The raid of the Po Valley in 203 BC was the culmination of a major war, carried out by the Carthaginian commander Mago, son of Hamilcar Barca, at the end of the Second Punic war between Rome and which location, that was a Phoenician city-state, during the 7th to 3rd centuries BC?
Ancient Carthage Carthage (Punic: 𐤒𐤓𐤕•𐤇𐤃𐤔𐤕 , "Qart-ḥadašt " "new city") was the Phoenician city-state of Carthage and during the 7th to 3rd centuries BC, included its sphere of influence, the Carthaginian Empire. The empire extended over much of the coast of North Africa as well as encompassing substantial parts of coastal Iberia and the islands of the western Mediterranean Sea.
Mamertines The Mamertines (Mamertini "sons of Mars") were mercenaries of Italian origin who had been hired from their home in Campania by Agathocles (361 – 289 BC), Tyrant of Syracuse and self-proclaimed King of Sicily. After Syracuse lost the Third Sicilian War, the city of Messana was ceded to Carthage in 307 BC. When Agathocles died in 289 BC he left many of his mercenaries idle and unemployed in Sicily. Most of them returned home but some liking the climate and the prospect of adventure on a foreign island remained. They played a major role in the lead up to the First Punic War.