Harmonia (died 215 BC), was a Sicilian princess, daughter of

Gelo Gelon also known as Gelo (Greek: Γέλων ''Gelon'', ''gen.'': Γέλωνος; died 478 BC), son of Deinomenes, was a Greek tyrant of the Sicilian cities Gela and Syracuse, and first of the Deinomenid rulers. Early life Gelon was the son o ...

, the son of King

Hiero II of Syracuse Hiero II ( el, Ἱέρων Β΄; c. 308 BC – 215 BC) was the Greek tyrant of Syracuse from 275 to 215 BC, and the illegitimate son of a Syracusan noble, Hierocles, who claimed descent from Gelon. He was a former general of Pyrrhus of Epirus and ...

. She was the wife of Themistius.

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 ...

's history records that during the Second Punic War, the people of Syracuse 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 Valerius Maximus () was a 1st-century Latin writer and author of a collection of historical anecdotes: ''Factorum ac dictorum memorabilium libri IX'' ("Nine books of memorable deeds and sayings", also known as ''De factis dictisque memorabilibus'' ...

, 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; *

, ''Ab Urbe Condita''
Livy's History of Rome Book 24
Chapters 24-29. *

, ''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