08c: Hannibal Ad Portas!

The western Mediterranean was not big enough for both Carthage and Rome. Though the First Punic War was ended by treaty in 241 BC, both sides knew further hostilities were inevitable. The Romans kept chipping at Carthaginian Empire; soon Sardinia and Corsica became a new Roman province, joining Sicily. Rome's new acquisitions provided a massive boost to the Roman economy. Carthage, on the other hand, had to rebuild its economy without the wealth of Sicily, Sardinia, and Corsica. New sources of income were crucial, and Spain presented a great window of opportunity. Under the general Hamilcar Barca, Carthage very quickly conquered almost all of southern and eastern Spain. In fact, Spain's mineral resources made Carthage even wealthier than it had been before the First Punic War. Now it was the Romans' turn to be very concerned. The Carthaginian "war party" led by Hamilcar and his young son Hannibal made no secret of their determination to get even with Rome for the First Punic War. Meanwhile, Rome had already pushed its northern boundaries to the foot of the Alps, and was looking over the Alps into southern Gaul. This would be a potential second point of conflict with Carthage. The last thing Rome needed was a rebuilt Carthaginian army roaring all over the western Mediterranean. So when the small Spanish town of Saguntum asked Rome for a treaty promising help against the Carthaginians in 221 BC, the Romans were ready to oblige. They knew that Carthage would eventually attack Saguntum, that they would have to defend Saguntum, and that a Second Punic War would result. Again, the ius fetialis would be satisified and the Romans would win. The Romans had no idea what they were in for.

In 218 BC, Hannibal's forces took Saguntum. The Romans demanded that the Carthaginians withdraw from the city and send Hannibal to Rome for punishment. Carthage would not give Saguntum back, but Hannibal did indeed head for Rome... with a little bit of company. In September 218 Hannibal and his army crossed the Alps into northern Italy. The series of smashing victories which followed won thousands of Gauls to Hannibal's side. Encouraged by his diplomatic success, Hannibal won over other dissatisfied Roman allies and subject peoples - proof that the Romans still had much to learn about running an empire. The desperate Romans elected Quintus Fabius Maximus as dictator for six months in 217 BC, but he considered himself too weak to do anything but shadow Hannibal, earning himself the title Cunctator, or "the Delayer." The elected consuls of 216 BC took a more aggressive stance, leading an force of 80,000 Romans against him at Cannae. Hannibal utterly destroyed this army in what would be Rome's worst single defeat ever. Suddenly Fabius's delaying tactics looked a lot more sensible to the Romans. As Hannibal worked his way south into Italy, even more Roman allies rushed to his side, as did the Samnites and much of Sicily. He was literally at the doors of Rome. But he did not have the manpower and logistical support to finish the job. Yet the Romans lacked the strength and the willpower to kick Hannibal out of Italy. Hannibal raided, the Romans retreated; Hannibal plundered, the Romans regrouped, and so on. The defections of Roman allies died out when it became clear that neither Romans nor Carthaginians were winning. This was a minor victory for Rome, but hardly a solution.

To complicate matters, one of the Eastern Mediterranean powers jumped on Rome while she was down. Philip V of Macedon, who controlled most of mainland Greece, allied himself with Carthage and began hostilities with Rome in 215 BC. So Rome found herself fighting a three-front war: the bloody stalemate with Hannibal in central Italy, a holding action against Philip of Macedon in the east, and in the west, a see-saw battle over Spain. Carthage considered Spain and its mineral wealth more crucial to the war than maintaining Hannibal's Italian invasion force. Consequently, Carthaginian resources were diverted to their Spanish troops, led by Hannibal's brother Hasdrubal. After trouncing a Roman army in 211 BC, Hasdrubal decided to cross the Alps to join his brother in Italy. This was a big mistake. Hasdrubal's decision all but abandoned Spain to Romans, who conquered most of the peninsula under the brilliant young general Publius Cornelius Scipio.  Even worse for Carthage, Hasdrubal was intercepted and killed by Roman troops in 207. Now all Hannibal could do was retreat to the mountains and make the Romans force him out. This could have taken forever, thanks to the delaying tactics invented by Fabius. But in 205 BC, young Publius Cornelius Scipio was elected consul on a platform of taking the battle to Africa, thereby forcing Carthage to recall Hannibal.

Scipio's election as consul violated the mos maiorum. Scipio was a member of a very old and very famous patrician family, but as a mere lad of 31, he was twelve years too young to hold the consulship. The more conservative senators, such as Fabius Maximus, opposed the invasion of Africa and tried to force Scipio to keep his army in Sicily. To enhance their performance against Hannibal, the Romans at this time brought in the cult of the Magna Mater from Pessinus in Asia Minor, with amusing consequences I will discuss later. Scipio was not one to listen to stodgy old men or superstitious priests. He invaded Africa and, as he had predicted, Hannibal abandoned Italy to defend Carthage. After the battle of Zama (just outside of Carthage) in 203 BC, Hannibal himself realized the game was up and convinced Carthage to sue for peace. The more conservative Roman aristocracy wanted Carthage to be punished or even razed to the ground; given the nastiness of the Second Punic War, it's hard to blame them. But the mos maiorum gave the decision to the victorious general. Scipio rewarded Hannibal for his good sense and good faith by appointing him the civic leader of Carthage. The aristocracy was not pleased. The masses, on the other hand, happily welcomed Scipio back to Rome and pleaded with him to take control of the state. But with typical Roman modesty, he settled for the honorific title Africanus - that is "Scipio of Africa." He then spent the rest of his career in comparative quiet.