 Because he realised that if they could not see him they would go to Carthage, he sent a letter to his supporters in Carthage telling them to prevent his opponents from making any concessions to Rome.The mission of the commissioners in Carthage achieved nothing.The Carthaginian council replied that the war was started by the Saguntines not by Hannibal, and that Rome would commit an act of injustice if it took the side of the Saguntines.