Idea Ripper // ArchiveCards: 1555 [Live] | Updated: 2026-10-14
Card #c1190IR // #c1190Synthesis

"informing it of Alexander’s plans using hidden texts, written on wooden tablets and then covered with wax." "he was executed for treason ‘on the grounds that he had tried to sell Carthage to the [Macedonian] king’."

— In our words · Source: Carthage: A New History (Eve MacDonald)

[Use when]

You are placing someone inside a rival's camp and your own side needs to know the defection is staged.

[Why it matters]

Carthage's envoy Hamilcar the Rhodian got into Alexander's circle by claiming to defect, and sent reports home hidden under the wax of writing tablets. When he came back after Alexander died, Carthage executed him. His cover had convinced his own city too.

Filed under situations:When you need to know who really decides

More from Carthage: A New History

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