The first Spanish campaign (221-219)
From the very day on which he was made general, it seemed that Italy had been assigned to him for a department, and that he was to wage war against Rome. Convinced that he
must not lose a moment lest, if he hesitated, he would succumb, like Amilcar, his father, like Hasdrubal, to some twist of fate, he resolved to attack Sagunto. But, as the siege of this city would infallibly draw upon it the Roman arms, it
married first against the Olkades, a nation situated beyond the Hebre, and which was in the lot of the Carthaginians rather than in their dependence; he wished to appear not to attack Sagunto, but to be as it were drawn to make war against him as a result of his conquests and the submission of the neighboring peoples. Cartala, opulent city, capital of the Olcades, is taken and plundered. Struck with terror, the less important places submit to the victor, who imposes a tribute on them. The triumphant army, laden with rich booty, went to take up winter quarters in Cartagena. There, by a generous division of the spoils of the enemy, by his punctuality in paying the pay which was due, Hannibal more and more attached the soldiers and the allies to himself; and, on the return of spring, he directed his arms against the Vacceans.
Hermandica and Arbocala are stormed; Arbocala, supported by the value and the number of its inhabitants, opposed a long resistance. The refugees of Hermandica, joined with those of the Olcades, a people subjected the year before, raise the Carpetans; they attacked Hannibal in his retreat from the country of the Vacceans, not far from the Tagus, and delayed his march, which was already embarrassed by the booty. Hannibal did not take action; he encamped his troops on the bank of the river, and, when the silence informed him that his adversaries were plunged into the first sleep, he forded the river:leaving
then, by the layout of his lines, space for the enemies to follow in his footsteps, he resolved to surprise them as they passed. His cavalry was ordered to
begin the attack as soon as they entered the water. The infantry, placed on the bank, had forty elephants in front. The Carpetans, with the remnants of the Olcades and the Vacceans, were a hundred thousand strong, an invincible army on equal ground. Naturally presumptuous, counting on numbers, persuaded that fear had been the cause of Hannibal's retreat, certain that the only obstacle to victory was the passage of the river, they let out a battle cry, and, without order, without guide, they rush into the waters, each at the nearest place. From the other bank of the river, a large body of cavalry was sent against them, and an unequal struggle ensued in the middle of the current, in which the infantry, who had no firm footing, and who feared being overwhelmed, could be easily overthrown, even by unarmed horsemen, who would have pushed their horses at random; while the horsemen, free in their movements and armour, whose horses had a foothold in the deepest places, fought near and far. Much of it was swallowed up in the river; some, carried towards the Carthaginians by the rapid current, were crushed under the feet of
elephants; the last, finding it safer to regain their shore, at the moment when, scattered here and there, they sought to unite, and to recover from this frightful disorder, saw Hannibal appear at the head of a square battalion; he was crossing the river, and soon he had driven them from the shore. The country was devastated, and a few days later the Carpetans were subjugated. From then on, all the country beyond the Hebre, except for Saguntum, was subject to the yoke of Carthage.