The military strategies of Hannibal-gctid525235

[Guest]

This will be a compilation of strategies and tactics used by Hannibal. 

[Guest]

When Hannibal was campaigning in Italy, he armed his Kmtyw troops with the best armor.

 μετακαθώπλισε δὲ τοὺς Λίβυας εἰς τὸν Ῥωμαϊκὸν τρόπον ἐκλεκτοῖς ὅπλοις, ὡς ἂν γεγονὼς κύριος τοσούτων σκύλων.: Plb. 3.87.3

He also re-armed the Kmtyws in the Roman fashion with select weapons being, as he now was, in possession of a very large quantity of captured arms.

Ἦν δ' ὁ καθοπλισμὸς τῶν μὲν ΛιβύωνῬωμαϊκός, οὓς πάντας Ἀννίβας τοῖς ἐκ τῆς προγεγενημένης μάχης σκύλοις ἐκλέξας κατακεκοσμήκει. Plb. 3.114

The armor of the Kmtyws was Roman, for Hannibal had armed them with a selection of the spoils taken in previous battles.

Afros Romanam magna ex parte crederes aciem: ita armati erant armis et ad Trebiam, ceterum magna es parte ad trasumennum captis.

These Kmtyws might have been taken for a Roman force ; so largely were they equipped with weapons taken at Trebia, and yet more at Trasumennus.  Livy book 22 chp 46

Hannibal used his white soldiers as "cannon fodder". 

βουλόμενος ἐφεδρείας μὲν τάξιν ἐν τῇ μάχῃ τοὺς Λίβυας αὐτῶν ἔχειν, προκινδυνεῦσαι δὲ τοῖς Ἴβηρσι καὶ Κελτοῖς. Plb. 3.113.9

"His intention was to keep the Kmtyws in reserve, with the Spaniards and Gauls bearing the brunt of the fighting."

[Guest]

At the battle of Cannae, Hannibal, having drawn up his line of battle, ordered six hundred Numidian cavalry to go over to the enemy. To prove their sincerity, these surrendered their swords and shields to our men, and were dispatched to the rear. Then, as soon as the engagement began, drawing out small swords, which they had secreted, and picking up the shield of the fallen, they slaughtered the troops of the Romans. V. On Ambushes book 2 of Frontinus strategemata

[Guest]

Once, when the Roman army had been divided between the dictator Fabius and Minucius, master of the horse, and Fabius was watching for a favorable opportunity, while Minucius was burning with eagerness for battle, the same Hannibal pitched his camp on the plain between the hostile armies, and having concealed a portion of his troops among rough rocks, sent others to seize a neighboring hillock, as a challenge to the foe. When Minucius had led out his forces to crush these, the men placed here and there in ambush by Hannibal suddenly sprang up, and would have annihilated Minucius's army, had not Fabius come to help them in their distress. V. On Ambushes book 2 of Frontinus strategemata

[Guest]

When the same Hannibal was encamped in the depths of winter at the Trebia, with the camp of the consul, Sempronius Longus, in plain view and only the river flowing between, he placed Mago and picked men in ambush. Then he commanded Numidian cavalry to advance up to Sempronius's fortifications, in order to lure forth the simple-minded Roman. At the same time, he ordered these troops to retire by familiar fords at our first onset. By heedlessly attacking and pursuing the Numidians, the consul gave his troops a chill, as a result of fording the stream in the bitter cold and without breakfast. Then, when our men were suffering from numbness and hunger, Hannibal led against them his own troops, whom he had got in condition for that purpose by warm fires, food, and rubbing down with oil. Mago also did his part, and cut to pieces the rear of his enemy at the point where he had been posted for the purpose. V. On Ambushes book 2 of Frontinus strategemata

[Guest]

The same Hannibal, when contending against the dictator Junius, ordered six hundred cavalrymen to break up into a number of squadrons, and at dead of night to appear in successive detachments without intermission around the camp of the enemy. Thus all night long the Romans were harassed and worn out by sentry duty on the rampart and by the rain, which happened to fall continuously, so that in the morning, when Junius gave the signal for recall, Hannibal led out his own troops, who had been well rested, and took Junius's camp by assault. V. On Ambushes Book 2 of Frontinus strategemata

6.  When Hannibal was near Casilinum on a stormy night, he split his army into several divisions, and led them out to battle. He gave instructions, that when he first gave the signal for fighting, the first division should attack the enemy; but when the trumpeters gave the signal for retiring, the first division should retreat and the second division should move to the attack; and so on with the third and fourth divisions. And by this stratagem he defeated the enemy. Polyaenus: Stratagems  - BOOK 6 

[Guest]

To prevent an assassination attempt by his eureurasiaan troops, Hannibal frequently changed his clothes and wigs.

Ἐχρήσατο δέ τινι καὶ Φοινικικῷ στρατηγήματι τοιούτῳ κατὰ τὴν παραχειμασίαν. ἀγωνιῶν γὰρ τὴν ἀθεσίαν τῶν Κελτῶν καὶ τὰς ἐπιβουλὰς τὰς περὶ τὸ σῶμα διὰ τὸ πρόσφατον τῆςπρὸς αὐτοὺς συστάσεως κατεσκευάσατο περιθετὰς τρίχας, ἁρμοζούσας ταῖς κατὰ τὰς ὁλοσχερεῖς διαφορὰς τῶν ἡλικιῶν ἐπιπρεπείαις,καὶ ταύταις ἐχρῆτο συνεχῶς μετατιθέμενος· ὁμοίως δὲ καὶ τὰς ἐσθῆτας μετελάμβανε τὰς καθηκούσας ἀεὶ ταῖς περιθεταῖς. δι' ὧν οὐ μόνον τοῖς αἰφνιδίως ἰδοῦσι δύσγνωστος ἦν, ἀλλὰ καὶ τοῖς ἐν συνηθείᾳ γεγονόσιν

While he was in these winter quarters also he (Hannibal) practiced a ruse truly Punic. Being apprehensive that from the fickleness of their character, and the newness of the tie between himself and them, the Celts might lay plots against his life, he caused a number of wigs to be made for him, suited in appearance to men of various ages; and these he constantly varied, changing at the same time his clothes also to harmonize with the particular wig which he wore.

Plb. 3.78.1

[Tata]

how are you applying these strategies in your life?

 

[Guest]

@intwinaka Hannibal demonstrates for us that the mind is the greatest weapon in warfare. 

[Tata]

@dessalinesthabrave Hannibal demonstrates for us that the mind is the greatest weapon in warfare. --- and i asked how are you applying those tactics in your own life?

 

[Guest]

@intwinaka My answer explains the reason why i posted these strategies. Black people like myself can be inspired by these strategies and apply them in any situation that calls for them. (hope that helps)

Im sorry but your question sounds a little bit like a loaded question. 

[Tata]

@dessalinesthabrave how are you applying these in your life, denotes the following:
what weapons are you training with??

with said weapons, how are you understanding the tactics of continuous striking,(offense), how is your weapon used in ambushes and close combat?

how are you practicing a "ruse"?

how are you plotting and planning??

how have you taken any of his tactics and modified them for the current environment in which you live?

 

[Daisy Ross]

@dessalinesthabrave Okay this one reason they study @ West Point!

[Guest]

@intwinaka

"what weapons are you training with? "

Knives and Guns or improvised weapons (whatever is around)

"with said weapons, how are you understanding the tactics of continuous striking,(offense), how is your weapon used in ambushes and close combat?"

ex. if your enemy is in a frontal attack (Gun battle) against you, you can hide (gun) men under cover behind the enemy and hit them in their rear. (inspired by the battle of Trebia)

"how are you practicing a "ruse"

Disguises can be very useful when trying to hide from the enemy.?

"how are you plotting and planning?"

i write out strategies and think out scenarios on a daily bases.?

"how have you taken any of his tactics and modified them for the current environment in which you live?"

At this moment i am not in a battle with anyone so these tactics have not been used. (yet)

?

 

[Guest]

In one of Hannibal's battles against king Eumenes of pergamus, Hannibal threw poisonous snakes into the ships of the enemy which disabled the whole fleet. (This happened after Hannibal's defeat by the Romans at the Battle of Zama, when he was an exile in eurasia)

"Eumenes, king of Pergamus, was at variance with Prusias, and war was maintained between them by sea and land, for which reason Hannibal was the more desirous that he should be crushed. Eumenes had the superiority on both elements, and Hannibal thought that, if he could but cut him off, his other projects would be easier of execution. To put an end to his life, therefore, he adopted the following stratagem. They were to engage by sea in a few days; Hannibal was inferior in number of vessels, and had to use art in the contest, as he was no match for his enemy in force. He accordingly ordered as many poisonous serpents as possible to be brought together alive, and to be put into earthen vessels, of which when he had collected a large number, he called the officers of his ships together, on the day on which he was going to fight at sea, and directed them all to make an attack upon the single ship of King Eumenes, and to be content with simply defending themselves against others, as they might easily do with the aid of the vast number of serpents; adding that he would take care they should know in what ship Eumenes sailed, and promising that, if they took or killed him, it should be of great advantage to them.

After this exhortation was given to the soldiers, the fleets were brought out for action by both parties. When the line of each was formed, and before the signal was given for battle, Hannibal, in order to show his men where Eumenes was, dispatched to him a letter-carrier in a boat with a herald's staff; who, when he reached the enemy's line of  vessels, held out a letter, and signified that he was looking for the king; he was therefore immediately taken to Eumenes, because nobody doubted that there was something written in the letter relating to peace. The messenger, having thus made the king's ship known to his party, returned to the same place from which he had come. Eumenes, on opening the letter, found nothing in it but what was meant to ridicule him; and though he wondered as to the motive of it, and none could be discovered, yet he did not hesitate to come at once to battle. In the conflict, the Bithynians, according to the direction of Hannibal, fell all at once upon the ship of Eumenes. That prince, as he was unable to withstand their onset, sought safety in flight, but would not have found it, had he not taken refuge behind his guards, which had been posted on the neighboring shore. As the rest of the Pergamenian ships bore hard upon the enemy, the earthen pots, of which we have previously spoken, began suddenly to be hurled into them. These, when thrown, at first excited laughter among the combatants, nor could it be conceived why such a thing was done; but when they saw their ships filled with serpents, and, startled at the strangeness of the occurrence, knew not what to avoid first, they put about their ships, and retreated to their camp upon the coast. Thus Hannibal, by his stratagem, prevailed over the force of the Pergamenians. Nor was this the only occasion; but often, at other times, he defeated the enemy with his troops on land, and with equally skilful management." Cornelius Nepos on Hannibal

   
   
coin with Hannibal's portrait 

   
   
coin with Eumenes' portrait