Hasdrubal the Boetharch

Hasdrubal the Boetharch (Punic: 𐤏𐤆𐤓‬‬𐤁‬𐤏𐤋‬,[1] ʿAzrubaʿal) was a Carthaginian general during the Third Punic War. Little is known about him. "Boetharch" was a Carthaginian office, the exact function of which is unclear but which is not to be confused with the Greek boeotarch.

Hasdrubal's wife denouncing her husband before Scipio Africanus by Pietro della Vecchia, c. 1650

Life

Hasdrubal led the Carthaginian forces at the Siege of Carthage in 146 BC. Their defeat by Scipio Aemilianus, proconsul of the Roman Republic, brought the war to a close. Hasdrubal's military skill was not to be doubted, as his army had been well trained and equipped. His work at defending Carthage cost the Romans a difficult campaign to suppress the defenders. His tactical skills, however, were dwarfed by his contemporaries Massinissa and Scipio.

Hasdrubal had a wife and two sons, who, according to Polybius, threw themselves into a burning temple when they witnessed their army's defeat. Hasdrubal had surrendered himself to the Romans prior to his family's deaths, an act possibly provoking their suicide. He was taken to Rome and displayed during Scipio's triumph, but later allowed to live in peace in Italy.[2]

This may be the same general Hasdrubal who was defeated near the town of Tunes (now Tunis) by the Numidian king, Masinissa, just after war was declared (149 BC).

See also

References

Citations
  1. Huss (1985), p. 566.
  2. Mommsen, p. 54
    Smith, p.360

Bibliography
  • Havell, H.L. (2009), Republican Rome..., BiblioBazaar, p. 321, ISBN 1-115-39574-2.
  • Huss, Werner (1985), Geschichte der Karthager, Munich: C.H. Beck. (in German)
  • Mommsen, Theodor (1870), William Purdie Dickson (ed.), The History of Rome, Vol. 3, New York: C. Scribner & Co, pp. 42–54.
  • Book XXXVIII of Polybius's Histories, English trans., 7-8,20
  • Smith, William, ed. (1849), Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology, Vol. II, C.C. Little & J. Brown, pp. 359–360.
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