The Carthaginian general Hamilcar Barca established the fortified settlement of Akra Leuka ( Greek:, meaning " White Mountain " or " White Point "), where Alicante stands today.

Some sources say that the city may have been named after the Carthaginian general Hamilcar Barca, who was supposed to have founded the city in the 3rd century BC.

The second legend attributes the foundation of the city directly to the historical Carthaginian Hamilcar Barca, father of Hannibal, who named the city Barcino after his family in the 3rd century BC.

At this point ( 247 BC ), Carthage sent general Hamilcar Barca ( Hannibal's father ) to Sicily.

Without naval support, Hamilcar Barca was cut off from Carthage and forced to negotiate peace and agree to evacuate Sicily.

It should be noted that Hamilcar Barca had a subordinate named Gesco conduct the negotiations with Lutatius, in order to create the impression that he had not really been defeated.

After a hard struggle from the combined efforts of Hamilcar Barca, Hanno the Great and others, the Punic forces were finally able to annihilate the mercenaries and the insurgents.

Carthage, seeking to make up for the recent territorial losses and a plentiful source of silver to pay the large indemnity owed to Rome, turned its attention to Iberia, and in 237 BC the Carthaginians, led by Hamilcar Barca, began a series of campaigns to expand their control over the peninsula.

* Hamilcar Barca, Carthaginian leading general

In the same year Hamilcar Barca accomplishes successful raids in Sicily and yet another storm destroys the remainder of the Roman ships.

Hannibal, son of Hamilcar Barca ( 247 – 183 / 182 BC ) was a Punic Carthaginian military commander, generally considered one of the greatest military commanders in history.

His father, Hamilcar Barca, was the leading Carthaginian commander during the First Punic War, his younger brothers were Mago and Hasdrubal, and he was brother-in-law to Hasdrubal the Fair.

Hannibal was one of the sons of Hamilcar Barca, a Carthaginian leader.

However, there is debate as to whether the cognomen Barca ( meaning " thunderbolt ") was applied to Hamilcar alone or was hereditary within his family.

In 219 BC Hannibal, the son of Hamilcar Barca, attacked Saguntum in Hispania, a city allied to Rome, starting the second Punic War.

A first issue for dispute was that the initial treaty, agreed upon by Hamilcar Barca and the Roman commander in Sicily, had a clause stipulating that the Roman popular assembly had to accept the treaty in order for it to be valid.

After Carthage emerged victorious from the Mercenary War there were two opposing factions: the reformist party was led by Hamilcar Barca while the other, more conservative, faction was represented by Hanno the Great and the old Carthaginian aristocracy.

The Iberian conquest was begun by Hamilcar Barca and his other son-in-law, Hasdrubal the Fair, who ruled relatively independently of Carthage and signed the Ebro treaty with Rome.

Hasdrubal Gisco is the son of the Gesco who had served together with Hamilcar Barca, Hannibal's father, in Sicily during the First Punic War and son-in-law of Hanno the Elder who was one of Hannibal's lieutenants in Italy.

** Hamilcar Barca, Carthaginian general who has assumed command of the Carthaginian forces in Sicily during the last years of the First Punic War with Rome, helped Carthage win the Mercenary War and brought extensive territory in the Iberian Peninsula under Carthaginian control ( b. c. 270 BC )

** Hasdrubal, Carthaginian general and son-in-law of Hamilcar Barca ( assassinated )

* The Carthaginians under Hamilcar Barca are forced to accept severe peace terms and agree to evacuate Sicily.

Hasdrubal, the second son of Hamilcar Barca, is left in command of Spain when his brother Hannibal begins his campaign.

* Hannibal, son of Hamilcar Barca.

* Mago, son of Hamilcar Barca and brother of Hannibal.

After the war, Hanno refused to pay the mercenaries who had been promised money and rewards by Hamilcar.

* The mercenary leadership including Spendius attempts to surrender and is imprisoned by Hamilcar.

Subsequent guerilla warfare kept the Roman legions pinned down and preserved Carthage's toehold in Sicily, although Roman forces which bypassed Hamilcar forced him to relocate to Eryx, to better defend Drepana.

Perhaps in response to Hamilcar's raids, Rome did build another fleet paid for with donations from wealthy citizens and it was that fleet which rendered the Carthaginian success in Sicily futile, as the stalemate Hamilcar produced in Sicily became irrelevant following the Roman naval victory at the Battle of the Aegates Islands in 241 BC, where the new Roman fleet under consul Gaius Lutatius Catulus was victorious over an undermanned and hastily built Carthaginian fleet.

Hamilcar had led the initial Carthaginian peace negotiations and was blamed for the clause that allowed the Roman popular assembly to increase the war indemnity and annex Corsica and Sardinia, but his superlative generalship was instrumental in enabling Carthage to ultimately quell the mercenary uprising, ironically fought against many of the same mercenary troops he had trained.

Carthage under Hamilcar tries to intervene but a force under the Roman general and consul Marcus Atilius Regulus and his colleague Lucius Manlius Vulso Longus defeat the Carthaginian fleet in the Battle of Cape Ecnomus off the southern coast of Sicily.

Thus, in 260 BC, a body of Roman troops were encamped in the neighborhood, when they were attacked by Hamilcar, and defeated with heavy loss.

While Hamilcar won no large scale battle or recaptured any cities lost to the Romans, he waged a relentless campaign against the enemy, and caused a constant drain on Roman resources.

Hamilcar sized the town of Eryx, captured by the Romans in 249 BC after destroying the Roman garrison, and positioned his army between the Roman forces stationed at the summit and their camp at the base of the mountain.

Roman consul Fundanius ( 243 / 2 BC ) arrogantly replied that Hamilcar should request a truce to save his living and denied the request.

Hamilcar managed to inflict severe casualties on the Romans soon after, and when the Roman consul requested a truce to bury his dead, Hamilcar replied that his quarrel was with the living only and the dead had already settled their dues, and granted the truce.

Carthaginian Leadership requested terms to the victorious Roman commander, Gaius Lutatius Catulus and authorized Hamilcar Barca to open negotiations, probably to avoid the responsibility of the defeat.

Carthage often hauled defeated generals and admirals before the Tribunal of 100 and had them crucified, so Hamilcar probably distanced himself from the possibility of prosecution if the Roman terms turned out to be harsh enough for Carthaginian authorities to seek a scapegoat.

Mago, son of Hamilcar Barca, also spelled Magon, Phoenician MGN, " God sent " ( 243 BC – 203 BC ), was a member of the Barcid family, and played an important role in the Second Punic War, leading forces of Carthage against the Roman Republic in Hispania, Gallia Cisalpina and Italy.

Admiral Hamilcar then faked a retreat to allow the creation of a gap between the Roman vanguard and the transport ships that were his main target.

In the same year, Hamilcar Barca ( general Hannibal's father ) led a successful campaign in Sicily and a storm destroyed the other half of the Roman fleet, commanded by consul Junius Paullus.

Even though he was vastly outnumbered and faced a hardened mercenary army which he himself had led against the Roman legions, Hamilcar displayed superior military leadership and clever use of psychology in the conflict.

Thus, in 260 BCE, a body of Roman troops were encamped in the neighborhood, when they were attacked by Hamilcar, and defeated with heavy loss.

< http :// penelope. uchicago. edu / Thayer / E / Roman / Texts / Polybius / 1 *. html ></ ref > The Carthaginian generals Hanno and Hamilcar then came to Utica's defense, managing to raise the siege, but " the severest blow of all … was the defection of Hippacritae and Utica, the only two cities in Libya which had … bravely faced the present war … indeed they never had on any occasion given the least sign of hostility to Carthage .” Polybius.