Istolatios or Istolatius was a warlord and military chief of the Turdetans, whose activity took place during the

3rd century BC In the Mediterranean Basin, the first few decades of this century were characterized by a balance of power between the Greek Hellenistic kingdoms in the east, and the great mercantile power of Carthage in the west. This balance was shattered ...

. Endowed with great prestige,Blázquez, José María.
''Los ilergetes en el cuadro de los restantes pueblos iberos durante la Segunda Guerra Púnica''
� ''Antigua: Historia y Arqueología de las civilizaciones'' (in Spanish) .

Universidad de Alicante The University of Alicante ( ca-valencia, Universitat d'Alacant, italic=no, ; es, Universidad de Alicante, italic=no, ; also known by the acronym ''UA'') was established in 1979 on the basis of the Center for University Studies (CEU), which was fo ...

he organized a large army with Turdetans and Celtiberian and Iberian troops to oppose the

Carthaginian The term Carthaginian ( la, Carthaginiensis ) usually refers to a citizen of Ancient Carthage. It can also refer to: * Carthaginian (ship), a three-masted schooner built in 1921 * Insurgent privateers; nineteenth-century South American privateers, ...

invasion of

Hamilcar Barca Hamilcar Barca or Barcas ( xpu, 𐤇𐤌𐤋𐤒𐤓𐤕𐤟𐤁𐤓𐤒, ''Ḥomilqart Baraq''; –228BC) was a Carthaginian general and statesman, leader of the Barcid family, and father of Hannibal, Hasdrubal and Mago. He was also father-in-l ...

Biography

Diodorus Siculus Diodorus Siculus, or Diodorus of Sicily ( grc-gre, Διόδωρος ; 1st century BC), was an ancient Greek historian. He is known for writing the monumental universal history ''Bibliotheca historica'', in forty books, fifteen of which su ...

describes Istolatios as a

Celtic Celtic, Celtics or Keltic may refer to: Language and ethnicity *pertaining to Celts, a collection of Indo-European peoples in Europe and Anatolia **Celts (modern) *Celtic languages **Proto-Celtic language * Celtic music *Celtic nations Sports Fo ...

strategist in the service of the Turdetani, and describes him accompanied by a brother who acted as lieutenant. This brother has been popularly identified as

Indortes Indortes was a Hispanic ''caudillo'' or ''régulo'' from the first half of the 3rd century BC. He succeeded Istolatios in command of the Turdetan and Iberian revolt against the Carthaginians of Hamilcar Barca. Biography The root indu- seems ...

, successor to Istolatius, but Diodorus's text does not seem to treat them as the same. When Hamilcar and his mercenary contingent invaded the Guadalquivir valley in 220 BC, Istolatios went to meet him with an army collected from the Turdetan and Iberian peoples of the region. However, being unprepared for the variety and strategy of the Carthaginian forces, which included

war elephant A war elephant was an elephant that was trained and guided by humans for combat. The war elephant's main use was to charge the enemy, break their ranks and instill terror and fear. Elephantry is a term for specific military units using elephant ...

s, they were defeated. Istolatios himself was tortured and crucified.

References

3rd-century BC rulers in Europe 220 BC deaths Year of birth unknown {{more categories, date=September 2022 Celtic history Iron Age Europe