Hannibal Barca - Born 247 BC e. Died 183 BC e. The ringing of weapons, great victories, legendary war elephants … Hannibal is a commander and statesman of Carthage, a state in North Africa, the main rival of Ancient Rome. Rome became great precisely after Carthage was defeated.
As you know, rumor loves in history the winners and the offended. Hannibal bizarrely combines both in his destiny.
Much has been written about him. Moreover, only his enemies were the Romans. In Carthage, they generally did not like to write historical works. They wrote mainly bills, registers, checks. It was a country of commerce. Disdaining biography, the Carthaginians for some time even condemned the Greek traditions of written history and it was forbidden to study the Greek language.
So the Romans, including Titus Livy and Pliny the Younger, wrote about the commander Hannibal. But what is amazing is that they gave him his due! They understood that Rome should not be proud of a victory over a weak enemy. But to defeat Hannibal is really a merit!
Such an outstanding personality as Hannibal inevitably has a mythological trail in history. Who doesn't know the expression "Annibal's Oath"? ("Annibalova", because in Russia before the revolution they spoke Annibal, not Hannibal. How this name was pronounced in ancient times is not known exactly). This expression means "a firm determination to fight to the end, a promise to always follow your ideals." But Hannibal, as a 9-year-old boy, actually swore an oath that his father demanded of him, and was always faithful to her.
He is also known as a great military leader. In our time, historians of military art note his strategy, maneuvers, tricks that he used, the development of intelligence (he had reliable people everywhere), his personal courage. The Battle of Cannes, for example, is still considered a classic of military strategic thinking and behavior. It has even been compared to the Battle of Stalingrad during World War II.
The famous expression "Hannibal ante portas" - "Hannibal at the gate" has survived to this day. It began to sound again in Rome centuries after Hannibal, during the Spartacus uprising. This phrase is a memory of the fear that Hannibal aroused in the most powerful warring country of antiquity.
Carthage is a city-state, a colony of people who came at one time from Phenicia, from the coastal strip of modern Lebanon and northwestern Syria. There were once their famous cities Sidon, Tire (Sur in modern Lebanon), Byblos (in its place the Lebanese Jebeil). How Alexander the Great fought, besieging Tire!
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It should be noted that Hannibal was born just 76 years after the death of Alexander the Great. And having become a military leader, he compared himself with this great commander. According to legend, he said: “If I had defeated Rome, I would have been taller than Alexander. And so I'm after Alexander."
The Phoenicians, pressed by their neighbors, primarily the Assyrians, were forced to look for where to settle down. Merchants, excellent sailors, they scattered across the Mediterranean. Most of all they were attracted by the island of Sicily in southern Italy, which did not yet belong to Rome, and the north of Africa.
In Africa, Carthage was founded by immigrants from Tire in the 9th century BC, which later became not a colony of Phenicia, but an independent city-state. This is the outskirts of the modern city of Tunisia - the place of the former Carthage, wiped off the face of the earth by the Romans. Literally destroyed after the Third Punic War. (Punic Wars)
And Hannibal is a hero of the Second Punic War. (The name "Punic" is associated with the word "Pune" - so the inhabitants of Carthage called themselves.)
By the 3rd century BC, the culture of Carthage was a mixture of the heritage of the East and Hellenistic Greece. A very large city - about 700,000 population, while less than 300,000 lived in Rome. (Rome was just beginning to emerge into the first world powers at that time). Carthage is a trade intermediary between East and West, primarily Spain.
Hannibal was born in 247 BC into the family of a major Carthaginian military leader and statesman named Hamilcar Barca. (Barka means "lightning" in translation). The family traced its ancestry from one of the companions of Ellis, the legendary founder of Carthage, eventually deified and took the form of the goddess Tinnit.
The father was very proud of his three sons. Hannibal was the eldest. He was given the most common Punic name. Hannibal is translated as "Baal is merciful to me." And Baal is the god of the sky, formidable and terrible.
Hannibal spent his childhood in Iberia, in what is now Spain, in a harsh and wild country. My father was constantly at war. There were two more brothers. Hasdrubal, whose name means "Baal helps me", will take part in the campaign of his elder brother to Italy, will lead the troops in Spain and will be killed in battle. Magon - translated as "gift" - will die in Italy much later.
Also, Hannibal has three sisters. The husband of one of them, Hasdrubal the Handsome, will play a significant role in the fate of his son-in-law.
There is a historical anecdote. Three boys, Hannibal and brothers, are playing, frolicking. The father looks at them and says: "Here are the lion cubs whom I grove for the destruction of Rome."
What is this idea of the death of Rome, how did it appear? The political structure of Carthage at that time was very different from that of Rome. Rome, uniting Italy under its rule, moved towards democratization. The Romans were proud of the fact that the people took part in government. Carthage is a strictly oligarchic state. The Council of Thirty is the highest authority, the richest, most noble and, as will be seen from the fate of Hannibal, the most greedy for power and money.
This oligarchic republic appointed a commander. And the army, unlike the Roman army, was exclusively hired. Carthage did not fight at the expense of its inhabitants. Representatives of various ethnic groups became mercenaries. Hannibal had mercenaries from Spain, Gaul (future France), Northern Italy. All of them fought for money, and they were headed by a military leader who had great authority. Such was Hannibal's father, and later he himself.
Rome and Carthage are rivals. Between them there was a struggle for world domination in the then understanding - for influence from the Iberian Peninsula to the Euphrates, from the Scythian steppes of the Northern Black Sea region to the sands of the Sahara. They fought for life and death. The first Punic War of 264–241 BC is the battle of two naval powers for Sicily.
The Romans were able to defend their positions. The Carthaginians had to leave Sicily and pay an indemnity to Rome.
Hannibal's father fought bravely and desperately - and yet lost. After that, he went to command the Carthaginian troops in Spain, to fight with local tribes, warlike, harsh. There they managed to capture the silver mines, and this helped the commander to support his army, pay the mercenaries well and achieve some success. But Hamilcar Barca himself saw all this only as preparation for a future war with Rome.
The commander's children all the time lived in a military camp, studied the art of war. In general, Hannibal's education is difficult to judge. Apparently, home teachers also worked with the boy. He studied languages, knew Greek. According to the testimony of his Roman biographer Cornelius Nepotus, he wrote several books in Greek. "Books" are not in our understanding. A book was a manuscript that could fit on one scroll.
Hannibal's childhood ended at the moment of taking the oath. Was it literally furnished as the sources describe? We do not know this. But something happened … Three years after the defeat in the First Punic War, the father brought his 9-year-old son to the temple and made a sacrifice to the formidable Baal. It should be noted that Baal also accepted human sacrifice, which decisively distinguished the culture of Carthage from the culture of Ancient Rome. The Romans have always condemned this custom.
In Carthage, babies were often sacrificed (Carthage must be destroyed), namely the firstborn from noble families. The newborns were lowered down the chute, and they fell, as was believed, into fiery hell. Hannibal was lucky not to be a victim, but a certain sacrifice was demanded from him. His father told him to take a terrible oath, the meaning of which was to devote his whole life to the fight against Rome. And the boy swore, as one of the historians writes, "grasping the horns of the altar" with the image of a bull.
What an impression this must have made on a child! He, fortunately survived in infancy, holds on to the horns of the bull, who embodies the bloodthirsty Baal, and takes an oath. This is his personal sacrifice.
And all the rest of my life is devoted to fulfilling this promise.
229 BC - when Hannibal was 18 years old, his father died, drowned while crossing during the next military operations. He was replaced by his son-in-law Hasdrubal, and Hannibal began to command the cavalry under him.
This did not last long: 221 BC - Hasdrubal fell at the hands of assassins. And then the army elected, proclaimed 26-year-old Hannibal commander-in-chief. The Carthaginian Senate was not delighted, it was believed that the new commander is young, his experience is not so great … But the army said its word so imperiously that the Senate thought it best to agree with it. So fate led the young commander to a real opportunity to fulfill his oath. We can say that his real biography has begun.
We know almost nothing about his private life. It is vaguely said that he had a certain wife from Spain. There are references to his indifference to the beautiful captives, whom he had at his disposal as much as he wanted. It was even rumored that on this basis it was possible to doubt his African origin. But he simply lived by his only passion - he was looking for an excuse for a war with Rome to break out.
The commander was deliberately insolent with the Roman ambassadors. Did not help. The Romans decided to pretend that they did not notice anything. Then he led troops under the walls of the city of Sagunta, which was under the rule of Rome, on the Iberian Peninsula and besieged him for eight months. And after this important city for Rome fell, they had no choice but, threatening war, to demand that Hannibal be extradited for punishment.
And that was exactly what he needed. Carthage refused to hand over their commander. The war began, which lasted almost 20 years and was named the Second Punic.
The Romans had a clear, prearranged plan. They were going to wage war on two fronts - in Africa and in Spain.
But the Carthaginian commander took and quickly destroyed all these headquarters plans. He moved his huge army, no less than 80,000 men, to Italy. It was considered impossible. On the way there were two mighty mountain ranges - the Pyrenees and the Alps. Who could have thought of such a thing - to go there on foot!
Hannibal went. He moved towards Italy with amazing speed, inspiring the mercenaries with his own example. Titus Livy wrote about him: “He endured heat and cold equally patiently. He determined the measure of food and drink by natural need, and not pleasure. He chose the time for wakefulness and sleep, not distinguishing day from night. Many often saw how he, wrapped in a military cloak, slept on the ground among the soldiers who stood on posts and guards. He was far ahead of horsemen and infantrymen, the first to enter the battle, the last to leave the battle. He evoked respect among the soldiers with his personal courage, iron will.
Hannibal was able to overcome the Pyrenees quickly. And he moved to the Alps. He had 37 elephants. This is a feature of the Carthaginian army - elephants, which the Romans did not have. At first, the elephants made a stunning impression on the enemy. Then the Romans calmed down and began to call them "Lucanian bulls." And even later, they learned to influence them in such a way that frightened, uncontrollable elephants became not only useless, but also dangerous for those who use them. And of the elephants of Hannibal, over time, only one was able to survive.
But while with elephants an unexpected route, destroying the Roman general plan, Hannibal crossed the Alps in about 15 days and led his army to Italy. Then comes a series of sensational feats that have created his great image.
Having crossed the Alps, he, figuratively speaking, fell on the head of the Romans in Northern Italy, in the valley of the Po River.
Hannibal's army was invincible at that moment. But the Romans knew how to learn very quickly, which enabled them to create a world power. In the First Punic War, they learned how to fight at sea. Initially, the Carthaginians, hereditary seafarers, were stronger in sea battles. But the Romans invented the boarding bridges, which they threw from ship to ship, turning naval combat into a variation on land.
Now in front of them was a powerful Carthaginian cavalry, always delivering a decisive blow. The Romans previously put on foot, heavily armed troops. But they are learning again - and they will defeat Hannibal thanks to their strong cavalry.
In the meantime, the advantage was on his side. In November 218 BC, a battle took place on the Ticini River (a tributary of the Po River). Hannibal defeats the consul Publius Cornelius Scipio, father of his future victor.
At the end of December 218 BC - the battle on the Trebia River, also a tributary of the Po, and again the victory of Hannibal.
And the most famous, June 21, 217 BC, is the Battle of Lake Trasimene. This is an absolutely amazing story where Hannibal proved to be a great commander.
He replenished his troops with rebellious Gauls, dissatisfied with Roman rule. For three days and four nights, the army marched chest-deep in water, through the swamps near the Arno River. One could rest only on the corpses of dead horses. All but one of the elephants died there. Hannibal himself began to have some kind of inflammation in the eye. As a result, he lost an eye.
Thanks to his absolutely insane maneuver, Hannibal bypassed the fortifications prepared by the Romans. He deceived the vigilance of the consul Flaminius, who, not expecting this, deployed his army in more elevated places. When Flaminius was on a cramped patch, the Carthaginian army rushed at him from all sides. It was a terrible battle. The consul himself was killed. Tens of thousands of people were killed without mercy. There were casualties on both sides, but the Romans suffered much more damage. It was a victory for a commander, a man who overcame the unthinkable hardships of war.
Rome seemed doomed. Hannibal moved to Apulia - the southwestern part of Italy. He needed time to rebuild the forces of the army, to replenish and reload.
The Romans in horror elected a dictator - Quintus Fabius Maximus, who soon received the nickname Kunktator (Slow). In fact, he was a reasonable person who understood that there was no need to rush head-on to face Hannibal, or rather separate attacks, skirmishes, small battles to weaken the terrible enemy.
By this, Quintus Fabius Maximus resembles Barclay de Tolly, who wore Napoleon during the Patriotic War of 1812. And also the tactics turned out to be quite reasonable.
But they do not like kunktators, they consider cowards, almost traitors. Quintus Fabius Maximus was suspended.
And there was another terrible defeat for the Romans ahead - the Battle of Cannes, in the western part of Italy on August 2, 216 BC, the most famous Battle of Hannibal, a classic of military history textbooks. He built an army in a crescent moon, placing the weakest mercenaries in the center. And he achieved the desired result. The Romans hit the center, broke through, suppressed it … and dug into the depths of its troops. A famous technique is the division of the opponent's army into two parts, the encirclement of these parts separately, and then complete destruction. Many tens of thousands of people died. The Roman army was destroyed.
The Carthaginian commander was in no hurry to go to Rome. He came close, but did not storm Rome: he was waiting for reinforcements, troops led by his brother Hasdrubal, which was supposed to come from Spain. But on the way, my brother was defeated.
211 BC - the commander Hannibal at the gates of Rome, in the city the same cry: "Hannibal ante portas!" - and real panic. But he did not go to the assault. He continued to maneuver, he needed reinforcements.
Rome gradually came to its senses. This is the great ability of the Romans to maintain courage, rebuild, learn. At the same time, Hannibal's army is mercenaries, while Rome is protected by citizens.
The civil community bristles to defend its interests. And the very thing that Leo Tolstoy brilliantly called the spirit of the army, deciding the fate of the battle, the fate of the war, was on the side of the Romans.
While Hannibal, who did not wait for reinforcements, maneuvers without much success, the Roman army attacked Carthage in Spain, pressed from all sides. The preponderance of forces is already on the side of the Romans.
And worst of all, Hannibal was no longer supported from Carthage. Later he himself will formulate it this way: "Not Rome, but the Carthaginian Senate defeated Hannibal."
He did not receive the proper funds, he does not have such a free financial situation, which was once thanks to the achievements of his father in Spain.
The Carthaginian nobility grew fearful that such a great commander would be dangerous for the republic, that is, for the authorities. The oligarchy always prefers that all those in power are more or less equal to each other, so that all together, with a single greedy, selfish fist, squeeze the country. And the person who rises above them, embarrasses them, worries.
It's not that they openly harm Hannibal, but they haven't helped him for a long time. And he feels unable to continue delivering such sensitive blows as the ones he delivered to the Romans earlier.
In addition, Rome had a talented commander - Publius Cornelius Scipio Jr., who would later receive the honorary nickname African. Hannibal's future winner. In 204 BC, the Carthaginian Senate recalled Hannibal to Africa to defend the fatherland. In general, everything is logical, everything is correct. But he was prevented from continuing the war in Italy.
He arrived in Africa in the mood for new victories. He is 43 years old, and in 202 BC, when the Battle of Zama will take place at the end of autumn, he is 44. This is a man covered with glory, still full of strength. But he will face the only major defeat. In 20 years of war, the Romans learned a lot.
After the Battle of Zama, which Hannibal lost, a peace was concluded that was very beneficial for Rome. Carthage lost the right to have a fleet, retained possessions only in Africa, had to pay an indemnity for 50 years.
However, the Romans won not only that. They won the leadership of the then world. Having learned to fight such an enemy as Hannibal, to mobilize when everything seemed to be over, to endure the death of consuls, the loss of tens of thousands of people, overcoming all this, Rome and became equal to itself.
Oddly enough, for some time after the defeat, Hannibal held the post of Sufet in Carthage - the first person, the supreme judge.
What did he do in this position? He began to fight the venality of those who profited from the war, who, perhaps, played along with the enemy.
But soon he received information that the authorities of Carthage intend to respond to the long-standing demands of Rome and hand him over to the winner. In 195 BC, he flees. Then there were 12 years of emigration.
First, he went to Syria, to Antiochus III. Then he was with the rulers of Armenia, after in Bithynia, with the king of Pruzius.
And throughout all these years he has been faithful to his oath. He not only saves his life, but is trying to push the rulers of the Malaysian and southern European states to fight the Romans. Hannibal still hopes to create a new coalition and return to his life's work. He even took part in several not very significant, not very large battles against Rome, was not defeated anywhere, but this, of course, is not the same scale.
He fails to find those who would risk raising the banner of the struggle against the Roman army, for world primacy, as Carthage once did.
The commander Hannibal is credited with the words: "My life is a constant effort of the will towards a single goal." Yes, he had the right to say so. He could mentally report to his father that he had never broken the vow he had taken in childhood and had always strived to fulfill it.
But Rome was already so stronger than all the states trying to maintain their independence that Hannibal was in danger of being extradited everywhere. Once again, he received information that Pruzius, king of Bithynia - a relatively small state in Asia Minor, which maneuvered between neighboring rulers - Pruzius, who had long pretended to be a friend, was ready to hand him over to Rome. In 183 BC, the poison from the ring interrupted Hannibal's life.
The Roman politician and orator Marcus Thulius Cicero said: "His fellow citizens expelled him, but here, we see, he, our enemy, is glorified in the scriptures and in memory." His implacable enemies have preserved the memory of him for posterity.
N. Basovskaya