Great People around the World: Hannibal

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<h3>Hannibal</h3>

<pre><![if !supportEmptyParas]> <![endif]><o:p></o:p></pre><pre>Twenty-two centuries ago there lived a man named Hannibal, the son of</pre><pre>Hamilcar Barca a Carthaginian. Hamilcar was a general in the Carthaginian</pre><pre>military in the first Punic War. After the defeat of Carthage in the first</pre><pre>Punic War, Hamilcar made Hannibal swear "eternal enmity" to Rome.</pre><pre>In 228 b.c. Hasdrubal, Hannibal`s brother-in-law, succeeded Hamilcar and</pre><pre>became commander. This meant that not only was the leader of the military</pre><pre>but also the political leader as well. In 221 b.c. Hasdrubal was assassinated</pre><pre>and Hannibal became commander in Spain. Hannibal was only 25 years old</pre><pre>when he was put in command of the Carthaginian armies and the Carthaginian</pre><pre>government in Spain. Even at a young age he knew his responsibilities,</pre><pre>so he kept his father's plan of military conquest and his brother-in-law`s</pre><pre>policy of strengthening Carthaginian power by democracy. He married a Spanish</pre><pre>princess and took hostages from the surrounding tribes to ensure their</pre><pre>loyalty to him. As a result of this he expanded the Carthaginian power</pre><pre>toward the Ebro river, which was the written northern boundary of Carthage</pre><pre>by the Rome treaty of 226. Rome attacked Saguntum, a city close to but</pre><pre>clearly on the Carthaginian side of the border. This provoked Hannibal</pre><pre>to take back Saguntum. The romans considered this an act of war. So in</pre><pre>218 b.c. Rome declared war on Carthage. This begins the second Punic War.</pre><pre>After hearing the declaration of war Hannibal immediately starts off towards</pre><pre>Rome. The problem was he had to go by land because Rome controlled the</pre><pre>seas. Hannibal takes an army of thirty-five to forty thousand men, some</pre><pre>on foot and others on horse, along with fifty war elephants across the</pre><pre>Pyrenees and the Alps in August of 218. Bad luck falls into Hannibal's</pre><pre>lap as early snows and landslides kill many of his men and almost all of</pre><pre>his war elephants. While traveling through the Alps he fights battles at</pre><pre>Arausio and Genua, easily defeating the Roman warriors, although his troops</pre><pre>are in horrible shape. He enters Italy with only twenty-six thousand men</pre><pre>and five or six war elephants in September 218. Hannibal and his troops</pre><pre>spent the winter in Po Valley. In the spring of 217 b.c. Hannibal was joined</pre><pre>by the Gauls, northern Italians who were subdued into fighting the Romans.</pre><pre>Now Hannibal had a sufficient army of infantry and cavalry. The hardened</pre><pre>Carthaginian troops easily crushed the Roman armies in their way, but without</pre><pre>siege equipment the Carthaginians could not destroy the Roman cities. So</pre><pre>instead of trying to siege the city they simple killed the Roman soldiers</pre><pre>and moved on. Some times the Romans would retreat into their city surrounded</pre><pre>by high walls so that they would not die. In 217 Hannibal won a major battle</pre><pre>at Lake Trasimene. Hannibal`s army along with the Gauls would roam the</pre><pre>Italian countryside and destroy any opposing army. In 216 he defeated a</pre><pre>huge Roman army at the city of Cannae in southwestern Italy. At Cannae</pre><pre>the Romans loss was much greater than that of Hannibal suffered. The Romans</pre><pre>lost twenty-five thousand men and ten thousand were captured, on the other</pre><pre>hand Hannibal only lost five thousand and seven hundred men. Hannibal,</pre><pre>being a military genius, let the Romans advance at his main infantry, while</pre><pre>his cavalry charged around the sides easily defeating two other groups</pre><pre>of Roman infantry. Then after destroying the two side groups of Romans</pre><pre>the cavalry swept around the back of the main Roman attack force. Hannibal</pre><pre>used this strategy often because it worked so good. Even though he was</pre><pre>killing Roman soldiers he was not destroying any cities. Finally, to get</pre><pre>Hannibal out of Italy, the Romans sent armies led by Scipio, a great Roman</pre><pre>general, to attack carthage in Africa. Carthage ordered Hannibal to Africa</pre><pre>to protect the city of Carthage. This was the clash of the titans, Hannibal</pre><pre>vs. Scipio. They met at Zama, a city near Carthage. This would end up to</pre><pre>be the final battle of the Second Punic War, and the great Hannibal would</pre><pre>be the loser. Hannibal escaped but his army didn't. After the war Carthage</pre><pre>had to pay Rome a very large sum of money and agree to terms that they</pre><pre>could only wage war in Africa, even then they had to have Rome's permission.</pre><pre>Hannibal returned to Carthage and became one of the two chief magistrates</pre><pre>in 196. He then challenged the aristocrats of being corrupt, the aristocrats</pre><pre>told Rome that Hannibal was planning another attack on Rome with Antiochus</pre><pre>III of Syria. Rome, already very angered with Hannibal, deported Hannibal</pre><pre>out of Carthage. So he traveled to Syria and was made a member of the Syrian</pre><pre>court. He then remembered his father's words and advised Antiochus III</pre><pre>to declare war against Rome. Antiochus III did wage war on Rome, the Syrian</pre><pre>War, from 192 b.c. to 189 b.c. Syria was defeated and Hannibal left to</pre><pre>become a member of the Prussian court. He then persuaded Prussia to go</pre><pre>to war against Rome. Instead of directly attacking Rome, Prussia attacked</pre><pre>Rome's ally Pergamum. Rome came into the fight and demanded that Hannibal</pre><pre>be handed over to them. Instead of being humiliated Hannibal took his own</pre><pre>life in 182 b.c. Hannibal Barca, being eternal enemies with Rome, fulfilled</pre><pre>his father's words and while doing so became one the greatest generals</pre><pre>of all time. </pre></div>

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Wednesday 14 September 2011

Hannibal

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