207 – 206 BC
The road to Ilipa
In 207 BC Carthage sends reinforcements to Iberia under Hanno, who joins Mago Barca and recruits among the Celtiberians. A Roman force under Marcus Junius Silanus surprises their camp, scatters the army and captures Hanno. Hasdrubal Gisco, advancing from Gades, avoids battle by spreading his troops among fortified towns, and the year ends without a decisive fight.
A marble bust inscribed with the name of Publius Cornelius Scipio AfricanusWikimedia Commons, ZLinn1776, CC BY-SA 4.0 (Roman General Publius Cornelius Scipio AFR Princeps Senatus.jpg)
In spring 206 BC Hasdrubal Gisco and Mago gather their armies at Ilipa, near modern Seville, with their Iberian allies and Masinissa’s Numidian cavalry. Polybius gives them 70,000 infantry, 4,000 cavalry and 32 elephants, and Scipio 45,000 infantry and 3,000 cavalry, about half of them Iberian allies. Scipio camps on low hills opposite. When Mago and Masinissa ride against the Romans while they are still fortifying their camp, the Roman cavalry takes them in the flank and drives them off.
Sources
- Polybius, Histories, book 11, 20 to 21.
- Livy, History of Rome, book 28, 1 to 13.
- Adrian Goldsworthy, The Fall of Carthage (2006).
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