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Hannibal |
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Bio
(247 BC- Bithynia 182 BCE), Carthaginian general, leader of
the famous march across the Alps. Hannibal is primarily known for his efforts in the second Punic war, but was just
as important in the role he played in the conquest of southeastern
Spain in the 220s BCE.Hannibal was the son of Hamilcar Barca,
and started following his father on his campaigns already at the age of
9, when this set out to conquer Spain. From he was 18 until he was 25,
he acted as a military leader under his brother-in-law Hasdrubal, in connection
with the extension and consolidating of Carthaginian power in Spain.With
Hasdrubal's death in 221, Hannibal was elected new commander in chief.
Under his control the Carthaginians made large territorial advances,
but with the conquest of Saguntum (Sagunto, Spain) in 218, he clashed
with the Roman army. The Romans claimed that this was a break of an
existing treaty between Rome and Carthage, and demanded Hannibal
surrendered to them. With the refusal of Carthage, the second Punic war
started.Hannibal
set out on his legendary march from New Carthage (Cartagena, Spain) in
218 BCE. At first he crossed the Pyrenees, later through the Alps by
narrow and dangerous passes of up to more than 2000 metres above sea
level. The exact pass is not known, but it was probably somewhere
between the Little St. Bernard and Mt. Genevre passes.Even
if many fell from his army during this march, because of snowstorms,
landslides, and attacks from hostile local tribes, he managed to
recruit new personnel along the route. It is believed that he lost
about 15,000 men on the whole campaign.Hannibal
soon suppressed local peoples of northern Italy. The first people were
the Taurini, then the Ligurian and Celtic tribes north of the Po river.
Hannibal's victories at Ticinus and Trebia in 218, and at Trasimene
lake in 217 proved the inadequacy of the Roman army. Soon after he
invaded Roman territory, but never came closer than 150 km to Rome,
before he settled for while in Campania.Hannibal
faced the Roman general Quintus Fabius who had as a strategy to avoid
decisive battles. Yet he managed to keep Hannibal away from Rome. As
years passed morals and resources were strained with Hannibal, while
Rome rebuilt its military strength. From 216 Hannibal established
himself in Cannae (now Barletta) 400 km east of Rome. From this
position, Hannibal had a period where he could count some of his most
impressive victories.But
after some time the Carthaginian government stopped sending
reinforcements. And it lasted until 211 before Hannibal attacked Rome,
but with a failure here, many of Hannibal's allies fell from him. In
207 his brother Hasdrubal
tried to come to rescue Hannibal's rescue, but he was stopped by the
Roman army.In
203 Hannibal was called to come back to Carthage, and so he did. Back
on home soil, Carthage faced Rome's forces on many fronts, but at the
decisive battle at Zama (near today's Maktar, Tunisia) in 202,
Hannibal's troops fled, and the army faced him was too strong. This
failure meant the final end of the warfare, and left Rome as the strong
party.Peace was agreed upon in 201, according to Hannibal's own
peace terms. In 196 BCE, Hannibal became shophet,
or chief magistrate, of Carthage, and he took charge over Carthage's
economy in order to bring it back to the shape where struggle against
Rome could be resumed.The Romans reacted to his obvious ambitions with sacking
him from Carthage. Hannibal fled to Syria,
to the court of Antiochus 3. Antiochus fought together with Hannibal
against Rome, but when Antiochus was defeated in 190, Hannibal had to
escape to Crete, and later Bithynia (now Izmit)
in northern Asia Minor. The story repeated itself, warfare together
with new allies against Rome resulted in defeat, but this time Hannibal
committed suicide by poison instead of surrendering. |
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