𐤏𐤆𐤓𐤁𐤏𐤋
Hasdrubal Gisco
d. c. 202 BCE · Carthage
Name
- Punic
- ʿAzrubaʿl 𐤏𐤆𐤓𐤁𐤏𐤋
- Greek
- Ἀσδρούβας
- Latin
- Hasdrubal
ʿAzrubaʿl combines ʿzr ("help") with the divine name Baʿal ("lord"), yielding "Baʿal helps" or "help of Baʿal." The patronymic "son of Gisco" (Punic GSKN) distinguishes him from the several other Carthaginian commanders named Hasdrubal active in the same period, including Hannibal's brother and his brother-in-law.
Carthaginian general active in Iberia during the later Second Punic War, where he commanded one of the three Punic armies confronting Scipio. Defeated at Ilipa in 206 BCE, he withdrew to Africa to organize the defense of Carthage itself. Took a leading role at Zama in 202 BCE, where ancient sources name him among Hannibal's principal subordinates. His daughter Sophonisba married first the Numidian king Syphax, securing him as a Carthaginian ally, and later, briefly, Masinissa. Tradition reports that Hasdrubal Gisco took his own life after Zama to avoid Roman reprisal.