Hannibal of Carthage
In his time Hannibal was a Carthaginian general revered for his prowess as a tactician and is still studied today. He learned to fight, outthink his enemies and garnered much of his animosity towards the Romans from his father Hamilcar Barca who fought against Rome in the First Punic War. After his father’s death, Hannibal succeeded him as general to the Carthaginian army at the age of 23. Hereafter he spent two years solidifying his position and gathering support before carrying out an assault on Sanguntum. He later came to be known as one of Rome’s greatest adversaries when he led a campaign against the Romans in 219 B.C.E.
Hannibal’s campaign against Saguntum, who was an ally of Rome at the time was became a prelude for the beginning of the Second Punic War. Although this conflict was believed to have been instigated by the Romans who instilled hostility towards Carthage in Saguntum’s government. Hannibal marched on the city, lay siege to it and later claimed it after its fall 8 months later. Outraged the Romans declared war on Carthage and thus the Second Punic War ensued. He then
…show more content…
decided to take the fight to the Romans and set out on a march towards Italy. In his march towards Italy Hannibal conquered many cities and present himself to the people as a liberator. As a result he garnered their support and his army began to steadily grow the closer he came to Rome. Once he reached the Alps, Hannibal had gathered an army of 50,000 infantry, 9,000 cavalry and numerous war elephants. After achieving victories against the Roman army under Gaius Flaminius and another under Servilius Geminus, the Romans sent Fabius Verrucosus to stop Hannibal. Fabius tried a new tactic in which his goal was to keep Hannibal on the run and diminish his resources to later entrap him. However being quick witted Hannibal managed to deceive Fabius and slip away. It was this war campaign that resulted in the Battle of Cannae, one of the most famous battles in ancient history.
Hannibal managed to defeat a larger Roman force of 50,000 with only 40,000 troops. He did this by setting up his army in a crescent moon formation against the eager Roman consul, Varro. As the Roman army moved in, the light infantry places at the front of the formation began falling back and drawing them in. As the Romans continued to push the Carthaginian army encircled them and completely surrounded the Roman army. With the odds stacked against him Hannibal managed a great victory against the Romans, killing 44,000 and only losing 6,000 of his own men. This show of astonishing military prowess led to many city states defecting to Hannibal, which led Philip the V of Macedon following suit and initiating the First Macedonian War with
Rome. Throughout his military campaign Hannibal was described as being both merciful and ruthless at the same time. This was brought upon by the stories his enemies told of him and his troops eating human flesh when they did not have enough supplies. An act regarded as taboo by many but was required for the survival of his men. His decisions may seem brutal to many but I believe they were necessary and show how greatly adaptable Hannibal and his men were. His numerous and easily won victories against the Roman army, even when fighting against great odds shows how great of a leader, tactician, and adaptable general Hannibal was. From his advanced formations to his use the environment, his skills and strategies are still studied and talked about today. Ultimately his defeat was brought upon by his own people’s greed and refusal to provide his troops with reinforcements and additional resources, not by any military fault of his own. After Carthage’s defeat at the hand of the Romans Hannibal became a magistrate and also excelled at his new position. Hannibal later died at the age of 53, leaving behind a legacy of superior military accomplishments and knowledge far beyond his time, which would become a great page of history and deeply studied.
Caesar’s death brought turmoil to into Rome. Augustus was determined to avenge his adopted father’s death and vied with two of his chief rivals for power, Mark Antony and Lepidus. After some minor conflicts and disputes, both military and political, Augustus realized the importance and significance of making peace with his rivals. Through these small skirmishes, Antony was driven across the Alps, while Augustus was made senator and then consul. Soon after, Augustus and Antony were joined by Antony’s ally. They met and formed the Second Triumvirate to rule the Roman domains. Their alliance was sealed by a huge proscription in which 300 senators and 200 knights were killed. These were the Triumvir’s enemies.
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.
Soon the second Punic War began because Carthage was infuriated with their treatment and torments from the Empire of Rome. This war was even worse than the first, and it shook Rome to its core. The first World War began with an accumulation of many causes, but one of the more influential problems was land hunger or imperialism. When Germany lost, it had the same treatment from the world that Carthage got from Rome. In the same case, the Second World War began because of the humiliation given to Germany with the peace treaty.
Hannibal was a Punic Carthaginian military commander, reputed to be one of the greatest in history and even a better tactician. Hannibal lived in a time of great friction in the Mediterranean where the Roman Republic dominated Macedon, Syracuse and the Seleucid Empire. He was a notable member of the Barca family, a noble family well known for being staunch antagonists of the Roman Republic. His father Hamilcar was a leading commander in the First Punic War, his brother-in-laws were Hasdrubal the Fair who preferred diplomacy to war and the Numidian king Naravas, and both his brothers, Mago (commanded Hannibal’s forces and made decisive pushes) and Hasdrubal (defended Carthaginian cities in Hispania as Hannibal left for Italy in 218 BC) assisted immensely in the campaign against the Romans . Unlike many other African warlords, not only did Hannibal and his forces protect their home territory but he was also the only African commander to invade Europe in turn. In other words, he did not only defend his town or lie in wait for further oppression but rather counter-attacked and took the fight to the oppressors.
According to Lazenby, to do. What Hannibal did required "great strategic skill, tactical ingenuity. and sheer force of personality"[3]. I will consider where these characteristics came from and how he used these characteristics to his advantage in the Second Punic War. After Hasdrubal was assassinated, Hannibal became general of the Carthaginian army in Spain.
However, Caesar had the approval of many citizens in Rome, which gave him more power of Pompey. Most citizens of Rome wanted him to run the Republic instead of Pompey, therefore, they supported and even encouraged his battle against Pompey. By having more power, he was essentially more easily persuaded to cross the Rubicon with his troops. Doing so, he crossed the Rubicon and began the fight due to the power of the people. Once he crossed the Rubicon, he was hailed as a hero (Civil Wars by Julius Caesar) and was persuaded to continue fighting for power in Rome. With Caesar’s army of troops growing and the support rising, he felt he had no choice but to continue fighting for power over Pompey. However, Pompey also had supporters on his side, making the battle longer and more difficult. Obviously you can not stop a war in the middle of The civil war lasted four years and Caesar eventually won power of Rome over
Hannibal is considered a monster that eats people, savoring the flesh of his victims. That he enjoys the fear that he invokes, while coming down on his victim with relish. While ingratiating himself into the lives of people he considered vulgar, he enjoyed putting them in their place. As well-known surgeon, he functioned normally. He enjoyed all the finer things in life. He believed that being the only one who knew everything, made him a superior being.
This battle took place only a few years after Augustus took control, so this was going to test his leadership skills. Antony was a predominant general in the Roman army, but broke away at the start of the civil war. He was seduced by Cleopatra, but then eventually came back to Rome and ended up marrying Augustus's sister. He left her daughter and went back and united once again with Cleopatra In 34 BC. After several more years of tension, Augustus Declared war on Cleopatra and Marc Antony in 31 BC. Many of Caesar’s enemies rallied against him, but that didn't stop him because with his brilliant war strategies, he essentially set the tone of the war and killed many enemy troops. On September 2, 31 BC, there fleets crashed in Actium, Greece. The largest naval battle in the history Rome's Republic was to follow. After a long and merciless fight, the Roman fleet prevailed. Thus, Cleopatra fled back to Egypt, shortly followed by Marc Antony. The helps delete that remained surrendered and it wasn’t until a year later that Augustus defeated the rest of Antony’s army and forced the two to commit
The first Punic War started with a request by the locals in Messana for the Romans to aid them in defeating the Carthaginians. Messana was at the southern tip of Italy and would be a great asset to the already superior naval fleet of Carthage. Rome saw this to be a good opportunity to halt the expansion of the Carthaginian Empire and to stop the possible attack on Italy (which was controlled by Rome). Despite this fact the Roman council debated on whether to attack on these premises or not, but eventually it was decided that they would wage war on the Carthaginians. The Carthaginians were then told that they must halt their invasion or war would be waged. They did not stop and Rome declared war.
Hannibal's first battle took place when he was only nine. He went on an expedition with his father, Hamilcar Barca, to conquer Spain. From the beginning Carthage’s push into Spain, Hannibal vowed eternal hatred for Rome; Hannibal became Commander in Chief of Carthage’s army when he was 26 after his father was assassinated. His conquest of the Roman town of Sagunto in Spain led to a new declaration of war by Rome; which started the second Punic War and Hannibal’s promise to visit Roman injustice back on Rome a hundred fold. For Carthage to take the town of Sagunto was completely within the rights of the Carthage and the treaty but Rome at the time was getting too big and becoming very imperialistic. All Rome could see was that they had to have all of the Mediterranean and the only thing that stood in their way was a single General and his men. The way in which the Romans were unconsciously straying from "mos maiorum" to manipulate the course of events was disturbing. Though these actions were not entirely the "evil" work of Rome. Hannibal from his earliest memories could recall nothing but hatred for Rome. Hannibal’s Father had instilled a horrifically self-destructive desire within Hannibal to see the fall of Rome.
even today for his campaign, the hatred Hannibal felt for Rome was clearly seen on the
The 3rd century BC saw the rise of ancient Rome. After securing most of the Italic peninsula, Rome entered into a protracted conflict with the Carthaginians for control of Sicily, Spain and the other regions of Punic domination in the Punic Wars. The former empire of Alexander was taken steadily and methodically into Roman hands. The great city of Corinth was destroyed (146 BC), Athens captured (86 BC), and Cleopatra and Mark Antony defeated at the Battle of Actium (31 BC). Their defeat marks the end of the Hellenistic Age.
The Second Punic war, beginning in 218 BC, was the second major war between the Roman Empire and the Carthage. Around the same time, the Roman Empire deployed troops to the Northeastern peninsula of Spain to keep reinforcements, from the Carthaginian South, from getting to Hannibal’s armies in Italy to assist them. In A Histor...
Hannibal Barca was born in 247 B.C. in the city of Carthage, which was located in modern Tunis, or the northern tip of Africa. His father, Hamilcar Barca, was a great Carthaginian general of the army who fought in the First Punic War between Rome and Carthage, which the latter lost. At a very young age, Hamilcar made Hannibal promise “eternal hatred towards Rome” (Lendering, 1). At around age nine, Hannibal accompanied his father on an expedition to gain a hold in Spain. During this time was when Hannibal probably gained most of his military knowledge that helped him greatly later in life. When Hannibal’s father and older brother died in 229 and 226, Hannibal was elected commander-in-chief of the Carthaginian army. About ten years later, Hannibal, acting on his promise to his father, attacked the city of Sagantum in Spain, which was controlled by the Romans. This attack led to the start of the Second Punic War between Carthage and Rome.
Hannibal is arguably the best military leader of all time and the main reason for