Dusmanul la Poarta!-Partea-24!

 1-Acest articol este copiat !

2-Istoria ramane pasiunea mea nr-1!

"I swear so soon as age will permit, I will use fire and steel to arrest the destiny of Rome."

Hamilcar Barca had received much of the blame for causing the Truceless War, owing to the unrealistic promises he made to his troops while leading Carthaginian forces in Sicily. However his popular influence among the people frightened any Senators off attempting to bring him to trial. His alliance with Hasdrubal the Fair, who would become his son in law, allowed him to restrict the power of the aristocracy led by Hanno the Great, while gaining immunity from prosecution. Hamilcar essentially gained supreme power in Carthage, and his first priority was to ensure the payment of Rome’s war indemnity so as to prevent Roman interference in Carthage’s politics. This fed into his second priority – to prepare Carthage for a future war with Rome.

He used this power to force “permission” from the Senate to recruit and train an army, adding to the forces he had kept mobilised. This was done ostensibly to secure Carthage’s hold over north Africa, thus aligned with the ambitions of the “Peace Party” led by Hanno the Great. Forays into Numidia blooded this army, and Hamilcar then marched west, to the Pillars of Hercules, with Hasdrubal the Fair shadowing him with a fleet carrying supplies and elephants. Hamilcar often kept his family with him to prepare them to succeed him. His eldest son, nine-year-old Hannibal, begged his father to take him to Europe on this next step of the campaign with him. Hamilcar held his son above the flames of Baal in a sacrificial chamber – child sacrifice still being an abhorrent custom practiced by the Carthaginians – and made Hannibal swear that he would never be a friend of Rome. Hannibal firmly agreed, replying: "I swear so soon as age will permit, I will use fire and steel to arrest the destiny of Rome."

Without bothering to get permission from the Senate, Hamilcar crossed the Strait of Gibraltar and landed his army in Gades (Cadiz). His goal was to launch a fresh expedition into Hispanian, and to gain Carthage a new empire to mitigate for the loss of Sicily, Corsica and Sardinia. He could also use Iberia as a launchpad for future war with Rome, allowing him to keep the Senate at arm’s length and thus not obstruct his ambitions. Hamilcar would face stiff opposition in Carthage for this illegal expedition, and had to use much of his war booty to bribe politicians back home. His success in Iberia, coupled with these bribes, have him uninterrupted command in Hispania.

Landing in Gades in 237 BC, Hamilcar realised that whatever direct control Carthage had previously enjoyed in Iberia had now been eroded to nothing. Phoenician colonies were strung along the Atlantic and Mediterranean coasts, which had some control over the surrounding areas, but tended to trade with the Celtiberian tribes rather than control them. These warlike tribes were a disparate collection without any unified leadership, and had absorbed Greek and Punic culture to varying degrees. Carthage had failed to stop the founding of the Greek colony of Massalia (Marseilles) in 600 BC, which had provided a regional rival as the Greeks spread through southern Gaul and Catalonia, including colonies such as Mainke (near Málaga) three colonies at mouth of the River Sucro, and at Alalia in Corsica. Greek piracy forced a Carthaginian – Etruscan alliance to drive the Greeks from Corsica and destroy the colony of Mainke. By 490 BC Massalia had twice defeated Carthage and agreed a boundary along Cape Nao, while the Straits of Gibraltar had been closed to foreign shipping by the Carthaginians. Massalia drifted towards the Romans and was allied with them by 237 BC, an alliance which would have a huge impact on the power politics of the region.

Hamilcar’s chief goal in Hispania was to secure access to the gold and silver mines of Sierra Morena. He successfully negotiated with the Tartessian tribes, but had to campaign against the Turdetani tribe (near the foothills of modern Seville and Córdoba). This tribe was led by the chieftain Istolatios and his brother, who were defeated by Hamilcar and executed along with the rest of the leadership. Most of the prisoners were released though, with 3,000 incorporated into Hamilcar’s army. Hamilcar then fought another army of 50,000 under Indortes, though they fled the field before battle began. Hamilcar besieged them, then tortured and crucified Indortes following their surrender, but allowed 10,000 captured enemy soldiers to go home.

Hamilcar now controlled the mines, and the river routes of of Guadalquiver and Guadalete giving access to them. Gades began minting silver coins, and Hamilcar now had a sustainable source of income from which to pay his army. He was also able to ship silver ore to Carthage to help pay the war indemnity, and he felt secure enough politically to dispatch Hasdrubal the Fair with an army to Africa to quell a Numidian rebellion, in which 8,000 were killed and 2,000 imprisoned. Carthage was on the rise once more.