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Barcids

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Notable family in the ancient city of Carthage

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Carthaginian coin depictingHasdrubal Barca (245-207 BC), younger brother ofHannibal Barca (247-c.182 BC)

ACarthaginian coin possibly depictingHannibal asHercules (i.e.Heracles)

TheBarcid (Punic:𐤁𐤓𐤒,romanized: baraq) family was a notable Punic (Phoenician) family in the ancient city ofCarthage; many of its members were fierce enemies of theRoman Republic. "Barcid" is an adjectival form coined by historians (cf. "Ramesside" and "Abbasid"); the actual byname was theNorthwest SemiticBarca orBarcas, which meanslightning (He ברק). Seeبرق,barq inArabic,berqa inMaltese,Akkadian (aka Assyrian, Babylonian,Barku) andNeo-Assyrian Syriac (Barkho).

Background

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During the 3rd century BC, the Barcids comprised one of the leading Phoenician families in the rulingoligarchy of Carthage. Realizing that the expansion of the Roman Republic into theMediterranean Sea threatened the mercantile power of Carthage, they fought in theFirst Punic War (264–241 BC) and prepared themselves for theSecond Punic War (218–201 BC).

The Barcids founded several Carthaginian cities in theIberian Peninsula (modernSpain andPortugal), some of which still exist today. Note for exampleMahón andQart Hadast (more famous under theLatin translation of its name: "Carthago Nova" or New Carthage) which currently bears the name ofCartagena in modern-day Spain. The name is also commonly given as an etymology for theCatalan city ofBarcelona.

Family members

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The known members of this family included the following.

The patriarch,Hamilcar Barca (275–228 BC), served as a Carthaginian general in theFirst Punic War (264–241 BC) and in the subsequentMercenary War (240–238 BC). Reputedly, he made his eldest son Hannibal swear a sacred oath upon an altar of the gods "to never be a friend of Rome". After the Roman victory, he expanded the colonial possessions inHispania (modernSpain andPortugal), where he drowned crossing a river.

Hamilcar Barca and his wife (name unknown) had six children. Their three sons each became famous military leaders in their own right. Their three daughters married Barcid family allies.

His eldest daughter (name unknown) marriedBomilcar, and became the mother ofHanno.
His 2nd-eldest daughter (name unknown), married Hasdrubal the Fair.
- Hasdrubal the Fair (c. 270–221 BC), Hamilcar's son-in-law, followed Hamilcar in his campaign against the governing aristocracy at Carthage at the close of the First Punic War, and in his subsequent career of conquest in Hispania. After Hamilcar's death (228 BC), Hasdrubal succeeded him in the command and extended the newly acquired empire by skillful diplomacy. He consolidated it with the foundation ofCarthago Nova, establishing it as the capital of the new province in Hispania. By a treaty with Rome, he fixed theEbro as the boundary between the two powers. He was killed by a Celtic assassin.
His youngest daughter (name unknown) marriedNaravas, aNumidian chieftain. Her supposed nameSalammbo is in fact^[1] the title of a book written byGustave Flaubert.
Hannibal (247–182 BC) oldest son of Hamilcar Barca, one of the best and most famous generals of classical antiquity, and arguably the greatest enemy of theRoman Republic. He won the famousBattle of Cannae (216 BC) but lost the crucialBattle of Zama (202 BC). Hannibal achieved popular fame for his crossing of the Alps with 60,000 soldiers and 38 elephants.
Hasdrubal (245–207 BC), the second son of Hamilcar Barca, defended the Carthaginian cities in Hispania as Hannibal departed to Italy in 218 BC. While leading reinforcements for his brother Hannibal in 207 BC, he was defeated and killed in the decisiveBattle of the Metaurus.
Mago (also spelledMagon) (243–203 BC), the third son of Hamilcar Barca, was present at most of the battles of his famous brother and played a key role in many of them, often commanding the forces that made the "decisive push".