Rise of Scipio

After the great and legendary Battle of Cannae which Hannibal won by unanimous decision. A very young man named Scipio Africanus(not his full name)came up with a very clever plan. Hannibal's motto is to do everything the Romans would least expect. That motto was his drive to: 1. Go to Rome 2. Pass the Alps 3. Disobey Carthaginian Roman authorities 4. Battle the Romans in Roman soil 5. Risk his life to claim the City of the Dreams, Rome. Countering Hannibal's hopes was the young man's dreams; that young man was Scipio Africanus (or Scipio for short). Scipio's motto is to do anything and everything to make Hannibal suffer, for Hannibal was the one that killed Scipio's old acquaintance Ticintus (Tiberius Sempronius Longus)on the Battle of River Trebia.

Hannibal was stuck in the Italian peninsula, for his army was too big to get beaten and too small to conquer Rome. So Hannibal sent his brother Hasdrubal Barca to get reinforcements from the Carthiginian capital Carthage. As Hannibal sets his plan Scipio is also having his own story. Scipio led an Army to Spain, so that he could weaken the forces of Carthage. Scipio's army has landed on Spain and quickly led an army to wage war against a Carthaginian outpost; which quickly led to the Battle of  Ilipia. The battle was quickly won by Scipio. Shortly after, Hasdrubal was discovered that he was getting more men and reinforcements. So, the Romans held a step forward; the Romans quickly reacted to Hasdrubal's movements and sent the ambush to Hasdrubal. Hasdrubal was killed with the reinforcements; the Romans sent the head of Hasdrubal to Hannibal. Everyone could see the anger and the hatred in Hannibal's eyes. Truly, Hannibal has gone mad.

Now, Scipio does what Hannibal expects the least; he attacks Carthage.The news quickly spread and it finally reaches into Hannibal's ears. Quickly, Hannibal directed his forces unto Carthage; back to his homeland. Scipio is now controlling every step of Hannibal's army. To Zama they came face to face; Hannibal and Scipio; the battle that paves the way of the very destiny of the world. Hannibal versus Scipio; this is the battle that would end the Second Punic War.

                                                                To be continued - Next Week

The Battle of Cannae

This battle was the most brutal battle that the Romans had experienced. Hannibal was greatly outnumbered in every single concept, except for........ brains. The Romans once again, underestimated Hannibal Barca. There were approximately 86,000 Romans and 56,000 men in Hannibal's army. The Romans were led by Gaius Terentius Varro. In the Battle Hannibal executed a formation called the "fish" formation in Japanese terms, and the Romans compacted themselves into a thick line, giving up flexibility for power. Hannibal positioned his men from least to greatest, his weakest troops was in the center and the strongest ones are at the flanks. The Romans also had cavalry up on the rear to protect the the main force. The Romans thought that they could crush the enemy like pounding a hammer to a plastic cup. The battle went on like this, the cavalry of Hannibal was closing in to the Roman cavalry, with pure determination the cavalry of Hannibal crushes the Roman cavalry leaving their rear unprotected. The gigantic Roman army was nearing to Hannibal's men, finally the Romans collided with the army of Hannibal, quickly the army of Hannibal was collapsing their front lines was faltering and the Romans were breaking through. But, the enemy of the Romans was Hannibal, and you know what that means. Hannibal sprung his trap, surrounding the Romans within seconds. The Roman army panicked and was quickly faltering under Hannibal's men, they had no other place to go but back. But that soon changed because Hannibal's cavalry quickly attacked the Romans from the rear, therefore sealing their fate.

* The Romans had almost twice the size of Hannibal's army but it is amazing still how Hannibal pulled it of. This time was the last time they underestimated Hannibal, but still with an army so large it is almost impossible you cannot lose. This was the greatest victory the WORLD had against the Romans. This just shows that brains is always better than brawns.

The Battle of Lake Trasimene

Images are from Google

217 BC
At Hannibal's campaign against Rome, he was passing by the Lake Trasimene when a Roman army was camped at the other side of the lake. Then it happened, the battle of Lake Trasimene. Hannibal with the support of the Gauls are 50,000+ in strength and the Romans were 40,000. The Romans once again underestimated Hannibal, for if he did he would send far more men than just 40,00. Once again Hannibal was brilliant as hell. He hid more than half his men to the woods nearby therefore only showing a small amount of his army. The Romans were too cocky and so Gaius Flaminius charged his whole army into the battlefield, hoping to crush the enemy. When Gaius Flaminius's army was nearing to collide with Hannibal's the hidden army charged putting the Romans into fear. The Romans were being pushed closer and closer to the lake. When the Romans reached the lake their death was certain, their armor was too heavy to evade and their sheilds are also heavy to move, the Romans were defeated again for the 2nd decisive time.

* Another win to Hannibal, in Roman soil where Romans have the advantage. Also Hannibal has a limited supply of food, water and men, but the Romans has a lifetime of supply of those things.

Battle of River Trebia

From Google Images

218BC

The battle of river Trebia was led by Hannibals men in Carthage and Tiberius Sempronius Longus in the Romans. Hannibal was greatly outnumbered by the roman forces.This was his strategy, he intimidated the Roman army with his Numidian mercenary cavalry, and the Romans fell for it. The Romans crossed the river and Hannibal sprung his trap. His best cavalry went out of the trees and attacked the Romans from the sides. The attack worked but the Romans were still fighting, so Hannibal sent his elephants to the Romans and then the Romans panicked and fled leaving the Roman army in dissaray and therefore killing Tiberius Sempronius Longus.

*Hannibal's Strategy was brilliant, to think that after a long climb across the Alps, in the middle of winter, he would still have enough energy to win a battle.

Historical Battles

From Google Images.

Some of the Historical Battles over the BC's

1. Battle of River Trebia= Victor- Carthaginians Losers- Romans
2. Battle of Lake Trasimene= Victor- Carthaginians Losers- Romans
3. Battle of Cannae= Victor- Carthaginians Losers- Romans
4. Siege of Tyre= Victor- Macedonians Losers- Tyrians
5. Battle of Carrhae= Victor- Parthians Losers- Romans
6. Siege of Sparta= Victor- The Selucids Losers- The Greek Cities
7. Siege of Jerusalem= Victor- Romans Losers- Jewish Rebels
8. Siege of Yodfat= Victor- Romans Losers- Jews
9. Battle of Hydaspus River= Victor- Macedonians Losers- Indians
10. Siege of Alesia= Victor- Romans Losers- Gauls
11. Battle of Gregovia= Victor- Gauls Loser- Romans
12. Battle of Zama= Victor- Gauls Losers- Romans


*These battles are not in order

Welcome!!!

Welcome, to the Eternal Warfare. In this blog I talk about Great wars and the best strategies of generals throughout history, from BC to AD. From the Ancient to the Modern World all will be considered.