Bomilcar (3rd century BC) Bomilcar (3rd century BC) Bomilcar (, ) was a Carthaginian commander in the Second Punic War (218–201). He was the commander of the Carthaginian supplies which were voted to Hannibal after the Battle of Cannae (216) and with which he arrived in Italy in the ensuing year. They amounted to 4,000 Numidian cavalry, 40 war elephants, 500 or 1,000 talents of silver, grain, and other provisions. In 214, he was sent with 55 ships to the aid of Syracuse, then besieged by the Romans. Finding himself unable to cope with the superior fleet of the enemy, he withdrew to North
Campaign history of the Roman military was the costliest Rome had suffered since the Battle of Cannae. After the Cimbri inadvertently granted the Romans a reprieve by diverting to plunder Iberia, Rome was given the opportunity to carefully prepare for and successfully meet the Cimbri and Teutons in the Battle of Aquae Sextiae (102 BC) and the Battle of Vercellae (101 BC) where both tribes were virtually annihilated, ending the threat. The extensive campaigning abroad by Rome, and the rewarding of soldiers with plunder from those campaigns, led to the trend of soldiers becoming increasingly loyal to their commanders rather than to the state, and a