Hamilcar

"e;Hamilcar"e; is set in Carthage and the western Mediterranean between approximately 241 and 228 BCE — the years immediately following Carthage's defeat in the First Punic War, the traumatic loss of Sicily and Sardinia, and the devastating Mercenary Revolt that followed. Against this backdrop of national humiliation, Hamilcar Barca emerges as the one figure capable of rebuilding Carthaginian power. The novel ends with his death during his Iberian campaign, at the moment when Hannibal — his nine-year-old son — takes his first sword-stroke and watches his father fall into the river Baetis. Hannibal clings to the blade. One palm is cut open, bleeding. He remembers the old blind seeress's words from years before: "e;Do not fear, little one. This wound will heal. This hand will break the white stone."e;