Gisco was a Carthaginian general who served during the closing years of the First Punic War (264–239 BCE) and took a leading part in the events which sparked the Mercenary War. He was a citizen of the city state of Carthage, which was located in what is now Tunisia. His date of birth and age at death are both unknown, as are his activities prior to his rise to prominence towards the end of the First Punic War.
When the Carthaginians conceded defeat in the war in 241 BCE, Gisco was commander of the major base of Lilybaeum (modern Marsala) on Sicily, subordinate to Hamilcar Barca, the overall Carthaginian commander on the island. On being ordered to negotiate a peace treaty, Hamilcar retired to Carthage in a rage, leaving Gisco, as the next most senior commander, in charge of negotiations with the Romans. These resulted in the Treaty of Lutatius, which ended the war. By this time the troops whom he had sent from Sicily to Africa to be repatriated were in a mutinous state over a pay dispute, and Gisco, who had a good reputation with them, was hastily recalled to deal with the situation. The discontent seemed to have abated when, for some unknown reason, discipline broke down. Several soldiers insisted that no deal with Carthage was acceptable, a riot broke out and dissenters were stoned to death. Gisco and his staff were taken prisoner and his treasury was seized.
He was held prisoner for two years, during which the rebels suffered several defeats. After a large force of rebels deserted to the Carthaginians in 239 BCE and were well received, the rebel leaders feared the disintegration of their army; they were aware that such generous terms would not be extended to them personally. To remove the possibility of any goodwill between the sides, they had Gisco and 700 other Carthaginian prisoners tortured to death.
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Life
Gisco, also known as Gesco and Gesgo, was a citizen of the city state of Carthage, which was located in what is now Tunisia. By the mid-3rd century BCE it had come to dominate much of the coastal regions of North Africa, southern Spain, the Balearic Islands, Corsica, Sardinia, and the western half of Sicily in a military and commercial empire. Gisco's date of birth and age at death are both unknown, as are his activities prior to his rise to prominence towards the end of the First Punic War.
First Punic War
The First Punic War began in 264 BCE and was fought between Carthage and Rome, the two main powers of the western Mediterranean in the 3rd century BCE. For 23 years, in the longest continuous conflict and greatest naval war of antiquity, the two powers struggled for supremacy, primarily on the Mediterranean island of Sicily and its surrounding waters. In 250 BCE Carthage's main Sicilian stronghold, Lilybaeum (modern Marsala), was besieged from the land. Determined attempts by the Romans to storm the city were repelled. By 248 BCE the Carthaginians held only two cities on Sicily: Lilybaeum and Drepana; these were well fortified and situated on the west coast, where they could be supplied and reinforced by sea, without the Romans being able to use their superior army to interfere.
After more than 20 years of war, both states were financially exhausted and suffering from a large drop in male citizens of fighting age. Evidence of Carthage's financial situation includes their request for a 2,000-talent loan from Ptolemaic Egypt, which was refused. Rome was also close to bankruptcy and the number of adult male citizens, who provided the manpower for the navy and the legions, had declined by 17 percent since the start of the war. The classicist Adrian Goldsworthy describes Roman manpower losses as "appalling". When Hamilcar Barca took command of the Carthaginians on Sicily in 247 BCE he was only given a small army and the Carthaginian fleet was gradually withdrawn.
In late 243 BCE, realizing they would not capture Drepana and Lilybaeum unless they could extend their blockade to the sea, the Roman Senate decided to build a new fleet. With the state's coffers exhausted, the Senate approached Rome's wealthiest citizens for loans to finance the construction of one ship each, repayable from the reparations to be imposed on Carthage once the war was won. The result was a fleet of approximately 200 quinqueremes, built, equipped, and crewed at private expense. The Carthaginians raised a larger fleet which they intended to use to run supplies into Sicily. It was intercepted by the Roman fleet under Gaius Lutatius Catulus and Quintus Valerius Falto, and in the hard-fought battle of the Aegates Islands, the better-trained Romans defeated the undermanned and ill-trained Carthaginian fleet. After achieving this decisive victory, the Romans continued their land operations in Sicily against Lilybaeum and Drepana.
Gisco is first recorded at this time, as the commander of Lilybaeum. Its commander during the initial years of the siege was Himilco. When he was replaced by Gisco is not known. During Gisco's tenure the military situation was quiet around Lilybaeum; the Romans had accepted that they could not storm the city, and had constructed strong earth and timber walls to prevent Carthaginian sorties, but which would also greatly hamper any further assaults on the city. The focus of the fighting moved to the north.
Mercenary War
The Carthaginian forces on Sicily evacuated the rest of the island and concentrated in Lilybaeum. The withdrawal of these 20,000 men from Sicily was in the hands of Gisco. Few, if any, of them would have been Carthaginians; in most circumstances Carthage recruited foreigners to make up its army. Many would be from North Africa, with others from Spain, Gaul, Italy, Greece, Sicily and the Balearic Islands. 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. The Carthaginian authorities decided to instead wait until all of the troops had arrived and then attempt to negotiate a settlement at a lower rate. Meanwhile, as each group arrived it was billeted inside the city of Carthage, where the advantages of civilisation were appreciated to the full after up to ten years under siege. So much so, that before the full 20,000 had arrived they were relocated to Sicca Veneria (modern El Kef) 180 km (110 mi) away, even though a significant portion of their arrears had to be paid before they would go.
Freed of their long period of military discipline and with nothing to do, the men grumbled among themselves and refused all attempts by the Carthaginians to pay them less than the full amount due. Frustrated by the Carthaginian negotiators' attempts to haggle, all 20,000 troops marched to Tunis, 16 km (10 mi) from Carthage. Panicking, the Senate agreed to payment in full. The mutinous troops responded by demanding even more. Gisco, who had a good reputation with the army, was brought over from Sicily in late 241 BCE and despatched to the camp with enough money to pay most of what was owed. He started to disburse this, with promises the balance would be paid as soon as it could be raised. The discontent seemed to have abated when, for some unknown reason, discipline broke down. Several soldiers insisted that no deal with Carthage was acceptable, a riot broke out, dissenters were stoned to death, Gisco and his staff were taken prisoner and his treasury was seized. Spendius, an escaped Roman slave who faced death by torture if he were recaptured, and Matho, a Berber dissatisfied with Carthage's attitude towards tax raising from its African possessions, were declared generals. The news of a formed, experienced, anti-Carthaginian army in the heart of its territory spread rapidly and many cities and towns rose in rebellion. Provisions, money and reinforcements poured in; an additional 70,000 men according to Polybius. The pay dispute had become a full-scale revolt threatening Carthage's existence as a state.
Death
Since leaving Carthage, Hamilcar had treated rebels he had captured well and offered them a choice of joining his army or free passage home. He made the same offer to the 4,000 captives from the recent battle. The rebel leaders perceived this generous treatment as the motivation behind Navaras's defection and feared the disintegration of their army; they were aware such generous terms would not be extended to them personally. To remove the possibility of any goodwill between the sides, they had Gisco and 700 other Carthaginian prisoners tortured to death: they had their hands cut off, were castrated, had their legs broken and were thrown into a pit and buried alive.
Hamilcar in retaliation killed his 4,000 prisoners. From this point, neither side showed any mercy, and the unusual ferocity of the fighting caused Polybius to term it the "Truceless War". Any further prisoners taken by the Carthaginians were trampled to death by elephants, while the rebels crucified numerous captured Carthaginians. In 238 BC at the Battle of the Saw, Hamilcar took Spendius and nine of his principal lieutenants prisoner during a parley and in turn had them crucified.