Hannibal 2
Hannibal 2Hannibal
In 237 B.C., Hamilcar Barca took his nine year old son, Hannibal, to the alter of a Carthaginian god and made him swear that he would always be an enemy to the Romans. Hannibal and his father then left for Spain. The center of Carthaginian power in Spain was the city of New Carthage(modern Carthagena). Hannibal saw firsthand his father's techniques for war (Green 9).
When Hamilcar died in battle in 230 B.C., his son-in-law, Hasdrubal, became general and continued Carthage's influence in Spain. In 226 B.C. Hasdrubal signed a treaty with the Romans. The treaty stated that neither army could cross the Ebro River in northern Spain (Charles-Picard 11).
When Hasdrubal was killed in 221 B.C., the Carthaginians unanimously elected twenty-six-year-old Hannibal to be commander of the army in Spain. He continued to conquer land without crossing the Ebro River, except for the city of Saguntum, an ally of Rome. When Saguntum began trouble between Carthage and Rome in 219 B.C., Hannibal raided the city. This began the Second Punic War. Hannibal began a long and dangerous journey, with battle elephants marching at the front of his army (Green 21).
Hannibal left a lasting reminder of his deeds in the names of Spanish places such as Potus Hannibalis, Insula Hannabalis, and Scalae Hannibalis (Lancel 12).
In the spring of 218 B.C., Hannibal handed over command of the Spanish armies to his brother Hasdrubal. He then led his troops north toward the Pyrenees Mountains and began one of the most famous journeys in history (Green 24).
Hannibal's army included Libyans and Numidians from North Africa, Iberians and Celtiberians from Spain, and Gauls from Spain, France, and Italy.There were ninety thousand foot soldiers, twelve thousand horsemen, and several dozen war elephants. Hannibal used the elephants to break infantry lines and to create fear and disorder. The elephants also frightened horses, so they were able to disrupt the enemy's cavalry (Green 25).
In the Pyrenees, Hannibal encountered resistance from local tribes. He lost a lot of his men to fighting, and some of the mercenaries went home because they were scared of the long journey. With all this, Hannibal continued to move as quickly as possible. He knew that it was important to reach the Alps before winter storms made them impassable (Green 27).
When news of Hannibal's army reached Rome, the Gauls of northern Italy revolted. The Gauls had been very hostile to the Romans.The Romans had plans to attack Carthage and New Carthage, but they had to be delayed because of the rebelling tribes in Italy and the approach of Hannibal. So the Romans sent troops under the command of Publius Cornelius Scipio, to stop Hannibal at Massilia(modern Marseilles, France) (Lancel 21).
Massilia is on the French coast where the Rhone River runs into the Mediterranean Sea. The Rhone is...
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