ABSTRACT
Not only had the Carthaginians lost the war and their possessions in Sicily; they soon found themselves in danger of losing everything at home too. The 20,000 soldiers evacuated from Sicily-mercenaries from all round the western Mediterranean and conscripts from among the subject Libyans of Punic North Africa itself-had plenty of grievances, especially over their unpaid arrears (the size of which lost nothing in the telling). They were suspicious, unruly and armed.
