Hasdrubal Equips a Fleet
While these things were going on in Italy, Hasdrubal,
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who was in command in Iberia, having during the winter repaired the thirty ships left him by his brother,
and manned ten additional ones, got a fleet of
forty decked vessels to sea, at the beginning of the summer,
from New Carthage, under the command of Hamilcar; and at
the same time collected his land forces, and led them out of
their winter quarters. note The fleet coasted up the country, and
the troops marched along the shore towards the Iber. Suspecting their design, Gnaeus Scipio was for issuing from his
winter quarters and meeting them both by land and sea. But
hearing of the number of their troops, and the great scale on
which their preparations had been made, he gave up the idea
of meeting them by land; and manning thirty-five ships, and
taking on board the best men he could get from his land
forces to serve as marines, he put to sea, and arrived on the
second day near the mouth of the Iber. Here he came to
anchor, at a distance of about ten miles from the enemy, and
sent two swift-sailing Massilian vessels to reconnoitre. For the
sailors of Marseilles were the first in every service of difficulty
and danger, and ready at the shortest notice to do whatever
was required of them; and, in fact, Marseilles has distinguished
itself above all other places, before and since, in fidelity to
Rome, and never more so than in the Hannibalian war. The
ships sent to reconnoitre having reported that the enemy's
fleet was lying off the mouth of the Iber, Scipio put to sea
with all speed, wishing to surprise them.
