Hannibal by Richard A. Gabriel

Author:Richard A. Gabriel
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Potomac Books, Inc.
Published: 2011-06-19T04:00:00+00:00

BATTLE OF LAKE TRASIMENE, JUNE 21, 217 BGE

In Bologna, the Gauls were getting edgy and Hannibal feared they would revolt. The Gallic chiefs were angry that Hannibal was using their men as cannon fodder. They had noticed that at the Trebia he had shown great concern for his Africans and Iberians but had used the Gauls to absorb the center of the Roman attack, causing heavy casualties. Probably more important, the Gauls were restless that the war was being fought on their own territory with little plunder or profit to themselves. They were anxious to attack the lands of the allies in Umbria and Etruria and then the entire Ager Romanus for plunder and revenge.35 As spring approached, Hannibal had to move the war away from Cisalpine Gaul or face the prospect of being abandoned by his Gallic allies and even, perhaps, being assassinated.36

Hannibal had to balance a number of considerations in deciding where to go next. His strategy was to seek out Roman armies and destroy them as a means of forcing Rome to negotiate a settlement. At the same time he had to placate the Gauls and their desire for plunder. His desire to maintain communications with Gaul and Spain to the extent possible ruled out any movement eastward along the Po. Finally, Hannibal had to journey into the territory of the Roman allies to determine if they were prepared to defect to his cause. Ultimately, this effort would require a move to the south of Italy, where communications and resupply from Carthage might be possible. Thus, Hannibal had to move out of Cisalpine Gaul and take the war to the Romans by conducting operations on peninsular Italy and by striking as close to Rome as possible. He decided to cross the Apennines and march into Etruria, where he may have hoped to garner some support from the Etruscans, whose relations with Rome were always strained and who were of tenuous loyalty.37

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