Philinus of Agrigentum (3rd-century BCE) was a historian who lived during the

First Punic War The First Punic War (264–241 BC) was the first of three wars fought between Rome and Carthage, the two main powers of the western Mediterranean in the early 3rd century BC. For 23 years, in the longest continuous conflict and grea ...

, who is said to have written history from a pro-Carthaginian standpoint. His writings were used as a source by

Polybius Polybius (; grc-gre, Πολύβιος, ; ) was a Greek historian of the Hellenistic period. He is noted for his work , which covered the period of 264–146 BC and the Punic Wars in detail. Polybius is important for his analysis of the mixed ...

and

Diodorus Diodorus Siculus, or Diodorus of Sicily ( grc-gre, Διόδωρος ; 1st century BC), was an ancient Greek historian. He is known for writing the monumental universal history ''Bibliotheca historica'', in forty books, fifteen of which su ...

for their descriptions of the First Punic War.Polybius
1:14-15
/ref> Although Polybius uses Philinus' writings, he also accuses him of being biased and inconsistent. Philinus maintained that the initial

Roman 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 letter ...

intervention in

Sicily (man) it, Siciliana (woman) , population_note = , population_blank1_title = , population_blank1 = , demographics_type1 = Ethnicity , demographics1_footnotes = , demographi ...

at the start of the First Punic War violated a treaty between Rome and Carthage from 306 B.C.E. which recognized Roman sovereignty on the Italian peninsula and Carthaginian control in Sicily. Polybius was unable to find this treaty in the treasury of the aediles in the

Temple of Jupiter Optimus Maximus The Temple of Jupiter Optimus Maximus, also known as the Temple of Jupiter Capitolinus ( la, Aedes Iovis Optimi Maximi Capitolini; it, Tempio di Giove Ottimo Massimo; ) was the most important temple in Ancient Rome, located on the Capitoline ...

alongside other treaties between Rome and Carthage, and claimed that it could not have existed. However, evidence from

Servius Servius is the name of: * Servius (praenomen), the personal name * Maurus Servius Honoratus, a late fourth-century and early fifth-century grammarian * Servius Tullius, the Roman king * Servius Sulpicius Rufus, the 1st century BC Roman jurist See ...

suggests that there may have been a real treaty, thereby potentially exonerating Philinus' account. There is, as yet, little scholarly consensus about this treaty nor has Philinus' account been thoroughly proven or disproven.

Citations

3rd-century BC Greek people 3rd-century BC historians Ancient Acragantines People of the First Punic War Hellenistic-era historians Historians from Magna Graecia {{Greece-historian-stub