You may retain the arms you know so well how to wield, and tomorrow my army will evacuate your town and leave you free to return to it." Hannibal's clemency was politic.

He would have lost many more men before he finally overcame the desperate band, and he was by no means desirous of exciting a deep feeling of hate among any of the tribes, just as he was meditating withdrawing the greater portion of the army for his enterprise against Rome.

With the fall of Salamanca the resistance of the Vacaei ceased, and Hannibal prepared to march back to Carthagena.
A storm, however, had gathered in his rear.

Great numbers of the Vacaei had sought refuge among the Olcades, who had been subdued the previous autumn, and together they had included the whole of the fierce tribes known as the Carpatans, who inhabited the country on the right bank of the upper Tagus, to make common cause with them against the invaders.

As Hannibal approached their neighbourhood they took up their position on the right bank of the river near Toledo.