BOMILCAR

Βομίλκας, (Βοαμίλκας).

1. A commander of the Carthaginians against Agathocles, when the latter invaded Africa, B. C. 310. In the first battle with the invaders, Bomilcar, his colleague Hanno having fallen, betrayed the fortune of the day to the enemy, with the view, according to Diodorus, of humbling the spirit of his countrymen, and so making himself tyrant of Carthage. (Diod. 20.10,12; comp. Arist. Polit. 5.11, ed. Bekk.) Two years after this, B. C. 308, after many delays and misgivings, he attempted to seize the government with the aid of 500 citizens and a number of mercenaries; but his followers were induced to desert him by promises of pardon, and he himself was taken and crucified. (Diod. 20.43, 44; Justin, 22.7.)