The Legacy of Hannibal Barca - Research Paper Example

? The Legacy of Hannibal Barca Hannibal Barca is one of the greatest war general and strategist in military history. Some scholars have in the past equated him to other great generals of all time like Alexander or Napoleon. Hannibal’s legacy in the war is much more evident in the second Punic war; he fought the Romans with passion and strategy. Hannibal Barca has been drawing a lot of attention from historians of the war. This paper reviews the war legacy that Hannibal achieved and exactly why he deserves the honors of being labeled a great military general. A review of Hannibal’s early life is important for one to understand what motivated the Carthaginian hero. Hannibal was born to Hamilcar Barca, who was a Carthaginian leader at the time (Antiquity 74). At the time of his birth, Carthaginians and Romans were at supremacy war fighting over the Mediterranean Sea. To this end, the two were expanding their empires and conflict was almost inevitable given the fact that both had the same ambitions. The first punic war lasted from 264-241 BC led by the Barca family from the Carthaginians, and Scipio family from the Romans side. As the war ended, Carthaginians had lost control of Sicily and Sardinia in the western Mediterranean. This infuriated Hamiclar, who was the general commanding the Carthaginians in the first punic war. The humiliation made Hamiclar hate the Romans with a passion (Prevas 40). Scullard writes, “Hamilcar truly hated Romans after they humiliated the Carthaginians at their forced surrender at Sicily” (184). Hannibal was barely 20 years old when he was sent to Spain by the senate after Hasdrubal had insisted that the young Barca needed proper military education. Despite his young age, Hannibal was very eager to learn since he knew that this was preparation for him to rise to power and wage war against Romans. It is said that Hamilcar had “made his son swear eternal hatred to Rome” (Scullard 184) when he was very young. Hannibal received a warm welcome and immediate recognition among the troops. Prevas says that when Hannibal arrived in Spain, the troops “saw in this young boy their old commander Hamilcar” (48). As he matured, Hannibal earned more respect from the Carthage army in Spain. Hannibal got political knowledge from Hasdrubal and war competence through experience with the soldiers’ activities. The art of war seemed to come to Hannibal naturally as well (Prevas 48). Prevas further notes that Hannibal never did anything extra than the others, he ate and drank just enough to stay alive, slept on bare ground, and took guard duty just like any other soldier (48). He became a respected, skilled fighter and further learned Latin, the enemy language. Hannibal’s interaction with the soldiers served to build a strong bond with them; this would come in handy in the coming war (Prevas 48-49). Hannibal finally rose to power in 221 BC after violent assassination of Hasdrubal. Hannibal’s intense hatred for the Romans meant that he could not afford to waste any time before he started planning his terror against the Romans. Just like his father, Hannibal was ambitious about conquering lands in Spain. He, therefore, disregarded the treaty that Hasdrubal had signed with the Romans and continued expanding his territory west. Hannibal soon acknowledged the fact “Carthaginian victories in Spain would not break the power of Rome” (Scullard 186). Hannibal realized that he had to break the Italian Confederacy to bring down Rome. A perfect point for him to start his Rome mission would be Saguntum, a city allied to Rome and between Spain and the Alps (Barnes 1). Hannibal initiated the second punic war by his aggression and seizure over Saguntum in 219 BC, which the Romans considered an act of war, (Barnes 1). This act made the Romans furious, and they “ordered the Carthaginian government to hand Hannibal over to them” (Michael 98). Hannibal ignored the threats and proceeded to plot entry to Italy; he realized that to keep both Carthage and Spain safe, his battle against the Romans had to be taken to Italy. His legacy as a great military general is more recognizable when one considers that his war would be fought on land, yet he was born into a maritime power. Hannibal began his legendary match into Italy in 218 BC (Barnes 1). The plan was to start a war in Italy and end it there, and for this task, Hannibal carried a sizeable force with him. Scullard says that he was armed with about 50,000 infantry, 9,000 cavalries and over thirty war elephants (187). Hannibal also knew when to seek expertise assistance; he included Numidians from North Africa in his crusade to the Alps. The Numibians had a legacy for their swords and javelin throwing skills (Barnes 2). The Numibians had fought attacks from the Gauls, and other European tribes in the past. The match into Italy was legendary because of the hardships that Hannibal and his army confront with. The Romans could not even have imagined an enemy from the north through the Alps, which they considered a natural shield wall. Hannibal had a strong desire to get beyond the Alps and nothing would delude his ambition. Through the journey, the great leadership in Hannibal became more than evident. The journey was so tough that half of his men would not even survive the first two weeks into the Alps. Several lives were lost in landslides off the mountains, battle with tribesmen claimed significant others and many others succumbed to starvation and disease such that only about 20,000 soldiers got to Pro Valley in Italy (Antiquiy 79). It was Hannibal’s messages of hope and assurance that kept his surviving soldiers alive and focused to the course. The wisdom of Hannibal manifested in the way he dealt with the Capertani mercenary in his crusade who threatened mutiny; he allowed them to go back to Spain to prevent bloodshed (Prevas 85). His ultimate entry into Italy marked a landmark achievement for; he had achieved the unimaginable by crossing the Alps. Hannibal had a benefit in that the Romans could not have imagined an enemy from the north. Hannibal’s first victory against the Romans was in the city of Turin. In the following few years, Hannibal occupied Northern Italy and led his soldiers to many victories in battle. Caspari describes one of Hannibal’s great victories in Italy, the battle of Lake Trasimene fought in 217 BC on his way to Rome (421-427). Hannibal employed a tactic that took Flaminius by surprise; he led his army through a swamp to confront Flaminius from the rear rather than at the ground where Flaminius had waited them. Flaminius knew that, at this position, he was sure to get help from the other Roman army. On learning that Hannibal had already led his army past that point, Flamminus sacrificed security and chased after Hannibal, just as the latter expected. Caspari says that Hannibal had managed to use his opponent’s foolhardiness for his advantage, facilitating a major ambush by choosing “his own ground with the certainty of Flaminius accepting battle thereon” (Caspari 421). This helped him take down the entire 25, 000 Romans soldiers while only losing 2,500 Carthaginians (Barnes 4). The other major victory was the battle of cannae the following year, in which Hannibal delivered a masterpiece war. Unlike the battle of Lake Trasimene that was more of an ambush Flaminius’s troops, the battle of Cannae required a great display of battle skills from Hannibal’s men, and they delivered just that. This battle brought Hannibal against another war general, Varro, who had in the past even secured minor victory against him (Barnes 5). Varro, however, lacked tactic and Hannibal knew this weakness, Varro only believed in numbers and with around 50,000 to 80,000 men against 40,000 he was sure to win. Hannibal, however, fielded more cavalry, 10,000 against 6,000. Hannibal tricked his opponent by fielding a light centre of his army while the stronger Africans were at the back from where they could both protect the centre from the oncoming Romans into the centre and attack them. It was common in battles to place the strongest men in the centre and so Hannibal knew that the Varo troops would be looking to weaken the Carthaginians by clearing the centre. While, at the centre, the Romans would not tell between who was on Hannibal’s side and who was their own since they were all light skinned. This tactic helped Hannibal win the battle, killing about 77,000 Romans while suffering only 5,700 casualties (Barnes 6). However, in 205 BC, Roman troops led by Scipio descended on Carthage, and Hannibal lost the war. Though he never succeeded to take down Rome and lost in the final battle at home, Hannibal remains one of the greatest military general in the ancient war. His main achievements for which he is idolized are the crossing of the Alps and victory at the battle of Cannae. Works Cited Antiquity. Hannibal . Oxford University Press. Web. 25 Nov 2013 Barnes, Mathew. The Second Punic War: The tactical successes and strategic failures of Hannibal Barca. 2009 Web. 25 Nov 2013 Caspari, M.O.B. The Battle of Lake Trasimene. The English Historical Review, Journal, 25.99, 421. Grant, Michael. History of Rome. London: Weidenfeld and Nicolson, 1978. Print Prevas, John. Hannibal Crosses the Alps. New York: Sarpedon, 1998. Print Scullard, Howard. A History of the Roman World 753-146 BC. London: Methuen & Co Ltd., 1970. Print. Read More