Hannibal’s strategies during the second Carthaginian War with Rome and his ultimate goal of Roman subjugation
Sean Alexander Gentry
University of Nottingham: PhD Dissertation (2002)
Abstract
After the Battle of Cannae, Hannibal retired to the confines of his camp to celebrate the greatest defeat the Romans had ever suffered, and as the future would hold, anyone would suffer. “Hannibal’s officers crowded round him with congratulations on his victory. The others all advised him, now that he had brought so great a war to a conclusion, to repose and allow his weary soldiers to rest for the remainder of that day and the following night. But Maharbal, the commander of the cavalry, held that no time should be lost. ‘Nay, ‘ he cried, ‘that you may realize what has been accomplished by this battle, in five days you shall banquet in the Capitol!
Follow after, I Will precede you with the cavalry, that the Romans may know that you are there before they know that you are coming! – To Hannibal the idea was too joyous and vast for his mind at once to grasp it. And so, while praising Maharbal’s goodwill, ‘he declared that he must have time to deliberate regarding his advice. Then said Maharbal, ‘In very truth the gods bestow not on the same man all their gifts; you know how to gain a victory, Hannibal;, you know not how to use one. ‘ That day’s delay is generally believed to have saved the City and the empire. “‘
Sean Alexander Gentry
University of Nottingham: PhD Dissertation (2002)
Abstract
After the Battle of Cannae, Hannibal retired to the confines of his camp to celebrate the greatest defeat the Romans had ever suffered, and as the future would hold, anyone would suffer. “Hannibal’s officers crowded round him with congratulations on his victory. The others all advised him, now that he had brought so great a war to a conclusion, to repose and allow his weary soldiers to rest for the remainder of that day and the following night. But Maharbal, the commander of the cavalry, held that no time should be lost. ‘Nay, ‘ he cried, ‘that you may realize what has been accomplished by this battle, in five days you shall banquet in the Capitol!
Follow after, I Will precede you with the cavalry, that the Romans may know that you are there before they know that you are coming! – To Hannibal the idea was too joyous and vast for his mind at once to grasp it. And so, while praising Maharbal’s goodwill, ‘he declared that he must have time to deliberate regarding his advice. Then said Maharbal, ‘In very truth the gods bestow not on the same man all their gifts; you know how to gain a victory, Hannibal;, you know not how to use one. ‘ That day’s delay is generally believed to have saved the City and the empire. “‘
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