Double battlefield in Spain 212 BC

DOUBLE BATTLEFIELD IN SPAIN 212/211 BC

 

On the Roman side there were the brothers Gnaeus and Publius Scipio. On the Carthaginian side there were the brothers Hasdrubal and Mago and a third character Hasdrubal, the son of Gersacon. In the summer of 212 (according to Livius) or 211 (according to Polybius) the Roman generals want to make an end to the war in Spain by launching a daring offensive strike. They had constructed a rather large army, because they had enlisted 20.000 Celtiberians in their forces. The Carthaginians had two armies. One under the command of Hasdrubal, the son of Hamilcar and one under the command of Hasdrubal, the son of Gersacon and Mago, the son of Hamilcar. The armies of Publius/Gnaeus and Hasdrubal/Mago were at the beginning of the confrontation five days separated from each other. On the way to the army of Hasdrubal/Mago the Romans encountered after two or three days suddenly the army of Hasdrubal Barcas behind a river at the town Amtorgis, which so far has not yet been located. Then the Romans split their great army, which was probably the great error. Publius goes on with 2/3 of the Roman soldiers in the direction of the army of Hasdrubal/Mago and Gnaeus stays behind with 1/3 of the Roman soldiers and the 20.000 enlisted Celtiberians. As a reason for this move Livius says that this was done, because they would not like, that Hasdrubal (Gersacon) and Mago would withdraw with their forces.

As soon as Publius Scipio was departed, Hasdrubal (Barcas) comes into action in a way that is very typical for him. He is no fighter, but a clever man who wants to solve the problems in another way. He buys of the 20.000 Celtiberians, who were with Gnaeus Scipio. They were simply going home. Now the army of Hasdrubal (Barcas) is rather equal to that of Gnaeus Scipio.

In the meantime Publius Scipio is getting closer to the army of Hasdrubal (Gersacon) and Mago, but they have a magnificent weapon. The Numidian horsemen of Massinissa are harassing day and night already the army of Publius Scipio. Moreover there comes another enemy in his way. It is a small army (7500 man) of the people of the Suessetani under the direction of Andobales or Inidibilis, that wants to join the army of Hasdrubal (Gersacon) and Mago. The army of Publius Scipio gets encircled on all sides. In a massive attack Publius gets deadly wounded and the Romans are fleeing to all directions. Livius says: There was more man killed when they were fleeing than in the battle itself and nobody would have stayed alive when the nightfall has not come to their aid.”

In the meantime Gnaeus Scipio gets worried about the fate of his brother and he decides to withdraw to a safer region in order to find the position of his brother. He departs in the night and so he gets in the beginning a lead. But he has chosen a way over the hills in order to avoid the cavalry of Hasdrubal (Barcas) and he is soon overtaken. Nevertheless the pursuit takes in total 29 days according to the tradition. The armies of Hasdrubal (Gersacon), Mago, Massinissa and Andobales are joining now the army of Hasdubal (Barcas). Then the end comes on a bald hill, where a last battle defence-line is made of the luggage they were carrying. Gnaeus flees in a nearby tower, but that is put into fire.

The fugitive Roman soldiers had to go all the way behind the Ebro in order to be safe. The Romans had lost all the territory since the beginning of the war in Spain. The Carthaginian generals have eliminated the two armies of Gnaeus and Publius Scipio in two decisive battles far away from each other by a better movement of their forces.

Unfortunately we lack all the exact locations of the movements and the battles, but there is probably one exception.  Plinius the Elder says in his book Natural History (III, 9):

“The Baetis begins in the province Tarraconensis, but not, as some people say at the town of Mentesa, but in the woods of the mountains near Tugia, in the vicinity of the Tader, which flows to the region of New-Carthage. At Ilorci he makes a bend around the grave-memorial of Scipio and from there the river goes to the west on his way to the Atlantic Ocean and there he gives his name to that province.”

Now, for Ilorci we can read Lorgui on the Tader near Murcia. But Plinius states that the grave-memorial is in a bend of the baetis. The other possibility is in the bend of Garganta in the mountains of Cazorle. Another question is: Which grave? That of Publius or of Gnaeus? I think Publius, who dies first. Gnaeus dies much later, much more close to the safer area near the Ebro.

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