Hannibal’s Life and Conquest

Research Paper Hannibals Life and Conquest Hannibal is one of the majusculeest generals of his time. To better generalise Hannibal and his crusades against the Romans you essential know a bit ab disclose his family history. Hannibal was only 25 years old when he was put in take of the treacherous armies and the Carthaginian judicature in Spain. Even at a young age he knew his responsibilities, so he kept his fathers plan of military conquest and his brother-in-laws indemnity of strengthening Carthaginian power by democracy. He is one of the sons of Hamilcar Barca, a Carthaginian leader.He had several sisters and two brothers, Hasdrubal and Mago. His brothers-in-law were Hasdrubal the Fair and the Numidian king Naravas. So his family is every well known or rich. He was still a child when his sisters married, and his brothers-in-law were close associates during his fathers struggles in the Mercenary War and the Punic conquest of Iberia. To better understand Hannibals rise to gre atness one needs to look into his fathers history. After Carthages defeat in the First Punic War, Hamilcar set out to improve his familys and Carthages fortunes.With that in mind and supported by Gades, Hamilcar began the subjugation of the tribes of the Iberian Peninsula. Carthage at the time was in such a poor state that its navy was unable to transport his army to Iberia (Hispania) instead, Hamilcar had to march it to struggleds the Pillars of Hercules and transport it across the Strait of Gibraltar. Hannibal had once asked his father and begged to go with him to fight Hamilcar agreed and demanded that he swear that as long as he lived he would never be a friend of Rome.There was a story stating that, Hannibals father took him up and brought him to a sacrificial chamber. Hamilcar held Hannibal everywhere the fire roaring in the chamber and made him swear that he would never be a friend of Rome. According to that tradition, Hannibals oath had taken go in in the town of Peniscol a, today part of the community of Valencia, Spain. Hannibals father soon went on the conquest of Hispania. His father soon died in the battle. Soon after Hannibals brother-in-law Hasdrubal gained command of the army. Hasdrubal made Hannibal serve as an officer under him.Hasdrubal then pursued a policy of consolidation of Carthages Iberian interests, even signing a accordance with Rome whereby Carthage would non expand north of the Ebro River, so long as Rome did not expand south of it. Hasdrubal also tried to consolidate Carthaginian power by doing diplomatic relationships with native tribes. As a part of his deals Hasdrubal arranged the marriage between Hannibal and an Iberian princess named Imilce. So Hannibal got hooked up with a wife. Soon enough though there was assassination of Hasdrubal close to 221 B. C. E.It was the rise of the Great Hannibal was proclaimed as the commander-in-chief by the army and confirmed in his fight by the Carthaginian government. This meant that n ot only was the leader of the military just also the political leader as well. Hannibal had spent two years consolidating his holdings and completing the conquest of Hispania south of the Ebro River. Rome however was started getting scared because of the growing strength of Hannibal in Iberia. Rome decided to make an alliance with the city of Saguntum, which coif a considerable distance south of the River Ebro and claimed the city as its protectorate.Which in a previous agreement they were breaking their treaty. Hannibal obviously perceived this as a breach of the treaty signed with Hasdrubal. So this forced Hannibal with his hands tied behind his back to siege to the city, which fell after eight months. Rome reacted to this (of course) unmistakable violation of the treaty and demanded justice from Carthage. Rome declared war on Carthage. This begins the second Punic War. I believe this was just all done to beseech a war. Because Hannibals great popularity, the Carthaginian gov ernment did not make a fuss round Hannibals actions.Hannibal was now determined to carry the war into the heart of Italy by a rapid march through Hispania and southern Gaul. After hearing the declaration of war Hannibal immediately starts off towards Rome. The problem was he had to go by land because Rome controlled the seas. Hannibal takes an army of thirty-five to forty thousand men, some on foot and others on horse, along with fifty war elephants across the Pyrenees and the Alps. elusive luck falls into Hannibals lap as early snows and landslides kill many of his men and almost all of his war elephants.While traveling through the Alps he fights battles at Arausio and Genua, easily defeating the Roman warriors, although his troops are in horrible shape. He enters Italy with only twenty- sixer thousand men and five or six war elephants in September 218. Hannibal and his troops spent the winter in Po Valley. In the spring Hannibal was joined by the Gauls, northern Italians who wer e subdued into engagement the Romans. Now Hannibal had a sufficient army of infantry and cavalry. The hardened Carthaginian troops easily crushed the Roman armies in their way, nevertheless without siege equipment the Carthaginians could not destroy the Roman cities.So instead of trying to siege the city they simple killed the Roman soldiers and moved on. (He was a bad ass mofo if you know what I mean. ) sometimes the Romans would retreat into their city surrounded by high walls so that they would not die. In 217 Hannibal won a major battle at Lake Trasimene. The Romans counter onrushed with some 25,000 men, but their consul, Gaius Flaminius, was defeated and killed in an ambush between the hills and the Trasimene lake. Two legions were annihilated. One legion for a roman army comprised about 5,000 men.Hannibals army along with the Gauls would undulate the Italian countryside and destroy any opposing army. In 216 he defeated a huge Roman army at the city of Cannae in southwestern Italy. At Cannae the Romans loss was much greater than that of Hannibal suffered. The Romans bewildered twenty-five thousand men and ten thousand were captured, on the other hand Hannibal only lost five thousand and seven hundred men. Hannibal, being a military genius, let the Romans advance at his main infantry, while his cavalry charged around the sides easily defeating two other groups of Roman infantry.Then after destroying the two side groups of Romans the cavalry swept around the back of the main Roman attack force. Hannibal apply this strategy often because it worked so good that and the Romans had no to much pride in their formations. Even though he was killing Roman soldiers he was not destroying any cities. They were very frustrated and annoyed of Hannibal they needed him to get out of Italy, so the Romans sent armies led by Scipio, a great Roman general, to attack Carthage in Africa. Carthage ordered Hannibal to Africa to protect the city of Carthage.This was the clash of the titans, Hannibal vs. Scipio. They met at Zama, a city near Carthage. This would end up to be the final battle of the second Punic War, and the great Hannibal would be the loser. Of course he lost with the exhaustion of all his troops and heading all the way back to Africa. Hannibal escaped but his army didnt. After the war Carthage had to pay Rome a very large sum of money and agree to terms that they could only wage war in Africa, even to the point where they needed Romes permission. Hannibal returned to Carthage and became one of the two chief magistrates.He then challenged the aristocrats of being corrupt the aristocrats told Rome that Hannibal was planning another attack on Rome with Antiochus III of Syria. Rome, already very pissed off with Hannibal, decided to deport Hannibal out of Carthage. Hannibal traveled to Syria and was made a member of the Syrian court. Vowed to his fathers linguistic process embedded in his heart and mind he had advised Antiochus III to decl are war against Rome. Antiochus III decided to go on this advice and wage war on Rome, this turned out to be called the Syrian War.Though soon after Syria was defeated and Hannibal left to become a member of the Prussian court. Hannibal and his awesome idea skills convinced Prussia to go to war against Rome. Instead of directly attacking Rome, Prussia attacked Romes ally Pergamum. Rome came into the fight and demanded that Hannibal be handed over to them. Instead of being impoverished Hannibal took his own life. Hannibal Barca, being eternal enemies with Rome, fulfilled his fathers words and while doing so became one the greatest generals of his time.He could almost come close to being as great as Alexander the Great. So the start of his greatness all started with his family and the first Punic War. If people were to talk about the Punic war it would be about 2nd Punic war and Hannibal. Just to spite the Romans in the end he ended up taking his own life so no Roman can have the ju stice to say they killed the Great Hannibal. References 1. Harold Lamb Hannibal (Doubleday & Company, INC. , Garden City, New York 1958) 2. http//en. wikipedia. org/wiki/Hannibal 3. Cormac O Brien Outnumbered (Fair Winds Press, Beverly, MA 2010) 4. ttp//www. livius. org/ha-hd/hannibal/hannibal. hypertext mark-up language 5. 1 . http//en. wikipedia. org/wiki/Hannibal 2 . http//en. wikipedia. org/wiki/Hannibal 3 . http//en. wikipedia. org/wiki/Hannibal 4 . Harold Lamb Hannibal (Doubleday & Company, INC. , Garden City, New York 1958), 71 5 . Harold 75-78 6 . Harold 51-52 7 . Harold 180 8 . Cormac O Brien Outnumbered (Fair Winds Press, Beverly, MA 2010), 53 9 . http//www. livius. org/ha-hd/hannibal/hannibal. html 10 . Harold 259 11 . Harold 152