Heracleides ( grc, Ἡρακλείδης), also knows as Heracleides of Tarentum ( grc, Ἡρακλείδης ὁ Ταραντῖνος) (fl. 212–199 BC) 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 peri ...

architect from

Tarentum Tarentum may refer to: * Taranto, Apulia, Italy, on the site of the ancient Roman city of Tarentum (formerly the Greek colony of Taras) **See also History of Taranto * Tarentum (Campus Martius), also Terentum, an area in or on the edge of the Camp ...

Magna Graecia Magna Graecia (, ; , , grc, Μεγάλη Ἑλλάς, ', it, Magna Grecia) was the name given by the Romans to the coastal areas of Southern Italy in the present-day Italian regions of Calabria, Apulia, Basilicata, Campania and Sicily; these re ...

who later served as a counselor and military commander under king

Philip V of Macedon Philip V ( grc-gre, Φίλιππος ; 238–179 BC) was king ( Basileus) of Macedonia from 221 to 179 BC. Philip's reign was principally marked by an unsuccessful struggle with the emerging power of the Roman Republic. He would lead Macedon ag ...

. 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 architect Heracleides had been entrusted with some repairs of the walls of

(at the time controlled by 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 ...

), when he was accused of intending to betray the city to 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 ...

. In consequence of this charge he fled from his home town, and took refuge in the Roman camp, but was soon suspected of having opened secret negotiations with

Hannibal Hannibal (; xpu, 𐤇𐤍𐤁𐤏𐤋, ''Ḥannibaʿl''; 247 – between 183 and 181 BC) was a Carthaginian general and statesman who commanded the forces of Carthage in their battle against the Roman Republic during the Second Puni ...

and the Carthaginian garrison. After this double treachery he thought it prudent to quit

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...

and repaired to the court of Philip V of

Macedon Macedonia (; grc-gre, Μακεδονία), also called Macedon (), was an ancient kingdom on the periphery of Archaic and Classical Greece, and later the dominant state of Hellenistic Greece. The kingdom was founded and initially ruled by ...

. There, by his ability and cunning, he made himself useful to the king as a convenient tool for carrying into execution the most nefarious schemes, and ultimately rose to a high place in his favour and confidence. He is said to have especially gained these by the address with which, pretending to have been ill-used and driven into banishment by Philip, he ingratiated himself with the Rhodians, and succeeded in setting fire to their arsenal, and burning great part of their fleet. It is not difficult to believe that a man who had risen to power by such arts as these should have abused it when attained: and we are told that he made use of his influence with the king to get rid of all those that were opposed to his views, and even induced him to put to death five of the leading members of his council of state at once. But by these and other such measures he rendered Philip so obnoxious to his subjects, that the king at length found himself obliged to yield to the popular clamour, displaced Heracleides, whom he had not long before employed in the command of his fleet, and threw him into prison, in the year 199 BC. Whether he was subsequently put to death we are not informed.

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 ...

13.4, 5;

Diodorus Siculus 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 ...

''Exc. Vales.'' XXVIII'' pp. 572, 573;

Polyaenus Polyaenus or Polyenus ( ; see ae (æ) vs. e; grc-gre, Πoλύαινoς, Polyainos, "much-praised") was a 2nd-century CE Greek author, known best for his ''Stratagems in War'' ( grc-gre, Στρατηγήματα, Strategemata), which has been pr ...

5.17.2;

Livy Titus Livius (; 59 BC – AD 17), known in English as Livy ( ), was a Ancient Rome, 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 traditiona ...

31.16, 33, 46; 32.5.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Heracleides of Tarentum 3rd-century BC Greek people Year of birth unknown Magna Graecians Ancient Tarantines Ancient Macedonian admirals