If Rome had suffered heavily in the war, Carthage was almost ruined. and the peace brought worse disasters still. First, the vast mercenary forces which had been levied, but not yet transported to Sicily, mutinied for not having been paid. And for three years the Carthaginians carried their lives in their hands, while the 'truceless war' raged till Hamilcar's strategy and personal influence outmatched the blunders of the government and the blind fury of the rebels, and exterminated the survivors of the army he had hoped to command. Though Rome refused to take advantage of this African mutiny, it was another matter when Hamilcar was at last able to set sail for Sardinia to deal with a similar rebellion there. This the Roman senate chose to regard as a breach of the peace treaty, and by way of compensation extorted not only an additional indemnity, but the surrender of Sardinia itself, and Corsica also.
Probably the mere knowledge that Hamilcar was at sea at all bred panic and cruel injustice. But whatever the motive, the possession of these imperfectly civilized islands gave Rome frequent anxiety thereafter. And worst of all, provoked Hamilcar to the vast project of reprisals in Spain, which occupied the remainder of his life.
Sardinia in due course, became a Roman province on the same model as Sicily, Corsica merely derelict territory at the disposal of the senate and any Roman speculator who cared to venture there for timber or minerals.
