After the final Carthaginian naval defeat at the Aegates Islands the Carthaginians surrendered and accepted defeat in the First Punic War, Hamilcar Barca (meaning lightning) a leading member of the Patriotic party in Carthage and a general who operated with ability in the course of the First Punic War, sought to remedy the losses that Carthage had suffered in Sicily to the Romans. In addition to this, the Carthaginians (and Hamilcar personally) were embittered by the loss of Sardinia. After the loss of the war to the Romans; the Romans imposed terms upon the Carthaginians that were designed to make Carthage a tribute paying city to Rome and simultaneously strip her of her fleet. There had been a time when Carthage was the sole maritime power of the Western Mediterranean, and had contended