Battle of Oroscopa

Battle of Oroscopa
Part of the prelude of the Third Punic War
Date 151 BC Location Unknown location in northern Tunisia Result Numidian victory Beginning of the Third Punic War
Belligerents
Carthage Numidian rebels	Numidia
Commanders and leaders
Hasdrubal Suba   Asasis	Masinissa Gulussa
Strength
31,400	Unknown
Casualties and losses
Unknown, but very heavy	Unknown, but light

The Battle of Oroscopa was fought between a Carthaginian army of more than 30,000 men commanded by the general Hasdrubal and a Numidian force of unknown size under its king, Masinissa. It took place in late 151 BC near the ancient town of Oroscopa in what is now north western Tunisia. The battle resulted in a heavy Carthaginian defeat.

When the Second Punic War between Rome and Carthage ended in 201 BC, one of the terms of the peace treaty prohibited Carthage from waging war without the permission of the Roman Senate. Masinissa, an ally of Rome, exploited this to repeatedly raid and seize Carthaginian territory with impunity. In 151 BC, Carthage assembled an army of 25,400 men under Hasdrubal, disregarding the treaty. This force was joined by 6,000 Numidian cavalry led by two disgruntled Numidian leaders and attempted to deter Masinissa's aggression against the Carthaginian-held town of Oroscopa. Amid considerable fighting Masinissa lured the Carthaginians into an area of rough terrain with limited water sources, where foraging for food was difficult, and surrounded them. The Carthaginians considered their opponents to be unregimented tribesmen and expected them to disperse, but Masinissa had forged a well-disciplined army with an efficient logistics system and it was able to starve the Carthaginians into surrender.

In contravention of the terms of the surrender, the Carthaginians were then attacked and many, perhaps most, were killed. Hasdrubal and most of his officers survived and returned to Carthage. There, Hasdrubal was condemned to death in an attempt to placate Rome, but anti-Carthaginian factions in Rome used the illicit military action as a pretext to prepare a punitive expedition. This sparked the Third Punic War, which ended in the complete destruction of Carthage in 146 BC and the death or enslavement of its population.