Hasdrubal (brother of Hannibal)

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Coin with the profile of Hasdrubal

Hasdrubal ( Punic 'zrb'l "My help is Baal "; † 207 BC ) was a son of Hamilcar Barkas and thus a brother of Hannibal and Magos . After Hannibal, the victor of the Battle of Cannae , he is considered to be the most capable of the Carthaginian generals in the Second Punic War . After his brother, Hasdrubal set off for the campaign in Italy from 218 to 208 BC. In Hispania commander in chief in the fight against the Romans .

Soon after he took office, Hasdrubal's units in Hispania were defeated by the troops of the Roman general Gnaeus Cornelius Scipio Calvus in a naval battle at the mouth of the Ebro in 217 BC. Defeated BC. Shortly afterwards, Gnaeus Scipio's brother Publius Cornelius Scipio arrived in Spain. The brothers moved together in 217 BC. BC for the first time on land across the Ebro, marched to Sagunto and were able to free the Spanish hostages held there by the Puni by betraying a defector. 216 BC BC the brothers defeated Hasdrubal on the Ebro, so that he could not leave Spain and therefore could not march with his army to Hannibal in Italy.

The Battle of Ibera in 215 BC BC saw Hasdrubal again as a loser. In Carthage people feared for the possession of the lucrative Iberian colonies and for the city of Carthago Nova (New Carthage ). Because Hannibal's parallel war in Italy was very successful, Hasdrubal got off much better on the question of reinforcing the Carthaginian armies. He received the lion's share of the recruited mercenaries . Hannibal only received 4,000 men, which was enough to continue the war in Italy, but not to win it. Hasdrubal seems to have suspected this. The Scipio brothers prevented a first attempt to break through to Italy. With his new strength, Hasdrubal regained the upper hand in Hispania.

He succeeded in separating the two armies of the Scipions and defeating Publius Scipio in the Battle of Castulo , today's Cazlona , and Gnaeus Scipio a few days later in the Battle of Ilorci . Both Scipions lost their lives in the fighting (211 BC). The bad news caused general perplexity in Rome. Nobody wanted to have command of the troops in Hispania until the son of Publius Cornelius Scipio of the same name finally expressed his interest.

Later called Scipio the Elder , immediately after his arrival in Hispania, he set up new army units and in one stroke took the rich Carthago Nova, the largest Punic city in Europe, in 210 BC. A. Hasdrubal was meanwhile busy pacifying a Celtiberian tribe. The Barkide then advanced to the Ebro with his large army. The Romans succeeded in bringing the Carthaginians and their allies at Baecula, today's Bailén . Hasdrubal left in 208 BC. After the battle of Baecula against the troops of Scipios the Elder, the battlefield as a loser.

Hasdrubal was not deterred by this in his resolution to defeat the Romans together with Hannibal's army. After the defeat, he happily crossed the Pyrenees and the Alps with his remaining army in order to supply Hannibal with the reinforcements he needed. Messenger with messages that he inappropriately transmitted to his older brother were intercepted by the Romans. While Hannibal knew nothing of his brother's approach, the Roman military leaders were able to take measures for his arrival.

Before it could come to union with Hannibal's army, Hasdrubal lost the fight and the life in central Italy in the battle of Metaurus , today's river Metauro , against the legions under Marcus Livius Salinator and Gaius Claudius Nero . 207 BC Hasdrubal was beheaded by the Romans. Hannibal's bloody head was thrown into the camp near Venusia , thus destroying his last hope of a victory against the Romans.

Web links

Remarks

  1. ↑ Werner Huss : Carthage. CH Beck, Munich 1995, p. 103f.
  2. ↑ Polybios 3, 95f .; Livy 22, 19f.
  3. ↑ Polybios 3, 97ff .; Livy 22.22.
  4. ↑ Livy 23, 28f.
personal data
SURNAME Hasdrubal
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Carthaginian general, brother of Hannibal
DATE OF BIRTH 3rd century BC Chr.
DATE OF DEATH 207 BC Chr.