this post was submitted on 24 Oct 2024
11 points (100.0% liked)

history

23068 readers
133 users here now

Welcome to c/history! History is written by the posters.

c/history is a comm for discussion about history so feel free to talk and post about articles, books, videos, events or historical figures you find interesting

Please read the Hexbear Code of Conduct and remember...we're all comrades here.

Do not post reactionary or imperialist takes (criticism is fine, but don't pull nonsense from whatever chud author is out there).

When sharing historical facts, remember to provide credible souces or citations.

Historical Disinformation will be removed

founded 4 years ago
MODERATORS
 

Maybe I have the facts wrong, but here is what I understand happened:

  • Hannibal crossed the Alps in 218 BC with adorable 7-foot-tall elephants

  • Hannibal trounces the Romans in every battle, Cannae, Capua twice, Herdonia in 212

  • Hannibal controls a good bit of Italy now: 217 map: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Second_Punic_war_(cropped).png

  • The Romans fight Carthaginian territories in Africa and Iberia, eventually Hannibal has to leave Italy to defend them

Seems like he had plenty of time to strike at the nerve centre? Why didn't he sack Rome after Cannae or something? Or am I misunderstanding the facts?

you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments
[–] [email protected] 5 points 5 days ago

As I understand it he didn’t have the siege engines and generally wasn’t equipped to besiege or storm such a populated city. His strategy was to go around Italy trying to convince the non-Roman Italians to rise up against Rome.