The Spartan General Who Defeated the Romans

Xanthippus was a mercenary Spartan general who was hired by Carthage to fight against invading Roman forces in the First Punic War.

According to Diodorus of Sicily, an ancient Greek historian of the 1st century BC known for writing the voluminous Bibliotheca Historica, the cause of the war was Carthage’s ambition to take over the Sicilian city-state of Messana and expand its control in the Mediterranean.

The Romans, on the other hand, did not view Carthage’s expansion plans favorably and so the ground for the First Punic War (264 – 241 BC) was laid.

Since the Carthaginians were mostly traders and very successful ones at that, their military prowess was centered around their navy rather than foot soldiers. Their only option to fight successfully against the Romans was to hire the best army possible. The Spartan general Xanthippus was the ideal man and arrived in Carthage with a band of Spartan mercenaries.

The rising of Carthage

Carthage, located in what is now Tunisia, was founded around 825 BC by Phoenician traders from Tyre—now Lebanon—who wanted to colonize the eastern Mediterranean. They aimed to control the lucrative trade in tin, gold, silver, and copper. Eventually, the Phoenicians established over three hundred coastal colonies throughout North Africa and the Iberian Peninsula (Hispania).

By the third century BC, Carthage had grown into one of the most powerful states in the Mediterranean, controlling much of North Africa, Sardinia, and Corsica, along with sections of Sicily and the Iberian Peninsula. The city was the second largest in the ancient Mediterranean, second only to Alexandria. With its powerful fleet, Carthage dominated trade throughout the Western Mediterranean and even into the Atlantic.

The Carthaginians were seafaring people, and they developed a superb naval force based on their innovative ship design. Their navy protected the western part of the Mediterranean, stretching from Sicily to the Atlantic coast of Africa.

The Romans perceived Carthage’s naval growth as a threat and decided to go to war with the North African city-state to thwart them. The result was the three Punic Wars between the Carthaginian Empire and the Roman Republic that began in 264 BC and lasted until 146 BC with the Romans being the final victors.

Xanthippus and his Spartan mercenaries

The Carthaginians were rulers of the Mediterranean Sea, but their land army was lacking. According to ancient Greek historian Polybius, in 255 BC, during the First Punic War, Spartan General Xanthippus was hired by Carthage for his experience.

Previously, the Carthaginians had sent recruiting agents to Greece to bring over soldiers experienced in land battles. At that time, Xanthippus, a Spartan general, had maintained that the Carthaginians’ defeat was the result of their commanders’ lack of skills rather than the actual superiority of the Romans.

Xanthippus was summoned by the generals and men in authority for questioning, and he explained his views to the magistrates. He asserted that if they considered his advice and implemented his ideas, they would be able to secure safety for themselves and defeat the Romans. His plans included keeping to the flat parts of the country and marching, camping, and battling in unison.

The Carthaginians determined they would stick to Xanthippus’ scheme and placed their forces at his command. The Spartan general generated an air of optimism among Carthaginian soldiers, and Xanthippus’ skills immediately became perceptible. This was confirmed by his actual handling of the troops.

The seasoned warrior led the soldiers outside the town and the skill with which he maneuvered the separate detachments and passed the word of command down the ranks in due conformity to the rules of tactics impressed everyone. This was in stark contrast to the clumsy ways of the former generals. The troops expressed their acceptance of Xanthippus with loud cheers and were ready for battle without delay, convinced that no harm could come to them as long as Xanthippus was their leader.

The Carthaginians defeat the Romans in Tunis

The generals took advantage of these circumstances and of the extraordinary change they witnessed in the morale of the army. Following exhortations befitting the occasion, they got their forces on foot after a few days’ delay. The army consisted of twelve thousand infantry, four thousand cavalry, and nearly a hundred elephants.

Polybius credits Xanthippus with the Carthaginian formation at the victorious Battle of Tunis, also known as the Battle of the Bagradas River. The Spartan general placed the citizen phalanx in the center of his formation, with the experienced mercenaries holding the right flank. He placed the elephants ahead of the phalanx and his cavalry on his wings, supported by additional mercenary infantry.

The Carthaginian army was able to use its numerical superiority to overwhelm the Romans and hit their flanks, forcing the Roman army into a disorderly retreat. The Romans were overwhelmed by the elephants, having no effective answer to their massive presence. The Carthaginian cavalry chased the outnumbered Roman cavalry from the field, surrounded most of the Romans, and slaughtered them. Only five hundred Romans survived and were captured, including their general, Regulus. About two thousand Romans avoided being surrounded and retreated to Aspis.

After defeating the Romans, Xanthippus left and returned to Greece, Polybius wrote. Diodorus, however, gives a different account of what happened to Xanthippus after the victorious Battle of Tunis. The Spartan general stopped in the city of Lilybaeum (now Marsala, Sicily), which was besieged by the Romans. He inspired the defending Carthaginians and led an attack, defeating the Romans yet again. Envious of Xanthippus’ success, the city betrayed him by giving him a defective ship, and he supposedly sank and drowned in the sea on his voyage home.