Biographies · The Barcids

Hasdrubal

Two Barcids bore this name, which means “Baal is my help” in Punic. Hamilcar's son-in-law built Punic Hispania; his son tried to join Hannibal in Italy. Two destinies, two violent deaths.

Barcid quarter shekel struck in Hispania — Barcid coin from Hispania: laureate head (Melqart or a Barcid?) and elephant

Hamilcar's son-in-law · † 221

Hasdrubal the Fair

Hamilcar's successor in Hispania (229/228–221), founder of Cartagena, signatory of the Ebro treaty, assassinated in 221.

Hamilcar's son · c. 245 – 207

Hasdrubal Barca

Hannibal's younger brother: he held Hispania for ten years, crossed the Alps in turn and fell at the Metaurus in 207.

Not to be confused with Hasdrubal Gisco, Scipio’s opponent in Hispania and Africa, or with Hasdrubal the Boetharch, the last defender of Carthage in 146.

Remains of the Punic wall of Cartagena — The Punic wall of Cartagena, the “New City” founded by Hasdrubal.

The builder

? – 221 BC

Hasdrubal the Fair

Hamilcar's son-in-law, founder of Cartagena

Hamilcar's comrade in arms and son-in-law, in 229/228 he inherited a barely conquered Hispania. Where his father-in-law had imposed war, he ruled through alliances, marriage and the founding of a capital.

c. 8 yrs

at the head of Punic Hispania (229/228 – 221)

c. 227

founding of Qart Hadasht, the future Cartagena

226

the Ebro treaty with Rome

Hannibal's age when the army acclaimed him at Hasdrubal's death

Timeline

The governor

237With Hamilcar — He follows his father-in-law to Hispania, alongside the young Hannibal, and becomes his chief lieutenant.

229/228Succession — When Hamilcar dies before Helice, the army acclaims Hasdrubal as its leader and Carthage confirms him. He avenges Hamilcar on the Orissi and takes their towns.

c. 227Qart Hadasht — On an exceptional harbour site he founds the “New City”, Cartagena, capital of Barcid Hispania, close to the silver mines.

226The Ebro treaty — A worried Rome sends an embassy: Hasdrubal undertakes not to cross the Ebro in arms. The south of the peninsula is in effect recognised as a Punic sphere.

221Assassination — He is killed in his residence by a Celt (a slave, according to Livy) avenging a master he had put to death. The army acclaims Hannibal.

Governing Hispania

Diplomacy

The policy of alliances

According to Livy, Hasdrubal extended Carthaginian power “more by the hospitality of kings and the friendship of chiefs than by war”. Diodorus reports that he married the daughter of an Iberian king and that the Iberian peoples proclaimed him supreme general.

This approach consolidated Hamilcar’s conquest: networks of clients, hostages, garrisons and tribute turned the south of the peninsula into a true Barcid state.

The capital

Qart Hadasht, the “New City”

The same name as Carthage itself: Qart Hadasht. The city stands on a peninsula closed by a lagoon, with one of the best harbours in the western Mediterranean. Polybius describes it in detail and mentions the hill on which Hasdrubal’s palace stood.

Arsenal, treasury, mint and naval base, it became the base from which Hannibal set out in 218 — and the target Scipio would take in 209.

226 BC

The Ebro treaty

Worried by the Gallic threat in northern Italy, Rome settled for a single undertaking: the Carthaginians would not cross the Ebro in arms. For Polybius, that was the whole content of the treaty.

Saguntum, south of the river and allied to Rome, is not mentioned according to Polybius; Livy claims instead that it was protected. This ambiguity would serve as a pretext for the Second Punic War when Hannibal besieged Saguntum in 219.

The Roman theatre of Cartagena: Hasdrubal’s city has remained one of the great ports of Spain.

What the ancients said

“He had increased Carthaginian power more by the hospitality of kings and by winning chiefs to his friendship than by war and arms.”

Livy, History of Rome, XXI, 2

“The Carthaginians shall not cross the Ebro in arms.”

Clause of the 226 treaty, after Polybius, Histories, II, 13

Seized and tortured, the murderer kept such an expression that he seemed to smile, triumphing over the pain.

Livy, History of Rome, XXI, 2

Legacy

The builder of the base

Without Cartagena, its silver and its Iberian alliances, Hannibal's march on Italy would not have been possible. Hasdrubal the Fair turned a military conquest into a state — and his city, Cartagena, still bears the name of Carthage.

Lake Trasimene, where Hannibal triumphed in 217: the Italy his brother would never reach.

The forgotten sacrifice

c. 245 – 207 BC

Hasdrubal Barca

The brother who crossed the Alps to join Hannibal

A strategist of iron will, he held the Iberian front for a decade while his brother shook Italy. Then he retraced the Alpine road to bring him victory — and never arrived.

10 yrs

of war in Hispania (218 – 208) against the Scipios

2nd

Carthaginian army to cross the Alps, in 207

7,000

picked troops brought by forced marches by the consul Nero

10,000

Carthaginians and allies killed at the Metaurus according to Polybius (56,000 according to Livy)

Timeline

Hannibal's brother

c. 245Birth — Second son of Hamilcar Barca, raised like his brothers in the camps of Hispania.

218Guardian of Hispania — Hannibal leaves for Italy and entrusts Hispania to him: a fleet and about 12,650 infantry, 2,550 cavalry and 21 elephants (Polybius, III, 33).

217The mouth of the Ebro — His fleet is beaten by Gnaeus Scipio.

215Dertosa — As he prepares to join Hannibal, he is defeated near the Ebro by the Scipio brothers.

211The upper Baetis — With his brother Mago and Hasdrubal Gisco, he destroys the Roman armies: Publius and Gnaeus Scipio are killed.

211The ruse — Hemmed in by Claudius Nero, he pretends to negotiate his withdrawal, gains time and slips away by night with his army (Livy, XXVI, 17).

208Baecula — Beaten by Scipio (the future Africanus), he saves most of his army, his treasury and his elephants, and makes for Gaul.

207The Alps — In spring he crosses the Alps faster than his brother, welcomed by the Alpine peoples, then besieges Placentia in vain.

207The Metaurus — His messengers are captured; Nero secretly joins the other consul, Livius Salinator. Trapped on the Metaurus, Hasdrubal charges and dies fighting.

Holding Hispania, reaching Italy

218–208

Master of Iberia

While history focuses on Hannibal, Hasdrubal was one of the architects of Carthaginian survival. Governing Iberia for ten years, he held the silver mines and the manpower that fed the Punic war machine.

Under constant pressure from the Scipios' legions, he held the Punic positions, kept the Iberian tribes in line through diplomacy and force, and won the victory of the upper Baetis in 211.

208–207

The second crossing of the Alps

Emulating his brother's daring, he left Hispania after Baecula, wintered in Gaul and crossed the Alps in the spring of 207 — with an ease that showed Hannibal's feat had been no stroke of luck.

His exact route is unknown; Livy only stresses that he found the passes open and the mountain peoples pacified. He then besieged Placentia, in vain, and lost precious time.

Summer 207 BC

The Metaurus

Hasdrubal sends horsemen to Hannibal in southern Italy with a letter setting their meeting point in Umbria. They are captured. The consul Claudius Nero leaves his camp facing Hannibal and marches north at speed with 7,000 picked men to join Livius Salinator.

Hearing the trumpet sound twice in the Roman camp, Hasdrubal realises that both consuls are together. He tries to withdraw by night, his guides desert him and he is caught on the banks of the Metaurus. Seeing the battle lost, he hurls himself into a Roman cohort and dies sword in hand.

Nero has his head thrown before Hannibal's outposts. This act of calculated barbarity was meant to break the morale of Rome's greatest enemy.

Barcid quarter shekel — Barcid coin from Hispania: the silver Hasdrubal carried towards Italy after Baecula.

What the ancients said

“Fallen, fallen is all the hope and fortune of our name, now that Hasdrubal is slain.”

Hannibal, according to Horace, Odes, IV, 4

On seeing his brother's head, Hannibal is said to have declared that he recognised in it the fate of Carthage.

Livy, History of Rome, XXVII, 51

As long as there was hope, he spared himself for his soldiers; when all was lost, he sought death in battle, worthy of his father Hamilcar.

After Polybius, Histories, XI, 2

Legacy

The end of hope

The Metaurus is the turning point of the Second Punic War: Hannibal, deprived of reinforcements, falls back on Bruttium; Hispania falls to Scipio the following year. Hasdrubal Barca remains the sacrificed brother, whose death closed the road to Rome.

The Barca family

All people →

The father · c. 275 – 229/228

Hamilcar Barca

Undefeated in Sicily, victor over the mercenaries, conqueror of Hispania.

Read the biography →

The elder brother · 247 – 183

Hannibal Barca

The Alps, Trasimene, Cannae, then Zama.

Read the biography →

The youngest · c. 243 – 203

Mago Barca

The ambush at the Trebia, the rings of Cannae, Liguria.

Read the biography →

Punic tactics →The animated map →