Harmonia (died 215 BC), was a
Sicilian princess, daughter of
Gelo, the son of King
Hiero II of Syracuse. She was the wife of Themistius.
Livy's history records that during the
Second Punic War
The Second Punic War (218 to 201 BC) was the second of three wars fought between Carthage and Rome, the two main powers of the western Mediterranean in the 3rd century BC. For 17 years the two states struggled for supremacy, primarily in Ital ...
, the people of
Syracuse
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*Syracuse, Sicily, or spelled as ''Siracusa''
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rebelled against the royal family. The young king Hiero was murdered along with Themistius and Andronodorus, sons-in-law of Gelo and Hiero. The angry crowd then murdered the wives of Themistius and Andronodorus. Then with drawn swords they attacked the daughters of Hiero, Damarata and Heraclia, killing them both.
They then went looking for Harmonia to finish their deeds. With the clever thinking on the part of Harmonia's nurse and protector, she found a girl that was of the same age and looks of Harmonia that was willing to go along with a ruse to protect the life of Harmonia. The nurse dressed her up in royal attire and made ready for the assassins. The girl did not object to the stratagem and was more than willing to sacrifice her life for the princess. When the assassins saw her they quickly finished her off with their daggers and swords. Harmonia watching the murder take place from her safe hiding place had mixed emotions of the event. She was elated by the courage of the girl, but devastated by her death. Harmonia burst into tears and committed suicide.
According to
Valerius Maximus, Harmonia did not commit suicide, but to prove the same courage as the girl, she went in front of the murderers, saying she was the real princess, and was also killed.
References
*Virginia Brown's translation of Giovanni Boccaccio’s Famous Women, pp 139 – 140; Harvard University Press, 2001;
*
Livy, ''Ab Urbe Condita''
Livy's History of Rome Book 24Chapters 24-29.
*
Valerius Maximus, ''Factorum et dictorum memorabilium libri''
iii.2.ext.9
{{Authority control
3rd-century BC Greek women
3rd-century BC Syracusans
215 BC deaths
Ancient suicides