Mr. S’s World of History

Hannibal was born in 247 B.C. in Carthage his father was a famous Carthaginian General Hamilcar Barca. Hannibal learned to hate the Romans through the First Punic War. In the First Punic War Hannibal’s father commanded the Carthaginian forces against the Romans in Sicily which was eventually conquered and suffered defeat. Hamilcar’s favorite strategy involved using plenty of elephants to scare his enemies. While instructing his son in military science, he always emphasized the need for a great herd. Hamilcar even boasted he would have won the First Punic War if he had been given more of these mighty beasts. In the Second Punic War Hannibal was the official enemy of Rome for the destruction he had caused the Republic. I think the main reason the Romans wanted so badly to take over Carthage was money. Carthage was the most active trader in the Mediterranean, was loaded with money. Carthage was the first society to give up on trade, and dream up a more profitable system. With so many different goods available from so many different places, the Carthaginians figured out a scam to get these goods for the smallest amount of effort. They invented money.
After Hannibal’s father’s death, he went into action. He was the commander of a well-trained army, and with his father’s great herd of Elephants, he set out for Rome to seek revenge. The plan was to sneak the elephants over the Alps, and surprise the Romans. Quintus Fabius Maximus, the dictator of the Roman Republic was fighting for the Romans who by using what is now called the Fabian Strategy defeated the great general Hannibal. Fabius initiated a war of attrition which was designed to exploit Hannibal’s vulnerabilities. Which where that as a commander of an invading foreign army on Italian soil, effectively cut off from the home country by a lack of seaborne resupply ability, his only hope of destroying Rome was by enlisting the support of her allies. Meaning if Italians remained loyal to Rome, then there was no hope that Hannibal would win. If the Romans keep on losing battles to him, their allies’ faith in them would weaken. Therefore, Fabius calculated that the only way to defeat Hannibal was to avoid engaging with him in pitched battles, so as to deprive him of any victories.
If Hannibal had conquered the city of Rome the balance of power in the Mediterranean would become an on going war and there wouldn’t be one major empire. If Carthage had defeated the Romans, it is a distinctive influence on western culture would be unlikely. In both religious and moral terms the Carthaginians with their primitive beliefs and practices like sacrificing children to the Gods, would soon have been eclipsed by Greece and her philosophers.

Carthaginian general Hannibal Barca during the campaign against the Roman army had many importance’s. First off he was one of many great military leaders who had commanded the Carthaginian forces against Rome in the Second Punic War. Hannibal Barca also fought serious guerrilla opposition, which he had overcome by changing and modifying his tactics and later by winning important tribes to his side.

Now, Quintus Fabius’ strategy to deal with Hannibal was so unique to the Roman military because Fabius was very intelligent and sneaky. He took 40,000 of his strongest and best men in the roman army and went into contact with Hannibal, who had need rest from his ongoing battles. So Fabius’ plan was to shadow Hannibal, this way his army could get to know Hannibal’s team while gaining experience with one another, and finding there weaknesses. During this time period this stagy was unthought-of and even genius!

Finally in my hypothesis, if Hannibal had gotten power of Rome, Rome wouldn’t be what we see in it today. I also believe that Hannibal wasn’t really after the power of Rome for the people, and improving it but more on the line of revenge for what they had done to his father. So if Hannibal had taken power the balance probably wouldn’t be as stable as it is today, but it would be very shaky and there would also be many more on going wars. But since Quintus Fabius’ had taken over Rome everything turned out right in the end.

The famous Carthaginian general Hannibal Barca was able to do great things during the Second Punic War because of his mastermind tactics and outstanding leadership. Hannibal was the son of a Carthaginian general, Hamlicar Barca. From his father, Hannibal learned to become a leader, a tactician, and a general to lead a powerful army against the Romans. The special thing about Hannibal was that he achieved goals that seemed impossible – well, he didn’t get to conquer Rome, but besides that, he was amazing. One of the wow-factors was the crossing of the Alps. Nobody thought that he could make it through, however he did with 26,000 infantry, 4,000 cavalry, and 20 elephants left in the end(he lost one-third of the army but still had this much left.) He gained help from the Gauls, Macedonia, and the Samnites. He also started some inner-problems in Rome – exactly what he wanted – where Roman allies started to break away. All of this lead Hannibal to victory in the battle of Cannae where both Roman consuls were killed and many other important lives were lost.

Quintus Fabius was a not-so-Roman-like guy. He was elected as dictator for one year during the Second Punic War. He was to lead Rome to victory and defeat the Carthaginians with force. But he did not lead the Roman army to cut off Carthaginian heads or plunge their spears into the enemy’s hearts. Quintus Fabius kept his men in a higher ground and attacked like ‘scaredy-cats’. This idea was not liked by the magistrates or the people.

If Hannibal had conquered Rome, the history of Europe would have taken a totally different trail. As we learned before, Rome and Carthage had NOTHING in common. The only thing they shared was the Mediterranean Sea. IF Hannibal had led Carthage to victory, many laws of today would have changed. The common law might be in a different form. We might be fearing our gods and not cherishing them. We might still be carrying out human sacrifices!! Because Rome has influenced our lives so much, I believe that Carthage would have been a powerful impact on our daily lives if it conquered Rome.

In the past, Rome had always done extremely well during battles and this may have made the Romans a little arrogant. They hadn’t been matched yet so it makes sense that no one could match them. This is why Hannibal was so imperative to Rome’s history and their success in the future. Hannibal truly made the Romans realize that there will always be someone out there who is better. With this realization the Romans addressed their need to constantly work at becoming better.

Hannibal attacked the Romans with revolutionary tactics, crazy ideas that shocked Hannibal’s opponents. Rome couldn’t believe the slaughter Hannibal executed, more so they couldn’t comprehend that his smaller army could beat theirs. That was the roman weakness; the inability to see tactics and planning as superior to numbers and strength. Rome would remember this later on, that even the largest army could be defeated by proper preparation. This is reflected in the Battle of Zama where Hannibal had the larger army with 50,000 men and Scipio had just 30,000. Hannibal the great conqueror outnumbered the Romans by 20,000 men. That’s almost twice the number of men that Scipio had. Hannibal fell because he became too confident in his men. After all, in the past Hannibal had beaten the Romans when he had the fewer numbers, when he had the lesser strength.

I think this a little bit strange, after all Scipio had fewer men than Hannibal and was threatening to attack Carthage. Hannibal must have thought Scipio insane. It’s strange that Hannibal wouldn’t have been a little more suspicious than he was. Rome had already proven itself to Hannibal with Quintus Fabius’ passive aggressive approach on war. By not fighting, the army of Carthage must have become paranoid with suspicions; that the Romans would be attacking them at any time, the suspicion that Rome had something else up her sleeve. It was really brilliant psychological war fare, breaking the enemy down mentally rather than physically.

If Hannibal had conquered Rome, marched right in and took over, the world of Rome would have been annihilated. I believe that the former Romans would have quickly exchanged loyalties and would have supported Carthage and their fearless leader, Hannibal. Anyone with loyalties to Rome would have been immediately executed, as Hannibal had already exhibited his lack of mercy with the Battle of Cannae. I almost think that the former Rome under the power of Carthage, would have lasted longer than the Roman Empire itself. Carthage and Hannibal understood that you could only conquer as much as you could defend. The little city state of Carthage was extremely small but immensely powerful because it could defend itself well. Carthage became weak when Hannibal took Carthaginian armies out of Carthage and into Rome to defend the land that he had gained. There was too much land and not enough men to defend it.

In the end, Rome needed Hannibal to make it stronger. They learned new military tactics and an important lesson that they would continue to use over the centuries, to become one of the world’s greatest empires. Each war with Carthage shaped Rome’s destiny, helped Rome to improve. Without the Punic wars Rome probably wouldn’t have reached the same level of awesomeness.

The importance of the Carthaginian general Hannibal Barca during the campaign against the roman army and Fabius strategy to deal with the roman army was so important because the Romans on 241 B.C. take over Sicily so they wanted to take revenge of the Romans so Fabius make a strategy that can’t be beaten because first the elephants attacked, then comes the cavalry to attack the ones attacking the elephants and after the cavalry comes the infantry that killed or takes prisoners the ones left.

I think that if Hannibal would have conquered Rome, the trading would have been different and the enemies wouldn’t be the same, maybe they would all be against Sicilians because they got a lot of power and control of more cities in the world. We could have been in wars with the Sicilians. America against Sicily. I really think it would have maken a big difference in today’s world. Instead of make in China or in U.S.A. it would say made in Sicily.

Jorge “Georgie” Sosa

Hannibal Barca was the key to success for the Carthaginian campaign against Rome. Hannibal was a supreme tactician and was as good as they get on the battlefield. Hannibal was raised a ruthless, Roman hating, master mind with one goal in life…to do as much damage to Rome as possible, with dedication like that could there be a better general? Hannibal was a strategist in true form, his ways of handling Roman infantry formations are exactly what is needed for the Carthaginian military to be able to control the massive Roman military might. Hannibal’s application of war elephants onto the battlefield was a powerful and useful tool against the Romans, seeing how their forces are built around infantry. However, this seemingly unstoppable general had left a large gap in his strategy to annihilate every Roman Legion thrown at him, he had forgotten to include the major deciding factor of time.
Quintus Fabius put General Barca’s pristine tactical knowledge and skill to the test. The only way to outsmart this general, who is obviously superior on the battlefield, is to see if he can apply his skill off the battlefield. Quintus, instead of firing up his men and sending them off to be slaughtered by the Carthaginians, maneuvered away from the Carthaginians and stayed free of conflict for 14 years. This surely aggravated poor Hannibal as I imagine it is pretty tough to run around with 37 elephants and 50,000 men that need be fed. This put Hannibal’s logistics to the test, unfortunately he failed, this non-fighting weakened his army until Rome was able to exterminate his elephants and destroy Hannibal’s massive mercenary force.

The balance of power in the Mediterranean would have dramatically shifted and changed the world we live in today. The Carthaginians would have dominated the way of life from then on in many ways, religiously, militaristically, and surely culturally. Our government systems would not be the same. The standard of living may not have been the same and for all we know we could still be sacrificing babies. However, we do not know maybe when Carthage passed a certain point after the expulsion of Rome, and as the Carthaginian empire began expanding they would have possibly undergone profound changes throughout society. To assume that they would not have gone through any changes throughout there time in power of Rome would be tough.

First of all Hannibal Barcawas was son of Hamilacar Barcawas. The importance of Hannibal Barcawas during the campaign against the roman army was that Hannibal Barca was that he didn’t want Rome to be so powerful and he wanted to rule Rome. To get to Rome he had one way to get to Rome and it was the by the alps. Quintus Fabius´startegy was that he would not engage Hannibal head to head but rather keep his forces on high ground where Hannibal’s cavalry had no advantage.

What might happened to the balance of power in the Mediterranean if Hannibal had conquered the city of Rome is that all the 60 elephants all the 4,000 cavalry and all 26,000 infantry would drown in the water and they would have nothing of the city of Rome.

In the second Punic War, general Hannibal Barca’s importance was to break apart the Roman system, defeat Roman forces in Italy and have hostile forces in other places. Quintus Fabius adapted a un-Roman strategy, he would not engage Hannibal head to head. He preferred to keep his forces on high ground where Hannibal’s cavalry would have no advantage against him. If Hannibal would’ve conquered the city of Rome, he would close all passages in which boats go through for trade and no one would be able to escape from the Mediterranean Sea.

Hannibal Barca was sworn to be an enemy of Rome since he was a little kid. He was the leader of the Carthage army in the 2nd Punic war. For many years Hannibal put up a fight against the roman empire, which i find amazing because Carthage is a small city -state which believes in baby sacrifices who was going against a huge empire. Hannibal bought many mercenaries and war elephants. Hannibal Barca led a war on land against the roman empire, Carthage hit Rome and then went around by the alps and that scared the romans.
Quintus Fabuis’ strategy to deal with Hannibal is unique because the romans usually fought head to head , but Quintus Fabius wanted to not fight at all and cut off all Carthaginian food and water supply. the romans thought this was a strategy of cowards , but did it anyways.
If Hannibal conquered Rome , besides the obvious fact that Carthage would have greater power of the Mediterranean, roman influence wouldn’t spread. The 12 tables would’ve been destroyed and never seen again, even present day we use a couple of those laws, so if the laws were gone back then… then our world can be completely different as we know it.

Hannibal was very important to Carthage in the Second Punic War; he used his idea of breaking the Romans from within by defeating its allies and colonies. As he did this other colonies began to revolt against Rome and Hannibal’s plan almost worked. But this was difficult since Hannibal was forced to travel around Italy and enter through the Alps since the Italian border was guarded so well with the Roman Navy. He also had very good battling strategies, he would command his soldiers to form a bowl shaped formation in which the Roman’s were lured in and surrounded. At the Battle of Cannae he let the Romans break into the lines of his army as if they had the upper hand, then called in the reserves that were behind them hiding. They came in, surrounded them and finished off the Romans. If Hannibal hadn’t lead his troops through the Alps and thought the Back of Italy they would have been overpowered by the Roman Navy, and if they had managed to get in some how, definitely destroyed by its waiting army. He was definitely a great General because he knew who to fight, and when he had to fight them. He was very smart to understand that Rome was way more prepared for battle numerically, by land or sea and that the only way was to surprise them and weaken their allies before actually fighting the Romans by using trickery and great tactics.

Quintus Fabius was a military dictator appointed by the Romans who did a very different type of fighting usually displayed by Roman’s. Instead of racing in to clash with Hannibal’s’ army he followed them and did not battle them, this way they got more soldiers and Hannibal lost soldiers by starvation, lack of supplies and because most of them were mercenaries and didn’t want to be walking around without any action. This strategy was very odd to the Romans since they were used to marching in to battle and not leading the enemy into a wild goose chase.

If Hannibal and his army had defeated Rome, so much of the Mediterranean power would have gone to Carthage and things would be very different today. Carthage would have been the center of power of the whole Mediterranean by having Rome, Italy and all its colonies. They would have received considerable amount of money and goods from Rome as payment. Carthage and around it would have boomed which means that North Africa would probably not be poor today. Also Europe would have lost its religion and we would probably be praying to Beeyra and making human sacrifices. So much would be different because Caesar would have never been in power and Rome would have been an unimportant city in the Mediterranean.

In the Second Punic War, what was the importance of Carthaginian general Hannibal Barca during the campaign against the Roman army and why was Quintus Fabius’ strategy to deal with Hannibal so unique to the Roman military?
And:
Hypothesize what might have happened to the balance of power in the Mediterranean if Hannibal had conquered the city of Rome.

The importance of Hannibal Barca starts at the beginning of the Second Punic War. In 220 B.C. Hannibal captures Salamanca, it is said that this violated the peace agreement between Carthage and Rome. Outraged by Hannibal’s actions, Rome declared war against the Carthaginians. Hannibal was at a campaign conquering Iberia, when he turned to Rome and accomplished something that at the time seemed it couldn’t be done, cross the Alps. The impressive thing was that it was him and 50,000 infantry man, 9,000 cavalry, and 37 elephants.
Hannibal was a good commander his ideas and plans where realistic the thing that turned against him was that what he had plan to happen didn’t happen. He thought that after the lost of two Roman legions by the hand of the Carthaginians all of Rome’s allies would side with Carthage. Hannibal was using a very good strategy, if it had worked out, which is divide and conquer, if he could leave Rome alone with no allies, he could conquer Rome.
He was also very important because he came up with the attack plan that determined the Battle of Cannae. He used Rome’s large number advantage against them by attacking them in three sides and the only way they could get out was retrieving.

Quintus Fabius’ strategy was so new to the Romans because they where the attacking kind of people not the analyzing the whole situation and coming up with a strategy that would benefit them. Quintus Fabius’ strategy was to not give Hannibal what he wanted which was war but hold back and let Hannibal go crazy on his own. Even though he wasn’t very popular among the Romans, because of this he was given the nickname Cucntator or delayer, due to his tactics the Romans where able to reinforce their legions fighting Hannibal in the North.

If Hannibal would have conquered Rome, Carthage would not only have been the leading power in the Mediterranean but history and the world how we know it today might have not existed. Even biblical stories would have changed dramatically. Also the conquests that would have been made by Rome might or might not have been made. Due to marine nature of the Carthaginians they would have been able to travel to different places and might have been able to conquer or make alliances with nations further north where u can only get by boat. Hannibal would have also been seen as a hero and promoted in the military hierarchy. If the Carthaginians embrace some of the Roman culture, which was very unlikely, Hannibal might have been appointed consul.

The importance of the Carthaginian general Hannibal Barca during the campaign against the Roman army is major because his father made him swear an oath when he was young that stated that he would be an enemy of Rome for as long as he lived, this making him hate the Romans with all his heart. This made it impossible for him to surrender, even if the Romans wiped out his entire army, which is the reason why there were three Punic Wars.

Quintus Fabius´ strategy to deal with Hannibal was so unique to the Roman military because for the first time the Roman military would not engage Hannibal head-to-head. It would keep its forces on high grounds where Hannibal’s cavalry had no advantages. This delayed the Carthaginian attack and gave Rome more advantages to fight back. The Romans didn’t like this new strategy because they wanted to fight or because they were interested in the land Hannibal was destroying. His strategy of delay and harassment went down in history as “Fabian tactics.”

What I predict might have happened to the balance of power in the Mediterranean if Hannibal had conquered the city of Rome is that all the power would have gone to Carthage, so the Roman Empire wouldn’t have flourished, which means that the Mediterranean wouldn’t be as diverse and rich as it is now. Also Rome wouldn’t have had the great impact in the whole world that it had, which gave us many contributions, like the idea of a Republic and a Senate.

Hannibal Barca was very important in the second Punic War, because he defeated the Romans and that battle the Romans will never forgive him and will never forget. The way he defeated them was
with a very good strategy, he knew what the Romans were going to do so he convert it into a tramp. The Romans broke the phalanx of the Carthage army and went into the center, they let them go inside and taste victory but then another group of soldiers came and surround them. Their only way out was going backwards but a group of cavalries came and defeated all the Romans.

When Rome was defeated they choose Quintus Fabius as the dictator of Rome. He use a very unique strategy because it was very un-roman, he put the army on high ground so Hannibal’s cavalry won’t have an advantage in the soldiers. This didn’t work and the Romans were very mad at him because they wanted a fight and he didn’t give them one. When his term was over, Rome elected someone else.

My hypothesis of what might happen if Hannibal had conquered Rome was that he had introduce the Carthage gods. They were monsters and Rome will have grown with a lot of fear and the balance of power wouldn’t have grown as it was in that time.

Quintus Fabius’ Strategy dealing with Carthage’s strategy was to not go and fight Hannibal but to stay in a “safe” place, a high ground where Hannibal’s cavalry could not have an advantage on his army. While Fabius’ army fought Hannibal’s army without the advantages of cavalry, the Romans were wining. Fabius’ strategy was unique because it was completely against the Roman way of fighting, against their beliefs of how to fight. The Romans way of fighting was to simply go head to head and so that was why Quintus Fabius’ strategy so unique, it was so out of the style of the Roman military.
My hypothesis of what would have happened to the Mediterranean power if Carthage would have won the war against the Romans is that Carthage would have had the complete power over it. By having Carthage with the complete power over the Mediterranean Sea they would be getting all of the profits that Rome got. So with all of those changes I think that if Carthage would have won the second Punic War the Romans would be less known while the Carthaginians would be better known, they could have been what Rome was.

Mr. S says: okay but did you answer the question?…so why was Hannibal so important?

Hannibal Barca was an important Carthaginian general in the Second Punic War because of his leadership and brutality. Barca used his clever tactics to win many battles. During his winning streak, Quintus Fabius had a fantastic counter-plan. His plan was to divide their people by cutting off their supply line and starve their troops. Also, if Hannibal would have succeeded in conquering Rome it would be very bad/frightening. All of their harsh culture would spread through out the land, their sacrificing and rules would suck. The cause of those rules is even worse, the believed if they didn’t do what satisfied their god, and it would punish them. Their god is a devilish, monster looking creature.

Mr. S says: You write :”His plan was to divide their people by cutting off their supply line and starve their troops.” who are you talking about his own troops? huh? Andrew, you start out okay but dry up too fast..You need two paragraphs for credit..better fix this..

In the Second Punic War, general Hannibal Barca led the Carthaginian army down the Alps and into Italy. Even with 4,000 cavalry, 26,000 infantry, 20 elephants, and the Gauls, he did not have enough force to attack Rome. He came up with a strategy to break apart the Roman system from within, which eventually led him to the battle at Cannae. The battle at Cannae is still one of the bloodiest battles ever fought to this day. 50,000 men were lost, the largest amount of deaths in battle in one day throughout all of history! More than 100,000 pints of blood were spilled! Hannibal used an incredible strategy to win. He made Rome believe that they were winning, which made Rome call all of their troops forward. After that, he mobilized all his hidden reserves to surround the Romans on three sides. Then, the cavalry came, completely blocking the Romans in. Carthage won! The most important thing about the Battle at Cannae was that it was a hand-to-hand combat, which means all the fighting was done hand to hand using swords and other hand weapons. Although Scipio defeated Hannibal Barca in 202 B.C.E., Hannibal was a very great and important general, especially during the Second Punic War.
Quintus Fabius’ strategy to deal with Hannibal was very unique to the Roman military. Fabius believed that the best way to fight Hannibal was to not fight him at all! He knew that battle was the one thing Hannibal thrived from. Most soldiers thought that Fabius’ tactics were the tactics of a coward! But, In the end, his strategy worked, and led Carthage and Rome to the final battle at Cannae. Quintus Fabius’ strategy was unique since it didn’t involve battle!
If Hannibal had conquered the city of Rome, everyone along the Mediterranean would probably be living in one big, children sacrificing, God fearing world! The Carthaginians believed in much different Gods than the Romans did. Rome’s Gods were in human form, while Carthage’s Gods were in the form of daemons and monsters. If Carthage had taken over, everyone would begin to adapt the Carthaginians’ customs, rather than the Roman’s. Carthage would have had the power to spread children sacrifice, and all their other non Roman like beliefs.

Mr. S says: well done..Fabian strategy was right on..just organize your paragraphs a little better and you will be doing great work!

Hannibal Barcas was important for different reasons, but it all started with the Second Punic War. Hannibal Barcas was the son of a Carthaginian military commander who led Carthage during the First Punic War, Hamilcar Barcas. Hannibal Barcas was the leader of Carthage during the Second Punic War (218-201 BC). In 218 BC Hannibal had besieged Seguntum. It is said that this was a violation of the treaty that Carthage and Rome had both agreed on, causing Romans to declare war against Carthage. At the time, Hannibal was conquering Iberia. When he heard that Rome had declared war against Carthage, he returned and did what at the time seemed impossible. He had crossed the Alps with an army of 50,000 infantry, 9,000 cavalry, and 37 elephants. Hannibal’s plan was to attack the Roman forces in Italy, hoping that Rome’s allies in Italy would abandon Rome after he had defeated two of Rome’s Legions. If Rome was left with no allies to support them, Hannibal would be able to conquer Rome.
Hannibal was also important because he left us the double-envelopment tactic that was used in a major battle, the Battle of Cannae. This battle took place during the Second Punic War in 216 BC. Hannibal had his weaker infantry in the center front, behind them he kept the stronger infantry and at the flanks he had the cavalry. In the beginning the Romans pushed forward and went further in and reached the stronger infantry. Eventually they were surrounded by Hannibal’s army.
Quintus Fabius Maximus, otherwise known as the Cunctator or Delayer, was appointed dictator in 217 BC during the Second Punic War. The strategy that he had used against Carthage during the Second Punic War is now known as the ‘Fabian Tactics’. His strategy was to avoid all battles and keep his army on a higher ground where Hannibal’s cavalry had no chance. This strategy was unique to the Roman military because the Roman military usually did nothing but attack, while Quintus Fabius had thought out a strategy that would help them.
If Carthage had conquered Rome, many things we know of today would have been different. Carthage would have been a leading power in the Mediterranean and conquered many places. Hannibal would have been looked at differently, possibly as an idol or hero. Different things that had had Roman influence would have been different, such as the Bible. Different trips and cities conquered by Rome may never have taken place or been conquered by someone else. Rome would have a different history today if Carthage had conquered it. The results of the Punic Wars would have been very different as well. <uh..obviously yes..

Mr. S says: ah you nailed the Fabian strategy…well done..I’m not sure but I believe some think Hannibal is an idol or hero today..

Hannibal is known to be the greatest commander of Carthage, possibly one of the greatest commanders of all time. His most famous achievement was in the Second Punic War, when he marched an army, which included war elephants, from Iberia over the Pyrenees and the Alps into northern Italy. He annhilated Roman forces in the battle of the Trebia and the giant ambush at Trasimene. The Romans were getting their butts kicked, and they made Fabius Maximus a military dictator. He employed the Fabian strategy, which was something rare to the Romans. In the Fabian strategy, pitched battles are avoided in order to wear an opponent down through a war of attrition, in which the side employing this strategy harasses its enemy, causing exhaustment, loss of morale, etc. This was a genius move on Fabius’ part, as he played to Hannibal’s weakness by not fighting, and cutting off his resupply units.
This strategy, although a military success, was a political failure. His policies were unpopular, and although tolerable to wiser minds in the Senate, the Romans were acustommed to fighting in the field, instead of leaving their enemy to wander in the countryside. Since Fabius won no large-scale victories, the Roman senate removed him from command. Their chosen replacement led the Roman army into the loss at the Battle of Cannae.

A dispute between Rome and Carthage over Sicily is what started the First Punic War in 264 BC. Hamilcar, Hannibal’s father fought in this battle. Hannibal grew up in an atmosphere of war and was taught to hate the Romans. Thus by the time Hannibal was the commander of the Carthaginian army, he wanted nothing more than to destroy the empire of Rome. Once he was in power, he massed his troops and began the feat of crossing the Alps, no easy task. His army suffered minimal casualties compared to the Romans; however by the time he reached the gates of Rome, they didn’t have enough men to attack the city. He conquered the countryside around Rome while waiting for forces from Spain and Carthage.
These reinforcements never came. Hannibal’s foes in Carthage made sure of that by preventing the transfer of troops to his legion. Finally Rome found a hero that could fight Hannibal. His name was Scipio. He marched into Carthage, drawing Hannibal’s army back there as well. Scipio won the final battle, defeating Hannibal and Rome’s greatest threat.
But what would have happened if the reinforcements had arrived, and Hannibal had taken over Rome? Not much in my opinion. Sure, Hannibal was a military genius, but could he really take over Rome? After all, it was the biggest and most expanding empire in that time period. Hannibal was an amazing General and he did pose a huge threat to Rome. But keep in mind one thing. The Gauls once attacked and conquered Rome in 387 BC, but the Romans were able to recover. If Hannibal were to conquer Rome, there would have been riots and mobs like crazy that Hannibal’s forces would be unable to control, especially in a city as large as Rome. I just don’t think the Roman Empire would’ve fallen even if Hannibal conquered Rome. It’d just be stopped for a bit.

Mr.S Says: Hmmmmm..interesting point..he may have taken Rome but could he have held it…I hadn’t considered that one..you may be on to something here..one thing at the time of the Barca’s Rome is a republic not an empire…but, well done..

The importance of the Carthaginian general Hannibal Barca during the campaign against the roman army was how he created the army and made it strong by using his fathers idea (father = Hamilcar) Hamilcar wanted to get revenge of the Romans but knowing that wasn’t to be, he taught hatred of Rome to his son, Hannibal. His most famous achievement was at the outbreak of the Second Punic War, when he marched an army, which included war elephants, from Iberia over the Pyrenees and the Alps into northern Italy. He didn’t have as much manpower as Romans but he counted on the support of Italian tribes that were also enemies of Romans. Quintus Fabius’ strategy to deal with Hannibal was unique to the roman military because he adopted a very unroman strategy. The strategy was that he would not engage Hannibal head-to-head but will rather keep his forces on high grounds where Hannibal’s cavalry had no advantages. So instead of just going and fighting he just kept his forces on high grounds so Hannibal’s cavalry had no advantages.
If Hannibal would have conquered the city of Rome the balance of power in the Mediterranean would be not so good. Because then the roman system of alliance which had grown from judicious settlement with the Italian would have had held against great odds.

Mr. S says: Okay…the Fabian strategy..well done.. But, What does your last sentence mean?

In the second Punic War, the importance of Carthaginian general Hannibal Barca during the campaign against the Roman army was very important because he fought at heart. Hannibal was important to this war because since his childhood he always saw Rome as the enemy and nothing else. Since his father was general before him it was Hannibal’s job to follow in his steps. When Hannibal was 9 years old his father made him put his hand in fire and promise to destroy the Romans, and this is what Hannibal based his life on. Hannibal was also important because of his phalanx. He had a strong and unique phalanx that worked beautifully. It was unique because of the way they attacked and the formation in which they were placed. This army phalanx consisted of horse archers, infantry and elephants. These elephants were trained since they were babies to trample anything in there way. So this was two thumbs up for the Carthaginian general. Hannibal also made the army bigger and stronger.
Quintus Fabius’ strategy to deal with Hannibal was so unique to the roman military because it was the complete opposite! Since Hannibal was working really hard to achieve his victory, the Romans wanted to fight back. But when Fabius adopted his strategy that said that he wasn’t going to attack Hannibal’s army head-to-head but rather keep his army on higher grounds so that Hannibal’s cavalry couldn’t reach them, the rest of Fabius’ the army thought it was an absurd idea. So they then nicknamed Fabius the “Delayer”.

If Hannibal would have conquered the city of Rome, the balance of power in the Mediterranean would have been off balance. It would be off balance because every place that Hannibal conquered most of the army he fought against became allies or revolted. So Hannibal would have conquered most of the people anyway, but there is always just one group of people that are always against what is happening. So this would make it unbalanced and unfair if only one group of people didn’t like the way Hannibal ruled or took care of things. They probably would just become salves, but all Carthaginian slaves died horrible deaths. I also think that if every Roman was ruling under Hannibal, his army would be invincible and so powerful that they would never have another Punic War.

Mr.S Says: I’m not sure I understand your last paragraph…there are words, yes… but they don’t seem to have any connection..try and clear my confusion up with another post

The importance, which had Hannibal Barca on the 2nd Punic war was very important. Do to his strategy he used, the route he took to Rome and even though he caught them by surprise. < is this a sentence?
His strategy was unique; he knew he didn’t have the forces to attack Rome itself, but instead he try to break apart the Roman system. With this strategy, he won many victories on the northern part of Italy.
Quintus Fabius’ strategy to defeat Hannibal was very unique. He knew Hannibal men didn’t have so much power on high ground, due to his cavalry didn’t have no advantage on high grounds.

If Hannibal had won, obviously the Carthaginians would have had all the power over the Mediterranean. I guess the Romans will fight again for the power until they get it.

Mr.S Says: Sorry Andres, three sentences is not 2 paragraphs.. Try again and re-post this time with the Fabian strategy..

this strategy harasses its enemy, causing exhaustment

Mr.S Says: better quit while you’re behind..

In the Second Punic War, what was the importance of Carthaginian general Hannibal Barca during the campaign against the Roman army and why was Quintus Fabius’ strategy to deal with Hannibal so unique to the Roman military?
and:
Hypothesize what might have happened to the balance of power in the Mediterranean if Hannibal had conquered the city of Rome.

The Carthaginian general Hannibal Barca was very important during the campaign against the roman army because when he marched an army, there were war elephants from Iberia. As the romans saw that they were loosing the very iportant second Punic War, they made Fabius Maximus the roman military dictator. Fabius strategy towards Hannibal wa succesful because this strategy harasses its enemy, causing exhaustment.

In my opinion if Hannibal had conquered the city of rome it wouldn´t affect the balance of the power in the mediterranean. I think it wouldn’t affect much because The roman empire was the biggest empire in the world at that time.

Mr.S Says: Fernando…I think you really missed something on that last comment…who can help him out..Empire? what empire..it’s a republic..

Hannibal is important in the second Punic war because of his unique strategies that lead him to win great battles, even though in the end he lost the war, he is remembered for his incredulous accomplishments. Hannibal was the son of Hamilicar Barcawas, a Carthaginian general who had intense hatred towards the Romans for defeating him in the first Punic war. The hatred that Hamilicar felt was so strong that he passed it on to his son and made him take an oath to loathing Romans until death. It was this emotion that lead Hannibal to fulfill his fathers wish by using his well-trained arm to attack Rome.
Hannibal used unthinkable war tactics, those tactics at that time were seen as obscured because they had never been seen before, but it was those same strategies that helped him gain the trust of Rome’s allies and almost conquer Rome. Hannibal’s first bold move was in Spain when he decided to conquer Sagunatum, which was in Rome’s territory. This angered the Romans but they thought that there was no way that Hannibal could reach them without them annihilating his army first. Hannibal took a secondary route, which shocked everyone, it meant crossing the Alps to reach Rome in a rather complicated way, but he proved it possible when he survived the Alps even after Rome had set up a few obstacles. He crossed the Alps with about 20 elephants.
Hannibal won other battles but no victory was as sweet as the battles of Cannae were he destroyed the Roman army. He strategized and came on to Romans and pinned them against a river were he demolished an army of over 70,000 which included consuls and other important people of Rome. After that ambush the Romans began to panic and drafter as many men as they could. When the news go out, the Romans started loosing most of their Allies who switched their support to Carthage.
Other tactics that were remembered from the second Punic war was those of the Roman consul, Quintus Fabius. He used a new tactic to the Romans that unfortunately lead them to loose the battle of Cannae. The strategy that he used was of standing in high grounds and delaying the attacks until he resisted fighting. The Romans weren’t fond of being held back because they liked to fight. After this they nicknamed him the delayer and they also gave a nickname to the tactic he used, they called it the “Fabian tactics”.
If Hannibal would have conquered Rome then the world, as we know it right now might be completely different. I think there would be drastic changes in society because the modern world all derives from the Romans. So maybe if the modern world had sculpted from Carthage our religion would have been to praise a demon looking God with hostile characteristics. We would have more tolerance seeing as Carthage had people from all parts of the world. The modern world would definitely be a distinct place.

Mr.S Says: Was Quintus Fabius really responsible for Cannae? Good post and I wonder if you are correct about the future if Hannibal had prevailed over Rome..hmmm a more tolerant place…? maybe but Rome eventually became a very multicultural place… they had the world..but Carthage as a violent and brutal culture..how would they have dealt with the Christians i wonder?

Being born in war and around death can change a person. It can make them evil, hostile, and even deranged. Hannibal was the oldest son of the Carthaginian general Hamilcar Barca, who had been in war with Rome for years. Hannibal had been raised to hate the Romans, but rather than being a brainless, crazy, brute, Hannibal became one of the most brilliant military leaders that the world has seen and became an important part of the second Punic war; leading Carthage to have its many victories.

Rome had declared war and they were determined to beat out Carthage. Rome had not expected that on Carthage’s side was Hannibal, and with Hannibal the mind of a strategic genius. Hannibal was every important to the Punic war; it was because of him that Carthage got its victory. He had discovered his armies own weakness; he knew he had to stay clear from the sea that had a strong Roman naval army prepared to kill on sight. To avoid the coast he decided to do the impossible, to cross the Alps on foot with an army of 50,000 infantry, 9,000 cavalry and 37 elephants that all needed to be fed to stay strong for the fights to come. Going through the Alps would be the only way to make it to Italy and take a stand against the Romans and win the war. He some how managed to make the journey and gain new allies, 14,000 Gauls that volunteered to serve under Hannibal and won many battles in Italy. Hannibal was even able to defeat armies that had many more soldiers than his own army. At the battle of Cannae, Hannibal defeated an army of 80,000 Romans with his army of 50,000 men. He even managed to kill the consul and many important people of Rome.

The Roman’s were losing the battle to Hannibal, and they knew it. It has been years since they have appointed a Dictator. They wanted someone who would do anything to defeat Hannibal and save Rome from anymore shameful defeats; that is the reason that they appointed Quintus Fabius. Fabius was willing to do anything to win, even if it meant that doing something that no proud Roman would; he would refuse to fight. Roman’s are all about fighting hand to hand. Fabius was offering to wait around and let the Carthaginians starve themselves and tire out. To many Romans that was unacceptable, they wanted to stand up against Hannibal, not hide away like cowards. It was not like the Roman military to ignore a fight. But Fabius had the power, and he believed that in order to defeat Hannibal he had to take away what Hannibal wanted, and that was to have an easy shot at the Romans and have his victory.

Carthage would have no chance against a force as strong as the Romans that is unless they had Hannibal. Hannibal was an important military leader that fought and won many battles in Carthage’s name. His hate for Rome gave him the strength and the wisdom to carry out amazing military plans, that we today study and admire.

If Hannibal had conquered Rome, the world we live in today would be very different. Carthage would have taken over and expanded its territory. If Carthage was ever destroyed it would affect the way we would be today. There is a chance that Christianity would have not spread to all of Europe after Rome’s destruction and it may no longer be one of the main religions in the world today. Rome had created the idea of a republic and having a senate; the United States may have not been created at all or it would have different government. Carthage would have influenced the Europeans in their ways, with the idea of monster for Gods putting fear in their lives. Carthage was a multicultural place and I think that would have created even more different cultures, religions and languages; that would separate us all and we wouldn’t be united.

Mr.S Says: Well done..very good points and the fact that representative government would have disappeared had Carthage won is very important..

First of all Hannibal Barcawas was son of Hamilacar Barcawas. The importance of Hannibal Barcawas during the campaign against the roman army was that Hannibal Barca was that he didn’t want Rome to be so powerful and he wanted to rule Rome. To get to Rome he had one way to get to Rome and it was the by the Alps. Quintus Fabius´startegy was that he would not engage Hannibal head to head but rather keep his forces on high ground where Hannibal’s cavalry had no advantage or Fabius strategy towards Hannibal was successful because this strategy harasses its enemy, causing exhaustment.

What might happened to the balance of power in the Mediterranean if Hannibal had conquered the city of Rome is that all the 60 elephants all the 4,000 cavalry and all 26,000 infantry would drown in the water and they would have nothing of the city of Rome.

Mr. S says: This is the problem when you cut and paste..you end up using the same material someone else used and even their same mispellings..exhaustment? is that a word?who is Barcawas?

This needs to be re-written..and this time do your own work…

During the Second Punic War, there was a well respected general from
Carthage named Hamilcar Barca. Hamlicar Barca’s worst enemy was Rome. He hated Rome so much, that when his oldest son was very young, he made him swear on oath to always be an enemy of Rome. Hannibal grew up hating Rome, and when he was old enough, he decided to cross the Alps with a well trained army to attack Rome by land. Hannibal led Carthage and other allies that united to him into many battles, and was victorious in many of them. The allies included Spanish soldiers, slingers, North Africa Soldiers, and people from Gaul that were also tired of the Romans. Hannibal was successful because of his witty strategies, and one of them included recruiting allies. Hannibal tried to break apart the Roman system by separating Italian allies from Rome, but his plan failed because the villages seemed to prefer Rome because of many factors such as different language, religion, and the thought that it was better to be a part of Rome. Hannibal won many battles, including the major battle of Cannae, where he took 70,000 Roman lives, again because of his witty strategies.

Quintus Fabius’ was an appointed dictator by the Roman council to attempt and finish Hannibal once and for all. Fabius was not like many other Roman leaders that attacked their enemy head on, he did the opposite. Don’t confront them head on, he would tell his soldiers, and at first the council liked the idea, even though it was a very unusual strategy for the Romans. Fabius’ strategy was to keep Hannibal from what he loved most; war. Instead, he would go after foragers, and cut their supply of food. Many think that his strategy might have worked, but soon the Romans grew desperate and started calling Fabius a “dawdler.” When his term was over, two councilmen that would lead Rome into the battle of Cannae were elected as leaders.

My prediction is that if Hannibal would’ve been able to actually conquer the most powerful republic of the time, then nothing would be the same today. For one thing, we wouldn’t have the very important influence ancient Rome gave to our lives, and probably would be following very different governments and lifestyles. Carthage was very rich in culture, and the world today would probably not be how we know it. It would be full of Carthage cultures, or maybe not even. Maybe Carthage wouldn’t have given us the influence ancient Rome because the world wouldn’t have considered it as important as to adapt their cultures like Rome. There is also a big possibility that Christianity wouldn’t have spread thought the world like it did also.

Hannibal Barca was the son of the leader of the 1rst Punic war, Hamilcar Barca. All his life Hannibal had been taught to hate and fight the Romans. After the Romans defeated his father in the first Punic war Hannibal wanted revenge, so he became the general of Carthage in the second Punic war. Hannibal’s presence in the second Punic war made a big difference and was very important. First of all he was an excellent leader and led the Carthaginians into victory many times; he also had brilliant war tactics that no one ever had thought of before. Since he was a great and intelligent leader he realized that his army had a disadvantage, they didn’t have a fleet, so instead he jeopardized the lives of his soldiers and went all around the Alps to surprise the Romans. Even though Hannibal knew that he was facing the strongest army of soldiers in the Mediterranean, he never showed his weaknesses to the Romans. Hannibal also knew that it would be much easier to defeat the Romans if he had Rome’s allies in his side. Some agreed to join the Carthaginian army while majority of them like Italy preferred to stay on the Romans side. Hannibal’s strategies for war were always very clever and they are still admired today.
Hannibal Barcas plan would’ve made the Carthaginians win the war, if Quintus Fabius hadn’t been elected as a dictator. Quintus Fabius like Hannibal was very bright and carefully analyzed what could be good way to defeat the Carthaginians. Finally he came up with a strategy that had never been used in a war specially coming from the Romans. His plan was simply not to fight their opponents at all. The Roman army would follow the Carthaginians and avoid fighting with them, at last Quintus Fabius accomplished what he wanted, Hannibal’s army decreased in size and at last was defeated. Many Romans thought Quintus strategy would be a disaster, because the Romans were used to a different method, they were used to fight and face their enemies with bravery. This strategy that was then called the Fabian strategy, it is very clever and even though it was unpopular in Rome, it helped the Romans win the Second Punic War.
I think that if Hannibal’s army had won and taken over Rome, it would’ve changed the whole history. The Carthaginians would’ve probably changed the name, and Rome wouldn’t be so important today. Since the Carthaginians worshipped different gods and had another religion, Christianity would never have been introduced to the world and we would probably be doing things totally different from the ones that we do today.

Hannibal Barca, son of famous Carthaginian general Hamlicar Barca was a genius in the in the ancient world when it came to war tactics. Hannibal barca had many achievements in the second Punic war. First crossing the Alps, which had seemed impossible to the Romans and later winning the battle at Cannae although being out numbered. As young child, sworn by his father to forever detest the Romans was he able to have the courage to stand up against them and almost defeat them in the second Punic war. This young mastermind used different methods of defeating the opponent that did not necessary involve more people. He never let the enemy know how strong he really was or how many people he really had. The Romans made a great mistake in underestimating Hannibal because of his small population in comparison to their own in the battle at Cannae, in which Rome had an estimated 73,000 soldiers and Carthage had an estimated 42,000. Hannibal’s unique military formation of convex, crescent shaped lines that slowly became concave under pressure of the Roman elite troops in the center, which, being encircled and finally surrounded by the Carthaginian cavalry in the rear, failed to break through the Carthaginian lines and were destroyed. The casualties resulting form the battle at Cannae was an estimated 70,000 soldiers for the Romans and about 6,000 for Carthage. After this Battle, Hannibal was almost sure that Rome would admit defeat, and so he put down his guard. However, he was wrong in making that assumption about the Romans.
Quintus Fabius has elected dictator in the second Punic war to once and for all defeat the Carthaginians. His technique in defeating the Carthaginians was unique because it involved never confronting them head on. His method was to separate Hannibal’s diverse army group by group when he least expected it, and from any end but head on. To the Romans this method seemed cowardly and unethical, but reluctantly followed it because of the desperate conditions in which they where in and because they were not about to surrender, because that was simply not in the books for the Romans to lose.
If it were not for the Romans defeating the Carthaginians, the whole world not only the Mediterranean world would have been different. Not only would the laws and government would be completely different, but there would probably even be human sacrifices!

What was so important about the Carthaginian General Hannibal Barca was his unique strategy. When the Romans approached him, Hannibal let them through and when they thought the war was over Hannibal’s cavalry surrounded them in the back, killing all hope they have of winning.

Quintus Fabius was elected dictator of Rome during the Second Punic War. His strategy was not to go directly to Hannibal and fight, but to stay in high grounds so his cavalry wouldn’t attack his army. But this strategy failed, and when Fabius´s term was over they elected another dictator called Scipio.

If Hannibal would have conquered Rome, history as we know it would be totally different. Carthaginians were very superstitious, and believed in monstrous gods, and they grew up in fear, and this would change Rome because they would kill a child to satisfy their god. Also the government would change because they wouldn’t have magistrates.

In the Second Punic War, what was the importance of Carthaginian general Hannibal Barca during the campaign against the Roman army and why was Quintus Fabius’ strategy to deal with Hannibal so unique to the Roman military?
During the Second Punic War, general Hannibal Barca was extremely important, because he achieved some of the most incredible accomplishments in war ever. He would come up with ingenious formations and strategies. He would come up with things nobody else would have imagined. He was the only general that was able to defeat and scare the military force of Rome. In the Battle of Cannae, he successfully crossed the Alps with his entire army and elephants, not all survived, but he made it. He arrived at Italy with 40,000 troops, while Rome had 70,000. But, Hannibal accomplished to defeat his enemy (clearly outnumbered) with his strategies and tactics.
Nobody dared to attack Carthage for 13 years until Rome elected Scipio as proconsul at 19 years old (not even old enough to be a questor). He decided to attack Carthage with what is known as the Fabian Tactic, which is not to attack head to head but with trickery. He sent troops to Spain and attacked Hannibal’s brother Mago and sent his head to Hannibal inside a basket. Then, attacked Hannibal unexpectedly. There, he used the same strategy that Hannibal used against Rome 13 years before. Carthage was defeated by Rome by an incredible difference. Later, Scipio was given the title of “Scipio Africanus.”

Hypothesize what might have happened to the balance of power in the Mediterranean if Hannibal had conquered the city of Rome.

If Carthage would have defeated Rome in the Second Punic War, there would be a lot of differences. First of all, Rome is the main influence of the modern world. There probably wouldn’t be Catholicism, or the English language. Carthage would have power of the Mediterranean. And we could be sacrificing little children and worshipping monsters. The world would be a completely different place as we know it.

Hannibal’s father which is Hamlicar Barca who was in the first punic war and fought againsts the romans.After his death Hannibal started the second punic war to get revenge,but the romans had a stragety called “Fabian Tactics”.Hannibal had the elephants to scare the romans with his unique tactic

Quintus Fabius was elected dictator of Rome during the Second Punic War. His strategy was not to go directly to Hannibal and fight, but to stay in high grounds so his cavalry wouldn’t attack his army,but the tactic of Fabian failed so rome elected another guy called “Cornilius Scipio”

If Hannibal had conquered Rome it would be much different from the story we have.