Why did They do that? ... Takes on the Punic Wars
by David E. Woody, Parkersburg Catholic High School, WV
You have changed History! Still, you may deserve partial credit, as you will see. The Romans were sure it would be foolhardy for Hannibal to attack uphill, but he did have a way of pulling off actions lesser Generals could not. This, however, would have been a very difficult one to accomplish. He did use the hills in his strategy, though. Scroll down to see what happened.
As usual, Hannibal could not do anything without a touch of deceit in it. He had no desire to take on the main force of the Roman army, so he tried a bit of subterfuge. In the dark of night, Hannibal tied torches to the horns of oxen he had in camp. When his troops were ready to move, the torches were set on fire, and the oxen were sent off up the hill. To the Roman troops guarding the pass, this appeared to be a great threat. At first, they were worried that the Carthaginians were escaping, and prepared to go reinforce their defenses on the hilltops. As the torches burned, the oxen brushed against trees and shrubs, setting them afire as well. This appeared to the Romans to be a dreadful situation, with the fire producing a new danger. Finally, the torches began to burn the horns of the oxen, who ran about wildly. The Romans mistook this as an attempt by the Carthaginians to assault them from above, and the Romans prepared to respond. Pulling troops away from the pass, they eventually found themselves fighting forest fires and oxen. While they did so, Hannibal sneaked his army out through the pass, and off to safety. Amazing, isn't it? This presented him with new opportunities and choices.
Hannibal's escape caused a number of problems for the Romans. The Romans in general, and the Senate particularly, had always hoped that Fabius would be their savior. They envisioned the omnipotent dictator charging into battle, destroying the Carthaginians, and crucifying Hannibal. They were desperate for a take-charge hero, but Fabius only delayed and wasted valuable time. The cost of these delays, in food and other supplies, as well as the inconvenience of having an enemy army roaming the neighborhood, was becoming too much to bear.
Hannibal helped increase Roman tensions by burning all the land in a particular area, except for the farm of Fabius, leading some to speculate that Fabius and Hannibal were in cahoots.
Into this mix came the personality of Minucius, Master of the Horse. Minucius was Fabius' second-in-command, and had frequently advised Fabius to strike at Hannibal in a more aggressive way. Like so many other Roman leaders, he was bold, but impetuous, a combination that had, and would, prove lethal when opposing Hannibal. Minucius, tired of failing to convince Fabius of the need for offense, lobbied his friends in the Roman Senate to call Fabius home. The Senators did so, and, when Fabius refused to change his strategy, they ordered him to accept Minucius as an equal partner.
Now, the Romans were faced with an even larger problem. Since the two generals could not agree on the best course of action, they would have to decide on the best way to divide the responsibility. Minucius suggested that they should alternate days of command, but Fabius thought they should divide the army in two. Hannibal, of course, was well aware of all this intrigue, and must have had some opinion about which choice he would prefer to occur. Which do you suppose Hannibal preferred?
