Hamilcar was a general who succeeded to the command of the Carthaginians in the First Punic War, and after successes at Therma and the Battle of Drepanum was defeated at Ecnomus (256 BCE). Subsequently, apart from unskillful operations against Marcus Atilius Regulus, nothing certain is known of him. He is sometimes confused with the better known Hamilcar Barca, father of Hannibal.