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Would you like to inspect the original subtitles? These are the user uploaded subtitles that are being translated: 1 00:00:01,360 --> 00:00:04,280 Hannibal battles his way across the frozen Alps, 2 00:00:04,320 --> 00:00:11,300 bloodies the ground with tens of thousands of Rome's 3 00:00:11,300 --> 00:00:16,940 fiercest warriors, and makes military history on a battlefield where he 4 00:00:16,940 --> 00:00:19,640 slaughters 70 ,000 men in one day. 5 00:00:21,680 --> 00:00:23,200 Hannibal is a killer. 6 00:00:25,480 --> 00:00:27,440 Hannibal is a conqueror. 7 00:00:32,400 --> 00:00:34,480 Hannibal is the annihilator. 8 00:00:52,620 --> 00:00:55,200 The year, 219 BC. 9 00:00:55,480 --> 00:01:01,600 The man, Hannibal Barca of Carthage. One of history's greatest... and deadly as 10 00:01:01,600 --> 00:01:02,600 generals. 11 00:01:03,180 --> 00:01:07,800 Hannibal burns the Roman town of Saguntum to the ground. These smoldering 12 00:01:07,800 --> 00:01:12,200 are just the initial sparks of the raging inferno that will soon engulf 13 00:01:12,200 --> 00:01:17,000 as Hannibal the Annihilator launches a bloody reign of vengeance aimed to crush 14 00:01:17,000 --> 00:01:18,000 mighty Rome. 15 00:01:20,700 --> 00:01:24,420 Hannibal's home of Carthage is a commercial beacon on the northern coast 16 00:01:24,420 --> 00:01:28,760 Africa. Their trade and military influence reverberates throughout the 17 00:01:28,760 --> 00:01:29,760 Mediterranean. 18 00:01:30,320 --> 00:01:34,600 They traded far and wide, as far off to the eastern Mediterranean. There's even 19 00:01:34,600 --> 00:01:38,900 some evidence that they traded as far west through the Straits of Gibraltar to 20 00:01:38,900 --> 00:01:39,900 England. 21 00:01:40,320 --> 00:01:43,220 400 short miles from Carthage is Rome. 22 00:01:43,560 --> 00:01:48,140 Though not yet the colossal empire they will become, their military might 23 00:01:48,140 --> 00:01:50,920 threaten Carthaginian commercial dominance in the region. 24 00:01:51,780 --> 00:01:55,900 The Romans are very much a warlike imperial people. 25 00:01:56,220 --> 00:01:59,380 They're not an empire yet, but you could definitely see this republic. 26 00:02:00,060 --> 00:02:01,700 starting to expand its borders. 27 00:02:02,060 --> 00:02:07,080 It was only a matter of time before Rome and Carthage bumped into one another. 28 00:02:07,960 --> 00:02:12,340 Hannibal's personal and brutal destruction of Saguntum is a bloody 29 00:02:12,580 --> 00:02:17,800 hand -delivered to Rome, inviting them to join his deadly game of butchery and 30 00:02:17,800 --> 00:02:23,000 annihilation. The siege of Saguntum lasted eight months as far as we know. 31 00:02:24,990 --> 00:02:28,410 pretty much lacking in detail from a historical perspective. What we do know, 32 00:02:28,430 --> 00:02:32,950 however, is that once the walls were breached and Carthaginian troops went 33 00:02:32,970 --> 00:02:37,110 they went house to house and hunted down almost all of the Roman families, 34 00:02:37,150 --> 00:02:42,110 killed the Roman males, and sold the women and children into slavery. 35 00:02:43,510 --> 00:02:48,190 Through the smoke and stench of scorched earth and torched Roman corpses comes 36 00:02:48,190 --> 00:02:51,930 Rome's response, capture Hannibal and crucify him. 37 00:02:53,840 --> 00:02:57,600 It's a very famous scene by the Greek historian Polybius where the Roman 38 00:02:57,600 --> 00:03:03,100 ambassador grabs his toga, a fold in each hand, and says, Rome offers you 39 00:03:03,100 --> 00:03:04,100 or war. 40 00:03:04,480 --> 00:03:06,780 Choose. It matters not to Rome. 41 00:03:08,040 --> 00:03:11,020 Hannibal and the Carthaginians gladly choose to fight. 42 00:03:11,740 --> 00:03:15,880 It is war, the seeds of which were planted nearly half a century earlier. 43 00:03:17,620 --> 00:03:21,950 Then... Carthage and Rome bloodied the Mediterranean Sea in what is called the 44 00:03:21,950 --> 00:03:25,990 First Punic War, named for the Latin term for Carthage, Punica. 45 00:03:27,070 --> 00:03:33,910 400 ,000 casualties, almost 15 % of the military manpower of the entire country 46 00:03:33,910 --> 00:03:37,090 of Italy was lost in that war. It was a terribly bloody war. 47 00:03:37,450 --> 00:03:42,670 The war eventually ends in a military draw, but for Carthage, the peace treaty 48 00:03:42,670 --> 00:03:44,010 is especially costly. 49 00:03:44,810 --> 00:03:48,710 Part of the deal they make with Rome is that Carthage will limit their navy to a 50 00:03:48,710 --> 00:03:52,110 hundred ships. This is pretty crippling to an empire that was a naval and 51 00:03:52,110 --> 00:03:53,150 commercial trading power. 52 00:03:54,050 --> 00:03:58,690 With most of their commercial fleet gone and their pockets empty, Carthage uses 53 00:03:58,690 --> 00:04:01,450 its military power to exploit the riches of Spain. 54 00:04:03,310 --> 00:04:08,410 Turns out that Spain's got vast silver mines, and the Carthaginians quickly 55 00:04:08,410 --> 00:04:10,890 a hold on them and amass a fortune. 56 00:04:11,660 --> 00:04:15,840 They decided to build up their land defenses instead of their navy, which 57 00:04:15,840 --> 00:04:17,920 been pretty much depleted in the First Punic War. 58 00:04:19,620 --> 00:04:23,820 Hannibal's father, Hamilcar Barca, one of Carthage's most accomplished and 59 00:04:23,820 --> 00:04:26,300 battle -hardened men, lead the army into Spain. 60 00:04:27,340 --> 00:04:34,260 Now, Hamilcar Barca is the founder of a great military dynasty in Carthage 61 00:04:34,260 --> 00:04:38,140 called the Barsids, after the name Barca. And he really hated the Romans. 62 00:04:39,050 --> 00:04:43,170 Young Hannibal is immersed in a violent and bloody world as he watches his 63 00:04:43,170 --> 00:04:47,610 father, teacher, and role model engage in fiercely brutal combat. 64 00:04:48,550 --> 00:04:54,390 Hannibal is only nine when Hamilcar takes over Spain, so he essentially 65 00:04:54,390 --> 00:04:55,390 on the battlefield. 66 00:04:55,810 --> 00:05:00,470 Hamilcar provides young Hannibal with a hands -on education in brutality and 67 00:05:00,470 --> 00:05:02,850 warfare. By the time he's 19... 68 00:05:03,240 --> 00:05:07,700 His whole life has been in a military camp, and here he watches his father and 69 00:05:07,700 --> 00:05:10,760 other general officers and learns how to command men. 70 00:05:11,640 --> 00:05:15,920 Hannibal learns that to build an army of loyal fighters willing to march by his 71 00:05:15,920 --> 00:05:19,620 side into the horrors of war, he must sometimes punish his own. 72 00:05:20,800 --> 00:05:25,860 If a Carthaginian officer fails in battle, he is crucified in the public 73 00:05:27,900 --> 00:05:30,080 Carthaginian rule in Spain is downright cruel. 74 00:05:30,560 --> 00:05:33,540 It's based on fire, sword, and crucifixion. 75 00:05:34,120 --> 00:05:38,740 But Hannibal also motivates his men by sleeping where they sleep, eating what 76 00:05:38,740 --> 00:05:44,040 they eat, and fighting where they fight. They obediently follow his words, his 77 00:05:44,040 --> 00:05:48,780 sword, and his deep -seated desire for revenge against Rome, which he inherits 78 00:05:48,780 --> 00:05:49,780 from his father. 79 00:05:50,200 --> 00:05:52,500 But Hamilcar will never taste revenge. 80 00:05:52,880 --> 00:05:58,540 In 228 BC, he dies suddenly. Some say assassinated. 81 00:05:59,430 --> 00:06:05,090 His place is taken by his son -in -law, called Hasdrubrul the Splendid, who 82 00:06:05,090 --> 00:06:09,210 continues on again for about another six years, building Carthaginian power, 83 00:06:09,350 --> 00:06:10,590 increasing its scope. 84 00:06:10,930 --> 00:06:13,130 And then finally he's assassinated too. 85 00:06:14,030 --> 00:06:18,630 And there's some question historically of whether or not Hannibal had a hand in 86 00:06:18,630 --> 00:06:19,589 this. 87 00:06:19,590 --> 00:06:25,250 It is finally Hannibal's hour. He is only 26 years old, but commands the 88 00:06:25,250 --> 00:06:26,470 Carthaginian army. 89 00:06:27,720 --> 00:06:33,480 But he is fierce, battle -tested, and driven. 90 00:06:35,260 --> 00:06:40,180 Legend has it that Hamilcar made the young Hannibal swear an oath on the 91 00:06:40,180 --> 00:06:44,380 of Baal that he would spend his life in opposing and then ultimately destroying 92 00:06:44,380 --> 00:06:45,380 Rome. 93 00:06:46,020 --> 00:06:51,800 In 219 BC, with his father's hunger for revenge burning inside him, and with 94 00:06:51,800 --> 00:06:55,320 Saguntum aflame, Hannibal launches his attack against Rome. 95 00:06:56,030 --> 00:06:57,850 The Second Punic War is on. 96 00:06:59,290 --> 00:07:02,770 Hannibal amasses a strike force of about 50 ,000 soldiers. 97 00:07:03,650 --> 00:07:08,050 But because he has no navy, he's got to invade Italy by land. 98 00:07:08,730 --> 00:07:13,570 Hannibal's on the move. From Spain, he leads his fighting force of about 50 99 00:07:13,570 --> 00:07:16,590 north along the Mediterranean coast toward Rome. 100 00:07:16,790 --> 00:07:21,750 A grueling two and a half months later, an exhausted but battle -ready Hannibal 101 00:07:21,750 --> 00:07:23,130 reaches the Rhone River. 102 00:07:23,710 --> 00:07:27,450 But Hannibal is shocked to discover the Romans had caught wind of the advance 103 00:07:27,450 --> 00:07:29,730 and launched a strike force to intercept. 104 00:07:30,110 --> 00:07:34,530 The Romans had caught wind of Hannibal's movements in Spain, but instead of 105 00:07:34,530 --> 00:07:38,890 heading directly to Spain, they were smart. They looked at a map, figured out 106 00:07:38,890 --> 00:07:42,610 where Hannibal was going to march, and tried to block the land route to the 107 00:07:42,610 --> 00:07:44,830 Italian peninsula on the coast of the Mediterranean. 108 00:07:46,050 --> 00:07:51,070 It is the great military Roman general Publius Cornelius Scipio who leads the 109 00:07:51,070 --> 00:07:52,090 attack against Hannibal. 110 00:07:54,090 --> 00:07:59,430 Scipio's force, 10 ,000 men strong, is in Massilia, a Roman ally on the 111 00:07:59,430 --> 00:08:00,430 Mediterranean coast. 112 00:08:00,890 --> 00:08:05,070 Hannibal's force, five times as large, has crossed the Rhone River. 113 00:08:06,030 --> 00:08:10,330 Scipio sends 300 of his cavalry up the Rhone to find Hannibal. 114 00:08:11,510 --> 00:08:14,970 Hannibal orders 500 cavalry to scout the Roman advance. 115 00:08:15,710 --> 00:08:17,910 The two reconnaissance units collide. 116 00:08:21,320 --> 00:08:24,560 War between Rome and Carthage rages once again. 117 00:08:25,000 --> 00:08:30,180 This is a small skirmish between scouting parties. In this particular 118 00:08:30,180 --> 00:08:34,020 Hannibal's forces take the brunt of the attack and then retreat. 119 00:08:35,220 --> 00:08:37,700 Scipio orders his entire force to follow. 120 00:08:38,620 --> 00:08:42,940 Hannibal knows Scipio is only a few days' march away, and Scipio is a 121 00:08:42,940 --> 00:08:46,480 commander. He should be able to give Hannibal a run for his money. 122 00:08:46,800 --> 00:08:51,490 But when Scipio arrives at the location where Hannibal's army should be, They're 123 00:08:51,490 --> 00:08:55,150 gone. It's as if Hannibal's whole army has vanished into thin air. 124 00:08:55,910 --> 00:08:58,230 Scipio forced Hannibal to change his plan. 125 00:08:58,650 --> 00:09:03,310 Now, instead of marching along the Mediterranean coast to Rome, Hannibal's 126 00:09:03,310 --> 00:09:07,690 attack will come from the north through the Alps. The reason why Hannibal came 127 00:09:07,690 --> 00:09:12,810 by land through Spain and over the Alps was not because it was a great strategic 128 00:09:12,810 --> 00:09:17,610 choice. It was, in fact, the route that was forced upon him by, essentially, 129 00:09:17,890 --> 00:09:21,550 Roman events, by the situation he confronted at the time. 130 00:09:22,380 --> 00:09:25,240 Hannibal reaches the Alps in autumn of 218 BC. 131 00:09:25,580 --> 00:09:30,540 At this altitude, he and his 50 ,000 soldiers face freezing temperatures and 132 00:09:30,540 --> 00:09:32,720 treacherous ice on a narrow rocky terrain. 133 00:09:33,200 --> 00:09:37,660 The men are hungry, their supplies are limited, and he's leading more than just 134 00:09:37,660 --> 00:09:42,240 infantry. He's also leading 9 ,000 cavalry and 37 elephants. 135 00:09:44,040 --> 00:09:47,760 All the major armies had a few elephants in them. When the Greeks fought 136 00:09:47,760 --> 00:09:51,620 Carthage in one of their little skirmishes, the Carthaginians used to 137 00:09:51,620 --> 00:09:55,500 chariots, and they were driven from the battlefield by the elephants, at which 138 00:09:55,500 --> 00:09:59,100 point they said, let's get rid of the chariots and replace them with 139 00:09:59,300 --> 00:10:04,400 And so as a consequence, by the time of the Punic War, Carthage has in her home, 140 00:10:04,420 --> 00:10:09,560 just in her home base, she has 300 trained elephants living in the walls of 141 00:10:09,560 --> 00:10:10,680 city of Carthage. 142 00:10:11,520 --> 00:10:15,200 So that's how you get... elephant introduced in warfare. 143 00:10:15,500 --> 00:10:19,740 The crossing of the Alps with such a large force is a difficult military 144 00:10:19,880 --> 00:10:23,020 For Hannibal and his army, it has horrific consequences. 145 00:10:27,640 --> 00:10:29,620 Men freeze. Men starve. 146 00:10:29,960 --> 00:10:32,680 At one point, a landslide completely blocks their way. 147 00:10:32,880 --> 00:10:34,520 It's absolutely hellish. 148 00:10:34,920 --> 00:10:38,640 Supplies are even running low, and they're not even to the most difficult 149 00:10:38,640 --> 00:10:39,640 of the crossing yet. 150 00:10:40,040 --> 00:10:45,200 Well, They happen upon this Gallic village where the Gauls offer provisions 151 00:10:45,200 --> 00:10:46,200 supplies. 152 00:10:46,340 --> 00:10:51,440 Hannibal accepts the help, but he definitely is suspicious of their 153 00:10:51,440 --> 00:10:55,300 because he knows that sometimes the Gauls are friendly and sometimes they 154 00:10:55,300 --> 00:10:56,300 not. 155 00:10:56,580 --> 00:11:01,120 Hannibal doesn't fully trust the Gauls, but eventually accepts their help. 156 00:11:01,540 --> 00:11:05,540 The Gauls direct Hannibal to a narrow path which leads to a gorge. 157 00:11:06,680 --> 00:11:09,820 Hannibal's original suspicions were right on. 158 00:11:10,840 --> 00:11:12,820 The guide, Thunley Bolt. 159 00:11:18,420 --> 00:11:19,480 It's a trap. 160 00:11:26,480 --> 00:11:27,480 218 BC. 161 00:11:27,880 --> 00:11:32,520 Hannibal leads his Carthaginian army over the treacherous Alps to invade 162 00:11:33,710 --> 00:11:38,370 Along the way, marauding Gauls ambush Hannibal with a barrage of boulders and 163 00:11:38,370 --> 00:11:39,370 arrow fire. 164 00:11:44,010 --> 00:11:47,010 Hannibal encountered different tribes throughout his campaign. 165 00:11:47,650 --> 00:11:53,110 They were mainly Gauls. This is a tribal people who lived in what's now modern 166 00:11:53,110 --> 00:11:54,110 -day France. 167 00:11:54,510 --> 00:11:59,410 They're not a unified people and usually don't ally themselves against a common 168 00:11:59,410 --> 00:12:00,410 enemy. 169 00:12:01,550 --> 00:12:05,590 Sometimes they'll join his war on Rome, and other times they'll attack him. 170 00:12:06,730 --> 00:12:12,750 In this case, the Gauls are out for blood. The gorge turns into a gauntlet 171 00:12:12,750 --> 00:12:13,750 death. 172 00:12:14,110 --> 00:12:18,530 Gauls block both ends of the gorge, but Hannibal's troops fight their way out, 173 00:12:18,650 --> 00:12:20,650 leaving the butchered enemy in their wake. 174 00:12:22,830 --> 00:12:27,930 After some 30 grueling days... Hannibal and his men emerge from the Alps. When 175 00:12:27,930 --> 00:12:31,570 they finally arrive on the northern plains of Italy, nearly a third of 176 00:12:31,570 --> 00:12:33,090 Hannibal's army has perished. 177 00:12:33,830 --> 00:12:38,930 They lose about 18 ,000 infantry, about a third of the cavalry, which would be 178 00:12:38,930 --> 00:12:40,230 maybe 4 ,000 horse. 179 00:12:41,670 --> 00:12:46,810 And, you know, you arrive with, say, 27 elephants, you lose a third of the 180 00:12:46,810 --> 00:12:47,810 elephants. 181 00:12:48,110 --> 00:12:50,870 But Hannibal has always known the crossing would be costly. 182 00:12:51,470 --> 00:12:55,050 From the very beginning of the war, he's had a plan to replenish his forces. 183 00:12:55,250 --> 00:12:57,610 A plan that relied on his elephant. 184 00:12:59,310 --> 00:13:03,070 Part of Hannibal's strategy in crossing the Alps was that he understood that he 185 00:13:03,070 --> 00:13:06,230 didn't have enough manpower to fight the Romans. Therefore, he would have to 186 00:13:06,230 --> 00:13:10,350 acquire it once he got into Italy. How was he going to do that? He was going to 187 00:13:10,350 --> 00:13:15,710 do that by attracting to his standard the Gauls, the Celts and Gauls, who 188 00:13:15,710 --> 00:13:18,690 the Romans because they'd been fighting one another for 500 years, and hopefully 189 00:13:18,690 --> 00:13:21,670 as well get some Roman allied states to defect. 190 00:13:22,150 --> 00:13:27,510 So the reason for bringing the 37 elephants over the Alps was really to 191 00:13:27,790 --> 00:13:32,150 in a political sense, Both the Gauls and the Allied states that this was a 192 00:13:32,150 --> 00:13:33,150 serious army. 193 00:13:33,830 --> 00:13:38,230 Hannibal's elephants thunder into northern Italy. They successfully lure 194 00:13:38,230 --> 00:13:39,810 tribes to the Carthaginian side. 195 00:13:40,590 --> 00:13:45,870 By November 218 BC, Hannibal's numbers swell to nearly 40 ,000. 196 00:13:46,830 --> 00:13:50,950 Rome answers with 40 ,000 of its own soldiers to face Hannibal's threat. 197 00:13:52,910 --> 00:13:57,050 Both armies are now on a collision course that will rock the ancient world 198 00:13:57,050 --> 00:13:58,350 rewrite military history. 199 00:14:00,410 --> 00:14:03,170 The armies of Carthage and Rome couldn't be more different. 200 00:14:03,510 --> 00:14:06,270 Hannibal's men are mercenary soldiers from all over the map. 201 00:14:07,890 --> 00:14:11,730 Hannibal's army is from different parts of the region. Many of the mercenaries, 202 00:14:11,910 --> 00:14:14,350 drawn to his legendary leadership in battle. 203 00:14:15,970 --> 00:14:17,810 The light infantry are from Libya. 204 00:14:18,110 --> 00:14:21,350 These men carry a small round shield and fight. 205 00:14:21,770 --> 00:14:23,030 small sword or gavel. 206 00:14:26,550 --> 00:14:31,210 Heavy infantry are warriors from Gaul, men who run into battle naked, 207 00:14:31,410 --> 00:14:35,150 intimidating their enemies with their deadly two -handed broadswords. 208 00:14:36,330 --> 00:14:39,390 Heavy cavalry is from Spain and northern Europe. 209 00:14:39,810 --> 00:14:45,070 Their weapon of choice is either a bowed sword called a falcata or a deadly 210 00:14:45,070 --> 00:14:46,070 longsword. 211 00:14:46,860 --> 00:14:50,520 Hannibal's ability to orchestrate these different types of forces in a 212 00:14:50,520 --> 00:14:54,300 coordinated attack is what makes him truly a remarkable general. 213 00:14:54,760 --> 00:14:58,440 The Roman army is much different than Hannibal's forces. 214 00:14:58,740 --> 00:15:04,020 Where the Carthaginians are very diverse, the Romans are quite uniform. 215 00:15:05,460 --> 00:15:08,020 Roman soldiers are ablaze in armor. 216 00:15:08,960 --> 00:15:11,020 Bronze helmets protect their heads. 217 00:15:11,600 --> 00:15:15,100 Chain mail or brass breastplates defend their bodies. 218 00:15:15,760 --> 00:15:20,260 Each soldier carries one of history's deadliest throwing spear, the pilum. 219 00:15:23,220 --> 00:15:28,160 That long metal rod was made of soft metal with a hook. When it went through 220 00:15:28,160 --> 00:15:32,540 shield, the weight of the wooden body would bend it. You couldn't take the 221 00:15:32,540 --> 00:15:34,200 pilum. out of the shield. 222 00:15:34,460 --> 00:15:38,700 Now the enemy had a choice of fighting with a shield with a spear stuck into 223 00:15:38,740 --> 00:15:41,920 or what they foolishly did very often is simply throw the shield away. 224 00:15:42,460 --> 00:15:44,740 Not a good move against Roman infantry. 225 00:15:45,560 --> 00:15:50,740 Slaughter also comes in the form of a straight sword forged of iron, ideal for 226 00:15:50,740 --> 00:15:52,180 up -close and personal combat. 227 00:15:56,680 --> 00:16:00,640 Their scutum shield provides almost complete protection from missile attack. 228 00:16:03,290 --> 00:16:07,490 While Hannibal's army is cobbled together, his opponent is a much more 229 00:16:07,490 --> 00:16:08,490 fighting force. 230 00:16:09,070 --> 00:16:12,970 The Roman army was a true national army. They all spoke the same language, they 231 00:16:12,970 --> 00:16:16,310 all had the same equipment, and they were all trained to the same tactic. 232 00:16:16,850 --> 00:16:20,190 But the most significant difference is their style of battle. 233 00:16:21,030 --> 00:16:24,890 So you have this Roman force of highly disciplined citizen soldiers equipped 234 00:16:24,890 --> 00:16:29,010 trained to go straight at the enemy against a group of professionals that 235 00:16:29,010 --> 00:16:30,410 hit you in any number of ways. 236 00:16:31,310 --> 00:16:35,530 At the Tychonis River, these radically different fighting styles clash in a 237 00:16:35,530 --> 00:16:36,530 hurricane of violence. 238 00:16:41,210 --> 00:16:43,430 Headless -like cavalry surround the Romans. 239 00:16:44,290 --> 00:16:47,710 Slash at the Roman cavalry, then back off, then reattach. 240 00:16:50,450 --> 00:16:53,970 It's chaos and confusion, not what the Romans are used to. 241 00:16:54,710 --> 00:17:00,010 The blood of 2 ,000 slain Roman soldiers drenches the ground. It is a shocking 242 00:17:00,010 --> 00:17:01,010 defeat. 243 00:17:02,030 --> 00:17:07,430 The key point about the little skirmish at the Tithonus River was that Publius 244 00:17:07,430 --> 00:17:09,410 Scipio was wounded. 245 00:17:10,010 --> 00:17:15,550 The Romans replaced Scipio with General Sempronius Longus, a strong leader with 246 00:17:15,550 --> 00:17:16,609 an even stronger temper. 247 00:17:17,569 --> 00:17:19,069 Sempronius is a hothead. 248 00:17:19,410 --> 00:17:24,490 He's desperate for glory, and his one -year term as army commander is almost 249 00:17:24,690 --> 00:17:29,870 He's champing at the bit to fight, and Hannibal knows it. Some evidence of 250 00:17:29,870 --> 00:17:34,550 Hannibal's brilliance as a military commander, was the fact that he studied 251 00:17:34,550 --> 00:17:35,650 adversaries closely. 252 00:17:35,910 --> 00:17:38,070 Now, where he got this information isn't clear. 253 00:17:38,630 --> 00:17:43,190 Surely, the number of Roman commanders was relatively small, and so they would 254 00:17:43,190 --> 00:17:47,830 have been well -known. But also, my guess is that the truly excellent 255 00:17:47,830 --> 00:17:51,650 Carthaginian intelligence may have been at work here, so that whenever he was 256 00:17:51,650 --> 00:17:55,110 prepared for battle, he knew who was in command on the other side, and he 257 00:17:55,110 --> 00:17:57,430 studied them closely, knew for strengths and weaknesses. 258 00:17:57,770 --> 00:18:01,210 And in the case of Sempronius, he knew Sempronius well. 259 00:18:01,410 --> 00:18:04,450 He knew he was a hothead, and he played him like a fiddle. 260 00:18:04,870 --> 00:18:09,810 The two enemy armies camp on opposite sides of the Trebia River, about 70 261 00:18:09,810 --> 00:18:10,810 yards apart. 262 00:18:11,250 --> 00:18:16,310 It's not much of an obstacle in a physical sense, but it can become an 263 00:18:16,310 --> 00:18:20,970 when you realize that if you have to cross it, it's November, it's gray, and 264 00:18:20,970 --> 00:18:25,450 it's snowing. And so that's going to be any army that tries to cross that river 265 00:18:25,450 --> 00:18:27,450 under those conditions is going to suffer somewhat. 266 00:18:28,510 --> 00:18:29,510 Hannibal's strategy? 267 00:18:30,000 --> 00:18:34,160 Take advantage of the frigid temperatures, the Roman commander's 268 00:18:34,320 --> 00:18:36,160 and use the element of surprise. 269 00:18:37,240 --> 00:18:43,980 He sends 2 ,000 or 3 ,000 cavalry in the early morning dawn across the river 270 00:18:43,980 --> 00:18:45,820 to attack the Roman camp. 271 00:18:49,120 --> 00:18:50,820 Romans are shocked awake. 272 00:18:51,120 --> 00:18:56,180 They stumble around the cold with no food. The Roman general Sempronius is 273 00:18:56,180 --> 00:18:59,640 furious. He orders the men to cross the river and attack. 274 00:18:59,980 --> 00:19:05,060 So they plunge into the icy water to chase Hannibal's men. Not the best way 275 00:19:05,060 --> 00:19:06,060 start your day. 276 00:19:06,620 --> 00:19:10,800 40 ,000 Roman infantry and 4 ,000 cavalry cross the river. 277 00:19:11,300 --> 00:19:15,600 They line up for battle in a formation called a legio, made up of several 278 00:19:15,600 --> 00:19:16,600 maniples. 279 00:19:17,920 --> 00:19:20,640 Maniple literally means a handful of men. 280 00:19:21,100 --> 00:19:24,360 Each maniple consists of about 120 soldiers. 281 00:19:25,979 --> 00:19:29,240 The Romans arranged themselves in a checkerboard configuration. 282 00:19:29,920 --> 00:19:34,320 This is a force specifically designed to move forward and crush its enemy. 283 00:19:35,120 --> 00:19:40,800 But Hannibal has his own crushing machines, pachyderms, the heavy tanks of 284 00:19:40,800 --> 00:19:41,800 Carthaginian army. 285 00:19:42,020 --> 00:19:44,660 They charge at the flanks of the Roman cavalry. 286 00:19:46,090 --> 00:19:51,210 Nearly impervious to Spears, the elephant's earth -shaking assault 287 00:19:51,210 --> 00:19:52,930 Allied horsemen in sheer terror. 288 00:19:53,270 --> 00:19:57,490 Hannibal's cavalry, 10 ,000 strong, far outnumbers the Romans. 289 00:19:58,650 --> 00:20:02,710 His Numidian cavalry is so fast and agile that they appear to be everywhere 290 00:20:02,710 --> 00:20:08,530 once. Hannibal's heavy Spanish and Celtic cavalry slam with such force, 291 00:20:08,530 --> 00:20:10,610 demolish what's left of the Roman cavalry. 292 00:20:12,150 --> 00:20:16,630 Hannibal's Carthaginian cavalry turns inward and smashes the Roman flanks. 293 00:20:17,070 --> 00:20:21,490 Hannibal surrounds the Romans on three sides, but he is not done yet. 294 00:20:27,110 --> 00:20:31,450 Hannibal has just crossed the Trebia River and has a bloody surprise for the 295 00:20:31,450 --> 00:20:32,450 Roman army. 296 00:20:33,810 --> 00:20:38,330 Using specially trained horses, Hannibal has successfully hidden cavalry in a 297 00:20:38,330 --> 00:20:39,330 tall grass. 298 00:20:40,740 --> 00:20:45,320 Trumpet blasts and an elite Carthaginian cavalry force charges from the swamp. 299 00:20:45,480 --> 00:20:49,560 The Romans turn around to see 2 ,000 horses storm up from behind. It must 300 00:20:49,560 --> 00:20:50,840 been absolutely terrifying. 301 00:20:56,960 --> 00:21:02,700 The Carthaginian cavalry blindsides the Romans, who are then pushed back toward 302 00:21:02,700 --> 00:21:05,120 the river and cut down mercilessly. 303 00:21:07,480 --> 00:21:14,480 Of the 40 ,000 men, Roman and allies that took the field that day, 30 ,000 304 00:21:14,480 --> 00:21:15,480 died. 305 00:21:15,740 --> 00:21:19,420 30 ,000 met their deaths on the bank of the Trebia River. 306 00:21:19,680 --> 00:21:25,540 It was the worst defeat that the Romans had suffered since the defeat against 307 00:21:25,540 --> 00:21:27,920 the Gauls 125 years earlier. 308 00:21:28,280 --> 00:21:33,660 The Battle of the Trebia is an absolutely classic example of how to use 309 00:21:33,660 --> 00:21:38,780 surprise at a key moment in the battle. The result was complete slaughter. 310 00:21:40,140 --> 00:21:44,580 Hannibal does suffer losses at Trebia. All but one of his elephants die of 311 00:21:44,580 --> 00:21:45,920 starvation or exhaustion. 312 00:21:46,320 --> 00:21:49,060 He rides the lone survivor named Sirius. 313 00:21:52,300 --> 00:21:57,860 The horror of Trebia spurs the Roman Senate to raise four new legions, 20 314 00:21:57,860 --> 00:22:03,040 men. Rome also appoints two new councils to lead the men into battle, Gnaeus 315 00:22:03,040 --> 00:22:05,660 Servilius Geminus and Gaius Flaminius. 316 00:22:05,880 --> 00:22:07,700 Their target, Hannibal. 317 00:22:07,900 --> 00:22:08,900 Their mission. 318 00:22:09,400 --> 00:22:10,400 seek and destroy. 319 00:22:11,920 --> 00:22:17,340 In the spring of 217 BC, the Romans decide that the best way to block 320 00:22:17,340 --> 00:22:19,720 advance southward is to divide their forces. 321 00:22:20,760 --> 00:22:23,860 Geminus travels northeast to coastal Ariminus. 322 00:22:24,900 --> 00:22:29,640 Flaminius heads northwest to Auretium, but they leave a southern route open 323 00:22:29,640 --> 00:22:33,220 through the marshes of the lower Arno River Valley. 324 00:22:35,120 --> 00:22:41,980 Now, the Arno marshes were an enormously large, swampy area created 325 00:22:41,980 --> 00:22:46,200 by the Arno River. I mean, it's full of muck, insects, snakes. 326 00:22:46,580 --> 00:22:51,120 It is a terrible natural barrier, so much so that neither of the Roman 327 00:22:51,120 --> 00:22:54,700 commanders blocking the roads on either side thought anyone would be crazy 328 00:22:54,700 --> 00:22:59,920 enough to try to march through these marshes. Well, Hannibal is known for 329 00:22:59,920 --> 00:23:04,640 the unexpected, and don't you know, he tries to penetrate these marshes. 330 00:23:04,910 --> 00:23:08,370 The surprise maneuver does prove costly for Hannibal. 331 00:23:09,850 --> 00:23:15,450 While riding atop Sirius, his last remaining elephant, Hannibal is 332 00:23:15,450 --> 00:23:17,470 stung in the eye by an insect. 333 00:23:18,150 --> 00:23:21,770 He gets infected, and he becomes blind at that eye. 334 00:23:27,510 --> 00:23:29,650 But Hannibal remains unstoppable. 335 00:23:30,150 --> 00:23:34,110 He slips through the two Roman forces and arrives at Tuscany. 336 00:23:34,520 --> 00:23:37,140 a Roman ally, and tortures the landscape. 337 00:23:38,340 --> 00:23:41,960 Hannibal starts burning the Tuscan plain. 338 00:23:42,180 --> 00:23:46,760 Houses, towns, slaughtering animals, chopping down trees. 339 00:23:47,480 --> 00:23:48,480 Hannibal's plan? 340 00:23:48,680 --> 00:23:53,660 Destroy the area and infuriate the Roman general Flaminius, who watches the 341 00:23:53,660 --> 00:23:55,960 devastation from the city walls of Iridium. 342 00:23:56,460 --> 00:24:01,340 And Flaminius is just horrified by it. He's horrified not only so much that 343 00:24:01,340 --> 00:24:04,220 area is being destroyed, but he knows what Hannibal is doing. 344 00:24:05,840 --> 00:24:10,260 Instead of attacking Flaminius inside the city walls, Hannibal is sending a 345 00:24:10,260 --> 00:24:11,800 message to other Roman allies. 346 00:24:12,820 --> 00:24:17,000 And what Hannibal is saying to that ally is, if you stay with Rome, this is what 347 00:24:17,000 --> 00:24:17,899 you can expect. 348 00:24:17,900 --> 00:24:20,000 He's trying to woo that ally away. 349 00:24:20,560 --> 00:24:26,340 And Flaminius also knows that it's a sign of Roman weakness that you cannot 350 00:24:26,340 --> 00:24:31,360 this. Hannibal knows his enemy well and wants to lure Flaminius onto the 351 00:24:31,360 --> 00:24:32,360 battlefield. 352 00:24:32,660 --> 00:24:37,490 Why? That's his plan. Destroy as many Roman armies, kill as many Romans as you 353 00:24:37,490 --> 00:24:42,490 can until the Roman Senate tires of war and sues for peace. You can't do that 354 00:24:42,490 --> 00:24:45,650 with siege warfare. You've got to draw the enemy out into battle. 355 00:24:46,290 --> 00:24:50,750 Hannibal continues to taunt Flaminius by marching his army right past the walls 356 00:24:50,750 --> 00:24:53,470 of Iridium, flaunting his courage and power. 357 00:24:53,950 --> 00:24:58,970 Hannibal is just far enough away to tease Flaminius. He's really saying, 358 00:24:58,970 --> 00:25:03,260 on. If you've got any courage, you'll leave your little protective fort and 359 00:25:03,260 --> 00:25:04,340 and fight like a man. 360 00:25:05,520 --> 00:25:07,680 Finally, Flaminius takes the bait. 361 00:25:08,920 --> 00:25:13,960 Hannibal leads Flaminius on a wild chase across Tuscany. He stays a day or two 362 00:25:13,960 --> 00:25:18,980 ahead, which allows him to survey the terrain and pick the most advantageous 363 00:25:18,980 --> 00:25:19,980 place to fight. 364 00:25:21,520 --> 00:25:26,060 Moving quickly, Hannibal and his 30 ,000 men race past the small village of 365 00:25:26,060 --> 00:25:29,180 Pazignano into a hilly forest along Lake Tresemene. 366 00:25:30,340 --> 00:25:31,780 Flaminius is in hot pursuit. 367 00:25:32,800 --> 00:25:37,560 The road leads Hannibal, now on horseback, through what's known as the 368 00:25:37,560 --> 00:25:40,660 narrow passage between the mountains and the lake's shoreline. 369 00:25:41,120 --> 00:25:43,920 By now, all of Hannibal's elephants are dead. 370 00:25:44,440 --> 00:25:48,780 And as he marches into this defile, this narrow passage between the cliffs and 371 00:25:48,780 --> 00:25:53,540 the lake, he becomes immediately aware of the landscape's tactical advantages. 372 00:25:54,500 --> 00:25:58,940 Hannibal has discovered the perfect location for his next battle. It comes 373 00:25:58,940 --> 00:26:00,200 its own natural advantage. 374 00:26:01,200 --> 00:26:05,260 In the morning, a thick fog comes off the lake and obscures the entire valley. 375 00:26:05,400 --> 00:26:06,840 It's made -order camouflage. 376 00:26:08,810 --> 00:26:12,770 Hannibal orders some of his men to camp at the far end of the valley, in plain 377 00:26:12,770 --> 00:26:14,910 view of all who pass through the defile. 378 00:26:15,830 --> 00:26:20,450 We're told that Hannibal sends scouts far ahead into the hills to light 379 00:26:20,450 --> 00:26:25,490 campfires. He wants to convince the Romans that he's farther away than he 380 00:26:25,490 --> 00:26:26,490 actually is. 381 00:26:27,130 --> 00:26:31,890 Still chasing Hannibal, Flaminius reaches Pazignano and sends a 382 00:26:31,890 --> 00:26:33,250 team into the defile. 383 00:26:34,170 --> 00:26:36,130 They come back, and it's too narrow. 384 00:26:36,390 --> 00:26:38,730 There can't be any possibility of ambush. 385 00:26:39,070 --> 00:26:44,870 The next day, around dawn, the Roman army begins to move through the defile. 386 00:26:45,290 --> 00:26:50,070 As Flaminius reaches the valley, the eerie lake fog rolls in once again. 387 00:26:51,190 --> 00:26:55,750 In the distance, Flaminius can see the fires of Hannibal's camp on the hill. 388 00:26:56,830 --> 00:27:01,310 Flaminius thinks, I finally got him. I've got Hannibal trapped, and it's time 389 00:27:01,310 --> 00:27:02,310 tear him apart. 390 00:27:03,040 --> 00:27:07,600 Flaminius orders 6 ,000 Roman soldiers to rush up the hill and attack Hannibal. 391 00:27:08,580 --> 00:27:12,780 The legion double times gets out there, climbs the hill, and smashes into 392 00:27:12,780 --> 00:27:13,780 Hannibal's camp. 393 00:27:14,740 --> 00:27:19,040 The Romans hack at Hannibal's rearguard infantry in wild combat. 394 00:27:19,480 --> 00:27:24,640 Suddenly, Hannibal's men turn and run, enticing the Roman soldiers to pursue. 395 00:27:26,060 --> 00:27:30,180 Hannibal then springs one of the deadliest traps in military history. 396 00:27:34,060 --> 00:27:38,400 Hannibal Barca of Carthage is about to spring one of military history's 397 00:27:38,400 --> 00:27:39,400 traps. 398 00:27:40,520 --> 00:27:45,880 30 ,000 Carthaginian infantry and cavalry rise out of the morning fog and 399 00:27:45,880 --> 00:27:47,520 into the stunned Roman fort. 400 00:27:48,300 --> 00:27:49,980 The bloodbath begins. 401 00:27:51,740 --> 00:27:55,840 The battle rages along the shores of Lake Tresemene in northwest Italy. 402 00:27:57,600 --> 00:28:01,420 Hannibal's Spanish and African heavy infantry hit the Roman front. 403 00:28:06,060 --> 00:28:08,920 Wild Celtic tribesmen strike the center. 404 00:28:12,720 --> 00:28:15,820 Numidian -like cavalry crush the Romans from the rear. 405 00:28:20,080 --> 00:28:23,140 Romans are trapped, and it is terrible. 406 00:28:23,460 --> 00:28:27,180 They're in line of march. They're not even set for combat formation. 407 00:28:27,420 --> 00:28:32,520 Their weapons aren't out, and they're taken right in the flank by this large 408 00:28:32,520 --> 00:28:34,240 army, and it just slaughters them. 409 00:28:34,620 --> 00:28:35,840 It slaughtered some of them. 410 00:28:43,340 --> 00:28:46,300 Hannibal makes two big gambles at Tresemene. 411 00:28:46,860 --> 00:28:51,640 First is that the fog will return to hide the 30 ,000 men in the hills. 412 00:28:52,280 --> 00:28:55,600 Second, that Flaminius will jump at his decoy camp. 413 00:28:56,060 --> 00:28:57,540 And he wins both bets. 414 00:28:59,480 --> 00:29:03,380 Out of 20 ,000 men, 15 ,000 die in about three hours. 415 00:29:03,900 --> 00:29:05,180 including Flaminius himself. 416 00:29:08,120 --> 00:29:09,220 Hannibal's losses? 417 00:29:09,620 --> 00:29:10,620 1 ,500. 418 00:29:10,960 --> 00:29:13,260 That's a kill ratio of 10 to 1. 419 00:29:13,660 --> 00:29:18,580 In one of the most successful ambushes in history, another Roman army has been 420 00:29:18,580 --> 00:29:19,399 wiped out. 421 00:29:19,400 --> 00:29:24,060 At age 27, Hannibal is already a legendary military tactician. 422 00:29:24,760 --> 00:29:30,800 In less than two years, Hannibal has handed Rome three catastrophic defeats. 423 00:29:33,870 --> 00:29:39,070 30 ,000 at Trebia, and now 15 ,000 more at Trasimene. 424 00:29:39,630 --> 00:29:43,790 Rome had never seen such a series of defeats in its history. 425 00:29:44,250 --> 00:29:48,750 In the face of this defeat, the Roman Senate makes a bold, perhaps desperate 426 00:29:48,750 --> 00:29:53,890 decision. They vote to appoint a temporary dictator over the military to 427 00:29:53,890 --> 00:29:55,470 end to Hannibal's reign of terror. 428 00:29:55,670 --> 00:29:58,510 He is Quintus Fabius Maximus. 429 00:29:59,120 --> 00:30:03,440 Electing a dictator is extremely rare in Roman history. They highly value their 430 00:30:03,440 --> 00:30:07,640 republic, and so the idea of handing absolute power to one man isn't taken 431 00:30:07,640 --> 00:30:12,500 lightly. In fact, the position came with an automatic time limit of six months. 432 00:30:13,420 --> 00:30:18,000 Fabius raises an army of 90 ,000 men, the largest yet in Roman history. 433 00:30:18,580 --> 00:30:21,700 But he isn't going to use them in direct combat against Hannibal. 434 00:30:22,520 --> 00:30:27,160 Fabius is an excellent strategic thinker. He takes one look around, looks 435 00:30:27,160 --> 00:30:33,360 Roman manpower, naval resources, food resources, the geography, and then 436 00:30:33,360 --> 00:30:37,840 compares them with Hannibal's small army, way from home, can't resupply, no 437 00:30:37,840 --> 00:30:42,900 navy. He concludes quite correctly that Hannibal can't win, that essentially 438 00:30:42,900 --> 00:30:46,700 there's no point to continue to try to defeat Hannibal in the field. 439 00:30:47,390 --> 00:30:49,650 And this becomes the famous Fabian strategy. 440 00:30:50,150 --> 00:30:53,090 Do not engage the enemy in head -to -head battle. 441 00:30:53,350 --> 00:30:58,590 Harass him. When he sends foraging teams to look for food, kill them. If anybody 442 00:30:58,590 --> 00:31:02,050 provides sanctuary in a small town, burn the place down. 443 00:31:02,510 --> 00:31:06,250 Fabius' strategy leaves Hannibal and his men hungry and tired. 444 00:31:06,490 --> 00:31:10,690 They are constantly hunted and harassed and never able to resupply. 445 00:31:12,450 --> 00:31:14,750 Fabius' strategies were not only good, 446 00:31:15,470 --> 00:31:19,310 They were exactly the strategy that Rome needed to stop a man like Hannibal, 447 00:31:19,390 --> 00:31:24,570 whose whole tactical and strategic vision was based on fighting battles. To 448 00:31:24,570 --> 00:31:29,010 a strategy that's battle -centric, you have to have an enemy who obliges. By 449 00:31:29,010 --> 00:31:34,050 refusing to give battle, Fabius denied Hannibal to fight the war that he wanted 450 00:31:34,050 --> 00:31:35,050 to fight. 451 00:31:35,240 --> 00:31:39,140 This is a strategy that would work, but the problem is, like all strategy, it 452 00:31:39,140 --> 00:31:43,200 depends on political will. It depends on the political will of the Senate to 453 00:31:43,200 --> 00:31:46,620 essentially continue the Fabian strategy perhaps for three, four, five years. 454 00:31:46,940 --> 00:31:50,060 Well, what happens is, this is not the Roman way. 455 00:31:51,080 --> 00:31:56,060 Despite the strategy's success so far, the impatient Roman Senate forces Fabius 456 00:31:56,060 --> 00:31:57,480 to resign after six months. 457 00:31:58,720 --> 00:32:02,700 They return to their more typical mode of government with the election of two 458 00:32:02,700 --> 00:32:03,900 civilian co -consuls. 459 00:32:04,730 --> 00:32:08,870 Paulus and Varro are chosen and directed to defeat Hannibal as quickly as 460 00:32:08,870 --> 00:32:09,870 possible. 461 00:32:10,630 --> 00:32:13,230 Varro wants to fight Hannibal in an all -out war. 462 00:32:14,210 --> 00:32:16,890 Paulus, however, does not want to be lured into battle. 463 00:32:17,810 --> 00:32:21,730 This is problematic because there's a combination of two Roman armies. 464 00:32:21,970 --> 00:32:27,910 The two co -consuls, Paulus and Varro, trade off command every other day. It 465 00:32:27,910 --> 00:32:32,350 sound insane, but one day Paulus was the supreme commander, the next day Varro. 466 00:32:32,810 --> 00:32:36,390 Hannibal is well aware of this and knows who he'd rather fight. 467 00:32:38,010 --> 00:32:42,090 Hannibal's strength is in face -to -face combat, and he wants to fight Varro's 468 00:32:42,090 --> 00:32:43,090 war. 469 00:32:46,370 --> 00:32:51,150 Hannibal gathers his intelligence, lies in wait, then sends in a strike team 470 00:32:51,150 --> 00:32:52,450 just as Varro takes command. 471 00:32:54,850 --> 00:33:00,450 On cue, Varro roars into action and sends a fighting force to meet Hannibal 472 00:33:00,450 --> 00:33:01,450 Cannae, Italy. 473 00:33:04,300 --> 00:33:09,000 Varro's colossal army is made up of more than 80 ,000 Roman and Allied foot 474 00:33:09,000 --> 00:33:10,960 soldiers and 6 ,000 cavalry. 475 00:33:11,320 --> 00:33:15,680 It is the most massive Roman fighting force ever to take the field at one 476 00:33:16,940 --> 00:33:21,640 Varro arranges his soldiers in a typical Roman manacle formation, but adds a new 477 00:33:21,640 --> 00:33:23,060 twist to the old formula. 478 00:33:23,800 --> 00:33:27,980 What they do is they pack themselves a little tighter than before so that the 479 00:33:27,980 --> 00:33:30,900 front is shorter, but the depth is thicker. 480 00:33:31,630 --> 00:33:37,810 Only 300 feet away, Hannibal deploys his own infantry force of 35 ,000, but in a 481 00:33:37,810 --> 00:33:41,510 unique configuration never before used on any Western battlefield. 482 00:33:43,490 --> 00:33:46,690 Normally, an infantry line would be deployed straight. 483 00:33:47,470 --> 00:33:53,470 He deploys it in a concave bow with the belly of the bow facing closest to the 484 00:33:53,470 --> 00:33:55,810 Roman lines in a kind of semicircle. 485 00:33:58,380 --> 00:34:02,220 Hannibal himself leads the infantry force from the middle of the line. 486 00:34:04,840 --> 00:34:07,280 The battle of annihilation begins. 487 00:34:26,159 --> 00:34:28,100 The infantry battle is furious. 488 00:34:32,139 --> 00:34:36,420 But it's the Carthaginian cavalry that scores the first punishing blow. 489 00:34:38,980 --> 00:34:44,620 Heavy cavalry smashes into the Roman cavalry with such incredible force that 490 00:34:44,620 --> 00:34:47,920 shatters it. I mean, between the dead and the wounded and the dead horses. 491 00:34:48,320 --> 00:34:49,460 The rest just take flight. 492 00:34:49,980 --> 00:34:54,540 Trying to outrun this tidal wave of death, the Romans are chopped down in 493 00:34:54,540 --> 00:34:55,540 stride. 494 00:34:55,860 --> 00:34:59,520 It is the beginning of one of the greatest battles of all time. 495 00:35:10,120 --> 00:35:13,260 It's the Second Punic War between Carthage and Rome. 496 00:35:14,100 --> 00:35:17,500 Two great armies slaughter each other on the plains of Cannae. 497 00:35:18,220 --> 00:35:21,920 Battling over who will control the entire Mediterranean region. 498 00:35:37,020 --> 00:35:40,660 Hannibal has configured his army in a unique semicircle. 499 00:35:41,120 --> 00:35:42,420 On the flanks. 500 00:35:42,700 --> 00:35:46,820 the Carthaginian cavalry commander detaches part of its force to help the 501 00:35:46,820 --> 00:35:49,540 Numidian -like cavalry on the opposite side of the battlefield. 502 00:35:51,200 --> 00:35:57,000 With a nearly four -to -one advantage, the Carthaginian cavalry makes short 503 00:35:57,000 --> 00:35:59,300 of the Roman cavalry on at the flanks. 504 00:36:00,160 --> 00:36:04,100 In the center, the Roman infantry drives Hannibal back. 505 00:36:04,800 --> 00:36:06,060 But it's a ruse. 506 00:36:06,540 --> 00:36:08,680 Hannibal is giving ground on purpose. 507 00:36:10,030 --> 00:36:13,410 And this is why Hannibal originally assembled his men in a semicircle. 508 00:36:13,810 --> 00:36:17,850 He knew that the center would give ground, and he knew his flanks would 509 00:36:18,450 --> 00:36:22,630 Slowly the center collapses, and the Romans would think they're winning and 510 00:36:22,630 --> 00:36:23,990 commit more troops in the center. 511 00:36:24,930 --> 00:36:29,250 The original bow shape of the Carthaginian line now resembles a V. 512 00:36:30,550 --> 00:36:37,490 As Hannibal's infantry flexes inward, the Roman units are drawn deeper and 513 00:36:37,490 --> 00:36:39,510 deeper into a V -shaped line. 514 00:36:40,030 --> 00:36:43,350 And as they go further, they get completely packed together. 515 00:36:44,830 --> 00:36:49,970 Pressed into this V, the Roman infantry can only move in one direction, straight 516 00:36:49,970 --> 00:36:50,970 ahead. 517 00:36:51,990 --> 00:36:55,710 Libby, one of the Roman historians, tells us the pressure was so great that 518 00:36:55,710 --> 00:37:00,150 Roman soldiers' arms were forced against their bodies. They could not lift their 519 00:37:00,150 --> 00:37:01,150 swords. 520 00:37:10,670 --> 00:37:15,770 On Hannibal's signal, the African phalanxes turn in toward the middle and 521 00:37:15,770 --> 00:37:16,950 the Romans from the side. 522 00:37:30,790 --> 00:37:32,250 Hannibal blocks in front. 523 00:37:32,770 --> 00:37:35,490 The African infantry squeezes the side. 524 00:37:37,100 --> 00:37:41,240 Hannibal's older brother, Hasdrubal, uses cavalry to flash from behind. 525 00:37:42,400 --> 00:37:45,120 The Romans are jammed into a kill box. 526 00:37:46,800 --> 00:37:52,620 Hasdrubal the Brilliant now rides around in back of the Romans, hits them in the 527 00:37:52,620 --> 00:37:57,180 rear. This is the famous double envelopment. It had never been done in 528 00:37:57,180 --> 00:37:58,660 history of warfare before. 529 00:37:58,900 --> 00:38:01,060 Never. And it's a brilliant maneuver. 530 00:38:01,800 --> 00:38:03,440 What Hannibal realized... 531 00:38:03,670 --> 00:38:08,270 is that while the Roman army is nearly unstoppable as it attacks straight 532 00:38:08,970 --> 00:38:12,670 its maniples can only move forward and back. 533 00:38:13,130 --> 00:38:15,570 They cannot turn and they cannot envelop. 534 00:38:16,110 --> 00:38:21,530 And if you know exactly how your enemy is going to fight, it's not that hard to 535 00:38:21,530 --> 00:38:22,810 figure out how to defeat it. 536 00:39:12,780 --> 00:39:17,300 By the time the sun sets, Hannibal has slaughtered an unbelievable number of 537 00:39:17,300 --> 00:39:18,300 Romans. 538 00:39:21,120 --> 00:39:28,000 The Battle of Cannae was so full of death that it gave rise to 539 00:39:28,000 --> 00:39:30,320 a new term in military terminology. 540 00:39:30,620 --> 00:39:32,700 It's called the Battle of Annihilation. 541 00:39:33,400 --> 00:39:37,440 The Battle of Annihilation. The enemy wasn't defeated, it was annihilated. 542 00:39:38,800 --> 00:39:43,220 Cannae ranks as one of the deadliest and most brutal battles in history. More 543 00:39:43,220 --> 00:39:46,540 than 70 ,000 Romans are butchered in a single day. 544 00:39:47,880 --> 00:39:53,140 70 ,000 dead, killed in an area only twice the size of Central Park. 545 00:39:53,740 --> 00:39:57,220 Ask yourself, this is an age before mechanical weapons. 546 00:39:58,280 --> 00:40:04,980 How long does it take to kill 70 ,000 human beings with swords 547 00:40:04,980 --> 00:40:08,260 and spears, one at a time? 548 00:40:09,160 --> 00:40:11,080 The answer seems to be about six hours. 549 00:40:12,660 --> 00:40:16,100 Hannibal is on the verge of realizing his dream of Rome's destruction. 550 00:40:17,060 --> 00:40:20,780 But the victory at Cannae will actually mark the end of Hannibal's military 551 00:40:20,780 --> 00:40:22,600 success on the Italian peninsula. 552 00:40:23,660 --> 00:40:28,340 After the battle, the commander of the Numidian cavalry, Maharbal, urges 553 00:40:28,340 --> 00:40:30,120 Hannibal to march immediately on Rome. 554 00:40:30,520 --> 00:40:31,820 But Hannibal refuses. 555 00:40:32,620 --> 00:40:36,760 This leads Maharbal to exclaim, Hannibal, you know how to conquer. 556 00:40:37,400 --> 00:40:39,760 but you do not know how to use your victory. 557 00:40:40,540 --> 00:40:45,160 Hannibal might believe that Rome will finally bow before him and surrender 558 00:40:45,160 --> 00:40:46,260 their devastating defeat. 559 00:40:46,540 --> 00:40:50,580 Or maybe he realizes a siege of Rome will be impossible to maintain without 560 00:40:50,580 --> 00:40:52,240 reinforcements and supplies. 561 00:40:52,960 --> 00:40:58,740 Cannae is about 260 miles away from Rome, so he gets close, but not close 562 00:40:58,740 --> 00:40:59,740 enough. 563 00:41:01,120 --> 00:41:02,300 Whatever the reason. 564 00:41:02,650 --> 00:41:06,390 The destruction at Cannae is the closest Hannibal ever gets to fulfilling the 565 00:41:06,390 --> 00:41:08,450 blood oath of revenge he made to his father. 566 00:41:10,230 --> 00:41:15,390 Hannibal does try to negotiate a peace deal with the Romans after Cannae, but 567 00:41:15,390 --> 00:41:16,390 the Romans refuse. 568 00:41:16,590 --> 00:41:20,630 In fact, the Romans actually outlaw the word peace. 569 00:41:21,210 --> 00:41:24,530 No citizen could ever consider it outlawed. 570 00:41:25,790 --> 00:41:30,050 Ultimately, the Romans decide to return to the Fabian strategy of containment. 571 00:41:30,600 --> 00:41:34,540 Instead of trying to beat Hannibal on the battlefield, they will try to 572 00:41:34,540 --> 00:41:35,540 him. 573 00:41:36,220 --> 00:41:41,260 Think about this for a minute. Rome, with all their imperial destructive 574 00:41:41,340 --> 00:41:43,720 says, you know what? We can't beat this guy. 575 00:41:43,980 --> 00:41:47,280 We can only harass him. We can only contain him. 576 00:41:48,200 --> 00:41:51,660 Hannibal was able to get many of the southern Italian towns to defect to him. 577 00:41:51,920 --> 00:41:53,600 So he was able to live off the land. 578 00:41:53,960 --> 00:41:58,800 But try as he might, he can never fulfill his oath to his father. He never 579 00:41:58,800 --> 00:41:59,800 Rome to the ground. 580 00:42:00,590 --> 00:42:05,090 For all his triumphs on the battlefield, Hannibal's campaign must be seen as a 581 00:42:05,090 --> 00:42:10,230 failure. He eventually abandons his quest to destroy Rome and sails back to 582 00:42:10,230 --> 00:42:11,230 Carthage. 583 00:42:12,110 --> 00:42:15,870 If you want to think about a more modern example, you could look at Robert E. 584 00:42:15,890 --> 00:42:21,630 Lee. During the American Civil War, Lee won nearly every one of his battles, but 585 00:42:21,630 --> 00:42:26,400 ultimately... lost the war. No matter how many battles you win, the ultimate 586 00:42:26,400 --> 00:42:29,320 goal of a battle is a means to an end, to win the war strategically. 587 00:42:29,760 --> 00:42:33,180 From that perspective, Hannibal's campaigns were a failure. The individual 588 00:42:33,180 --> 00:42:39,380 battles were victorious, but the strategy of bringing Rome to heel and 589 00:42:39,380 --> 00:42:40,440 sign a peace treaty failed. 590 00:42:41,440 --> 00:42:45,300 You don't get any points in warfare for trying. 591 00:42:46,570 --> 00:42:50,830 The greatest irony of Hannibal's invasion is that it sets in motion the 592 00:42:50,830 --> 00:42:54,750 that will turn the Republic of Rome into an empire that will conquer the ancient 593 00:42:54,750 --> 00:43:00,730 world. Had there been no Hannibal, had there been no Second Punic War, there's 594 00:43:00,730 --> 00:43:05,330 no reason to suspect that Rome would ever have expanded to the degree that it 595 00:43:05,330 --> 00:43:06,330 did. 596 00:43:06,390 --> 00:43:11,790 Hannibal's tactics and stealth, his bloodlust and determination, his 597 00:43:11,790 --> 00:43:12,790 and genius. 598 00:43:12,800 --> 00:43:16,120 are all taught to modern military commanders throughout the world. 599 00:43:16,400 --> 00:43:20,680 But the greatest lesson might be that while Hannibal could annihilate the 600 00:43:20,680 --> 00:43:23,660 of Rome, he could not ultimately destroy Rome. 54458

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