Hannibal Barca Origins Rome’s single greatest enemy ever faced One of history’s greatest commanders He knew how to attain victory but not how to use it The First Punic War Fought about 50 years before Close 400,000 people died in this war Very vicious by ancient standards The war ended in pretty much a stalemate The peace treaty was a disaster for carthage Navy limited to 100 ships Debilitating for a sea borne commercial power Spain Rebuild in Spain Exploit mineral wealth Amassed a fortune Built up land forces in lieu of naval strength Hamilcar Barca Father of Hannibal Was a distinguished commander Carthaginian commander in Spain Fought in the 1st Punic war Instructed Hannibal in the art of war Died in 228 bce Build up to war Succeed by Hasdrubule the splendid his son-in-law Sometime in the 220’s bce the romans and Carthaginians came to agreement on their spheres of influence. The Ebro river was the line of demarcation The treaty or at least the roman copy says that the Carthaginians would not go north of the river but does not say that the romans will not move south of the river Sometime later Rome took the town of seguntum, which is south of the Ebro under its protection. Hannibal took this as a slight and besieged the town Rome then demanded that he be turned over for trial Carthage refused and war declared in 219 bce The Second Punic or Hannabalic War Hannibal succeeds in 219 bce Sets out with an army of 50,000 Marches from modern day Cataluña through southern France to the western edges of Italy Marches through the alps to evade a roman army Battles the native alpine gauls Loses a 1/3 of his army Numbers replenished by Gallic tribes in north Italy The battle of the Ticonus river Carthaginian army composed of professional mercenaries Roman army comprised citizen soldiers and allies Romans trained to fight in a certain progression Carthaginians fights differently They turn the battle field into a chaotic mess The romans are not prepared to handle this They are routed loss about 2000 men The battle of the Trebbia river Goads the roman commander sempronius into an ill-advised winter crossing Demolished the roman cavalry with his war elephants Numidian and Spanish cavalry 30000 romans and their allies die in this battle The Battle of Lake Trasimene Rome raises a new force to block his path south but the commanders spilt the force to both sides of the peninsula and he slips by them by going through marshland Burns the plains of Tuscany Illustrating roman weakness to her allies Flaminius one of commanders sent out to stop Hannibal gives chase to him and pursues him across Tuscany to a little village by lake Trasimene Hannibal lures Flaminius into a narrow pathway and while screened by morning fog launches a devastating attack slaughtering the romans by the shore 15000 men die in little over 3 hours Roman Response Rome having suffered three severe defeats in 2 years Takes drastic measures Appoints Quintus fabius Maximus dictator Fabius raises a force of 90000 men He does not engage Hannibal Harasses Hannibal movements Destroys towns and villages that assist Hannibal Hoping to exhaust Hannibal’s army Fabius is forced to resign when his term ends The Battle of Cannae Two new commanders are chosen Varro and Paulus The have differing strategies and alternate command Varro leaps at his chance to confront Hannibal at Cannae The romans deploy in their tradition formation The Carthaginians in a semi-circle the arc facing out The Carthaginian cavalry begins the battle with a tremendous charge that carries away the roman cavalry The roman infantry advances forcing in Hannibal’s center They send more men to break Hannibal’s center Hannibal’s infantry holds and his flanks advance in on the romans and cavalry smashes the in the rear The romans are now trapped in a kill box (double envelopment) The battle is one of history’s bloodiest It took 6 hours to kill 70,000 Hannibal did not march on Rome Roman response He thought that they would come to terms He was wrong Cannae hardened roman resolve They went back to fabius’s plan They held out and their allies stood beside them Varro the roman commander at Cannae even received an applause from the sent senate and a thanks Hannibal’s response Hannibal’s overall strategy to turn the roman’s allies against her failed and with their support no siege on Rome was possible Hannibal became little more than a brigand terrorizing Italy for the next 12 years While he was victorious in individual battle his campaign in Italy was ultimately a failure Elsewhere The romans while not engaging Hannibal were still fighting the Carthaginians in Spain and the on the Mediterranean sea preventing Hannibal from being resupplied In 211 BCE the roman cause appeared lost They suffered two devastatingly losses in Spain Scipio Publius Cornelius Scipio aged 25 was given extraordinary command in Spain and within 4 years had defeated the Carthaginians. The last offensive effort conducted by the Carthaginians was an attempt led by Hasdrubal Hannibal’s brother. He travelled from Spain across southern France and through the Alps but was intercepted by the romans in north Italy. His head was catapulted into Hannibal’s camp Battle of Zama Scipio fresh off his victory in Spain invaded the Carthaginian heartland Hannibal was recalled to defend carthage In 203 bce the two faced off at Zama. Where after intense fighting Hannibal was defeated Carthage was forced to surrender Post War Treaty The romans imposed a heavier indemnity on the Carthaginians before They were forced to pay 10000 talents Cede all their territory in Spain Reduce their navy to 10 ships Large tracts of Carthaginian territory in Africa were given to Numidia Rome’s ally Hannibal post 2nd Punic War After the war Hannibal spent the next 20 years wandering the Mediterranean Wherever he went the romans sent an embassy to request that he either be expelled or handed over to them for trial He committed suicide after being cornered in north Africa Rome post war After the second Punic or hannabalic war the romans were left the undisputed masters of the western Mediterranean. The second Punic war was the trigger for Rome’s relentless imperialism She no longer was going to be a bully but a mistress who could brooke no opposition To secure her possessions in Spain it became necessary to control southern France Carthage Post War For carthage this was the end of her ascendancy With no navy The majority of her African holdings being given away to hostile neighbors She became a shell of her former glory