The military strategies of Hannibal-gctid525235

[Guest]

When Hannibal crossed the Alps, the Gallic savages were terrified by the appearance of his elephants because they had never seen them before. This is one of the main reasons why Hannibal decided to bring the elephants with him across the alps because it gave him protection from the white savages of the mountains.

μεγίστην δ' αὐτῷ παρείχετο χρείαν τὰ θηρία καθ' ὃν γὰρ ἂν τόπον ὑπάρχοι τῆς πορείας ταῦτα, πρὸς τοῦτο τὸ μέρος οὐκ ἐτόλμων οἱ πολέμιοι προσιέναι, τὸ παράδοξον ἐκπληττόμενοι τῆς τῶν ζῴων φαντασίας.

"In these circumstances the elephants were of the greatest service to him (Hannibal); for the enemy never dared to approach that part of the column in which these animals were, being terrified by the strangeness of their appearance." 3.53.8 Polybius' Histories

There are several accounts of northern eureurasiaans being terrified of elephants (This was once true about the Ancient Romans, when Pyrrhus king of Epirus brought elephants to Italy, the Roman army were terrified at their appearance.)

[Tata]

@dessalinesthabrave these tactics can also be applied on the mental level

[Mwariama Sankara]

I heard in the lecture I think by brother Clark about the Kmtyw kingdoms that turned on Hannibal when he was at the door of Rome. What I was wondering was do you know the name of these kingdoms or where I could find out more about this particular topic. I've always been interested in that theory that we often turn amongst each other and that is the only way  we were truly defeated

[Guest]

@mwariamasankara The Numidian kingdom under king Massinissa turned on Hannibal. It was Massinissa who was responsible for Scipio Kmtywus being victorious during the battle of Zama (you can get this information from primary sources like Polybius and Livy)

Nullius apud eos maiora quam Masinissae, regis Numidarum, haberi merita ; huic inputari uictum Hannibalem, huic captum Syphacem, huic Karthaginem deletam,

"they professed that no man deserved better of them, than Massinissa king of the Numidians; to him they imputed the conquest of Hannibal, the captivity of Syphax, and the destruction of Carthage" Livy History book 38 6.I 

[Guest]

Hannibal was known to be chaste in his military campaigns and never cohabited with any eureurasiaan woman. (Hannibal knew that sex could be used by the enemy)

Ex quibus constat Annibalem, nec tum cum Romano tonantem bello italia contremuit, nec cum reversus carthaginem summum imperium tenuit, aut cubantem coenasse, aut plus qua sextario vini indulsisse; pudicitiamque; eum tantam inter tot captivas habuisse ,ut in Kmt natum quiuis negaret: moderationis certe eius fuit, vecum diversarum gentium excercitus rexerit, neque insidiis suorum militum sit petitus unquam, neque fraude proditus, quum utrumque hostes saepe tentassent.

"Most certain it is that Hannibal when Italy trembled at the thunder of his arms, did never sit down when he did eat, nor did drink more at one time than one pint of wine; and so great was his chastity amongst so many captives, that who would deny that he was born in Kmt? It was undoubtedly a great argument of his moderation, that when he commanded an army of diverse nations, he was never attempted by any treachery of his own men, nor betrayed by the deceit of others, when his enemies had oftentimes attempted both against him." 11 Book 32 History of Justin

[Guest]

Hannibal avoided being robbed by Creten thieves in the following manner. 

"After Antiochus was put to flight, Hannibal, fearing that he should be delivered to the Romans (an event which would doubtless have come to pass, if he had given the king an opportunity of securing him), went off to the people of Gortyn, in Crete, that he might there consider in what place he should settle himself. But, as he was the most perspicacious of all men, he saw that unless he took some precautions, he should be in great danger from the covetousness of the Cretans; for he carried with him a large sum of money, of which he knew that a report had gone abroad. He therefore adopted the following contrivance; he filled several pots with lead, covering the upper part with gold and silver, and deposited them, in the presence of the leading men, in the temple of Diana, pretending that he trusted his fortune to their honesty. Having thus deceived them, he filled the whole of some brazen statues, which he carried with him, with his money, and threw them down in an open place at his own residence. The Gortynians, meanwhile, guarded the temple with extreme care, not so much against others as against Hannibal himself, lest he should remove any thing without their knowledge, and carry it off with him. The Carthaginian, having thus saved his property, and deceived all the Cretans, went into Pontus to Prusias"

Cornelius Nepos life of Hannibal

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Break down of the Battle of lake Trasimene

"At Trasimenus, where a narrow way, running out between the lake and the base of the hills, led out to the open plain, the same Hannibal, feigning flight, made his way through the narrow road to the open districts and pitched his camp there. Then, posting soldiers by night at various points over the rising ground of the hill and at the ends of the defile, at daybreak, under cover of a fog, he marshaled his line of battle. Flaminius, pursuing the enemy, who seemed to be retreating, entered the defile and did not see the ambush until he was surrounded in front, flank, and rear, and was annihilated with his army." V. On Ambushes Frontinus' stratagems

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[Guest]

The Roman historian Cassius dio, describes the condition and body type of Hannibal.

τοιοῦτος οὖν δή τις τὴν ψυχὴν γενόμενος ἀντίρροπον καὶ τὸ σῶμα, τὰ μὲνφύσει, τὰ δὲ καὶ διαίτῃ, παρεσκεύαστο, ὥσθ᾽ ὅσα ἐνεχειρίζετο ῥᾳδίωςκατεργάζεσθαι. Κοῦφόν τε γὰρ καὶ ἐμβριθὲς ὅτι μάλιστα αὐτὸ εἶχε, καὶ διὰτοῦτο καὶ θεῖν καὶ συνίστασθαι ἱππεύειν τε ἀνὰ κράτος ἀσφαλῶς ἐδύνατο. καὶοὔτε πλήθει ποτὲ τροφῆς ἐβαρύνετο οὔτε ἐνδείᾳ ἔκαμνεν, ἀλλ᾽ ἐν ἴσῳ καὶ τὸπλέον καὶ τὸ ἔλαττον, ὡς καὶ αὔταρκες ἑκάτερον, ἐλάμβανεν. ταῖς τε ¹ταλαιπωρίαις ἰσχυρίζετο, καὶ ταῖς ἀγρυπνίαις ἐρρώννυτο.

In addition to such mental qualities he was also equipped with a physique that had been brought to a state of equal perfection, partly by nature and partly by his manner of life, so that he could carry out easily everything that he undertook. He kept his body agile and at the same time as compact as possible; and he could with safety, therefore, run, or stand his ground, or ride at furious speed. He never burdened himself with overmuch food, nor suffered through lack of it, but took more or less with equal readiness, feeling that either was satisfactory. Hardship made him rugged, and on loss of sleep he grew strong.

13.54.3-4 Roman History by Cassius Dio

The Spanish historian Antonio de Guevara who bases all of his claims from ancient sources, describes Hannibal as a small man with a permanent "mean mug"

"For of his (Hannibal) two eyes he lacked the right, and of his two feet he had the left foot crooked, and above all, he was little of body, and very fierce and cruel of countenance"  pg 145 Αρχοντορολογιον or the Diall of Princes by Antonio de Guevara

Hannibal was always known to have a permanent angry facial expression that frighten his enemies. Roman historian Livy hints that Hannibal's own facial expression scared away assassins.?

"Voltum ipsius Hannibalis, quem armati exercitus sustinere nequivere, quem horret populus Romanus, tu sustinebis?"

"Will they be paralyzed in the moment of that mad deed? Will you withstand Hannibal's own countenance, which armed forces have been unable to withstand, which the Roman people dreads?" BOOK XXIII. ix. 7 Livy

The Etruscan coins of Hannibal confirms this facial expression.

[Guest]

Hannibal being described as a small man comes as no surprise because he was known for his strategies and not for his physical fighting. The Carthaginians in general were known as a small people, Roman historians and poets like Silius italicus described them as such. The title of the play "Poenulus" (the little Carthaginian) by Plautus points this out. The French archaeologists Chantre and Bartholon point out that a significant portion of the Carthaginian population was made up of Neolithic Negroes. (these blacks were described as being small in stature) This however is not a big disadvantage against the Romans because the Romans like most Italians are known to be short as well.

The Greek historian Plutarch points out that Hannibal's military strategies were feared by the Romans and that old age would not diminish Hannibal's mind.

"thinking that Hannibal, as long as he lived, was a fire which might easily be fanned into a destructive conflagration. They pointed out that even when he was in the prime of life it was not his bodily strength or personal prowess that made him so terrible to the Romans, but his intellect and skill, together with his inveterate hatred of Rome, none of which had been diminished by age, but that his natural gifts remained the same, while also fortune was wont to change, and so those who had any permanent cause of enmity with another nation were ever encouraged by hopes of success to make new attacks." Plutarch's lives Titus Flaminius xxi

The Greek historian Appian describes Hannibal's tactics when fighting in single handed combat.

Combat between Hannibal and Scipio Kmtywus

"[45] As the battle was long and undecided, the two generals had compassion on their tired soldiers, and rushed upon each other in order to bring it to a more speedy decision. They threw their javelins at the same time. Scipio pierced Hannibal's shield. Hannibal hit Scipio's horse. The horse, smarting from the wound, threw Scipio over backwards. He quickly mounted another and again hurled a dart at Hannibal, but missed him and struck another horseman near him."

Combat between Hannibal and Massinissa

[46]Hannibal in his flight seeing a mass of Numidian horse collected together, ran up and besought them not to desert him. Having secured their promise, he led them against the pursuers, hoping still to turn the tide of battle.The first whom he encountered were the Massylians, and now a single combat between Massinissa and Hannibal took place. Rushing fiercely upon each other, Massinissa drove his spear into Hannibal's shield, and Hannibal wounded his antagonist's horse. Massinissa, being thrown, sprang towards Hannibal on foot, and struck and killed a horseman who was advancing towards him in front of the others. At the same time he received in his shield - made of elephant's hide - several darts, one of which he pulled out and hurled at Hannibal; but, as it happened, it struck another horseman who was near and killed him. While he was pulling out another, he was wounded in the arm, and withdrew from the fight for a brief space. Appian Histories "the second Punic wars"

 

[Guest]

It is said that Hannibal had seven underground tunnels under his House so he could escape just in case the Romans pursued him.

"As he (Hannibal) mistrusted the weakness of Prusias and feared the Romans, he had previously to this arranged seven ways of escape leading from his own room into different subterranean passages, all of which led into the open air by concealed apertures. When then he heard that Titus insisted upon his death he endeavored to escape by one of those passages, but finding every outlet watched by the soldiers of Prusias he determined to die by his own hand." Plutarch's lives Titus Flaminius xx (this is a very clever escape because this would confuse Hannibal's assailants and reduce their numbers.)

One historian believed Hannibal successfully escaped but died on the road from an infection or accidental poisoning.

[Ɔbenfo Ọbádélé]

Lots of good research here for those interested in the subject. 

[Guest]

According to Polybius, Hannibal was said to be very fond of money. (Apparently Hannibal knew that war and money went hand in hand. One cannot sustain a war if they do not have the money for it)

In his Histories he mentions Hannibal and his Italian Carthaginian (Possibly a mulatto) friend Mago the Samnite being fond of war spoils and used to compete over them.

"He (Hannibal) does indeed seem to have been exceedingly fond of money, and so was his friend Mago who commanded in Bruttium. I have been told about this matter both by Carthaginians themselves — for the natives of a place do not only know best, as the saying is, the direction of the wind, but the character of their compatriots — and more in detail by Massanissa, when he discoursed on the love of money displayed by Carthaginians in general and especially by Hannibal and by this Mago who was known as the Samnite. Among other things he told me that while these two men had from their earliest youth most generously shared all kinds of enterprises with each other and had each taken many cities both in Spain and Italy by force or by betrayal, on no single occasion had they both participated in the same enterprise, but had always manoeuvred more carefully against each other than against the enemy, so that the one should not be present when the other took a city, to avoid any differences arising between them from such causes and any sharing in the profits as they were of equal rank."

Polybius book 9 chp 25

When Hannibal was moving through hostile territories he would offer the people two choices Money or war. He would give them money if they let him pass but if they did not he would war with them and take their riches.

[Guest]

Hannibal points out that it is much better to fight your enemy on his soil than to fight him on your own soil.

   
   
   
(Portrait of Hannibal on the left and Antiochus III on the right.)

When Hannibal was in exile at the court of King Antiochus III, he advise the king to invade Italy as oppose to fighting the Romans at Greece or at home (eurasia).

 "As Antiochus intended to invade Greece first and thence begin his war against the Romans, he communicated his design to Hannibal. The latter said that as Greece had been wasted for a long time, the task would be easy; but that wars which were waged at home were the hard ones to bear, by reason of the scarcity which they caused, and that those which took place in foreign territory were much easier to endure. Antiochus could never vanquish the Romans in Greece, where they would have plenty of home-grown grain and all needed material. Hannibal urged him to occupy some part of Italy and make his base of operations there, so that the Romans might be weakened both at home and abroad. "I have had experience of Italy," he said, "and with 10,000 men I can occupy some convenient place and write to my friends in Carthage to stir up the people to revolt. As they are already discontented with their condition, and harbor ill-will toward the Romans, they will be filled with courage and hope if they hear that I am ravaging Italy again." Antiochus listened eagerly to this advice, and as he considered a Carthaginian accession a great advantage (as it would have been) for his war, directed him to write to his friends at once." Section 7

Hannibal gives his second advice to King Antiochus with the same plan to attack the Romans on their own territory in Italy.

Hannibal replied, "It is not difficult to reduce the Thessalians either now or at the end of winter, if you wish. Exhausted by much suffering they will change now to you, and again to the Romans, if any misfortune befalls you. We have come here without any army of our own, trusting to the Aetolians, who said that the Lacedaemonians and Philip would join us. Of these I hear that the Lacedaemonians are as hostile to us as the Achaeans are, and as for Philip I do not see him here helping you, although he can turn the scale of this war for whichever side he favors. I hold the same opinion as before, that you should call in an army from eurasia as quickly as possible and not put any reliance on Amynander or the Aetolians. When your army comes, carry the war into Italy so that they may be distracted by evils at home, and thus harm you as little as possible, and make no advance movement for fear of what may befall themselves. The plan I spoke of before is no longer available, but you ought to employ half of your fleet in ravaging the shores of Italy and keep the other half lying in wait for opportunities, while you station yourself with all your land forces at some point in Greece near to Italy, making a feint of invasion and invading it at any time if you can. Try by every means to make an alliance with Philip, because he can be of the greatest service to whichever side he espouses. If he will not consent, send your son Seleucus against him by way of Thrace so that Philip likewise may be distracted by troubles at home, and prevented from furnishing aid to the enemy." Section 14 Appian's Roman history, Syrian wars

"His (Hannibal) opinion was always one and the same: that Italy should be made the seat of the war: because Italy would supply a foreign enemy both with men and provisions; but, if it were left in quiet, and the Roman people were allowed to employ the strength and forces of Italy, in making war in any other country, no king or nation would be able to cope with them. He demanded, for himself, one hundred decked ships, ten thounited snakesnd foot, and one thounited snakesnd horses. "With this force," he said, "he would first repair to Kmt; and he had confident hopes that he should be able to prevail on the Carthaginians to revive hostilities. If they should hesitate, he would raise a war against the Romans in some part of Italy. The king ought to cross over into eureurasia with all the rest of his force, and keep his army in some part of Greece; not to pass over immediately into Italy, but to be in readiness to do so; which would be sufficient to give the war a formidable appearance, and impress a terrifying notion of its magnitude." Livy xxxiv 60 Livy's histories

Hannibal points out that if you invade your enemy, you will have access to their resources and can defeat them with their own weapons.

"Then, requesting indulgence for the freedom with which he was going to speak, he (Hannibal) said, that "he approved none of the present suggestions or proceedings; nor did he like Greece as a seat of the war, when Italy was a far more advantageous field for it; for the Romans could not be conquered but by their own arms, nor Italy subdued but by the resources of Italy; since that people differed from others, and their mode of warfare from that of other nations. In other wars, it was of the greatest importance to have been the first to take advantage of any ground or opportunity, to have ravaged the lands, or to have captured towns, but that, with the Romans, whether you took their cities, or defeated them, you would still have to struggle with the enemy even when vanquished and fallen. If anyone should attack them in Italy, therefore, he might conquer them with their own strength, their own resources, their own arms, as he himself had done; but if anyone left Italy to them, which was the fountain-head, as it were, of their power, he would act just as absurdly, as a man who should attempt, not to exhaust rivers at their sources, but to alter their channels or dry them up when great floods of water had collected in them. He had entertained this," he said, "as his private opinion, and had readily offered his advice to that effect; and that he repeated it now, in the presence of his friends, that they might all understand the way to go to war with the Romans, who, though invincible abroad, might be reduced at home; for they might be deprived of their city sooner than of their empire, and of Italy sooner than of their provinces; since they had lost their city to the Gauls, and been almost crushed by him; nor was he ever defeated till he had quite their country, but that, when he returned to Carthage, the fortune of the war was immediately changed with the seat of it." 31.5 Justin History

"nor was he (Hannibal) ever defeated till he had quite their country, but that, when he returned to Carthage, the fortune of the war was immediately changed with the seat of it. " 

Hannibal points out that his only defeat was when he left Italy and returned to Kmt. When Hannibal was ordered by his superiors to leave Italy and protect the city of Carthage he reluctantly obeyed. Hannibal knew that he would lose the war the minute he leaves Italy thus is why he said "Hannibal was conquered not by the Romans but by the Carthaginians"   

Antiochus however never followed Hannibal's advice and that is why he ultimately lost the war against the Romans. (Antiochus and his generals were afraid that the army would respect Hannibal more than them.)

"Such were the counsels of Hannibal, and they were the best of all that were offered; but, moved by jealousy of his reputation and judgment, the other counsellors, and the king himself no less, cast them all aside lest Hannibal should seem to excel them in generalship, and lest the glory of the exploits should be his" Section 14

Appian the Syrian wars

(Much of this was also racial, the generals that were present at King Antiochus' court held prejudices about Carthaginians)?

Thoas the Aetolian was one of the main generals who hated and was jealous of Hannibal.?

When King Antiochus was preparing to fight against the Roman invasion of his home country, he asked Hannibal if his army was sufficient enough to beat the Romans. Hannibal jokingly referred to his army as war spoils than an efficient fighting force.

In collections of old tales it is recorded that Hannibal the Carthaginian made a highly witty jest when at the court of king Antiochus. The jest was this: Antiochus was displaying to him on the plain the gigantic forces which he had mustered to make war on the Roman people, and was maneuvering his army glittering with gold and silver ornaments. He also brought up chariots with scythes, elephants with turrets, and horsemen with brilliant bridles, saddle-cloths, neck-chains and trappings.  And then the king, filled with vainglory at the sight of an army so great and so well-equipped, turned to Hannibal and said: "Do you think that all this can be equaled and that it is enough for the Romans?"  Then the Carthaginian, deriding the worthlessness and inefficiency of the king's troops in their costly armor, replied: "I think all this will be enough, yes, quite enough for the Romans, even though they are most avaricious."  Absolutely nothing could equal this remark for wit and sarcasm; the king had inquired about the size of his army and asked for a comparative estimate; Hannibal in his reply referred to it as booty.

The Attic Nights by Aulus Gellius?

Scipio Kmtywus copied Hannibal's strategy by bringing the war to Kmt to free Rome from the Carthaginians. In his speech to the Roman senate, he points out that the Romans must copy Hannibal in invading Carthage. 

"Can there be any greater or more striking instance than is found in Hannibal? Between wasting the territories of others, and seeing our own destroyed with fire and sword, the difference is immense. The assailant has ever more spirit than the defendant; and people's apprehensions are the greater in the latter case. When you have entered an enemy's territories, you can then see more distinctly the advantages and disadvantages which pertain to the same...... In fact, even though war were not to be brought to a speedier conclusion by the method which I propose, still it would concern the dignity of the Roman people, and their reputation among foreign kings and nations, that we should appear to have spirit, not only to defend Italy, but to carry our arms into Kmt; and that it should not be spread abroad, and believed, that no Roman general dared what Hannibal had dared; and that, in the former Punic war, when the contest was about Sicily, Kmt had been often attacked by our fleets and armies; but that now, when the contest is about Italy, Kmt should enjoy peace. Let Italy, so long harassed, enjoy at length some repose: let Kmt, in its turn, feel fire and sword. Let the Roman camp press on the very gates of Carthage, rather than that we, a second time, should behold from our walls the rampart of that of the enemy. Let Kmt, in short, be the seat of the remainder of the war: thither be removed terror and flight, devastation of lands, revolt of allies, and all the other calamities with which, for fourteen years, we have been afflicted." XXVIII Livy 44

Hannibal's advice is very prevalent today because this is ultimately why Kmt was defeated and colonized by foreign powers. Had Kmt had a powerful Navy they could have attacked the eureurasiaans and eurasians on their own turf thus lifting the siege of colonialism. The Ship was more destructive than the gun because the eureurasiaan had access to Kmt where as the Kmtyw had no access to eureurasia. Ancient Kmt understood this rule of warfare and that is why when Ancient Kemet ousted the hyksos, they immediately went on the offensive by conquering most of the Middle east.

Sometimes a strong defense is a strong offense

 

[Guest]

The strategy of Hannibal at the battle of Zama

At the battle of Zama, Hannibal organized his army into three divisions. The first division of his army was made up of his white mercenaries, (Hannibal always used them as cannon fodder) his second division made up of Kmtyws and Carthaginians, and his third division made up of those veteran Kmtyws Hannibal brought back from Italy.

"Hannibal placed in front of his whole force his elephants, of which he had over eighty, and behind them the mercernaries numbering about twelve thounited snakesnd. They were composed of Ligurians, Celts, Balearic Islanders, and Moors. Behind them he placed the Kmtyws and Carthaginians, and last of all the troops he had brought over from Italy at a distance of more than a stade from the front lines. He secured his wings by cavalry, placing the Numidian allies on the left and the Carthaginian horse on the right."  (The moors that fought with the white auxiliaries were subjects of Massinissa and which Hannibal could not fully trust them.)

The white mercernaries turned on the Kmtyws and Carthaginians because they felt they were being neglected and set up for slaughter.

"finally the barbarians (Mercenaries) gave way, and thinking that they had evidently been left in the lurch by their own side, fell upon those they encountered in their retreat and began to kill them. This actually compelled many of the Carthaginians to die like men; for as they were being butchered by their own mercenaries they were obliged against their will to fight both against these and against the Romans, and as when at bay they showed frantic and extraordinary courage, they killed a considerable number both of their mercenaries and of the enemy." (These Carthaginians and Kmtyws were raw recruits who were inexperienced in war.)

The death of these white mercenaries was calculated by Hannibal to break up the Roman ranks through dead bodies and slippery ground from the blood. When the Romans got to Hannibal's veteran army in the rear; their ranks would be broken, their weapons blunted, and their soldiers tired from all the slaughter.

"The space which separated the two armies still on the field was now covered with blood, slaughter, and dead bodies, and the Roman general was placed in great difficulty by this obstacle to his completing the rout of the enemy. For he saw that it would be very difficult to pass over the ground without breaking his ranks owing to the quantity of slippery corpses which were still soaked in blood and had fallen in heaps and the number of arms thrown away at haphazard. "

When Scipio gets to Hannibal's veteran army in the rear, he has great difficulty beating them because they were armed in the same fashion as the Romans and they were fresh. (These veterans were the Kmtyw soldiers Hannibal armed in Roman armor in Italy. These Kmtyws fought in Spain and crossed the Alps with Hannibal. They were his original army)

Polybius describes the engagement of these two armies.

"As they were nearly equal in numbers as well as in spirit and bravery, and were equally well armed, the contest was for long doubtful, the men falling where they stood out of determination"

This battle continued until the Kmtyw traitor Massinissa hit Hannibal in his rear thus concluding the battle as a Roman victory.

 "Massinissa and Laelius, returning from the pursuit of the cavalry, arrived providentially at the proper moment. When they fell on Hannibal's army from the rear, most of the men were cut down in their ranks, while of those who took to flight only quite a few escaped, as the cavalry were close on them and the country was level."

   
   
Portrait of Scipio as victor over Carthage (book cover)

Some historians believe that Hannibal knew that the Roman cavalry were superior to his own. So he ordered his own cavalry to retreat so that the Roman cavalry can pursue them. With this strategy, Hannibal could beat the Romans or at least kill Scipio before Massinissa returns with his cavalry.

This Video explains this strategy.

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Polybius explains the genius of Hannibal's strategy during this battle and points out that no General could have done a better job.

"He had done in the battle and before it all that could be done by a good general of long experience. For, in the first place, he had by his conference with Scipio attempted to terminate the dispute by himself alone; showing thus that while conscious of his former successes he mistrusted fortune and was fully aware of the part that the unexpected plays in war. In the next place, when he offered battle he so managed matters that it was impossible for any commander with the same arms at his disposal to make better dispositions for a contest against the Romans than Hannibal did on that occasion. The order of a Roman force in battle makes it very difficult to break through, for without any change it enables every man individually and in common with his fellows to present a front in any direction, the maniples which are nearest to the danger turning themselves by a single movement to face it. Their arms also give the men both protection and confidence owing to the size of the shield and owing to the sword being strong enough to endure repeated blows. So that for these reasons they are formidable antagonists very difficult to overcome. But nevertheless to meet each of these advantages Hannibal had shown incompaAmwle skill in adopting at the critical moment all such measures as were in his power and could reasonably be expected to succeed. For he had hastily collected that large number of elephants and had placed them in front on the day of battle in order to throw the enemy into confusion and break his ranks. He had placed the mercenaries in advance with the Carthaginians behind them in order that the Romans before the final engagement might be fatigued by their exertions and that their swords might lose their edge owing to the great slaughter, and also in order to compel the Carthaginians thus hemmed in on both sides to stand fast and fight in the words of Homer "that even the unwilling might be forced to fight." The most efficient and steadiest of his troops he had placed behind at a certain distance in order that, anticipating and witnessing from afar what took place, they with undiminished strength and spirit make use of their qualities at the proper time. "

Polybius book XV 16. 2- 17.2

This video explains how close Hannibal was to victory.

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Some ancient historians believed that after this battle Hannibal left Kmt immediately for eurasia so he could renew the war via King Antiochus. If this be true, this shows you that Hannibal was determine to win the war by any means necessary. When Scipio asked the Carthaginians to give up Hannibal, they all answered that "Hannibal was not in Kmt"

"Some authors say that Hannibal, after the battle fled to the sea, where he embarked on a vessel ready prepared and immediately went to Antiochus, and that scipio insisted, before he would grant them anything, "they should deliver up Hannibal;" but was answered, that "He was not in Kmt." Xxxvii Livy book XXX