were impressed enough to vote sending 4,000 Numidian horse, 40 elephants and 500 talents to Italy, and Mago was instructed to raise additional 20,000 foot and 4,000 horse from Spain for Hannibal. Mago's army, numbering 12,000 foot, 1,500 horse and 20 elephants, with 1,000 talents was raised slowly, perhaps due to anti Barcid intrigues. However, when the news of the disastrous Battle of Dertosa reached Carthage, Mago and his army were sent to Hispania (the Iberian Peninsula) as reinforcements for Hasdrubal instead. But the Carthaginian Senate did not entirely ignore the Italian front for once. The force of 4,000 Numidian cavalry and 40 elephants was sent to Locri in Bruttium, escorted by the Punic fleet under Bomilcar. These were the only significant reinforcements Hannibal was to receive from his government. Iberian campaigns Although Hasdrubal nominally commanded all Carthaginian forces in the Iberian Peninsula (the Roman Hispania), Mago received an independent command, a division that was to have grave consequences later. The two Barca brothers, aided by Hasdrubal Gisco, battled the Romans under the command of the Scipio brothers (Gnaeus Cornelius Scipio Calvus and Publius Cornelius Scipio) throughout 215–212 BC. Mago, in a cavalry ambush of Publius Cornelius Scipio, killed 2,000 Romans near Akra Leuke in 214 BC, and also aided in keeping the Hispanic tribes loyal to Carthage. On the whole, the Carthaginians managed to maintain the balance of power in Hispania despite the efforts of the Scipios, but failed to send any aid to Hannibal. The situation was favorable enough, as in 212 BC Hasdrubal managed to cross over to Africa with an army to crush the rebellion of Syphax, king of Numidian tribes, without the Scipios causing any disruptions in Hispania. Mago and Hasdrubal Gisco guarded the Carthaginian possessions in Iberia without difficulty, despite the Scipios outnumbering their armies during the absence of Hasdrubal. The Scipio brothers launched a major offensive in 211 BC. The Carthaginian armies were separated, Hasdrubal Gisco being near Gades (modern Cádiz) with 10,000 troops, Mago near Castulo with another 10,000, and Hasdrubal near Amtorgis with 15,000 soldiers. The Scipios planned to confront the Carthaginians simultaneously and comprehensively destroy their armies. The coordination of the three Carthaginian armies was crucial in defeating and killing the Scipio brothers and destroying most of the Roman forces in Hispania in the battles that followed. The Scipios had split their army—Publius Scipio marching west with 20,000 soldiers to