Orissus or Orisson (''

floruit ''Floruit'' (; abbreviated fl. or occasionally flor.; from Latin for "they flourished") denotes a date or period during which a person was known to have been alive or active. In English, the unabbreviated word may also be used as a noun indicatin ...

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 ...

) was a chief, leader or ruler of the Iberian

Oretani The Oretani or Oretanii (Greek: ''Orissioi'') were a pre-Roman ancient Iberian people (in the geographical sense) of the Iberian Peninsula (the Roman Hispania), that lived in northeastern Andalusia, in the upper Baetis (Guadalquivir) river valley, ...

Biography

In his first appearance in historical chronicles, Orissus came to the aid of the city of Heliké (whose location is unknown), which had been besieged by

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- ...

Carthaginians The Punic people, or western Phoenicians, were a Semitic people in the Western Mediterranean who migrated from Tyre, Phoenicia to North Africa during the Early Iron Age. In modern scholarship, the term ''Punic'' – the Latin equivalent of the ...

in 228 BC. It is unknown if he had lived through the disasters of previous Hispanic leaders, such as those of the brothers Istolatios and

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 ...

, but it seems undeniable that he faced the Carthaginian troops with more cunning than they. Gathering a strong army from the towns in the area, Orissus arrived pretending to seek an alliance with Hamilcar to help him subdue the besieged, but as soon as the Punics lowered their guard, he attacked them with all his might, managing to dismantle the siege and put them to flight. This would be the first defeat of Carthage in Hispania. It is said that the Carthaginians tried to use their fearsome

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 elepha ...

s in battle, but Orissus had warned against them by hiding behind his army a herd of fighting bulls with torches on their antlers. When the elephants came out, the Oretani lit their torches and spurred the bulls against them, scaring off the Punic beasts and causing chaos in their lines, as well as setting their camp on fire. In this episode, not all historians agree: Diodorus Siculus maintains it as it is related, while Polybius and

Appian Appian of Alexandria (; grc-gre, Ἀππιανὸς Ἀλεξανδρεύς ''Appianòs Alexandreús''; la, Appianus Alexandrinus; ) was a Greek historian with Roman citizenship who flourished during the reigns of Emperors of Rome Trajan, Ha ...

do not detail it and only emphasize that Orissus won through deception, and

Frontinus Sextus Julius Frontinus (c. 40 – 103 AD) was a prominent Roman civil engineer, author, soldier and senator of the late 1st century AD. He was a successful general under Domitian, commanding forces in Roman Britain, and on the Rhine and Danube ...

and

Zonaras Joannes or John Zonaras ( grc-gre, Ἰωάννης Ζωναρᾶς ; 1070 – 1140) was a Byzantine Greek historian, chronicler and theologian who lived in Constantinople (modern-day Istanbul, Turkey). Under Emperor Alexios I Komnenos he held th ...

believe that loaded chariots were used of burning branches instead of torches on the horns. Hamilcar's death is also usually placed in this same battle, which is not exempt from deep disagreements either. Diodorus and Appian believe that the Carthaginian general drowned in a river after falling from his horse while being pursued by Oretani; Frontinus claims that Hamilcar survived the current, though only to be cut down moments later by warriors from Helike; Zonaras picks up that he fell into his camp trying to run away from the chaos of the elephants; and Polybius, finally, posits that Hamilcar fell against an Iberian tribe, but does not specify whether he is referring to this episode or whether the Punic managed to escape the battle alive to die at a later time. The following year (227 BC), Orissus was defeated by Hamilcar's son-in-law,

Hasdrubal the Fair Hasdrubal the Fair ( xpu, 𐤏𐤆𐤓𐤁𐤏𐤋 , ''ʿAzrobaʿl''; –221BC) was a Carthaginian military leader and politician, governor in Iberia after Hamilcar Barca's death, and founder of Cartagena. Family Livy's ''History of Rome'' rec ...

, who returned to the conquest with 50,000 men, 6,000 horsemen and 200 elephants as reinforcements. Orison was probably executed then, since those responsible for Hamilcar's death are said to have been punished, and the twelve cities under whose command he was handed over to the Punics.

Diodorus 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 ...

, 25.12

Sources

* Antonio Alburquerque Pérez, ''Indortes e Istolacio, Orisón, Indíbil y Mandonio'', 1988.

References

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