annonTwenty-two Rome controlled theseas. Hannibal takes an

annonTwenty-two Rome controlled theseas. Hannibal takes an

annonTwenty-two centuries ago there lived a man named Hannibal, the son ofHamilcar Barca a Carthaginian. Hamilcar was a general in the Carthaginianmilitary in the first Punic War.

After the defeat of Carthage in the firstPunic War, Hamilcar made Hannibal swear “eternal enmity” to Rome.In 228 b.c. Hasdrubal, Hannibal’s brother-in-law, succeeded Hamilcar andbecame commander. This meant that not only was the leader of the militarybut also the political leader as well. In 221 b.c.

Hasdrubal was assassinatedand Hannibal became commander in Spain. Hannibal was only 25 years oldwhen he was put in command of the Carthaginian armies and the Carthaginiangovernment in Spain. Even at a young age he knew his responsibilities,so he kept his father’s plan of military conquest and his brother-in-law’spolicy of strengthening Carthaginian power by democracy. He married a Spanishprincess and took hostages from the surrounding tribes to ensure theirloyalty to him. As a result of this he expanded the Carthaginian powertoward the Ebro river, which was the written northern boundary of Carthageby the Rome treaty of 226. Rome attacked Saguntum, a city close to butclearly on the Carthaginian side of the border.

This provoked Hannibalto take back Saguntum. The romans considered this an act of war. So in218 b.c.

Rome declared war on Carthage. This begins the second Punic War.After hearing the declaration of war Hannibal immediately starts off towardsRome. The problem was he had to go by land because Rome controlled theseas. Hannibal takes an army of thirty-five to forty thousand men, someon foot and others on horse, along with fifty war elephants across thePyrenees and the Alps in August of 218. Bad luck falls into Hannibal’slap as early snows and landslides kill many of his men and almost all ofhis war elephants. While traveling through the Alps he fights battles atArausio and Genua, easily defeating the Roman warriors, although his troopsare in horrible shape.

He enters Italy with only twenty-six thousand menand five or six war elephants in September 218. Hannibal and his troopsspent the winter in Po Valley. In the spring of 217 b.c. Hannibal was joinedby the Gauls, northern Italians who were subdued into fighting the Romans.

Now Hannibal had a sufficient army of infantry and cavalry. The hardenedCarthaginian troops easily crushed the Roman armies in their way, but withoutsiege equipment the Carthaginians could not destroy the Roman cities. Soinstead of trying to siege the city they simple killed the Roman soldiersand moved on. Some times the Romans would retreat into their city surroundedby high walls so that they would not die. In 217 Hannibal won a major battleat Lake Trasimene.

Hannibal’s army along with the Gauls would roam theItalian countryside and destroy any opposing army. In 216 he defeated ahuge Roman army at the city of Cannae in southwestern Italy. At Cannaethe Romans loss was much greater than that of Hannibal suffered. The Romanslost twenty-five thousand men and ten thousand were captured, on the otherhand Hannibal only lost five thousand and seven hundred men. Hannibal,being a military genius, let the Romans advance at his main infantry, whilehis cavalry charged around the sides easily defeating two other groupsof Roman infantry.

Then after destroying the two side groups of Romansthe cavalry swept around the back of the main Roman attack force. Hannibalused this strategy often because it worked so good. Even though he waskilling Roman soldiers he was not destroying any cities. Finally, to getHannibal out of Italy, the Romans sent armies led by Scipio, a great Romangeneral, to attack carthage in Africa. Carthage ordered Hannibal to Africato protect the city of Carthage.

This was the clash of the titans, Hannibalvs. Scipio. They met at Zama, a city near Carthage. This would end up tobe the final battle of the Second Punic War, and the great Hannibal wouldbe the loser. Hannibal escaped but his army didn’t. After the war Carthagehad to pay Rome a very large sum of money and agree to terms that theycould only wage war in Africa, even then they had to have Rome’s permission.

Hannibal returned to Carthage and became one of the two chief magistratesin 196. He then challenged the aristocrats of being corrupt, the aristocratstold Rome that Hannibal was planning another attack on Rome with AntiochusIII of Syria. Rome, already very angered with Hannibal, deported Hannibalout of Carthage. So he traveled to Syria and was made a member of the Syriancourt. He then remembered his father’s words and advised Antiochus IIIto declare war against Rome. Antiochus III did wage war on Rome, the SyrianWar, from 192 b.c.

to 189 b.c. Syria was defeated and Hannibal left tobecome a member of the Prussian court. He then persuaded Prussia to goto war against Rome. Instead of directly attacking Rome, Prussia attackedRome’s ally Pergamum. Rome came into the fight and demanded that Hannibalbe handed over to them. Instead of being humiliated Hannibal took his ownlife in 182 b.

c. Hannibal Barca, being eternal enemies with Rome, fulfilledhis father’s words and while doing so became one the greatest generalsof all time.