206 BC. He led an assault on Cartagena, believing the city to be lightly held, and was beaten back with severe losses. On returning, he found the gates of Gades barred. After crucifying the city magistrates for treason, he sailed away to the Balearic Islands. Third Carthaginian expedition to Italy Mago then led a campaign to invade Italy (this time by sea) with 15,000 men in early summer of 205 BC. The army sailed from Menorca to Liguria under the escort of 30 Carthaginian quinqueremes. Mago managed to capture Genoa, and he held control of northern Italy for nearly three years, warring with the mountain tribes and gathering troops. The Romans devoted seven legions to maintain watch over him and guard northern Italy, but no general action was fought. In 204 BC, Mago was reinforced with 6,000 infantry and some cavalry from Carthage. The Romans refused to give battle and blocked Mago, preventing him from reaching Hannibal. Finally, the Romans engaged him in battle in Cisalpine Gaul. The Battle of Insubria was an indecisive Roman victory, but Mago was severely wounded. Soon after the battle, he was recalled back to Carthage along with Hannibal to aid in its defence, as the future Scipio Africanus major had shattered the armies of Hasdrubal Gisco, Hanno, son of Bomilcar, and had captured Syphax, who was allied to Carthage, in Africa. Mago and his army sailed from Italy in 202 BC under the escort of the Punic fleet, and was unmolested by the Roman navy as he made for Africa. Before arriving in Carthage, however, he died of his wound at sea. According to Cornelius Nepos, however, Mago survived the war and stayed with his brother Hannibal for several years, until the Carthaginians ordered his arrest around 193 BC. He managed to escape, but either died in a shipwreck or was killed by his slaves. Most historians, however, give little credit to Nepos and prefer Livy's version. The ability of Mago as a field commander can be glimpsed from his actions at the battles of Trebbia and Cannae, where his failure might have doomed the Carthaginian army. He was a capable cavalry leader, as his repeated ambushes of the Romans in Iberia and Italy demonstrate. Legacy The Port of Mahón in the Balearics was allegedly founded by him and still bears his name. The local egg sauce that is now consumed all over the