Hasdrubal Comes to a Decision
Surrounded by such difficulties Hasdrubal was agitated
by many conflicting emotions and anxieties. He was vexed
by the desertion of Andobales; vexed by the opposition and
feud between himself and the other commanders; and greatly
alarmed as to the arrival of Scipio, expecting that he would
immediately bring his forces to attack him. Perceiving therefore that he was being abandoned by the Iberians, and that
they were joining the Romans with one accord, he decided
upon the following plan of action. He resolved that he must
collect the best force he could, and give the enemy battle: if
fortune declared in his favour he could then consider his next
step in safety, but if the battle turned out unfavourably for
him, he would retreat with those that survived into
Gaul; and
collecting from that country as many of the natives as he could,
would go to
Italy, and take his share in the same fortune as his
brother Hannibal.
While Hasdrubal was arriving at this resolution, Publius
Early in B. C. 208, Scipio moves |
Scipio was rejoined by Gaius Laelius; and, being
informed by him of the orders of the Senate, he
collected his forces from their winter quarters
and began his advance: the Iberians joining
him on the march with great promptness and
hearty enthusiasm.
southward to attack Hasdrubal in the valley of the Baetis. Livy, 27, 18-19. |
Andobales had long been
in communication with Scipio: and, on the latter approaching
the district in which he was entrenched, he left his camp with
his friends and came to Scipio. In this interview he entered
upon a defence of himself in regard to his former friendship
with the Carthaginians, and spoke of the services he had done
them, and the fidelity which he had shown to them.
He then went on to narrate the injustice and tyranny
which he had experienced at their hands; and demanded that
Scipio himself should be the judge of his pleas. If he were
shown to be making ungrounded complaints against the
Carthaginians, he might justly conclude him incapable of
keeping faith with the Romans either: but if, on a review of
these numerous acts of injustice he were proved to have had no
other course than to desert the Carthaginians, Scipio might
confidently expect that, if he now elected to join the Romans,
he would be firm in his loyalty to them.
