Aristomachus (or Aristomachos) was an

ancient Greek Ancient Greek includes the forms of the Greek language used in ancient Greece and the ancient world from around 1500 BC to 300 BC. It is often roughly divided into the following periods: Mycenaean Greek (), Dark Ages (), the Archaic p ...

leader of the popular party at Croton, in the Hannibalian war, about 215 BC. At that time nearly all the towns of southern Italy were divided into two parties, the people being in favour of the

Carthaginians The Punic people, or western Phoenicians, were a Semitic people in the Western Mediterranean who migrated from Tyre, Phoenicia to North Africa during the Early Iron Age. In modern scholarship, the term ''Punic'' – the Latin equivalent of the ...

, and the nobles or senators in favour of the

Romans Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy * Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *''Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a lette ...

. The

Bruttians The Bruttians (alternative spelling, Brettii) ( la, Bruttii) were an ancient Italic people. They inhabited the southern extremity of Italy, from the frontiers of Lucania to the Sicilian Straits and the promontory of Leucopetra. This roughly corresp ...

, who were in alliance with the Carthaginians, had hoped to gain possession of Croton with their assistance. As this had not been done, they determined to make the conquest by themselves. A deserter from Croton informed them of the state of political parties there, and that Aristomachus was ready to surrender the town to them. The Bruttians marched with an army against Croton, and as the lower parts, which were inhabited by the people, were open and easy of access, they soon gained possession of them. Aristomachus, however, as if he had nothing to do with the Bruttians, withdrew to the

arx Arx, ARX, or ArX may refer to: *ARX (Algorithmic Research Ltd.), a digital security company *ARX (gene), Aristaless related homeobox *ARX (operating system), an operating system *ArX (revision control), revision control software *Arx (Roman), a Ro ...

, where the nobles were assembled and defended themselves. The Bruttians in conjunction with the people of Croton besieged the nobles in the arx, and when they found that they made no impression, they applied to

Hanno the Elder Hanno ( xpu, 𐤇𐤍𐤀 , ) was a Carthaginian general serving under Mago Barca in the Second Punic War. He is sometimes mistaken for Hanno, son of Bomilcar.Lazenby, J.F, ''Hannibal's War'', p. 95-96William Smith, ''Dictionary of Greek and Roman B ...

for Carthaginian assistance. He proposed to the Crotoniats to receive the Bruttians as colonists within the extensive but deserted walls of their city. But all the Crotoniats, with the exception of Aristomachus, declared that they would rather die than submit to this. As Aristomachus, who had betrayed the town, was unable to betray the arx also, he saw no way but to take to flight, and he accordingly went over to Hanno. The Crotoniats soon after quitted their town altogether and migrated to

Locri Locri is a town and ''comune'' (municipality) in the province of Reggio Calabria, Calabria, southern Italy. Its name derives from that of the ancient Greek region of Locris. Today it is an important administrative and cultural centre on the Ion ...

Livy Titus Livius (; 59 BC – AD 17), known in English as Livy ( ), was a Roman historian. He wrote a monumental history of Rome and the Roman people, titled , covering the period from the earliest legends of Rome before the traditional founding in ...

XXIV 2, 3.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Aristomachus of Croton 3rd-century BC Greek people Year of birth unknown Magna Graecians Ancient Crotonians