Hannibal was the son of the great Carthaginian general Hamilcar Barca. According to Polybius and Livy, the main Latin sources for his life, Hannibal was taken to Spain by his father and at an early age was made to swear an oath of eternal hostility to Rome. From the death of his father in 229BC until his own death, Hannibal devoted his life to the constant struggle against the strengthening Roman republic. His Background was military, with his first commands given to him by his father’s son-in-law Hasdrubal, who was the Carthaginian general in Spain following Hamilcar’s death. In 221 the general was assassinated, and Hannibal had experienced such success in his role as an officer that the army quickly proclaimed him it’s commander in chief at the age of 26. The Carthaginian government was quick to ratify this appointment.

Hannibal’s first actions were aimed at consolidating P

Two Roman armies were now against him, but he was able to out manoeuvre them in a battle at Arretium, which allowed him to advance to Faesulae and Perugia. This forced Gaitis Flaminius’ army into open combat trapped on the shore of lake Trasimene in 217, and Hannibal’s troops from their prepared positions all but annihilated them - killing at least 15,000 men and dispersing the rest. This left Rome completely uncovered, but Hannibal did not march on the capital. Many historians attribute this to Hannibal’s remaining hope that he could get the Italian allies of Rome to defect and cause civil war, thus ensuring his eventual hold on the region. A secondary reason is that the Carthaginian troops were just too worn to undertake it.

In the end, Hannibal achieved much for Carthage in the second Punic war through his shear superiority in tactics. This, however, wasn’t enough to secure victory. In the fighting of this war, Rome discovered something great within herself which enabled victory for both this war, and the even bigger conquests of her future. The Carthaginians had their victory pinned on more than what was plausible, or perhaps foreseeable, and that was the reason that even from the beginning they never really stood a chance.

United under the extremely focused leadership of the Senate in relation to the war from 215 onwards, the Roman armies were well trained and aimed toward one purpose - a thing which Hannibal must have found extremely difficult in dealing with his amalgamated force from different cultural and linguistic backgrounds.

Some topics in this essay:
Italy Hannibal, Latin Italian, Finally Romans, Fabius Maximus, Gaitis Flaminius’, Italy Insurrection, Carthage Punic, Spain Hamilcar’s, Pyrenees Polybius, Britannica Punic, punic war, carthaginian forces, roman armies, northern italy, war rome, rome carthage, strong field army, power roman, hannibal left, cavalry elephants, meanwhile roman,