Hello, and welcome to the history of Rome.

Episode 21, Interbellum.

For both the Romans and the Carthaginians, the first Punic War had been an exhausting experience.

Rome emerged in a better position geopolitically speaking, but both sides had been drained

of money and manpower, and were significantly weaker for the great effort they had expended

over Sicily.

As a consequence, both sides were vulnerable to attack from opportunistic enemies.

I will only briefly review the challenges faced by the North Africans during the interwar

period, before moving on to a detailed look at the Roman confrontations with Gallic armies

to the North and Elyrian pirates across the Adriatic.

This is, after all, the history of Rome, not the history of Carthage.

So to quickly sum up Carthage's major post-war problem, let me just say that the Carthaginian

ignored one of life's basic rules.

Do not stiff mercenaries.

Essentially, the new party that had taken control of Carthage in the last years of the

war saw the conflict with Rome as a diversion from their main objective, making money.

When the war ended, the mercenaries arrived in North Africa from Sicily and patiently

waited for their due payment, but the new Carthaginian government was strapped for cash and

decided a good way to save money and reduce the final bill for the war would be to drastically

cut payments to their soon-to-be ex-employees.

How they thought this would not blow up in their face is still a mystery.

When the Carthaginian paymasters arrived at the mercenary camp, the troops, who were

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