Hasdrubal Barca

Hasdrubal Barca held Spain for Carthage for ten years and died trying to reach his brother in Italy. He was the second son of Hamilcar Barca and the younger brother of Hannibal, and was left in command of the Carthaginian position in Iberia when Hannibal marched for Italy in 218 BC. His task was to hold the Spanish silver mines and manpower and to send reinforcements north — and the two Roman Scipio brothers were sent to Spain precisely to prevent it, which is the whole strategic point of the Spanish theatre. He fought them for seven years. In 211 BC he destroyed both Roman armies in separate actions within a month, killing Publius and Gnaeus Scipio, by detaching their Celtiberian mercenaries with money — the low point of Roman fortunes in the west. Publius Cornelius Scipio, the younger, arrived in 210 BC and took New Carthage by a surprise assault. He beat Hasdrubal at Baecula in 208 BC, and Hasdrubal, rather than fight for Spain, extracted his army and marched for the Alps. He crossed in 207 BC, more easily than Hannibal had, and sent riders ahead with a letter naming his route and proposing a junction in Umbria. The riders were intercepted. Claudius Nero, facing Hannibal in the south, took 7,000 picked men north by forced march without telling anyone, joined his colleague, and attacked at the Metaurus with a force Hasdrubal had not expected. He was killed in the battle. His head was thrown into Hannibal's camp. Hannibal is said to have remarked that he recognised the fate of Carthage.

• Lived: 245 BCE – 207 BCE
• Nationality: Carthaginian
• Roles: general