Editing Hamilcar Barca (section)

===Expanding eastward 235 BC – 231 BC===
[[File:Hannibal as a child, accompanied by a Roman soldier.jpg|thumb|284x284px|Young [[Hannibal]] Swearing Enmity to the [[Rome|Romans]]]]
Hamilcar, after subduing [[Turdetania]]<ref>Strabo 3.2.14</ref> next moved east from Gades towards Cape Nao. He met fierce resistance from the Iberia tribes, even the friendly [[Bastetani]] offered battle. Four years of constant campaigns, details of which are not known, saw Hamilcar subdue the area between Gades and Cape Nao. In the process, Hamilcar created a professional army of Iberians, Africans, Numidians and other mercenaries that Hasdrubal the Fair would inherit and Hannibal would later lead across the Alps to immortality. By 231 BC, Hamilcar Barca had consolidated his Iberian territorial gains and established the city of Akra Leuke ([[Alicante]]),<ref name="Astin1989">{{cite book|author=A. E. Astin|title=The Cambridge Ancient History|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=5Oe1u1H_OSMC&pg=PA23|year=1989|publisher=Cambridge University Press|isbn=978-0-521-23448-1|page=23}}</ref><ref>Diodorus Siculus 25.10.3</ref> probably in 235 BC, to guard Punic holdings, and possibly took over the area of Massalian colonies near the mouth of Sucro River.<ref>Livy 24.14.3–4</ref> Massalia, probably alarmed by the Carthaginian advance towards their area of influence, mentioned this expansion to the Romans, who decided to investigate the matter.