The Roman poet Ennius referred to Marcus Claudius Marcellus as Rome’s sword during the Second Punic War, and he referred to Quintus Fabius Maximus Cunctator as Rome’s shield. Fabius Maximus thought outside the box. The normal Roman response to foreign aggression was to confront the enemy on the battlefield. Fabius was astute enough to realize […]
What Was the Role of Quintus Fabius Maximus Cunctator in Defeating Hannibal in the Second Punic War?
September 23, 2024 By Leave a Comment
What Did Hannibal Think of the Romans?
September 22, 2024 By Leave a Comment
What did Hannibal think of the Romans? Hannibal was indoctrinated by his father, Hamilcar Barca, to hate the Romans. There is a story that, before taking Hannibal with him to Spain, Hamilcar took him to the Temple of Elissa at Carthage and made him swear an oath: “When I come to age, I shall pursue […]
What Role Did the Berbers Have in the Punic Wars Between Rome and Carthage?
August 15, 2024 By Leave a Comment
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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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