Gisco (died 239 BC)

By this time the troops whom he had sent from Sicily to Africa to be repatriated were in a mutinous state over a pay dispute, and Gisco, who had a good reputation with them, was hastily recalled to deal with the situation.

By the mid-3rd century BC it had come to dominate much of the coastal regions of North Africa, southern Spain, the Balearic Islands, Corsica, Sardinia, and the western half of Sicily in a military and commercial empire.

[3] Gisco's date of birth and age at death are both unknown, as are his activities prior to his rise to prominence towards the end of the First Punic War.

For 23 years, in the longest continuous conflict and greatest naval war of antiquity, the two powers struggled for supremacy, primarily on the Mediterranean island of Sicily and its surrounding waters.

By 248 BC the Carthaginians held only two cities on Sicily: Lilybaeum and Drepana; these were well fortified and situated on the west coast, where they could be supplied and reinforced by sea, without the Romans being able to use their superior army to interfere.

[10] Rome was also close to bankruptcy and the number of adult male citizens, who provided the manpower for the navy and the legions, had declined by 17 percent since the start of the war.

[13][14][15] In late 243 BC, realizing they would not capture Drepana and Lilybaeum unless they could extend their blockade to the sea, the Roman Senate decided to build a new fleet.

[16] With the state's coffers exhausted, the Senate approached Rome's wealthiest citizens for loans to finance the construction of one ship each, repayable from the reparations to be imposed on Carthage once the war was won.

[28][29] Not wishing the freshly idle soldiers to combine for purposes of their own, Gisco split the army into small detachments based on their regions of origin.

Meanwhile, as each group arrived it was billeted inside the city of Carthage, where the advantages of civilisation were appreciated to the full after up to ten years under siege.

So much so, that before the full 20,000 had arrived they were relocated to Sicca Veneria (modern El Kef) 180 km (110 mi) away, even though a significant portion of their arrears had to be paid before they would go.

[30] Freed of their long period of military discipline and with nothing to do, the men grumbled among themselves and refused all attempts by the Carthaginians to pay them less than the full amount due.

Several soldiers insisted that no deal with Carthage was acceptable, a riot broke out, dissenters were stoned to death, Gisco and his staff were taken prisoner and his treasury was seized.

[31] Spendius, an escaped Roman slave who faced death by torture if he were recaptured, and Matho, a Berber dissatisfied with Carthage's attitude towards tax raising from its African possessions, were declared generals.

The news of a formed, experienced, anti-Carthaginian army in the heart of its territory spread rapidly and many cities and towns rose in rebellion.

[36][40][41] While Hanno manoeuvred against Matho to the north near Hippo (modern Bizerte), Hamilcar confronted various towns and cities which had gone over to the rebels, bringing them back to Carthaginian allegiance with varying mixtures of diplomacy and force.

[42][43] Some time in 239 BC, Hamilcar moved his force into the mountains south west of Utica in an attempt to bring the rebels to battle,[38] but was surrounded.

The Carthaginians were saved from destruction only when a Numidian leader, Naravas, who had served with and admired Hamilcar in Sicily, swapped sides with his 2,000 cavalry.

To remove the possibility of any goodwill between the sides, they had Gisco and 700 other Carthaginian prisoners tortured to death: they had their hands cut off, were castrated, had their legs broken and were thrown into a pit and buried alive.