Was Hannibal's army extremely triumphant in Italy?

Answer 1

Hannibal enjoyed a four crushing military victories in the Italian peninsula during his 15-year occupation. Thy were the battles of Ticinus, Trebia, Trasimene, and Cannae. After this, the Romans changed strategy and although Hannibal won a few more battles, he was pushed back into southern Italy by the superior pool of soldiers available to the Roman legions. Then the Romans intercepted his brother, Hasdrubal, who was bringing reinforcements from Spain to his depleted forces, and destroyed his army. In addition to this, they also defeated the Carthaginians in Spain, Hannibal power base, and took over the Carthaginian territories there, thus depriving Hannibal of any chance of further reinforcements. At this point he withdrew to the easily defensible mountains of Calabria (the toe of Italy) and was stuck there for four years. He was recalled to Carthage when Scipio Africanus undertook a campaign in Carthage's homeland (Tunisia).

Two elements were the basis of Hannibal's military victories: his military cunning and a superior cavalry. Hannibal was one the greatest military commanders of antiquity. He was a brilliant tactician and his military cunning played an important role in his victories. The superiority of his cavalry was also important. His army was 2/3 cavalry and 1/3 infantry. The Romans and their Italian allies had about 1/3 cavalry and 2/3 infantry. Thus, Hannibal could use his large cavalry to envelope the enemy infantry, attack it at the rear and slaughter the enemy. This is how Hannibal won his greatest victory at Cannae. The cavalry of the Romans and her Italian allies was too small to be able to counter this.