Hannibal

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Table of Contents [show]     1 The Life of Hannibal     2 Why didnot Hannibal win the war against Rome?     3 What could Hannibal have done? Keywords Hasdrubal, Quintus Fabius, second punic war, shophet Copyright Information All rights reserved by the author of this article. Some of the images in this article may have different copyright licenses. Please follow the URLs of the images for detailed information about their specific copyright licenses. Contact webmasters for more information on copyright issues. 1 The Life of Hannibal Hannibal's celebrated feat in crossing the Alps with war elephants [W] Hannibal (247 BC- Bithynia 182 BCE) was a Carthaginian general, and a military genius. Today he was known for his talented efforts in the second Punic war, the decisive war between the Carthage and the never-before-defeated Roman Republic from 218-202 BC. The second Punic war was "the final major Carthaginian military opposition to Rome's dominence in the Mediterranean. [F]". And of course, as history shows, Rome was the final winner although Hannibal achieved many vitories. Hannibal was forced to flee to different countries where people were still fighting the Romans, until finally he took his own life. In 221 BC, Hannibal was elected commander in Chief by the Carthaginians, at the age of 27. In 218 BC, Hannibal conquered Saguntum (Sagunto, Spain) and clashed with the Romans. The Romans claimed that Hannibal broke the treaty between Rome and Carthage and demanded Hannibal to surrender. Hannibal refused and the second punic war began. In 218 BC, Hannibal led his army and made his legacy march across the Alps from New Carthage (Cartagena, Spain) into northern Italy. He won numerous battles and marched toward Rome. Then he faced Roman general Quintus Fabius whose strategy was to avoid any decisive battle with Hannibal, but somehow manage to keep him 100 kilometers (100 miles) away from Rome. The morals and strength of the Carthaginians were torn down little by little. Finally Hannibal had to settle down and establish his base 400 kilimeters (250 miles) east of Rome in 216 BC, while at the same and the Romans on the other hand were trying to rebuild their military strength. Hannibal achieved a few brilliant millitary victories against the Romans before the Carthage stopped sending reinforcements. The war lasted until Hannibal's failed attempt to attack Rome in 211 BC. In 207 BC, Hannibal's brother Hasdrubal tried to come to rescue Hannibal, however, he was stopped by the Roman army. In 203 BC, Hannibal was called back to Carthage, where he faced Romans from many fronts. And finally the battle of Zama marked the decisive victory of the Romans. Finally peace was agreed upon based on Hannibal's terms. In 196 BC, Hannibal became shophet, or chief magistrate, of Carthage. Annoyed by Hannibal's rebuilding effort, the Romans sacked Hannibal and he fled Carthage. He went to many countries who were still fighting the Romans until until at last, unwilling to surrender to his lifetime enemy, he poisoned himself and committed suicide in Bithynia (now Izmit) of northern Asia Minor. 2 Why didnot Hannibal win the war against Rome? Hannibal was a military genius and nobody could compete with him at his time. However, in the very end, he lost his war, and Carthage lost her independence. This is not a coincidence. First, history creates heroes. However talented, it is almost impossible for a single person to fight the "wave of history". A hero can change a specific historical event, but not history itself. Heroes are limited by their stages, i.e., the time and place they live in. Let's take a look at Hannibal's stage. In about 600BC, Rome became a city state. In the years after, the Romans developed an advanced political, economical, and military system. Basically, Rome was like the rising sun in the morning. Carthage, however, didnot have a system that matched her Roman counterpart. The Romans might not have a military star to match Hannibal, but she still won because "the law of history development" determined her victory. Second, as analyzed by Alfred Mahan, a military genius rarely beats a powerful institutional state. This happened to Hannibal in 200BC, and this happened again to Napoleon in 1800's. A genius can win numerous battles, but it takes a country of a superior system to win a war. Similarly, the Allies conquered the Axis Power in World War II, not because they had more good generals (they did), but because the Allies have a far better system: Although Rummel et.al might be better generals, they still couldnot win the war because, as stated by Mahan and I quote, the institutional state usually wins when fighting with a military genius. 3 What could Hannibal have done? So Hannibal had no Chance winning the war? Yes, and no. Yes because Hannibal could have crushed the Romans because he was such a genius that he rarely made mistakes, and on the other hand, the Romans had made too many stupid mistakes. However, the answer is still NO because even if Carthage had won the war with Rome, she would either have to develop a similar Roman style system, or she would be replaced by another state, be it Nome or Pome. That *Roman system* fit the history so well that it would win eventually. This is consistent with our aforementioned conclusions: A hero can change specific events, but not history itself. So why are people still fighting if history determines everything already? It's true that the "wave of history" *eventually* determines everything. However, hisotry is our history and it is also created by "human beings" in general. History needs heroes (as well as regular human beings) to push it forward. Here heroes are nothing but people who are intelligent and most importantly who are capable of seeing the directions where history is going. Therefore, as a human being, the first important thing is to identify where history is going, and then you can contribute. Therefore, the determining role of hisotry doesnot mean that Hannibal should just give up and get over to the Roman side. Hannibals should fight, but with a big picture in mind: the picture of our human history. If you are familiar with our human history, you probably already know one of the basic rules: never ever turn against your own country. However telented, your intelligence can only bring you shame if you turn against your own motherland and take side with your national enemy. Here is a side note from the Chinese history. There are three figures around the WWII era in the Chinese hisotry: Mao Zedong (Mao Tse-tung), Jiang Jieshi (Chiang Kai-Shak), and Wang Jingwei (Wang Ching-wei). As we all know, being a less talented general among numerous other reasons, Jiang lost the civil war to Mao and retreated to the Taiwan Island. However, Jiang never gave in to the Japanese invaders during WWII. Even after Mao and his followers founded the People's Republic of China (aka, the New China), Jiang still coordinated with Mao when it comes to the national interest of China. For example, Jiang allowed the mainland army to pass the Taiwan channel during the Nansha crisis. When Jiang's generals asked him why he did that, he said "nansha is in danger". Jiang lost the civil war, but people still remember him as a person who never betrayed his motherland. Wang Jingwei was a rivalry of Jiang in the KMT party (the National Democratic Party). After he lost his fight with Jiang, he took side with the Japanese invaders and formed the puppet state in 1940. However talented Wang could have been, he will always be remembered as a traitor. People can make mistakes, but never ever make life-threatening serious ones. To be specific, however harsh the fight inside is, never take side with your enemy. You might ask: so can I still use external resources? Yes you can, but as long as you are not sacrificing the core benefits of your country, for example, her independence and integrity. This is where Wang crossed the line when he accepted the Japanese support and formed the puppet government, and this is also why Jiang is still on this side of the line although he had support from the US. Now back to Hannibal. Remember that an institutional state always wins a long-lasting war, so what Hannibal could have done was, if possible, to beat the Romans quickly in the very first phase of the war. Hannibal had the talent to achieve that ro sure. Actually his army went all the way to just a few miles out of the city of Rome. If somehow it turned out impossible to conquer Rome in a short time, plan a battle carefully and make sure he beat the Romans in that battle Then, when the Romans paniced, make temperory peace with them, get as much as possible. Go back to Carthage, train the army and build a strong economy so that his army could have a consistent supply. Keep a vigil eye on Rome. Attack when Carthage has got everything she needs for the war and conqure Rome as quickly as possible. If this cannot be done in a short time, do not let the war last long. Make peace as soon as possible at any reasonable cost. With the Roman threat gone, the first thing Hannibal needed to do was to recover from the war. After that, borrow as much as possible from the Roman system and build a better Carthage. Remember, if you are not heading toward the direction where history is going, you will lose in the long run however many battles you won. Comments #1, at Nov 10, 2008 08:18:12, craig patz said: #2, at Nov 10, 2008 08:19:55, jodi bellas said: i think that hannibal was a pussy and i think he got what was comin to him i happy that he died and i wish that he would have died alot sooner then when he really did he is such a faggot but i do wish that i was able to fuck him alot and really hard #3, at Nov 10, 2008 08:20:54, Genelle McFarland said: wow your a dumb bitch craig -------------------------------------- In comment #1, craig patz wrote: #4, at Jun 27, 2009 10:08:14, somebody said: -------------------------------------- In comment #2, jodi bellas wrote: i think that hannibal was a pussy and i think he got what was comin to him i happy that he died and i wish that he would have died alot sooner then when he really did he is such a faggot but i do wish that i was able to fuck him alot and really hard #5, at Jun 27, 2009 10:18:58, Dee Moret said: -------------------------------------- In comment #2, jodi bellas wrote: i think that hannibal was a pussy and i think he got what was comin to him i happy that he died and i wish that he would have died alot sooner then when he really did he is such a faggot but i do wish that i was able to fuck him alot and really hard No one seems to be aware of one key factor in Hannibal's failure. He fails to bring two key allies into the Italian theatre, Philip IV of Greece & Antiochus III from Palestine both Rome's enemies. Had Philip the Macedonian brought troops in from the north of Italy and his navy across the Adriatic with Antiochus's forces coming up from the south & Sicily, Rome would have been completely cut off and surrounded. The only problem would have been who recieved the greatre spoils between the three male Lions. Hannibal, in my opinion sits a close second to Alexander ther Great for this reason. Alexander is the complete Warrior King as his intense planning on every level including allies and reconstuction lead to his Number 1 status as histories greatest general. References [F] http://www.barca.fsnet.co.uk/punic2.htm [W] http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/2/22/HannibalFrescoCapitolinec1510.jpg City Data Hannibal, Missouri: Check out what google has to say about Hannibal, Missouri Total households 7017, total housing units: 7886 Land area: 14.610726 square miles, water area 0.471622 miles Latitude: NORTH 39.704065, longitude: EAST -91.37737 MAP Population:17757, male 8247 female 9510 Races in Hannibal, Missouri: White/Non-Hispanic (89.98%) Black (6.57%) Hispanic (1.13%) Asian (0.35%): Asian-Other(0.22%) Chinese(0.07%) Korean(0.04%) Japanese(0.02%) Hawaiian or Pacific Islander (0.07%) Hannibal town, Oswego County, New York: Check out what google has to say about Hannibal town, Oswego County, New York Total households 1760, total housing units: 1962 Population:4957, male 2495 female 2462 Races in Hannibal town, Oswego County, New York: White/Non-Hispanic (97.64%) Hispanic (0.89%) Black (0.22%) Asian (0.12%): Asian-Other(0.08%) Korean(0.02%) Japanese(0.02%) Hannibal village, New York: Check out what google has to say about Hannibal village, New York Total households 213, total housing units: 235 Land area: 1.137452 square miles, water area 0.000000 miles Latitude: NORTH 43.320945, longitude: EAST -76.57619 MAP Population:542, male 255 female 287 Races in Hannibal village, New York: White/Non-Hispanic (98.34%) Black (0.55%) Hispanic (0.55%): (search time: 85.816 msec) English-Chinese hannibal [ººÄá°Î;ÈËÃû] (search time: -780.228 msec)