Using Livy, How Great a General was Hannibal?

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Using Livy, How Great a General was Hannibal?

When Hannibal left Italy in 203 BC "he had filled Italy...with monuments of his tremendous campaigns"1. In this essay I will consider Hannibal's legacy and what aspects of his personality created these 'monuments.' After research,2 I have set out some criteria of a great general and in this essay I will attempt to establish to what extent Hannibal fulfils these criteria. According to Lazenby, to do what Hannibal did required "great strategic skill, tactical ingenuity and sheer force of personality"3. I will consider where these characteristics came from and how he used these characteristics to his advantage in the Second Punic War.

After Hasdrubal was assassinated Hannibal became general of the Carthaginian army in Spain. He had had an interesting upbringing as the son of a popular war hero, Hamilcar. Hamilcar "led the boy [Hannibal] to the altar and made him solemnly swear...that as soon as he was old enough he would become an enemy of Rome"4. There was some debate as to whether Hannibal should become commander at this young age. However "the troops received him [Hannibal] with ominous enthusiasm, the soldiers feeling that in the person of this young man Hamilcar himself was restored to them...the same vigour in his look, the same fire in his eyes"5. Indeed one of Hannibal's flaws was, according to Caven, "his all consuming ambition to excel in all that his father had taught him...the terrible game of war, the only worthwhile occupation for a Barca"6.

This 'game of war' was all about knowing how to be a good general, and how to defeat the Romans. In my opinion a good general must fulfil the following criteria. He must deceive the enemy; have a good strategy, know the state of his own forces and his enemy's capabilities and intentions. He must know the objective. He must defeat his enemies and forces, take the offensive, have unity in his command and know how to economise his army. He must manoeuvre into favourable positions, surprise the enemy, and have security from sabotage or subversion. He must have a good administration. He must adapt to the enemies plan smoothly and rapidly. He must take into account the domestic and foreign reactions to his activities. He should use psychological warfare. He must have a flexible army with the ability to use sophisticated tactics. He must either use force or guile to win the war and put the enemy into a dilemma where they are damned either choice they make. He must understand and utilize all available terrain.

The terrain Hannibal faced was and included a daunting journey over the Alps. His strategy was simple. Saguntum was a Roman protected city, situated below the river Ebro, significant because Carthage had influence over all land below the River Ebro (river Ebro treaty 226 BC). Saguntum was seen as a 'listening post' on Carthaginian activities, and so had to be dealt with. Hannibal's strategy was to attack Saguntum, therefore provoking Rome to declare war on Carthage (and not on Hannibal). This was a good time to start a war as Rome was occupied elsewhere - with the Illyrian pirates and with the Gauls. It would also "make those tribes who had already submitted more obedient and the rest who were still independent more cautious"7. After an eight month siege Saguntum was taken and valuable resources were plundered, providing the money to pay for his troops and to prepare for his strategy - the invasion of Italy by land.

He told his men to winter and to return in early spring, but sent out envoys to find out the conditions he would face on his journey - the military and political situation, the logistics of the campaign and the resistance of the Gauls to Roman pressure. Hannibal also took measures for the security of Spain and Africa, including taking troops from their homeland and placing them in another part of the Carthaginian Empire ensuring their loyalty to the Carthaginian army, rather than to their country. All of this shows good administration.

His strategy seemed strange, but was actually quite clever. He planned to invade Italy via the Alps* because he did not have a good enough navy to protect him against the Roman fleet. After crossing the Alps he would try to recruit the Gauls, as they hated Rome as much as Hannibal did. He would try to separate Rome from her allies because they provided 50% of the Roman army - over 35,000 Infantry and 3,500 Cavalry. He wanted to cause schisms in the Roman political system so he could break up Rome from the inside. This strategy would take Rome by surprise. Even though this was a superb strategy there were still some problems. The journey would kill many troops and animals. Rome and its allies closely joined by the Pax Romanus and they would be hard to separate. If Hannibal was ever to take on Rome, he would need an army for siege, not for blitzkrieg, as his current army was designed for.
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His army was compromised of 12,000 African infantry who were good at holding the enemy at bay. He had 8000 Spanish infantry who were good at guerrilla warfare, but could also be used in normal field battles. However, the key to his army was his 6000-strong cavalry. His infamous Numidian horsemen were world renowned, excelling at skirmishes and ambushes. His Spanish heavy cavalry were very useful. Hannibal knew about all the strengths of his army. They allowed him to have sophisticated tactics, as this requires "well-trained, articulated forces that are armed with different weapons and possess different capabilities."8 ...

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