Hannibal Second Punic War Analysis

From 218 to 202 BCE, the Carthaginian general Hannibal Barca launched his brutal campaign to crush the early Roman republic and would ultimately be defeated on the plains of Zama. Despite these individual events being separated by a century, Hannibal’s second Punic war against Rome generated the factors necessary for the Republic to professionalize her military. The war brought about massive political discourse, social discourse, and a more rampant depletion of the overall manpower in Italy than before. This chaos would allow the Gracchi brothers Tiberius and Gaius to be elected as tribunes in the Roman Senate. Their combined attempts at agrarian reforms, in turn, would brew even greater political uproar between the people and the Senate. The
Similar to the hoplite phalanxes of the ancient Greek poleis, the army of Rome primarily consisted of common citizens serving originally as light infantry, then as heavy infantry. These citizen-militias were not paid by monetary means, but were bound by duty to both protect the Republic and their own collective interest in times of war. Each soldier was also expected to provide his own equipment and his age determined which rank he served in the legions. “The military of the Roman republic was under strict control of the Senate, which had the ultimate authority to declare war, finance the war, and appoint commanders of the army” (Verlic, p.7). This role later met challenges as the second Punic War ensued and the Senate elected a dictator over the army, taking the first step towards reliance on generals to establish
Flaminius at first hunkered down behind the walls of the Roman city Arretium, but Hannibal coerced him to meet on the battlefield by torching the surrounding landscape. Devastating the land also sent the psychological message of Rome’s incompetence and futility to her other allies. Flaminius finally surrendered to his rage and chased the Carthaginians to Trasimene. According to the Greek historian Polybius, Hannibal made preparations the previous night to trap the Consul’s conscripted army through a defile, or natural choke point between the lake and the opposing cliffs. “As soon as the greater part of the Roman line was in the valley, and the leading maniples were getting close to him, Hannibal gave the signal for attack; and at the same time sent orders to the troops lying in ambush on the hills to do the same, and thus delivered an assault upon the enemy at every point at once” (Polybius, p. 309). Fifteen thousand Romans were slaughtered, including Flaminius himself in this surprise attack. Compared to Hannibal’s loss of only fifteen hundred men during Trasimene and the combined total number of Roman deaths from Ticinus and Trebia, this was humiliating to both the Senate and the Republic