Scipio Africanus: Part 2: Gamble in Hispania and the Fall of Carthaginian Power.

Scipio Africanus: Part 2: Gamble in Hispania and the Fall of Carthaginian Power.

We have been finding out about Scipio Africanus, so today I want to find out about his connection to the Second Punic War.

By 211 BC, Rome’s position in Spain had collapsed. Publius Cornelius Scipio, his father and Gnaeus Cornelius Scipio Calvus, his uncle, had both been killed after dividing their forces, this had left Roman control in chaos.

Commanders like Hasdrubal Barca and his allies had regained the advantage.

In 210 BC, Publius Cornelius Scipio Africanus, had never held high office, he was still young. But he was given command. 

In 209 BC, he made an unexpected move. Instead of chasing armies, he struck them directly at Qart-Hadast, the heart of Carthaginian power in Hispania. Making a daring assault across a lagoon at low tide, he managed to capture the city. The aftermath was brutal, him and his troops showed very little mercy at first, perhaps this was meant to shock others into submission. But Scipio quickly changed his approach, he offered protection and was even generous to local hostages. This change from brutality to clemency, seems rather calculated, he may well have been trying to win loyalty as well as gain a victory.

The following year, he faced Hasdrubal, a key Carthaginian commander, near Baecula. Though he was won, he could not capture Hasdrubal, he had escaped to Italy. But momentum had clearly shifted in his favour. By 206 BC, at the Battle of Ilipa, Scipio completely destroyed the remaining Carthaginian resistance. Many towns fell, some put up fierce resistance. While others simply surrendered, but some choose tragic ends rather than being capture. 

Alliances were everything. Scipio had support from people like Massinissa, who was a Numidian king. This alliance would prove crucial. Gradually though, Carthaginian power in Spain had begun to crumble, and even Gades, the city that had served as a major port, trade hub, and naval stronghold, surrendered.

Do you think Scipio was motivated by ambition, by duty, or by the pressure of living up to the family that had fallen before him?

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Date: 1666 – 1671