{{Short description|Wife of Punic general Hannibal}} {{Infobox person | name = Imilce | image = Himilce, princesa de Cástulo (Baeza).jpg | caption = Statue in Baeza named ''Himilce, princesa de Cástulo''. | native_name = | native_name_lang = | citizenship = | spouse = Hannibal Barca | children = Haspar Barca | mother = | father = | family = Barcids (by marriage) }} '''Imilce''' or '''Himilce''' was the Iberian wife of Hannibal Barca according to a number of historical sources. [[File:Himilce (20230324 155313).jpg|thumb|Mural portrait of Imilce in Cartagena, Spain]]
==History== Livy records that Hannibal married a woman from Castulo, a powerful Iberian city allied with Carthage.<ref name="brainfly1">{{cite web|url=http://www.brainfly.net/html/books/brn0131c.htm|title=''The History of Rome: Vol III''}}, by Livy</ref> The Roman poet Silius Italicus identifies this woman as Imilce.<ref>Silius Italicus, ''Punica'', III, 97</ref> Silius suggests a Greek origin for Imilce, but Gilbert Charles-Picard argued for a Punic heritage based on an etymology from the Semitic root m-l-k ('chief', 'king').<ref>Picard, Gilbert Charles (1967), ''Hannibal'' p. 119; https://docer.tips/charles-picard-gilbert-hannibal-h.html p. 72 (in Polish)</ref> Silius also suggests the existence of a son,<ref>Silius Italicus, ''Punica'', III, 63-64</ref> who is otherwise not attested by Livy, Polybius, or Appian. The son is thought to have been named Haspar or Aspar. According to Silius, during the Punic wars Hannibal tearfully sent Imilce and their son back to Carthage for their safety. Some historians have questioned the historicity of this event and suggested that it is an imitation of Pompey sending his wife away to Lucca for her safety during military conflict.{{cn|date=September 2022}}
== Cultural depictions == Imilce is honored in Baeza, Andalusia with a statue as part of the ''Fuente de Los Leones'' (meaning ''Fountain of the Lions'').
== See also == * List of the Pre-Roman peoples of the Iberian Peninsula * Carthaginian Iberia
== References == {{Reflist}}
Category:Hannibal Category:3rd-century BC women Category:2nd-century BC women Category:2nd-century BC Punic people Category:Carthaginian women Category:Iberians