Spendius (died late 238BC) was a former Roman slave who led a rebel army against Carthage, in what is known as the Mercenary War. He escaped or was rescued from slavery in Campania and was recruited into the Carthaginian Army during the First Punic War at some point prior to 241 BC. Spendius's date of birth is unknown, as are most details of his activities prior to his coming to prominence as a mutineer in 241 BC. After the First Punic War, Carthage attempted to pay its soldiers less than the full amount due to them before demobilising them. Spendius faced death by torture if he were returned to Roman authority and took a dim view of the increasingly warm relationship between Carthage and Rome. He came to the fore as a member of the army most vocal in resisting Carthaginian efforts to settle the dispute. When the disagreement broke down into a full-scale mutiny in late 241 BC he was elected co-general with the African Mathos by his fellow mutineers. Mathos spread the news of the mutiny to the main African settlements under Carthaginian suzerainty and they rose in rebellion. Provisions, money and 70,000 reinforcements poured in. For four years Spendius led a rebel army against Carthage, in what is known as the Mercenary War, with mixed success.
In 238 BC Spendius led 40,000 men against the Carthaginian general Hamilcar, keeping to the higher and rougher terrain due to the Carthaginian superiority in cavalry and elephants, and harassed the Carthaginian army. His army became trapped in a pass or mountain range known as the Saw. Pinned against mountains and with their food exhausted, the rebels ate their horses, their prisoners and then their slaves, hoping that Mathos would sortie to rescue them. Eventually, the surrounded troops forced Spendius to parley with Hamilcar, but on a thin pretext Hamilcar took Spendius and his lieutenants prisoner. The rebels then attempted to fight their way out in the Battle of the Saw and were massacred to a man. Spendius and his colleagues were crucified in view of the rebel-held city of Tunis. Mathos ordered a large-scale night attack, which captured a senior Carthaginian general and a visiting delegation of 30 Carthaginian notables. They were tortured and then nailed to the crosses previously occupied by Spendius and his colleagues. Later that year the surviving rebels were crushed at the Battle of Leptis Parva.
Background
Spendius was a Roman slave from Campania who escaped from his slavery, or was rescued from it; the ancient historian Polybius described him as a "slave deserter from the Romans". He was recruited into the Carthaginian Army during the First Punic War (264–241 BC) at some point prior to 241 BC. Spendius's date of birth is unknown, as are most details of his activities prior to his coming to prominence as a mutineer in 241 BC.
End of the First Punic War and mutiny
In 241 BC the First Punic War between Carthage and Rome ended after 23 years. The Romans had defeated a Carthaginian fleet attempting to lift the blockade of its last strongholds on Sicily. With their relief effort repulsed, the Carthaginian Senate accepted defeat and ordered their commander on Sicily, Hamilcar Barca, to negotiate a peace treaty with the Romans, on whatever terms he could obtain. Instead, Hamilcar left Sicily in a rage, convinced that the surrender was unnecessary. The negotiation of the treaty and the subsequent evacuation of the Carthaginian army of 20,000 men from Sicily was left in the hands of Gisco. Not wishing the freshly idle soldiers to combine for purposes of their own, Gisco split the army into small detachments based on their regions of origin. He sent these back to Carthage one at a time. He anticipated they would be promptly paid the several years' back pay they were owed and hurried on their way home.