Mago Barca: Hannibal's youngest brother

Mago was the youngest of the three sons of¹ Hamilcar Barca, and the one who fought longest at Hannibal's side. From the first great victories in Italy to a last campaign in the north, he served as his brother's trusted lieutenant across fifteen years of war with Rome.

The Trebia and Cannae

Mago made his name early. At the Trebia in 218 BC, Hannibal hid him with a picked force in the winter riverbed²; when the Romans crossed, Mago fell on their rear and helped turn the battle into a rout². Two years later, at Cannae in 216 BC, he fought in the Carthaginian centre that bent but did not break² as Hannibal's wings closed around the Roman army in history's most famous double envelopment.

Spain and the war in the north

Mago was later sent to help defend Hispania against the Romans¹, and when that front collapsed he took ship for a fresh gamble. Around 205 BC he landed with an army in¹ Liguria, in north-west Italy, hoping to raise the Gauls and reopen the war in the north³.

Wounds and death

The plan came too late. In 203 BC Mago was defeated in a hard battle in Cisalpine Gaul⁴ and badly wounded. Recalled to Africa with his brother to face⁵ the final Roman onslaught, he died of his wounds during the voyage home⁴, according to Livy (another tradition has him surviving the war), the same year that the war moved to the gates of Carthage.

Several Carthaginians were named Mago; this is Mago Barca, the brother of Hannibal, not the earlier general or the famous writer on farming. See the whole family among the great commanders of Carthage.