"In 241 BCE, the First Punic War between Rome and Carthage finally came to an end. After 23 years of perpetual warfare, both rival Mediterranean powers were war-weary and exhausted, but it was the Carthaginian spirit that broke first. No longer able to feed or supply its armies, Carthage was forced to agree to a disadvantageous peace treaty that included ceding control of Sicily to Rome, releasing all prisoners of war, and paying a massive war indemnity over the course of the next decade."
"The Carthaginian Senate instructed Hamilcar Barca, commander of its forces in Sicily, to finalize the treaty with the Roman Republic before seeing to the demobilization of his army. Hamilcar, however, was disgusted by the treaty, which he viewed as not only unnecessary but humiliating. Rather than follow through with his orders, he resigned the command of his army and left Sicily in grief and rage. It therefore fell to his lieutenant, Gisco, to take charge and oversee the demobilization."
After the First Punic War, Carthage struggled to pay debts and indemnities, leaving insufficient funds to pay an army of about 20,000 mostly foreign mercenaries. Denial of promised pay sparked a mutiny in 241 BCE, which escalated into the Mercenary War as several North African settlements joined the rebels. Initial Carthaginian attempts to demobilize and suppress the revolt failed until Hamilcar Barca assumed command and won decisive victories. Carthage recovered the field but remained financially exhausted and politically weakened. Rome capitalized on that weakness by seizing Sardinia and Corsica, setting conditions that contributed to the outbreak of the Second Punic War.
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