BC230-211 Great Walls and Hannibal's Elephants
In the twenty years from 230-211 BC there were two amazing events. The Chinese started building the Great Wall of China and Hannibal of Carthage (pictured) crossed the Alps with elephants.
It was a period that saw the start of two wars -- the Second Punic War started in 218 BC and the First Macedonian war started in 215.
In 221 BC Hannibal, the son of Hamilcar Barca, attacked Saguntum in Spain, a city allied to Rome, precipitating the Second Punic War. The war had three prongs. Italy, Spain and Sicily.
Hannibal's crossing of the Alps caused him to lose many men and war elephants. He surprised the Romans by invading Italy from the north. Leading a large army of mercenaries composed mainly of Gauls, Hispanics, Numidians, Hannibal defeated the Roman army in several battles -- spectacularly at the Battle of Cannae -- but he never achieved his ultimate goal -- breaking the link between Rome and its allies.
Hasdrubal, Hannibal's younger brother, was in charge of Spain. He defended the Carthaginian colonial cities in Spain against Publius Cornelius Scipio Africanus -- a young Roman commander --and attempted to bring his mercenary army into Italy to reinforce Hannibal, but was utterly defeated and killed at the decisive Battle of the Metaurus before he could do so.
In Sicily, where the Romans held military supremacy, the third war arena went badly and finally the war was taken to Africa.
While contending with Hannibal in Italy, and his brother in Spain, Rome became embroiled in yet another war. The First Macedonian War started in 215 BC and came about when Philip V of Macedon allied himself with Hannibal.
Rome dispatched forces across the Adriatic and -- aided by allies from the Aetolian League and Pergamon -- skirmished with Macedonian forces and seized minor territory along the Adriatic coastline. Rome was simply displaying a show of force to discourage Macedon or any of the Greek city-states from allying with Carthage.
The First Macedonian War ended indecisively in 202 BC with the Treaty of Phoenice.
It was a period that saw the start of two wars -- the Second Punic War started in 218 BC and the First Macedonian war started in 215.
In 221 BC Hannibal, the son of Hamilcar Barca, attacked Saguntum in Spain, a city allied to Rome, precipitating the Second Punic War. The war had three prongs. Italy, Spain and Sicily.
Hannibal's crossing of the Alps caused him to lose many men and war elephants. He surprised the Romans by invading Italy from the north. Leading a large army of mercenaries composed mainly of Gauls, Hispanics, Numidians, Hannibal defeated the Roman army in several battles -- spectacularly at the Battle of Cannae -- but he never achieved his ultimate goal -- breaking the link between Rome and its allies.
Hasdrubal, Hannibal's younger brother, was in charge of Spain. He defended the Carthaginian colonial cities in Spain against Publius Cornelius Scipio Africanus -- a young Roman commander --and attempted to bring his mercenary army into Italy to reinforce Hannibal, but was utterly defeated and killed at the decisive Battle of the Metaurus before he could do so.
In Sicily, where the Romans held military supremacy, the third war arena went badly and finally the war was taken to Africa.
While contending with Hannibal in Italy, and his brother in Spain, Rome became embroiled in yet another war. The First Macedonian War started in 215 BC and came about when Philip V of Macedon allied himself with Hannibal.
Rome dispatched forces across the Adriatic and -- aided by allies from the Aetolian League and Pergamon -- skirmished with Macedonian forces and seized minor territory along the Adriatic coastline. Rome was simply displaying a show of force to discourage Macedon or any of the Greek city-states from allying with Carthage.
The First Macedonian War ended indecisively in 202 BC with the Treaty of Phoenice.
Labels: battle of cannae, bc230, elephants, great wall of china, hamilcar barca, hannibal, hasdrubal
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