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?
What Did Hannibal Think of the Romans?
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 […]
Who Was the Better General, Hannibal or Scipio?
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?
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?
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 […]
You Won’t Even Have My Bones: The Story of Publius Cornelius Scipio Africanus
My new book, You Won’t Even Have My Bones, has just been published. It is the story of the Roman general Publius Cornelius Scipio Africanus, told in the first person. Publius Cornelius Scipio Africanus was a pivotal character in history. Without him, it is unlikely that Rome would have conquered Spain during the Second Punic […]
Were the Romans Religious?
The Romans were strongly religious. They worshiped a variety of Gods and believed that, at times, their gods interacted with humans. They never went into battle without first taking auguries to see if the battle would be favorable to them. They built temples everywhere, and rich Romans would sponsor a temple to whichever god he […]
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