Hamilcar in Sicily
Carthaginian leadership probably thought Rome had been defeated and invested little manpower in Sicily. With a small force and no money to hire new troops, Hamilcar’s strategic goal probably was to maintain a stalemate, as he had not the recourses to win the war and nor the authority to peacefully settle it Hamilcar was in command of a mercenary army composed of multiple nationalities and his ability to successfully lead this force demonstrates his skill as field commander. He employed combined arms tactics, like Alexander or Pyhrrus, and his strategy was similar to the one employed by Quintus Fabius Maximus in the Second Punic War, ironically against Hannibal, the eldest son of Hamilcar Barca in Italy during 217 BC. The difference is that Fabius commanded a numerically superior army than his opponent and had no supply problems, and had room to maneuver, while Hamilcar was mostly static and had a far smaller army than the Romans and was dependent on seaborne supplies from Carthage.
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