money during their service, but they would be met with prestige and fame among their countrymen if they did, given the warrior character of their societies. However, their destinations were not always abroad, but also merely nearby regions of Hispania with a better economical profile, like Turdetania or Bastetania. Important southern war chiefes like Indortes, Istolatius and possibly Audax, Ditalcus and Minurus were Celts hired by the Turdetanians. Nevertheless, the most important roles played by Hispanic mercenaries in ancient story were in the armies of Carthage, Rome and Hellenic countries. Important centers of recruitment were Gadir, Empúries, Castulo, Baria (modern day Villaricos) and the Balearic Islands. Hispanic mercenaries were coveted for their toughness, discipline and skill, aside from their weapons, and not less for their ferocity; it was believable abroad that peninsulars even practiced cannibalism, like other barbarians supposedly did. 5th–4th centuries BC The first mentions of Spanish mercenaries come from the Sicilian Wars (460-307 BC), where they were part of the Carthaginian military serving in Sicily. While the Iberians may have been on the Carthaginian payroll as early as 535 BC, during the campaigns in Sardinia, their first substantial employment occurred in the Battle of Himera in 480, when Diodorus and Herodotus tell they were part of the expedition of Hamilcar I against the Greek forces of Gelo and Theron. Hispanics were the only Punic to regroup after the battle to defend the camp, inflicting heavy losses on the Greek until Theron's counterattack forced them to flee for the beached ships. Contingents of Iberians reappear again in the captures of Selinus and Himera, where they headed the final assaults to the cities, and the battles of Akragas, Gela and Camarina, as well as the siege of Syracuse. However, possibly influenced by their success, Greeks started to employ Hispanics themselves in the Peloponnesian War, with Alcibiades bringing some with him to the Peloponnesian League after a recruitment campaign in Sicily. The latter conflict also saw the participation of Hispanics in the Athenian coup of 411 BC, helping the oligarchs under the orders of Aristarchus of Athens. In 396 BC, after the Carthaginian general Himilco abandoned all his mercenaries to their fate upon leaving Sicily in the Third Sicilian War, the mercenary peninsular forces were the only not to be annihilated. According to Diodorus, they banded up in battle formation and offered Dionysius I of Syracuse their services, impressing Dionysius into