Atlas of Battles

battle, major, ancient

Battle of Baecula

Battle of Baecula was a battle fought in 208 BC at Santo Tomé, in what is now Spain. It was part of Second Punic War, which ran from 218 BC to 201 BC. The recorded result: Roman victory. Recorded strength: 40,000; ----30,000 Romans and Italians; 10,000 Iberian against 30,000.

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Plan of the battle of Baecula
Plan of the battle of Baecula. Theodore Ayrault Dodge, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons.
Fought208 BC
WhereSanto Tomé, Spain38.017N, 3.100W
OutcomeRoman victory
BelligerentsRoman RepublicagainstCarthage
Casualties and lossesUnknownand20,000; ----8,000 killed (Livy); 12,000 captured (Polybius)
Part ofSecond Punic War218 BC to 201 BC

Where it sits in Second Punic War

Battle of Cissa, 218 BCBattle of Lilybaeum, 218 BCCapture of Malta, 218 BCSiege of Mutina, 218 BCHannibal's crossing of the Alps, 218 BCBattle of Rhone Crossing, 218 BCBattle of Ticinus, 218 BCBattle of the Trebia, 218 BCBattle of Ebro River, 217 BCBattle of Geronium, 217 BCBattle of Ager Falernus, 217 BCHannibal's crossing of the Apennines, 217 BCBattle of Plaisance, 217 BCBattle of Lake Trasimene, 217 BCBattle of Nola, 216 BCBattle of Silva Litana, 216 BCSiege of Petelia, 216 BCSiege of Acerra, 216 BCBattle of Cannae, 216 BCBattle of Dertosa, 215 BCBattle of Cornus, 215 BCBattle of Cumae, 215 BCBattle of Nola, 215 BCSiege of Syracuse, 214 BCBattle of Nola, 214 BCBattle of Beneventum, 214 BCBattle of Munda, 214 BCSiege of Arpi, 213 BCBattle of the Silarus, 212 BCBattle of Herdonia, 212 BCBattle of Capua, 212 BCBattle of Beneventum, 212 BCFirst Battle of Tarentum, 212 BCSecond Battle of Beneventum, 212 BCSiege of Capua, 212 BCBattle of Tarentum, 212 BCBattle of the Upper Baetis, 211 BCBattle of Capua, 211 BCHannibal's raid to Rome, 211 BCBattle of Herdonia, 210 BCBattle of Numistro, 210 BCBattle of Sapriportis, 210 BCBattle of Castulo, 210 BCBattle of New Carthage, 209 BCBattle of Canusium, 209 BCBattle of Tarentum, 209 BCSecond Battle of Tarentum, 209 BCSiege of Baria, 209 BCBattle of Baecula, 208 BCBattle of Petelia, 208 BCBattle of the Metaurus, 207 BCBattle of Grumentum, 207 BCBattle of Carmona, 207 BCBattle of Ilipa, 206 BCBattle of Carteia, 206 BCBattle of Carteia, 206 BCBattle of Cartagena, 206 BCBattle of Iliturgi, 206 BCBattle of Crotona, 204 BCSiege of Utica, 204 BCRoman invasion of Africa, 204 BCBattle of the Great Plains, 203 BCBattle of Utica, 203 BCPo Valley Raid, 203 BCBattle of Cirta, 203 BCBattle of Zama, 202 BC218 BC202 BCBattle of Baecula, 208 BC
67 placed engagements of Second Punic War in time order; taller ticks are more widely documented. Each tick is a link.

Record

Date208 BC (year precision)
PlaceSanto Tomé, Spain
38.017N, 3.100W
KindBattle, ancient
Strength40,000; ----30,000 Romans and Italians; 10,000 Iberian30,000
Casualties and lossesUnknown20,000; ----8,000 killed (Livy); 12,000 captured (Polybius)
Commanders
Battle of BaeculaBattle of BaeculaFall of UbedaBattle of CollejaresBattle of LinuesaBattle of Las Navas de TolosaBattle of CantichBattle of CollejaresBattle of LinuesaBattle of Las Navas de TolosaBattle of CantichGranada‎AlmeríaAlbaceteLorca100 km38.017N, 3.100W
The recorded site, with the nearest other engagements in the atlas. Present-day coastlines, rivers and borders; towns from Natural Earth.
Conquista romana della Spagna da parte di Scipione Africano (210-206 a.C.)
Conquista romana della Spagna da parte di Scipione Africano (210-206 a.C.). Iberia 237-206BC.svg: Alcides Pinto File:Iberia 237-206BC-fr.svg: Cj73 derivative work: Cristiano64 (talk), GFDL, via Wikimedia Commons.

The ground today

Relief of the ground around the site of Battle of Baecula
Relief within about 10.0 km of the site, contours every 50 m. Copernicus DEM GLO-30, ESA.
Satellite view of the site of Battle of Baecula today
The same ground from Sentinel-2 on 2025-07-28. Contains modified Copernicus Sentinel data 2025.

The recorded site stands at about 436 m; within 10.0 km the ground runs from 0 to 698 m, 698 m of relief, steep country and today it is 77% tree cover, 10% cropland, 9% grassland.

tree cover: 77%cropland: 10%grassland: 9%built-up: 2%tree cover 77%cropland 10%grassland 9%built-up 2%
west to east, 10.0 km384 to 650 mnorth to south, 10.0 km0 to 645 m
Elevation from the Copernicus DEM GLO-30 (ESA, Airbus); land cover from ESA WorldCover 2021 (CC BY 4.0), within about 5 km of the recorded site. Computed, not recorded.

Nearest engagements

In the same war

Elsewhere in 208 BC

Battle of Baecula is one of 193 engagements of the 3rd century BC in the atlas and one of 1,204 in present-day Spain.

Sources

Identity, coordinates, dates and the war from Wikidata Q728550, released under CC0. Result, belligerents, commanders, strength and casualties from the infobox of the English Wikipedia article Battle of Baecula, revision 1370432912, read 2026-11-14, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0; the article's text is not reproduced here. Present-day country and state from Natural Earth. Dates before 1582 follow the Julian calendar as recorded.