Battle of the Metaurus 207 BC
Recorded location from Wikidata; battle sites are often approximate.
Key facts
| Year | 207 BC | Wikidata P585 (point in time) |
|---|---|---|
| Era | Ancient (before 500) | derived from year |
| Location | Italy | Natural Earth (modern borders) |
| Continent | Europe | Natural Earth |
| War / conflict | Second Punic War | Wikidata P361 |
| Participants | Ancient Rome, Carthage | Wikidata P710 |
| Coordinates | 43.7824, 13.0145 | Wikidata P625 |
About the battle
The Battle of the Metaurus was a pivotal battle in the Second Punic War between Rome and Carthage, fought in 207 BC near the Metauro River in Italy. The Carthaginians were led by Hasdrubal Barca, brother of Hannibal, who was to have brought siege equipment and reinforcements for Hannibal. The Roman armies were led by the consuls Marcus Livius, who was later nicknamed the Salinator, and Gaius Claudius Nero.
Claudius Nero had just fought Hannibal in Grumentum, some hundreds of kilometres south of the Metaurus river, and reached Marcus Livius by a forced march that went unnoticed by both Hannibal and Hasdrubal, so that the Carthaginians suddenly found themselves outnumbered. In the battle, the Romans used their numerical superiority to outflank the Carthaginian army and rout them, the Carthaginians losing 15,400 men killed or captured, including Hasdrubal.
The battle confirmed Roman supremacy over Italy. Without Hasdrubal's army to support him, Hannibal was compelled to evacuate pro-Carthaginian towns in much of southern Italy in the face of Roman pressure and withdraw to Bruttium, where he would remain for the next four years.
Text adapted from the Wikipedia article Battle of the Metaurus (revision 1381228684), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Changes: excerpted from the article lead section; formatting and citations removed. No text added.
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Other battles of the Second Punic War
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- Battle of New Carthage 209 BC
- Battle of Tarentum (209 BC) 209 BC
- Battle of Baecula 208 BC
- Battle of Petelia 208 BC
- Battle of Grumentum 207 BC
- Battle of Ilipa 207 BC
- Battle of Carteia 206 BC
- Battle of Carteia (naval) 206 BC
- Battle of Ilipa 206 BC
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