Rise of the Roman Empire (Episode 19): End of the Second Punic War
*Battle of Ellipse (206 BC)
The Carthaginians had long avoided major clashes with the CPO after defeating Hasdrubal in Bakula. In the meantime, when a new army led by Hanno arrived from Carthage, Gisgo decided to fight the CPO. He encamped in the desert of Ellipse, near present-day Seville, with 70,000 infantry and 4,000 cavalry and 32 elephants.
The Roman army, led by the CPO, had about 45,000 infantry and 3,000 cavalry. As he began to camp in front of some small hills, he sent Numidian cavalry, led by Gisgo Massinisa, to launch a surprise attack. But the CPO already understood that something like this could happen. At his command, a group of Roman cavalry was hiding behind a mountain.They jumped abruptly on the reverse masinisa. When the Roman infantry joined them, several Numidians escaped with casualties.
For a few days, the two sides began to assemble troops, but no one showed interest in fighting. The CPO noticed that Gisgo was following a certain pattern. As the day progressed, he arranged his troops in such a way that his infantry African warriors were in the middle and his Spanish allies were on either side. In front are elephants and two-armed cavalry.
The CPO plotted. He used to gather after Gisgo every day. The Romans lived in the middle and the Spanish allies on both sides. One day he told the soldiers to have breakfast in the morning and sent some lightly armed soldiers to attack the Gisgo camp and withdraw.
Before Gisgo's troops were ready, he saw the Romans advancing. Hungry, Gisgo quickly arranged them. But what is this! The Romans have now taken up position on both sides of the army and the Spaniards have moved in between. Gisgo was stunned.
Under the direction of the CPO, the middle part of the army continued to advance slowly. The cavalry on both sides followed some intricate paths with relative speed, turning around Carthage's forces and blocking them. The attack then started on the instructions of the CPO.
Gisgo's elephants, armed with spears and other weapons thrown by the Romans, began to pass over his own group. Gisgo could no longer stand the onslaught of the Roman army. The soldiers ran towards their camp.From then on, Gisgo's Spanish allies left his side and joined the Romans one by one, leaving Gisgo's camp. The CPO did not give up. He pursued them to the banks of the river Betis. Here the Romans massacred Carthage's forces. With only 6,000 fighters, Gisgo fled to a mountain. From there he and Mago both left Spain. Meanwhile, Massinisa made a secret treaty with Rome and returned to Africa to bring her compatriots to Rome.