The Romans called the Berbers, the native peoples of North Africa Numidians, which meant nomads. They were distinct from the Carthaginians who were descended from Phoenician colonists. The Numidians provided the Carthaginians with mercenaries, and at the start of the Second Punic War in 218 B.C. both major tribes, the Masaesyli under King Syphax and […]
What Role Did the Berbers Have in the Punic Wars Between Rome and Carthage?
August 15, 2024 By Leave a Comment
Who Was the Better General, Hannibal or Scipio?
August 3, 2024 By Leave a Comment
Hannibal was a genius when it came to battlefield tactics, but not as adept at strategy or logistics. Scipio Africanus was a genius at all three. Scipio’s Spanish campaign shows his proficiency at battlefield tactics, strategy and logistics. The first thing he did was to conquer New Carthage where the Carthaginians stored their wealth and […]
Were Roman Generals More Closely Involved in the Fighting than Generals are Today?
August 1, 2024 By Leave a Comment
They were far more involved than generals are today. In the Second Punic War the following generals lost their lives in battle or in an ambush: Gaius Flaminius, Lucius Aemilius Paullus, Gaius Servilius Geminus, Marcus Manucius Rufus, Tiberius Sempronius Gracchus, Gneius Fulvius, Gneius Cornelius Scipio, Pubius Cornelius Scipio (the elder), Marcus Claudius Marcellus, Appius Claudius […]
How Did the Romans Recover From Their Devastating Defeat at the Battle of Cannae?
July 23, 2024 By Leave a Comment
It is believed that between the battles of Trebia, Trasimene and Cannae, twenty percent of Italian men of military age perished. At the Battle of Cannae alone, some 55,000 Romans and allies were killed In addition to losing all of those soldiers, after Cannae a lot of cities, towns and tribes that had been allied […]
How are Ancient Greece and Ancient Rome Related?
July 22, 2024 By Leave a Comment
According to the German historian Theodor Mommsen, the Greeks and the Romans both had cultural and linguistic roots in what is now eastern Europe. He did extensive studies on their languages and concluded that they were both offshoots of a common branch of Indo-European. Greek civilization began much earlier than Roman. The Greeks had two […]
My New Book, You Won’t Even Have My Bones, The Story of Publius Cornelius Scipio Africanus, Has Been Published.
July 4, 2024 By Leave a Comment
My New Book, You Won’t Even Have My Bones: The Story of Publius Cornelius Scipio Africanus has been published. Although not frequently acknowledged as such, Scipio Africanus was one of the most pivotal characters in western history. If not for his accomplishments in conquering Spain and depriving Carthage of its wealthy province, and then going […]
Did Roman Soldier Ever Surrender to Hannibal?
July 4, 2024 By Leave a Comment
There are no known instances of Roman legionaries surrendering to Hannibal before or during a battle. Roman survivors of the battle sometimes surrendered to Hannibal when the battle was over. In the case of the Battle of Trasimene, some 6000 Roman and allied cavalrymen broke out of Hannibal’s ambush and took refuge in an Etruscan […]
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