who were the Carthaginians ? Below is a brief history, which might go some way to explaining Romes greatest and perhaps most mysterious enemy. The Roman wished for all Carthaginians and there lands to be Smashed and burned , lands to be salted no Building or txt to be left standing. anything Carthaginian is to be taken away from History Lets see why? Hannibal, son of Hamilcar Barca excelled as a tactician. No battle in history is a finer sample of tactics than Cannae. But he was yet greater in logistics and strategy. No captain ever marched to and fro among so many armies of troops superior to his own numbers and material as fearlessly and skillfully as he. No man ever held his own so long or so ably against such odds. Constantly overmatched by better soldiers, led by generals always respectable, often of great ability, he yet defied all their efforts to drive him from Italy, for half a generation. ... As a soldier, in the countenance he presented to the stoutest of foes and in the constancy he exhibited under the bitterest adversity, Hannibal stands alone and unequaled. As a man, no character in history exhibits a purer life or nobler patriotism. Theodore Ayrault Dodge, in Hannibal : A History of the Art of War among the Carthaginians and Romans (1893), p. 652 As to the transcendent military genius of Hannibal there cannot be two opinions. The man who for fifteen years could hold his ground in a hostile country against several powerful armies and a succession of able generals must have been a commander and a tactician of supreme capacity. In the use of strategies and ambuscades he certainly surpassed all other generals of antiquity. Wonderful as his achievements were, we must marvel the more when we take into account the grudging support he received from Carthage. As his veterans melted away, he had to organize fresh levies on the spot. We never hear of a mutiny in his army, composed though it was of North Africans, Iberians and Gauls. Again, all we know of him comes for the most part from hostile sources. ****The Romans(U.S.A) feared and hated him so much that they could not do him justice.*** (History repeats) as quoted in Hannibal : One Man Against Rome (1958) I have come not to make war on the Italians, but to aid the Italians against Rome. Spoken to Italian soldiers of Rome captured at the Battle of Lake Trasimene (24 June 217 BC) Livy speaks of his great qualities, but he adds that his vices were equally great, among which he singles out his more than Punic perfidy and an inhuman cruelty. For the first there would seem to be no further justification than that he was consummately skillful in the use of ambuscades. For the latter there is, we believe, no more ground than that at certain crises he acted in the general spirit of ancient warfare. Sometimes he contrasts most favorably with his enemy. No such brutality stains his name as that perpetrated by Claudius Nero on the vanquished Hasdrubal. Polybius merely says that he was accused of cruelty by the Romans and of avarice by the Carthaginians. He had indeed bitter enemies, and his life was one continuous struggle against destiny. For steadfastness of purpose, for organizing capacity and a mastery of military science he has perhaps never had an equal. The Romans had to show no chance of copying the great Carthaginians Romans stole everything, Rome was/is weak, Its easy to lie about great people and there lands, Terrorists? Pray to Evil Gods and Kill people in the name of the Gods? (U.S.A + ROME) there all the same!! Rome stole everything, What is a Roman idea? The great Roman navel fleet was a clone of the Carthaginian Fleet, They stole there ships and started to copy them, they Stole world religions renamed the Gods, put there self as God Its just like the U.S.A to the native tribes of America!! Rome was still made of woood at this time they hated the Carthaginian Carthage was the richest city in the Mediterranean. The harbour was immense, with 220 docks, gleaming columns which rose around it in a half-circle, and was ornamented with Greek sculpture. The Carthaginian trading ships sailed daily to ports all around the Mediterranean Sea while their navy, supreme in the region, kept them safe and, also, opened new territories for trade and resources through conquest. The idea that mercantile business and warlike spirit are contradictory dates to the Age of Enlightenment and is generally not shared by ancient sources such as Virgil, who writes in Aeneid 1,444f. on Carthage: for this reason shall the people be glorious in war and acquire food easily for centuries (sic nam fore bello / egregiam et facilem victu per saecula gentem). Livy already points out that Carthage did house a body of professional soldiers until sometime after the Second Punic War. Other sources can be interpreted to refer to a high degree of military professionalism in the small Punic population whose constitution Aristotle groups along with those of Sparta and Crete. So there is an ongoing debate among historians about the extent of Carthages military spirit. It should be pointed out that the sources on the Punic forces are rare and not easily accessible because they are almost exclusively written by their opponents in war. the real terrorists* An important part of the Punic culture seems to have consisted in their devotion to the gods, and their well-known units, called Sacred Bands by our Greek sources, are regarded as the elite troops of their time. These consisted of infantry troops and cavalry units. The latter were formed by young nobles of the city devoting their life to military training. (People Power) Formation and structure The Greek sources referred to the commander of Punic forces as a strategos or boetarch. The former could at the same time also be a military governor and is known to have had the authority to sign treaties. In areas of conflict, we often find dual command and not all of these strategoi seem to be concerned with governing provinces. It seems that Carthages nobles could afford, and were legally allowed, to sustain their own armies. (People Power) Furthermore, we tend to find evidence that many individuals from the leading families of Carthage served in the military forces. Notably the hired units were deployed with their own command structure As Carthage sent out specific recruiters who bargained contracts with each soldier/corps of soldiers, it is possible that these also served as officers responsible for the integration of their units into the army. In the army, payment was done per unit with subordinates responsible for the further distribution. We have no written records of Carthages military activities from the Punics, only from Greek and Roman writers and these are limited to a few wars. The Libyans supplied both heavy and light infantry and formed the most disciplined units of the army. The heavy infantry fought in close formation, armed with long spears and round shields, wearing helmets and linen cuirasses. The light Libyan infantry carried javelins and a small shield, the same as Iberian light infantry. The Iberian infantry wore purple bordered white tunics and leather headgear. The Iberian heavy infantry fought in a dense phalanx, armed with solid metal javelins called angon, long body shields and short thrusting swords called falcata. Campanian, Sardinian and Gallic infantry fought in their native gear, but were often equipped by Carthage. Polybius seems to suggest that Hannibals heavy Libyan infantry was equipped with the sarissa (pike), thus forming a Macedonian style phalanx. Although this account is disputed by many experts, and Polybius himself is not clear in his descriptions of the great generals battles, he mentions Hannibal when he makes his famed comparison between the Roman maniple and the Macedonian phalanx The Libyans, Carthaginian citizens and the Libyo-Phoenicians provided disciplined, well trained cavalry equipped with thrusting spears and round shields. Numidia provided superb light cavalry, highly skilled in skirmishing tactics, armed with bundles of javelins, a small round shield and riding without bridle or saddle. Iberians and Gauls also provided cavalry that relied on the all out charge. The Libyans provided the bulk of the heavy, four horse war chariots for Carthage, used before the Second Punic War. Allied cities of the Punic hegemony also contributed contingents for the army. The carthaginian officer corps held overall command of the army, although many units may have fought under their chieftains. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Posted on: Tue, 18 Mar 2014 11:33:12 +0000