Hannibal (247-183 BC),
Carthage and Rome had been enemies for many years. At
first Carthage was the clear winner, but eventually Rome learned the secrets
of war that defeated Carthage on the Mediterranean Sea. By the time of
Hannibal, Carthage was ready to fight again .These wars were known later
as the Punic Wars.
At the age of nine Hannibal accompanied his father,
Hamilcar Barca (for whom Barcelona is named), on the Carthaginian expedition
to conquer Spain from the Romans . Before starting, the boy swore eternal
hatred for Rome, the bitter rival of Carthage. From his 18th to his 25th
year, Hannibal , now a young general , slowly rid Spain of the Romans .
In 221 BC, the army of Carthage chose Hannibal as commander in chief. The
Romans saw the attack on Spain as a violation of the existing treaty between
Rome and Carthage and demanded that Carthage surrender Hannibal to them.
When they refused, the Romans declared war on Carthage in 218 BC.
CROSSING THE ALPS
Hannibal felt the Romans were too strong if he brought
the war to Italy by sea, so he decided to march into Rome through the north
- across the Alps ! The march on Rome began in 218 BC. Hannibal left New
Carthage (now Cartagena), Spain, with an army of about 90,000, including
cavalry and 37 elephants carrying baggage and later used in battle. Fighting
all the way to the Pyrenees, thousands of soldiers died or deserted . He
crossed the Pyrenees and the Rhône River in modern France. Now with
50,000 soldiers he crossed the Alps in 15 days, troubled by snowstorms,
landslides, and the attacks of hostile mountain tribes. Hannibal lost at
least 20,000 men here as well as many of his elephants, but once he came
into Italy he received help(14,000 soldiers) from northern Italian tribes
(Gauls)who hated the Romans . Late that same year (218 BC) he defeated
the Romans led by General Scipio in the battles of Ticinus (Ticino)
and Trebia (Trebbia). In the following year, 217 BC, Hannibal inflicted
a crushing defeat on the Roman consul Gaius Flaminius at Lake Trasimene.
After his victory Hannibal crossed the Apennines (Italy's central mountains)
and invaded several provinces which he ravaged (destroyed or looted).
The Roman general Quintus Fabius Maximus , sent
from Rome to oppose Hannibal, was very careful not to attack Hannibal's
army directly. Instead he harrassed Hannibal and fought hit-and-run style
. This gave the Romans time to recover from their military failures. In
the spring of 216 BC Hannibal arrived at Cannae ( an important grain supply
for the Romans). There he almost completely annihilated a Roman army of
about 70,000 men under the consuls Lucius Aemilius Paulus, who was killed
in the battle, and Gaius Terentius Varro, who escaped with the survivors.
Hannibal's losses were fewer than 6,000 men.
After the Battle of Cannae, the war changed. Hannibal
needed more men and supplies, which Carthage refused to give, and he also
lacked siege weapons(towers, battering rams, catapults). He marched on
Neapolis (Naples), but failed to take the city. But there were successes
too. The war see-sawed back and forth until in 211 BC Hannibal attempted
to take the city of Rome. The Romans successfully defended the city and
after that began to take back more cities. Many of Hannibal's' Italian
allies no longer supported him, and his army began to dwindle. After four
years of fighting, Hannibal turned for aid to his brother Hasdrubal,
who marched an army from Spain. Hasdrubal, however, was surprised, defeated,
and his head was cut off and sent to Hannibal as a message that Hannibal
would receive no help from his brother!
ROMAN VICTORY
In 202 BC, after 15 years, Hannibal was recalled
to Africa to defend his country against a Roman invasion under General
Scipio who had learned after many years how to fight Hannibal. When he
met Scipio at Zama, North Africa, Hannibal's 8o war elephants were of no
use, his inexperienced troops ran away, many deserting to the Romans,
and his veterans were destroyed. Carthage eventually surrendered to Rome,
and the Second Punic War came to an end.
After a peace had been concluded with the Romans
in 201 BC, Hannibal immediately set about making plans to fight Rome again.
He was put in charge of strengthening the government of Carthage. The Romans,
however, charged him with working to break the peace, and he had to run
away from Carthage, hiding at the court of Antiochus III, king of Syria.
With Antiochus he fought against the Romans, but the Syrians were defeated
in 190 BC and promised to give Hannibal to the Romans . But the experienced
general was not that easily beaten. Hannibal escaped to northern Asia Minor
where he hid in the court of the King of Bithynia. Rome once more followed
him and demanded his surrender. Rather than return to Rome humiliated and
probably torn to pieces, Hannibal committed suicide by taking poison.
No more would Romans have to fear him. But for many years after, when mothers
wanted to warn their children to behave, they would say "Hannibal is at
the gates !"