After Hasdrubal Barca left for Italy by escaping the Battle of Baecula, Gisco retired to gather mercenaries in Lusitania.
Hasdrubal now crossed to North Africa, where he persuaded Syphax, king of the Berber Masaesyli tribe of western Numidia, to ally himself with Carthage against Rome.
When Scipio landed in North Africa in 204 BC, he was opposed by Hasdrubal and Syphax with a combined force of 80,000 infantry and 13,000 cavalry.
Syphax was apparently persuaded by his wife, Sophonisba, not to desert the Carthaginian cause, and he and Hasdrubal were joined by a force of about 4,000 Celtiberian mercenaries.
[3] In another passage, Livy gives a much less complimentary quote from Quintus Fabius Maximus Verrucosus, who described Hasdrubal as "a general who showed his speed chiefly in retreat".