At the end of the First Punic War, both the Romans and the Carthaginians had lost 500-600 ships and 200-250 thousand troops in battles alone, to include the losses in storms would double these numbers (Life Time Books).  Carthage, who was the naval power of the Mediterranean, had been humiliated by a nation unused to Naval warfare.  However, the Carthaginians were not to be deterred.   They soon took the lands of Algeria and Morocco, new land bases for their overseas campaigns in Spain. This is where Hannibal learned the art of war at the teachings of his father, Hamilcar Barca, who was the General in the first Punic War (Rickard, J).  After seventeen years, the stage was set for Hannibal, who was by now a general and master tactician in the Carthaginian army to invade Italy.

            The spark for this second war between Rome and Carthage was the siege and capture of the city Saguntum, who was an ally of Rome, at the command of Hannibal (Rickard, J).  Rome, after sending envoys to Carthage, declared war on Carthage in the year 218 B.C. (Life Time Books).  Hannibal who had prepared for this in the years before, gathered his forces of about 48,000 infantry and 8,000 cavalry head headed to northern Spain.(life Times Books).  Hannibal also had with him forty War Elephants, the main purpose of these elephants was to impress the Gallic tribes, so that they might join Hannibal in the war against Rome.  Hannibal then took his army and traveled through open roads of the Appalachian Mountains, his army would have been freezing and were continually harassed by tribes living in the passes.  When he finally came through the treacherous mountains he only possessed 38,000 infantry and 6,000 cavalry as well as 25 of his elephants (Life Time Books). 

         The time that it took Hannibal to cross the mountains gave Roman scouts a chance to fallow his movements and when he finished navigating the passed there was a Roman force sent to intercept him, Hannibal had no choice but to fight.  The force was led by Consul Publius Cornelius Scipio who had camped by the Ticinus River, Scipio had decided to test Hannibal's strengths and attacked with his cavalry in the Battle of Ticinus(Nov. 218 B.C.).  Hannibal responded in kind, but outnumbering his enemy and winning with a superior cavalry, Scipio was injured in this conflict and forced Scipio to retreat (Rickerd, J).  This was the first notable conflict on Italian soil that also gave Hannibal some leeway with the negotiations for allies from the Gallic tribes.  All of the Gallic tribes join him except the Cenomani people, giving most of Northern Italy the brand of insurgents.  Hannibal now short on supplies, starts to raid and forage in the Italian countryside, after collecting the supplies needed Hannibal decided to march south.  The Romans in response to this defeat and movement of Hannibal,sent two forces, one on the west coast to protect the cities and one to the Apennine passes to stop Hannibal from going towards the east and hopefully bottling him into northern Italy.  Despite rapid movement on the Romans part, Hannibal was still able to make it through the passes without opposition, and started to move toward the heel of the Italian “Boot” where he continued to win battles like the Ambush of Lake Trasimene using his wits and skills as a commander, securing more friends from the Gaul’s and Roman “Allies”(Rickerd, J).
           The Second Punic War wasn't just fought in Italy, but also in Spain,where the Romans under the Command of Consul Scipio were able to take the Carthaginian held lands.  The Roman Armies in Spain were doing well until 211 B.C. where they got overconfident and lost.  In Response to this defeat, the Roman Senate sent Scipio with 10,000 infantry and 2,000 cavalry, and when Scipio arrived in Spain was able to rally another 15,000 infantry and 5,000 cavalry from the past Roman defeat.  Scipio quickly got to work capturing New Carthage, an important Carthaginian city that held control in it's surrounding lands of Spain.  The Carthaginian forces in Spain were also separated from each other and didn't always act as one army but as separate forces, this weakened them substantially.  This allowed Scipio to defeat each of them in relative ease, as he was able to surprised two of the generals by having a better system of scouts than the Carthaginians.  By 203 B.C. Scipio had taken Spain from Carthaginian rule.

            A battle in July 216 B.C. would be the turning point of this war; after achieving a major win at the Battle of Cannae and giving the Romans the worst defeat in their military history, Hannibal decides against marching on Rome. This Defeat changes the plans that the Romans had for winning this war, after re-discussing the war plan the Senate gave Scipio a doubled force, he marched down Spain and toward Carthage to attack the enemy at their heart.  After being in Italy for 13 years, Hannibal was called back to defend the homeland from the Roman threat.  Hannibal went to confront Scipio what would be called “The Battle of Zama”, and also the defeat of Hannibal.  

The Second Punic War from 218 B.C. to 202 B.C. showing the routes by Hannibal and Scipio aswell as other generals important to the war effort.

General Scipio Africanus                                      General Hannibal of Cathage

Ambush of Lake Trasimene

The year is 217 B.C. and Hannibal has just won a decisive victory giving him supplies and new allies from the oppressed Gallic tribes.  Two new consuls are appointed to deal with Hannibal, Servilius Geminus and Caius Flaminius.  Consul Geminus had orders to protect the roads leading to Rome, and Consul Flaminius was ordered to protect the Apennine passes.  Both Consuls moved fast, but Hannibal moved faster and passed Consul Flaminius, pillaging as he went and was able to get Flaminius to give chase. Hannibal was traveling down the Malpasso road on the north side of the Lake Trasimene, he noticed that the road narrowed here and ended in a small valley.  To the right of the road was the lake and on the left a wooded slope that stretched alongside it from point of entry all the way to the small valley.  In his mind Hannibal thought this to be a perfect location for an ambush, one that would be known as the largest successful ambush in military history.  With the Romans behind a day Hannibal set to work immediately, setting camp in the small valley at the end of the road.  The strength of the Roman legion numbered at about 40,000 thousand while Hannibal’s army was in between 40 to 50,000 strong (Civilian Military Intelligence Group).  After making camp in the valley Hannibal started to line his troops along the road, placing his Spanish heavy infantry combined with Hannibal’s elite veterans to guard the camp and pin the Roman column.  Hannibal then placed his cavalry and heavy Gallic infantry further up the road hidden in the wooded slopes to stop any Roman retreat.  To finish his trap Hannibal placed the rest of his force, the light infantry, into the bushes and low brush along the flatter ground between the slopping woods and valley surrounded by hills.  This formation would entrap the traveling Roman column and push them into the lake.  As night fell Hannibal sent some skirmishers further down the valley with instructions to light camp fires.  This was a rouse to trick the Romans into thinking the Carthaginians had made camp at a greater distance than they really were.  The next morning visibility was terrible because of fog that had risen from the lake during the night.  Hannibal’s officers were told the day before to hold position and only attack when the signal was given.  As the Roman column made their way down the road, it was apparent that the expected no opposition.  The only Romans in a defensive formation was the Roman vanguard, the rest of the column was in an open format.  When the vanguard finally made contact with the veterans in camp, the whole Roman line was trapped and this is what Hannibal, He had the horns blown and the Carthaginians fell upon the unsuspecting Romans who were caught by surprise.  Even so, the defeat of the Romans took four hours and their commander Flaminius, was supporting his troops wherever they were pressed hardest until a Gallic horseman ran him through with a lance.  Losses by the Romans were high, about 15,000 soldiers were killed and it is estimated that another 10,000 were captured and sold into slavery (livius); news of this defeat terrified the citizens of Rome.  This led to the appointment of Quintus Fabius Maximus who was a veteran of 58 as dictator.  After this new victory for Hannibal, there was no army to stand against him while he continued his march south toward the heel of the Italian peninsula.

Battle of Cannae

As Hannibal continued to ravage the fields and vineyards belonging to Roman citizens, the Roman Senate was pressured to take action.  Their plan was to appoint Consuls Caius Terentius Varro and Lucius Aemilius Paullus, Varro wanted to face Hannibal in a up front battle and Paullus was more opposed to that idea and wanted instead to pick off Hannibal's forces because of Hannibal's known tricks.  The two Consuls were given a double sized Legion and were to co-command this army.  In the year 216 B.C. they set out to face Hannibal (UNRV).  to give the Romans some over confidence Hannibal himself led a raiding mission whose soul purpose was to drive into the Roman column and then retreat in a false terror.  This plan had the effect that Hannibal wanted,making Consul a little reckless.  The Romans had in command 80,000 soldiers of both Roman citizens and allies.  Hannibal had with him a mix of 50,000 soldiers with him, and he knew all of their strengths and how to play on those strengths (Encyclopedia Britannica Online).  Hannibal was camping by the Cannae river when the Romans under the command of Consul Varro, came to battle.  Varro wanted to battle next to the river so that he could back the Carthaginians into it and prevent escape, and the flat ground that was the battle field provided Hannibal with no where to hide troops or use to his advantage.  What Hannibal did instead became a classic in western military history and gave the Romans their worst defeat in military history.  The Romans with the advantage in numbers decided to line their infantry into two bulky squares, whose job was simple, crash through the Carthaginian line and defeat the infantry.  The Roman cavalry were to hold off the Carthaginian cavalry while the infantry did their job.   Hannibal had other plans for this. Hannibal put his Iberian and Gallic infantry in the center and his African veterans on their flanks and further back to form an arrow head.  On the flanks of his infantry he placed his cavalry, Numidian light cavalry on the right and Spanish and Gallic heavy cavalry on the left, the cavalries job was the same as the Romans, hold off the opposing cavalry.  Hannibal's plan was that has the cavalry attacked each other, his infantry would slowly give way to the Roman line.  As the Romans went deeper into the Carthaginian line they would become in-cohesive, and his strong veteran flanks would close upon them while his cavalry would swing back and finish the circle (Encyclopedia Britannica Online).  The battle went perfectly for Hannibal, and he won even with the numerical disadvantage.  Rome suffered losses over 60,000 of infantry and cavalry as high as 3,000.  Hannibal on the other hand only received casualties as high as 8,000 infantry and 2,000 cavalry (UNRV).  This still remains as one of Hannibal's greatest achievements.

Digital Battle of Cannae