Dusmanul la Poarta!-Partea-28!

 1-Acest articol este copiat !

2-Istoria ramane pasiunea mea nr-1!

“Here, within the folds of my toga, hang peace, or war. Which shall you choose Carthage, peace, or war?”

In 221 BC the Carthaginian commander in Iberia, Hasdrubal the Fair, was assassinated. The massive Celtiberian veteran army that had remained mobilised from the African campaigns of Hamilcar wasted no time in appointing his successor, nor did they wait for emissaries or approval from Carthage as to who this should be – they appointed Hasdrubal’s adjutant, the son of Hamilcar, Hannibal Barca. Hispania was still ostensibly Carthaginian territory, and being a republic Carthage did not have hereditary succession, no militarily appointed leaders. Hannibal’s ascension following his proclamation by the army followed the militaristic trend set by his father, and seeing him in command of such a behemoth force, the Carthaginian Senate was powerless to do little more than approve his rise.

The 26-year-old Hannibal married a woman from Castulo called Imilce, and spent the next two years campaigning throughout Hispania to cement Carthage’s dominance. Hannibal was already popular with the soldiers, and immediately showed his martial talent as he continued his father’s expansion. He was the eldest of Hamilcar’s three sons, with the younger brothers Hasdrubal and Mago, dubbed “the lions brood.” Hannibal’s campaigning saw him storm the Olcades’ stronghold at Alithia, bringing Punic power to the River Tagus. In 220 BC he campaigned against the Vaccaei in the west, storming the strongholds of Helmantice and Arbucala. While returning to the coast laden with booty, he was attacked by a Celtiberian coalition led by the Carpentani, and Hannibal showed his tactical nous when he engineered his first major battlefield victory.

Rome was spooked by the growing strength of Hannibal, and made an alliance with the city of Saguntum – a city considerably south of the River Ebro which had been agreed as the boundary of the two powers in the treaty with Hasdrubal the Fair. Hannibal saw this as a flagrant violation of the treaty, and had none of the martial reservations of his predecessor. With his launchpad and army now ready, like Alexander inheriting Philip’s army to realise his ambition of invading the Achaemenid Persian Empire, Hannibal now felt emboldened to launch war on Rome – regardless of the thoughts of those in Carthage.

Hannibal laid siege to Saguntum in 219 BC. Rome was outraged, but with its legions campaigning across the Adriatic in the Second Illyrian War, was not in a position to relieve her ally. After eight months, Saguntum fell. Hannibal sacked the city, and sent the spoils back to Carthage in a calculated move to ensure the political support of a homeland he had not seen since childhood. Only Hanno the Great spoke against Hannibal, as the road to war undermined his peace party.

War betwixt Carthage and Rome was not yet inevitable. The Roman Senate dispatched a delegation to its Carthaginian counterpart, led by Quintus Fabius Maximus Verrucosus, demanding to know if Hannibal had attacked the city of his own accord, or on the instruction of Carthage. Both sides knew the truth of the matter, that Hannibal was essentially a rouge general leading an autonomous rebel state that merely sent occasional tribute to Carthage to ensure political apathy towards the situation. To admit this would allow Rome to merely deal with Hannibal, rather than enter into war with Carthage. To admit this would mean Carthage to admit to being incapable of controlling its leading general – a humiliating confession for a powerful state. Thus the Carthaginian Senate responded with the legal argument that Hasdrubal’s treaty had never been ratified by either state, and thus could not have been violated. Fabius stood in front of the Carthaginian Senate and proclaimed: “Here, within the folds of my toga, hang peace, or war. Which shall you choose Carthage, peace, or war?” The Senators replied that Rome should choose. “War!”, bellowed back Fabius, to huge cheers from the Carthaginian Senate. The Second Punic War had begun.