ABSTRACT

Hasdrubal had not accompanied Hamilcar against ‘Helice’, nor was he at Acra Leuce. He was commanding another force somewhere in the province, for Diodorus writes that as soon as he learned of the disaster he ‘broke camp’ and hurried to join Hannibal and his brother. Most likely he had been watching over the province while Hamilcar operated on its fringes, and gathering extra forces: for Diodorus adds that he brought 100 elephants with him, giving him 200 altogether in his first campaign as the new general-one of the largest elephant corps on record. The town of Lascuta east of Gades, the only Spanish town to put an elephant on its Punic-era coins, may have housed the elephant corps and was centrally enough sited to keep watch over all four quarters of Punic Spain. From there Hasdrubal could take the coast road via Malaca and Abdera to Acra Leuce. Some reinforcements were later sent from Africa too, if Appian can be trusted.