3-041-203 - Heritage Art/Heritage Images

Agathocles Orders His Wife and Children to Flee to Egypt; Des cas des nobles hommes et femmes, about 1413-1415. Additional Info: With tear-filled eyes, the bedridden Agathocles, king of Sicily, orders his wife to leave him and return to Egypt with their two children. Despite his earlier struggles to reach the throne, a true rags-to-riches story, he nobly cried not for the loss of his kingdom but for his family. Though born the son of a potter, Agathocles had used his charm, political savvy, and ruthlessness to become tyrant of Syracuse and self-styled king of Sicily. When he suffered a painful and debilitating illness during a struggle against Carthage, he was concerned that his family would be murdered, imprisoned, or enslaved in a struggle of succession for the throne after his death.