I.

Introduction

Hannibal (general) (247-183 bc), Carthaginian general, son of Hamilcar Barca, whose march on Rome from Spain across the Alps in 218-217 bc remains one of the greatest feats in military history.

At the age of nine Hannibal accompanied his father on the Carthaginian expedition to conquer Spain. Before starting, the boy vowed eternal hatred for Rome, the bitter rival of Carthage. From his 18th to his 25th year, Hannibal was the chief agent in carrying out the plans by which his brother-in-law Hasdrubal extended and consolidated the Carthaginian dominion on the Iberian Peninsula. When Hasdrubal was assassinated in 221 bc, the army chose Hannibal as commander in chief. In two years he subjugated all Spain between the Tajo (Tagus) and Iberus (Ebro) rivers, with the exception of the Roman dependency of Saguntum (Sagunto), which was taken after a siege of eight months. The Romans branded this attack a violation of the existing treaty between Rome and Carthage and demanded that Carthage surrender Hannibal to them. On the refusal of the Carthaginians to do so, the Romans declared war on Carthage in 218 bc, thus precipitating the Second Punic War.

II.

Crossing the Alps

The march on Rome began in 218 bc. Hannibal left New Carthage (now Cartagena), Spain, with an army of about 40,000, including cavalry and a considerable number of elephants carrying baggage and later used in battle. He crossed the Pyrenees and the Rhône River and traversed the Alps in 15 days, beset by snowstorms, landslides, and the attacks of hostile mountain tribes. After recruiting additional men among the friendly Insubres, a Gallic people of northern Italy, to compensate for the loss of about 15,000 men during the long march, Hannibal subjugated the Taurini, a tribe hostile to the Insubres. He then forced into alliance with himself all the Ligurian and Celtic tribes on the upper course of the Po River. Late that same year (218 bc) he vanquished the Romans under Scipio Africanus the Elder 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 and invaded the Roman provinces of Picenum and Apulia, recrossing thence to the fertile Campania, which he ravaged.

The Roman general Quintus Fabius Maximus Verrucosus Cunctator, sent from Rome to oppose Hannibal, adopted a highly cautious strategy. Avoiding any decisive encounter with the Carthaginian troops, he nevertheless succeeded in keeping Hannibal at bay, thus giving the Romans the opportunity to recover from their military reverses. Hannibal wintered at Gerontium, and in the spring of 216 bc he took up a position at Cannae on the Aufidus (Ofanto) River. There he almost completely annihilated a Roman army of more than 50,000 men under the consuls Lucius Aemilius Paulus, who was killed in the battle, and Gaius Terentius Varro (died after 200 bc), who escaped with the remnant. Carthaginian losses were fewer than 6000 men.

After the Battle of Cannae, the character of the war underwent a change. Hannibal needed reinforcements, which the Carthaginian government refused to furnish, and he also lacked siege weapons. He marched on Neapolis (Naples), but failed to take the city. The gates of wealthy Capua, one of the Italian cities that had fallen to Hannibal in consequence of his victory at Cannae, were opened to him, however, and there he passed the winter of 216-215 bc. In 211 bc Hannibal attempted to take Rome, but the Romans successfully maintained their fortified positions. The Romans then retook Capua. The loss of this second city of Italy cost Hannibal the allegiance of many of his Italian allies and put an end to his hopes of further replenishing his army from their ranks. After four years of inconclusive fighting, Hannibal turned for aid to his brother Hasdrubal, who forthwith marched from Spain. Hasdrubal, however, was surprised, defeated, and slain by the Roman consul Gaius Claudius Nero in the Battle of the Metaurus (Metauro) River.

III.

Roman Victory

In 202 bc, after 15 years, and with the military fortunes of Carthage rapidly declining, Hannibal was recalled to Africa to direct the defense of his country against a Roman invasion under Scipio Africanus the Elder. When he met Scipio at Zama, North Africa, his raw troops fled, many deserting to the Romans, and his veterans were cut down. Carthage capitulated 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 preparations for a resumption of the struggle. He amended the Carthaginian constitution, reduced corruption in the government, and placed the finances of the city on a sounder basis. The Romans, however, charged him with working to break the peace, and he was obliged to flee Carthage, taking refuge at the court of Antiochus III, king of Syria. With Antiochus he fought against the Romans, but when the Syrian monarch was defeated at Magnesia (Manisa) in 190 bc and signed a treaty with Rome pledging to surrender Hannibal, the latter escaped to Prusias II, king of Bithynia (reigned 192-148 bc), in northern Asia Minor. When Rome once more demanded the surrender of Hannibal, he committed suicide by taking poison.

See Carthage; Ancient Rome: Second Punic War (218-201 BC).