Hanno

Hanno, the name of a large number of Carthaginian soldiers and statesmen. Of the majority little is known; the most important are the following1:—

1\. Hanno, Carthaginian navigator, who probably flourished about 500 B.C. It has been conjectured that he was the son of the Hamilcar who was killed at Himera (480), but there is nothing to prove this. He was the author of an account of a coasting voyage on the west coast of Africa, undertaken for the purpose of exploration and colonization. The original, inscribed on a tablet in the Phoenician language, was hung up in the temple of Melkarth on his return to Carthage. What is generally supposed to be a Greek translation of this is still extant, under the title of Periplus, although its authenticity has been questioned. Hanno appears to have advanced beyond Sierra Leone as far as Cape Palmas. On the island which formed the terminus of his voyage the explorer found a number of hairy women, whom the interpreters called Gorillas (Γορίλλας).

Valuable editions by T. Falconer (1797, with translation and defence of its authenticity) and C. W. Müller in Geographici Graeci minores, i.; see also E. H. Bunbury, History of Ancient Geography, i., and treatise by C. T. Fischer (1893), with bibliography.

2\. Hanno (3rd century B.C.), called “the Great,” Carthaginian statesman and general, leader of the aristocratic party and the chief opponent of Hamilcar and Hannibal. He appears to have gained his title from military successes in Africa, but of these nothing is known. In 240 B.C. he drove Hamilcar’s veteran mercenaries to rebellion by withholding their pay, and when invested with the command against them was so unsuccessful that Carthage might have been lost but for the exertions of his enemy Hamilcar (q.v.). Hanno subsequently remained at Carthage, exerting all his influence against the democratic party, which, however, had now definitely won the upper hand. During the Second Punic War he advocated peace with Rome, and according to Livy even advised that Hannibal should be given up to the Romans. After the battle of Zama (202) he was one of the ambassadors sent to Scipio to sue for peace. Remarkably little is known of him, considering the great influence he undoubtedly exercised amongst his countrymen.

Livy xxi. 3 ff., xxiii. 12; Polybius i. 67 ff.; Appian, Res Hispanicae, 4, 5, Res Punicae, 34, 49, 68.

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1 For others of the name see Carthage; Hannibal; Punic Wars. Smith’s Classical Dictionary has notices of some thirty of the name.

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