A Dictionary of Greek and Roman biography and mythology. By various writers. Ed. by William Smith. Illustrated by numerous engravings on wood.

458 HIERONYMUS. HIERONYMUS.
panied that leader until his final captivity. In the justice he displayed in consequence in regard to
last battle in Gabiene (B. c. 316) Hieronymus him- Pyrrhus and Lysimachus. Towards the latter
self was wounded, and fell a prisoner into the hands monarch, indeed, he had an additional cause of
of Antigonus, who treated him with the utmost enmity, on account of Lysimachus having destroyed
kindness, and to whose service he henceforth his native city of Cardia to make way for the
attached himself. (Diod. xix. 44.) In B. C. 312, foundation of Lysimacheia. (Paus. i. 9. ~ 8, 13.
we find him entrusted by that monarch with the ~ 9.) There can be little doubt that the history of
charge of collecting bitumen from the Dead Sea, a Alexander's immediate successors (the &LdaoXoL
project which was frustrated by the hostility of the and tertlyoo'), which has descended to us, is deneighbouring Arabs. (Id. xix. 100.) The state- rived in great part from Hieronymus, but it is imment of Josephus (c. Apion. i. 23) that he was at possible to determine to what extent his authority
one time appointed by Antigonus to the govern- was followed by Diodorus and Plutarch. (See on
ment of Syria, is in all probability erroneous. After this point Heyne, De Font. Diodori, p. cxiv. in
the death of Antigonus, Hieronymus continued to Dindorf's edition of Diodorus; and concerning
follow the fortunes of his son Demetrius, and he is Hieronymus in general, Vossius, de Historicis
again mentioned in B. C. 292 as being appointed by Graecis, p. 99, ed. Westermann; Sevin, Recherches
the latter governor or harmost of Boeotia, after his sur la Vie et les Ourrages de Jerome de Cardie, in
first conquest of Thebes. (Plut. Demnetr. 39.) the MlInm. de i'Acad. d'Inscr. vol., xiii. p. 20, &c.;
Whether he was reinstated in this office when and Droysen, Hellenism. vol. i. pp. 670, 683.)
Thebes, after shaking off the yoke for a while, fell [E. H. B.]
again under the power of Demetrius, we are not HIERO'NYMUS ('Iepccvvuzos), king of SYRAtold, nor have we any information concerning the cuspE, succeeded his grandfather, Hieron II., in
remaining events of his long life; but it may be B. c. 216. He was at this time only fifteen years
inferred, from the hostility towards Lysimachus old, and he ascended the throne at a crisis full of
and Pyrrhus evinced by his writings at a period peril, for the battle of Cannae had given a shock
long subsequent, that he continued unshaken in his to the Roman power, the influence of which had
attachment to Demetrius and to his son, Antigonus been felt in Sicily; and though it had not shaken
Gonatas, after him. It appears that he survived the fidelity of the aged Hieron, yet a large partyat
Pyrrhus, whose death, in B. c. 272, was mentioned Syracuse was already disposed to abandon the alliin his history (Paus. i. 13. ~ 9), and died at the ance of Rome for that of Carthage. The young
advanced age of 104, having had the unusual ad- prince had already given indications of weakness,
vantage of retaining his strength and faculties un- if not depravity of disposition, which had alarmed
impaired to the last. (Lucian. Macrob. 22.) his grandfather, and caused him to confide the
The historical work of Hieronymus is cited guardianship of Hieronymus to a council of fifteen
under various titles (i r'ais Re'v 8LaliXOv lo'roplas persons, among whom were his two sons-in-law,'yeypaqpoSs, Diod. xviii. 42; iv TI. Frep l rcV E'7ryo- Andranodorus and ZoYppus. But the objects of
mov 7rpaYa &ey t, Dionys. i. 6), and these have this arrangement were quickly frustrated by the
sometimes been regarded as constituting sepa- ambition of Andranodorus, who, in order to get rid
rate works; but it seems probable, on the whole, of the interference of his colleagues, persuaded the
that he wrote but one general work, comprising young king to assume the reins of government, and
the history from the death of Alexander to that of himself set the example of resigning his office,
Pyrrhus, if not later. Whether he gave any de- which was followed by the other guardians. Hietailed account of the wars of Alexander himself is ronymus now became a mere tool in the hands of
at least doubtful, for the few facts cited from him his two uncles, both of whom were favourable to
previous to the death of that monarch are such as the Carthaginian alliance: and Thrason, the only
might easily have been incidentally mentioned; one of his counsellors who retained any influence
and the passage in Suidas (s. v.'Iepov'uos), which over his mind, and who was a staunch friend of
is quoted by Fabricius to prove that he wrote a the Romans, was soon got rid of by a charge of
history of that prince, is manifestly corrupt, Pro- conspiracy. The young king now sent ambassadors
bably we should read cd erw''AAhea3dvSp, instead of to Hannibal, and the envoys of that general, Hipid Vr''AAesavpov, as proposed by Fabricius. pocrates and Epicydes, were welcomed at Syracuse
Nor is there any reason to infer (as has been done with the highest honours. On the other hand, the
by'the Abb6 Sevin, Mim. de l'Acad. des Inscr. deputies sent by Appius Claudius, the Roman
vol. xiii. p. 32), that his history of Pyrrhus formed praetor in Sicily, were treated with the utmost cona distinct work, though he is repeatedly cited by tempt; and it was evident that Hieronymus was
Plutarch as an authority in his life of that prince. preparing for immediate hostilities. He sent am(Plut. Pyrrhl. 17, 21.) It was in this part of his bassadors to Carthage, to conclude a treaty with
work, also, that he naturally found occasion to that power, by the terms of which the river Himera
touch upon the affairs of Rome, and he is conse- was to be the boundary between the Carthaginians
quently mentioned by Dionyslus as one of the and Syracusans in Sicily: but he quickly raised
first Greek writers who had given any account of his demands, and, by a second embassy, laid claim
the history of that city (Dionys. i. 6). But that to the whole island for himself. The Carthaginians
Dionysius himself did not follow his authority in readily promised every thing, in order to secure his
regard to the expedition of Pyrrhus to Italy is alliance for the moment: and he assembled an army
clear from the passages of Plutarch already cited, in of fifteen thousand men, with which he was prewhich the statements of the two are contrasted. paring to take the field, having previously disHieronymus is enumerated by Dionysius (de comp. patched Hippocrates and Epicydes to sound the
4) among the writers whose defective style ren- disposition of the cities subject to Rome, when his
dered it almost impossible to read them through. schemes were suddenly brought to a close. A band
He is also severely censured by Pausanias for his of conspirators, at the head of whom was Deinopartiality to Antigonus and Demetrius, and the in- menes, fell upon him in the seicets of Leontini, and