Essay

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The Battle of Cannae- 216BC

Hannibal: Rome’s Worst Nightmare

From an early age, when he accompanied his father to Spain, Hannibal Barca swore an oath of hatred and vengeance on Rome. This young boy would eventually become one of the greatest military commanders in history.

All Information on Hannibal comes from Roman Historians. The very fact that they note the great achievements of their sworn enemy tells us that Hannibal merited a considerable amount of respect, and Carthage’s victories were the result of his visionary and superior war tactics. During the Hannibalic wars, Rome were put in a desperate position, and one may well argue that they would not have escaped had it not been for the jealousy that Carthage bestowed upon Hannibal, which ultimately led to his defeat.

Hannibal was a perfect example of how a battle is not always won by mere numbers. He had a profound Influence on Rome, mainly because his enumerous victories could not often be matched. To note every battle he encountered would prove an ominous task, yet it should be noted that he stood undefeated in every major battle that he lead during the Second Punic War until his defeat at Zama, where Carthage finally crumbled to Rome.

The Second Punic War- Saguntum to Cannae

Following the siege of Saguntum, Carthage now had a war on their hands. Hannibal made a bold decision to take the fight straight to Italy, rather than wait for the Romans to attack them. By putting a direct threat to Rome, Hannibal hoped that he could win over many of Rome’s unwilling Italian allies, and weaken its power. With an army of 50,000 infantry, 9,000 cavalry and 37 elephants, Hannibal set out from Spain, and marched through Southern Gaul, crossed the Pyrenees and the River Rhône, where he ferried his elephants across the water on large rafts.

It is this story that remains Hannibal’s most noteworthy military feat, the crossing of the Alpines. Not only did his army face fierce resistance from the local Tribes, but also the bitter cold of the Mountain climate. Although Hannibal lost a large number of his men and elephants, he reached the Po River Valley in Northern Italy, and won the support of its inhabitants, the Gauls. Gauis Flaminius, the Roman General, blocked the Appenine Passes, hoping to Prevent Hannibal from entering Etruria, where he could threaten Rome from the north. Hannibal took another impossible route through the mountains, and broke through to Etruria. As Flaminius and his army followed the Carthaginians, Hannibal set up an ambush on the shores of Lake Trasimene, where they slaughtered Flaminius and 30,000 of his men.

Now that Rome was aware of this defeat, they decided that the only way to beat Hannibal was by sheer numbers in a final onslaught. In the following year, 80,000 Romans marched out to confront Hannibal at Cannae. Aware of the consistent Roman tactic of placing their main force of heavily armoured legionaries in the centre of the battle line, Hannibal assembled his lightest armed troops in a convex line, in front of his main force of Carthaginian foot-soldiers. Both sides placed their calvary on their flanks. As the Roman centre forced itself into the Carthaginian line, Hannibal’s Cavalry won the fight on both flanks. This left them free to attack rear of the Roman line, which now found itself surrounded. In a tight squeeze, where even their weapons could not be used, 45,500 Roman infantry and 2700 cavalry were slaughtered, as opposed to only 7000 Carthaginian Infantry.  Following this battle, there were now over 170 new vacancies in the Roman Senate. The battle at Cannae today remains Hannibal’s greatest victory, and Rome’s single greatest defeat.

Hannibal Barca (247-183BC)

Research Question

Outline the role of Hannibal throughout the Second Punic War and assess the impact of his leadership on the Roman populace

Rome and Carthage: A background

Carthage was a city-state founded by the Phoenicians. It held a vast empire in North Africa, as well as several territories in Europe. Carthage was the dominant Naval power in the Mediterranean, with extensive commercial trade and military.

With an empire to Rival that of Rome, conflict between the two sides was inevitable. As they were both expanding, the Island of Sicily came into dispute, and both claimed parts to it. This resulted in the First Punic War (264-241BC) which saw Rome advance while Carthage suffered bitter losses. Loss of land and power saw a deep hatred of the Roman Conquerors and a strong desire for vengeance. Carthage now had debt to pay Rome for the costs of war, so it looked to spain to re-establish its Empire and develop a stronger army.

Under Hasdrubal, New Carthage began to expand and flourish, posing a threat to Rome. Rome constructed the Ebro treaty, which restricted Carthaginian expansion to the Ebro River in Spain. When Hannibal Barca took command, he moved against the city of Saguntum, winning it in an eight month siege. Although it lay south of the Border it was in fact an Italian Ally, and Rome immediatly demanded the handing over of Hannibal to its senators. Once Carthage refused, the Second Punic War erupted.

Sources and Information

Websites

 

http://history-world.org/hannibal.htm

 

http://www.livius.org/ha-hd/hannibal/alps.html

 

http://www.carpenoctem.tv/military/hannibal.html

 

http://www.wsu.edu/~dee/ROME/PUNICWAR.HTM

 

Books

Warfare in the Classical World- John Warry

Personalities from the Past- Lawless, Cameron, Catalanotto, Hennessy, Kenworthy, Leadbetter, Nobbs, Welch