Father of the House of Thunder: A Report on the Life of Hamilcar Barca During the First Punic War

Father of The House Of Thunder:

A Report on the life of Hamilcar Barca during the First Punic War

It was 249 BC, the Carthaginians had gained command of the sea after victory in The Battle of Drepanum yet they were only able to keep two of the Sicilian cities: Drepanum and Lilybaeum.

The Carthaginian State ran a landed Aristocracy, which was led by Hanno, “The Great” from 248 BC to 241 BC while capturing a considerably large some of land within that total time span. Hanno had led for just one year when the decision was made not to further his policy in Sicily, but instead to continue in his efforts to expand Africa. It was about that time when Hamilcar Barca(at the age of 28) took up command as the new Carthaginian war general.

But the timing of his ascension could have been better. The mercenaries grew unruly due to their unsettled payments for service, Hanno did not expect so many to survive and so a debt was owed to these sell-swords. Hamilcar solved this issue himself by sneaking about through the night and slaying a few of the more impatient ones on his own. The next day, Hamilcar drowned the rest of the mercenaries in the Mediterranean Sea, dismissed many other soldiers and had sent them back to Africa. Even with a now much smaller fleet, Hamilcar’s passion led him to continue on with his plans. Plans for Victory.

Hamilcar defended well against Numerios Fabius Buteo at Drepanum meanwhile, Consul L. Caellius Metellus was stationed near Lilybaeum. With a goal of conquering so much with so little, Rome's forces were simply spread too thin.

In Bruttium, he raided Locri and the immediate areas around Brindisi. Next, Hamilcar’s forces held a strong position on Mount Ercte(now Monte Pellegrino). Their defense required such little effort that he was still able to continue on with his seaborne attacks from Catana, Sicily all the way through to Cumae in central Italy.

You may ask how Hamilcar was able to reach such great feats with so little an army; the answer is in his fortitude and inspirational speeches. Hamilcar was a firm general yet he was consistent in his uplifting efforts, among so many of them were great speeches to his troops. With his troops so constantly reassured by the fruit of their faith in his word and the work of their own swords, Hamilcar successfully created an incredibly fierce and disciplined army.

Even though Hamilcar didn't actually win any large battles or recapture any lost cities, he constantly drained Rome of their resources and laid waste to their men. Overall, Hamilcar had led a successful campaign against the enemy of Carthage. Consuls Marcus Otacilius Crassus, Marcus Fabius Licinus, Atilius Bulbus and Marcus Fabius Buteo did no better than the others.

Hamilcars tactics were proven to be so effective that between all consuls and forces who fought against him, no significant achievements were made against him.

Hamilcar Barca quickly became well known for his strategic war play and brutality, the Battle of Panoramas from 247 BC-244 BC gave room to foreshadow his career as a great Carthaginian general.

The Battle at Eryx, 244 B.C.-241 B.C., Hamilcar Barca moved his fleet after dark by sea and posted on the slopes of Mt. Eryx(now Monte San Giuliano) nearby in order to help a Carthaginian Garrison stationed at Trapani which was under siege. Barca’s forces managed to capture the town of Eryx from the Romans which was taken in 249 B.C.

Hamilcar’s small army defeated the Roman garrison and repositioned to a spot between their camp at the base and Rome’s attack. Giving the order to have Trapani evacuated to Drepunam, Hamilcar was free to fight without worrying about citizens. Holding his positions for just over two years, Hamilcar fell into conflict within the conflict when one of the raids he ordered went sour. “Vodostor”, a commander in one of the raids under Hamilcar decided to go against the great general by issuing the command to plunder at will resulting in a complete massacre as the Romans were swiftly able to catch up.

Having suffered greatly, Hamilcar asked for a truce so that he may bury his dead. Consul Fundanius responded by suggesting that Hamilcar should have pleaded for a truce in order to save those still alive. Provoked further, Hamilcar dealt a quick enough blow that roman troops were reduced by about a fraction. After realizing the severity of Rome’s loss, the consul pleaded for a similar truce. Hamilcar mocked the consul by letting him know that his quarrel was with the living while the dead Romans have paid a fair price.

There had been some rumors of a decent some of Celts leaving carthage to betray Hamilcar at the town of Eryx. The Celts were caught, the plan failed and they fled to go fight for Rome against Barca, taking about one thousand troops. Dwindling the great general’s already small fleet.

After so long, Hamilcar seemed to be allergic to defeat. At least that’s what the Romans came to understand when they realized that it was impossible for any Roman consul to beat him. They started to think beyond fighting with infantry only and so the Roman Senate decided that they would create a new fleet who's sole purpose was to starve Carthaginian towns in hopes it would send Carthage into submission.

However, this plan proved to be difficult while Rome was currently low on funds, apparently there were a number of discrepancies with their banking account at B-of-A(JK! don't dock me for that!). So instead of applying a new levy of taxes on the Roman Empire, the Government decides to borrow money from the wealthiest families in Italy. The Senate promised to pay it all back with the settlement that they would get from the war indemnity.

 It was with this money that they managed to recruit a fleet of 200 quinquermes. In242 B.C., the consul C. Lutatitius Catulus arrived with a fleet on to the west of Sicily and caught the Carthaginians off guard because they didn't think Rome would renew their naval effort. The consul’s fleet seized the ports of Lilybaeum and Drepana when they sieged  Drepana quick and hard. The reinforcing fleet succeeded in cutting off supplies to the Carthaginians.

Hamilcar hadn't received supplies for well over four years but only because of word of this new Roman naval threat did Hanno quickly create ships, and bring soldiers together in hopes of achieving maritime supremacy. While Hamilcar’s position at Eryx grew desperate, this new armada took 7-9 months building new boats, hiring and training 75,000 rowers extensively and shipping them off.

Hanno probably intended to drop off supplies at Eryx, pick up Hamilcar and some of his best troops to fight the new naval fleet over in drepanum. As soon as they pulled the ships into Hiera, hoping for a mix of strong wind and a small island for cover, they could dodge the Roman blockade so that they could reach Eryx. However, consul Catalus realized that possibility and landed on an island across from Lillybaeum.