Page 654 Agathecles presently sent against him Pasiphilus and Demophilus with Five thousand Men, who fought with the Refugees; whose Captains were Dinocrates and Philonides, who commanded separately in the two Wings. The Battel was doubtful for a long time together, while both Armies obstinately stood to it Tooth and Nail: But Philonides, one of the Captains, being slain, that Wing fled, and Dinocrates was thereupon forc'd likewise to give Ground, and Pasiphilus kill'd many of them in the Pursuit, and recover'd Galaria, and put to Death the Authors of the Defection.
Agathocles receiving Intelligence of what was done, resolv'd to fall upon the Carthaginians with his whole Army, who had then possess'd themselves of the Hill in Geloa, call'd E •••mes. To that end, without any further Delay he made up to them, and as soon as he came near, offer'd them Battel, being puff'd up with the Success of his late Victory. But the Barbarians durst not engage, and thereupon (supposing he was absolute Master of the Field without sighting) he return'd to Syracuse, and adorn'd the chiefest Temples there with the Spoils. And these were the Actions of this Year as far forth as is needful for us to give an Account.
Cassander, Ptolemy, and Lysimachus, make Peace with Antigonus. Cassander murders Rhoxana and her Son. The Governors take the Stile of Kings upon them. The Carthaginians raise Forces against Agathocles. Four thousand Geloans murder'd by Agathocles. The Battel between Agathocles and Amilcar the Carthaginian at Himera. Agathocles routed. Several Cities revolt from Agathocles.
WHen Simonides was Lord-Chancellor of Athens, and the Romans had created MarcusValerius and Publius Decius Consuls, Cassander, Ptolemy, and Lysimachus, made Peace with Antigonus, the Form of which was put into Writing, and contain'd the Terms following: That Cassander should be the Sovereign Lord of all in Europe, till Alexander the Son of Rhoxana came of full Age: That Lysimachus should have the chief Command in Thrace: Ptolemy should enjoy the Sovereign Power in Egypt, and the bordering Cities in Arabia and Africa: That Antigonus should be Lord of all Asia; And the Greeks should Govern according to their own Laws. But these Conditions they observ'd not long; but every one took one Occasion or other to incroach upon more than his Part came to.
Cassander seeing that Alexander the Son of Rhoxana now grew up towards Man's Estate, and hearing how it was the Discourse of some throughout all Macedonia, That it was now fit the young Man should be freed from his Prison, and assume the Government of his Father's Kingdom into his own hands; out of fear of being supplanted, commanded Glaucias the Keeper to murder both Rhoxana and the King, and to hide their Bodies when he had done, and by all means possible conceal their Deaths. This he effectually executed, and so by this means Cassander, Lysimachus, Ptolemy, and Antigonus himself, were freed from all Grounds of Fear upon the account of the King. For now all the Seed Royal being extinct, and no Successor remaining, every one of the Captains that had possess'd themselves of Provinces or Cities, took upon themselves the Titles and Stiles of Kings; and every one claim'd the Province, of which he was Governor, as a Conquer'd Kingdom. And thus stood the Affairs in Asia, Europe, Greece, and Macedonia.
In Italy, the Romans march'd with a great Body of Horse and Foot against Pollitium, a City of the Marucci; where they remov'd part of the Citizens, and made them a new Colony, giving them Interamna (as it's call'd) to inhabit.
In Sicily, the Power of Agathocles increas'd every day, his Forces growing stronger and stronger: Whereupon the Carthaginians being inform'd, that he had gain'd almost all the Towns and Cities through the Island, and that their Captains and Commanders there were not able to deal with him, they resolv'd to pursue the War with more Vigour. To this end they forthwith provided a Fleet of a Hundred and thirty Sail of Men of War, and made Amilcar (a Person of eminent Quality) General. and deliver'd to him Two thousand Soldiers rais'd out of the City, amongst whom, many were Men of Note: Out of Afric •, Ten thousand; from Tyrrhenia, a Thousand Mercenaries and Two