1. Hasdrubal Barca was the brother of Hannibal and Mago Barca.
18 Facts About Hasdrubal Barca
2.
Hasdrubal Barca was present, along with his older brother Hannibal, when his father, Hamilcar Barca, died in battle against the Iberians.
3.
Hasdrubal Barca was destined to fight for the next six years against the brothers Gnaeus and Publius Cornelius Scipio commanding an army which initially numbered 4 legions along with 60 quinqueremes.
4.
The expedition led by Gnaeus Scipio in 218 BC had caught the Carthaginians by surprise, and before Hasdrubal Barca could join Hanno in Catalonia, the Carthaginian commander on the north of the Ebro, the Romans had fought and won the Battle of Cissa and established their army at Tarraco and their fleet at Emporiae.
5.
Hasdrubal Barca, commanding only 8,000 troops and outnumbered by the Romans, raided the Romans with a flying column of light infantry and cavalry, which inflicted severe losses on their naval crews and reduced the fighting strength to 35 ships.
6.
Hasdrubal Barca commanded the army, while his deputy Himilco commanded the fleet.
7.
Hasdrubal Barca would spend all of 216 BC subduing the rebels around the area near Gades.
8.
Hasdrubal Barca received orders from Carthage to move into Italy and join up with Hannibal in order to put pressure on the Romans in their homeland, but Hasdrubal Barca delayed, arguing that Carthaginian authority over the Iberian tribes was too fragile and the Roman forces in the area too strong for him to execute the planned movement.
9.
Hasdrubal Barca was defeated by Scipio at the Battle of Baecula but managed to retreat with two-thirds of his army intact.
10.
Later in 208 BC, Hasdrubal Barca was summoned to join his brother in Italy.
11.
Hasdrubal Barca eluded Scipio by crossing the Pyrenees at their western extremity and safely made his way into Gaul in the winter of 208.
12.
Hasdrubal Barca secured alliances with many of the Iberian tribes, who switched sides after the Roman successes at Carthago Nova and Baecula.
13.
Hasdrubal Barca waited until the spring of 207 to make his way through the Alps and into Northern Italy.
14.
Hasdrubal Barca made much faster progress than his brother had, partly due to the construction left behind by Hannibal's army when he had passed via the same route a decade earlier, but due to the removal of the Gallic threat that had plagued Hannibal early on.
15.
The Gauls now feared and respected the Carthaginians, and not only was Hasdrubal Barca allowed to pass through the Alps unmolested, his ranks were bolstered by many enthusiastic Gauls.
16.
Hasdrubal Barca wished to meet with his brother in South Umbria.
17.
Hasdrubal Barca's messengers were captured, and he was ultimately checked by two Roman armies.
18.
Hasdrubal Barca's head was packed into a sack and thrown into his brother Hannibal's camp as a sign of his utter defeat.