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(Also
spelled Magon). The third son of Hamilcar and brother of Hannibal. Mago
accompanied his brother Hannibal on the invasion of Italy and held key
commands in the great victories of the first three years of that
conflict. After the Carthaginian triumph at the Battle of Cannae (216),
he was sent to Spain to fight alongside his other brother, Hasdrubal.
He suffered defeat at Ilipa in 206 at the hands of Publius Cornelius
Scipio (later Africanus). He stayed for several months in Gades (now
C�diz) and then retreated to the Balearics (where he may have given his
name to Port Mahon).
He
then led a third Carthaginian invasion of Italy, this time by sea. In
spring 205, with 30 ships and 15,000 men he makes the journey directly
from Minorca to the Ligurian coast. This is an impressive martime
journey for the period. He takes Genoa and Savone, received
reinforcements from Carthage and occupies - for nearly 3 years - the
north of Italy.
In
203, advancing from his base in Liguria, he fought a drawn battle
against four legions in the valley of the Po in Cisalpine Gaul. Mago
was seriously wounded there. Scipio's expedition to North Africa forces
him to return his troops there. He dies at sea before having been able
to reach Carthage. |
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