Throughout this history of warfare, many military commanders struck fear within the souls and spirits of their adversaries. Nevertheless, when nations declare war, it was usually against an enemy nation-state, but not against the generals of that nation. However, few military commanders accomplished the distinction of having enemy nations identify them personally rather than their country as the primary adversary to be conquered. Hannibal Barca of Carthage was the first military commander to be identified as a threat to a nation because of his strategic, operational, and tactical prowess on the battlefield.

Hannibal’s Origins

Hannibal was the son of Carthaginian general Hamilcar Barca who fought Rome during the First Punic War. When he was age of nine, Hannibal accompanied his father on the Carthaginian expedition to conquer Spain. Before his journey, the young Hannibal vowed to his father eternal hatred for the Roman Empire. When he was in his early twenties, Hannibal became the chief agent for the execution of strategy where his brother-in-law Hasdrubal extended the Carthaginian dominion on the Iberian Peninsula. When Hasdrubal was assassinated in 221 BCE, the Carthaginian Army chose Hannibal as their chief military commander.

Within two years he conquered all of Spain between the Tajo and Iberus rivers, with the exception of the Roman dependency of Saguntum, 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 for crucifixion. Because the Carthaginians refused to surrender Hannibal, the Roman government made a declaration of war against Carthaginian Empire in 218 BCE, thus triggering the Second Punic War.

Hannibal’s Military Victories

Hannibal’s famous march on Rome began in 218 BCE. Hannibal left New Carthage, in Spain, with an army of about 30,000 mixed infantrymen accompanied by 10, 000 cavalrymen. 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 Germanic and Celtic tribes. After recruiting additional warriors from the friendly Insubres tribe, a Gallic people of northern Italy, to compensate for the loss of about 15,000 men during the long march, Hannibal conquered 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 in 218 BCE, he defeated the Romans under Scipio Africanus the Elder in the battles of Ticinus and Trebia. During 217 BCE, Hannibal inflicted a devastating defeat on the Roman consul Gaius Flaminius at the Battle of Lake Trasimene. After his victory Hannibal crossed the Apennines and invaded the Roman provinces of Picenum and Apulia before returning back to the fertile Campania, which he ransacked.

The Roman general Quintus Fabius Maximus Verrucosus Cunctator opposed Hannibal with a cautious strategy, which was designed to avoid any decisive battle with Hannibal while harassing the logistic support for Hannibal’s troops. He succeeded in keeping Hannibal at bay, which gave the Romans the opportunity to recover from their military defeats. During the spring of 216 BCE, Hannibal took up a position at Cannae on the Aufidus River. There he conquered a Roman Army of about 70,000 infantrymen and 6,000 cavalrymen under the consuls Lucius Aemilius Paulus, who was killed in the battle, and Gaius Terentius Varro, who escaped with the remnant. Carthaginian losses were about 6000 men.

Hannibal’s Decline

After the Battle of Cannae, the war against Rome underwent several transformations. First, Hannibal required reinforcements, but the Carthaginian government refused to supply them. Second, he lacked the necessary siege weapons to attack Rome. Third, after a few years fighting Roman resistance forces in Italy, Hannibal attempted to take Rome in 211 BCE, but the Romans suc

cessfully maintained their fortified positions. Fourth, after four years of inconclusive fighting, Hannibal requested aid from his brother Hasdrubal, who immediately marched from Spain. Hasdrubal, however, was surprised, defeated, and slain by the Roman consul Gaius Claudius Nero in the Battle of the Metaurus River. And fifth, during 202 BCE, Hannibal was called back to Africa to defend Carthage against invading Roman forces, and there he was finally defeated by Scipio Africanus at the Battle of Zama because at Zama Hannibal lacked the professional fighting men who accompanied him previous campaigns against Rome.

After the Battle of Zama, Hannibal helped Carthage recover from the devastation of the Second Punic War before the Romans forced him into exile in 195 BCE. Later, Hannibal committed suicide while being pursued by the Romans in 183 BCE. Hannibal is often ranked as one of the best military commanders in history, alongside Caesar and Alexander. PRIMARY SOURCES: The Battle 100; LT. COL Lanning; Sourcebooks, 2003. Ancient Greece; Eric D. Nelson, PhD., and Susan K Allard-Nelson, PhD; 2004. Ancient Egypt; Donald P. Ryan, Ph.D.; 2002. Battlefield; Richard Holmes; 2006. The Art of War; Andre Roberts; 2008. The Book of Wars; Dwight Jon Zimmerman; 2008. The Book of Weapons; Dwight Jon Zimmerman; 2009. The Roman Empire; Eric Nelson, Ph.D.; 2002.