notable energy. If safe lines of communication could be opened by sea, Hannibal could then avail himself of reinforcement from Carthage. He would not have to ask the Carthagenians themselves to do very much but vote the money; the recruiting grounds in Africa and potentially even in Barcid Spain could provide the troops, once the sea lanes were clear.
What Hannibal may have thought of his obligation to fight for Philip in Greece, after the Italian war was won, remains unknown. He was a professional general, in an age when it was common, even customary, for generals to offer their services as mercenaries. He was also, to judge from all we know of his life, a Carthagenian patriot. He had gone to war not so far as we can tell from any sort of personal ambition, nor even for Barcid Spain, but for Carthage, to free his mother-city of the looming Roman threat. But once that was done, there would be no such urgent Carthagenian need for his services. Conquering Greece on behalf of Philip weighed in its own right neither for nor against Carthagenian interests
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