Hamicala and the Romans

Spain was an incredibly resource-rich territory and produced massive quantities for high-grade silver. Hamicala began to mint coins that associated himself and his son Hannibal with the local patron god of the Iberian peninsula. He asked the army to swear allegiance to his family rather than the Carthaginian empire. The Romans were caught up fighting the Gauls and the Illyrians and had no real desire to invest themselves in Spain as well, so they were satisfied by the slick and plausible message Hamicala sent back to Rome.