218 BCE battle of the Second Punic War, the first battle that the Romans fought in Iberia
The Battle of Cissa was the first Roman engagement in Iberia, establishing a northern foothold that denied Hannibal Spanish reinforcements throughout the Second Punic War.
Key Facts
- Date
- Fall of 218 BC
- Location
- Near Tarraco, north-eastern Iberia
- Roman commander
- Gnaeus Cornelius Scipio Calvus
- Carthaginian commander
- Hanno
- Strategic result
- Roman control north of the Ebro River
- Historical first
- First Roman battle ever fought in Iberia
Location
Cause → Event → Consequence
In summer 218 BC, Hannibal subdued the territory north of the Ebro River before marching on Italy, leaving Hanno in command of a Carthaginian force there. Rome sought to challenge Carthaginian control of Iberia and open a second front, dispatching Gnaeus Cornelius Scipio Calvus with a Roman army to the region.
In the fall of 218 BC, Roman forces under Gnaeus Cornelius Scipio Calvus engaged an outnumbered Carthaginian army commanded by Hanno near Tarraco in north-eastern Iberia. The Romans defeated the Carthaginians, marking the first battle Rome ever fought on Iberian soil and seizing control of the territory north of the Ebro.
The victory allowed Rome to secure a base among allied Iberian tribes north of the Ebro. The sustained success of the Scipio brothers in Spain ensured that Hannibal, during his Italian campaign, sought but never received the Spanish reinforcements he needed, significantly weakening the Carthaginian war effort.
Belligerents & Mobilization Analysis
Side A
1 belligerent
Gnaeus Cornelius Scipio Calvus.
Side B
1 belligerent
Hanno.