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Hannibal's strategy and tactics
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Was Hannibal's career a failure of the most spectacular kind?
Xander Pendleton
Hannibal Barca was a Carthaginian military general who promised as a kid to always think of Rome as his enemy. He grew up and fought against Rome, but in the end he failed to win after fighting many battles. Even though Hannibal’s career was technically considered a failure, it is believed by some that his career was not entirely bad. In this essay we will talk about Hannibal’s rise to power, the Second Punic war, and his later career and death. When studying the career of Hannibal the subject of failure is important because although he was judged a failure by some at the time, history proved him to be a success in many ways. Hannibal Barca was born in 247 BC
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Hannibal showed a great amount of dedication to this war by walking across the Alps in the winter just to surprise the Romans. While he was on the way to surprise them he got support from the ferocious Celtics who, like the Carthaginian, hated Rome. Hannibal had to leave about 20,000 men home with his brother Hasdrubal to keep watch over Spain. Hannibal brought about 100,000 men with him and many elephants, but by the time he reached the Po River he had lost many men leaving him with only about 60,000 soldiers and few elephants. Finally in 217 BC Hannibal made it to Italy and fought the Battle of Lake Trebia head-to-head with the Roman general Scipio. Hannibal destroyed them and pushed further into Italy. On the way to the next battle, Hannibal got an eye infection that blinded one of his eyes. Knowing his next opponent, general Flaminius, he decided to do an ambush by Lake Trasimene. Over 30,000 Romans were killed, including Flaminius, making it another huge victory for Hannibal. The Romans realized Hannibal was too strong to defeat on the battlefield so they started to delay in order to built up a huge army and wipe Hannibal out. The Romans planned on using sheer numbers to defeat Hannibal, but he intended to outsmart them with his battle tactics. When the battle started, Hannibal's cavalry broke through and quickly defeated the Romans cavalry but the Roman infantry managed to push Hannibal back. As described by Joshua E. VerHage, “Then suddenly, amidst Roman cries of victory, Hannibal signaled the commanders of his wings to wheel inward against the Romans while the Carthaginian cavalry attacked the rear. With this tactic Hannibal encircled the entire Roman army. The Roman cries of victory turned to cries of horror as the Carthaginian army slaughtered the
Although a genius on the battlefield, where he used surprise and maneuver to overcome the relatively small size of his force, I do not believe that Hannibal was an ethical leader. He did not always exhibit the essential intellectual traits of critical thinking, nor did he always enforce ethical standards. To clarify, Hannibal’s vision was for independence for territories. But based on some of his actions, the concept of ‘freedom for all’ was not a part of that vision. Hannibal exhibited the trait of intellectual hypocrisy; he didn’t hold himself to the same standards that he fought for when he was faced the ethical dilemma of feeding, equipping, and paying his troops for their service; or selling Roman captives into slavery. In an effort to take care of his men, he succumbed to the latter, after the failed attempt to negotiate a ransom with Rome. And so, Roman captives were sold to a local slave trader (Commire & Klezmer, 1994). Perhaps, he fell prey to ethical relativism, using this ethical trap as a way to justify the inconsistency between his thoughts and his actions. Or maybe he didn’t care; but we’ll never know. What we do know is that this lack of intellectual integrity is opposite of the behavior that is required of an ethical leader (CF03SG, 2013, p. 7). Most assuredly, his actions confused his team of warriors, and affected their view of his professional character, especially since non-Roman captives had been released to their respective countries.
Hannibal is, perhaps, most notable for moving from Iberia over the Pyrenees, across the Alps and into northern Italy with an estimated army of 38,000 soldiers and war elephants braving the harsh climate and terrain, the guerilla tactics of the native tribes and commanding an extremely lingual-diverse army. He was a distinguished tactician, able to determine his opponent’s strengths and weaknesses, and coordinate his battles accordingly. He also wasn’t above making allies when the time called for it, winning over many allies of Rome in the process during his 15-year invasion before a Roman counter-invasion of North Africa forced ...
Caesar's death caused cataclysm in Rome and made the Romans suffer more.
Julius Caesar was unquestionable a cunning Politian as portrayed within historical documents, even though the events were documented after the accounts of his rule materialized there are still numerous theories about his political ability’s and how he was viewed by the people he governed. This paper is intended to present the reader clear vision on how Julius Caesar was viewed during his dictatorship of Rome. Was Julius Caesar a selfish dictator or model politician? There will be five diverse source accounts of the events which will be examined for similarities and differences based on the historical evidences.
...e him a better dictator. One of his greatest traits was that he was able to rule with an iron fist, but in my opinion I don’t think he abused his power since all he was trying to do was make Rome a huge and dominant empire. Obviously people who didn’t know him too well didn’t understand him, which made him appear as a scary and ruthless ruler, but even Cicero was able to change his mind about Caesar before the Gallic war was over. In the end, Caesar was one of the best dictators our world has ever seen.
In Titus Livius’, The Early History of Rome, Livy takes on the task of documenting Rome’s early history and some of the famous individuals who help contribute to the ‘greatness’ of Rome. Livy dedicates an entire portion of his writing to describe the reigns of the first seven kings of Rome; all who influence the formation and governance of Rome in some way. However, of the seven kings in early Roman history, King Romulus and King Numa Pompilius achieved godlike worship and high esteem from their fellow Romans. While both highly important and respected figures in Rome’s history, the personalities and achievements of King Romulus and King Numa Pompilius are complete opposites of one another. Despite the differences found in each king and of their rule over Rome, both Romulus and Numa Pompilius have a tremendous influence in the prosperity and expansion of Rome in its early days.
Social Darwinism fueled imperialism by making imperialistic nations believe that their imperialistic ventures were a natural turn of events and not a cruel, opressionistic system of government. These imperialistic nations exploited other nations and cultures and their troops’ motivation was the glory of the nation and the eradication of the weaker races on earth. These soldiers believed in Social Darwinism. Also, nations were able to become imperialistic because of the support of their people. They “marketed” imperialism through Social Darwinism. Finally, when these weaker countries were taken over, they were brainwashed to believe that the invasion and oppression of their people were just a result of nature. These oppressed people believed this because, according to Social Darwinism, only the fittest survive. And so, the imperialistic nations would survive and multiply while the oppressed civilizations were invaded and changed.
Julius Caesar was a strong leader of the Romans who changed the course of the history for the Roman world decisively and irreversibly. With his courage and strength, he created a strong empire and guided the empire for almost 20 years. His life was short, but had many adventures. I will tell of some of this man’s remarkable life. He did many things, therefore, I will only discuss a few. His name, part of his reign, one of his greatest battles, and his death will be told.
In the television show Hannibal, a basic plot forms between Will Gram the protagonist and Dr. Hannibal Lecter the antagonist. Hannibal Lecture is a well-established psychiatrist that also happens to be a cannibal serial killer. In the show, Dr. Lecter is the psychiatrist for Will Graham and helps Graham to separate the serial cases from his own reality. However, Graham is unaware of Dr. Lecters extra circulars, specifically he is the serial killer that Graham is looking for but is unaware. Due to his psychotic nature in addition to his conning yet cold demeanor, I would diagnose him with Antisocial Personality Disorder.
However, though his life came to a close, Hannibal continued to live on in legend. His
In this essay I will argue that the ultimate failure of Pompey in his struggle with Julius Caesar was due to Pompey’s lack of risk-taking and his inability to predict Caesar’s strategies. I will then contrast this to Caesar’s riskier strategies which would eventually lead to his triumph over Pompey. I shall cover the major battles, Ilerda, Dyrrhacchium and Pharsalus in order to assess how and why Pompey eventually lost against Caesar.
Pyrrhus’s skill as a general and his books on the art of war influenced many generals who came after him, including Hannibal. Plutarch wrote that “the other kings… represented Alexander with their purple robes, their body-guards, the inclination of their necks, and their louder tones in conversation; but Pyrrhus alone, in arms and action.” (3) What Pyrrhus lacked as a king he made up for on the battlefield. He will always be remembered for his bravery as a soldier and his brilliance as a commander.
Even before the war started, Hannibal knew what he was going to do. Since Carthage had no navy, there was no hope of going directly from Carthage to Italy over the Mediterranean Sea. Hannibal thought up a dangerous but ingenious plan. In order to get to Italy over land, Hannibal and his army would have to travel from Carthage-controlled Spain across the Alps and into the heart of the enemy. Hannibal left in the cold winter of 218 B.C. with 50,000 infantry, 9,000 cavalry, and 37 war elephants. While crossing the Alps, “Hannibal’s force suffered greatly from the elements and the hostility of the local tribesmen” (Beshara, 3). By the time they reached Italy, after only fourteen days, over 9,000 men had perished along with most of the elephants, but this number was soon replenished after 14,000 northern Gaul rebels joined Hannibal’s army. This group of 60,000 men proved superior to the Roman forces, and after at least three recorded major victories, the Roman senate was exasperated. An army of 80,000 Roman soldiers was sent to stop Hannibal’s army of now 50,000 once and for all. In July of 216 B.C., the Romans engaged the Carthaginians in “the neighborhood of Cannae on the Italian east coast” (Lendering, 2). Greatly outnumbered, Hannibal realized that he would have to win by strategy, and that is exactly what he did. As the two lines met, Hannibal’s cavalry gained the flanks and, moving up the sides, attacked the rear of the Roman line.
The military system of Rome was once viewed as a fierce and influential force. The late Roman army was much different. It was a ...
Silence of the Lambs is a film based on a novel written by Thomas Harris. Hannibal Lecter, a character that is impersonated by Anthony Hopkins, is a psychopath and cannibalistic serial killer. While he is in jail, Dr. Lecter becomes a huge asset in the apprehension of another serial killer who had a skin fetish. Clarice Starling, starred by actress Jodie Foster, is a smart young FBI intern who not only faces the conflict with such case but with the discrimination from her colleagues for being a women in a "manly" environment. Both Starling and Lecter work together to stop the serial killer. However, Lecter takes advantage of the situation to develop his own plans. There are many contributing factors such as acting skills, camera angles and lighting as well as soundtracks that help build the credibility of the film.