Imilce
Wife of Punic general Hannibal
Imilce or Himilce was the Iberian wife of Hannibal Barca according to a number of historical sources.
01History
Livy records that Hannibal married a woman from Castulo, a powerful Iberian city allied with Carthage. The Roman poet Silius Italicus identifies this woman as Imilce. Silius suggests a Greek origin for Imilce, but Gilbert Charles-Picard argued for a Punic heritage based on an etymology from the Semitic root m-l-k ('chief', 'king'). Silius also suggests the existence of a son, who is otherwise not attested by Livy, Polybius, or Appian. The son is thought to have been named Haspar or Aspar. According to Silius, during the Punic wars Hannibal tearfully sent Imilce and their son back to Carthage for their safety. Some historians have questioned the historicity of this event and suggested that it is an imitation of Pompey sending his wife away to Lucca for her safety during military conflict.
02Cultural depictions
Imilce is honored in Baeza, Andalusia with a statue as part of the Fuente de Los Leones (meaning Fountain of the Lions).
Sources and credits
This article is adapted from the Wikipedia article “Imilce”, written by its contributors and licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Fathomly has changed the layout, removed citation markers, navigation and maintenance notices, and adjusted punctuation. This adapted version is shared under the same license. For references, see the original article.
Images, from Wikimedia Commons:
- Himilce, princesa de Cástulo (Baeza).jpg by Jl FilpoC, CC BY-SA 4.0
- Himilce (20230324 155313).jpg by P4K1T0, CC BY-SA 4.0
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