EUCOM Battle Knowledge Centers

The Romans’ destruction of Carthage after the Third Punic War erased any Carthaginian historical record of Hannibal’s life. What we know of him comes exclusively from Roman historians who had every interest in minimizing his success, exaggerating his failures, and disparaging his character. The charges leveled against Hannibal include greed, cruelty and atrocity, sexual indulgence, and even cannibalism. But even these sources were forced to grudgingly admit to Hannibal’s military genius, if only to make their eventual victory over him appear greater.

To say the Punic Wars (264-146 BC) were a turning point in world history is a vast understatement. This bloody and protracted conflict pitted two flourishing Mediterranean powers against one another. Mastering the West offers a thoroughly engrossing narrative of this century of battle in the western Mediterranean, while treating a full range of themes: the antagonists' military, naval, economic, and demographic resources; the political structures of both republics; and the postwar impact of the conflicts on the participants and victims. The narrative also investigates questions of leadership and the contributions and mistakes of leaders like Hannibal, Fabius the Delayer, Scipio Africanus, Masinissa, and Scipio Aemilianus.

Here is essential information on major events and battles, commanders, weaponry and technology, and strategy and tactics. Other topics include courage, discipline, the effects of weather on warfare, military justice, the role of propaganda, the evolution of uniforms, psychological warfare, and morale.

Cannae is rightly regarded as one of history's greatest battles. Hannibal's stratagem has become a model of the perfectly fought battle and is studied in detail at military academies around the world. At Cannae, the Romans confronted Hannibal with an army of 80,000 infantry and 6,000 cavalry. Hannibal faced them with 40,000 foot soldiers and 10,000 horses. The engagement that followed was a masterpiece of battlefield control. By the end of the conflict the Romans had lost 47,500 infantry and 2,700 cavalry, with a further 19,300 captured.

O'Connell, one of the most admired names in military history, tells the whole story of Cannae for the first time, giving a stirring account of this apocalyptic battle of the Second Punic War, and its causes and consequences.

The Punic Wars (264-146 BC) sprang from a mighty power struggle between two ancient civilisations - the trading empire of Carthage and the military confederation of Rome. Though this took place more than 2000 years ago, Nigel Bagnall argues that it has remarkable contemporary significance.

Scipio Africanus (236183 b.c.) was one of the most exciting and dynamic leaders in history. As commander, he never lost a battle. Yet it is his adversary, Hannibal, who has lived on in public memory.As B.H. Liddell Hart writes,"Scipio's battles are richer in stratagems and ruses--many still feasible today--than those of any other commander in history." Any military enthusiast or historian will find this to be an absorbing, gripping portrait.