, (Polyb.; Ἰνδίβιλις, Appian), a king or chief of the Spanish tribe of the Ilergetes, who
plays an important part in the war between the Romans and Carthaginians in Spain during the
second Punic war. He is first mentioned in B. C. 218, as commanding
the Spanish auxiliaries in the service of Hanno, the Carthaginian governor of the provinces
north of the Iberus [HANNO, No. 15], when he was defeated, together
with that general, by Cn. Scipio, and fell into the hands of the Romans. (Plb. 3.76.) By what means he regained his liberty we know not, but the following year
(217) we find him, together with his brother Mandonius, heading an incursion into the
territories of the tribes in alliance with Rome. (Liv. 22.21.)
This attempt was, however, easily repulsed; and the successes of the two Scipios for some time
afterwards seem to have compelled him to remain quiet: but in 212 he led a force of 7500 men
to join the Carthaginian army under Hasdrubal, the son of Gisco, which was opposed to P.
Scipio: it was the attempt of the Roman general to intercept his march, and cut off his
reinforcement before it could join the main army, that brought on the general action, which
ended in the defeat and death of Scipio. (Liv. 25.34). Indibilis
and Mandonius are spoken of by Polybius as the most powerful and influential among the
chieftains of Spain, and had hitherto been remarkable for their steady attachment to the
Carthaginian cause, for which they were rewarded by beingreestablished in their hereditary
dominions after the death of the two Scipios. But their minds were soon after alienated by the
haughty and arbitrary conduct of Hasdrubal, the son of Gisco, who, instead of reposing
confidence in their good faith, exacted from them the payment of a large sum of money, and
required that the wife of Mandonius and the daughters of Indibilis should be placed in his
hands as a pledge of their fidelity. These hostages fell into the power of the young P.
Scipio, at the capture of New Carthage, and were treated by him with all the distinction due
to their rank, a circumstance which made a powerful impression on the minds of the Spaniards,
and added to the ascendancy already acquired by Scipio's personal character. These causes,
united with their increasing grounds of discontent with the Carthaginians, at length
determined the two brothers to abandon the cause of Carthage for that of Rome; and when Scipio
took the field in the spring of 209, he was joined by Indibilis and Mandonius, with all the
forces of their nation. A treaty of alliance was concluded between them and the Romans, and
the two princes united with Scipio in the campaign against Hasdrubal, which terminated in the
victory of Baecula. (Plb. 9.11, 10.18,
35_38, 40; Liv. 26.4., 27.17, 19.) So long as the presence of
Scipio cast its spell over them, they continued unshaken in their adherence, but in 206 the
illness and reported death of that great commander gave them hopes of shaking off the yoke of
Rome as they had done that of Carthage, and they excited a general revolt not only among their
own subjects, but the neighbouring Celtiberian tribes also. They were soon undeceived; and on
learning that Scipio was still alive, withdrew within their own frontiers to await the issue
of events. But the Roman general was not disposed to leave their infidelity unpunished : he
crossed the Iberus, totally defeated the army which the two princes opposed to him, and took
their camp, with great slaughter. When, however, Mandonius in person presented himself in the
Roman camp, and threw himself as a suppliant at the feet of the conqueror,
Scipio not only spared his life and that of his brother, but admitted them to favourable
terns, and left them in the enjoyment of all their former power, on payment only of a sum of
money. (Liv. 28.24, 25, 31_34; Plb.
11.26, 29, 31-33; Diod. xxvi. Exc. Vat. p. 60; Appian, App. Hisp. 37; Zonar. 9.10.) This
clemency, nevertheless, failed of the desired effect, for the next year (B.
C. 205), Scipio having quitted Spain to prepare for the invasion of Africa, Indibilis
immediately aroused his people to take advantage of the absence of the only general whom there
was any cause to fear, and assembled an army of no less than 30,000 foot and 4000 horse. It is
probable that his contempt for the Roman generals, L. Lentulus and L. Manlius Acidinus, whom
Scipio had left in Spain, was real, and not assumed, but he quickly found his mistake; they
hastened to meet the insurgent army, and a pitched battle ensued, in which, after an obstinate
contest, the Spaniards were totally defeated, and Indibilis himself, who had displayed the
utmost courage in the action, fell on the field. Mandonius escaped with the remnants of the
army, but was soon after given up by his own followers to the Roman generals, by whom he was
immediately put to death. (Liv. 29.1_3;
Appian, App. Hisp. 38.