Battle of Ilipa: Encyclopedia II - Battle of Ilipa - Prelude

Battle of Ilipa - Prelude

After the Battle of Baecula and Hasdrubal Barca's departure, further Carthaginian reinforcements were landed in Spain in early 207 BC under Hanno, who soon joined Mago Barca. Together they were raising a powerful army by heavy recruiting of Celtiberians. Meanwhile, Hasdrubal Gisco also advanced his army from Gades into Andalusia, thus Scipio was facing two concentrated enemy forces, one of which would no doubt fall upon his rear if he tried to attack the other.

After careful planning, Scipio decided to send a detachment under Silanus to strike Mago first. Marching with great speed Silanus was able to achieve complete surprise when he fell on the Carthaginian camps, which resulted in the dispersion of Mago's Celtiberians and the capture of Hanno.

Thus Hasdrubal was left alone in facing Scipio's concentrated force, but the Carthaginian general was able to avoid battle by splitting his troops among fortified cities. The campaign of 207 BC in Spain was ended without any further major action.

Adapted from the Wikipedia article "Prelude", under the G.N U Free Docmentation License. Please also see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki