๐ค๐ค๐ค๐ค๐ค๐ค๐ค
Bomilcar
d. c. 308 BCE ยท Carthage
Name
- Punic
- Bod-Milkat ๐ค๐ค๐ค๐ค๐ค๐ค๐ค
- Greek
- ฮฮฟฮผฮฏฮปฮบฮฑฯ
- Latin
- Bomilcar
Bod-Milkat combines the Punic prefix bd ("by the hand of, in the service of") with Melqart, the patron deity of Tyre and Carthage, yielding "by the hand of Melqart." A common Carthaginian name borne by several distinct historical figures.
Carthaginian commander during the Agathocles crisis. With most of Carthage's experienced field force in Sicily under Hamilcar son of Gisco when Agathocles landed in Africa in 310 BCE, Bomilcar took field command against the Greek invader. He suffered defeats, conspicuously at White Tunis shortly after Agathocles's landing, and shortly thereafter, with the city in panic, attempted a coup against the Carthaginian government. The attempt failed: Diodorus (20.43โ44) preserves an extended and theatrical account of the coup, in which Bomilcar marched his troops into the city only to be abandoned by his supporters when the citizenry rallied. He was captured, tortured, and crucified in the Carthaginian agora. The episode is one of the few internal Carthaginian political events of this period preserved in any detail and offers a rare glimpse of the city's politics under crisis.