Hamilcar was a general who succeeded to the command of the Carthaginians

Carthage

Carthage , implying it was a 'new Tyre') is a major urban centre that has existed for nearly 3,000 years on the Gulf of Tunis, developing from a Phoenician colony of the 1st millennium BC...

 in the First Punic War

First Punic War

The First Punic War was the first of three wars fought between Ancient Carthage and the Roman Republic. For 23 years, the two powers struggled for supremacy in the western Mediterranean Sea, primarily on the Mediterranean island of Sicily and its surrounding waters but also to a lesser extent in...

, and after successes at Therma

Therma

Therma or Thermē was a Greek city founded by Eretrians or Corinthians in late 7th century BC in ancient Mygdonia , situated at the northeastern extremity of a great gulf of the Aegean Sea, the Thermaic Gulf. The city was built amidst mosquito-infested swampland, and its name derives from the...

 and the Battle of Drepanum was defeated at Ecnomus (256 BCE

256 BC

Year 256 BC was a year of the pre-Julian Roman calendar. At the time it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Longus and Caedicius/Regulus...

). Subsequently, apart from unskillful operations against Marcus Atilius Regulus

Marcus Atilius Regulus

Marcus Atilius Regulus , a general and consul in the ninth year of the First Punic War...

, nothing certain is known of him.

He is sometimes confused with the better known Hamilcar Barca

Hamilcar Barca

Hamilcar Barca or Barcas was a Carthaginian general and statesman, leader of the Barcid family, and father of Hannibal, Hasdrubal and Mago. He was also father-in-law to Hasdrubal the Fair....

, father of Hannibal.