Would Hannibal Barca have benefited from island hopping from Massilia, through Corsica directly to Rome, so that he could evade crossing the Alps? And what effect would this have had on history?
Rik Hoogerduijn,
History Research paper by Rik Hoogerduijn
Would Hannibal Barca have benefited from island hopping from Massilia, through Corsica directly to Rome, so that he could evade crossing the Alps? And what effect would this have had on history?
13 September 2009
Hannibal Barca has been regarded as a “gifted strategist’ by men like Napoleon Bonaparte and the Duke of Wellington.”To be called a gifted strategist by men like Napoleon Bonaparte a person must have undertaken one of the greatest strategic feats in history. Hannibal Barca earned this appreciation by marching his army consisting of infantry and cavalry of racial diversity and 37 war elephants over the Pyrenees and the Alps so that he could launch an attack on the Republic of Rome. But this was at a large cost; Hannibal lost almost half of his infantry, a quarter of his cavalry and almost all his war elephants. Hannibal would have benefited from evading the Alps because he would have lost a lot less men, but he would have still gotten his re-enforcements form Hispania and a direct route to Rome.
Hannibal Barca was born in Carthage as the son of Hamlicar Barca. Hamlicar Barca had lost the first Punic war against Rome, and when he decided to conquer Hispania (Spain) it is said that Hanibal swore to his father that “so soon as age permit… I will use fire and steel to arrest the density of Rome” After Hannibal’s father was killed in battle. Hamlicar’s brother, Hasdrubal became commander of the Carthaginian Army and made a peace Treaty with Rome. This treaty stated that Carthage would not expand above the Erbo River. When Hasdrubal was assassinated Hannibal became the Carthaginian army commander. As commander Hannibal completed the conquest of Hispania in two years. When the city of Rome made an alliance with the city of Saguntum (which was a city considerably far south of the Erbo River) Hannibal saw this as a breach of the Treaty so he besieged the city. Rome in its turn saw this as a violation of the treaty and declared war on Carthage a second time. Hannibal marched with an army of forty to fifty thousand men and 37 war elephants over the Pyrenees and trough Gaul without a lot of opposition. This is when Hannibal faced one of his biggest obstacles, the Alps. While crossing the Alps, Hannibal lost 5000 to 10,000 men and almost all his war elephants. After Hannibal crossed the Alps he was met by one of the strongest roman armies ever raised. Hannibal defeated this army at Cannae by telling his cavalry to attack them on both flanks. After the battle of Cannae many of the southern Roman cities started to side with Hannibal. Hannibal then rode around the Italian peninsula for 12 years. This is when the new roman commander Scipio led an army to Hannibal’s home city of Carthage. Hannibal was forced to return to Carthage and face Scipio at Zama. This is where Hannibal was defeated and the second Punic war was won by Rome. Hannibal stayed commander of the Carthaginian army for 9 years and managed to turn Carthage back into a rich city state. This is when Rome started to see Hannibal as a threat once again; they demanded that he should be given to Rome as a prisoner. Hannibal fled from Carthage to Ephesus where he offered his services to Antiochus. Antiochus accepted but never listened to any of Hannibal’s advice. After Antiochus was defeated by the Romans, Hannibal was forced to flee again. This time Hannibal fled to Crete where he offered his services to Prusais. Hannibal won a great battle for Prusais however Rome found out that Hannibal had led the Cretan army and demanded that he be taken to Rome. Hannibal who had no way of escaping a third time poisoned himself and died in 183 B.C.
