Hugh Nibley
"For Amalickiah the answer to his problems and the realization of his ambitions lay in military action…Unpopular with most of the Nephites, he had to use Lamanite manpower in his various operations.
"Question: How was he able to do that?
“Answer: Once by poisoning he gained complete control of a renegade Lamanite army of war-protesters (Alma 47:5-19); then he got command of the main Lamanite force by assassinating the king. Putting himself forward as the champion of law and order, he then married the mourning queen and mounted the Lamanite throne (Alma 47:32-35). Then he stirred up the war-weary Lamanites to a pitch of war-fever entirely contrary to all their interests and inclinations but beneficial to his own. He accomplished that feat by masterful use of the media. As in later Mesoamerica, it seems that towers were a conspicuous part of public architecture, used among other things for public presentations and announcements. When Amalickiah became king, ’he began to inspire the hearts of the Lamanites against the people of Nephi; yea, he did appoint men to speak unto the Lamanites from their towers, against the Nephites’ (Alma 48:1). He saturated the airwaves, so to speak, and his propaganda worked. Finally this consummate dissembler and master liar was able to march at the head of a mighty army which he thought would make him king in Zarahemla.” (The Prophetic Book of Mormon, p. 332-3)