betrayed  to  the  consul ;  Eunous  or 
Antiochos  escaped  with  a  few  attendants,  and  kept 
a  while  in  hiding ;  but  he  was  taken  and  died  of 
disease  in  prison.  Rupilius  stayed  in  the  island  as 
proconsul;  and  in  the  next  year  131,  he  put  forth 
a  code  of  regulations  by  which  the  province  was 
governed  for  many  years. 

The  laws  of  Rupilius  however  did  not  put  an  end 
to  the  evils  of  slavery.  These,  bad  enough  in  all  parts 
of  the  ancient  world,  seem  to  have  reached  their 
highest  point  in  provincial  Sicily.  A  second  revolt 
of  the  slaves  was  the  consequence.  This  lasted  from 
B.C.  102  to  99,  which  was  also  a  time  of  other  revolts 
of  slaves  elsewhere.     And  the  time  was  well  chosen 


328  SICILY  A    ROMAN   PROVINCE. 

in  other  ways,  as  it  was  in  the  middle  of  the  great 
war  of  Rome  with  the  Cimbri  and  Teutones,  when 
no  great  heed  could  be  given  to  the  affairs  of  Sicily. 
The  story  is  in  some  things  very  like  that  of  the  first 
slave-war  ;  but  it  has  perhaps  a  greater  interest,  on 
account  of  its  connexion  with  some  of  the  ancient 
sites  and  religious  beliefs  of  the  island.  And  the  way 
in  which  tlic  war  bsgan  throws  great  light  on  the 
nature  of  ancient  slavery.  We  see  liow  commonly 
men  were  kidnapped  by  pirates,  and  how  they  were 
made  slaves  in  unlawful  ways  by  Roman  officers. 
Whole  lands  were  left  almost  without  inhabitants. 
The  Senate  made  an  order  that  all  slaves  in  any 
Roman  province  who  were  subjects  or  citizens  of  any 
state  in  alliance  with  Rome  should  be  set  free.  The 
praetor  of  Sicily,  Publius  Licinius  Nerva,  began  accord- 
ingly to  set  free  all  slaves  who  came  under  those  terms. 
So  many  were  thus  set  free  that  the  slave-owners 
began  to  fear  that  they  would  lose  all  their  human 
property.  They  persuaded  or  bribed  the  praetor  not 
to  put  the  law  in  force,  and  then  the  slaves  began  to 
revolt  in  various  places.  It  carries  us  back  to  old 
times  when  we  read  that  they  began  with  solemn 
oaths  in  the  temple  of  the  Palici,  the  old  Sikel  gods 
who  befriended  the  slave.  Indeed  it  is  said  that  even 
in  these  times  no  master  dared  to  harm  a  slave  who 
had  taken  refuge  there.  1  he  insurgents  carried  on 
the  war  for  some  time,  having  chosen  as  their  king 
one  Salvius,  who,  like  Eunous,  had  got  credit  for 
soothsaying.  They  fought  with  success,  and  were 
able  more  than  once  to  defeat  such  troops  as  the 
praetor  could  lead  or  send  against  them.     But  they 


END   OF    THE   SLA]'E    WAR.  329 

could  not  get  hold  of  any  considerable  city  ;  they 
won  a  battle  before  Morgantina  ;  but  they  could  not 
get  possession  of  the  town.  Trescntly  another  king 
arose  in  the  western  part  of  the  island  about  Libybaeum 
and  Segesta.  This  w^as  a  Cilician  named  Athenion, 
who  also  laid  claim  to  mysterious  powers,  but  who 
w^is  withal  a  good  soldier,  having  most  likely  been  a 
pirate  like  Kleon.  Just  as  in  the  case  of  Eunous  and 
Kleon,  men  thouglit  that  the  two  would  turn  against 
one  another  ;  but  Athenion,  like  Kleon,  submitted  to 
Salvius  as  king,  and  acted  as  his  general.  Salvius 
now  called  himself  Tryphon,  after  the  Syrian  king 
of  that  name.  He  assumed  all  kingly  state,  and 
fixed  his  capital  and  court  in  the  small  but  strong 
town  of  Triocala,that  is  most  likely  either  the  modern 
Caltabellotta,  or  some  point  in  the  hills  near  it.  Like 
Ducctius,  he  chose  the  Palici  to  his  special  protectors. 
Not  only  slaves  but  many  poor  freemen  joined  him, 
and  they  met  Roman  armies  in  the  field.  The  praetor 
Lucius  Licinius  Lucullus,  father  of  the  Lucullus  who 
was  famous  in  Asia,  defeated  them  in  battle  ;  but  he 
could  not  or  would  not  take  Triocala.  His  successor 
Ouintus  Scrvilius  did  as  little.  At  last  the  revolt  grew 
so  serious  that  the  Senate  was  driven  to  treat  it  as  a 
foreign  war,  and  the  consul  Gains  Aquillius  was  sent 
with  his  full  army.  Tryphon  was  now  dead,  and 
Athenion  was  king.  Athenion  was  killed  in  battle 
with  the  consul  ;  the  revolt  was  now  thoroughly  put 
down.  Many  of  the  slaves  were  taken  to  Rome  to 
fight  with  wild  beasts  ;  but  they  escaped  this  fate  by 
slaying  one  another. 


330  SICILY  A    ROMAN    PROVINCE. 

The  slave-wars  are  by  far  the  most  striking  events 
in  Sicily  while  it  was  a  Roman  province.  They  are 
real  pieces  of  Sicilian  history,  such  as  it  is.  We  have 
now  little  to  tell,  save  the  way  in  which  Sicily,  as  a 
subject  land  of  Rome,  was  passively  touched  by  the 
revolutions  of  the  ruling  city,  and  how  much  it  suffered 
at  the  hands  of  its  Roman  governors.  Thus  in  B.C.  82, 
in  the  civil  war  of  Marius  and  Sulla,  some  of  the  chief 
partisans  of  Marius  sought  refuge  in  Sicily,  and  were 
followed  thither  and  overcome  by  the  famous  Gnaeus 
Pompeius.  But  it  concerns  us  more  when  we  read 
how  one  Sthenics,  a  chief  man  of  Thcrma,  who  had 
done  great  things  for  his  own  city  and  was  honoured 
throughout  all  Sicily,  was  charged  before  Pompeius 
on  account  of  his  friendship  for  Marius,  but  was  let 
go.  This  comes  from  our  chief  source  of  knowledge 
of  Sicilian  matters  a  little  later,  namely  the  great 
pleading  of  Cicero  against  the  pr?etor  Gaius  Vcrres, 
when  he  was  accused  for  his  oppressions  in  Sicily. 
Cicero  had  himself  been  quaestor  in  Sicily,  and  he 
knew  the  land  well,  and  we  learn  a  great  deal  as  to 
its  state  from  his  speeches  in  this  famous  cause. 

Cicero  seems  to  take  for  granted  that  there  must 
always  be  some  oppression  in  a  provincial  administra- 
tion. Only  the  Sicilians,  he  says,  were  such  good 
quiet  people  that  they  did  not  complain  unless 
oppression  got  much  worse  than  usual.  This  is  most 
likely  quite  true.  The  system  was  bad,  specially 
the  farming  of  the  tithe  to  speculators.  The  prsetor 
himself  might  mean  to  be  just,  but  he  could  hardly 
ever  keep  all  his  agents  in  order.     But  there  was  a 


PRmTORSHIP   OF    VERRES.  33 1 

great  difference  between  one  Roman  officer  and 
another.  Thus  Sicily  suffered  a  good  deal  from 
Marcus  Antonius,  father  of  a  more  famous  man  of 
the  same  name.  He  was  not  praetor  in  Sicily  ;  but 
having  the  command  at  sea,  he  was  able  to  plunder 
various  provinces,  Sicily  among  them.  But  the 
praetor  at  this  time  (B.C.  74),  Gains  Licinius  Saccrdos, 
is  spoken  of  as  a  man  of  blameless  character,  against 
whom  no  charge  of  oppression  could  be  brought. 
Then,  in  73,  came  the  worst  of  all  the  men  whom 
Rome  sent  to  rule  her  provinces,  Gains  Verres — his 
iiomen  is  not  known  for  certain.  Wy  ill  luck  he  stayed 
in  the  island  three  years.  He  heeded  no  law,  Roman 
or  local  ;  he  cared  nothing  for  the  privileges  of  the 
towns  or  for  the  rights  of  particular  men.  He 
plundered  everywhere ;  he  practised  every  kind  of 
extortion  in  collecting  the  tithe,  and  in  bu}-ing  the 
public  corn  which  was  needed  to  be  sent  to  Rome. 
He  committed  every  kind  of  excess ;  he  imprisoned 
and  slew  men  wrongfully.  And  his  hand  fell  on 
others  besides  the  provincials  ;  for  the  crime  on  which 
Cicero  lays  most  stress,  as  the  crown  of  all  wickedness, 
was  one  that  was  absolutely  unheard  of  before,  the 
crucifixion  of  a  Roman  citizen.  There  is  reason  to 
think  that  the  extortions  of  Verres  really  tended  to 
the  lasting  impoverishment  of  the  island.  But  the 
most  striking  thing  at  the  time  was  his  plunder  of 
the  choicest  and  most  sacred  works  of  art.  He  pro- 
fessed to  be  a  man  of  taste,  and  in  that  character  he 
robbed  cities,  temples,  and  private  men.  And  all 
this  while  he  neglected  the  common  defence  of  the 
province,    and    let    pirates    sail    freely   into    Sicilian 


332  SICILY   A    ROMAN   PROVINCE. 

havens.  It  throws  much  h'ght  on  the  corrupt  state 
of  things  at  Rome  that  such  a  man  as  this  found 
many  supporters  among  the  chief  Romans.  Every 
difficulty  was  put  in  the  way  of  the  Sicilians  and 
their  advocate  Cicero.  In  the  end  they  succeeded. 
The  case  was  so  clear  that,  before  sentence  was  given, 
indeed  before  Cicero  had  finished  his  pleadings,  Verres 
went  into  exile  at  Massilia.  This  a  Roman  could 
always  do,  and  he  thus  escaped  further  punishment. 
In  the  days  of  the  proscription  he  was  put  to  death 
by  the  younger  and  more  famous  Marcus  Antonius, 
for  the  sake  of  some  of  his  stolen  treasures  which  he 
had  not  given  back. 

During  the  civil  wars  of  Rome  Sicily  becomes  at 
one  stage  of  special  importance.  In  the  civil  war 
of  Caesar  and  Pompeius  Sicily  played  no  great  part ; 
still  it  marks  the  position  of  the  island  that  when, 
in  B.C.  47,  the  Dictator  Caesar  crossed  to  his  war 
in  Africa,  it  was  from  Lilybaeum  that  he  set  out. 
Men  said  that  his  death  in  B.C.  44  was  foretold, 
among  other  signs  and  wonders,  by  an  eruption  of 
^tna,  and  soon  after  his  death  Sicily  became  for  a 
while  the  great  centre  of  strife.  Sextus  Pompeius, 
the  younger  son  of  the  great  Gna;us,  had  kept  on  a 
desultory  warfare  in  Spain  since  the  death  of  his 
father  in  B.C.  48.  After  the  death  of  the  Dictator, 
his  adopted  son  Gains  Octavius,  now  known  as  the 
younger  Caesar  and  afterwards  as  Augustus,  was  for 
a  moment  the  professed  friend  of  the  republican  party 
against  Marcus  Antonius.  Then  Sextus,  who  was 
strong  at  sea,  was  acknowledged  as  commander  of  all 


DEATH   OF   C/ESAR   FORETOLD.  333 

the  naval  forces  of  the  commonwcaUh.  Presently 
Caesar  changed  sides,  and  formed  his  triumvirate 
with  Antonius  and  Lepidus.  In  the  general  slaughter 
of  their  enemies  that  followed,  Scxtus  was  set  down 
among  the  proscribed,  though  he  had  no  hand  in  tlie 
death  of  the  Dictator.  His  fleet  became  the  refuge 
of  such  of  the  proscribed  as  could  escape  ;  he  was 
joined  by  discontented  men  of  all  kinds,  largely  by 
pirates  and  runaway  slaves.  With  this  force  he  was 
able  to  occupy,  first  Myla;  and  Tyndaris,  then 
Messana,  then  Syracuse  the  provincial  capital,  and 
the  whole  island  (B.C.  43).  Sicily  thus  became  for 
seven  years  the  seat  of  a  separate  power,  at  war  wiih 
the  powers  of  Italy  and  the  rest  of  the  Roman 
dominion.  Not  that  Sextus  had  any  thought  of 
founding  a  distinct  Sicilian  dominion  of  any  kind. 
The  position  of  the  island  enabled  a  Roman  party- 
leader  who  was  strong  at  sea  to  hold  Sicily  for  his 
own  purposes  against  other  Roman  party-leaders. 

Writers  in  the  interest  of  Caesar,  as  all  our  authori- 
ties are  more  or  less,  make  a  point  of  speaking  of  the 
war  with  Sextus  Pompeius  as  a  servile  war,  like  those 
revolts  of  the  slaves  which  we  spoke  of  a  little  time 
back.  But  it  is  certain  that  many  Romans,  some  of 
high  rank,  joined  him.  He  showed  no  remarkable 
ability  himself,  but  he  was  well  served  by  several 
frcedmen  with  Greek  names,  who  made  excellent 
commanders  by  sea.  One  suspects  that  they  had 
been  Cilician  pirates.  By  their  help  he  kept  the 
dominion  of  Sicily  in  the  teeth  of  many  attacks  for 
the  space  of  seven  years.  He  added  Sardinia  and 
Corsica  to  his  dominions,  and  kept  up  a  plundering 


334  SICILY  A    ROMAN  PROVINCE. 

warfare  along  the  Italian  coasts.  But  he  seems  to 
have  been  incapable  of  any  great  enterprise,  and  he 
did  little  personally  beyond  keeping  on  the  defensive 
in  his  head-quarters  at  Messana.  But  the  loss  of 
corn  from  Sicily  brought  Rome  near  to  famine.  On 
the  other  hand,  the  Sicilians  must  have  lost  the  market 
for  their  corn.  We  hear  next  to  nothing  of  the  in- 
ternal state  of  Sicily  during  the  occupation  of  Sex- 
tus  ;  but  shortly  afterwards  the  island  is  described  in 
a  general  way  as  having  lost  much  of  its  prosperity 
during  his  time.  His  aims  seem  to  have  been  wholly 
personal  ;  as  to  the  particular  crimes  laid  to  his 
charge,  we  must  remember  that  we  have  only  the 
statements  of  his  enemies.  Thus  he  is  charged  with 
the  murder  of  several  Roman  officers  who  had  come 
under  his  suspicion  ;  but  the  evidence  is  not  very  clear. 
The  first  attempt  against  Sextus  was  made  by  the 
younger  Caesar  in  B.C.  42.  But  the  officer  sent  against 
him,  Ouintus  Salvidienus  Rufus,  was  altogether 
defeated  at  sea.  Sextus  then  gave  himself  great  airs, 
and  called  himself  the  son  of  Neptune  or  Poseidon. 
But  he  failed  to  take  any  advantage  of  the  other  wars 
in  which  Caesar  was  engaged,  first  along  with  Marcus 
Antonius  against  Brutus  and  Cassius  at  Philippi,  and 
then  against  Lucius  Antonius  at  Perusia.  For  a 
moment,  in  B.C.  40,  Sextus  made  an  agreement  with 
Marcus  Antonius,  but  Antonius  and  Caesar  were  soon 
again  joined  together  against  him.  Now  it  was  that 
his  valiant  freedman  Menas  won  for  him  the  other 
great  islands  ;  but  he  was  more  valiant  than  faithful, 
and  he  was  already  beginning  to  have  dealings  with 
Caesar.     The  people  of  Rome  were  now  feeling  the 


PEACE   OF    MISENUM.  335 

stress  of  hunger,  and  they  clamoured  loudly  for  peace 
with  Scxtus.  They  showed  their  zeal  in  an  odd  way, 
by  paying  special  devotion  to  the  image  of  Neptune, 
when  it  was  carried  round  at  the  games  among  the 
other  gods.  CiEsar  and  Antonius  were  driven  to  make 
peace  with  Sextus.  In  the  year  39  the  three  met  at 
Miscnum  on  the  coast  of  Campania.  The  two 
triumvirs  entertained  Sextus  on  land,  and  he  enter- 
tained them  on  board  his  ship.  And  the  story  went 
that  Menas  proposed  to  his  master  to  sail  off  with 
Caesar  and  Antonius  on  board,  and  so  make  himself 
master  of  the  whole  Roman  world.  And  Sextus  is 
said  to  have  answered  :  "  You  should  have  done  it 
without  asking  me  ;  Menas  may  do  such  things  ; 
Pompeius  cannot."  By  the  terms  of  peace,  Sextus 
was  to  keep  his  three  islands  and  to  receive  the 
province  of  Achaia  from  Antonius.  This  was  the 
way  in  which  the  Roman  leaders  parted  out  the  world 
among  them.  The  followers  of  Sextus  were  allowed 
to  return  to  Rome  and  receive  again  their  rights  and 
properties,  save  that  the  proscribed  were  to  receive 
only  a  part.  Magistracies  and  priesthoods  were  to  be 
given  to  the  friends  of  Sextus  ;  his  father-in-law  Libo 
was  to  be  consul  the  next  year  along  with  Antonius, 
and  Scxtus  himself  the  year  after  along  with  Caesar. 
And  Sextus'  little  daughter  Pompeia  was  to  be 
married  to  Marcellus  the  little  son  of  Octavia,  sister 
of  Caesar  and  now  wife  of  Antonius. 

The  peace  was  received  with  universal  delight,  and 
many  of  Scxtus'  friends  went  back  to  Rome.  But 
nothing  more  really  came  of  it.  Each  side  of  course 
laid  the  blame  of  the  breach  on  the  other.     Antonius 


336  SICILY   A    ROMAN  PROVINCE. 

failed  to  make  over  Achaia  to  Sextus,  and  Sextus' 
plundering  warfare  began  again.  Presently  Menas 
changed  sides  and  went  over  to  Caesar,  taking  the 
islands  of  Sardinia  and  Corsica  with  him.  Sextus 
thus  remained  master  of  Sicily  only. 

There  now  begins  a  second  War  for  Sicily,  like  the 
war  to  which  that  name  properly  belongs,  except 
that  it  was  not  waged  by  two  hostile  commonwealths 
but  by  two  Roman  party-leaders.  It  was  a  war 
between  Caesar  and  Sextus.  Caesar  could  not  as  yet 
persuade  the  other  triumvirs  to  take  any  part  in  it. 
And  the  war  was  unpopular  at  Rome,  where  the 
people  wanted  corn  and  therefore  peace.  Still  Caesar 
had,  both  now  and  in  his  later  war  with  Antonius,  a 
great  advantage  from  his  possession  of  Rome  and 
Italy.  Sextus  too  never  took  advantage  of  any  success 
that  he  gained.  He  defended  Sicily  ;  elsewhere  he 
did  nothing  but  plunder.  Presently  Caesar  planned 
a  great  attack  on  Sicily  by  land  and  sea.  He  was 
himself  in  southern  Italy  when  the  two  fleets  met  oft' 
Cumae  (38).  The  battle  w-as  chiefly  notable  for  the 
meeting  in  arms  of  the  two  freedmen,  Menas,  who 
had  now  a  command  under  Caesar,  and  Menekrates, 
who  led  the  fleet  of  Sextus.  Their  two  ships  met 
and  fought  fiercely.  Menekrates  was  killed  ;  Menas 
was  disabled  by  a  wound.  The  Pompeians  had 
greatly  the  advantage  in  the  battle  ;  but  Demochares, 
another  freedman  who  took  the  command,  and  all 
under  him,  were  too  disheartened  by  the  loss  of 
Menekrates  to  improve  their  advantage  as  they  might 
have  done. 


WAR   BETWEEN   C7ESAR   AND    SEXTUS.         337 

What  they  failed  to  do,  the  powers  of  nature,  the 
power,  Sextus  would  say,  of  his  adopted  father,  did 
for  them.  Cresar  was  coming  by  sea  from  Tarentum 
to  join  his  forces  on  the  west  side  of  Italy ;  Sextus 
was  waiting  for  him  at  Messana.  Sextus  dashed  out 
on  the  Caesarian  fleet  ;  a  fight  followed  in  the  strait, 
in  which  Caesar  was  utterly  defeated  and  escaped  with 
difficulty  to  land.  The  next  day  a  storm  arose  and 
broke  in  pieces  the  ships  that  had  escaped  in  the 
battle.  The  division  of  Menas  alone  was  able  to 
find  safety,  through  his  knowledge  of  the  coast.  And 
he  did  Caesar  some  service  by  cutting  off  a  voyage 
of  Demochares  to  Africa.  Presently  he  changed  sides 
again,  and  went  back  to  his  former  master.  Al- 
together Caesar's  power  was  so  much  weakened  that 
he  put  off  all  attacks  on  Sextus  and  Sicily  for  more 
than  a  year.     (B.C.  38-36.) 

Meanwhile  Caesar  had  dealings  with  the  other 
triumvirs.  Antonius  gave  him  130  ships  for  Sicilian 
warfare  in  exchange  for  legionaries  to  help  in  his 
Eastern  campaigns.  He  persuaded  Lepidus  to 
invade  Sicily  from  the  West.  Thus  Italy  and  Africa 
joined  together  against  Sicily.  Above  all,  Caesar 
caused  his  able  lieutenant  Marcus  Vipsanius  Agrippa 
to  make  all  things  ready  for  a  great  naval  expedition. 
At  last,  on  July  i,  B.C.  36 — the  month  was  now  dedi- 
cated to  the  Dictator  as  Divus  Julius — the  great  fleet 
set  forth.  The  Antonian  ships  were  to  come  from 
Tarentum  to  meet  it.  A  great  storm  arose  ;  Statilius 
Taurus,  who  commanded  the  Antonian  ships,  put 
back  to  Tarentum  ;  Lepidus  contrived  to  land  in 
Sicily  and  laid  siege  to  Lilybseum  ;  but  Caesar's  own 

23 


338  SICILY   A    ROMAN   PROVINCE. 

fleet,  though  he  had  carefully  sacrificed  to  Neptune 
and  the  Sea,  was  so  damaged  by  the  storm  as  to  cause 
thirty  days'  delay.  Sextus  now  gave  himself  out  more 
than  ever  as  the  son  of  Neptune,  while  Caesar  forbade 
the  image  of  that  god  to  be  carried  at  the  games, 
and  said  that  he  would  conquer  Sicily  in  spite  of  him. 
Public  feeling  at  Rome  was  again  turning  towards 
Sextus  ;  again  men  wanted  Sicilian  corn.  Caesar  would 
gladly  have  put  off  any  more  fighting  till  next  year. 
He  therefore  set  busily  to  work  to  repair  his  losses, 
while  Sextus,  as  usual,  did  nothing  to  push  his  ad- 
vantages. It  was  ominous  that  Mcnas  changed  sides 
yet  again,  and  went  back  to  Caesar.  Caesar  now 
formed  his  plans.  The  main  fleet  under  Agrippa  was 
to  attack  northern  Sicily ;  the  Antonian  ships  at 
Tarentum  were  to  join  Caesar  in  the  strait  and  attack 
Tauromenium.  Lepidus  meanwhile  was  in  western 
Sicily ;  but  Demochares  and  the  other  Pompeian 
commanders  cut  off  by  land  and  sea  the  help  that  was 
coming  to  him  from  Africa.  He  came  back  to 
eastern  Sicily  in  time  to  meet  Agrippa  in  a  sea-fight 
off  the  peninsula  of  Mylre,  in  which  the  Caesarians 
had  the  better.  Sextus  then  hastened  to  Mcssana, 
where  he  heard  that  Caesar  was  at  Tauromenium.  He 
had  crossed  from  Italy  with  part  of  his  forces,  and 
Sextus  was  upon  him  by  land  and  sea  before  he  could 
send  for  the  rest.  Caesar  was  again  defeated  at  sea, 
and  escaped  to  Italy  with  great  difficulty.  His  land 
force,  under  Cornificius,  made  a  march  of  several  days 
through  the  inland  country,  which  reminds  us  of  the 
retreat  of  the  Athenians  from  Syracuse.  They  had 
much  difficulty  in  crossing  the  lava-covered  country 


C/ESAR   MASTER    OF   SICILY.  339 

under  ^tna,  and  they  were  constantly  beset  by  the 
Pompeian  horsemen  and  darters.  At  last  they  were 
met  by  another  force  sent  by  Agrippa  to  meet  them, 
and  they  came  safely  to  the  north  coast. 

The  war  was  ended,  as  far  as  Sextus  was  con- 
cerned, by  another  sea-fight.  Agrippa  won  a  more 
decisive  victory  over  the  Pompeian  fleet  off  Nau- 
lochus,  a  point  between  Mylai  and  Cape  Peloris. 
Sextus,  who  had  looked  on  at  the  battle  from  the 
shore,  forsook  Sicily  and  sailed  with  a  few  ships  for 
Asia.  There,  after  many  adventures  which  do  not 
concern  us,  he  was  killed  the  next  year  (B.C.  35). 
Meanwhile  both  Lepidus  and  the  Pompeian  Plennius 
had  come  from  the  West.  Plennius  still  held  Messana 
for  Sextus,  and  was  besieged  by  Agrippa  and 
Lepidus.  The  forces  of  Plennius  and  Lepidus 
presently  joined  together  and  sacked  the  town. 
Lepidus  was  aiming  to  make  himself  master  of 
Sicily  instead  of  Sextus.  But,  when  Caesar  came, 
both  armies  forsook  their  generals  and  entered  his 
service  (p..C.  36).  Seven  years  after  its  first  occupation 
by  Sextus,  Sicily  passed  under  the  dominion  of  Caesar. 

The  later  war  between  Cassar  and  Antonius  does 
not  concern  us.  Ca:sar  was  now  master  of  all  the 
West,  of  Sicily  among  the  rest.  He  laid  a  heavy 
imposition  on  the  island,  1,600  talents,  and  on  his 
return  to  Rome,  he  celebrated  an  ovation  for  his 
Sicilian  conquest.  Sicily  now  came  back  to  its  former 
state  as  a  province  of  Rome.  But  it  had  suffered 
much,  and  was  greatly  impoverished,  during  the  war 
of  Sextus.  After  all  the  civil  wars  \\ere  over,  Cresar, 
now  Augustus  and  master  of  the  whole  Roman  world, 


34-0  SICILY  A    ROMAN   PROVINCE. 

began  to  look  to  the  state  of  the  lands  which  had 
practically  become  his  dominions,  and,  among  other 
things,  he  tried  to  do  something  for  the  advantage  of 
Sicily.  This  he  did  by  planting  Roman  colonies  in 
several  of  the  towns,  specially  at  Syracuse  in  B.C.  21. 
Of  this  last  large  traces  remain.  The  Roman  town 
seems  to  have  been  wholly  on  the  low  ground.  It 
took  in  the  Island,  and  the  lower  part  of  Achradina, 
and  an  extended  Neapolis,  between  the  theatre  and 
the  Great  Harbour.  Here  we  see  the  remains  of 
several  Roman  buildings,  specially  of  the  amphi- 
theatre ;  for  Roman  colonists,  in  Sicily  or  anywhere 
else,  could  not  do  without  the  bloody  shows  to  which 
they  were  used  at  Rome.  Other  colonies  were  planted 
at  Tauromenium,  Catina,  Therma,  and  Tyndaris,  and 
laige  remains  of  Roman  buildings  are  to  be  seen  in 
modern  Catania  and  among  the  ruins  of  Tyndaris. 
Messana,  the  Mamertine  city,  got  the  Roman  franchise, 
and  remained  a  flourishing  town.  The  lower  franchise 
of  Latium  was  granted  to  Netum,  Centuripa,  and 
Segesta.  We  may  remark  that  by  these  changes 
Messana,  Netum,  and  Tauromenium  lost  their  position 
as  free  cities,  and  became,  on  different  conditions, 
immediate  parts  of  the  Roman  dominion.  Messana, 
as  getting  the  full  Roman  franchise,  doubtless  gained 
by  this.  But  Strabo,  who  wrote  in  the  time  of 
Augustus,  describes  most  of  the  old  towns  as  having 
gone  to  utter  decay,  and  he  speaks  of  the  country 
generally  as  in  a  wretched  state. 

Sicily    thus    remained  a    province  of  the    Roman 
Empire  till  the  Empire  began  to  lose  its  provinces. 


THIRD    SLAVE    WAR.  34I 

As  one  of  the  peaceful  provinces,  not  lying  on  any- 
dangerous  frontier,  it  was  one  of  those  which  Augustus 
professed  to  put  under  the  rule  of  the  Senate  and 
People,  while  he  kept  the  more  exposed  lands  in  his 
own  hands.  For  several  ages  there  is  but  little  to 
record.  A  province  hardly  has  a  history  of  its  own, 
and  the  position  of  Sicily  hindered  it  from  being  the 
scene  of  any  of  the  great  events  in  the  general  history 
of  the  Empire.  We  come  across  occasional  notices  of 
Sicilian  towns,  as  we  do  of  the  other  towns  of  the 
Empire ;  we  hear  for  instance  of  this  or  that  temple 
being  decayed,  and  perhaps  restored  by  the  reigning 
Emperor.  And  one  at  least  of  the  early  Emperors, 
Hadrian,  who  visited  all  parts  of  his  dominions,  did 
not  fail  to  visit  Sicily  also  (a.d.  126),  and  to  study  the 
wonders  of  yEtna.  And  one  or  two  striking  events 
happened,  which  sometimes  recall  past  times  and 
sometimes  foreshadow  times  that  were  to  come. 
There  can  be  no  doubt  that  Sicily  lost  a  great  deal 
by  the  Roman  conquest  of  Egypt,  after  which  it  ceased 
to  be  the  chief  cornfield  of  the  Roman  people.  We 
may  therefore  doubt  whether  a  third  revolt  of  slaves 
or  robbers,  of  which  we  hear  in  the  days  of  Gallienus 
(a.d.  260-268)  was  owing  to  the  same  causes  as  the 
two  older  and  more  famous  Slave- Wars,  Anyhow  such 
an  event  reminds  us  of  former  days,  while  the  next 
that  we  have  to  speak  of  is  an  isolated  forerunner  of 
what  was  presently  to  come.  Whatever  Sicily  had 
to  bear  at  the  hands  of  Roman  masters,  she  was  at 
least  spared  the  sight  of  a  foreign  enemy  for  several 
centuries.  At  last,  in  the  days  of  the  lunperor  Probus 
[276-282),    a    sudden    blow    fell.       Sicily    was   again 


342  SICILY  A    ROMAN   PROVINCE. 

attacked  by  barbarian  invaders.  A  body  of  Franks 
— some  say  Vandals — who  had  submitted  to  the 
Emperor  and  had  been  transplanted  by  him  to  new 
lands  by  the  Euxine,  rose  in  revolt,  got  possession  of 
ships,  and  laid  waste  various  parts  of  Greece,  Asia, 
and  Africa.  They  were  driven  back  from  Carthage  ; 
but  they  crossed  to  Sicily  ;  they  seized  and  sacked 
Syracuse,  and  wrought  a  great  massacre  of  its  in- 
habitants. They  then  made  their  way  into  the  Ocean, 
and  sailed  safely  back  to  their  own  land,  the  Francia 
of  those  days,  on  the  borders  of  Northern  Germany 
and  Northern  Gaul. 

These  new  enemies  of  Sicily  w^ere  mere  ravagersi 
not  conquerors.  But  their  coming  marks  an  epoch 
It  was  the  first  appearance  of  men  of  Teutonic  stock 
in  Sicily  or  indeed  in  the  Mediterranean  waters.  The 
days  of  Teutonic  dominion  were  not  yet ;  but  such  an 
isolated  event  as  this  was  a  forerunner  of  their  coming. 
Meanwhile  another  of  the  great  elements  of  the  later 
life  of  Europe  was  making  its  way  in  Sicily,  as  in 
other  parts  of  the  Empire.  Christianity  was  preached 
in  Sicily  in  very  early  times.  The  Acts  of  the 
Apostles  record  a  three  days' stay  of  the  Apostle  Paul 
at  Syracuse.  But  local  legend  gathers  rather  round 
Saint  Peter,  who  is  made  to  send  his  disciples  from 
Antioch.  Saint  Paul,  legend  tells  us,  found  a  bishop, 
JNIarcian  by  name,  already  at  Syracuse,  and  preached 
in  his  church.  The  story  has  its  local  habitation  in 
the  undoubtedly  very  ancient  church  of  Saint  Marcian 
in  lower  Achradina.  Another  disciple  of  Saint  Petei 
was  Pancratius  of  Tauromenium,  whose  church,  made 


GROWTH   OF   CHRISTIAN   LEGENDS.  343 

out  of  a  small  temple,  still  remains  outside  the  wall 
of  his  own  city.  Like  many  other  saints,  he  has 
conflicts  with  evil  powers,  in  his  case  the  idols  Lyson 
and  Phalkon,  in  which  last  we  are  tempted  to  see  a 
survival  of  the  old  Sikel  Palici.  Saint  Peter  is  also 
said  to  have  come  to  Sicily  in  person,  and  a  round 
building  of  Roman  date  at  Catania  is  shown  as  a 
church  which  he  consecrated  to  Our  Lady  while  she 
was  still  upon  earth.  Some  other  legends  are  yet 
wilder.  The  old  Sikel  town  of  Agyrium  took  its 
later  name  of  San  Filippo  cVArgiro  from  a  Philip  who 
is  sometimes  made  a  disciple  of  Saint  Peter  and 
sometimes  placed  in  the  reign  of  the  Emperor  Arca- 
dius  (395-408).  In  his  story  we  first  hear  of /Etna  as 
an  abode  of  evil  beings.  Saint  Kalogeros,  who  is 
plainly  an  impersonation  of  Eastern  monasticism,  is 
also  made  into  a  disciple  of  Saint  Peter.  He  gives 
himself  to  the  discovery  of  healing  springs  and 
vapours,  and  his  memory  lives  on  two  hills  on  the 
two  sides  of  Sicily,  by  the  Himcra^an  and  the 
Selinuntine   Thcnna,  now  Termini  and  Sciacca. 

The  virgin  saints  of  Sicily  are  also  many  and 
famous.  Two  especially  have  had  a  great  name  out 
of  the  island.  Saint  Agatha  of  Catania  has  in  some 
sort  taken  the  place  of  the  Pious  Brethren.  After 
her  martyrdom  under  the  Emperor  Decius  (249-251), 
her  veil,  preserved  as  relic,  stops  an  eruption  of 
^tna.  Saint  Lucy  of  Syracuse,  first  of  several  of 
the  name,  is  martyred  under  Diocletian  (305),  whose 
character  is  misconceived  in  the  usual  way.  This 
Lucy,  one  of  the  virgin  patronesses  of  the  island, 
must  be  distinguished  from  a  matron  Lucy,  who  in 


344  SICILY  A    ROMAN   PROVINCE. 

the  story  appears  as  a  personal  victim  of  Diocletian 
at  Rome.  That  is,  the  legend  forgot  that  Diocletian's 
seat  of  rule  was  at  Nikomedcia.  Presently,  under 
Constantine,  came  the  peace  of  the  Church.  By  that 
time  we  may  safely  say  that  the  older  bishoprics  of 
Sicily,  those  which  claim  an  apostolic  origin,  those  of 
Syracuse,  Panormus,  Catina,  Mcssana,  Agrigentum, 
and  Tauromcnium,  were  all  in  being.  We  hear  of 
Sicilian  bishops  attending  at  councils,  and  of  the 
island  being  troubled,  like  the  rest  of  the  West,  with 
the  Pelagian  heresy.  In  short,  the  early  ecclesiastical 
history  of  Sicily  is  much  like  that  of  any  other  part 
of  Western  Christendom.  It  was  later  events  which 
gave  it,  like  its  temporal  history,  a  character  of  its  own. 

Sicily,  it  is  well  again  to  remember,  was  the  first 
Roman  province,  the  first  land  out  of  Italy  possessed 
by  the  Roman  People.  Its  position  was  that  of  a 
subject  land  ;  its  inhabitants  were  not  Romans, 
except  such  Romans  as  settled  in  the  island  as 
colonists  or  otherwise,  and  except  any  natives  who 
were  personally  admitted  to  the  Roman  franchise. 
After  a  while  the  distinction  of  Romans  and  pro- 
vincials was  taken  away  through  the  Empire  by  the 
edict  of  the  Emperor  Antoninus,  commonly  called 
Caracalla  (211-217).  By  that  edict  all  the  free  in- 
habitants of  the  Empire  were  admitted  to  the  name 
and  rights  of  Romans.  Under  the  practical  despotism 
of  the  Emperors  those  rights  were  not  worth  very  much, 
and  it  may  be  doubted  whether  the  provincials  found 
any  immediate  practical  gain  in  becoming  Romans, 
But  the  change  had  its  effect  nevertheless  ;  the  people 


BEGINNING    OF    TEUTONIC   INVASIONS.       345 

of  Sicily  or  of  any  other  province  became  proud  of  the 
Roman  name  as  opposed  to  the  barbarians  outside  the 
Empire.   A  kind  of  artificial  Roman  nationwas  formed, 
at  all  events  in  the  West,  and  no  Roman  anywhere 
willingly  submitted  to  a  barbarian  ruler.     Now  that 
one  land  was  no  more  subject  than  another,  the  word 
j^rovi/icc  lost  its  old  sense  of  a  subject  land,  and  simply 
meant  an  administrative  division  of  the  Empire,  whether 
in  Italy  or  elsewhere.     When  the  Empire  was  mapped 
out  into  such  divisions   by  Constantine,   Sicily  and 
Italy  were   drawn   closer   together  :    the  province  of 
Sicily  became  part  of  the  diocese  of  Italy — a  formula 
which  must  not  be  confounded  with  the  ecclesiastical 
use  of  the  word.     It  was  governed  by  2.  consular  under 
the  superior   authority  of  the  praetorian  pra^fect  at 
Rome.     In   the  beginning  of   the   fifth   century  the 
central  island  of  the  Mediterranean  began  to  share 
in    the    revolutions  which    had    long    touched    those 
provinces  of  the  Empire  which  had  exposed   inland 
frontiers.      The    Teutonic    invaders   of    the    Roman 
dominions,  long  known  in  north-eastern  Gaul  and  in 
the  South-eastern  lands,   began  to  touch   Sicily  and 
other  Mediterranean  lands  in  a  more  lasting  way  than 
the  momentary  landing  of  the  Franks  in  the  third 
century.     And  wo.  again,  as  of  old,  mark  the  central 
position  of  the  island.     It  can  be  attacked  either  from 
Italy  or  from  Africa,  and  conquerors  or  deliverers  can 
come   from  the  lands  east   of  the    Ionian  sea.     The 
first  invasion  was  threatened  from  Italy ;  but  it  was 
only  a  threat.     This  was  from  the  West-Gothic  king 
Alaric,  who,  after  his  taking  of  Rome  in  410,  designed 
an  invasion  of  both  Sicily  and  Africa,  and  died  just 


34^  SICILY  A    ROMAN   PROVINCE. 

as  he  was  on  the  point  of  attempting  it.  The  West- 
Goth  was  thus  hindered  from  becoming  the  first 
Teutonic  master  of  Sicily.  The  next  enemy  was 
the  Vandal  king  Gaiscric,  who  in  429  established 
a  Teutonic  kingdom  in  Africa.  He  made  Carthage 
his  capital,  and,  as  soon  as  that  city  was  once  more 
the  seat  of  an  independent  power,  it  sprang  again  to 
something  like  its  old  position  in  its  Phoenician  days. 
The  Vandal  king  became  the  great  naval  power  of 
the  Western  Mediterranean  ;  he  conquered  and 
plundered  almost  at  pleasure.  He  invaded  Italy 
many  times  ;  he  sacked  Rome  itself ;  he  made  him- 
self master  of  Sardinia  and  Corsica  and  the  Balearic 
islands.  He  invaded  and  plundered  Sicily  many 
times  ;  he  took  and  destroyed  several  towns,  and  he 
seems  in  the  end  to  have  established  his  dominion 
over  the  whole  island.  Besides  being,  in  the  speech  of 
the  time,  barbarians,  the  Vandals,  though  Christians, 
were  deemed  heretics  in  religion,  having  like  all  the 
Teutonic  nations  except  the  Franks,  first  learned 
Christianity  in  its  Arian  form. 

Towards  the  end  of  his  days  (477)  Gaiseric  gave  up 
the  possession  of  Sicily  to  Odowakar  on  payment  of 
a  tribute.  Odowakar  was  a  leader  of  mercenaries 
who  had  become  master  of  Italy  when  the  first 
succession  of  Emperors  in  the  West  came  to  an  end 
There  was  now  only  one  Emperor,  he  who  reigned 
at  Constantinople,  and  Odowakar,  practically  an 
independent  prince,  was  held  to  be  his  lieutenant 
with  the  title  of  patrician.  Sicily  thus,  without  being 
formally  separated  from  the  Roman  Empire,  really 
passed   under  the    rule  of    Teutonic  masters.      The 


RULE   OF   THEODORIC.  347 

same  was  the  case  when  Odowakar  was  displaced  by 
the  great  East -Gothic  king  Theodoric  (493).  Sicily, 
as  well  as  Italy,  passed  under  his  rule.  Theodoric 
looked  carefully  after  all  his  dominions,  Sicily  among 
the  rest,  and  we  have  occasional  notices  of  Sicilian 
matters  in  the  documents  of  his  reign  collected  by 
his  minister  Cassiodorus.  We  find  from  them  that 
the  people  of  Sicily  were,  as  we  might  expect,  ill 
disposed  towards  Gothic  rule,  and  Cassiodorus  is 
praised  by  the  King  for  winning  them  over  to  his 
allegiance.  We  find  that  corn  was  now  sent  from 
Sicily  into  Gaul,  and  that  the  church  of  Milan,  as  we 
shall  presently  hear  of  the  church  of  Rome,  held 
lands  in  Sicily.  There  are  also  some  notices  oi 
particular  places.  Thus  Syracuse  had  a  Gothic 
count  ;  the  amphitheatre  of  Catina  had  fallen  into 
ruins,  and  the  magistrates  and  citizens  were  allowed 
to  make  use  of  the  stones  for  the  repair  of  their  walls. 
Theodoric  gave  one  of  his  daughters  in  marriage  to 
the  Vandal  king  Thrasimund,  and  gave  him  Lilyba^um 
as  her  dowry.  The  Vandals  thus  again  got  a  foothold 
in  Sicily.  One  thinks  of  the  times  when,  first  P}'rrhos 
and  then  the  Romans,  had  won  all  Sicily  except 
Lilybtiiuin  from  tiic  Carthaginians.  One  wonders  at 
Theodoric  giving  up  so  important  a  point  to  the  new 
masters  of  Carthage.  But  Lilyba^um  must  have  soon 
passed  back  to  the  Goths,  as  it  was  in  their  hands 
when  we  next  hear  anything  about  Sicily. 

We  have  thus  seen  Sicily,  in  the  changes  which 
swept  over  the  I^npire  in  the  fifth  century,  come 
under  the  power  of  barbarians,  but  still  of  European 


348  SICILY  A    ROMAN   PROVIXCE. 

barbarians,  men  indeed  of  Teutonic  race.  But  we 
cannot  say  that  the  island  was  wholly  separated 
from  the  Roman  Empire,  unless  perhaps  for  a 
moment  under  Gaiscric.  Presently,  under  the 
Emperor  Justinian  and  his  great  general  Belisarius, 
the  Empire  began  to  win  back  many  of  the  lands 
which  it  had  lost.  Some  were  won  back  only  for  a 
short  time ;  but  Sicily  was  won  back  for  several 
centuries.  The  first  land  to  be  won  back  was  Africa. 
In  the  year  533  Belisarius  came  to  Sicily,  a  friendly 
land  under  the  dominion  of  the  Goths,  and  made  it  his 
starting-point  for  his  expedition  against  the  Vandals. 
We  may  thus  add  his  name  to  the  long  list  of  those,from 
Agathokles  onwards,  who  invaded  Africa  from  Sicily. 
He  did  not  however  set  sail  either  from  Syracuse  or 
from  Lilyba.^um,  but  from  the  harbour  of  Caucana  on 
the  south  coast.  The  Romans  of  Sicily — so  we  may 
now  speak — received  the  Imperial  general  gladl)'. 
But  after  Africa  had  been  won  back  for  the  Empire, 
a  special  Sicilian  dispute  arose  between  the  Empire 
and  the  Gothic  masters  of  the  island.  Those  who 
had  overcome  the  Vandals  in  Africa  claimed  also 
their  possessions  in  Sicily,  the  fortress  of  Lilybaeum 
ceded  to  Thrasimund  as  his  bride's  dowry.  This  the 
Goths  refused  to  restore. 

Within  two  years  the  question  between  the  Empire 
and  the  Gothic  king  Theodahad  came  to  touch  more 
than  Lilybaium  ;  it  touched  all  Sicily  and  all  Italy. 
In  the  year  535  began  the  great  Gothic  war  of 
Justinian.  And  it  was  in  Sicily  that  it  began.  The 
consul  Belisarius  landed  at  Catina  ;  S)'racuse  and  the 
towns  of  Sicily  generally  submitted  willingly.      It  was 


Cioriiic  WAR  OF  yusriNiAN.  349 

only  at  Panormiis,  where  there  was  a  strong  Gothic 
garrison,  that  the  Imperial  forces  met  with  any 
resistance.  It  would  seem  that  Panormus  had  begun 
to  shrink  up  like  Syracuse,  and  that  the  suburbs 
which  had  grown  up  north  and  south  of  the  two  arms 
of  the  haven  were  now  forsaken.  Belisarius  sailed 
into  the  haven  without  resistance.  The  masts  of  his 
ships  were  higher  than  the  walls  of  the  inner  city  ;  so 
he  was  able  to  bring  the  garrison  to  submission  by 
showers  of  arrows  from  a  greater  height.  He  went 
back-  to  Syracuse  ;  while  he  was  there,  the  year  of  his 
consulship  came  to  an  end,  and  he  laid  down  his 
office  with  the  usual  ceremonies  at  Syracuse  instead 
of  at  Constantinople.  All  Sicily  was  now  won  back 
for  the  Empire,  and  when  Belisarius  went  on  the  next 
year  to  win  back  Italy,  he  left  garrisons  at  Syracuse 
and  Panormus  only.  The  Goths  never  forgot  the 
case  with  which  Sicily  was  lost,  and  at  a  later  stage 
of  the  war  we  find  the  Gothic  king  Totila  breathing 
vengeance  against  the  Sicilians,  both  for  the  loss  of 
the  island  and  because  Sicilian  cornships  had  come  to 
Rome  and  helped  the  defenders  of  the  city  to  hold 
out  against  his  siege  of  it.  In  549-50  Totila  invaded 
Sicily  ;  he  could  not  take  any  of  the  chief  towns,  but 
he  ravaged  the  island  and  left  garrisons  in  four  places 
which  are  not  named.  In  551  the  Goths  were  finally 
driven  out  of  the  island. 

Thus  Sicily  again  became  an  undisputed  province 
of  the  Roman  Empire.  We  must  remember  that  the 
seat  of  the  Empire  was  then  at  Constantinople,  the 
Mew  Rome,  even  after  the  Old  Rome  and  all  Italy 
was  won  back  by  Belisarius.     A  large  part  of  Italy, 


35b  SICILY  A    ROMAN   PROVINCE. 

north  and  south,  was  presently  torn  away  again  from 
the  Empire  by  the  Lombards.  The  theological  dis- 
putes of  the  eighth  century  caused  the  Emperors  to 
lose  all  practical  authority  in  the  Old  Rome  ;  and  at 
last  in  800  the  Empire  was  finally  parted  asunder, 
when  the  Frank  king  Charles  the  Great  was  chosen 
and  crowned  Emperor  there.  But  neither  Lombards 
nor  Franks  touched  Sicily,  nor  did  they  ever  occupy 
the  whole  of  Italy.  The  Eastern  Emperors,  as  we 
may  now  distinguish  them,  the  Roman  Emperors 
at  Constantinople,  kept  Sicily  and  part  of  southern 
Italy  long  after  a  Western,  a  Frankish,  Emperor 
was  chosen  at  Rome.  The  island  was  governed  by  a 
prcBtor  or  stratcgos  sent  from  Constantinople,  who 
commonly  held  the  rank  of  patrician,  the  highest  rank 
which  did  not  imply  any  association  in  the  Empire, 
and  he  was  often  spoken  of  as  Patrician  of  Sicily. 
This  connexion  between  Sicily  and  the  Eastern,  the 
Greek-speaking,  parts  of  the  Empire  no  doubt  helped 
largely  to  strengthen  the  Greek  element  in  Sicily. 
Belisarius  the  Roman  consul  did  in  effect  repeat  the 
work  of  Timoleon  and  Pyrrhos  by  winning  the  island 
again  for  the  Greek  world.  Whatever  Latin  had 
come  in  with  the  Roman  colonies  gradually  died 
out,  as  it  did  in  the  Roman  colonies  in  the  East, 
of  which  the  New  Rome  itself  was  the  greatest.  The 
Eastern  connexion  again  was  strengthened  when,  in 
the  eighth  century,  the  Bishops  of  the  Old  Rome 
opposed  the  course  taken  by  the  Emperor  Leo  in  the 
controversy  about  images,  in  return  for  which  he  took 
Sicily  out  of  their  ecclesiastical  jurisdiction  and  put 
it  under  that  of  Constantinople,  and  confiscated  their 


CONNEXION    WITH  EAST-ROMAN  EMPIRE.     35I 

temporal  estates  in  the  island.  Everything  tended  to 
make  Sicily,  like  the  rest  of  the  East-Roman  Empire, 
once  more  part  of  the  Greek  world. 

It  is  to  the  fact  just  mentioned,  that  the  Bishops 
of  Rome  as  well  as  those  of  Ravenna  and  Milan, 
held  large  estates  in  Sicily,  that  we  owe  a  good  deal 
of  knowledge  of  the  state  of  things  there  during  the 
early  part  of  the  connexion  of  the  island  with 
Constantinople.  We  learn  much  from  the  letters  of 
Pope  Gregory  the  Great  (590-604)  to  his  officers 
in  Sicily.  He  writes  about  all  matters  public  and 
private,  from  an  appeal  to  the  Empress  Constantina, 
wife  of  Maurice  (582-602)  to  do  something  to  relieve 
the  burthens  of  the  island,  to  the  smallest  matters 
concerning  the  property  of  his  church.  Many  letters 
are  written  to  prcnetors  and  others  in  authority,  many 
to  bishops  and  other  churchmen.  As  at  once  Roman 
Patriarch  and  a  great  Sicilian  landlord,  Gregory  looked 
after  everything.  Sicily  was  then  full  of  churches 
and  monasteries  ;  the  great  majority  of  the  people 
were  Catholics,  but  there  were  some  heretics,  a  great 
many  Jews,  and  still  a  (e\v  pagans.  Gregory  has  a 
great  deal  to  say  about  the  Jews,  many  of  whom  lived 
on  the  church  lands.  They  were  not  to  be  in  any 
way  oppressed,  but  those  who  turned  Christians  were 
to  have  their  rents  lowered.  And  when  the  Bishop 
of  Panormus  took  possession  of  a  Jews'  synagogue 
and  turned  it  into  a  church,  Gregory  gave  judgement 
that  the  act  was  a  wrongful  one,  that,  as  the  building 
had  been  consecrated,  it  could  not  be  given  back  to 
the  Jews,  but  that  the  Bishop  must  pay  them  the 
value  of  it.     We  find  also  that  Sicilian  corn  was  still 


353  SICILY  A    ROMAN   PROVINCE. 

sent  to  Rome  ;  the  holding  of  Sicilian  lands  by  the 
Roman  Church  would  help  to  keep  up  the  practice. 
Not  very  long  after  Gregory's  time  we  hear  a  good 
deal  of  Saint  Zosimus,  Bishop  of  Syracuse.  He 
first,  in  646,  turned  the  great  temple  of  Athene  in  the 
island  into  a  church  as  we  see  it  now  ;  and  we  gather 
from  his  story  that  Syracuse  had  now  shrunk  up  into 
the  Island,  and  that  nothing  was  left  on  the  mainland 
but  scattered  churches  and  houses. 

During  these  ages  when  Sicily  was  ruled  from  Con- 
stantinople, the  island  did  not  often  see  its  sovereign. 
But  in  665  the  Emperor  Constans  the  Second,  whose 
crimes  had  offended  men  at  both  the  New  and  the 
Old  Rome,  came  to  Sicily  and  dwelled  at  Syracuse. 
Some  have  thought  that  he  came  with  the  purpose  of 
making  Syracuse  the  head  of  the  Empire.  But  his  op- 
pression was  great  in  Sicily  also,  and  in  668  he  was 
killed  in  a  bath.  On  his  death  the  Sicilians  set  up  one 
Mezetius — his  name  is  spelled  in  several  ways — as 
Emperor.  But  the  next  year  Constans'  son  Con- 
stantine  the  Fourth  (called  Pogonatus  or  the  Bearded) 
came  to  Sicily,  overthrew  Mezetius,  and  won  back  the 
island.  This  may  need  some  explanation.  What 
happened  at  this  time  in  Sicily  had  often  happened 
before  in  other  parts  of  the  Empire,  but  never  in 
Sicily.  Nothing  was  more  common  than  for  an  ambi- 
tious man,  most  commonly  a  successful  general,  to 
set  himself  up  as  Emperor.  This  happened  several 
times  in  Britain.  His  object  was  to  seize  the  whole 
Empire,  if  he  could,  but  at  any  rate  to  seize  some 
part  of  it.  If  he  succeeded  in  so  doing,  he  went  down 
in  history  as  an  Emperor ;  if  not,  he  was  called  only 


CONSTANTINE    THE    FIFTH.  353 

tyrant.  That  is  to  say,  the  word  tyrant  liad  now  got  a 
meaning  which  answered  exactly,  in  the  changed  state 
of  things,  to  its  old  use  in  the  days  of  the  Greek  com- 
monwealths. It  means  an  usurper  or  pretender,  a 
man  who  sets  himself  up  against  lawful  authority, 
only  now  against  the  authority  of  a  prince  and  not  of 
a  commonwealth. 

In  the  reign  of  Constantine  the  Fifth,  called 
Copronymus  (741-775),  we  hear  a  great  deal  of 
the  I^ishop  Leo  of  Catina  and  of  the  magician 
Heliodoros,  who  was  said,  when  condemned  to 
death  at  Constantinople,  to  have  fled  through  the 
air  back  to  Catina.  Legend  also  makes  him  the 
artist  of  the  lava  elephant  which  is  still  to  be 
seen  there.  In  the  reign  of  this  Emperor,  Calabria 
was  made  part  of  the  theme  or  province  of  Sicily. 
In  the  reign  of  Constantine  the  Sixth,  in  781,  Elpi- 
dius  the  pra:tor  or  strategos  of  Sicily  set  himself  up 
as  tyrant  ;  but  he  was  put  down  and  took  refuge 
with  the  Saracens  in  Africa.  The  Saracens  had 
plundered  in  Sicily  more  than  once  as  early  as  the 
seventh  century ;  in  the  ninth  century  their  invasions 
began  on  a  greater  scale,  and  before  the  end  of  the 
tenth  (827-965)  they  had  complete  possession  of  the 
whole  island. 

With  their  appearance  a  wholly  new  period  in  the 
history  of  Sicily  begins.  The  island  is  gradually 
torn  away  from  the  Roman  Empire,  and  thereby 
from  Europe  and  from  Christendom.  It  is  next,  in 
the  eleventh  century  (1060-1090},  won  back  by  the 
Normans.      In   all    this  we    have    the    old   history  of 

24 


354 


SICILY  A    ROMAN  PROVINCE. 


Sicily  over  again.  The  old  struggle  between  Europe 
and  Africa,  between  Greeks  and  Semites,  is  fought 
over  again,  but  it  is  this  time  made  more  keen  by  the 
religious  opposition  between  Christendom  and  Islam. 
One  Story  of  Sicily  ended  with  the  Roman  conquest 
of  Syracuse  ;  another  Story  of  Sicily  begins  with  the 
Saracen  conquest  of  Mazzara.  The  time  between  is 
the  mere  record  of  a  province,  a  land  subject  to 
distant  masters.  With  the  coming  of  the  Saracens 
the  island  again  begins  to  have  a  history,  and  a  long 
history,  of  its  own.  But  that  history  will  be  best  told 
in  another  volume. 


INDEX. 


A. 

Abacceiuim,  land  of,  taken  for 
Tyndaiis,  i8i  ;  joins  Wagon, 
183  ;  taken  by  Agathokles,  237 

Achaia,  province  of,  335 

Achaios,  counsellor  of  King  Eu- 
nous,  326 

Achradina,  outpostof  Syracuse,  43; 
joined  to  Ortygia  by  Gelon,  73  ; 
Dionysios'  works  on,  164;  see 
also  Syracuse 

Aderno,  see  Hadranum 

/Egates,  see  Aigousa 

/Elian,  his  history  of  animals,  29 

/Eschylus,  at  Hieron's  court,  83 

/Eschylus,  brother-in-law  of  Tinio- 
phanes,  217 

yEina,  Mount,  18  ;  legends  alxnit, 
31,  343  ;  legend  of  Empedokles 
at,  96  ;  eruption  of,  thought  to 
portend  Carsar's  death,  332  ; 
visit  of  Hadrian  to,  341 

/Etna  (town),  founded  by  Hieron, 
84  ;  his  death  at,  90  ;  men  of, 
support  Thrasyboulos,  90  ;  drives 
out  Deinomenes,  92;  renamed 
Kalane,  93,  99  ;  transferred 
to  Inessa,  ib.  ;  taken  by  Duce- 
tius,  99  ;  horsemen  of  Syracuse 
escape  to,  154;  joins  Syracusan 
revolt  against  Dionysios,  158, 
1 59 ;  Dionysios  drives  away 
refugee  horsemen,  160  ;  Cam- 
panians  settle  at,  175,  229;  camp 
of  Agathokles  at,  259 


Africa,  Phccnician  colonies  in,  14, 
23  ;  campaign  of  Agathokles  in, 
242  seqq.  ;  Roman  invasions  of, 
282,  317,  332  ;  Vandal  kingdom 
in,  346  ;  Belisarius's  campaign 
in,  348^ 

Agathokles,  compared  with  Diony- 
sios, 234, 257  ;  his  early  life,  235  ; 
chosen  general  at  Syracuse,  236; 
his  rise  to  power,  236  ;  Spartan 
expedition  against,  237;  his 
treaty  with  Akragas,  238 ; 
attacks  Messana  and  Akragas, 
238;  recovers  Centuripa  and 
Galaria,  ib.  ;  attacks  the  Punic 
camp  on  Eknomos,  239  ;  takes 
Gela,  240 ;  defeated  at  the 
Ilimeras,  240,  241  ;  his  designs 
on  Africa,  242  ;  his  African 
campaign,  243-251  ;  assumes 
the  title  of  king,  248  ;  returns 
to  Sicily,  249  ;  takes  various 
cities,  250 ;  his  treatment  of 
Segesta,  252  ;  massacre  ordered 
by,  254 ;  his  dealings  with 
Deinokrates,  255-257  ;  his 
kingly  position  in  Sicily,  257  ; 
attacks  Li  para,  258  ;  takes  Kor- 
kyra,  ib.;  later  wars  in  Italy,  ib.; 
called  Lord  of  the  Island,  ib.; 
plans  a  fresh  Carthaginian 
expedition,  259;  his  death, 
ib. 

Agathokles  the  younger,  slain  by 
Archagathos,  259 


356 


INDEX. 


Agathokles,  defrauds  the  temple  of 

Athene  at  Syracuse,  60 
Agathyrnum,  centre  of  brigandnge, 

Agrigentum,  bishopric  of,  344  ;  see 
also  Akrngas 

Agrippa,  M.  V.,  his  expedition 
against  Sextus,  337-9 

Ag)'lla,  temple  of,  plundered  by 
JJionysios,  191 

A-gyris  of  Agyrium,  his  treaty 
with  Dionysios,  182,  184 

Agyrium,  Sikel  site,  20  ;  Herakles 
worshipped  at,  31  ;  admitted  to 
Syracusan  citizenship,  229  ;  re- 
volts against  Phintias,  263  ;  its 
later  name,  343 

Aigousa,  isles  of,  17,  55  ;  battle  off, 
289 

Aiolos,  isles  of,  see  Lipara 

Akestorides  of  Corinth,  plots 
against  Agathokles,  235 

Akis    and    Galateia,    legend    of, 

Akragas,  foundation  of,  51  ;  works 
of  Theron  at,  89 ;  tyranny  of 
Thrasydaios  at,  ib.  ;  its  wealth, 
93  ;  banishes  Empedokles,  ib.  ; 
its  war  with  Ducetius,  100  ; 
with  Syracuse,  loi  ;  Athenian 
envoys  at,  ill;  Selinuntines 
take  refuge  at,  143  ;  prepares 
for  Carthaginian  attack,  147  ; 
siege  of,  149  ;  surrender  and  spoil 
of,  150;  refugees  accuse  Syra- 
cusan generals,  151 ;  subject  to 
Carthage,  154  ;  revolts  against 
Dionysios,  183 ;  re-settled  by 
Timoleon,  229  ;  withstands  Aga- 
thokles, 237  ;  makes  terms  with 
him,  238  ;  his  fresh  attempt  on, 
ib.  ;  its  alliance  against  Agatho- 
kles, 248  ;  at  war  with  Carthage, 
249;  tyranny  of  Phintias  at,  263  ; 
drives  him  out,  264  ;  submits  to 
Pyrrhos,  268  ;  taken  by  Mamer- 
tines,  272 ;  by  Rome,  281  ; 
known  as  Agrigentum,  ib.  ; 
taken  by  Himiikon,  305  ;  held 
by  liannun,  313  ;  reinforcements 
sent  to,  315  ;  betrayed  to  Lx- 


vinus,  316  ;  brazen  bull  restored 

to,  323  ;  decay  of,  324 
Akragas,  river,  51 
Akrai,  outpost  of  Syracuse,  50 
Akrotatosof  Sparta,  his  expedition 

against  Agathokles,  237 
Alaric,kingof  the  West-Goths,  345 
Alexander  of  Epeiros,  231,  265 
Alexander  the  Great,  his  conquests, 

230  ;  their  effect  on  Agathokles, 

234 

Alexander,  son  of  Pyrrhos,  king- 
dom of  Sicily  designed  for,  ib^i 

Alketas  of  Molottis,  restored  by 
Dionysios,  191 

Alkibiadcs,  su]5ports  appeal  of 
Segesta,  113;  appointedgeneral, 
114  ;  is  for  attack  on  Sjracuse, 
116;  charged  with  impiety,  117; 
his  speech  and  counsel  at  Sparta, 
120 

Alphabet,  the,  its  Phoenician 
origin,  22 

Alpheios,  legend  of,  37 

Amphinomos,  46 

Anapios,  46 

Anapos,  river,  43  ;  battles  by, 
118,  123 

Anaxilas,  tyrant  of  Rhegion,  his 
action  towards  Zankle,  69-70  ; 
his  alliance  with  Terillos  of 
Himera,  74 ;  asks  help  from 
Carthage,  78  ;  makes  peace 
with  Gelon,  82  ;  threatens 
Lokroi,  84;  his  death,  85.; 
his  sons'  dealings  with  Miky- 
thos,  90;  their  fall,  91 

Ancona,  see  Ankon 

Andromachos  of  Tauromenion, 
joins  Timoleon,  219 

Ankun,  foundation  of,  191 

Antalkidas,  peace  of,  189 

^\.ntandios,  left  in  command  by 
Agathokles,  243  ;  hears  rumours 
of  his  defeat,  244 ;  executes 
massacre  at  Syracuse  for  Aga- 
thokles, 254 

Antigenes  of  Henna,  326 

Antiochos,  king,  see  Eunous 

Antiochos  of  Syracuse,  his  Sici- 
lian history,  8,  39,  104 


INDEX. 


357 


Antonius,  L. ,  his  wnr  with  Caesar, 

334 

Antonius,  M.,  the  t-ldcr,  phindfrs 
Sicily,  331 

Antonius,  M.,  the  younger,  puts 
\'errcs  to  death,  332  ;  one  of 
the  triumvirate,  333  ;  his  agree- 
ment with  Sextus,  334 ;  joins 
CKsar  against  him,  z'/i.  ;  makes 
peace  with  Sextus,  335  ;  sends 
ships  against  him,  337 

Apollokrates,  commands  in  Orty- 
gia,  209  ;  his  truce  with  Dion, 
213  ;  re-enters  Ortygia,  216 

Apollon,  statue  of,  taken  from 
Gela  to  Tyre,  153 

Apollon  Archegetes,  his  altar  at 
Naxos,  41 

Apollonia,  submits  to  Timolcon, 
224  ;  taken  by  Agathokles,  250 

Apolloniades,  tyrant  of  Agyrium, 
229 

Apollonides,  his  speech  at  Syra- 
cuse, 300 

Aquillius,  G.,  sent  against  the 
slaves,  329 

Archagathos,  accompanies  Aga- 
thokles to  Africa,  243  ;  mer- 
cenaries demand  his  death,  246 ; 
left  in  command,  249  ;  prays 
his  father  for  help,  250  ;  Aga- 
thokles plans  to  desert  him,  251 ; 
his  death,  i7>. 

Archagathos,  the  younger,  con- 
spires against  his  grandfather, 
259  ;  slain  by  Mainon,  262 

Archias,  founder  of  Syracuse,  42, 

59 

Archidamos,  king  of  Sparta,  slain 
at  Manduria,  231 

Archimedes,  kinsman  of  Ilieron 
II.,  294;  at  the  siege  of  Syra- 
cuse, 304  ;  his  death,  312  ;  his 
engines  in  Marcellus's  ovation, 
314 

Archonides  I.,  Sikel  king,  helps 
Ducetius  to  found  Kale  Akte, 
loi,  161  ;  ally  of  Athens,  108, 
124  ;  his  death,  124 

Archonides  II.,  Sikel  king,  founds 
Halucsa,  161 


Arete,  daughter  of  Dionysios,  and 
wife  of  Dion,  200,  201  ;  given 
in  marriage  to  Timokrates,  201  ; 
taken  back  by  Dion,  213  ;  sus- 
pects Kallippos,  214  ;  his  treat- 
ment of,  215  ;  her  death,  ?7;. 

Arethousa,  fountain  of,  37,  42 

Argos,  sends  contingent  to  Athe- 
nian army,  1 14  ;  Pyrrhos  slain 
at,  271 

Aristippos  of  Kyreiie,  Dionysios' 
ireatment  of,  191 

Aristomache,  wife  of  Dionysios, 
165,  200  ;  welcomes  Dion's  re- 
turn, 213;  suspects  Kallippo'^, 
214  ;  his  treatment  of,  215  ; 
her  death,  td. 

Ariston  of  Corinth,  improves  Syra- 
cusan  naval  tactics,  12S 

Aristos  of  Sparta,  supports  Diony- 
sios, 160 

Asdrubal,  his  defeat  at  the  Krimi- 
sos,  225-7 

Asdrubal,  his  attack  on  Panormos, 
284 ;  his  victory  off  Drepana, 
286 

A.shtoreth,  worshipped  at  Eryx, 
14,  27 

Assinaros,  river,  Athenian  slaugh- 
ter at,  136 

Athenagoras,  his  speech  at  Syra- 
cuse, 115 

Athenion,  general  under  Salvius, 
329  ;  succeeds  him  as  king,  id. ; 
killed,  zd. 

Alliens,  her  relations  to  Sparta, 
105 ;    her    alliances    in    Sicily, 

106,  108  ;  helps  to  found  Thou- 
rioi,  106  ;  Sikeliot  appeals   to, 

107,  108  ;  generals  accejit  peace 
of  Gela,  no;  embassy  to  Sicily 
422  B.C.,  Ill;  Segesta  appeals 
to,  112  ;  story  of  the  env())s,  113; 
expedition  to  Sicily  voted,  114  ; 
action  of  Nikias,  117;  l)altle 
by  the  Anapos,  118;  Nikias 
asks  for  reinforcements,  119; 
beginning  of  siege  of  Syra- 
cuse, 121  ;  second  expedition 
voted,  127  ;  defeat  at  sea,  128, 
131  ;  coming  of  Demosthenes, 


358 


INDEX. 


129  ;  last  battle  and  retreat, 
132-6;  end  of  the  invasion, 
137  ;  Sikeliots,  imprisoned  by, 
139  ;  decrees  in  honour  of 
Dionysios,  180,  194  ;  recep- 
tion of  Dionysios'  tragedies  at, 
190,  194  ;  her  alliance  witli  him, 
194 
Atilius,    A.,    invades    Panormos, 

146,  2S2  ;  takes  it,  282,  283 
Augusta,  see  Xiphonia 
Augustus,  see  Csesar,  G.  O. 

B 

Bacchiads  of  Corinth,  58 
Balearic  Isles  taken  by  Gaiseric, 

346 
Barbarians,  meaning  of  the  name, 

21 
Belisarius,  his  expedition  against 

the   Vandals,  348 ;    wins  back 

Sicily,  348,    349 ;    effect  of  his 

conquest,  350 
Beneventum,  battle  of,  271 
Boeo,  Cape,  see  Lilybaion 
Bomilkar,    in    command    against 

Agathokles,  244 
Bomilkar  at  the  siege  of  Syracuse, 

308;  seeks  reinforcements,  309; 

goes  to  Tarentum,  ib. 
Bruttians,    war   of,  with  Kroton, 

235  ;  Segestans  sold  to,  252 

C 

Cadiz,  23 

CKsar,  G.  J.,  at  Lilybaeum,  332  ; 
his  death  foretold,  ib. 

Cresar,  G.  O.  (Augustus),  his  war 
with  Sextus,  333-5  ;  makes 
peace  with  him,  335  ;  his  second 
war  with  Sextus,  336-9  ;  master 
of  Sicily,  339 ;  his  Sicilian 
ovation,  ib,  ;  plants  colonies  in 
Sicily,  340 

Calabria  part  of  the  iheine  of 
Sicily,  353 

Caltabellotta,  said  to  be  s.te  of 
Kamikos,  33 ;  whether  identical 
with  Triocaln,  329 

Caltavulturo,  see  Torgium 


Campanian  mercenaries,  under 
Hannibal,  141  ;  help  Diony- 
sius,  159;  take  Entella,  ib.; 
settle  at  /Etna,  175;  Timo- 
leon's  dealings  with,  229  ;  in 
the  camp  of  Archagathos,  262  ; 
seize  on  Messana,  ib.;  take  the 
name  of  Mamertines,  263  ;  ra- 
vage Rhegion,  273  ;  chastised 
by  the  Romans,  273,  277 

Canaan,  gods  of,  worshipped  in 
Sicily,  21,  26 

Caracalla,    Emperor,    his     edict, 

344 
Carthage,  origin  of  the  name,  23  ; 
her  dependencies  in  Sicily, 
24,  66 ;  war  with,  to  avenge 
Dorieus,  74;  her  alliance  with 
Persia,  77;  invades  Sicily  under 
riamilkar,  77-81  ;  Shopheliiii 
of,  79  ;  treaty  with  Gelon,  82  ; 
cult  of  the  goddesses  at,  82,  180; 
Athenian  emljassy  to,  120 ; 
second  invasion  of  Sicily,  140 
seqq.;  spoil  from  Akragas  sent 
to,  150  ;  treaty  with  Dionysios, 
154  ;  his  embassy  to,  166  ; 
Sicilian  Greeks  rise  against,  ib.; 
sends  Himilkon,  17 1  5  victory 
off  Katane,  175  ;  besieges  Syra- 
cuse, 176-179;  defeat  of,  179; 
invasion  of,  under  Magoa,  183; 
makes  peace  w^ith  Dionysios, 
184  ;  first  war  in  Italy,  192 ; 
fresh  peace  with  Dionysios,  ib.  ; 
robe  of  Lakinian  Hera  sold  to, 

193  ;  fresh  war  with  Dionysius, 

194  ;  makes  ]3eace  with  his  son, 
195)  '99  ;  Iliketas  in  league 
with,  216,  218 ;  envoys  at  Tauro- 
mcnion,  219  ;  admitted  into 
Syracuse  by  Hiketas,  222  ;  cru- 
cifies Magon,  222  ;  war  of,  with 
Timoleon,  225-227  ;  defeat  at 
the  Krimisos,  227  ;  supports 
the  tyrants,  227  ;  makes  peace 
with  Timoleon,  228  ;  recalls 
Hamiikar,  237  ;  treaty  with 
Agathokles,  238 ;  help  sought 
by  Syracusan  exiles,  ib. ;  naval 
losses,  239  ;  victory  at  the  Hi- 


INDEX. 


350 


mcras,  240,  241  ;  her  position 
in  Africa,  242 ;  expedition  of 
Agatholclcs  against,  243-251  ; 
Akragas  throws  off  her  alliance, 
249  ;  defeats  Archagalhos,  250  ; 
peace  made  with,  by  the  Greek 
soldiers,  251  ;  treaty  of  Aga- 
thokles  with,  255  ;  Mainon's 
alliance  with,  262  ;  supports 
rhintias,  263  ;  besieges  Syra- 
cuse, 264  ;  her  alliance  with 
Rome,  267,  272  ;  withstands 
Pyrrhos,  267,  271  ;  fortifies 
Lilybaion,  270 ;  alliance  with 
Hieron,  273,  277  ;  wars  of,  with 
Rome, 276-290,  295-317;  makes 
peace  with  Rome,  290 ;  em- 
bassy of  Hieronymos  to,  296  ; 
second  peace  of,  with  Rcrme, 
318 ;  taken  by  Scipio,  323  ; 
under  Gaiseric,  346 

Cassibile,  see  Kakyparis 

Cassiodorus,  his  notices  of  Sicilian 
matters,  347 

Castrogiovanni,  origin  of  the 
nr.me,  20 

Catania,  plain  of,  17,  iS,  and  see 
Kalane 

Catulus,  G.  L. ,  his  victory  off 
Aigousa,  289 ;  makes  terms 
with  Ilamilkar,  290 

Caucana,  IJelisarius  sets  sail  from, 

Centuripn,    Ccntorbi,    Sikel    site, 
20  ;  tyrants    at,    229  ;    held    by 
Agathokles,  238  ;   attacked   by 
him,    250  ;   position   of,   under 
Rome,     322,     340  ;     specially 
favoured  as  regards  land,  322 
Cephalcedium,  Cefalii,  Sikel  site, 
20;  betrayed  to  Dionysios,  182; 
taken  by  Agathokles,  250;  joins 
Deinokrates,  254  ;    Agathokles 
negotiates  for,  255 
Cethegus,  Praetor,  314,  315 
Chaironeia,  battle  of,  230 
Chalkis,  metropolis  of  Naxos,  40, 
41  ;    of  Zankle,    48  ;  its    treat- 
ment by  Athens,  119 
Charles   the    Great,    crowned    at 
Rome,  350 


Charondas,  his  code  of  laws,  57, 
65  ;  story  of  his  death,  65 

Charybdis,  tale  of,  30 

Chersikrates,  founrlcr  of  Korkyra, 
42 

Chiia,  land  of  the  Phctnicians, 
21 

Christianity   preached    in    Sicily, 

.342 
Cicero,  his  speeches  against  Verres, 

.319,  339-332 

Cilician  pirates  enslaved  in  Sicily, 

325 

Citizenship,  right  of,  in  old  com- 
monwealths, 58 

Claudius  A.,  Roman  pra'tor, 
296  ;  Syracusan  negotiations 
with,  298,  295  ;  with  the  fleet 
at  Syracuse,  300  ;  at  the  siege 
of  Syracuse,  304 

Claudius  P.,  defeated  off  Drepana, 
286 

Colonies,  nature  of,  10,  11 

Constans  II.,  Emperor,  at  Syra- 
cuse, 352  ;  killed,  ih. 

Constantina,  Empress,  a]ipeals  to 
Gregory  the  Great  on  behalf  of 
Sicily,  351 

Constantine  IV.,  Emperor,  wins 
back  Sicily,  352 

Constantine  V.,  Emperor,  353 

Constnntine  VI.,  Emperor,  353 

Constantinople,  seat  of  the  Em- 
pire, 349  ;  its  connexion  with 
Sicily,  350 

Corinth,  her  colonies  and  their  re- 
lations, 41,  42  ;  mediates  be- 
tween Syracuse  and  Ilippo- 
krates,  71  ;  Ducetius  sent  to, 
100 ;  Syracusan  embassy  to, 
120,  160  ;  embassy  of  Dionysios 
to  176  ;  Syracusan  appeal  to, 
216;  sends  Timokon,  217; 
Dionysios  the  younger  sent  to, 
220;  sends  settlers  to  Syracuse, 
223;  Leptines  sent  to,  224; 
Carthaginian  spoil  sent  to,  227 

Corn,  Sicily  the  market  of,  for 
Rome,  19,  317,  324,  334,  338, 
351  ;  for  Gaul,  347 

Cornelius  G.  ttlkes  Panormos,  382 


36o 


INDEX. 


Cornificius,  Q.,  his  retreat  l^efore 
Sextus,  33S 

Corsica,  possible  Sj'racusan  settle- 
ment in,  98  ;  claimed  by  Rome, 
290  ;  ceded  by  Carthage,  320  ; 
taken  by  Sextus,  333,  334; 
confirmed  to  him  at  Misenum, 
335;  joins  Ccesar,  336;  taken 
by  Ciaiseric,  346 

Crete,  independent  cities  in,  14 ; 
settlers  from,  at  Gela,  49 

Crispinus,  T.  Q.,  commands  at 
siege  of  Syracuse,  305,  308  ; 
pestilence  in  his  army,  309 

Cunice,  battle  off,  336,  ajui  see 
Kyme 

Cyprus,  compared  with  Sicily,  5  ; 
rhoenicians  in,  22 

D 

Daidalos,  story  of,  32 

Damarata,  wife  of  Gelon,  74 ; 
marries  Polyzelos,  83;  her  tomb 
destroyed  liy  Himilkon,  177 

Damareta,  wife  of  Hadranoduros, 
297  ;  put  to  death,  299 

Damarista,  mother  of  Timoleon, 
217 

Damas,  promotes  Agathokles,  235 

Damippos,  as  to  his  ransom,  306 

Damophilos,  defeats  Xenodikos, 
249 

Damophilos  of  Henna,  his  treat- 
ment of  his  slaves,  325  ;  killed 
by  them,  326 

Daphnaios,  Syracusan  general,  be- 
fore Akragas,  149 

Darius  I.,  King  of  Persia,  69  ;  re- 
ceives Skythes  of  Zankle,  70 

Darius  II.,  his  alliance  with 
Sparta,  137 

Deinokrates,  joins  Hamilkar,  245 ; 
withstands  Agathokles,  250, 
254  ;  negotiates  with  him,  255  ; 
his  defeat,  256  ;  Agathokles' 
treatment  of,  ib. ;  slays  Pasi- 
philos,  257 

Deinomenes,  father  of  Gelon,  71 

Deinomenes,  son  of  Hieron,  King 
of  y^^tna,  84,  90 ;  driven  out  of 
^tna,  92 


Delphi,  designs  of  Dionysios  on, 
191 

Demagogues  at  Syracuse,  94 

Demeter  and  Persephone,  legend 
of,  29,  35  ;  temple  of,  at  Syra- 
cuse, St,,  176;  temples  of  Car- 
thage, 82,  180 ;  solemnity  of 
oath  by,  214  ;  Corinthian  ship 
consecrated  to,  217  ;  Agathokles 
offers  up  his  ships  to,  243 

Demetrios  the  Besieger,  258 

Demochares,  in  command  under 
Sextus,  336,  337  ;  cuts  off  Lepi- 
dus'  reinforcements,  338 

Democracy,  origin  of,  58  ;  defined 
by  Athenagoras,  115 

Demos  of  Athens,  59 

Demosthenes,  appointed  general, 
114,  127;  his  plan  of  attack, 
129  ;  counsels  retreat,  130 ; 
surrenders,  134;  put  to  death, 
136 

Dexippos,  commands  at  Akragas, 
147  ;  suspected  of  bribery,  149, 
150;  commands  at  Gela,  151; 
sent  back  by  Dionysios,  152 

Dikaiopolis,  see  Segesta 

Diodoros,  his  Sicilian  history,  8, 
31,  76,  104,  140,  156,  319  ;  his 
version  of  the  battle  of  Himera, 
80  ;  gives  the  kingly  title  to 
Gelon,  82 

Diokles  of  Syracuse,  his  code  of 
laws,  138  ;  negotiates  with 
Hannibal,  143  ;  marches  back 
to  Syracuse,  144;  banished  from 
Syracuse,  146 

Dion,  Life  of,  by  Plutarch  and  Cor- 
nelius Nejios,  156, 197  ;  favoured 
by  Dionysios  the  elder,  200 ;  per- 
suades Plato  to  revisit  Syracuse, 
201  ;  banished,  ih. ;  treatment  of 
his  property  and  wife,  ib.  ;  re- 
ceives Spartan  citizenship,  202; 
his  expedition  against  Dionysios 
the  younger,  202  seqq.  ;  enters 
Syracuse,  204  ;  chosen  general, 
205  ;  drives  out  the  mercenaries, 
ib.  ;  negotiations  of  Dionysios 
with,  206  ;  Dionysios'  letter  to, 
207  ;      charges     against,     ib. ; 


INDEX. 


361 


counsels  acceptation  of  Diony- 
sios'  terms,  208 ;  deprived  of 
his  gener.ilsiiip,  209  ;  retires  to 
Leontinoi,  id.;  his  return,  211, 
212  ;  his  treatment  of  his 
enemies,  212 ;  reconciled  to 
Hernkleides,  213  ;  recovers  the 
Island,  213  ;  refuses  to  destroy 
tomb  of  Dionysios,  ?7;. ;  con- 
nives at  murder  of  Ilerakleidcs, 
214;  plots  against,  z/>.;  his  death, 
215 ;  Plato's  schemes  for  his  son, 
162 
Dionysios  the  elder,  escapes  the 
fate  of  Hermokrates,  146  ;  his 
speech  in  the  assembly,  151  ; 
chosen  general,  ?7>.;  his  conduct 
at  Gcla  and  Leontinoi,  151, 
152  ;  established  as  tyrant,  152; 
his  marriage,  ?7'. ;  empties  Gela 
and  Kamarina,  153  ;  treatment 
of  his  wife,  il>. ;  recovers  his 
power  at  Syracuse,  154  ;  his 
treaty  with  Himilkon,  ti.;  great- 
ness of  his  power,  157,  184  ; 
fortifies  Ortygia,  158;  his  Sikel 
wars,  158,  161  ;  revolt  against, 
i7).;  his  policy  to  his  besiegers, 
159;  his  alliance  with  Sparta, 
160 ;  his  treatment  of  Naxos 
and  Katane,  161  ;  extends  the 
Syracusan  fortifications,  164 ; 
founds  Iladranum,  tl>.;  his  war 
with    Rhegion     and    Messana, 

165  ;  his  double  marriage,  tl'. ; 
his  prejjarations  against  Car- 
thage, 165,  175,176;  his  speech, 

166  ;  besieges  Eryx,  16S ;  and 
Segesta  and  Entella,  170.  171  ; 
defeated  off  Katane,  175  ;  his  em- 
bassies to  Peloponnesos,  176  ; 
calls  an  assembly,  177  >  defeats 
the  Carthaginians,  178;  his 
agreement  with  them,  179  ; 
Attic  decrees  in  his  honour,  156, 
180,  194  ;  his  settlements,  181, 

1 82  ;  his  defeat  at  Tauionienion, 

183  ;  defeats  Magon,  zd.;  makes 
peace  with  Carthage,  184;  takes 
Tauromenion,  id. ;  his  wars  in 
Italy,  1 84- 1 89  ;  takes  Rhegion, 


188;  his  embassy   to  Olympia, 

190  ;  his  tragedies  at  Athens, 
190,  195  ;  his  treatment  of  men 
of  letters,  190,  191  ;  his  liadri- 
atic  and    Etruscan   campaigns, 

191  ;  fresh  war  with  Carthage, 

192  ;  terms  of  peace,  id.;  takes 
Kroton,  193  ;  wall  planned  by, 
id.;  invades  Western  Sicily,  194; 
his  death,  195  ;  effect  of  his  reign, 
I95>  197  )  liis  tomb  in  Ortygia, 
199,  213  ;  his  sun-dial,  205  ; 
compared  \\ith  Agathokles,  234, 

257   . 

Dionysios  the  younger,  compared 
with  his  father,  198,  199  ;  ac- 
knowledged l)y  the  assenil)ly, 
199 ;  makes  peace  with  Car- 
thaginians and  Lucanians,  //'. ; 
his  marriage,  200  ;  his  friendship 
for  Plato,  201  ;  his  treatment  of 
Dion,  id. ;  banishes  Ilerakleides, 
id.;  his  negotiations  with  Dion, 
206,  20S  ;  his  letter  to  Dion, 
207  ;  escapes  from  Ortygia,  209  ; 
sends  Nypsios  to  Syracuse,  210  ; 
re-occupies  Ortygia,  216  ;  sur- 
renders to  Timoleon,  220  ;  sent 
to  Corinth,  id. 

Dionysios  of  Corinth,  224 

Dorian  settlements  in  Sicily,  41, 
46,  49 

Dorieus  of  Sparta,  his  expedition 
to  Western  Sicily,  66  ;  war  to 
avenge  him,  74 

Doris  of  Lokroi,  wife  of  Diony- 
sios, 165 

Drepana,  haven  of  Eryx,  194; 
stronghold  of  Carthage,  281, 
285  ;  Roman  defeat  off,  286  ; 
taken  by  Rome,  289 

Ducetius,  helps  to  drive  out  Deino- 
menes,  92  ;  union  of  Sikels 
under,  98,  99  ;  founds  Mena;- 
num,  99,  102  ;  and  Palica,  99  ; 
takes  /Etna,  id.  ;  his  war  with 
Akragas  and  Syracuse,  lOO ; 
throws  himself  on  the  mercy  of 
the  Syracusans,  id.  ;  sent  to 
Corinth,  id. ;  founds  Kale  Akte, 
loi  ;  his  death,  //'. 


362 


INDEX. 


Duilius,  G.,  his  victory  off  Mylai, 

2S1 

E 
East    and    West,    their    strife    in 

Sicily,  4,  354 
Ebbsfleet, compared  witli  Naxos,4i 
Egypt,    Roman   conquest    of,    its 

effect  on  Sicily,  341 
Eknonios,    Panic  camp  on,  239, 

240 
Elba,  98 
Elephants  first  used  in  the  West, 

266;  use  of  in  the  Punic  armies, 

283-285 
Elejitheria,  feast  of,  at  Syracuse, 

91  . 

Elpidius,  Sicilian  tyrant,  353 

Elymians,  hold  Segesta  and  Eryx, 
13,  20 ;  as  to  their  Trojan  origin, 
20,  30,  31 

Empedion  of  Selinous,  143 

Empedokles,  his  Life  by  Diogenes 
Laertios,  87 ;  legend  of,  96 ; 
refuses  tyranny  of  Akragas,  ib.  ; 
banishment  and  death,  il>. 

Empire,  Eastern,  its  connexion 
with  Sicily,  350 

Empire,  Roman,  Sicily  a  province 
of,  339>  349>  344.  349  ;  division 
of  the  empire,  350 

Engyum,  submits  to  Timoleon, 
224 

Entella,  taken  by  the  Campanians, 
159  ;  besieged  by  Dionysios, 
170;  taken  by  him,  194;  saved 
by  Timoleon,  226 

Epicharmos,  at  Ilieron's  court,  83 

Epikydes,  his  mission  to  Syracuse, 
296 ;  intrigues  against  Rome, 
298,  299  ;  chosen  general,  299  ; 
stirs  up  the  Leontines,  300 ; 
spreads  falsehoods  about  Mar- 
cellus,  302  ;  re-enters  Syracuse, 
303  ;  his  answer  to  the  Roman 
envoys,  il). ;  puts  Roman  parti- 
sans to  death,  306  ;  holds  Ach- 
radina,  307,  309  ;  asks  for 
re-inforcements,  309 ;  leaves 
Syracuse,  il'.  ;  holds  Akragas, 
313  ;  escapes  from  it,  316 

Epipolai,  see  Syracuse 


Ergelion,  conquered  by  Hippo- 
krates,  68 

Erineos,  river,  Athenian  halt  by, 
134 

Erymnon  of  Aitolia,  withstands 
Ilamiikar,  244 

Eryx,  temple  at,  14,  27  ;  Phoe- 
nician remains  at,  27  ;  attempted 
foundation  of  Durieus  on,  67  ; 
Athenian  envoys  at,  113  ;  joins 
Dionysios  against  Carthage, 
168  ;  taken  by  Ilamilkon,  171  ; 
retaken  by  Dionysios,  194  ;  won 
by  Pyrrhos,  269  ;  taken  by 
Rome,  286  ;  lower  town  seized 
by  Hamilkar,  288  ;  prolonged 
strife  for,  288-290 ;  garrison 
marches  out,  290 

Eryx,  eponymos  hero  overthrown 
by  Herakles,  31 

Etruscans,  Plieron's  victory  over, 
85  ;  war  of,  with  Syracuse,  98; 
help  Athens,  120,  131;  war  of 
Dionysios  with,  191 

Euboia,  island,  independent  cities 
in,    14 

Euboia  in  Sicily,  a  settlement  of 
Chalkis,  46 ;  its  treatment  by 
Gelon,  73 

Eumelos,  the  poet,  settles  at  Syra- 
cuse, 59 

Eunousthe  slave.  King  of  Henna, 
326  ;  calls  himself  Antiochos, 
il/.  ;  defeats  the  Romans,  327  ; 
his  death,  id. 

Eiipatrids  of   Athens,    origin   of, 

Euphemos,  his  speech  at  Kania- 
rina,  1 19 

Euryalos,  occupied  by  the  Athe- 
nians, 121  ;  Dionysios' castle  at, 
164  ;  surrendered  to  Marcellus, 
308  ^ 

Euryleon,  founds  Ilerakleia,  67; 
his  tyranny  and  overthrow  at 
Selinous,  ib. 

Eurymedon,  commander  of  second 
Athenian  expedition,  127  ;  joins 
in  attack  on  Epipolai,  129  ; 
counsels  retreat,  130  ;  dies  in 
the  sea-fight,  131 


INDEX. 


3  ^^3 


Eutliydemos,  Athenian  [general, 
127  ;  joins  in  attack  on  Epipo- 
lai,  129 


Faro,  Capo  del,  sre  Peloris 

I'iuntare,  18 

Floridia,  133 

Franks  invade  Sicily,  342 

G 

Gadeira,  Gades,  23 

Gaiseiic,  King  of  the  Vandals,  liis 
African  kingdom,  346  ;  invades 
Sicily  and  Italy,  ib.  ;  gives 
Sicily  up  to  Odowakar,  ih. 

Gaisylos  of  Sparta,  213 

Galaria,  held  by  Agathokles,  238 

(jalateia,  legend  of,  31 

Caiiioroi  of  Syracuse,  59 ;  politi- 
cal disputes  among,  60;  driven 
out  of  Syracuse,  62  ;  restored 
by  Gelon,  72 

Gaul,  corn   sent  to,  from   Sicily, 

347  . ,      ^ 

Gauls,  their  \vars  with  Kome, 
189,  293  ;  take  service  under 
Dionysios,  1S9,  194 

Gaulos,  island  of,  17 

Gela,  foundation  of,  49  ;  founds 
Akragas,  51  ;  secession  to  Mak- 
torion  from,  67 ;  tyranny  of 
Kleandros,68  ;  of  Ilippokrates, 
68-71  ;  of  Gelon,  72  ;  metro- 
polis of  new  Kaniarina,  91  ; 
makes  peace  with  Kaniarina, 
109;  congress  at,  ?7'.  ;  peace  of, 
110  ;  joins  Gylippos,  124  ;  asks 
for  help  from  Syracuse,  151  ; 
siege  and  forsaking  of,  153  ; 
tributary  to  Carthage,  154  ;  re- 
settled by  Timoleon,  229 ; 
makes  terms  with  Agathokles, 
238 ;  taken  by  Agathokles, 
240  ;  joins  Akragas  against  him, 
248  ;  destroyed  by  the  Mamer- 
tines,  264 

Gelas,  river,  meaning  of  the  name, 
49 


Gelllas  of  Akragas,  his  death,  150 

Gelon,  son  of  Deinomenes,  his 
treatment  of  the  sons  of  Ilippo- 
krates, 71,  72  ;  becomes  tyrant 
of  Syracuse,  72  ;  his  tlealings 
with  oligarchs  and  commons, 
73 ;  enlarges  Syracuse,  ib.  ; 
grants  citizenship  to  strangers, 
74  ;  allies  himself  to  Theron, 
7b. ;  alleged  treaty  with  Car- 
thage, 75  ;  embassy  from 
Greeks  of  the  Isthmus  to,  78  ; 
his  victory  at  Himera,  So,  81  ; 
honours  paid  to  at  Syracuse, 
81,  83  ;  his  treaty  with  Syra- 
cuse, 82  ;  his  gifts  and  temples, 
83;  his  death,  ih.;  his  tomb 
destroyed  by  Himilkon,  177 

Gelon,  son  of  Hieron  II.  ;  his 
death,  295 

Geryones,  his  oxen,  31 

Girgenti,  see  Akragas 

Gongylos  of  Corinth,  124 

Gorgias  of  Leontinoi,  teacher  of 
rhetoric,  94 ;  his  embassy  to 
Athens,  107 

Goths,  their  rule  in  Sicily,  347- 

349 

Gozo,  island  of,  see  Gaulos 

Greeks,  independent  political  sys- 
tem of,  9;  national  migrations 
of,  10 ;  their  settlements  in 
Sicily,  II,  14,  39  seqij.;  com- 
pared with  the  Phoenicians,  22 ; 
ask  Gclon's  help  against  Xerxes, 
78  ;  Sikcl  attempt  against,  in 
Sicily,  98 ;  share  of  Sicily  in 
their  wars,  105  seqq.,  160 

Gregory  the  Great,  Pope,  Sicilian 
notices  in  his  letters,  351 

Gylippos,  sent  to  Syracuse, 
121  ;  collects  contingents,  124; 
126;  his  proposals  to  Nikias, 
125  ;  his  forts  and  wall,  ib.  ; 
urges  attack  on  the  fleet,  127  ; 
takes  Plemmyrion,  128  ;  l.i'.ocks 
the  roads,  133  ;  takes  Nikias 
and  his  army  prisoners,  136; 
pleads  for  Athenian  generals, 
ib. 


364 


INDEX. 


II 

Hauranodoros,  uncle  of  Hierony- 
mos,  295  ;  supports  Carlhage, 
296  ;  hopes  to  succeed  Hier- 
onymos,  297  ;  elected  general, 
i7>.  ;  put  to  death,  298 

Hadranum,  foundation  of,  34, 
165  ;  Timoleon's  victory  at, 
219  ;  attempted  murder  of  Timo- 
leon  at,  221  ;  taken  by  Rome, 
278 

Hadranus,  Sikel  fire-god,  29,  34, 

35. 
Hadrian,    Emperor,    his   visit    to 

Sicily,  341 
Iladriatic,  the,  settlements  of  Ui- 

onysios  on,  191 
Iladriimetum    taken  by   Agatho- 

kles,  245 
Haloesa,     foundation      of,     161  ; 

position  of  under  Rome,  322 
Ilalikyai,  HalicyK,    Sikan  town, 

106  ;  position  of,  under  Rome, 

322 
Halykos,  river,  18  ;  boundary  be- 
tween Syracuse  and   Carthage, 

193,  199 

Ilamilkar,  son  of  Hannon,  in- 
vades Sicily,  79-81  ;  his  defeat 
and  sacrifice,  80,  81  ;  his  death 
avenged  by  Hannibal,  143 

Hamilkar,  his  defeat  at  the  Kri- 
misos,  225-227 

Hamilkar,  Syracusan  generals  seek 
help  of,  235,  236  ;  won  over  by 
Agathokles,  236  ;  his  recall  and 
death,  237 

Hamilkar,  son  of  Gisgon,  suc- 
ceeds his  namesake,  237  ;  his 
treaty  with  Agathokles,  238  ; 
fresh  expedition  under,  239 ; 
his  victory  at  the  Himeras, 
240,  241  ;  his  policy  towards 
the  Sicilians,  241  ;  his  attempts 
on  Syracuse,  244,  245 ;  his 
death,  246;  head  exposed  by 
Agathokles,  245,  246 

Hamilkar  Barak,  sent  against 
Rome,  287  ;  takes  Herkte,  t7>.  ; 
and  lower  Eryx,  288  ;  makes 
peace  with  Rome,  290 


Hananiah,  meaning  of  name,  21 

Hannibal,  meaning  of  name,  21 

Hannibal,  son  of  Giskon,  his 
hatred  of  Greeks,  141  ;  be- 
sieges and  takes  Selinous,  142  ; 
takes  and  destroys  Himera, 
144  ;  his  second  invasion,  147  ; 
his  death,  149 

Hannibal,  Carthaginian  comman- 
der, at  the  siege  of  Akragas,  281 

Hannibal,  son  of  Hamilkar  Ba- 
rak, Syracusan  embassy  to, 
296  ;  sends  envoys  to  Syracuse, 
29S  ;  pleads  for  reinforcements 
in  Sicily,  305  ;  sends  help  to 
Akragas,  313;  his  war  with 
Scipio,  317  ;  makes  peace  with 
Rome,  318 

Hannibal  the  Rhodian,  at  the 
siege  of  Lilybaion,  286  ;  his  ship 
copied  by  Rome,  286,  289 

Hannon,  in  command  against  Aga- 
thokles, 244 

Hannon,  holds  Akragas,  313  ; 
his  jealousy  of  Mutines,  313, 
315  ;  his  victory  and  defeat 
at  Phintias,  314  ;  deprives  Mu- 
tines of  his  command,  315  ;  es- 
capes from  Akragas,  316 

Harmonia,  wife  of  Themistos, 
298  ;  put  to  death,  299 

Hebrew  tongue  same  as  Phoeni- 
cian, 21 

Heliodoros  the  magician,  353 

Heloris,  of  Syracuse,  his  advice  to 
Dionysios,  158;  whether  the 
same  as  the  Rhegian  general, 
182  ;  his  death,  1S5 

Heloron,  outpost  of  Syracuse,  50 

Heloros,  river,  battle  of,  70 

Henna,  Sikel  site,  20;  its  modern 
name,  z6.  ;  legend  of  the  god- 
desses at,  35  ;  attacked  by  Di- 
onysios, 161  ;  betrayed  to  him, 
182 ;  joins  Akragas  against 
Agathokles,  248  ;  taken  by 
Carthage  and  by  Rome,  28 1  ; 
massacre  at,  305  ;  revolt  of  the 
slaves  at,  325 

Heiakleia  Rlinoa,  founded  by 
Euryleon,  67  ;  destroyed  by  the 


INDEX. 


36: 


Carthaginians,  75  ;  Dion  lands 
at,  203  ;  held  by  Carthage,  203, 
229,  238 ;  (lelivcrt'd  by  Akra- 
gas,  249  ;  seized  by  Agathokies, 
250 ;  taken  by  I'yrrhos,  269  ; 
taken  by  Himilkon,  305 

Ilerakleia,  daughter  of  Hieron, 
put  to  death,  299 

Ilerakleidcs,  of  Syracuse,  ban- 
ishetl  Ijy  Dionysios  the  younger, 
202  ;  plots  against  him,  ib.  ; 
elected  admiral  at  Syracuse, 
207  ;  defeats  Philistos,  208  ;  his 
attack  on  Dion,  209  ;  a]ipointed 
general,  il>.  ;  sends  to  Dion  for 
help,  211  ;  Dion's  treatment  of, 
212  ;  reconciled  to  him,  213  ; 
secret  murder  of,  214 

Herakleidcs,  Syracusan  general, 
denounced  by  Agathokies,  235  ; 
banished,  ib.  ;  seeks Haniilkar's 
help,  235,  236 

Ilerakleides,  son  of  Agathokies, 
243,  251 

Herakles,  legends  of,  31 

Ilerbessus,  besieged  Ijy  Dionysios, 
158  ;  Hippokrates  and  Epi- 
kydes  at,  302 

Herbita,  attacked  by  Dionysios, 
161  ^ 

Herkte,  rock  of,  25  ;  taken  by 
Pyrrhos,  269  ;  held  by  Carthage 
283;  taken  by  Rome,  285;  re- 
covered by  llamilkar,  287 

llermokrates  of  Syracuse,  his 
speech  at  Cela,  109,  no;  his 
speech  at  Syracuse,  114;  and 
at  Kamarina,  119;  appointed 
general,  119  ;  driven  back  from 
Euryalos,  121  ;  deposed,  124  ; 
advises  attack  on  fleet,  127 ; 
his  stratagem,  132;  pleads  for 
mercy  to  Athenian  generals, 
136  ;  his  action  in  Asia,  137  ; 
his  banishment,  138 ;  his  deal- 
ings with  Pharnabazos,  138, 
14s  ;  occupies  Selinous,  145  ; 
his  war  with  Motya  and  Panor- 
nios,  145,  146  ;  enters  Syracuse 
and  is  killed,  146  ;  his  daughter 
marries  Dionysios,  152 


Herodotus,  on  Sicilian  history, 
57  ;  his  account  of  Celun,  76, 
78  ;  of  the  battle  of  I  limera,  80 

Hieron  I.,  sonof  Deinonienes,  72  ; 
his  victories  commemorated  l)y 
Pindar,  76,  83  ;  his  helmet,  76, 
85  ;  his  dialogue  with  Simon- 
ides,  76  ;  succeeds  Gelon,  S3  ; 
his  war  with  Theron,  ib.  ;  re- 
conciled to  him,  84  ;  founds 
A'Ana.,  ib. ;  sends  help  to  Lok- 
roi  and  Kyme,  84,  85  ;  his 
death,  90  ;  his  tomb  at  yEtna 
destroyed,  93 

Hieron  H.,  stories  of  his  ancestry 
and  birth,  272  ;  chosen  general 
at  Syracuse,  ib.  ;  marries  Phi- 
listis,  273  ;  his  war  with  the 
Mamertines,  273,  277  ;  hisiule 
in  Syracuse,  274,  293,  294  ;  his 
alliance  with  Rome,  279;  posi- 
tion of  his  kingdom  under 
Rome,  293  ;  strengthens  and 
adorns  Syracuse,  294  ;  his 
law  as  to  tithe,  294,  322  ;  his 
death,  295 ;  slaughter  of  his 
descendants,  299 

Ilieronymos,  son  of  Hieron  H., 
kingdom  of  Syracuse  be- 
queathed to,  295  ;  his  character, 
295,  296  ;  joins  Carthage,  296, 
297  ;  killed  at  Leontinoi,  297 

Hiketas,  puts  Aristomalce  and 
Arete  to  death,  215  ;  tyrant  of 
Leontinoi,  ib.  ;  in  league  with 
the  Carthaginians,  216,  2i8, 
219,  221  ;  defeated  by  'linio- 
le6n,2ig;  besieges  Ortygia,2i9, 

221  ;  his  plots  against  Timo- 
leon,     221  ;    besieges    Katane, 

222  ;  escapes  to  Leontinoi,  ib.  ; 
submits  to  Timoleon,  224  ;  set 
up  again  by  Carthage,  227  ;  put 
to  death,  228 

Hiketas,  Syracusan  general,  with- 
stands Mainon,  262  ;  tyrant  of 
Syracuse,  263  ;  defeats  Phin- 
tias,  ib.  ;  overthrown  by  Thoi- 
non,  264 

Hill  towns  in  Sicily,  20 

Himera,  founded  by  Zanklc,  50  ; 


366 


INDEX. 


its  hot  baths,  51  ;  held  byThc- 
ron,  78  ;  battle  of,  79-81,  227  ; 
betrayed  by  Hieron  to  Theron, 
84 ;  Pmdar's  odes  to  the  citi- 
zens, 87 ;  refuses  Athenian  al- 
liance, 117;  joins  Gylippos, 
124;  vengeance  of  Hannibal 
on,  143,  144 ;  Hermokrates  at, 
146 

Ilimeras,  river,  18 ;  battle  of, 
240,  241 ;  projjosed  boundaiy 
of  Hieronymos,  297 

Himilkon,  colleague  of  Hannibal, 
besieges  Akragas,  147,  150 ; 
sacrifices  his  son,  149  ;  be- 
sieges Gela,  153  ;  his  treaty  with 
Dionysios,  154  ;  tries  to  defend 
Motya,  170;  recovers  Western 
Sicily,i7i ;  founds Lilybaion,/*^. ; 
destroys  Messana,  173;  founds 
Tauromenion,  I'i.  ;  his  victory 
off  Katane,  175  ;  besieges  Syra- 
cuse, 176  ;  plunders  temples, 
id.;  and  destroys  tombs,  177; 
his  defeat,  179;  makes  terms 
with  Dionysios,  id. 

Himilkon,  Carthaginian  general, 
his  expedition  to  Sicily,  305  ; 
besieges  Marcellus  at  Syracuse, 
309  ;  his  death,  i/>. 

Hipparinos,  father  of  Dion,  200 

Hipparinos,  son  of  Dion,  201  ; 
his  alleged  letter  to  him,  207  ; 
welcomes  his  father  back,  213 

Hipparinos,  son  of  Dionysios, 
takes  Ortygia,  215  ;  killed, 
id. 

Hippo,  Phoenician  colony,  23 

Hippokrates,  tyrant  of  Gela, 
his  conquests,  68  ;  his  dealings 
with  Zankle,  69,  70  ;  his  war 
with  Syracuse,  70 ;  refounds 
Kamarina,  71  ;  his  death,  id.  ; 
Gclon's  dealings  with  his  sons, 
71,72 

Hippokrates,  of  Carthage,  his 
mission  to  Syracuse,  296  ; 
intrigues  against  Rome,  298, 
299  ;  chosen  general,  299 ; 
stirs  up  the  Leontines,  300 ; 
spreads  falsehoods  about  Mar- 


cellus, 302  ;  re-enters  Syracuse, 

303  ;    joins    Himilkon   against 

Marcellus,  308;  his  deatli,  309 
Hippon,  tyrant  of  Messana,  227  ; 

put  to  death,  228 
Hipponion,  Dionysios'  treatment 

of,  187 
Holm,    A.,    his    Geschichte    Sici- 

liens,  8 
Hybla,  Sikel  goddess,  townscalled 

after,  33  ;  temple  of,  at  Paterno, 

34 

Hybla  the  Greater,  see  Megara 
Hyblaia 

Hybla,  Galentic,  worship  of  the 
goddess  at,  34 ;  unsuccessful 
Athenian  attack  on,  117 

Hybla  Heraia,  called  after  the 
goddess,  33 ;  death  of  Hippo- 
krates at,  71 

Hyblon,  Sikel  prince,  helps  Me- 
garian  settlers,  47 

Hykkara,  taken  by  Nikias,  117 

Hypsas,  river,  at  Selinous,  51  ;  at 
Akragas,  53 


I 


lapygians  defeat  the  Tarentines, 

Iberian  mercenaries  under  Diony- 
sios, 189,  194 

Iliyrians,  alliance  of  Dionysios 
with,  191 

Inessa,  name  changed  to  ^Etna, 
93  ;  Syracusan  garrison  at,  108 

Inscriptions,  Sicilian,  mainly 
Roman,  320 

Ischia,  see  Pithekoussa 

Isokrates,  on  the  Athenian  siege, 
104  ;  on  the  Peace  of  Antal- 
kidas,  190 

Issos,  island  settlements  from 
Paros  on,  191 

Italy,  wars  of  Dionysios  in,  184, 
193  ;  Punic  invasions  of,  192, 
193 ;  intercourse  of,  with  old 
Greece,  198  ;  campaign  of 
Pyrrhos  in,  267,  271 ;  designed 
for  his  son  Ilelenos,  268 ;  under 


INDEX. 


3^>7 


the  Gdths,   347  ;    wax   of  Bcli- 
sarius  in,  349 

J 

Jchohanan,  same  as  liananiali,  21 
Jews  in  Sicily,  dealings  o(  Gregory 

the  Great  with,  351 
John,  origin  of  the  name,  21 
Junius,  L.,  takes  Eryx,  286 
Justinian,    Emperor,    Sicily     re- 
covered by,  348,  349 

K 

Kadmos  of  Kos,  79 

Kakyparis,  river,  guarded  l)y  Syra- 
cusans,  133 

Kale  Akte,  proposed  Greek  settle- 
ment at,  69 ;  settlement  at  by 
Ducetius,  loi 

Kallimachos,  his  mention  of 
Henna,  35 

Kallipolis,  Chalkidian  settlement, 
46;  conquered  by  Ilippokrates, 
68 

Kallippos,  his  friendship  with 
Dion,  202  ;  enters  Syracuse, 
204  ;  plots  the  death  of  Diun, 
214  ;  his  rule  at  Syracuse,  215  ; 
turned  out,  ih. ;  murder  of,  224 

Kamarina,  outpost  of  Syracuse, 
50  ;  its  war  with  Syracuse  and 
destruction,  ih.  ;  refounded  by 
lIip]")okrates,  71;  destroyed  by 
Gelon,  73 ;  Pindar's  odes  to, 
87  ;  set  up  again  by  Ck'la,  91  ; 
allied  with  Atliens,  loS  ;  makes 
peace  with  Gela,  109  ;  refuses 
Athenian  alliance,  116,  120;  de- 
bate in  the  assembly,  119;  joins 
Gylippos,  126  ;  emptied  by 
Dionysios,  153;  tributary  to 
Carthage,  154 
Kamikos,  built  by  Daidalos,  32  ; 

its  probable  site,  33 
Karkinos,  father   of  Agatlujklds, 

234 
Kasmenai,   outpost    of    Syracuse, 

50 ;  occupied  by  the   Gaiiioroi, 

62,  72 
Ka-sandros,  King  of  Macedon,  258 
Katane,  Catina,  Catania,  founda- 


tion of,  45  ;  legends  of  the 
lava  at,  46,  343  ;  Charondas 
makes  laws  for,  65  ;  enforced 
migration  and  repopulation  by 
Ilieron,  84  ;  name  changed 
to  /Etna,  ib.,  see  /Etna;  its 
old  name  restored,  93  ;  joins 
Athenian  alliance,  116  ;  Athe- 
nian headquarters  at,  116,  118, 
121  ;  camp  at,  burnt,  119  ;  war 
of,  with  Syracuse,  140 ;  treat- 
ment of,  by  Dionysios,  161  ; 
sea-fight  off,  175 ;  Kallippos, 
tyrant  of,  215  ;  welcomes 
Pyrrhos,  267  ;  Roman  colony 
at,  340  ;  Saint  Peter  at,  343  ; 
bishopric  of,  344  ;  amphitheatre 
at,  347  ;  Belisarius  lands  at, 
34S  ;  stories  of  Ileliodoros  at, 

,353    . 

Kaulonia,  siege  of,  185-187 
Kephalos  of  Corinth,  224 
Kleandios,  tyrant  of  Gela,  68 
Kleon,    general    under     Eunous, 

326,  327  ;  his  death,  327 
Knidos,  metropolis  of  Li]iara,  55  ; 

Athenian  victory  at,  iSo 
Kokalos,  King  of  Kamikos,  32 
Korax,  teacher  of  rhetoric,  94 
Korkyra,  colony  of  Corinth,  41, 
42  ;  mediates  between  Syracuse 
and  Hippokrates,  71  ;  asks  help 
of  Athens,    106;  sends  contin- 
gent   to    Athenian    expedition, 
114;  meeting  of  Athenian  fleet 
at,  115  ;  sends  help  to  Syracuse, 
21S  ;  won  by  Agathokles,  258  ; 
dowry  of  his  daughter,  ib. 
Kossoura,  island,  17 
Krimisos,  river,  18  ;  battle  of,  226 
Kroton,  at  war  with  Sybaris,  66  ; 
sends   help  to   Kaulonia,   185  ; 
makes   treaty   with   Dionysios, 
186  ;  taken  by  Dionysios,  193  ; 
at  war  with  the  Bruttians,  235 
Kyana,  legend  of,  36,  43 
Kydippe,  wife  of  Terillos,  74 
Kyklopes,  30 

Kyme,  foundation  of,  40,  42  ; 
settlers  from,  at  Zankle,  48  ; 
delivered  by  Ilieron,  85 


368 


INDEX. 


Kyrene,  247 


I. 


I.revinus,  M.  V.,  chosen  consul, 
314  ;  his  exchange  with  Mar- 
cellus,  315  ;  Akragas  betrayed 
to,  316;  his  deahngs  with  the 
brigands,  317 

Laistrygones,  30 

Lamachos,appointedgeneral,  114; 
is  for  attack  on  Syracuse,  116; 
his  plan  carried  out,  121  ; 
killed  in  battle,  123 

Lamis,  his  attempt  at  settlement 
in  Sicily,  46  ;  his  death,  47 

Lanassa,  daughter  of  Agathokles, 

Land  tenure  in  Sicily,  under 
Rome,  322 

Landowners  of  Syracuse,  see 
Gamoroi 

Latin  tongue,  akin  to  Sikel,  12,  27 

Leo,  Bishop  of  Catina,  353 

Leo,  Emperor,  deprives  the  Popes 
of  jurisdiction  in  Sicily,  350 

Leontinoi,  Lentini,  plain  of,  17, 
18;  foundation  of,  45  ;  its  war 
with  Megara,  63 ;  taken  by 
Hippokrates,  68  ;  peopled  from 
Naxos  and  Katane,  84 ;  its 
treaty  with  Athens,  106 ;  wars 
with  Syracuse,  107  ;  asks  help 
of  Athens,  107,  1 12  ;  absorbed 
by  Syracuse,  11 1;  Athenians 
a>ttempt  to  restore,  ih. ;  Akra- 
gantine  refugees  settled  at,  151  ; 
independent  of  Syracuse,  155  ; 
treatment  of,  by  Dionysios,  161  ; 
given  to  his  mercenaries,  181  ; 
revolts  against  Dionysios  the 
younger,  208  ;  welcomes  Dion, 
2io;  Hiketas,  tyrant  of,  215; 
Hiketas  escapes  to,  222  ;  Ti- 
moleon's  attempt  on,  224 ; 
Hieronymos  slain  at,  297  ;  re- 
volts against  Syracuse,  300  ; 
taken  by  Marcellus,  301 

Lepidus,  I^L  /E.,  invades  Sicily, 
337-339  ;  his  designs  on  Sicily, 

339  ,  .         .     , 

Leptines,    commands    Dionysios 


fleet,  175,  177  ;  Attic  decrees 
in  his  honour,  iSo;  his  treat- 
ment of  the  Thourians,  185  ; 
banished  by  Dionysios,  190 ; 
his  death,  192 

Leptines,  tyrant  of  Engium  and 
ApoUonia,  224 

Leptines,  general  of  Agathokles, 
defeats  Xenodikos,  249,  251 

Leptines,  father  of  I-'hilistis,  273 

Leukas,  sends  help  to  Syracuse, 
218 

Libyphcenicians,  313 

Licata,  see  Phintias 

Libo,  father-in-law  of  Sextus,  335 

Lilybaion,  its  geographical  posi- 
tion, 16;  foundation  of,  25,  171  ; 
besieged  by  Dionysios,  194 ; 
Carthaginian  fleet  at,  225  ; 
besieged  by  Pyrrhos,  270  ; 
besieged   by    Rome,  285,  288, 

289  ;     garrison     marches     out, 

290  ;  Scipio  at,  317  ;  Caesar  sets 
out  for  Africa  from,  332  ; 
besieged  by  Lepidus,  337  ; 
marriage  portion  of  Theodoric's 
daughter,  347  ;  Imperial  claim 
to,  348 

Lindioi,  akropolis  of  Gela,  49 
Lipara,    17  ;    Knidian    settlement 

on,     55  ;    Himilkon    at,    173  ; 

attacked  by  Agathokles,    258  ; 

taken  by  Rome,  2S3  ;  ceded  to 

Rome  by  Carthage,  290 
Lissos,  founded  by  Dionysios,  191 
Lokroi,  delivered  by  Hieron,  84  ; 

Thrasyboulos    retires    to,    90  ; 

its  union   with    Messana,   108 ; 

refuses    peace    of    Gela,     no; 

gives  a  wife  to  Dionysios.  165  ; 

Messana  repeoplcd  from,  181  ; 

lands  given  to  Dionysios,   1S7, 

189;  Dionysios  the  younger  at, 

216 
Lombards  in  Italy,  350 
Longanos,  river,  battle  near,  273 
Lucanians,      their      treaty      with 

Dionysios,   185  ;    wage  war  on 

Tarentines,  231 
Lucullus,  L.  L.,  defeats  Tryphon, 

329 


INDEX. 


369 


Lykiskos  of  Aitolia,  246 

Lysandros,  Spnrtan  envoy  to 
Syracuse,  160 

Lysias,  Attic  orator,  156;  his 
embassy  to  Dionysios,  181  ;  his 
speech  against  Dionysios,  190 

Lyson,  idol,  343 

M 

MaccaUiba,  mud  volcano  of,  33 

Macrobius,  on  the  PaHci,  29 

Magon,  defeated  by  Dionysios, 
183  ;  his  death,  192 

Magun,  comes  to  help  of  Iliketas, 
221  ;  kills  himself,  222 

Mainon,  of  Segesta,  said  to  have 
poisoned  Agathokles,  259  ; 
banished,  262  ;  murders  Archa- 
gathos,  U: 

Maktorion,  secession  from  Gela, 
67 

Malta,  see  Melita 

Mamercus  of  Katane  joins  Timo- 
leon,  220 

Mamertines  at  Messana,  262  ; 
destroy  Gela,  264 ;  withstand 
Pyrrhos,  267,  271  ;  wars  of 
Hieron  II.  with,  273,  277; 
alliance  of  Syracuse  and  Car- 
thage against,  273,  277  ;  seek 
help  from  Rome,  277 

Mamercus,  tyrant  of  Katane,  asks 
help  Irom  Carthage,  227  ;  his 
death,  228 

Manduria,  battle  of,  231 
Marccllus,  M.  C.,299  ;  negotiates 
with  Syracuse,  300  ;  takes  Leon- 
tinoi,  301  ;  his  treatment  of  the 
deserters, ;'/'.  ;  falsehoods  about, 
?7>.  ;  besieges  Syracuse,  303-7  ; 
takes  the  outer  city,  307  ;  con- 
tinues the  siege,  308  ;  Syracusan 
negotiations  with,  310;  his  treat- 
ment of  Syracuse,  311  ;  of  other 
Sicilian  towns,  313  ;  his  victory 
over  Hannon,  314;  his  ovation, 
i7>.  ;  re-elected  consul,  t7>.  ; 
Sicilian  feeling  against,  315  ; 
his  exchange  with  Lpevinus,  ?7;.  ; 
patron  of  Syracuse,  ii. 


Marcellus,  M.  C,  betrothed  to 
Pompeia,  335 

Marius,  C,  his  war  with  Sulla,  330 

Marsala,  see  Lilybaion 

Massilia,  Verres  in  exile  at,  332 

Mazaros,  river,  Selinuntine  out- 
post on,  51,  142 

Megakles,  brother  of  Dion,  enters 
Syracuse,  204  ;  elected  general, 
205 

Megallis,  her  treatment  of  the 
slaves,  325  ;  killed  by  them,  326 

Megara,  Old,  its  colonies  in  Sicily, 
46-48  ;  trial  and  execution  of 
Thrasydaios  at,  89  ;  Empcdo- 
kles  buried  at,  96 

Megara,  Ilyblaia,  foundation  of, 
33,  48  ;  metropolis  of  Sclinous, 
51  ;  its  war  with  Leontinoi,  63  ; 
its  treatment  by  Gelon,  73 

Melita,  island  of,  17 ;  won  by 
Rome,  295 

Melkart,  his  relation  to  Herakles, 

31 
Mensenum,  temple  of  the   Palici 
near,  34  ;  founded  by  Ducetius, 
99,  102 
Menandros,     Athenian     general, 
127  ;  joins  in  attack  on  Epipolai, 
129 
Menas,  freedman  of  Sextus,  334  ; 
his  proposal  at  Misenum,  335  ; 
joins  Cxsar,  336  ;  wounded  at 
Cumse,  id.  ;  returns  to  Sextus, 
337  ;  changes  sides  again,  338  ; 
Menekrates,  killed  off  Cumx,  336 
Mercenaries,  Sikcliot,  decree  as  to 
their   settlement,   92  ;   see   also 
Campanians 
Mericus,  betrays  Syracuse  to  Mar- 
cellus, 310  ;  his  rewards,  312 
Messana,  Messene,  Messina,  name 
of  Zankle  changed  to,  92  ;  its 
shifting   politics,   108  ;    attacks 
Naxos,    il>.  ;     its    union    with 
j        Lokroi,   il>.  ;    refuses  Athenian 
!        alliance,    116;    independent  of 
!        Syracuse,     155  ;     joins     Syra- 
i        cusan     revolt     against     Diony- 
j        sios,    158;    makes    peace    with 
I        Dionysios,    165 ;    destroyed   by 

25 


370 


INDEX. 


Himilkon,  173;  repeopled  by 
Dionysios,  181  ;  puts  HippOn 
to  death,  228  ;  war  of,  with 
Agathokles,  237  ;  refuge  of 
Syracusan  exiles,  238 ;  attacked 
by  Agathokles,  ib.  ;  massacre 
at,  by  mercenaries,  262  ;  called 
Civ? /as  Matnertina,  263,  321  ; 
Carthaginian  garrison  in,  277  ; 
its  alliance  with  Rome,  321  ; 
occupied  by  Sextus,  333  ;  Cxsar 
defeatedat,337  ;  getsfull  Roman 
franchise,  340;  bishopric  of,  344 

Messapians,  their  wars  with  the 
Tarentines,  85,  231 

Messenia,  settlers  from,  in  Sicily, 
92,  181,  182 

Metellus,  L.  C,  defends  Panor- 
mos,  284 

Rletropolis,  relations  of,  to  the 
colony,  10,  II 

Mezetius,  set  up  as  Emperor  in 
Sicily,  352 

Mikythos,  his  rule  at  Rhegion,  85, 
90 ;  his  retirement  and  death, 
90 

Milan,  church  of,  holds  lands  in 
Sicily,  347,  35 1_ 

Milazzo,  see  Mylai 

Milesians  share  in  the  Samian 
expedition  to  Sicily,  69 

Miletos,  Tissaphernes'    castle  at, 

137 

Mineo,  see  Menrenum 

Minoa,  foundation  of,  32,  see  also 

Herakleia  Minoa 
Minos,  King  of  Crete,  32 
Misenum,  peace  of,  335 
Monaco,  principality  of,  322 
Morgantina,  battle  of,  329 
Motya,  Phoenician  settlement  of, 
24;  Hannibal  at,  142;  war  of 
Hermokrates  against,  145  ;  be- 
sieged   by    Dionysios,    168-71; 
won  back  by  Himilkon,    171  ; 
forsaken  for  Lilybaion,  ib. 
Motyon,     taken     and     lost     by 

Ducetius,  100 
Mutines,  his  exploits  in  Sicily,  313, 
314  ;  deprived  of  his  command, 
316  ;  betrays  Akragas  to  Rome, 


ib. ;  receives  Roman  citizenship, 

Mylai,  said  to  be  site  of  ThrinakiS, 
30  ;  outpost  of  Zankle,  48,  50  ; 
attacked  by  Athens,  108  ;  seized 
by  Rhegion,  182;  won  back  by 
Messana,  ib. ;  Roman  victory 
off,  281  ;  occupied  by  Sextus, 
333  ;  sea-fight  off,  338 

Myletids,  banished  from  Syracuse, 
60 

N 

Naulochus,  sea-fight  off,  339 

Naxos,  island,  gives  its  name  to 
Sicilian  Naxos,  41 

Naxos,  Sicilian,  foundation  of,  41, 
42 ;  analogy  with  Ebbsfleet, 
ib.  ;  conquered  by  Hippokrates, 
68  ;  people  of,  moved  to  Leon- 
tinoi,  84  ;  attacked  by  Messana, 
108 ;  joins  Athenian  alliance, 
116;  Athenian  fleet  at,  118; 
war  of,  with  Syracuse,  140 ; 
destroyed  by  Dionysios,  161 

Neaiton,  Netum,  outpost  of  Syra- 
cuse, 50 ;  its  position  under 
Rome,  321,  340 

Neptune,  Sextus  claims  him  as 
father,  334,  338 ;  devotion  to, 
at  Rome,  335  ;  Ccesar's  edict 
against,  ib. 

Neon,  222 

Nerva,  P.  L.,  sets  free  the  slaves, 

Nikias,  opposes  Sicilian  expedi- 
tion, 113;  appointed  general, 
114;  counsels  return,  116; 
his  delays,  117,  123,  125;  his 
stratngem,  1 18  ;  asks  for  horse- 
men and  money,  119;  in  sole 
command,  123  ;  sends  ships  to 
meet  Gylippos,  124  ;  his  letter 
to  the  Athenians,  126  ;  refuses 
to  retreat,  130;  his  energy 
during  the  retreat,  133  ;  sur- 
renders to  Gylippos,  135,  136  ; 
put  to  death,  136 

Nikoteles,  of  Corinth,  160 

Norman  kingdom  in  Sicily,  6,  353 

Nolo,  see  Neaiton 


INDEX. 


371 


Numidians   under  Mutincs,    313, 

Nypsios,  holds  Ortygia  for  Diony- 

sios,  210-212 
Nysaios,  in  possession  of  Ortygia, 

215  ;  driven  out,  216 

O 

Odowakar,  346 

Odyssey,    sites     for,     sought     in 

Sicily,   16,  30,  48  ;  meniion  of 

Sikels  in,  39 
Olympia,  embassy  of  Dionysios  to, 

190 
Olympieion,  temple  at  Syracuse, 

43;  Ilimilkon's  head-quartersat, 

176;  robbed  by  Dionysios,  191 
Ophelias  of  Macedonia,  247 
Orethos,  river,  18 
Ortygia,  story  of  Arethousa  at,  36, 

42  ;  see  also  Syracuse 
Ostracism,  meaning  of,  94 


Pachynos,  Promontory  of,  16 

Palazzuolo,  sec  Akrai 

Palermo,  Semitic  and  Norman 
capital  of  Sicily,  26  ;  Phoenician 
tombs  in  museum,  27  ;  see  also 
Panormos 

Palica,  founded  by  Ducetius,  99  ; 
destroyed  by  the  Syracusans, 
102 

Palici,  their  lake  and  worship,  34, 
99 ;  temple  of,  refuge  for  the 
slaves,  32S  ;  protectors  of  King 
Tryphon,  329  ;  whether  they 
survived  in  god  Phalkon,  343 

Panaitios  of  Leontinoi,  63 

Panormos,  harlraur  of,  l"],  26 ; 
Phoenician  settlement  at,  26 ; 
Semitic  head  of  Sicily,  26 ; 
Ilamilkar  lands  at,  79  ;  invaded 
by  Hermokrates,  146  ;  taken  by 
Pyrrhos,  269  ;  taken  by  Rome, 
2S2  ;  attacked  by  Asdrubal,  284 ; 
position  of,  under  Rome,  322  ; 
bishopric  of,  344 ;  withstands 
Belisarius,349;  see  also  Palermo 

Pantagias,  Pantakyas,  river,  46 


Pantellaria,  see  Kossoura 
Papyrus  at  Syracuse,  294 
Paros,  settlements  of,  191 
Pasiphilos,  joins  Deinokrates,  254 ; 

slain  by  him,  257 
Passero  Cape,  16 
Paterno,  see  Hybla  Galealic 
Peithagoras,    tyrant    of   Selinous, 

67 

Pellegrino,  see  Herkte 

Peloris,  16 

Pentathlos,  counted  as  founder  of 

Lipara,  55 
Pergus,  Lake,  35,  36 
Persephone,  see  Demeter 
Persia,  its  alliance  with  Carthage, 

77  ;  invades  Greece,  78 
Petalism,   instituted  at    Syracuse, 

95 

Phalaris  of  Akragas,  his  forged 
letters,  57  ;  stories  of,  64  ;  his 
bull,  64,  323 

Phalkon,  idol,  343 

Pharakidas,  Spartan  admiral,  177, 

Pharnabazos,  his  dealings  with 
Hermokrates,  138 

Pharos,  Parian  settlement  on,  191 

Philinos  of  Akragas,  276 

Philip  of  Macedon,  his  conquests 
in  Greece,  218,  230  ;  interviews 
Dionysios,  221 

Philistis,  wife  of  Hieron  II.,  273 

Philistos,  Sicilian  historian,  8,  76, 
140 ;  takes  part  in  the  war 
against  Athens,  104  ;  his  friend- 
ship with  Dionysios,  1 5 1,  158  ! 
banished  by  him,  190  ;  recalled, 
200  ;  in  command  against  Dion, 
203,  20S;  taken  by  Herakleides 
and  slain,  208 

Philodamos  of  Argos,  308 

Philoxenos,  treatment  of,  by 
Dionysios,  191 

Phintias,  tyrant  of  Akragas,  263  ; 
defeated  by  Iliketas,  Uk;  driven 
out  of  Akragas,  264  ;  town 
founded  by,  ih. 

Phintias  (town),  foundation  of, 
264  ;  battle  of,  314 

Phoenicians,  their  political  system, 


372 


INDEX. 


9;  plant  colonies  in  Sicily,  11, 
14,  21-28  ;  origin  of  the  name, 
21  ;  their  tongue  the  same  as 
Hel:)rew,  ib.  ;  their  relations 
with  the  Greeks,  21,  22  ;  their 
Mediterranean  colonies,  22,  23, 
26 ;  alphabet  taught  to  Greeks 
by,  22  ;  hold  the  west  of  Sicily 
against  Greeks,  24  ;  remains  of 
their  walls  at  Motya,  25  ;  tombs 
of,  in  Palermo  Museum,  27  ; 
their  coins,  ih.  ;  their  wars  with 
the  Greeks,  66 
Phyton,    Rhegian    general,    188; 

Dionysios'  treatment  of,  189 
Pinarius,    L.,     his     massacre     at 

Henna,  305 
Pindar,   notices  of  the  goddesses 
in,  35  ;  refers  to  Phalaris,  57  ; 
Sicilian  references  in  his  odes, 
76,    83,    87  ;     entertained    by 
Hieron,   76,  83  ;  gives  Hieron 
title  of  king,  82 
Pious  Brethren,  legend  of,  46 
Pithekoussa,  island,  85 
Plato,  his  alleged  letters  on  Syra- 
cusan   affairs,  156,  196  ;  treat- 
ment   of    by    Dionysios,    191  ; 
visits    the    younger   Dionysios, 
201  ;  his  constitutional  schemes 
for  Syracuse,  214,  216 
Plemmyrion,  peninsula,  42  ;  occu- 
pied   by   the   Athenians,    125  ; 
recovered    by    Gylippos,    128  ; 
Hiniilkon's  fort  on,  177 
Plennius,  339 

Polichna,  early  Greek  outpost,  43  ; 
occupied    by     Syracuse,     125  ; 
Himilkon's  camp  on,  176 
Pollis,  king  of  Syracuse,  62 
Polyphemos,  legend  of,  31 
Polyxenos,  brinies  help  from  Old 

Greece  to  Syracuse,  177 
Polyzelos,  son  of  Deinomenes,  72; 
marries  Damareta,  83 ;  Hieron's 
plots  against,  Uk 
Pompeia,  daughter  of  Sextus,  335 
Pompeius,  G.,  in  Sicily,  330 
Pompeius,  S.,  his  war  in    Spain, 
332  ;  his  war  with  the  Trium- 
virs, 333;  charges  made  against. 


334;  claims  divine  origin,  334, 
33S  ;  his  agreement  with  An- 
tonius,  334  ;  makes  peace  with 
Ca:sar  and  Antonius,  335  ;  pro- 
posal of  Menas  to,  it>.  ;  his 
second  war  in  Sicily,  336-339  ; 
his  death,  339 

Porcari,  see  Pantagias 

Probus,  Emperor,  341 

Province,  Roman  system  of,  320, 

344.  345  ^ 
Ptolemy,    King     of    Egj'pt,    his 
friendship  with  Agathokles,  258, 

259 
Punic  Wars,  see  Carthage 
Pylos,  won  back  for  Sparta,  139 
Pyrrhos,  King  of  Epeiros,  marries 
Agathokles'  daughter,  258  ; 
Greek  Sicily  seeks  his  help, 
265 ;  his  wars  against  Rome, 
265,  266,  267,  271  ;  withstood 
by  the  Mamertines,  267  ;  lands 
at  Tauromenion,  il>. ;  received 
at  Syracuse,  267  ;  wins  Akragas, 
268  ;  his  title  of  King  of  Sicily, 
ib. ;  his  campaign  in  North-west 
Sicily,  268,  269  ;  takes  Panor- 
mos,  146,  269 ;  besieges  Lily- 
baion,  270  ;  fails  to  recover 
Messana,  271  ;  leaves  Sicily, 
ib. ;  defeated  at  Beneventum, 
ib.  ;  killed  at  Argos,  ib. 

R 

Ragusa,  see  Hybla  Heraia 

Ras  Melkart,  see  Herakleia  Minoa 

Ravenna,  church  of,  holds  lands  in 

Sicily,  351 
Regulus,   M.    A.,    his   attack    on 

Carthage,  282 
Rhegion,  tyranny  of  Anaxilas  at, 
69,  70 ;  rule  of  Mikythos  at, 
85,  90  ;  sons  of  Anaxilas  at,  90, 
91  ;  treaty  with  Athens,  106 ; 
asks  help  of  Athens,  107  ; 
Athenian  fleet  at,  115  ;  joins 
Syracusan  revolt  against  Diony- 
sios, 158 ;  makes  peace  with 
Dionysios,  165  ;  refuses  him  a 
wife,  165,  181 ;  seizes  on  Mylai, 


INDEX. 


373 


182 ;  attacked  liy  Dionysios, 
1 84  ;  sends  einhiissy  to  him, 
186  ;  siege  and  taking  of,  188  ; 
destruction  of,  189  ;  Timoleon 
at,  218  ;  ravaged  by  Agathokles, 
•235  ;  by  the  Campanians,  273  ; 
defence  of,  by  La;vinus,  317 
Rhodes,  her  settlements  in  Sicily, 
49'  53>  55  ;  bounty  of  Hieron 
II.  to,  294 
Roman  Peace  in  Sicily,  323 
Rome,  Romans,  Sicily  the  granary 
of,  19,  317.  324,.  334' 338,  35  J  ; 
war  of  I'y rrhos  with,  265-7,  27 1 ; 
allied  to  Carthage,  267,  272  ; 
dealings  of,  with  the  mercen- 
aries, 273  ;  wars  of,  with 
Carthage,  276-290,  295-317  ; 
Hieron's  alliance  with,  279  ; 
establishment  of  her  power  in 
Sicily,  292  ;  Ilieronymos  re- 
volts against,  296  ;  war-law  of, 
301  ;  uses  Sicily  as  an  outpost 
against  Africa,  317  ;  relations  of, 
to  subject  cities,  320  ;  state  of 
Sicily  under,  321-323,  330-2  ; 
enactment  as  to  slaves,  328 ; 
colonies  of,  in  Sicily,  340  ; 
rights  of,  extended  by  edict  of 
Caracalla,  344;  taken  by  Alaric, 
345  ;  besieged  by  Totila,  349 
Rome,  Church  of,  deprived  of 
jurisdiction  in  Sicily,  350 ; 
estates  therein,  351 
Rome,  New,  see  Constantinople 
Rufus,  Q.  S.,  sent  against  Sextus, 

334 
Rupilius,  P.,  takes  Tauromenium, 
327  ;  his  laws,  2I'. 

S 
Sacerdos,  G.  L.,  Praetor  in  Sicily, 

331 

Sacred  Band  of  Carthage,  de- 
stroyed at  the  Krimisos,  225  - 
227 

Saint  Agatha  of  Catania,  343 

Saint  Kalogeros,  343 

Saint  Lucy,  Matron,  343 

Saint  Lucy  of  Syracuse,  Virgin, 
343 


Saint    Marcian,    bishop   of  Syra- 
cuse, 342 
Saint  Pancratius  of  Tauromenium, 

342 

Saint  Paul,  at  Syracuse,  342 

Saint  Peter,  legends  of,  at  Syra- 
cuse, 342  ;  said  to  have  been  at 
Catania,  343 

Saint  Zosimus,  Bishop  of  Syra- 
cuse, 352 

Salvius,  king  of  the  slaves,  328  ; 
calls  himself  Tryphon,  329  ; 
his  revolt  against  Rome,  //'. 

Samians,  take  Zankle,  69  ;  treaty 
of  Hippocrates  with,  70;  turned 
out  by  Anaxilas,  il'. 

Samnites,  pray  Pyrrhos  for  help 
against  Rome,  271 

San  P'ilippo  d'Argiro,  343 ;  see 
Agyrium 

San  Marino,  republic  of,  322 

Saracen  invasion  of  Sicily,  4,  353 

Sardinia,  ceded  by  Carthage  to 
Rome,  290,  320 ;  taken  by 
Sextus,  333,  334  ;  confirmed  to 
him  at  Misenum,  335  ;  joins 
Casar,  336  ;  taken  by  Gaiseric, 
346 

Sciacca,  hot  springs  near,  33,  343 

Scipio,  P.  C.,  his  expedition 
against  Hannibal,  317 

Scipio,  P.  C,  the  younger,  re- 
stores to  Sicily  s]5oil  from 
Carthage,  323 

.Segcsta,  Elymian  site,  13,  20 ; 
wars  of  with  Selinous,  55, 
112,  141;  with  Dorieus,  67; 
its  treaty  with  Athens,  106, 
108  ;  appeals  to  Athens,  il>.  ; 
trick  played  on  Athenian  en- 
voys, 113  ;  helps  Athens,  120  ; 
alliance  of,  with  Carthage,  141 ; 
besieged  by  Diunysios,  170; 
siege  raised,  171  ;  treatment  of, 
by  Agathokles,  252,  279  ;  joins 
Pyrrhos,  269 ;  joins  Rome,  279  ; 
position  of,  under  Rome,  322, 
340 

Sehnous,  foundation  of,  51  ;  wars 
with  Segesta,  55,  112,  141; 
tyranny     of    Peithagoras     and 


3H 


IND^lt. 


Euryleon  at,  67  ;  her  relations 
to  Carthage,  74,  82,  154,  229, 
238  ;  promises  help  to  Hamil- 
kar.  So;  joins  Gylippos,  124; 
sends  help  to  Greece,  137; 
taken  by  Hannibal,  139,  142; 
fortified  by  Hermokrates,  145  ; 
recovered  by  Dionysios,  194  ; 
origin  of  the  name,  226  ;  wel- 
comes Pyrrhos,  269  ;  destroyed 
by  Carthage,  285 

Selinous,  river,  51 

Servilius,  Q.,  his  war  with  the 
slaves,  329 

Shopheti7)i  of  Carthage,  179 

Sicily,  its  historical  importance, 
I,  2;  its  geographical  position 
and  character,  3,  9,  15  seqq.  ; 
strife  between  East  and  West 
for,  3,  26,  354;  compared  with 
Cyprus  and  Spain,  5  ;  Norman 
kingdom  of,  6,  353 ;  Phoenician 
colonies  in,  11,  14,  21-28; 
Greek  colonies  in,  11,  14,  39 
seqq.  ;  older  inhaljitants  of,  1 1- 
14  ;  becomes  practically  Greek, 
16,  324 ;  its  triangular  shape, 
16  ;  sites  for  Odyssey  sought  in, 
16,  30,  48;  mountain  and  rivers 
of,  17-19 ;  chief  granary  of 
Rome,  19,  317,  324,  334,  338, 
351  ;  hill  towns  of,  20  ;  legends 
of,  29  seqq.  ;  Ilamilkar's  in- 
vasion of,  77-81 ;  independence 
of  its  cities,  87  seqq. ;  share  of, 
in  the  wars  of  Greece,  104 
seqq.,  160 ;  Athenian  expedi- 
tion to,  I  l\seqq. ;  second  Cartha- 
ginian invasion  of,  140  seqq.  ; 
effect  of  the  reign  of  Diony- 
sios on,  197,  198;  new  settle- 
ment of,  223  ;  freed  by  Timo- 
leon,  229  ;  position  of  Aga- 
thokles  in,  257  ;  war  of  Pyrrhos 
in,  265-271  ;  a  wrestling  ground 
for  Rome  and  Carthage,  272, 
276  seqq. ;  given  up  by  Carthage, 
290 ;  becomes  a  Roman  pro- 
vince, 292,  320,  339,  344  ;  main 
battlefield  of  Hannibal,  305  ; 
outcry    in,    against    Marcellus, 


315 ;  an  outpost  of  Europe, 
317  ;  Scipio's  starting  point  for 
Africa,  317;  relation  of  its  cities 
to  Rome,  320-322  ;  Roman 
Peace  in,  323  ;  increase  of 
slavery,  324  ;  slave  wars  of, 
325-329,  341  ;  Cicero's  account 
of>  330  ;  Julius  Caesar's  starting 
point  for  Africa,  332  ;  occupied 
by  Sextus,  333  seq.  ;  war  be- 
tween Ccesar  and  Sextus  for, 
336-339 ;  Cresar  master  of, 
339  ;  Roman  colonies  in,  340  ; 
Hadrian's  visit  to,  341  ;  Prank- 
ish invasion  of,  342 ;  Chris- 
tianity in,  342-344  ;  effect 
of  the  edict  of  Caracalla  on, 
344 ;  part  of  the  diocese  of 
Italy,  345  ;  Teutonic  invasions 
of,  345  seq.  ;  under  Theodoric, 
347;  won  back  by  Belisarius, 
348-349  ;  its  connexion  with  the 
Eastern  Empire,  350 ;  lands  of 
the  Roman  Church  in,  347,  351, 
352  ;  Constans  H.  in,  352  ; 
Mezetius  Emperor  in,  352  ;  re- 
covered by  Constantine  IV.,  ib. ; 
Saracen  invasions  in,  353  ;  won 
back  by  the  Normans,  353 

Sidon,  probable  settlement  from 
in  Sicily,  24 ;  its  hatred  to- 
wards the  Greeks,  77 

Sikania,  name  of  Sicily,  li;  men- 
tioned in  Odyssey,  39 

Sikans,  the,  11-13,  27  ;  hill  towns, 
characteristic  of,  20 ;  remains 
of,  in  Sicily,  27  ;  traditions  of, 
.  32  . 

Sikelia,  11  ;  subject  to  Carthage, 

Sikeliots,  distinguished  from  Si- 
kels,  41 

Sikels,  the,  11-13;  gradually 
become  Greek,  13  ;  language 
of,  akin  to  Latin,  12,  27;  hill- 
towns  of,  20 ;  remains  of,  in 
Sicily,  27  ;  tale  of  their  migra- 
tion from  Italy,  29  ;  their  beliefs 
and  traditions,  33-37  ;  men- 
tioned in  Odyssey,  39 ;  driven 
out  of  Syracuse,  45  ;  Theokles' 


INDEX. 


375 


dealings  willi,  47  ;  war  of,  with 
Skylhes,  69  ;  tlieir  union  under 
Ducetius,  98  ;  help  Naxos,  108  ; 
help  Athens,  120;  guaranty  of 
their  indci)endence,  155 

Siaionides,  Sicilian  references  in 
his  poems,  76 ;  entertained  by 
liieron,  76,  83 ;  said  to  have 
reconciled  Ilieron  and  Theron, 
84 

Skylla,  tale  of,  30 

Skylhes  of  Zankle,  his  war  with 
the  Sikels,  69  ;  Ilippokrates' 
treatment  of,  70 ;  escapes  to 
Asia,  zd. 

Slaves,  increase  of,  in  Sicily,  324 ; 
wars  of,  325-330  ;  Roman  order 
for  their  liberation,  328  ;  third 
revolt  of,  341 

Solous,  Solunto,  Phoenician  settle- 
ment of,  25  ;  taken  by  Pyrrhos, 
270  ;  joins  Rome,  283 

Sophrosyne,  daughter  of  Uiony- 
sios,  200 

Sosis,  slays  Hieronymos,  297 ; 
takes  refuge  with  Marcellus, 
303,  306  ;  leads  the  Romans 
into  the  Ilexapyla,  307  ;  re- 
warded by  Marcellus,  312 

Sosistratos,  denounced  by  Aga- 
thokles,  235  ;  banished,  id.  ; 
seeks  Ilamilkar'shelp,  235,  236; 
his  death,  23S 

Sosistratos,  in  command  at  .Syra- 
cuse, 264  ;  welcomes  Pyrrhos, 
267  ;  takes  service  under  him, 
26S  ;  flees  from  Syracuse,  271 

Spaccaforno,  ^vt'  Kasmenai 

Spain,  compared  with  Sicily,  5  ; 
Phoenician  colonies  in,  14,  15, 
23,  26 

Spanish  mercenaries  of  Diony- 
sios,  179 

Sparta,  compared  with  Athens, 
105  ;  Syracusan  embassy  to, 
120;  her  alliance  with  Darius, 
137  ;  Pylos  won  back  for,  139  ; 
supports  Dionysios,  160;  em- 
bassy of  Dionysios  to,  1 76 ; 
objects  to  settlement  of  Mes- 
senians     by     Dionysios,     l8l  ; 


Dionysios  sends  help  to,  189, 
194;  checks  his  advance,  191  ; 
admits  Dion  to  citizenship,  202  ; 
sends  help  against  Agathokles, 
237 

Sthenics  of  Therma,  330 

Stesichoros,  64 

Strabo,  his  description  of  Sicily, 
39,  340 

Sulla,  L.  C,  his  war  with  Marius, 
330 

Sulpicius,  G.,  invades  Panormos, 
282 

Susa,  see  Hadrumetum 

Sybaris,  its  war  with  Kroton,  67 

Symaithos,  river,  18 

Synalos,  receives  Dion  at  Plera- 
kleia  Minoa,  203 

Syracuse,  foundation  of,  42  ;  her 
relations  to  Corinth,  id.  ;  im- 
portance of  her  topography, 
43  ;  her  outposts,  49,  50  ;  her 
war  with  Kamarina,  50;  cham- 
pion of  Europe  against  Africa, 
56  ;  Gamoroi  of,  59-62 ;  war  of 
Hippokrates  with,  71  ;  tyranny 
of  Gelon  at,  72  scqq.  ;  enlarged 
by  him,  73  ;  temples  at,  built 
by  Gelon,  83;  drives  out  Thrasy- 
boulos,  90 ;  feast  of  the  EIcii- 
tlieria  at,  91  ;  exclusion  of  the 
new  citizens,  ib.  ;  demagogues 
at,  94  ;  institution  of  petalism, 
95  ;  her  wars  with  Akragas, 
96,  loi  ;  with  Etruscans,  98  ; 
with  Ducetius,  100  ;  with  Leon- 
tinoi,  107,  III  ;  attacks  Naxos, 
loS  ;  Athenian  expedition 
against,  1 14  seqq.  ;  debate  in 
the  assembly,  ib. ;  embassies  to 
Peloponnesos,  120  ;  beginning 
of  the  siege,  123;  coming  of 
Gylippos,  124,  125  ;  improve- 
ment of  naval  tactics,  128 ; 
Athenians  surrender  to,  134, 
136 ;  treatment  of  prisoners, 
136 ;  sends  help  to  Greece, 
137  ;  threatened  by  Hannibal, 
144  ;  feeling  towards  Ilermo- 
krates,  145-6 ;  sends  help  to 
Akragas,  149  ;  generals  accused 


?il^ 


INDEX. 


of  treason,  151  ;  recalls  the 
exiles,  151  ;  Dionysios  tyrant  at, 
152,  156;  revolt  of  the  horse- 
men, 153  ;  return  of  Dionysios, 
154 ;  subjection  to  Dionysios 
guaranteed  by  Carthage,  155  ; 
fortification  of  the  Island,  158  ; 
revolts  against  Dionysios,  ib.  ; 
fortified  by  Dionysios,  164  ;  be- 
sieged by  Himilkon,  176  ;  Olym- 
pieion  plundered  by  Dionysios, 
191  ;  her  treaty  with  Carthage, 
195  i  position  of,  under  Diony- 
sios, 197  ;  delivered  by  Dion, 
203-5 '  Island  held  by  Dionysios 
the  younger,  205, 207  ;  treatment 
of  Philistos  by,  20S  ;  gets  rid  of 
Dion,  209  ;  prays  him  for  help 
against  Dionysios,  211  ;  Dion's 
entrance  into,  212  ;  Plato's 
schemes  for,  214,  216  ;  tyrannies 
in,  on  Dion's  death,  215-6; 
embassy  to  Corinth,  217  ;  de- 
livered by  Timoleon,  220-2  ; 
second  Corinthian  settlement  of, 
223  ;  treatment  of  Hiketas' 
family,  228,  of  Mamercus,  ib.  ; 
massacre  at,  by  Agathokles,  236 ; 
his  tyranny  at,  ib. ;  Carthaginian 
attack  on,  239  seqq.  ;  Hamilkar 
retires  from,  245  ;  his  first 
attack  on,  246  ;  wars  of  with 
Akragas,  249,  253  ;  Hiketas 
tyrant  of,  263  ;  prays  Pyrrhos 
for  help  ag.iinst  Carthage, 
265  ;  welcomes  Pyrrhos,  267  ; 
allied  with  Carthage  against 
Mamertines,  273,  277  ;  Hieron's 
kingdom  of,  274,  278-9  ;  pros- 
perity of,  under  Ilieron,  293, 
294  ;  misrule  of  Hieronymos  in, 
297  ;  negotiates  wiih  Appius 
Claudius,  29S,  300 ;  slaughter 
of  Hieron's  descendants,  299  ; 
Leontinoi  revolts  against,  300  ; 
effect  of  Marcellus'  treatment 
of  the  deserters  on,  301-2  ; 
Roman  siege  of,  303,  31 1  ;  Mai- 
cellus,  hereditary  patron  of,  315  ; 
gradual  decay  of,  324,  352  ; 
occupied  by  Sextus,  ^2iT,  ;   Ro- 


man colony  at,  340  ;  sacked  by 
the  Franks,  342  ;  SS.  Peter 
and  Paul  at,  ib.  ;  bishopric  of, 
344;  Gothic  count  of,  347  ;  sub- 
mits to  Belisarius,  348  ;  temjjle 
of  Athene  turned  into  a  church, 
352  ;  Constans  II.  at,  ib. 


Taormina,  see  Tauromenion 

Taras,  Tarentum,  helped  by  Mi- 
kythos,  85  ;  asks  help  of  Sparta, 
231  ;  helped  by  Pyrrhos  against 
Rome,  265,  266,  271  ;  submits 
to  Rome,  271  ;  head-quarters  of 
Antonian  ships,  337,  338 

Tauromenion,  foundation  of,  173; 
defeat  of  Dionysios  at,  183 ; 
taken  by  him,  184  ;  Timoleon 
lands  at,  219  ;  Punic  envoys  at, 
ib.  ;  men  of,  slain  by  Aga- 
thokles, 238  ;  Pyrrhos  lands  at 
267  ;  its  alliance  with  Rome, 
321  ;  taken  by  the  slaves,  327  ; 
Roman  siege  of,  ib.  ;  Cresar  at, 
338 ;  Roman  colony  at,  340 ; 
church  of  Saint  Pancratius  at, 
342  ;  bishopric  of,  344 

Taurus,  S.,  in  command  under  An- 
tonius,  337 

Tegea,  Mikythos  dies  at,  90 

Telemachos  of  Akragas,  65 

Telines  of  Gela,  68 

Temenites,  outpost  of  Syracuse, 
43  ;  taken  into  the  city,  119 

Tenea,  settlers  froai,  at  Syracuse, 

5? 
Terillos,    tyrant    of   Himera,   74 ; 

driven  out  by  Theron,  78 
Termini,  see  Thermai  of  Himera 
Terranova,  see  Gela 
Teutonic  invaders  of  Sicily,  342, 

345 

Thapsos,  peninsula,  43 ;  Megarian 
settlement  at,  47  ;  Athenian 
station  at,  121  ;  taken  by  Aga- 
thokles, 245 

Thearidas,  admiral  of  Dionysios' 
fleet,  185 

Themistos,  elected  general,  297  ; 
put  to  death,  29S 


INDEX. 


377 


Theodahad.kinf^  of  the  East  Goths, 

Thcodoric,  king  of  the  East 
Goths,  347 

Theodores,  denounces  Dionysios, 
177 

TheodoteSjDion's  treatment  of,2i2 

Theodotos,  slays  Hicrunymos,  297 

Thcokles  of  Chalkis,  founds 
Naxos,  40  ;  and  Leontinoi,  45  ; 
his  dealings  with  the  Sikels 
and  Megarians,  47 

Theokritos,  his  verses  to  Ilicron 
II.,  294 

Thcrnia,  Thermai,  of  Ilimcra, 
51,  343  ;  colony  of  Carthage  at, 
33,  147  ;  becomes  Greek,  147  ; 
subject  to  Carthage,  154,  238; 
Agathokles  born  at,  234  ;  taken 
by  Agathokles,  250  ;  joins 
Deinokrates,  254 ;  Agathokles 
negotiates  for,  255  ;  taken  by 
Rome,  283  ;  Roman  colony  at, 
340 

Therrnai  of  Selinous,  343 

Theron,  tyrant  of  Akragas  ;  his 
alliance  with  Gelon,  73 ;  drives 
out  Terillos,  78 ;  his  share  in 
the  battle  of  Himera,  80,  81  ; 
his  war  with  Ilieron,  83  ;  recon- 
ciled to  him,  84  ;  his  works  at 
Akragas  and  death,  89 ;  de- 
struction of  his  tomb,  149 

Thespia,  sends  contingent  to 
Syracuse,  126,  129 

Tlioinon,  of  Syracuse,  overthrows 
Hiketas,  264  ;  welcomes  Pyrr- 
hos,  267  ;  put  to  death,  271 

Thourioi,  foundation  of,  106  ; 
treatment  of  by  Leptines,  185  ; 
makes  treaty  with  Dionysios, 
186  ;  helped  by  Corinth,  221 

Thrasimund,  king  of  the  Vandals, 

Thrason,  adviser  of  Ilieronymos, 

296 
Thrasyboulos,     son     of      Deino- 

menes,  72,   83  ;  his  tyranny  al 

Syracuse,     90 ;    withdraws     to 

Lokroi,  }7>. 
Thrasydaios,    his    oppression    at 


Ilimera,  84;  his  tyranny  at 
Akragas,  89 ;  put  to  death  at 
Old  Megara,  il>. 

Thrviakic,  16,  30 

Tiiiiokratcs,  Dion's  wife  given  to, 
201  ;  left  in  command  at  Syra- 
cuse, 203  ;  his  letter  to  Dio- 
nysios, 203,  205 

Timoleon,  his  share  in  Timo- 
phanes'  death,  217  ;  sent  to 
help  Syracuse,  ib.  ;  lands  at 
Tauromenion,  219;  defeats  Hi- 
ketas at  Hadranum,  ib.  ;  Dio- 
nysios surrenders  to,  220  ;  plots 
against,  221  ;  takes  Syracuse, 
222  ;  re-founds  it,  223  ;  repulsed 
at  Leontinoi,  224  ;  Leptines  and 
Hiketas  submit  to,  ib.  ;  his  war 
with  Carthage,  225  ;  his  victory 
by  the  Krimisos,  227  ;  his  treat- 
ment of  the  tyrants,  227,  228  ; 
makes  peace  with  Carthage, 
228  ;  sends  settlers  to  Gela  and 
Akragas,  229  ;  ends  his  days  at 
Syracuse,  ib.  ;  the  Timoleon- 
teion  built  in  his  honour,  230 

Timophanes,  of  Corinth,  his 
tyranny  and  death,  217 

Tisias,  teacher  of  rhetoric,  94 

Tissaphernes,  his  alliance  with 
Sparta,  137  ;  withstood  by 
Ilermokrates,  ib. 

Torgium,  battle  of,  255 

Totila,  king  of  the  Goths,  invades 
Sicily,  349 

Trinacia  taken  by  Syracuse,  107 

Trinakria,  16,  30 

Triocala,  capital  of  King  Tryphon, 

329 

Trotilon,  first  Megarian  settlement 
at,  46 

Trojan  traditions  at  Segesta,  13, 
252,  269,  279 

Tryphon,  sec  Salvius,  75 

Tunis,  head -quarters  of  Aga- 
thokles, 243  ;  victory  of,  over 
Carthage,  244  ;  taken  by  the 
mercenaries,  246;  Ophelias  slain 
at,  247 

Tycha,  quarter  of  Syracuse,  92, 
165 


378 


INDEX. 


Tyndarion,  his  attempt  at  tyranny 
at  Syracuse,  94 

Tyndarion,  tyrant  of  Taurome- 
nion,  263  ;  joins  Pyrrhos,  267 

Tyndaris,  foundation  of,  182  ;  joins 
Timoleon,  220  ;  Roman  victory 
off,  282  ;  occupied  by  Sextus, 
333  ;  Roman  colony  at,  340 

Tyratits,  use  of  tlie  name,  62,  353  ; 
Greek  view  as  to  slaying  of, 
217,  228 

Tyre,  prohaljle  settlements  from 
in  Sicily,  24  ;  its  hatred  to- 
wards Greeks,  77  ;  the  Geloan 
Apolloii  sent  to,  153  ;  Carthagi- 
nian embassies  to,  244 


U 


Utica,     Phcenician     co'ony,    23  ; 
taken  by  Agathokles,  248 


V 


Vandals,  alleged  invasion  of  Sicily 
by,  342  ;  in  Africa,  Italy,  and 
Sicily,  346 ;  Belisarius'  cam- 
paign against,  348 


Ver  res,  G. ,  Cicero's  speech  against, 
3I9>.330.  332;  his  oppression 
in  Sicily,  331  ;  goes  into  exile, 
332  ;  put  to  death,  ib. 

Volcanic  mountains  and  lakes  in 
Sicily,  33,  34 


Xenodikos   of  Akragas,  defeated 

])y  Leptines,  249,  251 
Xerxes,  invades  Greece,  78 
Xiphonia,  peninsula,  43,  46 


Zankle,  foundation  of,  48 ;  founds 
Himera,  50  ;  ruled  by  Skythes, 
69  ;  seized  by  the  Samians, 
ib.  ;  its  army  enslaved  by 
Hippocrates,  70  ;  occupied  by 
Anaxilas,  ib.  ;  name  changed 
to  Messana,  70,  92 ;  rule  of 
Mikythos  at,  85,  90 ;  sons  of 
Anaxilas  at,  90,  91  -jsee  Messana 

Zoippos,  uncle  of  Hieronymos, 
295  ;  supports  Carthage,  296  ; 
sent  to  Egypt,  299 ;  slaughter 
of  his  family,  ib. 


UNWIN  BEOTHEES, 
CHILWOETH  AND  LONDOW. 


A     000  004  412     3