203 BC
The Iberians surrounded
The Iberians fight hard, and the hastati hold them. Instead of feeding the principes into the front line, as was usual, Scipio forms the principes and triarii of each legion into a column, marches them out past the ends of the line and turns them in against the flanks and rear of the Iberians.
A coin of Syphax, king of the western Numidians and ally of CarthageWikimedia Commons, unknown author, CC BY 4.0 (Coin of Syphax.png)
Surrounded, the Iberians fight on and are killed almost to a man. Most of the rest of the Carthaginian army escapes from the field, and many of its men desert rather than rejoin Hasdrubal or Syphax.
Sources
- Polybius, Histories, book 14, 8.
- Livy, History of Rome, book 30, 8.
- Adrian Goldsworthy, The Fall of Carthage (2006).
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