who, upon observing the rapid recovery of Carthage, whose fleet and army had been rebuilt, advocated for the destruction of the Punic metropolis. He concluded all his reports and speeches with the words: "Moreover, I think Carthage must be destroyed."

According to Appian's sometimes unreliable account, three main factions dominated Carthage's internal politics in the mid-2nd century BC: a pro-Roman group supposedly led by Hanno III the Great, a