𐤏𐤆𐤓𐤁𐤏𐤋
Hasdrubal (Hannibal's cavalry commander)
· Carthage
Name
- Punic
- ʿAzrubaʿl 𐤏𐤆𐤓𐤁𐤏𐤋
- Greek
- Ἀσδρούβας
- Latin
- Hasdrubal
Same name as Hannibal's brother and Hasdrubal Gisco, Punic ʿAzrubaʿl, "Baʿal helps." The Carthaginian elite produced multiple men named Hasdrubal in any given generation; modern scholars distinguish this one, who has no surviving patronymic, by his role at Cannae.
Carthaginian cavalry commander under Hannibal in Italy. Distinct from both Hannibal's brother Hasdrubal Barca and from Hasdrubal Gisco; the ancient sources identify him only by role. At Cannae in 216 BCE, Hasdrubal commanded the heavy cavalry on the left wing, opposite the Roman cavalry under Aemilius Paullus. After breaking the Roman horse, he led the wheel that crossed behind the Roman line to attack the Italian allied cavalry on the opposite wing, a maneuver that completed the encirclement and made Cannae's annihilating outcome possible. He disappears from the record after the campaigns immediately following Cannae.