The family’s first member of any note was a minor noble named Tancred, whose children and other descendents played important roles in the formation of the kingdom of Sicily, the Crusades and ever in English history.
Heiponion: A city of ancient Bruttium. Ancient name for Vibo Valentia.
Hellenistic period: Greek chronological term; in Sicily and Southern Italy it lasted from 323 to 241 BC.
Henry VI: (b.1165; d: near Messina, 1197). Holy Roman Emperor (r1190-1197). King of Sicily (r 1194-1197). He was the son of Emperor Frederick I “Barbarossa” and Beatrice (Beatrix) of Burgundy. Elected as King of the Romans at the age of 4, he succeeded his father as Emperor in 1190. Through his wife Constance, daughter of the late Roger II, he laid claim to the throne of Sicily when William II died. In 1191, upon being crowned at Rome, Henry made an unsuccessful attempt to invade the Sicilian kingdom. In 1193, he bribed Duke Leopold of Austria to turn his famous hostage, King Richard I of England, over to him. About a year later, Richard was freed after the payment of a huge ransom. Henry used this windfall to finance the creation of a new army and launched another expedition against Sicily. This time, Henry was successful and crowned king of Sicily at Palermo in 1194. He was the father of the famous Emperor Frederick II “the Great.”
Henry VII: King of Sicily (nominally king under his father, Frederick II) (r1212-1217).
Hephaestiades: See Aeoliae Insulae.
Heraclea: ancient Greek city, in Lucania, S Italy, not far from the Gulf of Tarentum (Taranto). There Pyrrhus defeated the Romans in 280 B.C. Bronze tablets giving Roman municipal laws were found nearby.
Heraclettus (Heraklettos, Heraclitus): (b. Tarentum; fl. late 4th century BC). Harpist. A member of Alexander the Great’s court, he was one of the performers at the mass-marriage ceremony at Susa in 324 BC.
Heraclia: (fl. 3rd century BC). Syracusan noblewoman. A daughter of Hieron II, she was the wife of Zoippos. In 214 BC, she, along with her sister Damarata, and mother Philitis, were murdered by a mob.
Herculaneum (mod. Ercolano): An ancient city of Campania, destroyed in AD 79 by the same eruption of Mt. Vesuvius that buried Pompeii. The city lay at the W base of the volcano and was buried by the pyroclastic material discharged during the eruption. The site of the city was not rediscovered until 1709.
Herculis promontorium: (mod. Capo Spartivento). A headland of Bruttium, it is the southernmost point on mainland Italy.
Herdonia (mod. Ordona): A town in ancient Apulia. It was destroyed by Hannibal during the Second Punic War, and its inhabitants were dispersed to Thurii and Metapontum. Although it was later rebuilt by the Romans, it remained a place of no consequence.
Hereditagium: A Late Latin term used in Neapolitan and Sicilian law, referring to something that is held by hereditary right.
Herennia Gens: An ancient Roman gens (or clan). Of Samnite origins, the Herennii had established themselves in Campania prior to the Samnite/Roman wars. Immigrating to Rome, they became an influential plebian house whose members distinguished themselves during the Samnite and Punic wars. They were the hereditary patrons of the Marii.
Hermocrates: (fl. late 5th century BC). Syracusan statesman and general. At the peace conference of Gela (424 BC), he warned the Sikels about dealing with the Athenians. Later at Syracuse (418-416 BC) he issued a similar warning about Athens. During the subsequent Athenian expedition against Syracuse, he played an important role in the city’s defense, serving as advisor (415), plenipotentiary general (414), and advisor to the Spartan general Gylippus (413). In 412 BC, he was sent as admiral to Asia. Following the battle of Cyzicus (410 BC), while still serving in this post, he was exiled in absentia by the radical democracy led by his enemy Diolcles, which had taken power in Syracuse. Thanks to a financial gift from Pharnabazus, the Persian satrap of either Dascylium or Hellespontine Phrygia, Hermocrates returned to Sicily with a private army. He moved to the western part of the island, seizing control of Selinus, and using it as a base to raid Carthaginian territory. After his attempt to win amnesty from Syracuse failed in 408 BC, he attempted to seize control of that city with the help of local supporters. Among the latter was Dionysius I, the future tyrant. Hermocrates’s attack, however, failed and led to his death. It is uncertain whether he planned to set up a tyranny himself although he was known to be a strong opponent of radical democracy.