Hannibal Barca lived
from 247 to 183 BCE. And if you've heard
of him, you probably think of him as the guy who rode
several elephants into Italy. However, there is a lot
more to Hannibal's life than his fabled
crossing of the Alps. Today, we're going
to look at some facts about the ancient military
genius Hannibal Barca that you didn't learn in school. But before we get started, be
sure to subscribe to the Weird History channel and let us
know in the comments below what other famous historical figures
you would like to hear about. OK. I love it when a Weird
History video comes together. Hamilcar might sound like
something Harry Hamlin drives around in, but it was actually
the name of Hannibal's father, Hamilcar Barca, who was a great
general during the First Punic War. Also known as Barcus, Hamilcar
fought on the side of Carthage against Rome in the 240s BCE. Though he never lost
a battle himself, Carthage ultimately lost
the battles over Sicily. Hamilcar was in poor spirits
when he returned home to his young son,
Hannibal, and when he looked at the
young boy, he saw what so many fathers
see in their sons- an opportunity to get
revenge on his enemies. From that point on, he
raised Hannibal to be both a great general and
the sworn enemy of Rome. After the First Punic War,
which took place from about 264 to 241 BCE, Hamilcar
Barca wasn't quite ready to give up just
because Carthage surrendered. The crux of his plan was
to take his troops over to Spain, where Carthage had
well-established colonies. Once there, he would draw
upon Spanish manpower to build a new army
capable of destroying Rome. At this point, Hannibal
was just a plucky young man who begged his dad to
go to work with him. Hamilcar obliged, but only
after his son allegedly swore over an altar
in the Temple of Baal that he would always
be the enemy of Rome. And it was at least
something they could share. Young Hannibal was off to
war and spent his remaining childhood in Spain. Hannibal became as Spanish
as he was Carthaginian, if not more so. Hamilcar was slain
in battle when Hannibal was 20 which put
his brother-in-law, General Hasdrubal, in
charge of the army. When Hasdrubal was killed
about five years later, Hannibal, at just 25 years
old, was named the leader of the Carthaginian army. Although he was young, Hannibal
was well respected by his army. He was known for having a
relatively peaceful tenure and the diverse group of
men he led never attempted to overthrow him. He was also kind to the animals,
like elephants and horses, that he used in battle. A sling is basically
just a rope that was used to hurl
a rock at enemies, but its effectiveness
shouldn't be underestimated. After all, it is the weapon
that David used to slay Goliath. More importantly, the
most skilled slingers were more accurate and had
greater range than their archer counterparts, making
them a crucial part of any ancient army. Hannibal, in
particular, used them to great effect in his
battles against the Romans. The most skilled slingers
in the ancient world were from the Balearic Islands,
in the Western Mediterranean. Trained from childhood,
Balearic slingers wore a spare sling
as a headband, carried a pouch of
missiles on their side, and utilized three
different sizes of slings for different ranges. When Hannibal marched on Italy,
he brought at least 1,000 of these Balearic
slingers with him. Having a greater range
than their Roman archer counterparts, they proved
much more effective at bothering the enemy in
the opening salvos of battle. Getting from Spain
to Italy involved traveling through the
territory of the Gauls, who were Celtic tribes that were
typically less than friendly. Before he began
his march, Hannibal had sent envoys to the tribes
to try and win them over. They had some success,
including a potential alliance with the Boii and Insubres
of the Po River Valley in Northern Italy. In Western Gaul, which
is today Southern France, things didn't go quite
as well and the presence of Hannibal's massive army was
not welcomed by the locals. Hannibal assembled
the chieftains and won them over with gifts,
allowing his team mostly safe passage to the Rhone River. It was there that he encountered
his first resistance. The Volcae tribe had assembled
to meet him on the Eastern banks, but Hannibal was
able to use superior tactics to route them. But he wasn't in the clear yet. Hannibal's team met
resistance in the Alps from the powerful
Allobroges Celts. During the first
battle, Hannibal noticed the Allobroges
only occupied their outpost during the day, and returned
to their villages at night. He sent his troops
under cover of darkness to occupy the outposts
and ambush the Celts when they arrived in the morning. The Allobroges would later
set own ambush using guides from a neighboring
tribe that pretended to ally with Hannibal. Suspicious of the guides,
Hannibal put his cavalry and baggage at the
front of the column, which largely managed to slip
past the ambush Hannibal's infantry was engaged
in some heavy fighting, with boulders being hurled
down on them from above, but they too managed
to get through. After that,
Hannibal's main enemy would be the Alps themselves,
until he reached Italian soil. When Hannibal arrived
in northern Italy with a massive army and
battle ready elephants, he looked like he was ready
to kick some serious ass. And since everyone likes to
get with the winning team, the Gallic tribes of the area,
namely the Boii and Insubres, decided they would join up
with the Carthaginian army. It wasn't really a
huge change for them, they hated Rome
anyway, so this likely just looked like
a good opportunity to get out from under
the Roman jackboot. The Gauls were a big
get for Hannibal. Despite being defeated by
Rome just a few years earlier, they had a reputation for
being fearsome warriors. And they weren't the only
ones to jump on board. The more Hannibal won, the
more Gallic tribes joined him. Publius Cornelius Scipio was
consul of the Roman army, and though no one
knew it at the time, the father of the man who would
ultimately defeat Hannibal. He allegedly wanted to beat
Hannibal and get the war over with, so at the
Battle of Ticinius, he charged in with his cavalry. It turned out to
be a stupid move, and it ultimately
led to his defeat at the hands of the
Carthaginian forces. During the battle, Scipio
was gravely wounded. And he only made it out alive
because his son, also named Scipio, rushed out with a few
other cavalrymen to save him. This would be the
first of three crushing Roman defeats that the
son, Scipio Africanus, was believed to have
participated in as a soldier. When the Roman army
approached Cannae, it outnumbered Hannibal's
troops 2 to 1 or roughly 80,000 to 40,000. If Hannibal was going
to win this fight, it was going to take an act of
military genius, which luckily, he was. The Carthaginian army
deployed in a crescent shape facing the Romans. Using their superior
cavalry, the Carthaginians then routed the Roman
cavalry on both wings. Meanwhile, the
Roman infantry was drawn into the center
of the crescent, which gradually gave ground. The reserves on the
wings of the crescent then advanced, surrounding
the Romans on three sides. The Carthaginian cavalry
returned, flanking the Romans and surrounding them. Facing enemies on all sides,
the Romans fell into disarray and were crushed. By the end of the day, between
50,000 and 70,000 Romans were slain. About 1,000 more were
wounded or taken prisoner, bringing the casualty
rates up to over 80%. It remains one of the
bloodiest days in the history of ancient warfare. Comparatively, the Carthaginians
lost about 6,000 men. Hannibal's mistake that
ultimately cost him victory in the Second Punic
War, was a strategic one, rather than a tactical error. Instead of marching
on Rome immediately after the victory at Cannae,
he rested his troops. Granted, they needed
it, and by all the rules of ancient warfare, the Romans
were expected to surrender. But, they didn't. Hannibal's cavalry
commander Maharbal famously told Hannibal that he
knew how to win a victory, but he didn't know
how to exploit it. Hannibal had expected the
Southern tribes of Italy to defect after such a crushing
victory, and the Romans to pursue peace. Instead, Rome mobilized
to defend the city, and without siege
engines, Hannibal was unable to move on the city. People really liked
Hannibal in Carthage. They eventually
appointed him as Suffete, which was the top official
position in the city. He instituted constitutional
reforms, including creating term limits, and worked
hard to root out corruption within the government. Predictably, this seriously
angered the aristocracy, who had a good racket going
before Hannibal came along. So, they called up
Rome, and told them that Hannibal was planning on
getting a new army by aligning with Selucid King
Antiochus the third, and invading Italy again. So the Romans sent troops
to arrest Hannibal. Hannibal predicted this
move, so he ended up fleeing to the territory of
Antiochus, looking for support. He got it, but he ended
up with a minor navy instead of an army. He did use that navy
to fight against Rome, but he was defeated. After he was chased
out of Carthage, Hannibal found a
second chance to fight Rome in 184 BCE, this
time as an Admiral. He eventually ended
up taking refuge with Prusias I of
Bithynia, who at the time was at war with a Roman
ally, Eumenes II of Pergamon. With his navy
outnumbered, Hannibal decided to use the
rather strange tactic of poisonous snakes in battle. He instructed his men to
gather as many poisonous snakes as they could find,
and put them in pots. Using a ploy, Hannibal
was able to determine which ship had Eumenes on it. Hannibal then
proceeded to catapult the jars of poisonous
snakes onto the said ship. With their enemies confused
and covered in snakes, Hannibal's navy went
on to win the battle. Once Rome started
chasing Hannibal however, they became determined
to put an end to him. At the time,
Hannibal was fighting for Bithynia, whose King
gave Hannibal's location to the Romans. The Romans surrounded
the house, and seeing that there was no
way out, Hannibal decided to ingest poison
rather than be captured. He is purported
to have said, "Let us put an end to this life,
which has caused so much dread to the Romans." So what do you think? What's most interesting
about Hannibal? Let us know in the comments
below, and while you're at it, check out some of these other
videos from our Weird History.
