Beacula
War: Punic War, Second


Date: 208 b.c.
Location: Spain
Outcome: Roman victory

Principal
Commanders: Roman: Publius Cornelius Scipio Africanus
Carthaginian: Hasdrubal

Overview: Without naval forces, the Carthaginians had no hope of recapturing New Carthage. They spent the winter trying to prevent the defection of the Spanish tribes. At the same time, Hasdrubal Barca, brother of Hannibal, had begun to recruit an army which he could march to reinforce that of his brother in Italy.

Scipio's scouts kept him informed of the Carthaginian plans. After training his army in new tactics early in the year 208 Scipio marched south, surprising Hadsrubal in the vicinity of Baecula on the upper Guadalquivir River in Baetica in southern Spain. Scipio had with him around 35-40,000 men - his Roman troops reinforced by the crews of his ships (who were not needed at the moment), and perhaps some 10-15,000 Spanish auxiliaries. Hadsrubal, with only 25-30,000 men, retreated to his camp on a small but high plateau, and deployed his light troops on a lower terrace below the camp. Romans took heavy losses, but succeeded in taking the lower terrace, and Scipio now sent forward all his light troops.


Hadsrubal now began deploying his army in front of his camp to beat off the attack of the light troops coming up the hill, but was again surprised when Roman troops suddenly fell on the flanks of his only partially deployed formation. Scipio and Laelius had each taken half of the Roman troops and marched round the Carthaginian flanks while their attention had been fixed by the frontal attack. Now the Roman pincers closed on the Carthaginian army.


Hadsrubal, realizing that all was lost immediately ordered a retreat. Extricating part of his army, including his elephants and the treasure chest, Hadsrubal retreated up the Tagus valley, but perhaps half to two-thirds of his army were either killed or captured.


Hasdrubal had actually been trying to avoid a decisive battle in order to pass around the Romans and march on Italy. Although Hasdrubal was tactically defeated at Baecula, he managed to extricate most of his force. He then abandoned Spain to march through the Alps to the assistance of his brother in Italy, which Scipio failed to prevent.