PolledHistory - Friday Special: 2nd Punic War

 Hello! Though it isn't Sunday, I will make an additional post for Science and History blog. The History theme today I chose, and is the Second Punic War. 

The Second Punic War is a very interesting war (well, at least to me), and was between 218 and 201 BC. Within these seventeen years of war was 300 000 men. To put that in comparison, the total population of both sides of the war was 250 000 for Rome and Carthage's numbers are unsure. 

Before we can dive into the Second Punic War, let's see the background. 

Agrigentum, 262 BC. The Romans - which at the time wasn't the massive Mediterannean-wide empire as it was later, was in battle against the Carthaginians. The Carthaginians were a North African empire founded in 814, about six hundred years earlier. They were descendants of the Phoenicians, which is in modern day Lebanon (thus, they are basically related to the Canaanites). This was one of the major battles of the 1st Punic War. Rome (which was at the time, just the Italian peninsula) declared war against Carthage by 264 BC. By 241 BC, the First Punic War ended in a Roman victory. Sicily was annexed (that is, an island south of Italy),  and later Corsica (currently under France, north of Sardinia), and Sardinia (that is, an island west of the Italian shores). 

Now, Hamilcar Barca, a Carthaginian commander, who sought to expand Carthage after its defeat, went to Iberia (modern day Spain) and colonized it. In Rome, the politicians there began to worry, so they set up a treaty. All land north of the Ebro River (that is, a river in northern Iberia) would be in Rome's side, but all south the Carthaginians could settle.

Hamilcar built a city called Nova Carthago (or New Carthage, which still exists in present day as Cartagena), but he died when trying to cross a river (as he was ambushed). His son, Hannibal Barca, assumed power over Carthage's domain in Iberia.

Saguntum, a city in Iberia, who Rome was allied to, was below the Ebro River and Hannibal was enraged because of this. He thought that Rome broke the treaty by being allied to Saguntum, which was meant to be not under their control. So, Hannibal attacked and burned the city, massacring its people.

Now, Rome was triggered by this and they sent Fabius, one of the most important of their officials to the Carthaginian court. The Carthaginians said that Fabius could decide if they would declare war or not. And Fabius declared war, beginning the Second Punic War.

Now, Rome sent two generals: Scipio the Elder to attack Spain by going to the north, and Longus, who would try to attack Carthage by sailing south. Hannibal, with all his men, then decided to attack Italy through land. 

They crossed the Pyrenees mountains, leaving Iberia for Southern Gaul (that is, modern day France), and then crossing the Alps. And it is easier said than done - crossing the Alps is a huge task, especially as they crossed it during winter. The Alps were near invincible, and out of Hannibal's army, only about a quarter survived and arrived at the other side - in Northern Italy. 

The first major engagement in the Second Punic War was between Scipio the Elder, the general that was sent to the north, and Hannibal. Though the crossing of the Alps might seem stupid, it was a great strategic move, as without agression, Carthage could not win. The Battle of Ticinus was this first major engagement.

Here, Hannibal managed to quickly attack Scipio's army and the Romans fled almost immideately after the battle started, and Scipio was injured. This was Hannibal's first major victory in Italy. Meanwhile, Longus (who was still sailing to Carthage) was called back to Italy to help defend Northern Italy. 

Longus and Scipio joined in Northern Italy. These two were consuls, leaders of the Roman Republic. When two consuls were in one battle, Rome's special system was that consuls took turns every day. Scipio was cautious after his defeat at Ticinus, but Longus was reckless.

Hannibal knew that the best time to attack was when Longus was in charge. The night before the battle, the Carthaginian warriors slept early and on the morning, they were given insulating oil to keep them warm in the cold and breakfast to ready themselves.

However, in the Roman camp, the soldiers were unready and underfed, as they were in a rush. The Carthaginians easily defeated the Romans at the Trebia River, with an advantage of the state of the soldiers, and general tactics. Hannibal won, and only a few Romans escaped. 

This was Hannibal's second victory in Italy. Now, the Celts, who lived in Northern Italy, joined Hannibal after his victory, as the Celts hated Rome (as Rome had just invaded their homeland). Now, Rome had two new consuls after this: Flaminius and Servilius.

This time, Hannibal was in a harder spot. He was in Northern Italy and he had to leave south, but on his way were the Appenine mointain range and both consuls were in a strategic location. The only way he could go without as much risk was going through the Arno Swamp, a large dirty swampland.

Hannibal and all the men went through it - 4 days without sleep as there was nowhere to sleep. The water was dirty and they stood up. Hannibal himself had an injury - he got an eye infection, but he sliced his eye off. 

After crossing the Arno Swamp, the next major battle was at Lake Trasimene against the consul Flaminius. Like Longus, Flaminius was very reckless and uncautious. And Hannibal exploited consulship again. 

Hannibal at night hid in the forests near the lake, but they left their encampment. Next morning, the Romans marched towards the Carthaginian camp, but when passing, the Carthaginians and all their allies descended and struck the Romans, defeating them. One Celt threw his spear at Flaminius, killing him. Even the weather favored Hannibal - the fog concealed Hannibal's army in the forest. The Romans were either killed or pushed into the lake and drowned.

Some Romans survived and what they saw was a Lake of Blood. This was another Hannibal victory. The Romans were terrified, but they had a plan for crises like this - they would set up a dictator for six months that dictated all the actions to try to resolve crises. In this case, it was Hannibal and his campaign against Italy. 

The chosen person as dictator? Fabius. Fabius' plan was to try to avoid and run away from Hannibal's army. He never tried to confront Hannibal, as he knew it would only be a disaster. However, the Romans thought this was cowardly, as Roman military culture was more agressive than passive.

So, Fabius was thrown out, and the Romans put two new consuls again: Varro and Paullus. The Romans also set an army so large to try to defeat Hannibal - 80 000 soldiers against 50 000 Carthaginians. Varro and Paullus would come with them, and the two sides met at Cannae.

The Battle of Cannae was the bloodiest battle in the Second Punic War,  and among the bloodiest in history. The Roman infantry charged to the center, as Carthage's infantry fell back. Hannibal was at the center of the Carthaginian infantry. Meanwhile, the Carthaginian cavalry pushed and defeated the Roman cavalry. The Carthaginian infantry was in 3 sides of the Roman infantry, and then the Carthaginian cavalry from behind, after pursuing the Roman cavalry, came and encircled the Romans, surrounding them. Then it became a bloodbath, as the Romans were killed from every direction. Estimates say about a fifth of the entire Roman population was killed that day, and both Varro and Paullus died.

Hannibal should have won the war, but the Romans kept on fighting anyways. After Cannae, Hannibal continued to terrorize Rome for a few more years but to limited success, as the Romans played it safer from then on. Still, the Battle of Cannae was a disaster and was Hannibal's largest victory against the Romans.

Now, Scipio Africanus was in Spain and undid Hannibal and the Carthaginians' actions there. Scipio Africanus then crossed to North Africa and gained access to the Kingdom of Numibia (a civilization near Carthage) and their speedy and effective horsemen. Though Rome had been incredibly damaged in Italy, they did at least have chances through Scipio's campaign.

Hannibal was forced to leave Italy to defend Carthage itself from Scipio. The Romans and Carthaginians met at Zama near Carthage. Scipio Africanus (not to be confused with Scipio the Elder) studied Hannibal's tactics and he used his own tactics of Cannae at Zama.

This made Scipio WIN the battle against Hannibal, and this was Hannibal's first, and only major defeat. Scipio Africanus then made the Carthaginians surrender, and thus the Second Punic War was a Roman Victory. The fact it was a roman victory is truly astonishing. Though Rome lost four large battles and thousands and tens of thousands of soldiers, they still won.

When Hannibal heard of Carthage's surrender, he felt betrayed, as he thought he could've won if they defended well, but he became the Magistrate of Carthage, (basically the leader) and managed to revitalize the empire even after the war, but eventually he was exiled by the Romans to the city of Tyre in modern day Lebanon, and became a general of the Greek Seleucid empire. 

Scipio earned the title Africanus (for he defeated Africa, at least Carthage). Carthage was stripped of most of his land besides a small area near the city of Carthage itself. The Romans fought the Carthaginians again a few decades later, and that time the Romans managed to besiege the city of Carthage, and burned it. A few centuries after that, Julius Caesar rebuilt Carthage. 

Overall, the Second Punic War was a masterpiece of Roman military culture and Hannibal's military genius, and battles are still studied to this day.  

Hannibal died by poisoning himself when the Romans came nearby (as the Romans too targeted the Seleucids). That was the the Second Punic War! Thank you for reading!

Next Friday Topic: The Crisis of the 3rd Century