The dust settles on the now silent grounds, unveiling a scene of horror. What the Carthaginians observe is so gruesome it is forever branded in their memory. They stare in quiet disbelief at the quagmire of distorted, mangled corpses sprawled before them. Tens of thousands of bodies litter the plains of Cannae. No human has ever gazed upon so much death. The soil underneath them is coated in a ghastly mishmash of blood and flesh. To an observer it would look as if all of Italy has been slain. The War between Carthage and Rome reaches its summit.

The Carthaginian army has seen the grim aftermath of a lopsided victory before. But never to this magnitude. The sea of carnage disturbs the men. They cannot bring themselves to celebrate their greatest feat. When they listen closely they hear the sounds of tormented groans and pleas for help. It comes from the few felled Romans who survived the day’s slaughter. The Carthaginians trudge through the dead and cut down those unfortunate souls. Their cries are heard no more. There is no love shared between Carthage and Rome.

There has never been a battle in the history of warfare before or since that has killed more men in a single day. The man responsible for this grim achievement now ponders his next move. It is unclear what the 31-year-old Hannibal Barca makes of the mass butchery he has inflicted on the now deceased Roman army.

But one thing is clear to him. This day marks a turning point. Rome will not continue the war effort once they learn what transpired on this day, August 2, 216 BC. Hannibal is only a week’s march from the city gates. Rome will enter peace talks. He’s certain that will be their next move. After today, no Roman army will ever want to face him again. Perhaps the Carthaginian commander is already envisioning his army sailing home. If what happened today cements the final chapter of the war between Carthage and Rome then Hannibal could be dining in his home city Carthage the following year.

Hannibal, ever the shrewd leader of opposition against Roman power and strength, understands his place in history. He is convinced that the earth shattering defeat at Cannae will alter the course of the second conflict fought between his people and Rome. And to that end, he is correct. But the future Hannibal believes he has forged is not the one that will unfold. By securing the most impressive military triumph in history, Hannibal has also secured his own doom.

This is the story of a man who dedicated his life to serve his country, to honor his father and to vanquish his sworn enemy. His genius in battle marks him as one of the greatest generals to ever live. His military exploits elevates his status to that of a legend. Napoleon Bonaparte will sing praise to the Carthaginian, 2 thousand years after his death. Hannibal’s blend of guile, unorthodox methods, innovative tactics and ruthless efficiency in battle forever changes how wars are fought. He made the world’s largest empire tremble. His role entangles Rome and Carthage into a war for the ages. No single person ever comes closer to bringing Rome to its knees. But in the end Hannibal’s lifelong goal to rid the world of Rome ends in failure.

This is the life of Hannibal Barca, the terror of Rome.

“For steadfastness of purpose, for organizing capacity and a mastery of military science he has perhaps never had an equal.”

• Encyclopedia Brittanica

“Rise some avenger our Libyan blood
With fire and sword purse the perjured brood.
Our arms, our seas, our shores, opposed to theirs
And the same hate descend on all our heirs“

• Dido, Virgil’s Aenead (10 BC)

Our story begins with the rise of two powerful nations each seeking to dominate the western half of the Mediterranean. The city of Carthage sits on the coast of Tunisia, near the modern city of Tunis. Rome is nestled between the western edge of the Apennine Mountains and the Tyrrhenian Sea. Ancient Phoenicians from the city of Tyre founded Carthage around 814 BC. Tyre is an island city off the coast of modern day Lebanon. It served as the Phoenician capital in antiquity. Historians trace the birth of Rome to about 753 BC.

Each city has its own creation story rooted in myth. Legend tells of an ancient princess named Dido who ruled Tyre alongside her husband the high priest. Misfortune befalls the princess when her wicked brother Pygmalion kills her husband and usurps the throne. The panicked princess and a caravan of loyal followers flee the city and traverse the plains of Northern Africa until they arrive at Tunisia. Dido founds the city which she names Carthage and rules as its Queen.

Virgil’s epic masterpiece The Aenead adds to this origin story. Virgil writes of Aeneas. A refugee who survives the desolation of Troy by the ancient Greeks. Aeneas leads the few remaining survivors west across the Mediterranean. During his journey he arrives at the gates of Carthage and receives a royal welcome from the queen. Eventually Aeneas and Dido fall in love. But the Gods warn Aeneas that his adventure does not end here. He must press forward. So Aeneas and his men abandon Carthage. His departure breaks Dido’s heart. Filled with grief and anguish, the queen curses Aeneas, shouting that war and bloodshed will forever tie the future of their people. She then ends her life by falling on a burning pyre. Virgil’s tale ends when Aeneas and his followers disembark on the shores of Italy. They go on to found the city of Rome.

It is a fine tale, but Dido’s iconic curse only exists in Virgil’s work. The famous poet publishes the Aenead 2 centuries after the destruction of Carthage. Its purpose is to construct a narrative promoting the idea that the two empires were always destined to clash.

The Phoenicians establish critical trading sectors across the southern Mediterranean. They raise cities and trading hubs in North Africa, Sicily, Sardinia, Malta, the Atlantic coast and even Spain. Carthage begins as one of these many trading centers. Tin, iron, silver and lead are the most valued goods flowing into the city. Carthage becomes a sprawling epicenter of trade due to its centralized location and proximity to the sea. By the 3rd century BC it develops into the largest and wealthiest metropolis in the Mediterranean.

It is a thriving, multicultural hub. The assortment of people traveling to the city brings Hellenism with them. The Carthaginians embrace Greek philosophy, art and science. At the outset of the 3rd century BC it is a much more impressive city than Rome. Given its easy access to the sea, Carthage constructs a navy so powerful it is unmatched in Mediterranean waters. They use their ships to expand their presence to Spain, Portugal, Sicily and Sardinia.

Kings ruled Carthage in its formative years but eventually the city evolves from a single ruler to an oligarchy. Prominent families, including Hannibal’s facilitate all political, financial and military decisions. But Carthage is also a Republic in the sense that its citizens have access to some participation in the electorate. Aristotle once visited the ancient city and spoke highly of its political institutions. He considered them more advanced than many city states in Greece. The Carthaginians have their own religion and gods, but later on the influence of Hellenism marks a a shift toward the embrace of classic Greek Gods.

According to legend, two brothers, demigods in fact, found the great city of Rome on the River Tiber. Their names are Romulus and Remus. A feud over who gets to rule the city severs their bond and Romulus kills Remus. This tale perfectly symbolizes how deeply ingrained violence and the propensity for warfare are in the Roman ethos.

Like their hated foe, Rome also begins as a city governed by kings. That is until 509 BC when their last king causes so much turmoil that the political class expels him from the city gates, never to return. Rome transitions into a republic. Their political structure consists of a legislative body with two proconsuls at the helm. Each proconsul serves for one year and then the Romans elect a new pair. As the Roman republic grows so does its appetite for expansion and conquest. First they envelope their closest neighbors. Then they consume the rest of Italy. They owe their strength to their formidable land army. By the outset of the first Punic War the Romans are the most feared land army in the Mediterranean. Hellenistic culture also trickles into the city, but Rome at this time is neither as distinguished nor as affluent as its North African Rival.

Very few paid attention to the goings on of the western half of Hellenistic world during the first centuries of Carthage and Rome’s rise. They ascend in relative silence. The eyes of the world turn mainly to Greece who come to prominence when they survive the Persian onslaught and win the war for their lives in the 5th century BC. However peace time does not last very long and the Greek city states turn on each other. Athens and Sparta declare war on each other. Just about every Greek polis becomes entangled in the war that lasts for decades.

Sparta defeats Athens but the fighting causes so much devastation that all of Greece suffers in the aftermath. By 404 BC Greece begins sliding into political and economic decline. However the opposite can be said for Greek culture. The era of Greek enlightenment flourishes and when Alexander the Great conquers much of the known world in the mid 300’s BC he carries Greek Hellenism with him.

Alexander’s conquests make him a legend during his own lifetime. He is young, brash, bold, and brilliant. His head full of Greek philosophy and science. He fancies himself a son of Zeus and therefore thinks himself immortal. He and his Macedonian phalanx bludgeon their way from Europe to the jungles of India. Everything in between falls under his tutelage. Alexander never knows defeat in battle due to his astonishing intellect, his ability to think outside the box and outsmart his much older and more experienced opponents.

When he dies in 323 BC he is only 32 years old. Alexander’s generals are left to pick up the pieces of this vast empire which they soon learn is standing on very shaky ground. Alexander imposes no system or structure of governance over his new empire before his passing. He was at heart an explorer and a conqueror. He had no patience for governing. So he never considers that not drafting a plan to oversee these immense, culturally and politically diverse territories that span 3 continents will cause major problems.

Almost minutes after Alexander’s death his empire is dismembered as his top generals clash over how the land should be divvied. They do not come to a diplomatic solution and Alexander’s body is still cold when they start tearing at each other’s throats. The war of Alexander’s successors lasts for 40 years. The conflict ends around 280 BC.

The Diadochi war, as it’s known today, and its fallout grips the known world. It blinds them to the bustling activity happening in the western Mediterranean. No one believes that the greatest empire the world will ever know is coming into its own. No one predicts the horror and bloodshed that is about to light the western half of the known world on fire. Carthage and Rome do not register on most people’s radar. By 264 BC Rome and Carthage are the two largest empires in that region. And they are about to engage in one of the deadliest series of wars ever fought. Amid the chaos, one man will rise and change warfare forever. He will be seen by his enemies as this era’s Alexander the Great.

Continued in Part 2…

Timeline

814 BC – City of Carthage founded

753 BC – City of Rome founded

509 BC – Rome becomes a republic

499 – 449 BC – Greco-Persian Wars

431 – 404 BC – Peloponnesian Wars (between Athens and Sparta)

334 BC – Alexander the Great begins conquest of the Persian Empire

323 BC – Alexander the Great dies

321 – 280 BC – The Diadochi Wars, or the War of Alexander’s Successors

264 BC – The First Punic War between Rome and Carthage begins

If you want to learn more about Hannibal Barca check out Titus Livius Livy’s famous book covering Rome’s war with Hannibal. Livy was a famous Roman Historian who published Rome’s entire history up to his life one large volume. His book Hannibal’s War with Rome is an excerpt that is sold as a separate book.

Want more history? Check out my other blog posts right here!