During the siege of Tunis in October 238 BC a rebel army under Mathos was besieged by a Carthaginian force under Hamilcar Barca and Hannibal. The Carthaginian army, which had served on Sicily during the First Punic War, mutinied in late 241 BC in the wake of Carthage's defeat, starting the Mercenary War. After three years of increasingly bitter war, the Carthaginians defeated the rebel field army at the Battle of the Saw, capturing its leaders. The Carthaginians then moved to besiege the rebels' strongest remaining stronghold at Tunis.
The Carthaginian commander, Hamilcar, split his forces to blockade the rebels from both north and south. At the northern camp, commanded by his subordinate Hannibal, he had the ten captured rebel leaders tortured to death and their bodies crucified before returning to his own base to the south of Tunis. Mathos organised a night attack against Hannibal's camp, which took the ill-disciplined Carthaginian defenders by surprise. It scattered their army, and Hannibal and 30 Carthaginian notables were captured. They were tortured, mutilated and crucified while still living. Hamilcar withdrew to the north with the remaining half of his army. Despite having broken the siege, Mathos abandoned Tunis and withdrew south. Hamilcar and fellow general Hanno followed the rebels and in late 238 BC wiped them out at the Battle of Leptis Parva.
The First Punic War was fought between Carthage and Rome, the two main powers of the western Mediterranean in the 3rd century BC, and lasted for 23 years, from 264 to 241 BC. After immense materiel and human losses on both sides, the Carthaginians were defeated,[1][2] and agreed the Treaty of Lutatius.[3] While the war with Rome was being played out, the Carthaginian general Hanno led a series of campaigns that greatly increased the area of Africa controlled by Carthage. Hanno was rigorous in squeezing taxes out of the newly conquered territory in order to pay for both the war with Rome and his own campaigns.[4] Across the Carthaginian possessions in Africa, half of all agricultural output was taken as war tax, and the tribute previously due from towns and cities was doubled. These exactions were harshly enforced, causing extreme hardship in many areas.[5][6]
After the conclusion of the war in Sicily the Carthaginian army of 20,000 men there was evacuated in detachments to Carthage. Rather than promptly paying the several years' back pay they were owed and hurrying them home, the Carthaginian authorities decided to wait until all of the troops had arrived and then attempt to negotiate a settlement at a lower rate.[7][8] Freed of their long period of military discipline and with nothing to do, the men grumbled among themselves and refused all attempts by the Carthaginians to pay them less than the full amount due. Eventually, they forcibly took over the city of Tunis. Panicking, the Carthaginian Senate agreed to payment in full. The discontent seemed to have abated when discipline broke down. Several soldiers insisted that no deal with Carthage was acceptable, a riot broke out, dissenters were stoned to death, the Carthaginian negotiators were taken prisoner and their treasury was seized.[9][10][11]
Spendius, an escaped Roman slave who faced death by torture if he were recaptured, and Mathos, a Berber dissatisfied with Hanno's attitude towards tax raising from Carthage's African possessions, were declared generals. The news of a formed, experienced, anti-Carthaginian army in the heart of its territory spread rapidly and many cities and towns rose in rebellion. Provisions, money and reinforcements poured in; eventually an additional 70,000 men according to the ancient Roman historian Polybius, although many would have been tied down in garrisoning their home towns against Carthaginian retribution.[9][10][11][12] The pay dispute had become a full-scale revolt. The three years of war that followed are known as the Mercenary War and threatened Carthage's existence as a state.[13][14]
War
Main manoeuvres during the Mercenary War
Mathos ordered two groups of rebels north to blockade the two main cities–other than Carthage–that had not already come over: the major ports of Utica and Hippo (modern Bizerte).[15] Hanno, as the commander of Carthage's African army, took the field with an army of 8,000–10,000 men and 100 war elephants.[16] Most of the Africans in his force remained loyal; they were accustomed to acting against their fellow Africans. His non-African contingent also remained loyal. An unknown number of Carthaginian citizens were incorporated into this army.[17]
In early 240 BC Hanno was defeated while attempting to raise the siege of Utica at the Battle of Utica.[18] For the rest of the year Hanno skirmished with the rebel force, repeatedly missing opportunities to bring it to battle or to place it at a disadvantage; the military historian Nigel Bagnall writes of Hanno's "incompetence as a field commander".[19][20] At some point during 240 BC the Carthaginians raised another army, of approximately 10,000. It included deserters from the rebels, 2,000 cavalry, and 70 elephants, and was placed under the command of Hamilcar Barca,[note 1] who had previously led the Carthaginian forces in Sicily.[19]
Hamilcar defeated a large rebel force at the Battle of the Bagradas River and then brought various towns and cities which had gone over to the rebels back to Carthaginian allegiance with varying mixtures of diplomacy and force. He was shadowed by a superior-sized rebel force under Spendius, which kept to rough ground for fear of the Carthaginians' cavalry and elephants, and harried his foragers and scouts.[22][23] Meanwhile, Hanno manoeuvred against Mathos to the north near Hippo.[24] South west of Utica Hamilcar moved his force into the mountains in an attempt to bring the rebels to battle,[6] but was surrounded. He was only saved from destruction when an African leader, Naravas, who had served with and admired Hamilcar in Sicily, swapped sides with his 2,000 cavalry.[25][26] This proved disastrous for the rebels, and in the resulting battle they lost 10,000 killed and 4,000 captured.[27]
Truceless War
Since leaving Carthage, Hamilcar had treated rebels he had captured well and offered them a choice of joining his army or free passage home. He made the same offer to the 4,000 captives from the recent battle.[27] Spendius perceived this generous treatment as the motivation behind Naravas's defection and feared the disintegration of his army; he was aware that such generous terms would not be extended to the rebel leaders. To remove the possibility of any goodwill between the sides, he had 700 Carthaginian prisoners tortured to death: they had their hands cut off, were castrated, their legs broken and were thrown into a pit and buried alive. The Carthaginians, in turn, killed their prisoners. From this point, neither side showed any mercy, and the unusual ferocity of the fighting caused Polybius to term it the "Truceless War".[25][28] Any further prisoners taken by the Carthaginians were trampled to death by elephants.[29][30]
At some point between March and September 239 BC the previously loyal cities of Utica and Hippo slew their Carthaginian garrisons and joined the rebels. Mathos and the rebels previously operating in the area moved south and joined their comrades in Tunis.[31] Having a clear superiority in cavalry, Hamilcar raided the supply lines of the rebels around Carthage.[28] In early 238 BC the lack of supplies forced Mathos to lift the close siege of Carthage; he maintained a more distant blockade from Tunis.[28][32]
While Mathos maintained the blockade, Spendius led 40,000 men against Hamilcar. After a period of campaigning, the details of which are not clear in the sources, the Carthaginians pinned the rebels in a pass or against a mountain range known as the Saw. Trapped in the mountains and with their food exhausted, the rebels ate their horses, their prisoners and then their slaves, hoping that Mathos would sortie from Tunis to rescue them. Eventually, the surrounded troops forced their leaders, including Spendius, to parley with Hamilcar, who, on a thin pretext, took them prisoner. The Carthaginians then attacked the leaderless, starving rebels with their whole force, led by their elephants, and massacred them to a man in the Battle of the Saw.[33][34]
Opposing armies
Carthaginian armies were nearly always composed of foreigners; citizens only served in the army if there was a direct threat to the city of Carthage. Roman sources refer to these foreign fighters derogatively as "mercenaries", but the historian Adrian Goldsworthy describes this as "a gross oversimplification". They served under a variety of arrangements; for example, some were the regular troops of allied cities or kingdoms seconded to Carthage as part of formal arrangements.[35] The majority of these foreigners were from North Africa.[13]
Libyans provided close-order infantry equipped with large shields, helmets, short swords and long thrusting spears; as well as close-order shock cavalry carrying spears[note 2] (also known as "heavy cavalry")–both were noted for their discipline and staying power. Numidians provided light cavalry who threw javelins from a distance and avoided close combat, and javelin-armed light infantryskirmishers.[37][38] Both Spain and Gaul provided experienced infantry; unarmoured troops who would charge ferociously, but had a reputation for breaking off if a combat was protracted.[37] Specialist slingers were recruited from the Balearic Islands.[37][39] The close-order Libyan infantry and the citizen militia would fight in a tightly packed formation known as a phalanx.[38] Sicilians and Italians had also joined up during the war to fill the ranks.[16] The Carthaginians frequently employed war elephants; North Africa had indigenous African forest elephants at the time.[note 3][42][43]
At Tunis, the Carthaginians had approximately 20,000 men and the rebel army was roughly the same size.[44]
After their victory at the Saw the Carthaginians marched on the main rebel force at Tunis around October 238 BC, accepting the surrender of many towns and villages on the way.[45] The city was difficult to access; the sea lay to the east, while an approach from the west was hampered by a large salt marsh. Hamilcar occupied a position to the south with half the army, and his deputy Hannibal[note 4] was to the north with the balance. The historian Dexter Hoyos notes that this is difficult to explain: Hamilcar was dividing his forces in the face of an equally large enemy army and he risked defeat in detail. In addition, the rebels' camp was outside of Tunis to the north and the salt marsh and the hilly terrain made speedy mutual support by Hannibal and Hamilcar impossible. Hoyos suggests that situated in fortified camps and fresh from their victory at the Saw, Hamilcar and Hannibal were confident of victory, and that they believed that their elephants and their cavalry superiority would continue to deter any rebel attack.[46]
Hamilcar then travelled to the northern camp with the ten rebel leaders captured at the Saw. There they were tortured and mutilated in a similar way to the 700 Carthaginian prisoners and their bodies crucified to the south of the camp, in clear sight of the rebels' camp. Observers were encouraged to travel from Carthage to view the bodies, a concrete sign of the successes of their generals. Hamilcar, satisfied that the constant sight of their dead leaders would complete the demoralisation of the rebels, returned to his camp to the south.[47]
Instead, the reminder that they would receive no mercy from the Carthaginians steeled the rebels for desperate measures. Hamilcar kept his force at a high state of readiness, in case of a rebel assault. Hannibal was more confident and laxer in ensuring that his men were effective in their patrols and sentry duties. Observing this, Mathos determined to strike north in an attempt to break the siege. He organised a large-scale night attack. Although only a part of the rebel army participated, it surprised the Carthaginians and their northern camp was overrun. They suffered heavy casualties in dead and captured and lost all of their baggage and most of their troops' personal equipment.[48] In addition, Hannibal and a delegation of 30 Carthaginian notables who were visiting the army were captured.[49]
Mathos removed his colleagues' bodies from their crosses for burial. Hannibal and the 30 senior Carthaginians were brutally tortured and then crucified, still breathing; Hannibal was nailed to the cross previously occupied by Spendius. They were then killed as part of Spendius's funeral rites.[49] When news reached Hamilcar of the attack, he set out to support Hannibal, but returned once he heard that the northern camp had been overrun. With half of his army lost and no blocking force to the north of the rebel camp his position was untenable. He abandoned the siege and withdrew to the north.[50][51] Mathos let him go unmolested, possibly because he was afraid to oppose the Carthaginian elephants in an open battle.[52]
Aftermath
Despite the siege being lifted, few supplies arrived and Mathos decided that he could not maintain his position. He led the army 160km (100mi) south to the wealthy port city of Leptis Parva (just south of the modern city of Monastir, Tunisia). This was the capital of the prosperous Byzacium region and had risen against Carthage earlier in the war.[50] Hanno and Hamilcar marched after the rebels with an army totalling over 25,000 men, including every Carthaginian citizen of military age,[53] and a large number of war elephants.[54] At the ensuing Battle of Leptis Parva the rebels were crushed, with few losses to the Carthaginians.[53][55] In a change of policy, prisoners were taken, which probably helped to ensure that there was no desperate last stand. Captives were sold into slavery.[56] Mathos was also captured, and he was dragged through the streets of Carthage and tortured to death by its citizens.[57]
Most of the towns and cities which had not already come to terms with Carthage now did so, with the exceptions of Utica and Hippo, whose inhabitants feared vengeance for their massacre of Carthaginians. They attempted to hold out, but Polybius says that they too "quickly" surrendered, probably in late 238 BC or very early 237 BC.[58] The surrendered towns and cities were treated leniently, although Carthaginian governors were imposed on them.[59]
↑ "Shock" troops are those trained and used to close rapidly with an opponent, with the intention of breaking them before or immediately upon contact.[36]
↑ These were typically about 2.5-metre-high (8ft) at the shoulder, and should not be confused with the larger African bush elephant.[40] The sources are not clear as to whether they carried towers containing fighting men.[41]
↑ Not to be confused with Hannibal Barca, of Second Punic War fame.
Hoyos, Dexter (2000). "Towards a Chronology of the 'Truceless War', 241–237 B.C.". Rheinisches Museum für Philologie. 143 (3/4): 369–380. JSTOR41234468.
Koon, Sam (2015) [2011]. "Phalanx and Legion: the "Face" of Punic War Battle". In Hoyos, Dexter (ed.). A Companion to the Punic Wars. Chichester, West Sussex: John Wiley. pp.77–94. ISBN978-1-1190-2550-4.
Scullard, H. H. (2006) [1989]. "Carthage and Rome". In Walbank, F. W.; Astin, A. E.; Frederiksen, M. W. & Ogilvie, R. M. (eds.). Cambridge Ancient History: Volume 7, Part 2, 2nd Edition. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. pp.486–569. ISBN0-521-23446-8.
The First Punic War was the first of three wars fought between Rome and Carthage, the two main powers of the western Mediterranean in the early 3rd century BC. For 23 years, in the longest continuous conflict and greatest naval war of antiquity, the two powers struggled for supremacy. The war was fought primarily on the Mediterranean island of Sicily and its surrounding waters, and also in North Africa. After immense losses on both sides, the Carthaginians were defeated.
The Punic Wars were a series of wars between 264 and 146BC fought between Rome and Carthage. Three conflicts between these states took place on both land and sea across the western Mediterranean region and involved a total of forty-three years of warfare. The Punic Wars are also considered to include the four-year-long revolt against Carthage which started in 241BC. Each war involved immense materiel and human losses on both sides.
The Second Punic War 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 Italy and Iberia, but also on the islands of Sicily and Sardinia and, towards the end of the war, in North Africa. After immense materiel and human losses on both sides, the Carthaginians were once again defeated. Macedonia, Syracuse and several Numidian kingdoms were drawn into the fighting, and Iberian and Gallic forces fought on both sides. There were three main military theatres during the war: Italy, where Hannibal defeated the Roman legions repeatedly, with occasional subsidiary campaigns in Sicily, Sardinia and Greece; Iberia, where Hasdrubal, a younger brother of Hannibal, defended the Carthaginian colonial cities with mixed success before moving into Italy; and Africa, where Rome finally won the war.
Hamilcar Barca or Barcas was a Carthaginian general and statesman, leader of the Barcid family, and father of Hannibal, Hasdrubal and Mago. He was also father-in-law to Hasdrubal the Fair.
The Battle of Zama was fought in 202 BC in what is now Tunisia between a Roman army commanded by Scipio Africanus and a Carthaginian army commanded by Hannibal. The battle was part of the Second Punic War and resulted in such a severe defeat for the Carthaginians that they capitulated, while Hannibal was forced into exile. The Roman army of approximately 30,000 men was outnumbered by the Carthaginians who fielded either 40,000 or 50,000; the Romans were stronger in cavalry, but the Carthaginians had 80 war elephants.
The Mercenary War, also known as the Truceless War, was a mutiny by troops that were employed by Carthage at the end of the First Punic War (264–241 BC), supported by uprisings of African settlements revolting against Carthaginian control. It lasted from 241 to late 238 or early 237 BC and ended with Carthage suppressing both the mutiny and the revolt.
The Battle of the Bagradas River was fought between a Carthaginian army led by Hamilcar Barca and a rebel force led by Spendius in 240 BC in what is now north-east Tunisia. Carthage was fighting a coalition of mutinous soldiers and rebellious African cities in the Mercenary War, which had started late the previous year in the wake of the First Punic War. The rebels were blockading Carthage and besieging the northern ports of Utica and Hippo. A Carthaginian army commanded by Hanno had attempted and failed to relieve Utica early in 240 BC. A second army was assembled in Carthage and entrusted to Hamilcar, who had commanded Carthaginian forces on Sicily for the last six years of the First Punic War.
The battle of Adys took place in late 256 BC during the First Punic War between a Carthaginian army jointly commanded by Bostar, Hamilcar and Hasdrubal and a Roman army led by Marcus Atilius Regulus. Earlier in the year, the new Roman navy had established naval superiority and used this advantage to invade the Carthaginian homeland, which roughly aligned with modern Tunisia in North Africa. After landing on the Cape Bon Peninsula and conducting a successful campaign, the fleet returned to Sicily, leaving Regulus with 15,500 men to hold the lodgement in Africa over the winter.
The Battle of Utica took place early in 240 BC between a Carthaginian army commanded by Hanno and a force of rebellious mutineers possibly led by Spendius. It was the first major engagement of the Mercenary War between Carthage and the combined forces of mutinous ex-Carthaginian troops and rebellious African cities which broke out in the wake of the First Punic War. Both sides were routed during the course of the battle, which ended with the rebels occupying the field but was strategically inconclusive.
The Battle of the Saw was the culminating battle of a campaign fought between a Carthaginian army led by Hamilcar Barca and a rebel force led by Spendius in 238BC in what is now northern Tunisia. Carthage was fighting a coalition of mutinous soldiers and rebellious African cities in the Mercenary War which had started in 241BC. The rebels had been besieging Carthage while the Carthaginian field army under Hamilcar raided their supply lines. Under this pressure the rebels pulled back to their base at Tunis and despatched their own army to prevent Hamilcar's activities and, ideally, destroy his army.
The Battle of Ibera, also known as the Battle of Dertosa, was fought in the spring of 215 BC on the south bank of the Ebro River near the town of Ibera and was part of the Second Punic War. A Roman army, under the command of the brothers Gnaeus and Publius Scipio, defeated a similarly sized Carthaginian army under Hasdrubal Barca. The Romans, under Gnaeus Scipio, had invaded Iberia in late 218 BC and established a foothold after winning the Battle of Cissa. This lodgement, on the north-east Iberian coast, between the Ebro and the Pyrenees, blocked the route of any reinforcements from Iberia for the army of Hannibal, who had invaded Italy from Iberia earlier in the year. Hasdrubal attempted to evict the Romans in 217 BC, but this ended in defeat when the Carthaginian naval contingent was mauled at the Battle of Ebro River.
The battle of the Great Plains was fought in 203 BC in modern Tunisia between a Roman army commanded by Publius Cornelius Scipio, and allied Carthaginian and Numidian armies commanded by Hasdrubal Gisco and Syphax respectively. The battle was part of the Second Punic War and resulted in a heavy defeat for Carthage.
The Battle of Cirta was fought in 203 BC between an army of largely Masaesyli Numidians commanded by their king Syphax and a force of mainly Massylii Numidians led by Masinissa, who was supported by an unknown number of Romans under the legate Gaius Laelius. It took place somewhere to the east of the city of Cirta and was part of the Second Punic War. The numbers engaged on each side and the casualties suffered are not known.
The battle of Utica was fought in 203 BC between a Roman army commanded by Publius Cornelius Scipio and the allied armies of Carthage and Numidia, commanded by Hasdrubal Gisgo and Syphax respectively. The battle was part of the Second Punic War and resulted in a heavy defeat for Carthage.
Hamilcar's victory with Naravas took place in 240 BC in what is now north-west Tunisia. A Carthaginian army led by Hamilcar Barca defeated a rebel army led by Spendius and Autaritus, after 2,000 Numidian cavalry led by Naravas defected from the rebels to Carthage. The precise location of the battle is unknown. Carthage was fighting a coalition of mutinous soldiers and rebellious African cities in the Mercenary War which had started in 241BC.
Mathos was a Libyan from the North African possessions of Carthage and was recruited into the Carthaginian Army during the First Punic War at some point prior to 241 BC. Mathos's date of birth is unknown, as are most details of his activities prior to his coming to prominence as a low-ranking officer in 241 BC.
Gisco was a Carthaginian general who served during the closing years of the First Punic War and took a leading part in the events which sparked the Mercenary War. He was a citizen of the city state of Carthage, which was located in what is now Tunisia. His date of birth and age at death are both unknown, as are his activities prior to his rise to prominence towards the end of the First Punic War.
The Battle of Leptis Parva was fought in 238 BC between a Carthaginian army of over 30,000 commanded by Hamilcar Barca and Hanno, and approximately 20,000 mutinous Carthaginian soldiers and North African rebels under Matho in the North African province of Byzacium. The battle was the final major conflict of the Mercenary War and resulted in a decisive victory for the Carthaginians.
Hasdrubal was a Carthaginian general who served during the middle years of the First Punic War, fought between Carthage and Rome, and took a leading part in three of the four major field battles of the war. He was a citizen of the city state of Carthage, which was in what is now Tunisia. His date of birth and age at death are both unknown, as are his activities prior to his coming to prominence in 255 BC. Modern historians distinguish him from other Carthaginians named Hasdrubal by the cognomen "son of Hanno".
Spendius was a former Roman slave who led a rebel army against Carthage, in what is known as the Mercenary War. He escaped or was rescued from slavery in Campania and was recruited into the Carthaginian Army during the First Punic War at some point prior to 241 BC. Spendius's date of birth is unknown, as are most details of his activities prior to his coming to prominence as a mutineer in 241 BC. After the First Punic War, Carthage attempted to pay its soldiers less than the full amount due to them before demobilising them. Spendius faced death by torture if he were returned to Roman authority and took a dim view of the increasingly warm relationship between Carthage and Rome. He came to the fore as a member of the army most vocal in resisting Carthaginian efforts to settle the dispute. When the disagreement broke down into a full-scale mutiny in late 241 BC he was elected co-general with the African Mathos by his fellow mutineers. Mathos spread the news of the mutiny to the main African settlements under Carthaginian suzerainty and they rose in rebellion. Provisions, money and 70,000 reinforcements poured in. For four years Spendius led a rebel army against Carthage, in what is known as the Mercenary War, with mixed success.
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