what were the strategies of general Hannibal of Carthage?

Answer 1

Hannibal of Carthage proved to be one of the best generals of his time. In the second Punic War his skills and tactics almost defeated Rome. Here are some of Hannibal's battle strategies:

A. Surprise attack. At the age of nine, Hannibal moved to areas in Spain where Carthage had historical ties. He marched from Spain and over the Alps and to the surprise of Rome, his armies were on the Italian Peninsula. This feat is deemed one of the epics in ancient war history.

B. The use of war elephants. Hannibal managed to march his war elephants over the Alps into Italy. These elephants were powerful weapons and could carry a small number of archers. The elephants caused great confusion among the Roman Calvary's horses.

C. Superior cavalry. Hannibal's cavalries had superior numbers then those of Rome. He used this to his advantage and many battles were won due to the fact that Hannibal could use the advantage of large cavalries against Rome.

D. The phalanx and heavy cavalry. Despite the weaknesses in the phalanx battle formation, Hannibal used it with skill and the spear men in this formation were successful. He also made use of heavily armed cavalry forces.

E. The night march. Hannibal's troops were excellent in marching during the night and performed surprise attackes on the Roman legions who awoke to find the enemy so close.

Using the above tactics and strategies, Hannibal proved to be one of the greatest generals that Rome ever faced. Hannibal, lost the Second Punic War as we know, however, he gave Rome much more trouble then they ever expected.