Hannibal: Great General of the Ancient World

By: Karen Clemens Warrick

pgs. 25-32

First of all I know what you are thinking, and no i am not reading about Hannibal Ector. Im reading about the general of Rome. It is a lot more fascinating of a topic then I tought it would be. So far I’ve just read the background and synopsis of the story. Hannibal as leader of te Carthaginian army’s goal was to reach Italy traveling across te Alps. This was a very difficult journey for te soldiers but also the pac animals. Though I have not read what was so important in Italy, I read that some of Hannibals animals and soldiers just died or fell of the mountain on impact because they couldnt make it, and many were lost. However their target was Rome in Italy in 218 B.C. Hannibal was determined to attack Rome, and though he preferred to do this by traveling over sea, he did not give up. But one of Hannibals strongest defenses was his elephants which I thought was very peculiar. Not much is known about Hannibals history, many records were lost back when, but people know just enough to come to the conclusion that he is a very admiral general. Even when obstacles bigger than ourselves came in his way, he still overcame them to acheive his goal.

I read about this fascinating hero, through recommendation of Coach K. Hannibal is probably one of the greatest generals in history. I wonder why Hannibal, on the other hand, traveled across land, and more specifically over the Alps, when he preferred sea travel. Was it because he wanted to overcome new obstacles? Were the seas bad at the time? Due to the loss of records on Hannibal, it is difficult to determine what really happened. Something that I found very intersting though was that Hannibals main defense were elephants. Elephants seem like such a peculiar topic, so his defense mechanisms with these elphants was different but very logical. Something that makes Hannibal though and why he is such a logical and historic hero and general were his defense and attack tactics. They were probably the most ingenius tactics of any general ever. There are diagrams in this book, and it’s so unbelievable the way he thought that out. It makes you wonder what exactly he was thinking when he drew up these plans. I highly recommend not only reading about Hannibal, but just looking at these tactics in general because you will honestly be amazed at the thoughtprovoking positions he took.