mercenaries followed him; and one thousand of the latter deserted upon the march, out of fear of the danger they were going to encounter. Timoleon, however, was not discouraged, but exhorting the remainder of his forces to exert themselves courageously for the safety and liberties of their allies, he led them against the enemy, whose rendezvous he had been informed was on the banks of the little river Crimisa. It appeared at the first reflection an inexcusable folly to attack an army so numerous as that of the enemy, with only four or five thousand foot, and one thousand horse: but Timoleon, who knew that bravery, conducted by prudence, is superior to number, relied on the courage of his soldiers, who seemed resolved to die rather than yield, and with ardour demanded to be led against the enemy. The event justified his views and hopes. A battle was fought; the Carthaginians were routed, and upwards of ten thousand of them slain, full three thousand of whom were Carthaginian citizens, which filled their city with mourning and the greatest consternation. Their camp was taken, and with it immense riches, and a great number of prisoners.

1 Timoleon, at the same time that he dispatched the news of this victory to Corinth, sent thither the finest arms found among the plunder; for he was passionately desirous of having his city applauded and admired by all men, when they should see that Corinth only, among all the Grecian cities, adorned its finest temples, not with the spoils of Greece, and offerings dyed in the blood of its citizens, and thereby fit only to preserve the sad remembrance of their losses, but with those of the barbarians, which, by fine inscriptions,

Plut. p. 248-250.

displayed at once the courage and religious gratitude of those who had won them. For these inscriptions imported, "that the Corinthians, and Timoleon their general, after having freed the Greeks settled in Sicily from the Carthaginian yoke, had hung up these arms in their temples, as an eternal acknowledgment of the favour and goodness of the gods.

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

After this victory gained by the Corinthians, they took a great many cities, which obliged the Carthagin ians to sue for peace.

and

As all appearances of success made the Carthaginians vigorously exert themselves to raise powerful armies both by land and sea, and behave with insolence and cruelty in prosperity, in like manner their courage would sink in unforeseen adversities, their hopes of new resources vanish, and their groveling souls condescend to ask quarter of the most inconsiderable enemy, shamefully accept the hardest and most mortifying conditions. Those now imposed were, that they should possess only the lands lying beyond the river Halycus; that they should give all the natives free liberty to retire to Syracuse with their families and effects; and that they should neither continue in the alliance, nor hold any correspondence with the tyrants of that city.

m

This river is not far from Agrigentum. It is called Lycus by Diodorus and Plutarch; but this is thought a mistake.

About this time, in all probability, there happened at Carthage a memorable incident, related by "Justin. Hanno, one of its most powerful citizens, formed a design of seizing upon the republic, by destroying the whole senate. He chose for the execution of this bloody scene, the day on which his daughter was to be married; on which occasion he designed to invite the senators to an entertainment, and there poison them all. The conspiracy was discovered; but Hanno had such credit, that the government did not dare to punish so execrable a crime: the magistrates contented themselves with only preventing it, by an order which for. bade, in general, too great a magnificence at weddings, and settled the expense on those occasions. Hanno, seeing his stratagem defeated, resolved to employ open force, and for that purpose armed all the slaves. However, he was again discovered; and, to escape punishment, retired, with twenty thousand armed slaves, to a castle that was very strongly fortified; and there endeavoured, but without success, to engage in his rebellion the Africans, and the king of Mauritania. He afterwards was taken prisoner and carried to Carthage, where, after being whipped, his eyes were put out, his arms and thighs broke, his life taken away in the presence of the people, and his body, all torn with stripes, hung on a gibbet. His children and all his relations, though they had not joined in his guilt, shared in his punishment. They were all sentenced to die, in order that not a single person of his family might be left, either to imitate his crime or revenge his death. Such was the genius and cast of mind of the Carthaginians.

Lib. xxi. c. 4.

Ever severe and violent in their punishments, they carried them to the extremes of rigor, and made them extend even to the innocent, without showing the least regard to equity, moderation, or gratitude.

I come now to the wars sustained by the Cartha ginians, in Africa itself, as well as in Sicily, against Agathocles, which exercised their arms during several

years.

This Agathocles was a Sicilian, of obscure birth, and low fortune. Supported at first by the power of the Carthaginians, he invaded the sovereignty of Syracuse, and made himself tyrant over it. In the infancy of his power the Carthaginians kept him within bounds, and Hamilcar, their chief, forced him to agree to a peace, which restored tranquillity to Sicily. But he soon infringed the articles of it, and declared war against the Carthaginians themselves, who, under the conduct of Hamilcar, obtained a signal victory over him, and forced him to shut himself up in Syracuse. The Carthaginians pursued him thither, and laid siege to that important city, which, if they could have taken, would have given them the possession of all Sicily.

Agathocles, whose forces were greatly inferior to theirs, and who saw himself deserted by all his allies,

• A. M. 3685. A. Carth. 527. A. Rom. 429. Ant. J. C. 319. Diod. 1. xix. p. 651, 656, 710, 712, 737, 743, 760. Justin. 1. ii. c. 1—6.

P He was, according to most historians, the son of a potter; but all allow him to have worked at that trade. From the obscurity of his birth and condition, Polybius raises an argument to prove his capacity and talents, in opposition to the slanders of Timeus. But his greatest eulogium was the praise of Scipio. That illustrious Roman being asked, who, in his opinion, were the most prudent in the conduct of their affairs, and most judiciously bold in the exccution of their designs, answered, Agathocles and Dionysius. Polyb. 1. xv. p. 1003, edit. Gronov. However, let his capacity have been ever so great, it was exceeded by his cruelties, The battle was fought near the river and city of Hymera.

from their abhorrence of his horrid cruelties, meditated a design of so daring, and, to all appearance, so impracticable a nature, that even success could hardly gain it belief. This design was no less than to make Africa the seat of the war, and to besiege Carthage, at a time when he could neither defend himself in Sicily, nor sustain the siege of Syracuse. His profound secrecy in the execution is as astonishing as the design itself. He communicated his thoughts on this affair to no person whatsoever, but contented himself with declaring, that he had found out an infallible way to free the Syracusans from the dangers that surrounded them; that they would be but a little incommoded with a short siege; but that those who could not bring themselves to this resolution, might freely depart the city. Only one thousand six hundred persons quitted it. He left his brother Antander there, with forces and provisions sufficient for him to make a stout defence. He set at liberty all the slaves who were of age to bear arms, and after obliging them to take an oath, joined them to his forces. He carried with him only fifty talents to supply his present wants; well assured that he should find in the enemy's country whatever was necessary to his subsistence. He therefore set sail with two of his sons, Archagathus and Heraclides, without letting one person know whither he intended his course. All who were on board his fleet believed that they were to be conducted either to Italy or Sardinia, in order to plunder those countries, or to lay waste those coasts of Sicily which belonged to Carthage. The Carthaginians, surprised at so unexpected

50,000 French crowns, or 11,2501. sterling 50,000.