Rome's huge reserves of manpower made it possible to absorb appalling losses, but this in itself does not explain the willingness with which the population continued to be ready to serve in the war. The above is a very bare-boned account of the Mercenary War. Lappa In addition the Romans seem to have acknowledged the differences between the Italian Peninsula and lands separated from their own by sea. The indemnity was increased to 3,200 talents, 1,000 payable immediately and the remainder over ten years, which was perhaps a reflection of the desire for the State to repay the loans made for the construction of Rome's last fleet. On the island itself their strategy followed the traditional Carthaginian pattern of enduring the enemy onslaught and trying to maintain control of as many strongholds as possible, waiting for the enemy to weaken so that eventually the lost ground could be regained. The Mercenary War (c.240 BC) — also called the Libyan War and the Truceless War by Polybius — was an uprising of mercenary armies formerly employed by Carthage, backed by Libyan settlements revolting against Carthaginian control.. The Aetolians and Illyrians Invade Achaia, Why the Ancient Arcadians Turned to Music, Differences of Opinion Among the Lacedaemonians, the King Decides Not to Punish Rome 212, Beasts of Burden Used as a Defensive Wall, The Spoils of ... Polybius. Polybius commented that the war was, at the time, the most destructive in terms of casualties in the history of warfare, including the battles of Alexander the Great. Some pages have notes of the form "line X: A should read B," which I believe are Walbank's; they have "resp=fww". 204, Scipio Fears a Carthaginian Attack on the Fleet, Ptolemy Philopator, B.C. Only Claudius was prosecuted on the charge of perduellio (in a sense 'bringing the state into disrepute') for his behaviour at Drepana, but narrowly escaped condemnation and was instead found guilty of a lesser charge and fined.10 However, the subsequent arraignment of his sister suggests that the family was perceived to be politically vulnerable in the years immediately afterwards. Eventually, by 237, the rebel armies had all been defeated, the Libyan communities surrendered and the revolt collapsed. In the modern world, Africa has seen the most mercenary activity. Acts of Hostility Against Macedonia, Epirus Livy 42.29.5–7, , Josephus , AJ 12. , and Asia Become Interlaced, The Messenians Too Much Inclined to Peace, Restoration of Royalty In The proportion of multiple consulships was much the same in the decades before the war and may well be more a reflection of the politics of the day and the dominance of a few aristocratic families than a desire on the part of the electorate to choose experienced commanders during a hard war. Spain, Antiochus Moves from Punic Wars > Mercenary War. Iberia Hamilcar Barca, by brilliant maneuvering, defeated the combined rebel army. Since at least the late 19th century, several African colonies and states have employed foreign nationals to serve as mercenaries in the continent’s many bush wars. In fact, Hamilcar, eager to disassociate himself from any admission of defeat, acted through one of his subordinate officers, Gesgo. Polybius, who lived in a time of abundant destruction and bloodshed, remarked that this war "excelled all wars we know of in cruelty and defiance of principle. " Echinus But the history of mercenaries in the service of Carthage didn't end with the war. 18, 53, 54 A very few unidentified quotations are marked in notes with "resp=aem" (the markup editor) Citations are marked using Perseus abbreviations. Histories. Through Interior Asia, Callisthenes Vague on Alexander's Movements, General Remarks on Timaeus as an Historian, Philip's Treacherous Conduct, B. C. 210 And this war proved to be neither insignificant nor contemptible. However, multiple languages within an army could amplify tensions in period of negotiations with one employer, as, for example, during the Mercenary War in Carthage, where Polybius suggests that four or five different languages were spoken (1.67.9–10). 207 Pédech, P., La Méthode historique de Polybe (Paris, 1964), 141. Your current position in the text is marked in blue. They were not to recruit soldiers or raise money for the construction of public buildings in the territory of the other. Click anywhere in the Italy, Roman Camps Designed for Facility and Familiarity, The Cretan Constitution Compared to the Spartan, The Glorious Memory of Brave Men Kept Alive, Religion Keeps the Roman Commonwealth Together, Conclusion: Dangers Ahead for The annual replacement of Roman commanders may have meant that they were usually less experienced than their opponents, but it is hard to find clear examples of Zonaras' claim that this was the cause of numerous Roman defeats.7 All but two of the major battles fought on land and sea were Roman victories and it seems likely that most of their defeats were very small-scale affairs. Libya, Previous Histories of this March either False or Inconsistent, Cavalry Engagement on the Lacking a common language and without the unifying force of a Carthaginian command structure, the mercenaries at Sicca had fragmented into groups along ethnic lines. 186, 5 and finally as Strategus in B.C. to Claim Sardinia, This History is Not Difficult to Understand, The Consuls Set Out to Syracuse The final reason that Polybius gives us is the fact that Carthaginian enterprise in to Spain was so successful. This work is licensed under a The mercenary leader and skilled polyglot orator Autaritus is cited by Polybius as a chief instigator of this massacre. Coele-Syria, Previous "Universal" Histories Not Really Universal, Cleomenes Asks for Help from Further problems were caused by a divided command, similar to the appointment of three generals to lead the operations in 256-255. Cassius Dio, who lived centuries later, c 155 ACE (after Common Era) to c 235 ACE, told of these events with a few, significant, differences. The First Punic War (264 BC–241 BC), conducted by a network of alliances in Sicily, ended up with Rome prevailing over Carthage. Just about the same time they found themselves confronted by three enemies at once, their own mercenaries, the Numidians, and such Libyans as joined the former in their revolt. The most serious Roman losses were due to bad weather and not to enemy action. With very few exceptions the Libyan communities declared for the rebels and swelled the size of their forces. A shift in the political balance may explain the slight decline in the number of multiple consulships in the years between the First and Second Punic Wars. Eventually, probably in 237, the mutinous soldiers in Sardinia were expelled from the island by the native population and fled to Italy where they once again approached the Senate. Hamilcar Barca had led his army to Lilybaeum following the conclusion of the war with Rome, but had then surrendered his command and sailed back to Africa, full of contempt for what he believed to be an unnecessary peace. Cannae. This text was converted to electronic form by professional data entry, Running heads in Walbank's reprint have been converted to chapter titles, and titles have been added, usually from the marginal notes, for chapters without them. from areas controlled by Carthage. Carthage had been involved in sporadic conflict in Sicily for centuries before the Romans arrived, and if she had never gained full control of the island, neither had she been completely expelled. It took over three years to suppress the rebellion of former mercenaries and African subjects, who for this time ravaged the territory up to the walls of Carthage itself. -192, Antiochus in Arabia, B.C. Yet it was extremely difficult for squadrons of galleys to block a stretch of water and the Punic forces in Sicily in 264 were utterly inadequate to achieve such a quick victory over a Roman consular army. Perseus provides credit for all accepted Macedon, Messene Peloponnese, Surrender of Typanae and Great Sea-fight Off Chios Between Philip and the Allied Fleets of Attalus and Rhodes, B. C. However, the term 'mercenary' is misleading when applied to the African and Iberian recruits, i.e. Sempronius Plans to Attack, The Romans Retreat to 222 Mathos and Spendius were both eventually crucified, but so was Hannibal who had been captured in a night raid on his camp, whilst Gesgo and the other hostages were dismembered and tossed into a ditch where they bled to death. Hamilcar, in turn, killed his prisoners. An addendum note–Polybius is the nearest to a contemporary historian for these events. Byzantium Summaries of missing sections are encoded as inline notes with "resp=ess." Rome Therefore Catulus referred the terms back to Rome for approval. A Roman consul did not have the authority to conclude a final peace himself, since a treaty could only be ratified by the Roman People voting in the Comitia Centuriata, the same assembly which had the power to declare war. River, Embassy from Nor, subsequentiy, did it accept approaches from Utica for similar protection when this Libyan city finally abandoned its loyalty to Carthage and joined the rebels.15Instead it respected the protection offered to each sides' allies set down in the treaty of 241. Once there, each contingent should ideally have received their arrears of several years' backpay and been returned to their country of origin before the next group arrived, spreading the burden placed on the state treasury and preventing any problems arising from the presence of so many unruly foreign soldiers in Carthage at one time. after the Achaeans Take Argos, The Mantineans Turn Over their City to the Lacedaemonians, Fabius Pictor on the Cause of the Punic War, Hannibal Succeeds to Command in According to Polybius, there had been several trade agreements between Rome and Carthage, even a mutual alliance against Pyrrhus of Epirus. Spain, Scipio Suppresses A Mutiny in After the Second Punic War Carthage engaged in a conflict with mercenaries it couldn’t pay. -206. This was partly due to the more restricted theatre of operations in the First War, but also a reflection of the low casualty rate amongst Roman senior officers compared to the Hannibalic war. The bickering between Catulus and Falto occurred after their victory and had not apparently been reflected by any difficulties during the actual conduct of the campaign. Eryx, Why Apart from the decision to continue the struggle and send a large army to Sicily after Rome's defeat of Syracuse, the Carthaginian war effort was essentially passive, a series of reactions to Roman moves, all intended to protect their position in Sicily.6 Even when they sought to harass the enemy by raiding the Italian coast, the main objective was to draw Roman forces away from Sicily. : Philip V. Called In Against the Aetolians, Philopoemen in the Together the mercenaries seized the island and tried to make an alliance with Rome, rather as the Mamertines had once done. Drepana, Hamilcar Besieges the Romans at Sparta, The Wars in Sicily, History of Universal Supremacy Must Be a Universal History, Philip Takes Lissus in : Works of Art Taken To Rome, Cleomenes Tries to Take , Peloponnese, Popularity of Philip In the In addition, all Punic prisoners not yet ransomed according to the treaty of 241 were immediately returned without charge. The mercenary war, B. C. 241. Carthaginian rule had always been harsh and unpopular for the Libyan peasantry, but during the war with Rome the burdens of taxation and conscription had grown far worse. and into the Utica, Aftereffects in Hippo, Not uncharacteristically, the Roman People decided that the terms were too lenient and a senatorial commission was sent to Sicily to modify the treaty. Rome Saguntum, Treaties between Bruce Gibson wonders in chapter 8 (pp. and Byzantium Begins, Byzantium and Calchedon, Byzantium Hippo Zarytus They were especially bitter towards Hamilcar, who had made lavish promises of future reward during the operations in Sicily, only to abandon them to the whims of a government and generals they did not know. Greece with the additional restriction that you offer Perseus any modifications you make. Gesco was a Carthangian commander. and Philip V. in B. C. 205 ... Part 2 Mercenary War - 29 - Duration: 12:56. However, pitched land battles were rare during the conflict and it was the subtie manoeuvring in the days before these which offered most opportunity for a divided command to lead to confusion. Euphrates Philip V. Wages War with Attalus, King of Pergamum, and the Rhodians. The main rebel leaders were Mathos, a Libyan, and Spendius, an escaped Campanian slave who feared being returned to his former master for execution, supported by the Gaul Autariatus, the chieftain of a remarkably unreliable band of warriors. 161-179) why Polybius pays so much attention to the Mercenary War and comes to the conclusion that the account shows Carthage in a situation in which she was most threatened, an analogy to Rome’s situation after the battle of Cannae. Early in the war the Senate sent a Commission to Carthage following reports that Roman traders dealing with the rebels had been arrested or killed.13In fact, the merchants had merely been imprisoned and when the Carthaginians readily agreed to their repatriation the Romans responded warmly. The Romans were not like Pyrrhus, who would abandon his offensive when he failed to gain widespread support from the Greek communities of Sicily, nor was their power as precarious as that of the successive tyrants of Syracuse. is No Longer a Naval Power, Hamilcar Barcas Becomes Commander in Chief, Revolt of Rome, Even Hannibal Acknowledges the Spirit of the Romans, Treaty Between Hannibal and King Philip V. of Carthage, Treaties Between Rome and Sparta This was especially true of the admirals appointed to control the operations of the unprecedentedly large fleets which were formed on several occasions. b Neither side was to make war on the other's allies, nor seek to subvert their allegiance by allying with them directly or becoming involved in their internal affairs. Yet other defeated leaders escaped punishment and went on to hold further commands which suggests that political influence as much as actual responsibility determined their fate.9 The Romans were considerably more lenient towards their magistrates who had presided over disasters, awarding triumphs to successive admirals who had lost most of their fleets to bad weather. Force was combined with diplomacy, for instance when Navaras, a Numidian prince, offered to defect with his followers and was rewarded by marriage to Hamilcar's daughter. Hiero's Syracuse also made every effort to sell Carthage the supplies it needed for its war effort, although Polybius believed that in part this was to ensure that the city continued to exist as a balance to Roman power. A continuation of the war until one or the other side was destroyed as an independent political entity was simply not feasible. Click anywhere in the Following the disaster at Drepana in 249, the Senate certainly did select a commander on the basis of experience as well as his political influence, when it took the very rare step of appointing a military dictator to take charge of the operations in Sicily. Acarnania, Thebes It was an act as shamelessly opportunistic as the initial intervention in Sicily in 265, an injustice which highlighted Carthage's weakness and was to create a far greater legacy of bitterness and resentment towards Rome than the initial defeat of 241. 9.1", "denarius"). and has been proofread to a high level of accuracy. line to jump to another position: Robert B. Strassler provided support for entering this text. Like all Punic armies, the veterans from Sicily were a mixture of many races, Libyans, Gauls, Spaniards, Ligurians, Sicilian Greeks and half-breeds, runaway slaves and deserters. to Ptolemy, The Hannibalian War — The Recovery of Hamilcar Barca, whom Polybius considered the ablest commander on either side, displayed his talent in relatively low-level raiding and skirmishing. Understandably, the mercenaries who had fought loyally and well for their masters according to their contracts were reluctant to accept payment of less than their due and felt betrayed. 213, Bolis the Cretan Agrees to Rescue Achaeus, Fall of Phigalia, The People of Lepreum Evict the Garrisons, Chilon's Fruitless Attempts In Our sources do not explain why the Romans chose to act in this way after their earlier refusal. 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