Sons of Elissa - An Interactive Punic AAR

[Titus Marcellus Scato]

Name: Tanibal Mago Sicilio (also known by his enemies as 'The Bastard')
Age: 26
Background: Son of Mago, but illegitimate, by a Sicilian Greek priestess of Aphrodite, so not officially part of the royal family or in line of succession. Worshipper of Greek goddess Aphrodite. Very capable diplomat and merchant. Known and respected by some for wise advice, but despised by others for not being a warrior, or for worshipping a foreign goddess. Politics - generally pro-peace.

<talks to Mago>

"My lord, I know that you, like myself, value peace. The true strength of Kart-Hadast is in peaceful trade, not war. Gold has made our city powerful, rather than force of arms.

The Senate, carried away by bloodlust and folly, has voted for war against the Romani, but they neglected to say WHICH Romani. Nor have they even considered what our objectives should be in this war!

As you are no doubt aware, Rome claims rulership over all Italians. That means, DIPLOMATICALLY speaking, as regards foreign policy, all Italians are in fact Romani. Not just the ones from Roma.

This means that the rulers of Rhegium, being a rogue Romani army of Campanian-Italian ethic origin, are actually Romani, even though they have rebelled against Roma. Even the Messanians, being led by rogue Italian mercenaries who took over the Greek city of Messana, are also technically 'Romani'.

So - we can exploit this. We could attack these rebel 'Romani', satisfy the requirement of the Senate for war against 'the Romani' and yet remain at peace with the 'true' Romani from Roma itself.

If the Senate complains, you can point to their lack of clarity in setting objectives for the war. Since they had no idea themselves of what our strategy should be, they can hardly complain when you decide for them!

War with Roma is coming, but it doesn't need to start yet. Roma is by far the most powerful opponent we will have ever faced, six times more powerful than Syracuse. The Romani defeated the Epirote general Pyhruss, the greatest general of our age, when we failed to do so! While we have failed to even defeat Syracuse. War with Roma is therefore not to be taken lightly. They are relentless!

Victory in war, for Kart-Hadast, comes through gold, not reckless valour. If we see war on the horizon, we should prepare for it through peace. It is through building up our economy that we shall obtain the tremendous wealth required to fund a major war.

We are not yet rich enough to consider a major war with Roma. I estimate such a war will last at least 10 years and cost half a million mnai. Mercenaries and battle fleets are very expensive. We should delay war with Roma until we have such a sum saved in our treasury.

We should consolidate Sicily before seriously considering invading Italy proper. Rhegium is the gateway to Sicily, so we can take that as part of a Sicilian campaign. We need to take Messana as well, otherwise Rhegium will be isolated. And then Syracuse itself. Only then will we have a secure base for a major war with Roma.

We should also make sure Africa is secure from Numidian raiders. We should expand westwards along the north African coastline, taking the Numidian coastal cities. This will greatly improve our trade with our holdings in southern Spain, and therefore our tax income to spend on our army.

The Romani will keep for the moment. They will take Taras, but will then turn north to fight the hostile Gauls in northern Italy. We will benefit from delay far more than they will. Build the economy, deal with our minor enemies, and delay a major conflict with Roma until Sicily is ours.

That is all I have to say, my lord."