Hannibal by Philip Freeman

Author:Philip Freeman
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Pegasus Books
Published: 2022-02-02T00:00:00+00:00

Wherever they came from, Hannibal took great care to see to the needs of his soldiers2 as they moved down the coast. The pace was deliberately slow to rest his men from the trials of the past and to build their strength for what lay ahead. He was also concerned for his animals, especially his essential cavalry horses. Many of the mounts had developed mange during the months of hard travel, so that Hannibal employed a successful Carthaginian treatment of bathing them in old wine.

Hannibal’s arrival at the Adriatic was also the first time since he had crossed into Italy a year earlier that he had direct access to the sea and could send messengers to Carthage by ship. The Carthaginians had heard of Hannibal’s victories in Italy by that point and most were thrilled at the successes of their young general. But because of Roman superiority at sea, they sent word that they could regretfully offer little in the way of support or supplies. Even in the wake of Hannibal’s conquests in the heart of their enemy’s empire, the Carthaginian opposition leader Hanno was still doing everything he could to thwart the Barca family. Hannibal would remain on his own in Italy.

When his army had rested and was done plundering Roman properties in Picenum, Hannibal moved his army down the coast to the region of Apulia in Italy’s boot. This was rich farmland with plenty of food for his hungry army. For many weeks, there were no Roman forces to challenge him, giving him complete reign over the countryside and a chance to build up his army with new Italian recruits. But then Fabius and his army arrived and made camp near the Carthaginian forces. The intelligence he had collected on the dictator indicated he would not be easily provoked. This presented a different kind of a challenge to Hannibal, who badly needed decisive battles to wear down the legions and to keep his Italian and Celtic allies rewarded with Roman spoils. The worst situation for Hannibal in Italy was a drawn-out war of attrition waged by a Roman commander who refused to face him with his full army. Hannibal was a general who took risks and dared the unconventional. Now in Fabius he met a man who was the exact opposite.

Near the town of Arpi in northern Apulia, Hannibal decided it was time to test Fabius. He assembled his whole army in battle formation outside of the Roman camp and taunted the dictator to come out and fight if he dared. The soldiers of Fabius were eager for revenge against the Carthaginians for the slaughter of their comrades at Trasimene, but Fabius refused to move. His men all stood on the walls of their fort and watched Hannibal’s army until the sun began to set, then the Carthaginians returned to their own camp for the night. This was Hannibal’s first taste of how things were going to be different with a new commander.

The strategy of Fabius was sound but deeply unpopular with the Romans both among the soldiers and in the capital.

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