In 218 BC Hannibal left Tunisia with 38,000 infantry, 12,000 cavalry, and 37 war elephants. 26,000 men died on this insane trek and only a few elephants reached Italy.
It was mountains - The Alps.
Hannibal began the Second Punic War with a successful siege against the Roman city of Saguntum which barred his way to the Alps. He lost three quarters of his army crossing the Alps, and he had no siege equipment with which to take the city of Rome. As long as Rome was secure behind the Servian Wall and refused to surrender, Hannibal was not able to win. He had twenty thousand of the finest soldiers from the Mediterranean area, but their expertise was in mobilitity on the battlefield, and not in siege warfare. For fifteen years they defeated a succession of Roman commanders, and only Fabius Maximus had some measure of success against Hannibal. A Carthaginian relief army led by Hasdrubal (Hannibal's brother-in-law) and equipped with a siege train crossed the Alps and almost managed to link up with Hannibal's army, but it was intercepted and destroyed by a Roman army. Hasdrubal's head was cut off and launched into Hannibal's encampment. At the moment he saw the severed head of Hasdrubal, it is believed that Hannibal saw the fate of Carthage. The Roman warning of "Hannibal is at the gates" inspired more terror than it indicated actual danger. Without siege engines Hannibal could not take Rome, despite all of his spectacular victories in the field. Another reason Carthage lost the second punic war was its inability to control the seas. The ability to land troops on the Italian peninsula would have been a tactic to reduce food & supplies to Roman cities. When the Roman General Scipio invaded northern africa, Hannibal was forced to withdraw from Italy to defend Carthage. In 202 BC Scipio met Hannibal at ZAMA and desivily defeated Hannibal's army. With the war concluded Carthage was forced to pay a huge indemnity, cede Spain and her African territories and drastically reduce its fleet.
First off, I'm not sure this is what you're looking for seeing as you listed under literature, but I'm going to summarize the battle: It's the second Punic War between the city states of Carthage (north africa) and Rome (central italy). A brilliant new Carthagenian General named Hannibal Barca (commonly Hannibal) has boldly trekked his army through Spain, then the Pyrenees, then south France, then crossing the Alps, with African elephants no less, in an incredibly bold plan to attack Rome by surprise. After various battles, the Romans are completely unable to score a major victory against Hannibal, who marches freely up and down the east coast of Italy with his army. At a point, the Romans have some success attempting to starve Hannibal's invasion force, but this was taking to long, and the people demanded swift action, so the Romans gambled everything on sending an enormous army to face off with Hannibal once and for all. The two armies met near Cannae. The Roman army was led by two generals, who switched off command each day. That day, an aggressive general named Varro was in command. Before the battle he deepened the Roman fighting formation, sacrificing maneuvrability for smashing power, which would prove a fatal mistake. Hannibal lined up in a concave formation, bowed in the center, his infantry a combination of gauls, carthagenians, and others, with his Numibian Cavalry on each wing. His chosen formation seemed to invite an all out frontal attacked, and Varro obliged. To start the battle, Hannibal's superior Numibian cavalry crushed the Roman horsemen (this would repeatedly, in the future, be a problem for Rome) and began to chase off stragglers while awaiting Hannibal's orders. While this happened, the Roman Centuries attacked, and Hannibal's men began to lose ground. Then, just as victory seemed sure for the Romans, Hannibal ordered his best infantry, the Libyan Pikes, into action, crashing down on either side of the Roman's flanks. In another moment, Hannibal's Numibian cavalry returning from running down the routing enemy and charged in the Roman's rear. The Romans were now completely surrounded, and packed in so tight they could not use their weapons. Had there been any oreder, they could have easily organized at a point and by sheer numbers broke free, but that order never came amidst the confusion. Aftermath: This was a crushing defeat for Rome, who lost up to 86,000 of a force of 90,000 men and horses, while Hannibal lost a (relatively) mere 8,000 out of his army of 50,000 (His elephants had all died in earlier battles and while crossing the Alps). This is especially noteworthy because almost an entire army was completely annhilated in mere hours. The next time this men men would die in such a short period of time came again four times:The first battle of the Somme, D-Day, and at Hiroshima and Nagasaki. After the battle, Hannibal continued his march up and down the Italian coast, to strong to be defeated, to weak to attack Rome. This continued until Scipio Africanus launched a Roman attack on Carthage to draw Hannibal out of Italy to defend his city. This worked, and Hannibal was finally defeated, ironically on his home soil at the battle of Zama. As the other two, the second Punic War was a decisive win for Rome, and helped established their dominance of Mediterranean sea trade for the next half millenium.
Hannibal Barca was one of the greatest warriors of his time. he killed many men in trying to complete his fathers dream, to defeat Rome and take control of their empire. he was part of the 2nd Punic war out of three.He was son of Hamiclar Barca and lived 248--183 or 182 BC was a Cartgaginian military commander and tactician who is popularly credited as one of the most talented commanders in history. His father, Hamilcar Barca, was the leading Carthaginian commander during the First Punic War, his younger brothers were Mago and Hasdrubal, and he was brother-in-law to Hasdrubal the Fair.
scipio was faced with political attacks from cato the censor
Hannibal reportedly lost around half of his elephants during his crossing of the Alps in 218 BC, with estimates varying from 30 to 37 elephants.
It was mountains - The Alps.
20 000 according to history channel.
Hannibal began the Second Punic War with a successful siege against the Roman city of Saguntum which barred his way to the Alps. He lost three quarters of his army crossing the Alps, and he had no siege equipment with which to take the city of Rome. As long as Rome was secure behind the Servian Wall and refused to surrender, Hannibal was not able to win. He had twenty thousand of the finest soldiers from the Mediterranean area, but their expertise was in mobilitity on the battlefield, and not in siege warfare. For fifteen years they defeated a succession of Roman commanders, and only Fabius Maximus had some measure of success against Hannibal. A Carthaginian relief army led by Hasdrubal (Hannibal's brother-in-law) and equipped with a siege train crossed the Alps and almost managed to link up with Hannibal's army, but it was intercepted and destroyed by a Roman army. Hasdrubal's head was cut off and launched into Hannibal's encampment. At the moment he saw the severed head of Hasdrubal, it is believed that Hannibal saw the fate of Carthage. The Roman warning of "Hannibal is at the gates" inspired more terror than it indicated actual danger. Without siege engines Hannibal could not take Rome, despite all of his spectacular victories in the field. Another reason Carthage lost the second punic war was its inability to control the seas. The ability to land troops on the Italian peninsula would have been a tactic to reduce food & supplies to Roman cities. When the Roman General Scipio invaded northern africa, Hannibal was forced to withdraw from Italy to defend Carthage. In 202 BC Scipio met Hannibal at ZAMA and desivily defeated Hannibal's army. With the war concluded Carthage was forced to pay a huge indemnity, cede Spain and her African territories and drastically reduce its fleet.
he lost half of his soldiers
they lose their habitat for Home for people and farming
African
ya
elephants lose 29% of dead skin a year
He had two brothers --Hasdrubal who commanded the Carthiginian armies in Spain while Hannibal was in the Roman mainland. Mago (the youngest of his siblings) accompanied Hannibal in the war in Rome but left him for Carthage after the battle of Cannae. He was to return with reinforcements from Carthage, but this never happened. Carthage instead sent reinforcements to Hasdrubal in Spain. Hannibal would never see his brothers alive again --Hasdrubal would lose Spain and dies attempting to join up with Hannibal. Mago dies of his wounds in Sicily when Hannibal is finally recalled to Carthage.
First off, I'm not sure this is what you're looking for seeing as you listed under literature, but I'm going to summarize the battle: It's the second Punic War between the city states of Carthage (north africa) and Rome (central italy). A brilliant new Carthagenian General named Hannibal Barca (commonly Hannibal) has boldly trekked his army through Spain, then the Pyrenees, then south France, then crossing the Alps, with African elephants no less, in an incredibly bold plan to attack Rome by surprise. After various battles, the Romans are completely unable to score a major victory against Hannibal, who marches freely up and down the east coast of Italy with his army. At a point, the Romans have some success attempting to starve Hannibal's invasion force, but this was taking to long, and the people demanded swift action, so the Romans gambled everything on sending an enormous army to face off with Hannibal once and for all. The two armies met near Cannae. The Roman army was led by two generals, who switched off command each day. That day, an aggressive general named Varro was in command. Before the battle he deepened the Roman fighting formation, sacrificing maneuvrability for smashing power, which would prove a fatal mistake. Hannibal lined up in a concave formation, bowed in the center, his infantry a combination of gauls, carthagenians, and others, with his Numibian Cavalry on each wing. His chosen formation seemed to invite an all out frontal attacked, and Varro obliged. To start the battle, Hannibal's superior Numibian cavalry crushed the Roman horsemen (this would repeatedly, in the future, be a problem for Rome) and began to chase off stragglers while awaiting Hannibal's orders. While this happened, the Roman Centuries attacked, and Hannibal's men began to lose ground. Then, just as victory seemed sure for the Romans, Hannibal ordered his best infantry, the Libyan Pikes, into action, crashing down on either side of the Roman's flanks. In another moment, Hannibal's Numibian cavalry returning from running down the routing enemy and charged in the Roman's rear. The Romans were now completely surrounded, and packed in so tight they could not use their weapons. Had there been any oreder, they could have easily organized at a point and by sheer numbers broke free, but that order never came amidst the confusion. Aftermath: This was a crushing defeat for Rome, who lost up to 86,000 of a force of 90,000 men and horses, while Hannibal lost a (relatively) mere 8,000 out of his army of 50,000 (His elephants had all died in earlier battles and while crossing the Alps). This is especially noteworthy because almost an entire army was completely annhilated in mere hours. The next time this men men would die in such a short period of time came again four times:The first battle of the Somme, D-Day, and at Hiroshima and Nagasaki. After the battle, Hannibal continued his march up and down the Italian coast, to strong to be defeated, to weak to attack Rome. This continued until Scipio Africanus launched a Roman attack on Carthage to draw Hannibal out of Italy to defend his city. This worked, and Hannibal was finally defeated, ironically on his home soil at the battle of Zama. As the other two, the second Punic War was a decisive win for Rome, and helped established their dominance of Mediterranean sea trade for the next half millenium.
Hannibal Barca was one of the greatest warriors of his time. he killed many men in trying to complete his fathers dream, to defeat Rome and take control of their empire. he was part of the 2nd Punic war out of three.He was son of Hamiclar Barca and lived 248--183 or 182 BC was a Cartgaginian military commander and tactician who is popularly credited as one of the most talented commanders in history. His father, Hamilcar Barca, was the leading Carthaginian commander during the First Punic War, his younger brothers were Mago and Hasdrubal, and he was brother-in-law to Hasdrubal the Fair.