1. Mathos came to the fore as a member of the army most vocal in resisting this, and when the disagreement broke down in full-scale mutiny he was elected a general by his comrades and became their de facto leader.
18 Facts About Mathos
1. 2.
Mathos spread the news of the mutiny to the main African settlements under Carthaginian suzerainty and they rose in rebellion.
3.
For three years Mathos led the rebels in an increasingly bitter struggle with several changes of fortune.
4.
Mathos was captured and taken to Carthage, where he was dragged through the streets and tortured to death by its citizens.
5.
Mathos was a Libyan from the North African possessions of Carthage and was recruited into the Carthaginian Army during the First Punic War at some point prior to 241 BC.
6.
Mathos anticipated they would be promptly paid the several years' back pay they were owed and hurried on their way home.
7.
Mathos started to disburse this, with promises that the balance would be paid as soon as it could be raised.
8.
The discontent seemed to have abated until Mathos stirred up the North African contingent with a vision of the Carthaginians wreaking vengeance on them once their comrades had been sent home and their discipline broke down.
9.
Spendius, an escaped Roman slave from Campania who faced death by torture if he were returned home, had been strongly against a settlement; so he and Mathos were jointly declared generals by the mutineers.
10.
Mathos sent messengers to the main African settlements under Carthaginian suzerainty with the news that a formed, experienced, anti-Carthaginian army now existed in the heart of its territory and many cities and towns rose in rebellion.
11.
Mathos took charge of the siege of Hippo, Spendius of Utica and the blockade of Carthage from Tunis was under a third general, Autaritus, a Gaul.
12.
Hoyos speculates that Mathos took charge of logistics and attempted to both maximise and coordinate the war effort of the rebellious African towns.
13.
The Carthaginians forced a crossing by a stratagem and Mathos drew 15,000 men from the forces laying siege to Utica and Hippo and sent them as reinforcements.
14.
Mathos was shadowed by a superior-sized rebel force under Spendius, which kept to rough ground for fear of the Carthaginians' cavalry and elephants, and harried his foragers and scouts.
15.
Mathos made the same offer to the 4,000 captives from the recent battle.
16.
Mathos ordered a large-scale night attack, which surprised the Carthaginians, who suffered many casualties.
17.
Mathos was captured, and he was dragged through the streets of Carthage and tortured to death by its citizens.
18.
Mathos is featured as a main character in Gustave Flaubert's 1862 historical novel Salammbo.