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

HIMILCO'. HIMILCO.:475
at' tlie same time that they attacked'theewalls on is'first' mentioned as commanding the fleet which
the land side with battering rams and other en- was sent over from Carthage'in B. C. 214, about
gines. Himilco, on his side,' though he had to the time that Marcellus first arrived in Sicily; but
contend with disaffection among the mercenaries he: appears to have remained inactive at Cape
under his own command, as well as with the enemy Pachynus, watching the operations of the enemy,
without the walls, was not less active; but he was but without effecting any thing decisive (Liv. xxiv.
unable to prevent the progress of the Roman works 27, 35). From thence he returned to Carthage;
on the land: a great storm, however, swept away and having received from the government there,
the mole' that the Romans were constructing; and who were now determined to prosecute the war in
Hannibal, the son of Hamilcar, succeeded in run- Sicily with energy, an army of 25,000 foot and
ping into the port with 50 ships and a force of 3000 horse, he landed with this force at Heraclea
10,000 men, in the very teeth of the Roman fleet. Minoa, and quickly made himself master of AgriThus'reinforced, Himilcorenewed his attacks upon gentum. Here he was joined by Hippocrates from
the works of the besiegers; and though repulsed Syracuse; and following Marcellus, who retreated
in a first sally, he ultimately succeeded in burning before him, he advanced to the banks of the
all the battering engines and other works of the Anapus.:But the Roman camp was too strong to
Romans. This decisive blow compelled the con- be forced, and Himilco, feeling confident that the
suls to turn the siege into a blockade: nor were Syracusans could be left to their own resources,
they able to make even this effectual, as they turned his attention to the other cities of Sicily.
could not succeed in cutting off the besieged alto- The spirit of hostility to Rome was rapidly spreadgether from their communications by sea. The ing among these, and several openly declared in
next year (B. c. 249) the great victory of Adherbal favour of the Carthaginians. Murgantia, where
at Drepanum rendered the Carthaginians once great part of the Roman magazines had been colmore masters of the sea; and Himilco is again lected, was betrayed into the hands of Himilco;
mentioned as co-operating with Carthalo after that and the still more important fortress of Enna was
event,' in the attempt to destroy the Roman squa- only prevented from following its example by the
dron, which' still kept guard before Lilybaeum. barbarous massacre of its inhabitants by the orders
The enterprise was only partially successful; but of the Roman governor,'Pinarius. [PINARIUS.]
from this time the communications of the city by But in the following spring (212) the surprise of
sea appear to have been perfectly open. The the Epipolae by Marcellus, which put him in pos:
name of Himilco occurs once more in the following session of three out of the five quarters of Syracuse,
year as opposing the operations of the consuls more than counterbalanced all these advantages of
Caecilius and Fabius, but this is the last we the Carthaginians. Himilco saw the necessity of
hear of him; and we have no means of judging an immediate effort to relieve Syracuse, and again
how. long he continued to hold the command of advanced thither in conjunction with Hippocrates.
Lilybaeum, or when he was succeeded by Gisco, But their attacks on the Roman lines were rewhom we'find in that situation at the conclusion pulsed; and a pestilence, caused by the marshy
of the war. (Polyb. i. 41-48, 53; Diod. Exc. ground on which they were encamped, broke out
Hoeschzel. xxiv. I; Zonar. viii. 15, 16.) in their army, which carried off Himilco, as well as
6. A Carthaginian, who commanded the fleet his colleague, Hippocrates. (Liv, xxiv. 35-39,
of Hasdrubal in Spain in 217' B. C. He was at- xxv. 23, 26; Zonar. ix. 4.)
tacked by Cnu. Scipio at the mouth of the Iberus, 10. A Carthaginian officer, who commanded the
and conmpletely defeated, twenty-five ships out of Punic garrison at Castulo in'206 B.c., when that
forty taken, and the rest driven to the shore, where city was betrayed into the hands of Scipio by the
the crews with difficulty made their escape. (Liv. Spaniard Cerdubellus. (Liv. xxviii. 20.)
xxii. 19, 20; Polyb. iii. 95, by whom he is called 11. Surnamed PHAMAEAS or PHAMEAS (4baHamilcar. See HAMILCAR, No. 10.) -aaes, Appian; ida/lcas, Zonar.), commander of the
7. A Carthaginian senator, who is represented Carthaginian cavalry in the third Punic war.
by Livy (xxiii. 12) as a warm supporter of the Being young, active, and daring, and finding himBarcine party, and as upbraiding Hanno with his self at the head of an indefatigable and hardy body
opposition, when Mago brought to Carthage the of troops, he continually harassed the Roman
tidings of the victory at Cannae. It is possible generals, prevented their soldiers from leaving the
that he is the same who was soon after sent to camp for provisions or forage, and frequently at'
Spain with an army to hold that province, while tacked their detachments with success, except, it is
Hasdrubal advanced into Italy (Liv. xxiii. 28); said, when they were commanded by Scipio. By
but this is a mere conjecture. It is remarkable these means he became an object of terror to the
that the Himilco just referred to, though entrusted Romans, and contributed greatly to the success of
with so important a'command, is not again men- the Carthaginian army under Hasdrubal, especially
tioned in history; at least there are no sufficient on occasion of the march of Manilius upon Negrounds for identifying him with any of those here- pheris. But in the course of this irregular warfare
after enumerated. having accidentally fallen in with Scipio (at that
8. An officer in the army of Hannibal, who re- time one of the tribunes in the Roman army), he
duced the town of Petelia in Bruttium (B. c. 216), was led by that officer into a conference, in which
after a siege of several months' duration, during Scipio induced him to abandon the cause of Carwhich the inhabitants had suffered the greatest thage as hopeless, and desert to the Romans. This
extremities of famine. (Liv. xxiii. 20, 30.) This resolution he put in execution on occasion of the
conquest is ascribed by Appian (Annib. 29) to second expedition of Manilius against Nepheris
Hanno, who, in fact, held the chief command in (B. C. 148), when he went over to the enemy, carBruttium at this time. rying with him the greater part of the troops under
9. Commander of the Carthaginian forces in his command. He was sent by Manilius with
Sicily during a part of the second Punic war. He Scipio to Rome, where the senate rewarded -him