HASDRUBAL(ES). Hasdrubal was commander of the Carthaginian forces defeated by the Romans under Scipio Africanus Minor in 150 B.C. At the outbreak of the Third Punic War he was reinstated in his command and had several military successes, twice beating off the Romans, once at Nepheris and again in 148-146 B.C. when Scipio retreated at Carthage. When Scipio attacked again and proved invincible, Hasdrubal surrendered Carthage to him. Scipio burned the city. Hasdrubal's wife threw herself and their two sons into the burning streets. Later Hasdrubal was led in Scipio's triumph (Polybius, Histories, XXXVIII.1, XXXIX.4). Jerome tells the story in Epistola adversus Jovinianum (Letter Against Jovinian) I.43 (PL 23: 273).

Dorigen thinks that Hasdrubal's wife is an exemplary figure of wifely fidelity; distraught when the Romans capture the town, she skips into the fire, FranklT 1399-1404. The story is a little different in NPT 3362-3368; here Hasdrubal's wife wails loudly when he loses his life and then burns herself in the fire "with a steadfast heart."

Hasdrubales, the ME genitive case, appears in medial positions, FranklT 1399; NPT 3363.