‘Tell me, Xanthippos, why are you so confident of defeating the Epeirotes? They outnumber you sizeably, and you have little time and resources to prepare with, just until your pet Lycanians are crushed.’

‘This “Hellenos Aiakades” is a boy, unexperienced in command, his resources will run out and I may trap him in that same fort the Lycanians are using to hold out against him.”

“Yet, asking for a seat on the council? It seems a little ambitious.”

“They daren’t fail to appease me, as a Greek leading an army containing nearly no Carthaginians or Libyans. They’ll give me the position just to encourage me not to go over to the Epeirotes. It would, of course, be very bad for the generals in Sicily if they didn’t… I might do something crazy, and considering the pirates, they stand no chance at all of getting reinforcements to the few thousand troops there facing maybe forty thousand Epeirote and allied soldiers. Not to forget the Romans…”

Xanthippos’ point was quite clear. If he did not get a place on the council he would betray Kart-Hadastim and launch a campaign together with the Epeirotes on Sicily. Bomilkar and Himilco would be killed or executed later for abandoning the entire island, seeing as nearly no reinforcements could be mustered to lead a meaningful counter-attack as long as the pirates controlled the seas, Lilibeo would be lucky to remain in Carthaginian hands for over a year if this happened.

Bomilkar could get three votes (his own and those of his sons) for the Spartan to be given a place. Hanno would vote against it, anti-Barcine fool that he was. Mago, a great pragmatist, would understand the situation and give the Greek his place. Carthalo wouldn’t disagree unless he was paid to and Hasdrubal would see the inclusion of a Greek on the council as a benefit to public order in his own Iberian holdings.

It looked like the Spartan was in for the long haul. He unveiled his plans: the Lucanians had been ordered to feign an attempt to break out when he gave the signal, they would escape, rather than demonstrating a serious will to fight. With the Epeirotes having entered the fort, he would lay siege to it, his current army augmented by elite Greek mercenaries.

The Epeirotes would be suffering from a lack of supplies and so have a weakened mental state, Hellenos would be forced to sally out of the city and Xanthippos could defeat him without too significant losses. The fort could then be re-garrisoned and reused in case the Romans attacked.

Thus it came to pass that the Carthaginian senate agreed to the following motion: Xanthippos, a Greek, would acquire a place on the council, if he defeated Hellenos Aiakades. On such events lay the future of the rights of xenoi under the rule of Carthage - perhaps thus Xanthippos would achieve the legacy he wanted.