Hampsicora
a Sardinian chief, who, after the battle of Cannae (B. C. 216), entered into secret negotiations with the Carthaginians, inviting them to send over a force to Sardinia, to recover that important island front the dominion of Rome. His overtures were eagerly listened to, and Hasdrubal, surnamed the Bald, dispatched with a fleet and army, to support the intended revolt.
But before the arrival of Hasdrubal, and while Hampsicora himself was engaged in levying troops in the interior of the island, his son Hiostus rashly allowed himself to be led into an engagement with the Roman praetor, T. Manlius, in which he was defeated, and his forces dispersed.
The arrival of Hasdrubal for a moment changed the face of affairs, but he and Hampsicora having advanced with their united forces against Caralis, the capital of the Roman province, they were met by Manlius, when a decisive battle took place, in which the Romans were completely victorious. Hiostus fell in the action, and Hampsicora, who had made his escape from the field of battle, on learning the death of his son, put an end to his own life.
These events occurred in the summer of B. C. 215. (
Liv. 23.32,
40,
41.)
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E.H.B]
