Is it true that Hannibal could have defeated Rome if he had only left his elephants home?

Answer 1

No it is not. Hannibal managed to rout the roman armies three times without elephants. The factors which contributed to Rome winning the war had nothing to do with Hannibal losing his elephants. These were:

1) Hannibal lost his siege machines when he crossed the Alps in the snowy winter to enter into Italy from the Carthaginian possessions in Spain. Without these he could not attack Rome. Thus, after routing the Romans three times (in northern and central Italy), he went to southern Italy instead of heading for Rome.

2) The Romans adopted a strategy of attrition: they avoided open battle and harassed him with guerrilla tactics to wear him down.

3) Hannibal's smallish invasion force needed Rome's allies in Italy to switch sides to increase his forces and weaken Rome. When this materialised in the south, after winning the battle of Cannae (in the south), it proved insufficient. Hannibal set up his headquarters in Capua (Italy's second largest city near Naples and not far from Rome) which had switched sides. However, he failed to seize or retain two strategic cities in this area and two attempts at sending him reinforcements were foiled by the Romans. The Romans besieged Capua. Hannibal had to leave the area. Moreover, Rome's allies in central Italy remained loyal.

4) The military manpower of Rome and her allies was massive. Rome was able to keep raising new armies and gradually regained control of southern Italy. They also suppressed a rebellion in Sicily. Hannibal lost many men and half of his cavalry. A cavalry far superior in numbers had been a key to his victories. With less men and without half of his cavalry his tactics became more defensive.

5) The Romans intercepted and routed the army of Hasdrubal, Hannibal's brother. He was bringing and siege machines and the badly needed reinforcements from Spain to Hannibal. At this point Hannibal's campaign in Italy came to a dead end. He spent the last four years of his campaign in Italy stuck in Calabria (the toe of Italy) whose mountains were easy to defend.

6) In Carthage the peace faction refused to send reinforcements to Hannibal from Africa.

7) The Romans found in Scipio Africanus a general who could match Hannibal. He defeated the Carthaginians in Spain and Rome took over their Spanish territories. Reinforcements to Hannibal could no longer be sent from there. Carthage also lost her main source of wealth, the silver mines in Spain.

8) Scipio Africanus began a campaign in Tunisia (where Carthage was). Hannibal was recalled from Italy to fight in Tunisia. Scipio defeated him in the last battle of the war, the battle of Zama.

9) The western Numidians of Algeria switched allegiance from Carthage to Rome. They had supplied half of Hannibal's cavalry. Now they supplied 2/3 of the Roman cavalry in the Battle of Zama in Tunisia, near Carthage. The two cavalries were equal in size. The quality of Hannibal's army was lower than it had been before. Rome won this battle which was the final one and the Numibians played a important role in Scipio's victory