hazardous, lest Mago and the other Hasdrubal should unite their forces
with his, he sent a body of troops to occupy the pass of the Pyrenees,
and employed the remainder of the summer in receiving the states of
Spain into his alliance. A few days after the battle of Baecula, when
Scipio on his return to Tarraco had now cleared the pass of Castulo,
the generals, Hasdrubal, son of Gisgo, and Mago came from the farther
Spain and joined Hasdrubal; a late assistance after the defeat he had
sustained, though their arrival was somewhat seasonable, for counsel
with respect to the further prosecution of the war. They then
consulted together as to what was the feeling of the Spaniards in the
quarters where their several provinces were situated, when Hasdrubal,
son of Gisgo, alone gave it as his opinion, that the remotest tract of
Spain which borders on the ocean and Gades, was, as yet, unacquainted
with the Romans, and might therefore be somewhat friendly to the
Carthaginians. Between the other Hasdrubal and Mago it was agreed,
that "Scipio by his good offices had gained the affections of all,
both publicly and privately; and that there would be no end of
desertions till all the Spanish soldiers were removed to the remotest
parts of Spain, or were marched over into Gaul. That, therefore,
though the Carthaginian senate had not decreed it, Hasdrubal must,
nevertheless, march into Italy, the principal seat and object of the
war; and thus at the same time lead away all the Spanish soldiers out
of Spain far from the name of Scipio. That the army, which had been
diminished by desertions and defeats, should be recruited by Spanish
soldiers. That Mago, having delivered over his army to Hasdrubal, son
of Gisgo, should himself pass over to the Baleares with a large sum of
money to hire auxiliaries; that Hasdrubal, son of Gisgo, should
retire with the army into the remotest part of Lusitania, and avoid an
encounter with the Romans. That a body of three thousand horse should
be made up for Masinissa, the flower of the whole cavalry; and that