Expert: Maria - 1/21/2007

Question
Hello Maria,
Do you know what year Hannibal had the oppurtunity to sack Rome but didn't?  Is the reason known why he went on a wild goose chase rather than eliminating his primary enemy when he had the chance.
If I remember my history, his mistake was eventually fatal for him.
Thanks.
Regards,
Usuff

Answer
Hello,

Hannibal had the opportunity to sack Rome first in the summer of 217 BC after the battle of Lake Trasimene, not so far from Rome, when he destroyed the  Roman army under the consul Gaius Flaminius who was killed.

At that time the Romans really feared Hannibal would besiege their city, but despite the urgings of his generals, he did not proceed to besiege Rome as he lacked siege equipment and  had no supply base in central Italia.

Therefore he proceeded to the south in hopes of stirring up rebellion amongst that population so that he can have a supply base there. In fact he seized the large supply depot at Cannae in the Apulian plain and then  placed himself between the Romans and their source of supply.

It was just at Cannae that the major battle  of the Second Punic War took place on August 2, 216 BC when the Carthaginian army  destroyed a numerically superior Roman army under command of the consuls Lucius Aemilius Paulus and Gaius Terentius Varro.

This battle was however the last victory of Hannibal.

Once again in fact he did not take advantage of  such a crushing defeat for the Romans and did not march to Rome immediately, as  suggested by Maharbal, his cavalry  commander(see below), but he sent a delegation for peace negotiations to Rome that however rejected all offers, redoubled efforts, declaring full mobilization of the male Roman population and reversed the outcome of the war which turned into a final Roman victory in 202 BC, Battle of Zama, in Africa, where Hannibal was defeated by Publius Cornelius Scipio Africanus.


To sum up, Hannibal had  twice he opportunity to sack Rome, first in 217 BC, after the Battle of Lake Trasimene, second in 216 BC, after the Battle of Cannae, but he was not able to exploit  his successs.

Best regards,
Maria
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Maharbal said:” You know how to win a battle, Hannibal,  but not how to use it"(Latin, "Vincere scis, Hannibal, victoria uti nescis". See  Livy, The History of Rome, Book 22, chapter 51).