Characteristics Of Hannibal Bacra

Hannibal Bacra was no ordinary man. He was born in the year 247BC and was the son of Hamilcar Bacra he had two brothers Hasdrubal II and Mago. Born in Carthage, Rome’s arch enemy of the day, It was from an early age that he became a warrior when he swore an oath to forever hate Rome. Hannibal would later become the greatest general ever known. Hannibal had three characteristics that made him stand out. He was willing to do anything to destroy his enemy; he had exceptional strategic skill, and was feared by everyone, including Rome, the largest superpower of the day.
Hannibal was willing to do anything to destroy his enemy, the Romans in this case. From an early age, Hannibal had been groomed to have a deep hatred for Romans due to his upbringing …show more content…
When Hannibal asked him to explain himself, he said that he must teach his troops to eat human flesh and accustom them to this…Hannibal had nothing to say against the boldness and usefulness of this suggestion” (Poly p.61). Hannibal knew that when he crossed the Alps it would be a feat never before achieved or even attempted. It would require desperate measures when the going got tough and if need be, cannibalism. In the Alps there would be no food, it would be cold, the passage would be narrow, and the convoy would suffer frequent raids by the Gaul’s (early German people), and yet it was the way to destroy Rome and that meant it was the way Hannibal was going. While Hannibal was marching his army through Spain, a number of his troops began to doubt the safety of the plan and refused to march. Instead of killing them as any general of the past would have done which would set a bad example and lower the morale of the entire army. “Instead he dismissed more than seven thousands of those who reliability he mistrusted and proceeded with his army now reduced to fifty thousand men in the infantry nine thousand cavalry and 37 elephants” (de Beer P.120-121). Seven thousand men is a significant amount of troops in this time period and would affect his …show more content…
During his exploitation of the Italian countryside, he never lost a pitched battle against the Romans. He has been compared to Hitler in regards to his ability utterly decimate his enemy. Hitler drove the British to the edge of defeat at the beginning of world war two something Hannibal did as well during the second Punic war. “And both men enjoyed an initial string of stunning victories that drove their opponents to the very brink of collapse” (Connell P.13). Hannibal was not winning on luck either. His raw talent of strategic ability was often in conditions level with the Romans if not worse “the Carthaginians who had won an unbroken series of victories were at times in equal difficulties with the losers” (Poly P.9). In addition Hannibal was waging a war very different from the wars of the 19th and 20th centuries. He was not doing as much as invading, but more so raiding the Romans in attempt to have the Italian people cast their lot with him. As a result, he was never in friendly territory; he had to be aware at all times where he was and if the current situation was tilted in his favour and realized that no reinforcements were coming. “For this reason we regard Hannibal as being a good General in very many ways. While we should lay special stress on the fact that after spending many years in hostile territory…. Worsened the enemy” (Poly P.205). By far and away Hannibal’s greatest strategic