Hannibal And Rome: The Success Of The First Punic War

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In the darkest hour of the Roman Republic, an army was led against all odds to reign supreme on the Italian peninsula. Led through sheer military genius, the Carthaginian Army laid waste to everything the might of Rome could muster. For years on end, Italy was the stage for the greatest military orchestra the world had yet seen, conducted by a master of strategy and warfare. Hannibal, son of Hamilcar Barca, laid siege to the very idea of Rome’s military prowess. Despite absolute dominance of the Italian peninsula for several years, his success can not be credited to his brilliance and mastery of strategy. Hannibal’s success can be primarily attributed to Rome’s failure to respond at key points of his advance into Italy.
But before delving into Rome’s numerous mistakes made with regard to the defense of Italy, it is necessary to determine Hannibal’s motives and clarify how he rose into a position in which he could pursue them. With the signing of the Treaty of Lutatius in (241 BC, find correct date) (cite), the First Punic War was drawn to a conclusion. Yet the renewal of war between Carthage and Rome was inevitable. (cite) Much of Carthage wanted peace on its own terms, not a peace dependent on the good-will of the Romans.(<--MAKE THIS A QUOTE, THIS IS PLAGIARISM) Such were the ambitions of Hamilcar Barca, a man distinguished by his command of Carthaginian forces in the First Punic War and the Libyan wars (cite). Under this pretense he was put in charge of Carthage’s army, which consisted of little more than Libyan-Phoenician cavalry.
(*****This bit needs to be shortened and cleaned up, up until the next star set *****)
Knowing that Carthage did not have the resources to fund him, Hamilcar knew that he would have to pay his men by...

... middle of paper ...

...al never would have been in the position to pull off such a fantastic maneuver and brilliant strategy had the Romans committed an army even half of this size to stopping Hannibal from arriving in the Italian plains.
In any event, none of Hannibal’s great successes would have even been a possibility had the Romans stopped his advance towards Italy. Their mismanagement of their army and lack of regard for the threat Hannibal posed cost them dearly. While Hannibal’s military genius allowed for incredible tactical maneuvers and incredible victories, the Romans easily could have challenged him in situations that were heavily in their favor. The mistake of not countering Hannibal, most notably his arrival on the plains of Italy, is the primary reason behind his success in the Second Punic War (fix this, but I’ll leave it for now, need to go back and make an intro ;)).

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