422 HISTORY OF GREECE. the interior, into which he advanced as far as several days' -•^aarch. But he was recalled by intelligence from his soldiers at Tunes, that the Carthaginians had inarched out again to attack them, and had already retaken some of his conquests. Return- ing suddenly by forced marches, he came upon them by surprise, and drove in their advanced parties with considerable loss ; while he also gained an important victory over the Libvan prince Elymas, who had rejoined the Carthaginians, but was now defeated and slain. ^ The Carthaginians, however, though thus again humbled and discouraged, still maintained the field, strongly entrenched, between Carthage and Tune;;. Meanwhile the affairs of Agathokles at Syracuse had taken a turn unexpectedly favorable. He had left that city blocked up partially by sea and with a victorious enemy encamped near it ; so that supplies found admission with difficulty. In this condi- tion, Hamilkar, commander of the Carthaginian army, received from Carthage the messengers announcing their recent defeat in Africa ; yet also bringing tl)e brazen prow ornaments taken from the ships of Agathokles. He ordered the envoys to con- ceal the real truth, and to spread abroad news that Agathokles had been destroyed with his armament ; in proof of which he produced the prow ornaments, — an undoubted evidence that the ships had reaUy been destroyed. Sending envoys with these evidences into Syracuse, to be exhibited to Antander, and the other authorities, Hamilkar demanded from them the surrender of the city, under promise of safety and favorable terms ; at the same time marching his army close up to it, with the view of making an attack. Antander with others, believing the infor- mation and despairing of successful resistance, Avere disposed to comply ; but Erymnon the -tEtolian insisted on holding out until vol. ii. p. 454 seqq. Even at tlie commencement of the third Punic war, when Carthage was so much reduced in power, she had still three hundred cities in Libya (Strabo, xvii. p. 833). It must be confessed that the name cities or towns (-o/.ei^) was used by some authors very vaguely. Thus Posidonius ridiculed tha affirmation of Polybius (Strabo. iii. p. 162), that Tiberius Gracchus had destroyed three hundred Tr6'Aei( of the Celtiberians; Strabo censures others who spoke of one thousand tt. P.cif of the Iberians Such a number could only be made good by includinf large Kujiai. iDiodor. xx. 17, 18.
