Download Hannibal and the Second Punic War- Adam - 2010

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Adam Hendey
Downer, Bergen, Ibrahim
Latin II, English 10, World History T/TH
18 October, 2010
Hannibal: The Best Thing to Ever Happen To Rome
Historians agree that Hannibal was Rome’s greatest enemy, but in actuality he
was also one of its best influences, pushing it to become an international superpower.
Hannibal Barca, son of Hamilcar Barca, was the champion of Carthage, and the terror of
the Roman Republic. His father and the people of Carthage trained him to become the
greatest enemy Rome would ever meet. Nearly undefeated on the battlefield, his genius
military strategies delivered him decisive victories that would resound through the annals
of history. In fact, his tactics were so terrifyingly effective that the Romans themselves
adopted them, and Scipio Africanus used Hannibal’s very own formation to ultimately
defeat him and end the Second Punic War at Zama. Because Carthage was the only real
threat to Rome, by defeating Hannibal, Rome was able to become the Mediterranean
superpower we study today. And Hannibal’s memory lived on in the streets and homes of
Rome itself, manifesting itself in the speeches of senators, or the scolding of Roman
mothers. Universally feared, but equally respected, Hannibal was the influence that
turned Rome into a superpower.
From his birth in 248 BC, Hannibal was raised to destroy Rome. His father,
Hamilcar Barca, the chief Carthaginian general of the First Punic War, bitterly despised
the Roman Republic. Hannibal grew up just after the close of the First Punic War.
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Hamilcar, determined to reestablish Carthage (and his own reputation) set off to Spain to
conquer new territories in the name of the empire. He took his young son with him.
Before they departed for Spain, Hamilcar forced Hannibal swear a famous oath:
“His father commanded him [Hannibal], at only nine years old, to swear that he would
never be a friend to Rome, and try with all his power to one day destroy it” (Prevas 41).
Since his childhood, Hannibal received military training and education from his father,
and he studied Roman strategy and tactics from the First Punic War. Together with his
father (who died in battle) and his brother Hasdrubal, Hannibal subjugated the people of
the Iberian Peninsula. Soon, Carthage controlled all of Spain. Rome observed
Carthaginian progress warily, and finally sent an emissary to Hasdrubal, commander of
the Carthaginian army, with an offer: Rome would not expand south of the Ebro River as
long as Carthage would not expand north. For several years, all went smoothly, and
Carthage continued to steadily consolidate its Iberian interests. However, in 221 BC,
Hasdrubal was assassinated, and Hannibal took charge of the Carthaginian army.
Hannibal called the assassination a breach of the treaty, and marched on the
Roman town of Saguntum with the support of the people and government of Carthage
(Polybius 70). The siege lasted only eight months. From there, Hannibal famously
marched with his elephants all the way from Spain through Gaul to Italy, and across the
Alps. In 218 BC, Hannibal finally engaged the Roman army in the Battle of Trebia, the
first real battle of the Second Punic War. Hannibal tricked the Roman army using signal
fires, and pushed the Roman legions into a river. He showed no mercy at the Battle of
Trebia, where “…he [Hannibal] ordered that none of the Romans be left alive; they were
pushed all the way into the river, where the remainder of them drowned. From then on,
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rumor spread of Hannibal’s military genius, as well as his brutality” (Cotrell 62). After
Trebia, Hannibal moved south, and again tricked the Romans, achieving an easy victory
at the Battle of Lake Trasimene in 217 BC. Hannibal surrounded the Romans and forced
them into the nearby lake, where many drowned.
Hannibal had a unique strategy which he employed effectively, but often, against
the Romans. The Carthaginian army would form up in a crescent, and then slowly
envelope the Romans. Over time, the Romans learned many effective battle techniques
from Hannibal that they would later employ against him.
In 216, Rome suffered the greatest defeat in its entire history at the Battle of
Cannae. Growing increasingly terrified of Hannibal, Rome sent both of its consuls
Paullus and Varro with a huge army of 100,00 men in an unprecedented maneuver to the
field of Cannae. The Romans hoped that sheer numbers could overwhelm the smaller
Carthaginian army of 35,000. Paullus did not want to fight Hannibal; he felt that
Hannibal could only be defeated through attrition. However, Varro was a more traditional
Roman commander and wanted to face Hannibal head-on. So the two consuls decided to
alternate command of the legions daily. One day while the army was in his control, Varro
decided to engage Hannibal (Polybius 74). Forced into action, Paullus had no choice but
to cooperate.
The Roman army took its traditional legion formation, which liked to push
forward and break through the enemy line. However, Hannibal decided to arrange his
troops in an unusual manner: a crescent. As the legion pushed forward, the Carthaginian
line simply started to bend around the Romans ever so gradually. Finally, when it was too
late, the Romans realized they were completely encircled; there would be no escape that
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day. Hannibal clearly showed his prowess as a general and “…was able to not only
defeat, but annihilate, the Roman force of 100,00 men with his smaller force of only
35,000” (Lazenby 77). Of the massive Roman army that arrived at Cannae, 70,000 were
killed. Cotrell wrote that “Hannibal’s strategy at Cannae was like an atom bomb, and
later Scipio Africanus would come to use it to his own advantage” (142). Ironically,
Paullus was killed and Varro managed to escape back to Rome.
Hannibal continued to defeat the Romans in every military encounter, and
occupied Italy for about fifteen years. Because he was unable to receive reinforcements,
he was never able to march on Rome. Hannibal rampaged around the countryside in
Campania (southern Italy), but he was beginning to be harassed by the Roman
commander Fabius. When he heard that Carthage itself was under attack in 203 BC,
Hannibal retreated completely from Italy (Polybius 82). The new Roman general Scipio
Africanus “…adopted the Carthaginian formation among his legions at Zama, and…
using his own tactics against him, Scipio defeated Hannibal decisively” (Carey, 116-117).
Hannibal’s tactics were so brilliant that the Romans inevitably adopted them and used
them against him. So even though Hannibal crushed the Romans in most of the battles of
the Second Punic War, he inadvertently taught them effective strategies that made them
invincible on the battlefield. After the Battle of Zama and the defeat of Hannibal, Rome
imposed grueling terms for a peace treaty from which Carthage would never fully
recover.
With Carthage (and Hannibal) out of the way, Rome was able to dominate the rest
of the Mediterranean and become the superpower that would conquer the rest of the
known world. Before the fall of Hannibal at Zama, Carthage was the greatest empire in
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the Mediterranean. But after the Second Punic War, Carthage could no longer maintain
its power, and Rome replaced it. If Rome had never overcome Hannibal, Carthage would
likely have swallowed it up. The Second Punic War “…was far more than just the second
round in the struggle with Carthage- it was, rather, the crucial stage in Rome’s rise to
dominion over the Mediterranean world” (Lazenby 233). Without the obstacle of
Hannibal, Rome might not have developed the strength it need to become a dominant
world power.
With the defeat of Carthage after the Second Punic War, Rome quickly began to
expand, having seized all previously Carthaginian lands and territories outside of Africa.
During this period, “…the Roman Republic had already begun to transform into what
would become the greatest empire in history… Carthage was erased from the map”
(Prevas 218). Rome had become an unstoppable force, rolling through the ancient world
like a mighty boulder; no one could halt its progress now that Hannibal was out of power.
When Scipio Africanus defeated Hannibal and caused the complete collapse of
Carthaginian dominance, “…the Battle of Zama brought about the beginning of a new
world order- one in which the Roman Republic ruled over all” (Cottrell 239). Because
Carthage was effectively eliminated as Rome’s greatest rival, Rome could freely expand
and dominate the world around it. The balance of power in the ancient world had finally
shifted.
Before Hannibal challenged Rome to rise to the occasion, it was simply a
relatively unknown city-state on the Italian peninsula. But after the Second Punic War
specifically, Rome flourished into a mighty Republic: “The legacy of the Punic Wars is
that they transformed Roman civilization forever” (Carey 163). Because Carthage was no
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longer strong enough to check Rome’s power, Rome expanded and grew so dominant
that it came to control the entire Mediterranean seaboard. In fact, once Carthage fell,
Rome was free to conquer the rest of the known world with little true resistance.
After the Battle of Zama, Hannibal spent some time as a statesman, and became
the chief magistrate of Carthage. He enacted reforms so successful that soon Rome feared
Carthage would recover and come back to destroy the Republic. So, the Roman Senate
demanded that Carthage surrender Hannibal. Instead, Hannibal chose exile, and he spent
the remainder of his life advising anti-Roman kings in Asia Minor (Polybius 85). He took
his own life in 183 BC when he heard rumors that Roman assassins were coming to kill
him.
Even after his death in 183 BC, Hannibal still haunted Roman culture. Allusions
to the Carthaginian warlord appeared frequently in Roman society: “Hannibal was dead.
Yet for centuries afterward, whenever the Roman Senate was threatened, or in a less
heroic sense, when matrons wished to quiet their rebellious children, the cry would go up,
‘Hannibal ad portas! – Hannibal at the gates!” (Cottrell 246). Hannibal developed into an
almost supernatural figure in Roman history, a boogeyman ready to spring back from the
grave at any time. For centuries after his death, memories (or more likely, nightmares) of
Hannibal still strongly influenced Rome, and helped Rome develop its trademark sense of
paranoia towards ‘the outsider’.
Hannibal was bred to hate Rome. His passion led him to defeat Rome in almost
every battle, but he introduced many new strategies to the Romans, which they
effectively used against him. Using Hannibal’s own strategies against him, Scipio
Africanus vanquished Hannibal at the Battle of Zama and conquered Carthage. This
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opened the door for Rome to become a dominant superpower in the ancient world. After
his death, Hannibal remained an ever-present and powerful influence in Roman society
for many centuries. Hannibal was considered Rome’s greatest enemy, but he was also the
catalyst that propelled Rome to become the most dominant super power the world has
ever seen.
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Works Cited
Lazenby, J.F. Hannibal’s War. University of Oklahoma Press, 1978.
Prevas, John. Hannibal Crosses the Alps: The Invasion Of Italy and the Second Punic
War. Cambridge: Da Capo Press, 1998.
Cottrell, Leonard. Hannibal: Enemy of Rome. London: Evans Brothers Publishing,
1960.
Carey, Brian Todd. Hannibal’s Last Battle. Yardley: Westholme Publishing, 2008.
Polybius. Histories, Volume 2. Evelyn S. Shuckburgh. translator. London, New
York. Macmillan. 1889. Reprint Bloomington 1962. Perseus Database, 11/7/10