Dusmanul la Poarta!-Partea-40!

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2-Istoria ramane pasiunea mea nr-1!

Full Circle

"All good things to those who wait."

Following Scipio’s victory at the Battle of Utica, he now chased the Punic commander Hasdrubal Gisco and the Numidian King Syphax inland. His invasion of Africa was designed to bring the Second Punic War to its conclusion, but now Carthage was stubbornly holding out against Rome. Despite one significant defeat on home soil, Carthage was still hopeful of levying enough troops to repel the invaders. Carthage now had the benefits that Rome enjoyed that emboldened it to persevere through the crushing defeats of the first phase of the war – a populous home region that could regularly raise new troops against an invader that had limited sources of resupply.

Hasdrubal and Syphax were bolstered by the arrival of 4,000 Celtiberian mercenaries, which emboldened them to make a second stand against Scipio. These, coupled with their new levies, soon saw them commanding a fresh army of 30,000 with which to resist the legions. Scipio was emboldened himself by having his command prorogued until the end of the war and he marched out to meet the duo near the Bagradas River. Hasdrubal placed his Celtiberians in the centre, flanked by his Punic infantry and cavalry, while Scipio lined up in the typical maniple formation. The charge of the Roman cavalry caused their Carthaginian opponents to flee the field, leaving only the Celtiberians, roughly equal in number to the first rank of Roman legionaries, the hastati. Scipio thus had his second two ranks, the principes and the triarii, to march around the hastati and crash into the flanks of the Celtiberians. Now surrounded, the mercenaries were swiftly routed, with few managing to escape the vengeance of Rome. The Numidians under Syphax stood their ground for a time, before they too broke and fled. The Battle of Great Plains was another crushing defeat for Carthage.

Syphax fled back to Numidia, but was pursued by Scipio’s adjutant Laelius, and the Numidian prince Masinissa, who had defected to Rome following a carving up of the African kingdom (modern Algeria). Syphax was chased to the town of Cirta, where he raised fresh forces to face the Romans a third time. Syphax had a number of troops that had been trained in the style of Roman infantry – a decade earlier the kingdom had risen in revolt against Carthage, with Roman advisors sent to support them and assist in opening up another theatre of the war. This revolt had ended in Carthage committing resources to subdue Numidia and re-establish it as an ally, though a legacy of the early stages was the Numidian infantry now fighting in the similar style to the maniples of Rome’s legions.

Syphax was thus confident of using these troops to repel the legions, especially in the absence of Scipio himself. He hoped to use his ‘legions’ to emulate the successes that Scipio himself had enjoyed in Iberia, and more recently in Africa. Despite this Roman modelling, most of his troops were raw and inexperienced. It is also interesting to ponder what ‘makes’ an indomitable soldier. History is littered with examples of civilisations looking to mirror the military of other, more successful states, yet despite copying them closely, failing to mirror their successes. The Achaemenid Persian Empire always found its soldiers at huge disadvantage to Greek hoplites, and failed to replicate that style of warfare despite its huge resources. Persia would take to hiring Greek mercenaries, and incidents such as Xenophon’s long march home (the subject of the Anabasis) following the Battle of Cunaxa show how his relatively small force of hoplites were able to march through thousands of miles of hostile territory, and vastly superior numbers of enemies, while remaining largely unscathed. Just as the Persians could not mirror the Greek model, nor could many Mediterranean societies successfully mirror the Roman model – including the Carthaginians, whom Hannibal had equipped many of in a legionary style following his early victories. Later history would see the British Army successful campaigning abroad against overwhelming numbers of enemies using the same weapons and tactics, yet for whatever reason being frequently crushed by the British soldiers. The beneficiary nations change throughout history, but there is often a state that blazes a trail militarily that others struggle to match, even when mimicking it.

Such was the case at the Battle of Cirta. The initial cavalry clash was hard fought, but when the legions moved forward and bulldozed into the Numidian troops, they swiftly broke and fled. Seeing his force crumbling, Syphax sought to ride to the fore and rally his men. His brave move saw him knocked off his horse, then imprisoned by the legions as his army disintegrated around him. The legions captured Cirta merely by showing Syphax in chains, assuring Scipio’s foothold in Africa. Masinissa became the king of Numidia, the land from which he had been exiled, and became a faithful Roman client. Carthage’s long-serving and critical ally was now a Roman vassal, and would remain as a client kingdom for over a century, until Gaius Marius took command of the war against Jugurtha that would dissolve the kingdom and formally incorporate it as a Roman province. Scipio had finally succeeded in the African invasion that had failed in the First Punic War, and then thwarted by Hannibal’s Italian invasion at the start of the Second Punic War. Rome’s fortunes had gone full circle.

Scipio had not pursued Syphax as he had resumed peace negotiations with the Carthaginian Senate. Scipio proposed modest terms, and these were initially accepted by Carthage, and tentatively ratified by the Senate in Rome too. Following his successful African invasion and trio of victories there, the Second Punic War looked to be over. Scipio’s treaty would see Carthage keep its African territory but lose its overseas possessions (which had essentially already happened with Roman victory in Iberia and Sicily), recognise Masinissa as King of Numidia and allow his territorial expansion, reduce its fleet, and pay a war indemnity. This looked to be agreed by all parties, but then Carthage decided to dig in, and display a little of the Roman resilience that had stopped them from admitting defeat after the slaughter at Cannae 15 years earlier. For Carthage still had a trump card to play.

A fresh Punic fleet sailed for Italia, though empty of soldiers. Upon reaching Croton, Hannibal Barca and 20,000 of his veterans who had successful campaigned in Italia for over a decade boarded them. A second fleet landed further north, where Mago and the remnants of his force boarded off the Ligurian coast. The youngest Barcid brother would die of his wounds on the journey home, and while some of his ships were intercepted and engaged by the Roman navy, up to 12,000 of his Celtiberian veterans landed in Africa to support the Punic cause too. Now there would be no further peace talks. Rome was spooked by the return of these troops to Africa, and withdrew its support of the terms. Carthage, however, was emboldened. Having left his homeland aged nine, the 43-year-old Hannibal Barca was finally back on African soil. The son of the Thunderbolt, who had brought Rome to its knees and never lost a battle, had returned home to save Carthage. The stage was set for a final showdown betwixt the undefeated generals of Hannibal and Scipio.