Page 661 to give them a particular Account of every thing that had hapned. But before these Messengers reach'd the City, some out of the Country who had discern'd Agathocles his Fleet to be near at hand, presently ran to Carthage to give them an Account, who were thereupon so amaz'd with the surprizing news of such an unexpected accident, that they forthwith concluded that their Armies in Sicily were utterly cut off and destroy'd; for that it could not be that Agathocles, unless he were Victorious, would dare to leave Syracuse naked without any Garison, or pass over his Army when at the same time his Enemy was Master at Sea. The City therefore was in a great hurly burly, terror and confusion, and the People throng'd into the Market-place, and the Senate met together to consult what was fit to be done in the present Exigency: for they had no Army at hand wherewith to fight the Enemy; besides, the common Citizens being raw and ignorant in matters of War, were altogether heartless, and every body thought the Enemy was then just at their Walls. Some therefore were for sending Ambassadors to Agathocles to propose terms of Peace, who might likewise at the same time discover the posture of the Enemy. Others were for staying and expecting till they should have perfect intelligence of every thing that was done.
While the City was in this hurry and perplexity, arriv'd those that were sent from the Admiral of the Fleet, and declar'd to them all that was done: Whereupon, their Courage reviv'd; and the Senate blam'd all the Officers of the Fleet, that being Masters at Sea, they should be so careless as to suffer the Enemies Forces to make a Descent upon Africa; and they created Hanno and Bomilcar Generals of their Army, notwithstanding they were at private feuds between themselves, and that ancient grudges had been in their Families one towards another. For they thought that these private Quarrels would much tend to the common advantage of the City: But they were very much mistaken, For Bomilcar had for a long time been ambitious of the Monarchy, but never yet had an opportunity fitted for his purpose to put his Designs in execution, and therefore he greedily imbrac'd the offer of such a Command as was exactly agreeable to what he was aiming at: And the chief cause of these Plots and Contrivances of his, was the severity and cruelty of the Carthaginians: For they advance the most eminent Persons to be Generals in their Wars, because they conclude they'l fight with more Resolution then others, when all lies at stake: But after the Wars are ended and Peace concluded, then they bring false Accusations against them, and most unjustly, through Envy, put them to death: And therefore some Generals out of fear of those unjust Sentences, either give up their Commissions, or seek to be absolute Monarchs; as Bomilcar one of the Carthaginian Generals then did; of whom we shall speak by and by.
The Carthaginian Generals therefore seeing now that delays were dangerous, waited not for Soldiers to be rais'd out of the Country, and from the Cities of their Confederates, but led out the Citizens themselves into the Field, having under their Command no less than Forty thousand Foot, a thousand Horse, and Two thousand Chariots; and possessing themselves of a Hill not far from the Enemy, drew up in Batalia: Hanno commanded the Right Wing supported by them of the Sacred Brigade: Bomilcar the Lest, making his Phalanx very deep, because the nature of the place would not allow him to extend his wing further in front: The Chariots and Horsemen he plac'd in the Van, to the end, that with these at the first Charge they might try the Courage of the Greeks. Agathocles on the other side, viewing how the Barbarians had drawn up their Army, committed the Right Wing to Archagathus his Son, delivering to him Two thousand and five hundred Foot. Then he drew up about Three thousand and five hundred Syracusians: Next to them Three thousand Mercenaries out of Greece; and Lastly, Three thousand Samnites Tyrrhenians and Celts. He himself with the Troops of the Houshold, and a Thousand heavy Arm'd Men commanded in the Left Wing, opposite to the Carthaginians Sacred Brigade. The Archers and Slingers, to the number of Five hundred he mix'd here and there in the two Wings. The Truth was, his Soldiers were scarce all Arm'd; And therefore when he saw some of those that were naked and without Arms; he took the Covers and Cases of the Shields and stretcht them out upon Sticks in the round shape of a Shield, and so deliver'd 'em to them; however in truth useless, yet so contriv'd by him, to the end that those that were at a distance (and knew nothing of the Stratagem) should look upon them to be Arm'd Men.
Perceiving likewise, that the Spirits of his Soldiers were very low, and much discourag'd, by reason of the great numbers of their Enemies, especially of their Horse, he let out several Owls (which he had before prepar'd for the purpose) into divers parts of the Camp here and there, to rid them of their fears; which Birds flying up and down through the Army, and lighting ever and anon upon their Shields and Bucklers, chear'd
The Histories of Herodotus written in 440 BC is considered to be the founding work of history in Western literature. His history included stories and fables but he claimed to have traveled extensively and learned about many countries through direct observation.
The thesis of Stolen Legacy is that the Egyptians created what is wrongly called Greek philosophy. Dr. James argues that the African origin of Greek Philosophy is well known but rarely discussed. Ancient Greek historians such as Herodotus and Diodorus the Sicilian wrote in significant detail about the contributions of Egypt. Egyptian technology and libraries were unmatched and Greek philosophers such as Pythagoras and Plato studied there. The contribution of Africa to the intellectual foundation of modern knowledge is tremendous but unacknowledged.
The Library of History by Diodorus the Sicilian is one of the most highly regarded universal histories in antiquities. His work includes the history of Egypt, Asia, Africa, Greece and Europe. His book is a must read for research of ancient history.
Bible Study The King James Bible (kjv), World English Bible (web) and Bible in Basic English (bbe) are all examples of public domain books. The King James Bible (kjv) online uses the content from these books and open source software to enhance Bible study capabilities. The site includes the verse of the day, search tools, christian literature and links to related content. It demonstrates the use of open source to create a valuable service.