When the Carthaginian cavalry attacked the Romans in the rear, and the African flanking echelons had assailed them on their right and left, the advance of the Roman infantry was brought to an abrupt halt.

Laelius, the commander of Roman left wing, charged against the Carthaginian right.

The Numidian king Massinissa, guest of the Carthaginian Hasdrubal, raises his right hand and is so greeted in return, once by the strongman Maciste.

Xanthippus is credited with the Carthaginian formation, cavalry split between the two wings, mercenary infantry on their right, with a hastily raised phalanx of civilians in the centre and a line of elephants in front of the infantry, which defeated the Romans formed in their normal formation, with the outnumbered cavalry on the wings and legionary infantry in the centre.

The top has a Carthaginian galley sailing on the sea while the lower part is divided vertically and on the right depicts a black lion seizing a silver scimitar.

Hasdrubal's best troops were Iberians, armed with shields and swords, made his right flank, along with the few African troops that he did have ( not much is known about these troops — they may have been spearmen drawn from some Carthaginian territory, or from another part of Africa ).

The battle started with the Roman left flank charging the Carthaginian right, followed a little later by the Roman center.

The Carthaginian right wing and center held their ground and the War elephants, before being overcome, initially succeeded in breaking the Roman lines and spreading mass confusion, making the initial combat favorable to Hasdrubal.

Seeing the futility in wasting further time attempting to reach them, he instead took half of his men and led them from behind the battling Roman lines to the extreme Roman left, swinging his troops around and crashing into the Carthaginian right flank with sudden force and intensity.

The disordered Carthaginian center now faced a three pronged attack: Porcius from the front, Marcus Livius from their right flank, and Claudius Nero from the rear.

File: Mohammad adil rais-battle of metaurus-C. PNG | Claudius Nero attacking the Carthaginian right wing at its flank, left unprotected by retreating cavalry.

File: Mohammad adil rais-battle of metaurus-D. PNG | Carthaginian right wing and cavalry routed followed by a three prong attack on Carthaginian center.

Xanthippus is credited with the Carthaginian deployment, with a hastily raised phalanx of civilians in the centre, mercenary infantry on their right and a line of elephants in front of the infantry, with the elite Carthaginian cavalry split between the two flanks.

According to Livy, Maharbal commanded the right wing of the Carthaginian army at the battle of Cannae.

After reinforcing his leading force, Scipio derived a pincer attack on the flanks of the Carthaginian main camp, by ordering Gaius Laelius to lead half of the remaining heavy foot to the right of the enemy position, and he himself scaling the left.

In addition, Scipio ordered the cavalry to blow loud horns to frighten the beasts, which partly succeeded, and several rampaging elephants turned towards the Carthaginian left wing and disordered it completely.

Seizing this opportunity, Masinissa led his Numidian cavalry and charged at the Carthaginian left wing, also composed of Numidian cavalry, and was unknowingly lured off the field.

Vulso ’ s squadron went after the Carthaginian left wing that was attacking the transport ships, while Regulus attacked Hanno.

The Roman Cavalry was placed on left wing in facing the Carthaginian cavalry.

File: Mohammad adil rais-battle of metaurus-B. PNG | Roman left wing, center and cavalry charging the respective Carthaginian forces.

Opposing them was a Carthaginian army composed of roughly 40, 000 heavy infantry, 6, 000 light infantry, and 10, 000 cavalry in the battle itself, irrespective of detachments.

Archeological site of Tossal de Manises, ancient Iberians | Iberian – Carthaginian – Ancient Rome | Roman city of " Akra-Leuke " or " Lucentum "

* Hamilcar Barca, founder of Barcid Spain and leading Carthaginian general who will fight against Rome in Sicily and Italy, against the Libyans and the mercenary revolt in Africa, and against the Iberians and Celti-Iberians in Spain ( d. 228 BC )

The Iberians were placed under Carthaginian rule for a short time between the First and Second Punic Wars.

Hasdrubal was present when the Iberians ambushed the Carthaginian forces at Akra Leuka, nowadays Alicante.

The Iberians of the Carthaginian army reformed, and they attacked the now disordered Greeks, inflicting severe casualties.

Like most Carthaginian armies, Hasdrubal's was a mix of many different cultures and ethnicities, including Iberians, Ligures, Gauls and few were of African origins.

Still refusing his center, Scipio ’ s legions, light troops, and cavalry attacked the half-trained Iberians on the Carthaginian wings from front, flank, and rear respectively.

Roman legionaries could then board and capture Carthaginian ships.

The Roman Republic expanded dramatically conquering the other states of the Mediterranean that could be considered republics, such as Carthaginian Republic.

The important city of Agrigentum was still under Carthaginian control, though there was now little the Carthaginian leadership could do to support it as the campaigns against the Romans in Spain and Italy now took precedence.

If, as many historians believe, the Persian and Carthaginian armies were in contact with each other, a defeat at Himera for Gelo could have led to a two pronged attack on the Greek mainland by the Persian and the Carthaginians, and perhaps to the eventual demise of Greek civilisation.

Inspiration for the " Iron Maiden " may come from the Carthaginian execution of Marcus Atilius Regulus, as it was recorded in a passage in Tertullian's " To the Martyrs " ( Chapter 4 ) and Augustine of Hippo's The City of God ( I. 15 ) in which the Carthaginians " packed him into a tight wooden box, spiked with sharp nails on all sides, so that he could not lean in any direction without being pierced ", or by the account of Nabis of Sparta's deadly statue of his wife, the Apega.

The first written account of volcanic activity could be the one from the Carthaginian Hanno the Navigator, who might have observed the mountain in the 5th century BC.

The expedition led by Gnaeus Scipio in 218 BC had caught the Carthaginians by surprise, and before Hasdrubal could join Hanno, the Carthaginian commander on the North of Ebro River, the Romans had fought and won the Battle of Cissa and established their army at Tarraco and their fleet at Emporiae.

However, delays by the Carthaginian government, and a belief that the mercenaries could be convinced to settle for less than their agreed wages, resulted in the eventual gathering of most of the mercenary armies near Carthage.

Moreover, they developed an implement called the corvus which was a way of dropping a gangplank onto an enemy ship, this gave the Romans an enormous advantage as their superiority in close-quarters combat could come into play as legionnaires boarded the Carthaginian ships and slaughtered the crews with ease.

The Carthaginian general, seeing that there was nothing more he could do, and presumably doubtful of his own prospects of escape or simply unwilling to be taken captive, charged into the thick of the nearly concluded battle and met a glorious, if pointless, death.

He told her that he could not free her from captivity or shield her from Roman wrath, and so he asked her to die like a true Carthaginian princess.

The Romans, alarmed by this Celtic mobilisation, made a treaty giving the Carthaginian general Hasdrubal the Fair unimpeded control of Hispania so they could concentrate on the threat closer to home.

While Scipio could be criticised for letting Hasdrubal escape from Iberia, a pursuit by the Romans through unknown mountainous and hostile terrains, leaving two full strength and numerously superior Carthaginian armies to his rear, would have been to risk another disaster like the Battle of Lake Trasimene.