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The revolt was a consequence of delays in payment following the defeat of Carthage in the First Punic War .
After the First Punic War concluded in 241 BC , Carthage demobilized its mercenary force in Sicily , and the soldiers were brought to Carthage to receive their discharge and final pay. Although the commander, Gisgo , sent the troops in batches to minimize the chances of disorder, payment was delayed by the Carthaginian government and eventually all the troops were brought together at Sicca 170 km south-west of the city. The combined force demanded payment, then advanced on Tunis , close to Carthage itself, to put pressure on the government.
Carthage relented and gave in to their demands, which in total exceeded the terms of their original contracts. Despite the more generous settlement, two mercenaries, Spendius and Matho , organized a rebellion, based on speculation that after the foreigners left Africa, Carthage would be unwilling, or simply unable, to pay those remaining. In 240 BC Gisgo and other officials were taken prisoner by the mercenary leadership and open warfare ensued.
The Libian population, discontent with Carthaginian rule, supported the rebels. Carthage still had some mercenaries from the group at Tunis, and was able to deploy the mercenaries still in Sicily and also hire fresh troops. Initially neither side had any clear advantage, and a mercenary siege of Utica , the largest Carthaginian city after Carthage itself, resulted in the Battle of the Bagradas River which ended in Carthage's favour. The conflict escalated when the mercenary leadership tortured and killed its Carthaginian prisoners. These atrocities were intended to prevent any possibility of a negotiated settlement, and in response the Carthaginians committed similar actions.
Hamilcar Barca , general from the campaigns in Sicily, was given supreme command, and eventually defeated the rebels in 237 BC . But the conduct of the war was barbaric even by the standards of the time. Polybius called it a 'truceless war', without any concept of rules of warfare and exceeding all other conflicts in cruelty, ending only with the total annihilation of one of the opponents.
Initially, a smaller mercenary revolt occurred on Sardinia , and that army took control of the island. When the conflict in Africa began to go against the mercenaries there, the Sardinian troops appealed to Rome for protection. However, it was in Rome's self-interest for Carthage to achieve stability and to recover economically so it could continue paying the indemnities imposed after the First Puinc War. Rome rejected the appeal, and indirectly supported its former adversary by releasing Carthaginian prisoners and prohibiting trade with the mercenaries. However, in 238 BC - 237 BC , Rome annexed Sardinia on the pretext that Carthage had ceased to have a presence there and had abandoned the island. Weakened by both the First Punic War and the Mercenary War, Carthage surrendered Sardinia and a further indemnity.
The seizure of Sardinia and the outrageous extra indemnity fueled resentment in Carthage. The loss of Sardinia also encouraged Hamilcar, together with his sons Hasdrubal and Hannibal to establish a power base outside Rome's sphere of influence in Hispania , which later became the source of wealth and manpower for Hannibal 's initial campaigns in the Second Punic War .
Salammbô is a novel by Gustave Flaubert set before and during the revolt. A number of other works are based on Flaubert's novel.