Hannibal & the Second Roman War

Hannibal made his two most crucial decisions of the Second Roman War long before he ordered a single Carthagenian soldier across the Ebro. Indeed, certainly one and very possibly both were made before the outbreak of the Saguntine crisis. The first of these decisions was to invite or at least accept a confrontation with Rome. The second was to pursue that confrontation, if necessary, by invading Italy and challenging the Romans on their home ground.

The remainder of this chapter will be devoted to those two decisions, to accept if not provoke general war and to invade Italy, and the implications of each. One implication of the decision to invade Italy will require particular attention. By invading Italy, Hannibal would subject the Roman political system--especially the relationship between Rome and its Italian allies--to an extraordinary test of its solidity and resilience. The question thus arises: did Hannibal plan from the outset, or at least contemplate as an option, a strategy that entailed not a direct assault on Rome itself but rather the dismantling of its political control over Italy?

Before exploring Hannibal's two great initial decisions in detail, it will be useful to outline the nature and implications of these decisions more fully. That Hannibal chose to confront Rome from the outset of his involvement in Saguntine affairs follows automatically from the status of Saguntum as a Roman ally. That being the case, interference in the affairs of Saguntum

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d till about November; if it did not begin till July, it must have lasted into January. After the city fell, he led his army back to winter quarters in New Carthage, consistant with this estimated dating. He almost immediately dismissed the Spanish troops to home leave. According to Livy, he did so with a speech about the long campaign on which they would be be leaving after their return: "My allies, I doubt not that you yourselves perceive how, having conquered every tribe in Spain, we must either bring our campaigning to a close and disband our armies, or shift the seat of war to other countries. For these nations here will enjoy the blessings not merely of peace, but of victory, only if we look to other nations for spoils and glory. Since, therefore, you are on the eve of an expedition that will carry you far afield, and it is uncertain when you will see again your homes and what there is dear to each of you, if any of you desires to visit his friends, I grant him furlough. Be at hand, I charge you, with the first signs of spring, that with Heaven's good help we may begin a war that shall bring us vast renown and booty." Polybius reports no such peroration, and indeed speaks of the dismissal

Category: History - H