After a long and gruelling 16 years for the Romans it seemed nothing on Earth could stand in the way of Hannibal's army. Hannibal began his trek to Italy from Spain with an army of around 90,000 infantry , 12,000 cavalry and 37 war elephants. Hannibal departed with his army from New Carthage along the coast to Italy in late spring 218 BC. Hannibal entered Gaul territory with 50,000 infantry and 9000 cavalry and 37 war elephants. Hannibal seized control of the the Greek City and the
Roman ally Saguntum and set up a large base. Hannibal crossed the Alps in late autumn to do a surprise the Romans but while crossing the Alps his army faced heavy snow, treacherous icy ridges and landslides. Hannibal lost over half of his men and most of his elephants in the crossing. At the battle of Trebia in December of 218 BC which was the first major battle, the Romans suffered heavy losses and was defeated. The battle took place in the Province of Piacenza on the left bank of the Trebbia River. At the start Hannibal had 20,000 heavy infantry, 10,000 cavalry and 37 war elephants which altogether Hann...
Hannibal is, perhaps, most notable for moving from Iberia over the Pyrenees, across the Alps and into northern Italy with an estimated army of 38,000 soldiers and war elephants braving the harsh climate and terrain, the guerilla tactics of the native tribes and commanding an extremely lingual-diverse army. He was a distinguished tactician, able to determine his opponent’s strengths and weaknesses, and coordinate his battles accordingly. He also wasn’t above making allies when the time called for it, winning over many allies of Rome in the process during his 15-year invasion before a Roman counter-invasion of North Africa forced ...
Although a genius on the battlefield, where he used surprise and maneuver to overcome the relatively small size of his force, I do not believe that Hannibal was an ethical leader. He did not always exhibit the essential intellectual traits of critical thinking, nor did he always enforce ethical standards. To clarify, Hannibal’s vision was for independence for territories. But based on some of his actions, the concept of ‘freedom for all’ was not a part of that vision. Hannibal exhibited the trait of intellectual hypocrisy; he didn’t hold himself to the same standards that he fought for when he was faced the ethical dilemma of feeding, equipping, and paying his troops for their service; or selling Roman captives into slavery. In an effort to take care of his men, he succumbed to the latter, after the failed attempt to negotiate a ransom with Rome. And so, Roman captives were sold to a local slave trader (Commire & Klezmer, 1994). Perhaps, he fell prey to ethical relativism, using this ethical trap as a way to justify the inconsistency between his thoughts and his actions. Or maybe he didn’t care; but we’ll never know. What we do know is that this lack of intellectual integrity is opposite of the behavior that is required of an ethical leader (CF03SG, 2013, p. 7). Most assuredly, his actions confused his team of warriors, and affected their view of his professional character, especially since non-Roman captives had been released to their respective countries.
The Second Punic war, beginning in 218 BC, was the second major war between the Roman Empire and the Carthage. Around the same time, the Roman Empire deployed troops to the Northeastern peninsula of Spain to keep reinforcements, from the Carthaginian South, from getting to Hannibal’s armies in Italy to assist them. In A Histor...
A Comparison of Plutarch's The Lives of the Ancient Grecians and Romans and Shakespeare's Julius Caesar
Evaluation of Hannibal as a General When Hannibal left Italy in 203 BC, he had filled Italyâ€with monuments. of his tremendous campaigns"[1]. In this essay I will consider Hannibal's legacy and what aspects of his personality created these. a. The'monuments' of the'sea'. After research, [ 2] I have set out some criteria for a great general and in this essay I will attempt to establish to what extent Hannibal fulfils these criteria.
Knox, E.L. "The Punic Wars." Hannibal Crosses the Alps. N.p., n.d. Web. 3 May 2014.
In his time Hannibal was a Carthaginian general revered for his prowess as a tactician and is still studied today. He learned to fight, outthink his enemies and garnered much of his animosity towards the Romans from his father Hamilcar Barca who fought against Rome in the First Punic War. After his father’s death, Hannibal succeeded him as general to the Carthaginian army at the age of 23. Hereafter he spent two years solidifying his position and gathering support before carrying out an assault on Sanguntum. He later came to be known as one of Rome’s greatest adversaries when he led a campaign against the Romans in 219 B.C.E.
In Africa at the battle of Zama, is where Hannibal would meet his match. The same way Hannibal started the second Punic war- by luring the roman army to its allies under attack- is the same way he was lured into Africa by a series of calculated attacks on the Carthaginians homeland, all orchestrated by Publius Scipio. Publius Scipio, like Hannibal was a young and brilliant military commander and at the battle of Zama finally proved superior by defeating Hannibal and his forces, bringing Carthage to its knees. “In this battle Hannibal was defeated, and the Carthaginian army was annihilated.”(Morey, 1901)
This battle took place only a few years after Augustus took control, so this was going to test his leadership skills. Antony was a predominant general in the Roman army, but broke away at the start of the civil war. He was seduced by Cleopatra, but then eventually came back to Rome and ended up marrying Augustus's sister. He left her daughter and went back and united once again with Cleopatra In 34 BC. After several more years of tension, Augustus Declared war on Cleopatra and Marc Antony in 31 BC. Many of Caesar’s enemies rallied against him, but that didn't stop him because with his brilliant war strategies, he essentially set the tone of the war and killed many enemy troops. On September 2, 31 BC, there fleets crashed in Actium, Greece. The largest naval battle in the history Rome's Republic was to follow. After a long and merciless fight, the Roman fleet prevailed. Thus, Cleopatra fled back to Egypt, shortly followed by Marc Antony. The helps delete that remained surrendered and it wasn’t until a year later that Augustus defeated the rest of Antony’s army and forced the two to commit
The borders of Rome extended around the Mediterranean Sea, and this geography promoted the spread of major plagues and diseases, which affected a large portion of the Roman society. Soldiers would get sick making it almost impossible for there to be any recruits; this obviously declined the protection Rome was able to provide (Document 9). The major decrease in the number of soldiers able to serve in the army largely affected Rome’s ability to stand up against incoming attacks, especially because the empire was so large. Since Carthage invaded Rome multiple times during the span of 400 years, this shows that although the military helped with some protection near the heart of Rome, invasions throughout the rest of the empire did not go uncommon (Document 5, map similar to Doc 5). Aside from invasions, the Roman Empire proved to be too large for only one leader, causing Diocletian to split the empire into two halves in AD 284 . The two halves had to be co-ruled by two emperors, which proved to cause further difficulties when trying to govern the empire as a
The first battle was fought entirely in Sicily, in 263BCE, and since the Romans were the superior fighters they took the ground battle and continued to prevail until 256BCE. After the victory over Carthage, the Romans began besieging Greek cities that allied with the Carthaginians. The Romans sacked these cities, which caused them to harden their resistance. Rome realized that to beat the Carthaginians they needed to build a fleet and in 261BCE they began building. To counter the Romans inexperience at sea they used a device called a corvus (a large gangplank with a spike on the underside).
Even before the war started, Hannibal knew what he was going to do. Since Carthage had no navy, there was no hope of going directly from Carthage to Italy over the Mediterranean Sea. Hannibal thought up a dangerous but ingenious plan. In order to get to Italy over land, Hannibal and his army would have to travel from Carthage-controlled Spain across the Alps and into the heart of the enemy. Hannibal left in the cold winter of 218 B.C. with 50,000 infantry, 9,000 cavalry, and 37 war elephants. While crossing the Alps, “Hannibal’s force suffered greatly from the elements and the hostility of the local tribesmen” (Beshara, 3). By the time they reached Italy, after only fourteen days, over 9,000 men had perished along with most of the elephants, but this number was soon replenished after 14,000 northern Gaul rebels joined Hannibal’s army. This group of 60,000 men proved superior to the Roman forces, and after at least three recorded major victories, the Roman senate was exasperated. An army of 80,000 Roman soldiers was sent to stop Hannibal’s army of now 50,000 once and for all. In July of 216 B.C., the Romans engaged the Carthaginians in “the neighborhood of Cannae on the Italian east coast” (Lendering, 2). Greatly outnumbered, Hannibal realized that he would have to win by strategy, and that is exactly what he did. As the two lines met, Hannibal’s cavalry gained the flanks and, moving up the sides, attacked the rear of the Roman line.
Gaius Julius Caesar, born 100 B.C.E. in Rome to the impoverished patrician Julian Clan, knew controversy at an early age. Nephew to Populare Gaius Marius, he was earmarked by the Optimate dictator Sulla for prosciption after his refusal to divorce his Populare wife, Cinna. Fleeing Rome, and not returning until after Sulla’s resignation in 78 B.C.E, upon his return he gained a position as a pontificate, an important Roman priesthood. Slowly but surely throughout his lifetime he worked his way up the political ladder, eventually becoming Consul, and finally Dictator Perpeteus – Dictator for life. One of the most influential political and military leaders of all time, Caesar was also a highly intelligent man and an exceptional orator. However, acquiring this absolute power was no mean feat, and Caesar had well equipped himself through previous expeditions with all the resources necessary to gain power in Ancient Rome.
Hannibal's first battle took place when he was only nine. He went on an expedition with his father, Hamilcar Barca, to conquer Spain. From the beginning Carthage’s push into Spain, Hannibal vowed eternal hatred for Rome; Hannibal became Commander in Chief of Carthage’s army when he was 26 after his father was assassinated. His conquest of the Roman town of Sagunto in Spain led to a new declaration of war by Rome; which started the second Punic War and Hannibal’s promise to visit Roman injustice back on Rome a hundred fold. For Carthage to take the town of Sagunto was completely within the rights of the Carthage and the treaty but Rome at the time was getting too big and becoming very imperialistic. All Rome could see was that they had to have all of the Mediterranean and the only thing that stood in their way was a single General and his men. The way in which the Romans were unconsciously straying from "mos maiorum" to manipulate the course of events was disturbing. Though these actions were not entirely the "evil" work of Rome. Hannibal from his earliest memories could recall nothing but hatred for Rome. Hannibal’s Father had instilled a horrifically self-destructive desire within Hannibal to see the fall of Rome.
The meager image depicted by Lu Xun's 'Diary of a Madman' projects an illustration of society that stresses submission to authority, and the ultimate compliance to tradition. Lu Xun battles the idea that society is constantly being manipulated and controlled by the masses of people who know no better than to follow tradition. His story 'Diary of a Madman' gives the representation of a culture that has not only failed, but failed by the cannibalistic nature of humans corrupting them-selves over and over again therefore feeding upon themselves. The analysis of 'Diary of a Madman' gives way to a new interpretation of societies of the past, present, and future. Following the idea that history tends to repeat itself, I have paralleled the idea that society as a whole can be seen as cannibalistic not only in the reference by Lu Xun, but also in the current society we live in today. Only through willingness to change can societies transform their behaviors and actions giving way to improvement.