Battle of Insubria

Battle of Insubria
Part of the Second Punic War
The Mediterranean in 218 BC
Date 203 BC Location Insubria, present-day northwestern Italy 45°28′0.001″N 9°10′0.001″E / 45.46666694°N 9.16666694°E / 45.46666694; 9.16666694 Result Roman victory
Belligerents
Carthage	Roman Republic
Commanders and leaders
Mago Barca (WIA)	Publius Quintilius Varus Marcus Cornelius Cethegus
Strength
21,000 troops, 7 elephants, 25 warships	four legions plus allies (approximately 35,000)
Casualties and losses
5,000 killed Mago severely wounded 22 ensigns captured [Livy XXX/XVIII]	2,300+ killed 3 tribunes killed [Livy XXX/XVIII]
class=notpageimage| Location within Italy Show map of Italy Battle of Insubria (Mediterranean) Show map of Mediterranean

The Battle of Insubria in 203 BC was the culmination of a major war, carried out by the Carthaginian commander Mago, brother of Hannibal Barca, at the end of the Second Punic war between Rome and Carthage in what is now northwestern Italy. Mago had landed at Genoa, Liguria, two years before, in an effort to keep the Romans busy to the North and thus hamper indirectly their plans to invade Carthage's hinterland in Africa (modern Tunisia). He was quite successful in reigniting the unrest among various peoples (Ligurians, Gauls, Etruscans) against the Roman dominance. Rome was forced to concentrate large forces against him which finally resulted in a battle fought in the land of the Insubres (Lombardy). Mago suffered defeat and had to retreat. The strategy to divert the enemy's forces failed as the Roman general Publius Cornelius Scipio laid waste to Africa and wiped out the Carthaginian armies that were sent to destroy the invader. To counter Scipio, the Carthaginian government recalled Mago from Italy (along with his brother Hannibal, who had been in Bruttium until then). However, the remnants of the Carthaginian forces in Cisalpine Gaul continued to harass the Romans for several years after the end of the war.