Battle of Cannae and Hannibal

  Hannibal Barca was one of the most talented and best generals of all time; he is still studied today. Hannibal is one of the most influential generals of all time; his particular genius moment was the Battle of Cannae. Hannibal Barca was the Carthaginian general who was the most successful general that attacked Rome until almost the fall of the Western Roman Empire in 453 BCE. The Carthaginian general Hannibal took five months to go from southern Spain to the Po Valley which cost thousands of Hannibal’s men.[1] He may have lost as many as 36,000 men according to Titus Livy.[2] Hannibal’s exhausted and depleted army lost almost all of their elephants over the trip to the Alps.  He inflicted multiple severe defeats against the Romans particularly at the battle of Cannae. Modern day historian’s put the Roman losses at 70,000 men.[3] It happened between 217 BCE-216 BCE. Estimates of Roman losses range from 55-70 thousand. Other things include the Roman army was numerically superior, but Hannibal was a legendary general who surrounded their troops, and almost completely eliminated this particular army. [4] This was one of the few times the Romans participated in human sacrifice.[5] Hannibal spent 15 years on Roman soil. His plan was to turn Roman allies against the Romans and conquer Italy. During his 15 years on Roman soil, he failed to do much to the Romans. The Carthaginians were defeated in 202 BCE.[6]  The Battle of Cannae was a Roman disaster that made them reshape their entire existence. Cannae was a Carthaginian masterpiece that is still studied in schools and military academies today.                   

Bibliography

Beard, Mary. SPQR: A History of Ancient Rome. New York: Liveright, 2015.

King, Ross. The Shortest History of Ancient Rome. London: Robinson, 2019.

King, Ross. The Shortest History of Italy. London: Robinson, 2022.

Livy (Titus Livius). The War with Hannibal: Books XXI–XXX. Translated and edited by Aubrey de Sélincourt. London: Penguin, 1965.

———. History of Rome. Translated by B. O. Foster. Loeb Classical Library Volumes (various). Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press; London: William Heinemann, 1919–65. (Optional: use only if citing broader Livy works)

The Historical Atlas of Ancient Rome. Edited by [Editor(s)?]. Place of publication: Publisher, Year.

[1] Ross King, The Shortest History of Italy (London: Robinson, 2022), Pg. 14

[2] Ibid. pg. 14

[3] Ibid. pg. 14

[4] Ross King, The Shortest History of Ancient Rome (London: Robinson, 2019), pg. 34

[5] Ibid Pg. 35

[6] The Historical Atlas of Ancient Rome, ed. 1 (Penguin Publishing, 1995), Pg. 16