<P> As a result of the battle , the Roman army , commanded by Marcus Atilius Regulus , landed in Africa and began ravaging the Carthaginian countryside . The Siege of Aspis ( or Clupea ) was the first fighting on African land during the war . Regulus was next victorious at the Battle of Adys , forcing Carthage to sue for peace . According to Polybius , the terms suggested were so heavy that Carthage decided they would be better off not under Roman rule . The negotiations failed but fortunately , for the Carthaginians , Xanthippus , a Spartan mercenary , returned to Carthage to reorganise its army . Xanthippus defeated the Roman army and captured Regulus at the Battle of Tunis , and then managed to cut off what remained of the Roman army from its base by re-establishing Carthaginian naval supremacy . </P>
leader of carthage in the first punic war
Xanthippus