Hannibal: “The Mercy and the Thunderbolt of Ba’al”Youth (247-219)When Hannibal (in his own language: Hanba’al, “mercy of Baal”) was born in 247 BCE, his birthplace Carthage (today a suburb of Tunis, the capital of Tunisia) was losing a long and important war. It had been the Mediterranean’s most prosperous seaport and possessed wealthy provinces, but it had suffered severe losses from the Romans in the First Punic War (264-241). After Rome’s victory, it stripped Carthage of its most important province, Sicily; and when civil war had broken out in Cartage, Rome seized Sardinia and Corsica as well. These events must have made a great impression on the young Hannibal. He was the oldest son of the Carthaginian general Hamilcar Barca, who took the ten-year old boy to Iberia in 237. There were several Carthaginian cities in Andalusia: Gadir (’castle’, modern Cádiz), Malkah (’royal town’, Málaga) and New Carthage (Cartagena). The ancient name of Córdoba is unknown, although the element Kart, ‘town’, is still recognizable in its name. |
| In 221, Hasdrubal was murdered and Hannibal was elected commander by the Carthaginian army in Iberia. The Carthaginian government confirmed the decision. He returned to his father’s aggressive military politics and attacked the natives: in 220 he captured Salamanca. The next year, he besieged Saguntum, a Roman ally. Since Rome was occupied with the Second Illyrian War and unable to support the town, Saguntum fell after a blockade of eight months. Was the capture of Saguntum was a violation of a treaty between Hasdrubal and the Roman Republic? It is impossible to know. The fact is, however, that the Romans felt offended, demanded that Hannibal to be handed over by the Carthaginian government to be tried by Roman justice. |
From Saguntum to Cannae (218-216)While these negotiations were still going on, Hannibal continued to extent Carthage’s territory: He appointed his brother Hasdrubal (not to be confused with Hannibal’s brother-in-law) as commander in Iberia, and in May 218 he crossed the Ebro River in order to complete the conquest of the Iberian peninsula. On hearing the news, Rome declared the Second Punic War and sent reinforcements to Sicily, where they expected a Carthaginian attack. |
| Hannibal interrupted his campaigns in Catalonia, and decided to win the war by a bold invasion of Italy before the Romans were prepared. In a lightning campaign, he crossed the Pyrenees Mountains with an army of 50,000 infantry, 9,000 cavalry and 37 elephants; next, he crossed the river Rhône.
His elephants carried across the water on large rafts – a remarkable achievement. By a heroic effort, made difficult by autumn snow, he crossed the Alps. In October 218, 38,000 soldiers and 8,000 cavalry had reached the plains along the Po River in the vicinity of the present city of Turin in northern Italy. |
| The Po-plains were inhabited by Gauls, who had recently been subjected to Rome, and were only too willing to welcome Hannibal and throw off the Romans.
The Romans were aware of the danger that Hannibal might entice the Gauls into rebellion, and immediately sent an army to prevent this. However, in a cavalry engagement at the river Ticinus (east of Turin), the Carthaginians defeated the Romans. Now, some 14,000 Gauls volunteered to serve under Hannibal. Thanks to their help, Hannibal won a second victory at the river Trebia (west of modern Piacenza), defeating a Roman army that had been supplemented with the Roman troops that had been sent to Sicily earlier that year (December 218). |
| In March 217, Hannibal left his winter quarters at Bologna, traversed the Apennines and ravaged Etruria (modern Tuscany). During a minor engagement, he lost an eye (although some historians claim that he suffered from opthalmia). The Romans counterattacked with some 25,000 men, but their consul Flaminius was defeated and killed in an ambush between the hills and Lake Trasimene. Two entire Roman legions were annihilated. Hannibal expected that Rome’s allies would now leave their master and come over to Carthage. This did not happen, and he was forced to cross the Apennines a second time, hoping to establish a new base in Apulia, the ‘heel’ of Italy. At the same time, Rome attacked his lines of conmuciation and his supply base in Iberia. |
| While Hannibal tried to win over Rome’s allies by diplomatic means, the Romans appointed Quintus Fabius Maximus as a dictator (a magistrate with extraordinary powers). He tailed Hannibal, but evaded battle; the Romans found Fabius’ strategy unacceptable and called him ‘the dawdler’ (Cunctator). This was not entirely fair: Fabius’ policy had been successful. Besides, a Roman army had attacked Carthage’s African possessions, which prevented the Carthaginians sending reinforcements. And, contrary to Hannibal’s expectation, Rome’s allies remained loyal. In 216, the Roman Senate decided that time had come to solve the problem by one great, decisive battle. Taking no risks, the two consuls raised an army of no less than 80,000 men, whereas Hannibal’s army counted some 50,000 men. In July, the Romans pinned down the Carthaginian army in the neighborhood of Cannae on the Italian east coast; battle was engaged on the second of August. Hannibal’s convex, crescent shaped lines 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. After this event, many Roman allies switched sides. Sardinia revolted; Capua became Hannibal’s capital iin Italy. The successful commander was thirty years old when he entered Capua, seated on his last ssurviving elephant. His brother Mago Barca was sent to Carthage to announce this victory. He made quite an impression when he poured out hundreds of golden rings taken from the bodies of the Romans killed in action . |
Hannibal Barca-Birth to the Battle of Cannae
Posted by: room208 | February 18, 2008 | 1 Comment |
under: Study This
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Interesting material…it’s a shame that we didn’t have a blog last year! It would’ve taken that history competition to a higher level I should think.
By: Andrew Bivin on February 21, 2008
at 10:33 pm
