Days of waiting

For several days the two armies form up on the plain between the camps and stand facing each other until evening. Each day they take the same order. Scipio puts his legions in the centre and his Iberian allies on the wings, with the cavalry behind them and the velites in front. Hasdrubal puts his African infantry, his best troops, in the centre facing the legions, his Iberians on the wings, and his cavalry and elephants beyond them.

Aerial view of Alcalá del Río on the Guadalquivir, near the site of ancient IlipaWikimedia Commons, Jose A., CC BY 2.0 (Vista aérea - Alcalá del Río.jpg)

Polybius writes that Hasdrubal leads out his army late in the morning, and that Scipio always comes out after him. Neither side attacks, and in the evening both march back into camp. Scipio lets the Carthaginians grow used to the pattern.

Sources

Polybius, Histories, book 11, 21 to 22.
Livy, History of Rome, book 28, 14.

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