During the siege of Tunis in October 238 BC, a rebel army under Mathos (pictured) was besieged by a Carthaginian force under Hamilcar Barca and Hannibal. The Carthaginian army, which had served in Sicily during the First Punic War, mutinied and started the Mercenary War. After destroying a rebel army at the Battle of the Saw, the Carthaginians then besieged the rebels' stronghold at Tunis. The Carthaginian commander, Hamilcar, split his forces to blockade the rebels from the north and south. At the northern camp, commanded by Hannibal, he had ten captured rebel leaders killed and their bodies crucified. Mathos organised a night attack against Hannibal's camp, which scattered part of their army; Hannibal and 30 others were captured and crucified. Hamilcar withdrew to the north with the remaining half of his army. Mathos then abandoned Tunis and withdrew south. Hamilcar and his fellow general Hanno followed the rebels and wiped them out at the Battle of Leptis Parva. (This article is part of a featured topic: Mercenary War.).
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Featured_topics/Mercenary_War> _______________________________ Today's selected anniversaries: 1835: In the first major engagement of the Texas Revolution, the Texian Army repelled a Mexican attack at the grounds of Mission Concepcion south of Downtown San Antonio. <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Concepci%C3%B3n> 1925: The funerary mask of Tutankhamun, possibly originally made for Queen Neferneferuaten, was uncovered for the first time in approximately 3,250 years. <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mask_of_Tutankhamun> 1940: World War II: Italy invaded Greece after Greek prime minister Ioannis Metaxas rejected Benito Mussolini's ultimatum demanding the cession of Greek territory. <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greco-Italian_War> 1965: In St. Louis, Missouri, U.S., the 630-foot (190 m)-tall steel catenary Gateway Arch was completed. <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gateway_Arch> _____________________________ Wiktionary's word of the day: maenad: (Greek mythology, also attributive) A female follower of Dionysus (“the god of wine”), associated with intense revelling. [...] <https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/maenad> ___________________________ Wikiquote quote of the day: The idea of being constructive, creative, positive, in trying to bring out the best in one's own self and the best in others follows from what I've just been saying. Again, I repeat my belief in us, in ourselves, as the product of the process of evolution, and part of the process itself. I think of evolution as an error-making and error- correcting process, and we are constantly learning from experience. --Jonas Salk <https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Jonas_Salk> _______________________________________________ Wikipedia Daily Article mailing list. To unsubscribe write to: [email protected] Questions or comments? Contact [email protected]
