Hannibal was gambling everything on those two elements. This is where the second war started. The following were the resources at the beginning of the war: Rome had 70, 000 soldiers, 220 ships, 60,000 sailors, superiority at sea, faithful allies, and Patriotic spur of fighting on home soil; Carthage had 80, 000 soldiers, 100 ships, 25,000 sailors, long supply lines for reinforcement, leadership of Hannibal, and unfamiliar terrain (Smith 1). Anyone could see that Rome had a slight advantage over Carthage.
From Hannibal's new base at Saguntum, a small town in Spain, he planned to march across the Pyrenees and the Alps in winter to surprise the Roman army. When the Romans heard that Hannibal had escaped from Spain, the Romans were concerned. The Senate sent a second army to hold the bridges at the Rhone River. This river is deep and swift in its lower course. The Romans thought they could prevent Hannibal from crossing, then defeat him in Southern Gaul. Hannibal again fooled them. He crossed the river on pontoons and by swimming. Crossing the river was treacherous because the river was in Spring flood, and if Hannibal was discovered by the Romans, his army would have been destroyed. Along the way, Hannibal recruited reinforcements from the warlike Celtic tribes who hated Rome. Hannibal left about 20,000 men under the control of his brother Hasdrubal in order to keep his hold in Spain. After crossing the Rhone, Hannibal avoided conflict with the Roman commander Scipio by turning northward up the Rhone River Valley. The cold climate caused Hannibal to lose over half of his men and most of his elephants. He reached the Po River Valley with about 20,000 infantry, 6,000 cavalry, and a few elephants. Hannibal was able to increase the size of his army to about 30,000 by recruiting Gauls (Verhage 2). Once he was across, he marched quickly south again and caught the Roman army by surprise.
