The Second Punic War

Monday, December 1, 2014

Blog 14 Meanwhile Elsewhere

So Carthage wanted Sicily back so they could regain the territory they lost in the First Punic War. Syracuse was initially in the Roman camp but then Hiero died. His grandson Hieronymous took the tyrantship and was heavily influenced by pro-Carthaginian advisors. Unfortunately for Carthage, Hieronymous was dramatically assassinated before a pro-Carthage coup could start[1]. However two men that Hieronymous sent to establish relations with Carthage came back and were elected to the council of Syracuse. They slowly poisoned the city against the Romans. The Roman general Marcellus invaded the Syracusan territory. He demanded the city return to a pro Roman stance and to give him the two brothers that turned the city against Rome. Syracuse rejected the offer so Marcellus laid siege to the city[2]. However Syracuse had a secret weapon, Archimedes. The masterful engineer of the ancient world built several ingenious inventions to fight off the Roman siege. He built catapults that fired at a variety of ranges, cranes that could lift ships, claw that could poke the bellies of ships and sink them, and most legendarily of all, a series of mirrors that focused light and set Roman ships ablaze. Furthermore 30,000 troops from Carthage were sent to Sicily to help with the Roman attack.

This is so cool but so fictional. Or should I say hot.... get it?

For Hannibal, help came from an unexpected source. King Phillip of Macedon had come to meet Hannibal and establish a treaty with him against their common enemy the Romans. Although Hannibal didn’t want Phillip interfering within the Italian Peninsula he agreed [3]. However if they won Macedonia would get all the Roman possession within Illyria (modern Balkans). Elsewhere in the world Sardinia attempted a revolt against the Romans. However that was quickly suppressed. So that’s all that happen to Sardinia in this war.

Meanwhile back in the Italian Peninsula. Hannibal was now in southern Italy hoping to bring more cities to his side to support his war effort. So Hannibal was in reach of a city called Tarentine which Hannibal needed. Eventually, he met a few young men that left the city named Philemenus and Nicon[4]. They wanted to hand the city over to the Carthaginian army, so together they hatched an elaborate plan to capture the city. Now Philemenus was a rather renowned hunter. He left most nights to go hunting so the sentries of the city had gotten used to a whistle that he made to tell them that he was ready to come back into the city. So an elite force of 10,000 Carthaginians left their camp to go to Tarentine. Hannibal sent a squadron of Numidian cavalry nearby to make it look like it was scouting party. The Roman garrison commander was at a party and the conspirators got him and his comrades intoxicated and made the party go well into the night. At one of the gates Hannibal lit a signal fire and the conspirators rushed the gate and killed the guards. They let Hannibal in with some of his forces. Philemenus gave his whistle and the gate opened. While the guards were admiring the large boar he had hunted the Carthaginian strike force charged and killed the guards[5]. When the Romans attempted to organize their defenses, but conspirators blew horns of conflicting orders to confuse the troops and they were overwhelmed. In the end, Hannibal got another city that he wanted. He was not bringing Rome to its knees but he was still winning.

530

Sorry Professor Burns this one glitched up when transferring over

[1] Livy 24.4

[2] Livy 24.21

[3] Polybius 7.9

[4] Polybius 8.24

[5] Polybius 8.28

Blog 13 So Hannibal Wins, Right?

As a person who studies military history, there are some lessons you learn just by reading. Don’t invade Russia during the winter as it’s where land armies go to die. A Chinese war without a million deaths is a small Chinese war. Don’t anger Vlad the Impaler. Don’t trust anyone with Khan as their last name. I figured out another lesson to add to this list; don’t fight Hannibal in a pitched battle.

So after three crushing defeats that would bring most nations easily to their knees Rome was in a bad state. Fabius’ year without a victory may have bought the Romans time to rebuild but they basically wasted it. Varro was discredited and the majority of their forces were gone. The two legions worth of troops that escaped were sent to Sicily as punishment for retreating. Now Hannibal’s goal was to win a war where Carthage got to give the terms. [1]At this point he considered the war basically over. So he sent a group of Roman prisoners to talk to the senate about the prisoner negotiation and possibly a treaty. The Romans refused to deal with Hannibal, declaring that they were going to fight to the bitter end.[2] So basically the Romans said that they refused to surrender or lose this war. This is basically what happened with Pyrrhus who crushed the Romans but they refused to surrender. So apparently the Romans are just a people that most Mediterranean people would find strange, people that would not give up land that they fought for in the past.

Not show is Rome getting metaphorically stomped. Although with elephant involved that's more literal.

Similar to Pyrrhus, Hannibal now went to the south of Italy in hopes of gaining the help of southern Italians and Greeks. The city of Capua was getting disheartened by Rome’s treatment of them. When they talked to Varro he was dismissive of them. So in Capua the pro-Carthage group gathered all the pro-Romans and locked them in a bath house where they died from the heat[3]. Hannibal, seeing a new ally, was very generous allowing them to rule themselves. However Capua refused to give Hannibal any more troops. Hannibal’s army was fairly depleted at this point so he needed more troops. He sent his brother Mago to the Carthaginian senate to get reinforcements. Mago walked into the assembly with a bag full of thousands of golden rings from dead cavalry men at Cannae[4]. The Carthaginian senate was pleased with this and asked if Rome was willing to negotiate. Mago told them that the Romans refused so the senate agreed to send 4000 Numidians and 40 elephants to help Hanniba[5]l.

So Rome at this point needed to rebuild and rebuild quickly. Rome changed its tax system to tax the rich more because they were extremely strapped for cash at this point. They changed the rules for who was allowed in legions. Slaves and criminals were now openly serving in the Roman legions for the first time ever. The consulship was given to experienced commanders such as Fabius Maximus who won the consulship three times. However Hannibal was still right outside of Rome. It’s one of the great historical debates if Hannibal attacked Rome, could he have won and what would have happened. I am not sure but if he did and won that battle, the war would have ended with Carthaginian victory.

566

[1] Miles, 280

[2] Polybius 6.58

[3] Livy 23.7

[4] Livy 23.11

[5] Livy 23.13

Blog 12 Cannae

So Fabius had bought the Romans a year to rebuild their forces and prepare to figh Hannibal. They were determined to defeat and kick out Hannibal and after a year of no victories they were itching for a fight. At this point new consuls were elected. The two winners were Gauis Terentius Varro and Lucius Aemilius Paulus. Now traditionally Varro is portrayed as a bloodthirsty and glory driven man compared to Paulus who was much more strategic and cautious. However Paullus’ daughter was married to Scipio Africanus after the end of the war. So yet again it’s very possible that Polybius was probably trying to make relatives of the household of Scipio look good. However I will just go with the traditional tale because it’s easier.

So Varro and Paulus tracked the Carthaginians to a place called Cannae where both armies set up camp. Paullus saw Hannibal was ready for battle but decided to not to fight him. However when two consuls are together they switch command from day to day and Varro was in command so he prepared his forces for battle[1]. Hannibal studied the Roman battle line and found that the center was packed together. So Hannibal set his lines up with Celts and Gauls in the center bulging out towards the Romans from the rest of the Carthaginian line.[2] The African heavy infantry was to the sides and the Numidian and Spanish cavalry were on the flanks of the battle line. Hannibal and his brother Mago stayed with the Gauls. Hannibal had about 50,000 troops and Romans had about 86,000[3].

The Roman attack strategy was to break the center of Hannibal’s army. So the Roman army moved forward and the battle began. The Roman center was pushing the Gauls in the center back like they thought they would but Hannibal’s presence kept them in the fight. The Romans kept committing more troops to the center in order to break the Carthaginian center and they kept pushing it back. Eventually Hannibal’s line was bulging in the opposite way, forming a crescent moon shape. However the African infantry to the sides had not moved during the fight. The African infantry were now on the flanks of the Romans and they pushed in.[4] Meanwhile the Roman cavalry was driven off the field by Hannibal’s. The cavalry wheeled around and attacked the Roman rear. Before the Roman command in the center could react they were surrounded by Hannibal’s troops on all sides. Varro had managed to escape but Paullus was with the surrounded troops. The Carthaginian army now was slaughtering the Romans en masse[5]. The Romans were so closely packed together that some couldn’t even raise their swords. For the next three hours Hannibal’s army massacred the Romans. By the end of the day, 75,000 Romans were dead, 10,000 were captured and about 3000 escaped[6].

Among the dead was Paullus who died trying to rally his forces and refused a horse to escape the slaughter. With him were over 29 Roman commanders and 80 senatorial rank Romans[7]. This is Hannibal’s greatest triumph. With a smaller army he managed to defeat and, more impressively, surrounded his opponent. This is considered to be one of greatest tactical feats in military history and one of the most crushing defeats for Rome. Cannae was the benchmark for all Roman defeats after this and very few would come close to that.

Varro: I have made a huge mistake.

586 words

[1] Livy 22. 38

[2] Polybius 3. 113

[3] Livy 22.36

[4] Livy 22.47

[5] Livy 22.48

[6] Polybius 3.115

[7] Livy

Blog 11 The Great Delayer

So where we left off, Rome is in a pretty bad place after two great losses. So Rome had no choice but to go to an age old tradition, the dictator. Now the modern lexicon has a different meaning to us than the Romans. A dictator was actually an elected position. When the republic was in great peril they would elect a citizen as a sort of supreme commander. He could bypass the senate and had more power than the consuls. However, the dictatorship was a temporary office and after the threat was gone he would step down and the government would be put back in place. Most would be surprised to find out that most dictators did this until Julius Caesar who elected himself dictator for life.

So Rome named Quintus Fabius Maximus as the dictator and Marcus Minucius Felix as his master of horse (second in command dictator).[1] Now Fabius realized the mistakes of the past consuls and decided to follow his own strategy. Fabius basically had no intention of fighting Hannibal where Hannibal wanted to fight the Romans.[2] Fabius would shadow the Carthaginian army but would always choose hills where Hannibal’s greatest asset, his cavalry, would no longer have the advantage. So Fabius keep attacking and foraging parties and scouts, slowly picking off Hannibal’s troops.[3] Hannibal continued to try and bring Fabius into a pitched battle but he would not oblige his enemy’s wishes because that’s exactly what Hannibal wanted. Hannibal ravaged the countryside and Fabius still wouldn't attack.

Fabius in deep thought about how to win the Chess game of the Second Punic War.

This tactic was ultimately successful for it gave the Romans time to rebuild their forces. However, it was extremely unpopular. The Romans loved their direct battles and victories so the strategy was un-Roman to them. [4] Furthermore, Hannibal, being as clever as he was, started destroying all lands he could find except lands belonging to Fabius. This caused the senate to think maybe Hannibal and Fabius were in league together against Rome. However Fabius’ moment came when Hannibal finally made a mistake. Hannibal had led his men into a valley with only a couple ways to escape. Fabius set up his troops at the entrances trapping Hannibal within the valley. But Hannibal had an idea to escape. During the night he tied burning brands to the horns of over 2000 cattle. He moved the cattle up to the Romans guarding a pass.[5] The Romans there retreated thinking that the entire army was there. However, Hannibal used it as distraction and escaped.

Unhappy with the escape of Hannibal, the senate named Minucius co-dictator. However, at the battle of Geronium, Minucius planned into Hannibal’s hands and his army was going to lose. Overlooking the battle Fabius came and saved his co-dictator and the Roman army.[6] Carthage and Rome’s forces broke off but Carthage had a tactical victory there. Minucius handed supreme command to the Fabius and took his subordinate position back.

Years later Fabius was remembered as the great delayer and thought of as a great tactician. So much so that today people refer to the strategy of indirect fighting and war of attrition as Fabian strategy. George Washington and Russia both used this kind of strategy to help defeat the British and Napoleon respectively. So the year without a victory as some call it was probably one of the reasons that Rome could continue to fight through the rest of the war.

Dang it I was hoping George won the war with Bald Eagles and Freedom.

584 words

[1] Polybius 3.87

[2] Plutarch, Life of Fabius, 5

[3] Polybius, 3.88

[4] Livy 30. 26

[5] Polybius 3.92

[6] Livy 22.23

Sunday, November 30, 2014

Blog 10 Lake Trasimene

So over the winter the Romans had raised over 100,000 troops in order to replace the men lost at the Trebia River.[1] Furthermore there was a consul election so Longus and Scipio were out at this point. They were replaced by Gnaenus Geminus and Gaius Flaminus. Flaminus was under the threat of being recalled because he did not complete rituals. It’s kind of like if the president just decided he was skipping his inauguration and just started to rule. Flaminus was given four new legions and headed back to Rome to shore up the defenses. However Hannibal followed and marched faster and managed to pass the Roman army.

Hannibal attempted to lure out Flaminus by raiding neighboring towns. But Flaminus kept staying in his camp. The senate, angered with a lack of progress, told Flaminus to engage Hannibal. Flaminus gave cash to Hannibals army. Now, Hannibal found a place that would make a good ambush spot called Lake Trasimene. The lake had a narrow shore and steep forested hills surrounding it so it was here that Hannibal laid his trap[2]. He put his troops in the hills parallel to the path of the shore and had them conceal themselves. He had his cavalry and Gaelic infantry closer to the Roman camp and his heavy Iberian and African forces farther away. Flaminus had pushed his men hard down the path on the lake. Hannibal sent a group of scouts to lure the vanguard Roman force out. The rest of the army followed them through the foggy narrow path. Then Hannibal signaled his forces. The cavalry quickly swept around the sides cutting off the Romans from retreat. Then rushing down from the hills, the Gauls and heavy infantry charged the confused Roman lines. The Romans were massacred. They had no easy way of escape being that they faced a lake or an army[3]. Some of them drowned trying to swim in their armor. Flaminus was slain by a Gaul during the battle. Around 10,000 Romans managed to escape from the battle. It was theorized that because of how long Hannibal’s line were that a section of troops may have not gotten the orders for the attack and that’s how the Romans escaped their trap. 30,000 troops took to the field that day and around half were slain and about 5000 were taken prisoner[4]. Meanwhile Hannibal only lost around 2500 men. The ambush was extremely successful.

So for those keeping score at home, Hannibal had won three of three battles that he commanded. He killed 45,000 Romans and lost around 7000 men. Hannibal is most certainly winning at this point. Many Romans claimed that Flaminus skipping the rituals was a bad omen which angered the gods and had them turn on Rome and Flaminus, leading to his death. After learning from a praetor of the defeat Rome was now in a desperate state[5]. Hannibal now had access to the sea after two years. He sent word to the Carthaginian senate of his triumphs which were met with celebration. Worst of all for the Romans, the Carthaginians had promised to send Hannibal more supplies and troops. Rome was truly in a panic now for they needed time to recuperate their losses.

[1] Miles, 270.

[2] Polybius 3.83.

[3] Livy 22 4-6

[4] Goldsworthy 189

[5] Livy 22.7

Blog 9 Trebia

So Rome was in great alarm by the sudden realization that they were out flanked by Hannibal and rightfully so because most of their armies were in Spain or Sicily at this point of the war. Tiberius Longus, the other consul who was in Sicily planning for an invasion of North Africa, was recalled by the senate to go help his co-consul Scipio in the north[1].

So Scipio and Hannibal engaged in cavalry battle. Hannibal, having superior numbers and quality of horsemen, routed the Roman force rather quickly. Scipio himself was wounded during the battle and was saved by his 17 year old son of the same name. Scipio Jr, later known as Scipio Africanus, will be important later in the war. There is another story that Scipio was saved by a slave which is just as possible as his son saving him[2].

Previous battle

In December, Longus arrived with his army to help Scipio. Hannibal withdrew to the Trebia River, not wanting to face the Romans on ground that he did not choose. The Romans followed him but little did they know that they were playing into his hands. According to Polybius, who was patron of the household of Scipio, Longus wanted to fight quickly and win glory. I don’t know if this is true because Polybius would try to make his patrons look as good as possible and shift the blame if he could. So it’s possible that Longus was a man seeking only glory but it also possible that he honestly tried his best and that Polybius brushed him aside as a glory seeking idiot for the crime of not being a Scipio.

Anyway, Hannibal picked one side of the river banks and Romans camped on the other side. However Hannibal sent a group of 1000 cavalry and 1000 infantry led by his brother Mago where plants were overgrown on the banks. He sent 500 Numidian cavalry to the Roman camp to provoke an engagement. Like Hannibal predicted, Longus ordered his army to get ready to fight as quickly as possible. The Roman mobilized at dawn and crossed the river. So by the time they got across, they were tried, cold, wet, and hungry as they didn’t eat before they mobilized. The Carthaginian forces were well prepared and fed. Both sides had around 40,000 infantry. Hannibal’s cavalry bested the Romans due to being quicker, better trained, and more numerous which caused the Romans to leave their flanks open. At this point Mago led his ambush and attacked the Roman army’s rear[3]. The Romans at this point were surrounded. About 10,000 Romans escaped the battle. Hannibal had won a significant victory and took out a large portion of the Roman army. With almost 30,000 Romans dead he had enough proof to bring the Gauls into his army now. Hannibal had lost around 4000 to 5000 troops by comparison. Longus claimed that defeat came from the bad weather but few believe if.[4]

Battle of Trebia. 4 is Mago. 2 is Roman cavalry

However the Romans had a respite with the winter. Hannibal’s army lost a significant portion of their men to the cold including all but one elephant and spent the majority of his time trying to get food. So the war effectively halted until the spring. This gave Rome some much needed time to prepare but would it do any good? Find out in the next blog.

[1] Miles, 269.

[2] Livy 21.46

[3] Goldsworthy 173-181

[4] Polybius 3.68

Blog 8 The March

Now whenever I talk about Hannibal everyone gets one image, a man on an elephant leading an army through the Alps to Rome. This is probably one of the most famous military maneuvers in history and there is a good reason for it. This march would most certainly give Hannibal the advantage of surprise but there was a huge risk to it as well. Also it was one of the few options Hannibal had left. The days when Carthage ruled the sea were long gone now so a sea invasion would be rather difficult.

Yeah that's the image everyone gets.

So after crossing the Rhone, Hannibal made his way towards the Alps. However, to his surprise, there was a Roman army a few miles away from him. Publius Cornelius Scipio, consul of Rome, had landed his army near Massila in order to invade Barcid Spain[1]. Numidian scouts and Roman scouts happened to run into each other. The cavalry battle was a slight victory for the Romans whose scouts returned to tell Scipio. Upon hearing their report, Scipio then followed in hot pursuit to the Carthaginian camp. However, Hannibal didn’t want to fight a pitched battle yet. Scipio found Hannibal’s camp deserted; he then left his army in the hands of his brother and they led it to Spain. Scipio returned to the northern Italy to start building up forces for the impeding invasion.

So now Hannibal began the long march across the Alps. You see the Alps weren’t uninhabited; no, there were several tribes that lived in the mountains. They did not take kindly to intruders in their land. He was ambushed by Gaul tribesmen who killed many men and made off with a lot of his supplies[2]. So Hannibal had some of his troops stay hidden. When the Gauls attacked again he defeated them with an ambush and took their village getting much of his supplies back. It took nine days for Hannibal’s army to reach the top of the pass and by then the first winter snow began to fall in late October. The conditions were awful as you can imagine[3]

According to legend there was a steep precipice that Hannibal could not get around. So Hannibal ordered his men to burn large amounts of wood. The men heated their wine and tossed it on the rock to weaken it. They were then able to carve their way through the rocks.[4] Yeah this story probably isn’t true but interesting.

Hannibal’s soldiers had made it across the Alps at this point but the damage to their ranks was high. Hannibal had left Iberia with 50,000 infantry and 9000 horsemen. After Hannibal’s Alpine adventure he was down to 20,000 infantry and 6000 horsemen[5]. Some historians put Hannibal’s pre-crossing numbers at 94,000 total forces and by the end 26,000. So Hannibal’s crossing was extremely costly. But he gained what he wanted as he caught the Romans off guard. Many considered a crossing during winter impossible so the fact that he did and was now on the Romans’ footstep was a great morale booster for his troops. Hannibal’s last act of the crossing was an attempt to win over the Gauls in the region. Hannibal knew he needed to win against the Romans in order to impress them. But one tribe opposed him so he attacked their capitol and killed everyone within it[6]. The Gauls then started taking Hannibal’s messages for alliances far more seriously.

[1] Miles, 262

[2] Polybius 3.50.

[3] Livy 21.35.

[4] Polybius 3.55

[5] Livy 21.38

[6] Polybius 3.60