Hannibal of Carthage
A Great Military Leader
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Have you ever wondered why the Carthaginian leader and enemy of Rome known as Hannibal retained his reputation as a formidable opponent and great military leader even after Hannibal and the Carthaginians lost the Punic Wars? A sixteen-year old Belgian provides a cogent answer about Hannibal of Carthage on the Ancient / Classical History Forum:
He simply is :-pAfter Hannibal got over the Alps, his army was heavilly weakened. He only had 25,000 foot soldiers, a couple of elephants and 6000 (excellent) Numidian horsemen left. He had the luck that Scipio didn't arrive immediately (in which case he would have been defeated) but the loss of more then 30,000 veterans was terrible. The Gauls that he managed to persuade to join him were of some use (they could be sacrificed) but weren't the fighters they once were. Above that, the Roman legionnaires were (in that time) the best soldiers of the world. They made up for the mistakes of many generals. Not only did he have to fight these soldiers -- who had the advantage of fighting on their own land -- but the enemy had more than 200,000 of them.
So, with 50,000 men and 6,000 horsemen, Hannibal had to fight 200,000 footsoldiers. Even if he could defeat them, he had to conquer/persuade the Latins, Samnites, Etruscans, Greeks ... to join his cause (he noticed that persuading the Latins was impossible, which was one of the reasons that he lost the war). He didn't win the war.... No, but he managed to stay in the enemy's land for 15 years (218-203)! Plus he didn't lose one great battle (except, of course, Zama). Only a military genius could manage that.
THEMANIAC777
Also see:Major People in Ancient History
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Hannibal of Carthage - Why was Hannibal considered such a great military leader?
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