The Ebro Treaty, the Policies of Hasdrubal and Rome in Hispania, and the International Context

Abstract

The Ebro Treaty, signed between Rome and the Carthaginian general Asdrubal around 226 BC, has been the subject of numerous studies which have approached it from the perspective of what was to happen years later, i.e. the Second Punic War. In this article, we would like to introduce a perspective that does not study the treaty from the standpoint of that event, but by trying to analyse what the objective was when it was agreed. In order to do so, we will take into account the main archaeological data that testify to an obvious Roman commercial interest in the Iberian Peninsula during the 3rd century BC, the comparison with other territories where the Romans intervened during the same years (especially Illyria) and, finally, the most important previous treaties between Rome and Carthage. On the basis of this analysis, a vision of the Ebro Treaty is proposed that does not take into account the perspective of a war that nobody knew would take place when the treaty was signed, but rather the need to establish a new framework of relations in a territory, such as the Iberian Peninsula, that was opening up to the economic interests of Carthage and Rome.