The treacherous mountain conditions decimated his army to nearly half its size. The elephants, though, functioned as tanks do today, using their bulk to smash through enemy lines. Hannibal himself, with the pick of the infantry, brought up the rear, keeping his eyes open and alert for every contingency. The oncoming Romans were trapped when his resilient forces swept around their flanks and enveloped them. That maneuver remains among the most celebrated in military history.
The Battle of Cannae is considered one of the deadliest single days of combat ever fought by a Western army. And some did in southern Italy, where Hannibal and his army held out for more than a dozen years. But in the end, Hannibal was forced to abandon Italy by a general as bold as he was: Publius Cornelius Scipio. Scipio took the offensive first to Spain and then to North Africa, reckoning that Hannibal would have to engage him there to defend his capital.
The two met in the climactic Battle of Zama in B. Hannibal lost the battle and the war. Carthage ceded to Rome all its territories outside Africa and disbanded its army. Hannibal spent much of his remaining years in exile around the Mediterranean. He kept his blood oath and maintained his enmity of the Romans until the end, which came around B. Rather than surrender to the Roman forces that had surrounded him, Hannibal poisoned himself.
Born Publius Cornelius Scipio in B. The historian Livy penned the first mention of Scipio in the historical record, recounting that in B. After his father was killed in the Second Punic War in B. He was a brilliant tactician, and a string of victories in Spain led to his ultimate victory over Hannibal in North Africa, a triumph that earned him the title Africanus. The city prospered through silver mining and trade, particularly in purple dye.
The imposing harbor was said to hold vessels. Merchants built large houses—some six stories high—above the harbor on Byrsa Hill. Carthage reached its peak around B. After the Roman conquest in B. All rights reserved. Over the next three years, Hannibal's army battled Scipio's forces for control of Italian territory. For most of this time, Hannibal fought with little aid from Carthage. He was able to inflict heavy casualties on the Roman army in the battles of Trebbia, Trasimene and Cannae, but at a heavy cost in men and many of his elephants.
He was able to get within three miles of the capital before a stalemate ensued. Hannibal did not have the numbers to successfully push into Rome, and Scipio didn't have the superior forces to defeat him. Meanwhile, Rome dispatched forces to Iberia and North Africa, raiding Carthaginian towns and villages. They used trumpets to stampede the remaining few elephants, which circled back and trampled the Carthaginian troops.
Hannibal's army was scattered and many of his soldiers were gradually hunted down and killed by the Romans. The Roman terms for peace were extremely harsh on the Carthaginians, severely reducing their military and extracting large reparations.
After being elected a chief magistrate, Hannibal spent the next several years in Carthaginian politics. During this time, he instituted elections for military judges and changed terms of office from life to two-years. However, the Romans eventually became concerned about Hannibal's growing power and in B. Hannibal moved to Ephesus Turkey and became a military adviser. Hannibal's army was defeated, and he fled to Bithynia.
The Romans demanded he be turned over to them, but he was determined not to fall into enemy hands and fled. In approximately B. We strive for accuracy and fairness. If you see something that doesn't look right, contact us! Maharbal captured another 4, Roman cavalry horses in his engagement against Servilius.
These captured Roman cavalry mounts replaced the horses Hannibal lost crossing the marshes, returning his cavalry to full strength. Moreover, Polybius notes that Hannibal was able to reequip his light infantry with weapons and armor taken from the Roman dead at Trasimene.
The Carthaginians also captured large quantities of other supplies, including food, clothing, tents, tools, boots, blankets, canteens, saddles, bridles and grain for the horses.
So only two irregular legions, the legiones urbanae , remained in Rome to defend the city. But Rome had only recently authorized these legions, and it is unclear whether they were at full strength and equipped or even trained for battle.
Hannibal held yet another advantage. Such an audacious operation likely presaged an attack on Rome itself. The navy was to prevent the Roman troops in Sicily or Sardinia from coming to the aid of the city. The last known disposition of the ship Roman fleet was in the summer of BC. At that time Sempronius had taken 10 ships with him to Ariminum on the Adriatic, leaving behind some to protect Sicily.
Another 30 ships were on duty with the Scipios in Spain. Thus, only 30 or so ships were available to protect the capital. The arrival of 70 Punic warships off the Etruscan coast gave the Carthaginians a numerical advantage in the immediate theater of operations. The population of Rome in republican times numbered between , and , citizens, all living within an 8.
Five gates breached the wall, each at the terminus of a major road leading to the city. On the side of the wall facing the open country was a foot-deep defensive trench. There was nothing particularly formidable about such defenses, given Carthaginian engineering ability.
Hannibal could quickly construct sufficient siege equipment to carry out an attack. Even if the two recently raised irregular legions were fully trained and equipped, 10, soldiers were simply insufficient to defend the miles of wall and multiple gates against an attacking army of 50, Plutarch, in his Life of Marcellus , concedes the Romans did not have enough men to defend the walls.
The Romans transported supplies landed at Puteoli overland by road. Had he assaulted the capital after Trasimene, either as a genuine effort or as a feint, Rome would have been forced to recall some of its legions from abroad, exposing Sicily, Spain or Sardinia to a Carthaginian invasion.
The nearest available legions were on Sardinia—but those 70 Carthaginian warships lay between them and the mainland. Ticinus had cost the Romans upward of 2, men. The engagement at the Trebbia had claimed more than 25, Roman and allied soldiers. And at Trasimene, Hannibal had killed 15, more Roman troops, captured 6, and eliminated a major Roman commander; the Carthaginians had then ambushed a late-arriving Roman relief force, at a cost of 4, more men.
All told, Hannibal had killed or captured some 50, Roman soldiers, a number equal to 10 legions, nearly half of that number in a single week. And yet he did not attack Rome when he was at his strongest and Rome perhaps weaker than it would ever be again. Simply put, Hannibal did not attack Rome because he did not think it necessary.
In his view he had already conquered Rome by crushing its legions.
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