Carthage and Rome Fight Over Iberia in the Punic Wars
A Carthaginian general builds a Spanish empire; Hannibal's siege of Saguntum starts a war that ends it
Quick facts
- Hamilcar lands in Spain
- 237 BCE
- Hannibal besieges Saguntum
- 219 BCE
- Scipio defeats Carthage at Baecula
- 208 BCE
- Carthage expelled from Iberia
- 206-205 BCE
What happened
In 237 BCE the Carthaginian general Hamilcar Barca landed in southern Spain and began building a Carthaginian territory there, establishing his base at Gades (modern Cadiz) and founding the city of Acra Leuce. His son Hannibal took over the Spanish command in 221 BCE and, in 219 BCE, besieged and conquered Saguntum, a long-time Roman ally near modern Valencia, an act that triggered the Second Punic War between Carthage and Rome. Rome sent Scipio Africanus to fight Carthage on Spanish soil; he defeated a Carthaginian army at Baecula in 208 BCE and, by 206-205 BCE, had captured Gades itself, ending Carthaginian presence on the Iberian Peninsula for good.
Why it matters
Iberia was the original flashpoint of the Second Punic War, and Rome's victory there gave it its first permanent territory outside Italy, opening two centuries of gradual Roman conquest of the peninsula that would follow Carthage's expulsion.
How we know
The Punic Wars in Spain are recorded by Roman historians including Livy and Polybius, and the campaigns of Hamilcar, Hannibal, and Scipio Africanus in Iberia are cross-referenced in modern historical scholarship compiled by the World History Encyclopedia.
Sources
- World History Encyclopedia. Second Punic War · Reputable sourceworldhistory.org · The domain "worldhistory.org" is on our Reputable source registry. · Link is live and its text matches the event's key terms (Jul 2026)
- World History Encyclopedia. Timeline: Iberia · Reputable sourceworldhistory.org · The domain "worldhistory.org" is on our Reputable source registry. · Link is live and its text matches the event's key terms (Jul 2026)
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Part of a timelineHistory of Spain27 events · Iberian tribes, Roman emperors, a caliphate at Cordoba, and a Reconquista that took nearly 800 years to finishView all →