The Family of Hamilcar Barca and Hannibal of Carthage

I had considered writing about one of a number of political topics that have been on my mind lately, or perhaps my long-planned essay on critical thinking (also related to politics, among many other things), but instead I decided to take a break from the modern world and write about ancient history instead. For some reason, when I first became fascinated with ancient history at the age of seven, I latched onto the story of Hannibal and his native city of Carthage in particular, reading pretty much every book I could find on the subject. Today I thought I’d write about a topic that even books on Hannibal rarely spend much time on (probably due to a lack of information), namely his family – not just his relatively well-known father and brothers, but other relatives who receive passing mention in the ancient sources.

The great Carthaginian general Hannibal, whose most notable achievement was crushing a series of Roman armies (particularly in the Battle of Cannae, the worst defeat Rome ever suffered until late Imperial times) and almost putting an end to Rome’s rise to power, but who is probably best known for taking war elephants along on his march over the Alps, was born in about 247 BCE. He was the son of Hamilcar Barca, who commanded the Carthaginian forces in Sicily in the last years of the First Punic War between Rome and Carthage. It is not certain whether “Barca” (which means “lightning” or “thunderbolt”) was a nickname applied only to Hamilcar or was used by the rest of his family as a type of family surname (in any event, there is as far as I know no evidence that the similarity between this name and that of the town Barca in Cyrenaica was anything other than a coincidence). On the latter assumption, in modern histories Hannibal is sometimes referred to as Hannibal Barca and his brothers are sometimes called Hasdrubal Barca and Mago Barca, but whether any contemporaries would have referred to them this way is unknown. The family is collectively called the Barcids by modern historians, though this term was a later invention. In any case, for the sake of convenience, I’ll also use the terms Barcid and, where necessary to distinguish any of the brothers from other Carthaginians of the same name, Barca.

Today, Hamilcar Barca is perhaps the second best known Carthaginian after his son, and the outlines of his career following his appointment to the command in Sicily, which occurred in about 247 BCE, up to his death in battle in Iberia (modern Spain) in 229 BCE are fairly well documented. Despite this, there is much we don’t know about him. Even the date of his birth is uncertain, though it is generally estimated that he was born in the 270s BCE (Cornelius Nepos, cited below, says that he was a young man when he took command in Sicily - "admodum adulescentulus in Sicilia praeesse coepit exercitui", a phrase which seems to have been left out of the English translation linked to below). However, I came across one piece of information about him that for some reason no modern historian I’ve read mentions. According to 1st century BCE historian Cornelius Nepos (this is possibly an abridgement of his work by 4th century CE writer Aemilius Probus, as there is seemingly some dispute about the authorship of some of the work attributed to Nepos), Hamilcar was “the son of Hannibal”. While when I first noticed this statement, I wondered if it was a typo or a mistake by the transcriber for “father of Hannibal”, a comparison with the Latin, even by a non-Latin speaker such as myself, shows that in the Latin Nepos also calls Hamilcar the son of Hannibal; Hamilcar is “Hannibalis filius” and his son Hannibal is “Hamilcaris filius”. I’m not sure why this little tidbit of biographical information on the Barcid family has been universally ignored. Perhaps some historians don’t consider it reliable, as it could be a mistake that crept into the text over the centuries. But given the apparent propensity for Carthaginians to reuse the same handful of names, it seems completely plausible that Hamilcar Barca’s father was indeed named Hannibal, and so the famous Hannibal was named after his paternal grandfather. Unfortunately, we know absolutely nothing about grandfather Hannibal except his name. It seems at least possible that one of the earlier Carthaginian commanders named Hannibal could have been this father of Hamilcar (say, for instance, the Hannibal who commanded at Mylae and was by one account later crucified by his own officers in Sardinia after a second defeat), but as far as I know there is no additional evidence that would help identify him.

Hamilcar Barca had three sons, Hannibal, Hasdrubal and Mago. A few modern historians say there was a fourth son named Hanno, and often identify him with the Hanno left by Hannibal in charge of Carthaginian forces between the Ebro and the Pyrenees. Though apparently one ancient writer, Valerius Maximus, did claim Hamilcar had four sons whom he referred to as his “lion’s brood”, he seemingly did not name them, and neither Polybius nor Livy, who frequently refer to Hannibal’s brothers Hasdrubal and Mago, mention a brother named Hanno. It is Polybius who says the officer left in charge north of the Ebro was named Hanno, but he doesn’t identify him as Hannibal’s brother. So the evidence seems to favor there being only three brothers, Valerius Maximus notwithstanding. All three played prominent roles in the Second Punic War between Carthage and Rome, though only Hannibal was consistently successful until his defeat in the final battle at Zama, and only he survived the war, though Mago died only shortly before the end, on his way back to Africa from Italy, from a wound suffered in a battle just before his departure. Hasdrubal had been killed in the Battle of the Metaurus, which had ended the last hope of a Carthaginian victory.

Hamilcar also had several daughters, though none of them is identified by name in any ancient source, and it’s not entirely clear how many there were of them. Chronologically speaking, the earliest mention of a daughter was in Polybius’s account of the Mercenary War (also called the Truceless War) between Carthage on one side and its rebellious mercenary soldiers and Libyan subjects on the other. A Numidian chief named Naravas offered his assistance to Hamilcar in his fight against the mercenaries, and according to Polybius Hamilcar was so pleased with Naravas’s assistance in battle that he promised to give him his daughter in marriage. Then when Hamilcar went to Iberia to expand Carthaginian power there, his chief naval officer and eventual successor was his son-in-law Hasdrubal. Finally, the 2nd century CE historian Appian claims in his account of Cannae that the Carthaginian officer Hanno who commanded the Numidian cavalry at Cannae was Hannibal’s nephew (Appian, Hannibalic War, 20). Since Polybius in an earlier part of his account (3.42.6) refers to one of Hannibal’s chief officers as Hanno, the son of Bomilcar the Suffete, it is often assumed that Bomilcar was another son-in-law of Hamilcar Barca. Thus, on the surface it would seem that Hamilcar had at least three daughters. However, there are a number of questionable assumptions involved in this count, so it’s worth looking at each of these supposed marriage relationships in turn.

First of all, Polybius only mentions Naravas a few times during his account of the Mercenary War and then makes no further reference to him, so it’s not at all clear that the marriage between him and Hamilcar’s daughter (whose name Polybius doesn’t give in the single mention he makes of her) ever took place. It’s possible that Navaras died, either later in the war or for other reasons, before the marriage could take place, and it’s also possible that Hamilcar reneged on his offer. Of course it’s also quite possible that the marriage took place; one argument in favor of it at least being a serious offer leading to a formal betrothal if not a marriage is the mere fact that Polybius mentions it, proving that it became widely known enough for Polybius’s source to be aware of it. Nevertheless, it is impossible to be certain that a marriage did take place, and if so how long it lasted. If no marriage took place or if it did but Naravas died not long afterward, it’s even conceivable that the daughter who married Hasdrubal was the same daughter who had been promised to Naravas. Another question the marriage offer gives rise to is how old Hamilcar’s daughter was at the time. I’m not aware of any definitive information on the ages at which Carthaginians typically got married, though if they were similar to many other pre-modern societies, it was likely to be quite young, at least for the women. Nevertheless, if Hamilcar had a daughter of marriageable age in about 238 BCE, she would have to have been born prior to 250 BCE, which unless he had children at the age of twenty or less, would in turn imply that Hamilcar was born by the mid 270s BCE or earlier. Of course, it is also possible that the daughter was not yet of marriageable age when Hamilcar made the offer, and that the actual marriage, if it happened at all, took place a few years later. In any event, there are a lot of unknowns involved. French writer Gustave Flaubert was able to take advantage of this to write an entire novel with this daughter of Hamilcar, who he named Salammbô, as the central character, but basically everything about her except her engagement to Naravas was his invention.

One marriage of a daughter of Hamilcar Barca that we can be certain did take place was the one that made Hasdrubal into Hamilcar’s son-in-law. But even here there’s a lot of uncertainty when it comes to details. For one thing, it is not clear when Hasdrubal married Hamilcar’s daughter, whose name again is not mentioned by any ancient historian. The only certainty is that it took place before Hamilcar’s death in 229 BCE. But it seems at least possible that it didn't occur until after Hamilcar, seemingly with Hasdrubal accompanying him, went to Spain in 237 BCE, though it seems more likely that it occurred just before their departure. Livy actually implies that Hasdrubal, who some accounts refer to as Hasdrubal the Fair due to his supposed beauty, had a homosexual relationship with Hamilcar, saying he “is said to have become a favorite of Hamilcar's owing to his personal beauty as a boy”, only later becoming his son-in-law (Nepos mentions this rumor as well, though he expresses some doubt about its veracity) and he goes on to imply that after Hasdrubal had become the Carthaginian commander in Iberia, that he requested Hannibal be sent to join him in part out of similar motives. But the generally more reliable Polybius makes no such hints, and Livy’s story about Hasdrubal requesting Hannibal join him seemingly contradicts the story first related by Polybius that Hamilcar agreed to take Hannibal with him to Spain back in 237 BCE after the boy swore on an altar never to be a friend of the Romans (later accounts exaggerated this into swearing enmity or eternal hatred), though it’s possible Hannibal could have returned to Carthage at some point in the intervening years. Regardless of the nature of the relationship between the three men and whether they all three were in Spain the entire time, it’s also unclear where the marriage between Hasdrubal and Hamilcar’s daughter took place, and whether she joined him in Spain either before or after the marriage. It’s also unknown whether the couple had children and when she died, though seemingly she didn’t long outlive her father, as Hasdrubal made a marriage alliance with a powerful Iberian tribe during his years in command (a bigamous marriage seems relatively unlikely, given the high rank of both women).

Finally, there is the question of Hanno. It certainly seems logical to assume that the Hanno son of Bomilcar mentioned by Polybius (and Livy as well) in the account of Hannibal’s crossing of the Rhone is the same one that Polybius says (3.114) commanded the Numidians on the Carthaginian right flank at Cannae, and most likely also the same one as the Hanno who Hannibal delegated to command separate Carthaginian forces in southern Italy in the years after Cannae. But was he really Hannibal’s nephew? It seems that only Appian, who doesn’t say he was the son of Bomilcar, made such a claim. Neither Polybius nor Livy ever say anything about Hanno being a relative of Hannibal. Appian is not considered particularly reliable by modern historians. Lazenby, for instance, is critical of his account of Cannae and Gregory Daly, for one, specifically expresses doubt about his identification of Hanno as Hannibal’s nephew, cautiously concluding that Hanno "may have been Hannibal's nephew". Basically, the case for Hamilcar having a daughter who married Bomilcar the Suffete and was the mother of Hannibal’s officer Hanno comes down to three assumptions: 1. Polybius is correct in saying Hanno was the son of the suffete Bomilcar. 2. The Hanno who led the troops at the Rhone is the same one who led the Carthaginian right at Cannae. 3. Appian is correct in saying that the Hanno who led part of the Carthaginian army at Cannae (though he says the left, not the right) was Hannibal's nephew. All three of these assumptions would have to be true, and while the first two seem likely, the third is at best uncertain.

If Hanno the son of Bomilcar was indeed the nephew of Hannibal, this would have other implications. Even with a bit of nepotism involved, it seems unlikely that Hannibal would have entrusted such an important operation as the command of the ambush force in the Rhone crossing to someone under twenty years old, and so it is probable that Hanno son of Bomilcar was born by 240 BCE at the latest. His mother would then probably have been born by 255 BCE, if not earlier, which if she was Hamilcar’s daughter would in turn imply that he was born in the early 270s BCE or before (which would contradict Nepos's statement that he was "very young" when he took command in Sicily). Granted, look at individually, it doesn’t seem too unlikely that Hamilcar had his first child by the age of twenty and that his daughter gave birth to her first before she was fifteen, but again, unless all three of these assumptions are true (that both Hamilcar and his daughter had their first children at a fairly young age and Hanno likewise received an important command at a relatively young age), Hamilcar would have to have been born somewhat earlier than is generally thought to be the case. In any event, if Hanno’s mother was indeed Hamilcar Barca’s daughter, she would have to be the oldest of the ones we know of, as she would have already given birth to Hanno before her sister was promised to Naravas or her other sister married Hasdrubal. Indeed, it is the difficulty in accounting for the relative ages of Hamilcar Barca, Hannibal, and Hanno son of Bomilcar, along with the failure of Polybius to mention any relationship, that leads the writer of the entry on Hanno son of Bomilcar in The Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology to conclude that the statement that Hanno was Hannibal's nephew is "improbable".

Whether or not Hanno was Hamilcar Barca’s grandchild, he certainly had at least one. According to Livy, the Numidian king Oezacles was married to "a noble Carthaginian, daughter of Hannibal's sister" (Livy 29.29). After her first husband’s death, Mazaetullus, who had seized power by defeating Oezacles’s eldest son Capussa and making himself the guardian of Oezacles’s younger son, the boy Lacumazes, cemented his power by marrying her. Not long afterwards (these events all took places in about 205 or 204 BCE), Masinissa, son of Gala (the elder brother and predecessor of Oezacles) defeated the boy king and his guardian, and though they initially fled to Carthaginian territory, he soon after persuaded them to surrender to him. Mazaetullus was given his original lands back, but the fate of his wife is not mentioned. And naturally, the brief mention of her by Livy gives rise to several other questions. Who was her mother? Was she the child of the daughter of Hamilcar who (perhaps) married Naravas or perhaps of Hasdrubal and his wife? If Hanno was truly Hannibal’s nephew, then the wife of Oezacles could have been his sister. Or possibly her mother was some otherwise unknown sister of Hannibal. Another question is whether Oezacles’s sons were her children, or were progeny from a previous marriage. It seems plausible that at least Lacumazes, who was only a boy when his father died, was her son. If so, given that Lacumazes survived Masinissa’s takeover (unless the latter disposed of him later), it’s possible that Hamilcar had descendants among the Numidian royal family.

Yet another relative of Hamilcar and Hannibal was mentioned by Livy in his description of an event earlier in the war. When the Carthaginian admiral Hasdrubal the Bald was defeated and captured in Sardinia in 215 BCE, one of the other Carthaginian captives was someone named Mago, "a member of the family of Barca and closely related to Hannibal" (Livy 23.41). Unfortunately, this is the only mention Livy makes of him, so it is impossible to tell exactly how he was related to Hamilcar and Hannibal. Perhaps he was the son of a brother of Hamilcar and so Hannibal’s first cousin. His fate is likewise unknown, though it is possible that he was returned to Carthage in a later prisoner exchange, since we know such exchanges occasionally took place (Lucius Cincius Alimentus, a Roman historian used as a source by Livy and most likely Polybius as well, was a prisoner of Hannibal at some point in the war but was presumably exchanged).

Finally, there is Hannibal’s wife and possible son. We know from Livy that Hannibal married an Iberian princess from Castulo (24.41). The 1st century CE poet Silius Italicus in his epic poem on the Second Punic War names her as Imilice and says they had a son who was sent off to Carthage with Imilice at the outbreak of the war. But as Lazenby notes, Silius Italicus frequently invented names and people in his poem, which often had little connection to history (and is apparently considered one of the worst surviving pieces of Latin literature). No other writer mentions the name of Hannibal’s wife or says that he had any children. This doesn’t mean that he didn’t, but certainly there is no reliable evidence that he did.

As far as I can ascertain, this is the sum total of our knowledge of the family of Hamilcar Barca and Hannibal. While much is known about Hannibal and a fair amount about Hamilcar Barca and his other two sons, Hasdrubal and Mago, next to nothing is known about any of the other members of the family. As noted above, it’s possible that descendants of the Barcids survived into later centuries through Oezacles’s widow, or perhaps through other members of the family, even Hannibal himself (though this is less likely), but unless further evidence, such as an inscription or a manuscript of the histories of Sosylos or Silenos (both of whom accompanied Hannibal), is somehow discovered, we will probably never know anything more about this famous Carthaginian family.