Great lecture. Picturing the Elephants crossing the river underwater using their trunks as a snorkel is incredible. What an epic saga those men who followed Hannibal lived.
I constantly think about the undertaking of such a endeavor. It's no wonder that so many armies through the course of time end up pillaging and looting whatever nearby city they come across and call it foraging.
@@FlashPointHx I just wanted to thank you and let you know that your work, this 'podcast' & including all of the other work that you have done on this channel, is, how should I say it - the very best that I've ever enjoyed. Not only that it is educational, nor entertaining - it is both in a way that I've never come across before, and I've been to more than just a couple of lectures in my time.. Kudos for all that you've done on Flash Point. I've listened to the podcast and UA-cam versions, and on eagerly waiting for more. I've spread the word out as much as possible. All the best, Fans in Finland
@@yaragi Again - thank you. Btw, one of my good friends is a Finn. She brought me back a can of Moose - she knows how to party and she has said that that is a national trait.
I have listened to this video so many times also with months in between. It is by far the best I have ever heard and learned about the Punic wars and in specific about Hannibal’s military expedition crossing the Alps and invading Rome nowadays „Italy“ . It is informative, pure delight and of outstanding entertainment. I wish history classes at school could be of that quality.. Please, never delete this video, keep it in the public domain, so that everyone can enjoy it until a new generation of history teacher is able to promote and perform alike, which will not happen in the foresees future. Best history teachers play this video in the class room with their students. The video is the best and biggest class room for teachers, students, pupils of all ages. Thank You. Gottfried Thiery, Vienna
Gottfried - thank you so much for this comment!! I'm happy that you liked my comment so much! I will not delete this - seem like a lot of people really like this series. By the way, My step father is Austrian and I've visited Vienna many times ! Beautiful city!!
Thanks a lot for this great series of videos. I remember how, in high school, I used to think the punic wars were boring and uninteresting. Boy, was I wrong! You made me realize, they were fascinating and played a crucial role in the history of the west.
Glad you enjoyed it - yeah they were such an epic time! The fate of two major civilizations played out by two royal houses and masters of the battlefield
This Chapter should never end. Truly AMAZING content. Thank YOU so much for your explendid work here. I've watched this series a few times already but this one hits different. Much respect from Brazil. Thanks again.
Hello Pyturis ! Really happy that you liked my videos and that you liked this series so much that you watched it a few times. This was the longest video to make - can't believe you wanted more =)
31:00 The music and the "this is gonna hurt" comment had me rolling.🤣 I love history documentaries but this guy just does it in a way I have not experienced before and it's even better. Okay hear me out. Hannibal is kind of the Patton of his day. The elephants are the tanks, he does things no one else would try or consider sane, and he doesn't seem to have an end game peace plan 😉
I knew this would be epic. And it did not disappoint. No wonder this campaign is still studied and useful interpretations are still valid for today's military. The textbooks were written by these events for the ages to follow. And no time for earthquakes either?... That's some fierce combat. Another truly enjoyable presentation. Thank you.
Hannibal embodied the precepts of Sun Tzu's art of war - deception is the basis of all warfare. Attack when you appear weak, Appear strong when you're weak. If you know yourself and you know your opponent - you will not be imperiled in a hundred battles. When you strike, hit like mountain and never let up on a retreating foe. Impressive - it is little surprise to me that entire chapters of military strategy are attributed to him even in our modern era
For anyone wanting a deeper look into Scipio Africanus I would highly recommend the book Scipio Africanus: Greater Than Napoleon by B.H. Liddell Hart it thoroughly refutes the idea that Scipio was some bumbler or that he was lucky, you will see him in a different light than he is often portrayed by revisionists today. As an aside, people often ask "Why didn't Hannibal march on Rome after Cannae?" the answer to that question is not entirely known but one factor most people don't know about is the distance, Cannae is about 250 miles away from Rome, even if Hannibals army could march 25 miles a day every day it would take them ten days of non-stop marching to reach the walls of Rome and they'd be in no shape to fight at the end of such a march, that's best case scenario if the men can actually cover that distance each day. Secondly Rome could withstand a long siege and Hannibal would not have been able to actually seize the city, and his own supply situation would likely become desperate long before the Romans. Hannibal's desire was to inflict so much destruction on the Romans that they would have to come to the negotiating table with concessions. Unfortunately for Hannibal he didn't understand the Roman spirit, most other great powers would have negotiated a peace and life would go back to normal for the most part, for the Romans war did not work this way, it was winner take all total victory or total defeat, and that is why Rome became the shining empire and the driving spirit of Western Civilization, along with the ancient Greeks of course whose contribution is no small thing.
Thanks for the book recommendation. I’m going to check it out. I’ve always thought Hannibal’s decision probably made perfect sense at the time, and it’s only in hindsight that we all think marching on rome seems like the only thing to do right then. Knowing he won’t get a better shot at it in his lifetime makes it an obvious choice, but he had no benefit of knowing that at the time. I’m glad he didn’t March on rome and lose, because that would have been even worse. We might not be talking about him now, and he’s one of my favorite men from history.
This is Incredible This is the story of My Real name which is Africanus Neptaliz Rivera . My father gave me that bame after he read a book of the punic wars in the Korean war in 51- 53 . My son as well has my name . By the way this is the best version i had read or listen of Africanus ! Just simply AMAZING!
I was in some place for certain circumstances and had no internet nor any thing but this series and kept replying it for a month and the one with attilia the hun and I'd like to say I spent that month well. very good narrative, voice and expressions. very underrated channel I hope u the best
This series really is a tour-de-force. The pacing and level of detail are spot-on, and the narrator's voice and style are a close second to Dan Carlin. I didn't hear it mentioned, but I think Hannibal's tactic of plundering the estates (in Campania, IIRC) of the hawks while avoiding the dove properties like those of Fabius shows what a next-level strategic stud that man was. Also, I'm planning a trip (or possibly a move) to Puglia where I'll hopefully wander the barren area where Cannae was with memories of this podcast playing in my mind :)
Thats right - he did do that - what a mastermind of psychology - everyone in the senate would think that Hannibal and Fabius were in an alliance of some sort
In a episode of The Simpsons, when side show Bob is getting crushed by some elephants, the side of them reads "Terror lake salutes Hannibal crossing the Alps."
In truth the elephants did so very little and by the time he got to the Arno river only one was left alive. The feat itself however was legendary and we still talk about it today
Well put! Hannibal was never one to deal quietly with a no-win scenario. He always seemed to find a way through. Even after his defeat at Zama - he became Suffett of the Carthaginian Senate instead of being paraded in a Roman Triumph and then executed. Resourceful and respected by his enemies - impressive
Thanks for making these! To me, I think the biggest reason for bringing the elephants to the Alps was a shock and awe tactic to use against the local tribes, to convince them to join him.
Yeah the elephants were kind of useless in the grand military scene. But they did scare the hell out of the mountain tribes. The psychological effect was extremely impressive - I mean we are here 2300 years later still talking about it!
Do you think it would have been possible to lay seige to Rome and force her to pull back troops from Sardinia and Siciliy? I almost feel like no matter how hard Hannibal pressed, even with significant resupply, that the Romans wouldn't have given up unless Rome itself fell, which at the time would have taken maybe a decade. Hannibal's entire motivation to invade Italy was banking on more people hailing him a liberator and turning on Rome but he really struggled to find support in north and central Italy. He also figured if he killed enough Romans and allies that there'd be chaos, but he didn't realize just how well Rome had solidified itself as master of Italy in the last century. Seems like he never had a chance. Rome was like Russia in WWII just all too willing to throw more and more troops at their enemy who invaded their home.
A refreshingly original , witty and amusing doco' . Just the ticket on a Winter's night , in front of the open fire , with whiskey , pipe and snoozing cat , curled up on my slippers .
Wow! I'm happy I can be a part of that. A friend of mine and I did a tour of the battlefields of the American Civil War. We would toast every night with some good scotch to the history around us.
I am a huge fan of Ken Burns - ever since his series on the Civil War. I think the method of a slow scrawl across a static image has been named in his honor. When you use iMovie on a Mac to create videos like this the option to do this is actually called "Ken Burns".
woow, woow ,woooow man!!! I've never enjoyed or have been exited throughout a storytelling of battles that should contain a great amount of action!!! Hannibal is truly a master mined and with your ability to describe actual battles in a really exciting way I really really have never been entertained by a story this Much, Great work!
Hey happy that you liked the content so much. This time basically just wrote itself. Hannibal was truly a master and his only worthy opponent was Scipio
@@FlashPointHx Thanks! It's my pleasure. I can't believe Hannibal's history, he's straight out from a movie. What a life he must have lived, I'm a little jealous.
Learning the exact history in all the wars and Roman lineage as to try and follow the history in my rome 2 dei total war campaign. I'm a bit early tho as I already got Sicily Sardinia and corsica and I'm at 265 bc. Kinda jumped the gun as I'm apparently 30 to 40 years to early in the second punic war. Hispania is next
This series was very well done. Very detailed and in chronological order with having to go back to often to tie the past with the then present. HOWEVER, it is mind boggling that the speaker pronounced one of the major battles incorrectly. Over and Over. I received a degree in Ancient History and the it is pronounced "Can-eye" not "KAN-EE. In the dozens of courses, two different universities, youtube videos, numerous professors ALL pronounce it "Can-eye". Other than that annoyance, the series was very good. Perhaps a little too detailed for the general public, but for an avid ancient history fan, very good. The battle of CANNAE- is pronounced CAN-EYE. However I doubt if the Romans of the time cared how it was pronounced. The podcast also relates how you can win almost the battles (except 1!) and not the war.
well I'm glad you liked the series. I've actually heard it both ways. In fact - there are several documentaries listed that pronounce it the way I did. I've created some shorter versions of the punic war series to cover the major battles. Make sure you check them out. The Battle of Zama will be coming out in a few days as well. All the best!
There are varied ways of pronouncing Cannae, yours and FlashPoints are both acceptable. There is also the southern Ka'na'e'aye which is the greek and of course San'ne'aye which is the rough phonecian/carthage way of saying it.
The battle at Trasimine is kind of wrong set into place. You introduce Geminus as an idiot seeking for glory marching right into this narrow passage willing to pick a fight. In fact, Hannibal lighted some campfires way ahead so Geminus thought he had to take the shortest way to have at least a chance to reach Hannibal on his way to Rome, he simply thought this was necessary to shorten the distance, therefore he took this way, otherwise, he wouldn't have chosen this path as he was aware of the tactical issues.
Marching head long into a trap with the hubris to bring chains to shackle an opponent that in your mind you have already defeated is the mark of an idiot. You’ve made it to episode IV - thought you didn’t like my rambling narrative style :)
Even today at the end of 2024, at the height of the Ukrainian war all of this is so relevant: the element of surprise, the proper use of terrain, the maneuver element and so on.
Glad you liked it! Seems like you have been following along. Let me know what you think when you get to the end. BTW checked out your channel. Love table top gaming!
@@FlashPointHx Agreed! In a span of 1yr. This is my 3rd time listening to the Punic Wars...there're great listen to. Keep up the fantastic work you do...thank you
U said in yer opinion he brought Elephants across the alps so the men would think if they could cross so could they. I think they were valuable war machines, knowing the Celts and Gauls never even saw one it gave him advantage well worth it
Great lectures! But need to point out that 8:30 arrow pointing Ebro river should be moved up to north on map where you can see word Iberus which is roman name for river Ebro.
I found this channel after watching History Time's "Entire History of the Phoenicians" and his poetic description of the fall of Carthage got me more hyped to learn more about the first and third Punic Wars. I love this so much and am greatly you have a playlist for them. Keep doing what your doing. Also can anyone tell me what song plays at 1:04:38?
Fully agree. He should at least have conquered Rome or Sardinia, Sicily. Imagine if Hannibal would have won. Imagine the consequences. The latin based languages of europe like Spanish, French would not be. I mean it would have change everything. Maybe even the religions and their development in Europe and middle east. Crazy. But not to be.
I thought it was the San Bernardino pass that Hannibal crossed, at least that's what i heard in most videos about the punic wars. Same one as Napoleon prior to the battle of Marengo around 2 milleniums later
I am in complete awe at the sheer amount of slaughter that happened in one day in Cannae. Thats like if every single person in a massivle football stadium, like old trafford in Manchester for example were killed, in one day, in an age where the most men used swords and shields, wow!
To think about it, the march itself from Hispania to Italia was quite an achivement. It's a logistical nightmare, they had to cover some 1500 km on foot, and all that on forign territory where they also needed to feed themselves somehow. And they couldn't just go pillaging, becouse they had to keep in good terms with the locals. I guess they had to buy their food. And it's quite a lot of food for such a big army. The animals too need huge amount of feed. Imagine how much those elephants ate!
Flash Point History Hey man, not tryna fan boy or anything but, to me, it's the best series on the punic wars ive seen on UA-cam. Well done. I wish people would take the time to watch this. Thanks for creating this its exactly what I was looking for and I'm the better for discovering it.
Samuel - I’m loving the fact that you liked my series so much! All of these podcasts can be downloaded for free for your mobile device as well. Just take a look at the link in the description. I have a series on Attila the Hun you might like. I hope you continue with my War of the Worlds series after this.
So nothing really new for me, read it all before, but compliments for the well understandable, congenial voice and way of lecturing. Are you sure that at Cannae Romans were positioned east and Hannibals army west. I always thought the other way.
As the way it looks, it seems to me that peace was never an option. Rome wanted to eventually get Carthago's territories, and if not for Saguntum, then they'd went to war for some other reason, maybe later, but at some point certainly. The fact that they did not hesitate to declar war shows that they very much wanted it. And the ultimatum they presented was also impossible: no country, let alone an empire would surrender their commander in chief to be executed. And even if they wanted it, they couldn't have done it, you can't just go and arrest the general commanding your army in the field.
an army of lions commended by a lion but in the end got defeated by the roman hydra ,romans had more soldiers than what hannibal and his could kill that what happened to germany against soviets ....very good job thanks
Hahhaha - I actually do my due diligence and try to find the correct pronunciations - just doesn’t seem to work out. We all have flaws - this is one of many of them for me. Happy you like the content however ;)
Some interesting items of Hannibal’s victories during the early years of his Italian Campaign: Gallic Fickleness- Having dealt with the Romans over the previous decades, the Gallic tribes of the Po River Valley didn’t take joining Hannibal’s polyglot army lightly. They all knew too well that if Hannibal’s foray into Italy proved a failure, there would be absolute hell to pay. For reasons now lost to history, Hannibal became so put out with certain Gallic tribes to the south of the Po, on the west side of the Trebbia tributary that he deployed a medium sized detachment of infantry and cavalry which began laying waste to the area causing them to appeal to Tiberius Sempronius Longus who responded by successfully repulsing this force. This had the effect of emboldening Tiberius to give battle to Hannibal a few days later at the Battle of the Trebbia very similar the Roman victory over a small Carthaginian contingent of troops the day before the Battle of Cannae unfolded. Battle of Trebbia River- Tiberius effected a hollow square formation with his more seasoned men in the center after Mago’s ambush fell upon his rear with the bulk of his Italic allies on the flanks becoming the main casualties of the battle. Once this was accomplished he successfully drove through the Carthaginian center and as the story goes kept on going, eventually entering Placentia which does pose problems geographically but I won’t get into that here. War Elephants at Trebbia- Also at Trebbia would be the only pitched battle where Hannibal had use of his war elephants numbering around 35, most of which fell victim to the attacks of Tiberius’s light infantry stationed on either side composed of both Roman and allied men. Battle of Cannae: Composition of Hannibal’s Army- I think your review of this battle classifies the center of Hannibal’s line (composed of an interwoven distribution of Iberian and Gallic infantry) as being “Light Infantry”. I would strongly disagree to this depiction. While it was noted that Hannibal put his “weaker” men in the center, the word weaker does not mean “light” by any stretch of the imagination. Hannibal knew full well that these Spanish and Gallic men would be the ones with the unenviable task of resisting as best as possible the butchery they were sure to receive from the vanguard of Rome’s killing machine which had assembled before them. While they were to give ground before the Roman onslaught, they had to do this in a controlled manner…gradually, thus ensuring plenty of contact with the enemy. Hannibal certainly wasn’t going to assign this task to light infantry. Doing so would have insured not only center giving ground, they would most assuredly not have stopped “giving” their ground all the way to the Tyrrhenian Sea on the other side of Italy! In fact, I’m of the opinion that the center of Hannibal’s line was no less thick that any other portion of Hannibal’s army so important was it that his men hold the beast that was the Roman army and prevent an all-out route. I would further say that Hannibal’s methodical yielding of the ground was probably the best that his men in the center could possibly hope for and were it not for the fog of war that plumed over the Romans when the walls started closing in and the confusion set in, Hannibal would have been toast. Libyan Infantry- Another item of interest is the battle armaments of Hannibal’s Libyan heavy infantry. I believe it was Polybius who recorded that the Libyan mercenaries where equipped in the Greek phalanx style. However, it was Livy (I think) that suggested the Libyans had ditched their sarissas for captured Roman weaponry which I believe to be the case as a phalanx formation would have been ill suited for holding the Roman flanks in place for a sustained amount of time which was necessary to surround and lock them in place after the envelopment was complete. A wall of pikes while daunting and seemingly irresistible when advancing on the enemy is vulnerable when locked in a stationary fight where individual soldiers of the opposing enemy can eventually make their way past the pointy ends of these prickly poles and quickly undo the entire formation. Hannibal’s Skirmishers- Hannibal was reported to have had on hand for the fight at Cannae some 8-9,000 skirmishers made up largely of Balearic slingers and skirmishers from south Iberia and even newer recruits from Magana Grecia. In addition to unleashing their deadly payloads of stones and other missiles Hannibal most probably used his skirmishers who would have retired behind the army after their opening salvos, to bolster the cavalry’s attempt to bottle up the Romans at the back end of their formation. It had been pointed out that cavalry (kind of like a Phalanx) is somewhat ill suited at holding a large force of men in place. These skirmishers would have gone a long way to ensuring the last side of the trap remained shut.
LOL! Sorry but you know how it is. I find it impossible to comment on anything related to this era in history in 157 characters of less! Oh, I meant to comment in my last post but chose to omit due to its growing size. That being a few pronunciations: Velites- (vĕ-lă-tā) or my pronunciation- (veh-lah-tay) I think you've been saying something that sounds like "Vee-lites". And, regarding Pyrrhus of Epirus how are you saying his name? It kind of sounds like you're inserting an "h" after the P to make a soft F sound as if saying what sounds like "Fer-us" or even "Fi-rus".
No - don't apologize - its lovely to meet people who are so into history. A friend of mine and I finished up a tour of Civil War Battle sites in Maryland / Penn / Virginia and meeting people passionate about history is always refreshing. Got into a huge debate with a shop owner in Gettysburg about General Hooker and toasted a round to Gen Meade with a bunch of Europeans there as well. As far as Velites and Pyrrhus - I think you're right about the pronunciation - but sometimes you hear it a half dozen different ways in different documentaries.
Flash Point History Before moving back to Georgia I worked in Silver Spring, MD just outside Washington DC. While I was up there I definitely took advantage of my location to visit many a Civil War Battlefield in the vicinity and hit Gettysburg 4 times. Great place. I'm quite obsessed with the battle really and still remain quite befuddled really as to how and why Lee's plan for Day 2 ran off the tracks like it did with so many Confederate brigades no engaging with the enemy at all that day. When one stops to consider that with only 11 brigades (Hood's 4 brigades + McLaw's 4 brigades + 3 of the 5 brigades belonging to Anderson's Division), the Rebels brought Meade and the AOP near the breaking point by early evening. I could write a thesis on all this but will spare you for now. ;o)
Flash Point History I meant to ask, what specifically about Hooker did you and the shop owner debate? How he lost his nerve in spectacular fashion at a critical point of the battle? That whole debacle must have been difficult to live down, especially after talking such a big game about how he was going whip those bitchass Confederates' little bitchasses and all! ;-) He was definitely an interesting character for sure. Meade on the other hand, not so much but he did finally give Lincoln a real, conclusive victory that was not in dispute. (I like to joke that Meade won at Gettysburg with 7 Union Corps and invaluable help and assistance from Lee's 3 Corps Commanders). ;-)
The death toll of Cannae can really only be compared I think to that at Sekigahara at the start of the 17th century at the close of the warring states period in Japan. That was about 30,000 dead. Both are completely incomprehensible numbers for a battle that transpired over just a single day.
I think the WW1 Battle of Tannenberg is a more appropriate comparison to the Battle of Canae, the main battle was four days long, but an encirclement of a larger army by a smaller one that lead to 70+k dead and 90+k captured has the same ring to it. You can also go into even more similarities, like one of the generals being killed in action and the two generals leading the Russian force into their horrible blunder were said to be rivals who disagreed on how they should proceed the entire time.
Hannibal the animal, phenomenal, with great abdominals, and his skills for battle were almost criminal. He had heavy genitals. His march turned altitudinal, he was no ordinal, his triumphs became testimonial. to Rome he came proximal, bad ass he was the original, his strategy was optimal. His awareness of the enemy was anatomical. Fucked the Romans like an aboriginal, his victories were astronomical, and his tactics psychological. Survived by being economical, almost made it seem comical. The Roman senate became lachrymal, when Rome's defeat became periodical. The matter became very personal, his achievements were historical. Though he lost the war and it was ironical. Such was the story of Hannibal the mythological.
There is a certain trend you notice in this story when it comes to Roman Generals. Almost every single one who Hannibal beats is portrayed very similarly: hotheads seeking glory. It almost makes you think that the Roman historians might have done some historical revisions to create some scapegoats for all the disasters they suffered. The only significant figure that doesn't get this treatment is Scipio the Elder, but since his son is clearly being set up for greater things later down the lines, it wouldn't do to make his father out to be an idiot.
Its also the nature of the Roman Government - Men have to fight and claw their way to the position of consul, then they need to share that position with another. Then there are only given one year to establish themselves. Time is ticking and you are either daring or you are replaced.
Great podcast! Loved learning about the Punic wars back in high school so decided to revisit. On a side note, at the beginning I heard you talking about Jerusalem and the IDF. I'm just wondering if you visited other cities in Palestine as well?
I was in a semester abroad program and I spent the summer traveling from Rome to Jerusalem via Greece, Turkey, and Egypt. Our group went up and down the nile and then crossed the Sinai peninsula. We entered into Israel at Eilat and then made our way up along the Dead Sea - nearly up to the Golan Heights before heading back to Tel Aviv. It was 1997 and there were suicide bombings going on so we didn't go into Palentine itself. In fact, our group was diverted away from Jerusalem due to the threat. However, a few of us said screw it, we didn't come this far not to go to Jerusalem.
@@FlashPointHx I gotcha. I'm a Palestinian born and raised in the US so the Palestine-Israel conflict is something I've studied a bit! As a Palestinian I'm not too fond of the IDF and Israel's actions so hearing your story about the soldier made me curious. I know you were just comparing them militarily and not so much politically so no offense taken of course! Would really love to see a podcast on your take of the conflict even though it seems your channel is more geared towards older history and not ongoing moderb conflicts
@@justiceandfreedomforall4999 My impression of Israel was that most of the people that lived there or in Palestine simply wanted to live, enjoy their families, and come home to a good meal. It is unfortunate that there is so much conflict that is embedded in the land.
It would of been infinitely more advantageous if Hannibal fought the Romans in Spain. 100,000 men that would have been well supplied and easily reinforced. His campaign in Italy came from his want to make the Romans to suffer. Stupid reason.
I'm glad you liked it. When I created this series, there was so much information out there. It was hard to decide what to keep in and hold off on. The problem is that you have to keep the narrative flowing without getting too bogged down with too many details.
One can forgive Flash in this regard as even today we have very little information regarding the Estruscans and their Empire. SPQR made sure to start the "victor writes/controls..." by pretty much absorbing all the valuable aspects of the Etruscans by simply calling it Roman Tradition (as we all know SPQR was good at doing) and quite literally destroying everything else.
Should have added that I love these little sessions. I have already listened to this set series about nine times in the past week. I must say however, we seem to have different attitudes towards Hannibal..
Wow - you really like the Punic wars! Seriously, you heard my entire series 9 times? Yeah - I'm enamored by Hannibal for his out of box thinking. But like with any major general, you also had a ruthless streak. You need to have some degree of a sociopathic personality to do what he did.
Hannibal was great at winning battles, but the war suffered from bad strategy. The Carthaginian government did not fully support the war, and the idea of splitting the allies from Rome was tried by Pyrrhus of Epirus.
Tactically Hannibal was brilliant. strategically he underestimated the Romans perserverance. But then, most states couldn’t recover from a Ticinus, Trebia, Trasimene, and Cannae.
The Battle of Cartagena de Indias took place during the 1739 to 1748 War of Jenkins' Ear between Spain and Britain. Ends with Spanish victory consolidating its supremacy in South America Forces The British 27,400-30,000 military personnel 12,000 regulars, marines and militia 15,398 Royal Navy sailors 29 ships of the line 22 frigates 71 sloops-of-war 2 hospital ships 80 troop ships 50 merchant ships The Spanish 3,000-4,000 military personnel 2,700 regulars 600 sailors and 300 militia 600 Indian archers 6 ships of the line and numerous shore-based guns Casualties and losses The British 9,500-11,500 dead 7,500 wounded and sick 1,500 guns lost 6 Royal Navy ships lost 17 Royal Navy ships of the line heavily damaged 4 frigates and 27 transports lost The Spanish 800 dead 1,200 wounded 6 ships lost 5 forts 3 batteries It would be nice to hear you about this war and its implications in the Caribbean trade during the migth of the Spanish Empire.
I don't know about you, but when u used the Hiroshima a-bomb to describe the massacre and the math about 100men killed/min i really understood what a horrible sight in had to be, though i watched alot of battle documentaries about Hannibal and others. It was a military masterpiece but a human horror. Outstanding documentary and perfect job with the score/narration.
Thanks - the scary thing about that death rate - was that it was non-linear. The number of deaths would increase at an exponential rate as the battle continued culminating in a gory climax as the day progressed
Yes - crusades are my area of speciality - however it will not be for awhile - need to finish punic wars and then will do a series on Hernan Cortez and the Aztec.
To be fair all details in history can not possibly be covered and narrated, which is why it's called flash point and those minor details are also macro flash points in history. But overall it's definitely a thumbs up for this history lesson
Great lecture. Picturing the Elephants crossing the river underwater using their trunks as a snorkel is incredible. What an epic saga those men who followed Hannibal lived.
Thats right - the Rhone river crossing. Imagine the alps, or the aftermath of Cannae!
I constantly think about the undertaking of such a endeavor. It's no wonder that so many armies through the course of time end up pillaging and looting whatever nearby city they come across and call it foraging.
This is an immense, nay, gargantuan series of a podcast. Truly , a fitting podcast for such significant epoch of humanity.
Thank you!
@@FlashPointHx I just wanted to thank you and let you know that your work, this 'podcast' & including all of the other work that you have done on this channel, is, how should I say it - the very best that I've ever enjoyed. Not only that it is educational, nor entertaining - it is both in a way that I've never come across before, and I've been to more than just a couple of lectures in my time.. Kudos for all that you've done on Flash Point. I've listened to the podcast and UA-cam versions, and on eagerly waiting for more. I've spread the word out as much as possible.
All the best,
Fans in Finland
@@yaragi Again - thank you. Btw, one of my good friends is a Finn. She brought me back a can of Moose - she knows how to party and she has said that that is a national trait.
I have listened to this video so many times also with months in between. It is by far the best I have ever heard and learned about the Punic wars and in specific about Hannibal’s military expedition crossing the Alps and invading Rome nowadays „Italy“ .
It is informative, pure delight and of outstanding entertainment. I wish history classes at school could be of that quality..
Please, never delete this video, keep it in the public domain, so that everyone can enjoy it until a new generation of history teacher is able to promote and perform alike, which will not happen in the foresees future. Best history teachers play this video in the class room with their students. The video is the best and biggest class room for teachers, students, pupils of all ages. Thank You.
Gottfried Thiery, Vienna
Gottfried - thank you so much for this comment!! I'm happy that you liked my comment so much! I will not delete this - seem like a lot of people really like this series. By the way, My step father is Austrian and I've visited Vienna many times ! Beautiful city!!
I think it’s a little too sophisticated for my second graders, sir. I blew their minds yesterday by explaining what countries are.
Thanks a lot for this great series of videos. I remember how, in high school, I used to think the punic wars were boring and uninteresting. Boy, was I wrong! You made me realize, they were fascinating and played a crucial role in the history of the west.
Glad you enjoyed it - yeah they were such an epic time! The fate of two major civilizations played out by two royal houses and masters of the battlefield
This Chapter should never end. Truly AMAZING content. Thank YOU so much for your explendid work here. I've watched this series a few times already but this one hits different.
Much respect from Brazil. Thanks again.
Hello Pyturis ! Really happy that you liked my videos and that you liked this series so much that you watched it a few times. This was the longest video to make - can't believe you wanted more =)
31:00 The music and the "this is gonna hurt" comment had me rolling.🤣 I love history documentaries but this guy just does it in a way I have not experienced before and it's even better. Okay hear me out. Hannibal is kind of the Patton of his day. The elephants are the tanks, he does things no one else would try or consider sane, and he doesn't seem to have an end game peace plan 😉
If he found himself between the Romans and the Parthians - he'd attack in both directions
I knew this would be epic. And it did not disappoint. No wonder this campaign is still studied and useful interpretations are still valid for today's military. The textbooks were written by these events for the ages to follow. And no time for earthquakes either?... That's some fierce combat. Another truly enjoyable presentation. Thank you.
Hannibal embodied the precepts of Sun Tzu's art of war - deception is the basis of all warfare. Attack when you appear weak, Appear strong when you're weak. If you know yourself and you know your opponent - you will not be imperiled in a hundred battles. When you strike, hit like mountain and never let up on a retreating foe. Impressive - it is little surprise to me that entire chapters of military strategy are attributed to him even in our modern era
A war that had three military geniuses Hannibal, Scipio Africanus, Fabius Maximus The Delayer
As a gamer you sometimes have to ask yourself if there a no geniuses just people who are fighting in the lamest way possible.
For anyone wanting a deeper look into Scipio Africanus I would highly recommend the book Scipio Africanus: Greater Than Napoleon by B.H. Liddell Hart it thoroughly refutes the idea that Scipio was some bumbler or that he was lucky, you will see him in a different light than he is often portrayed by revisionists today.
As an aside, people often ask "Why didn't Hannibal march on Rome after Cannae?" the answer to that question is not entirely known but one factor most people don't know about is the distance, Cannae is about 250 miles away from Rome, even if Hannibals army could march 25 miles a day every day it would take them ten days of non-stop marching to reach the walls of Rome and they'd be in no shape to fight at the end of such a march, that's best case scenario if the men can actually cover that distance each day.
Secondly Rome could withstand a long siege and Hannibal would not have been able to actually seize the city, and his own supply situation would likely become desperate long before the Romans. Hannibal's desire was to inflict so much destruction on the Romans that they would have to come to the negotiating table with concessions.
Unfortunately for Hannibal he didn't understand the Roman spirit, most other great powers would have negotiated a peace and life would go back to normal for the most part, for the Romans war did not work this way, it was winner take all total victory or total defeat, and that is why Rome became the shining empire and the driving spirit of Western Civilization, along with the ancient Greeks of course whose contribution is no small thing.
Thanks for the book recommendation. I’m going to check it out. I’ve always thought Hannibal’s decision probably made perfect sense at the time, and it’s only in hindsight that we all think marching on rome seems like the only thing to do right then. Knowing he won’t get a better shot at it in his lifetime makes it an obvious choice, but he had no benefit of knowing that at the time. I’m glad he didn’t March on rome and lose, because that would have been even worse. We might not be talking about him now, and he’s one of my favorite men from history.
The War Elephants of Carthage were devastating and very hard to stop. Of course, the only effective counter was,,, the dreaded War Mouse.
hahaha
Fantastic work
Many thanks
This is Incredible
This is the story of My Real name which is Africanus Neptaliz Rivera .
My father gave me that bame after he read a book of the punic wars in the Korean war in 51- 53 .
My son as well has my name .
By the way this is the best version i had read or listen of Africanus !
Just simply AMAZING!
I was in some place for certain circumstances and had no internet nor any thing but this series and kept replying it for a month and the one with attilia the hun and I'd like to say I spent that month well. very good narrative, voice and expressions. very underrated channel I hope u the best
Wow - this comment really made my day - happy I could have helped
This series really is a tour-de-force. The pacing and level of detail are spot-on, and the narrator's voice and style are a close second to Dan Carlin.
I didn't hear it mentioned, but I think Hannibal's tactic of plundering the estates (in Campania, IIRC) of the hawks while avoiding the dove properties like those of Fabius shows what a next-level strategic stud that man was.
Also, I'm planning a trip (or possibly a move) to Puglia where I'll hopefully wander the barren area where Cannae was with memories of this podcast playing in my mind :)
Thats right - he did do that - what a mastermind of psychology - everyone in the senate would think that Hannibal and Fabius were in an alliance of some sort
10/10 for this video ! The maps, the graphics , the actual narration, all excellent work !
Much appreciated!
In a episode of The Simpsons, when side show Bob is getting crushed by some elephants, the side of them reads "Terror lake salutes Hannibal crossing the Alps."
In truth the elephants did so very little and by the time he got to the Arno river only one was left alive. The feat itself however was legendary and we still talk about it today
This series is incredible
Thank you so much - happy that you liked it
If only learning about history was this much fun when I was in school. Great job,keep it up!
Nubias If only
@GNnisa orobo bingo.
Africanu's story is so incredibly fascinating that if were he a tv character everyone would be hating on him for being a Gary Stue
I really like the format and detail of these videos. It is going to take some time to download your series into my brain.
Hahahha! Let me know what you think when you’ve had time to contemplate it all
I keep coming back.
well always good to have ya back
There is a quote of Hannibal's that fits the meeting of the Volcae and the river crossing perfectly; "I will either find a way or make one", my G.
Well put! Hannibal was never one to deal quietly with a no-win scenario. He always seemed to find a way through. Even after his defeat at Zama - he became Suffett of the Carthaginian Senate instead of being paraded in a Roman Triumph and then executed. Resourceful and respected by his enemies - impressive
Just about the best one of these lectures. And, that’s no easy feat!! Brilliantly delivered and just a marvellous perspective on this period of time!
This is a great series!!
Hey thanks so much!
Thanks for making these! To me, I think the biggest reason for bringing the elephants to the Alps was a shock and awe tactic to use against the local tribes, to convince them to join him.
Yeah the elephants were kind of useless in the grand military scene. But they did scare the hell out of the mountain tribes. The psychological effect was extremely impressive - I mean we are here 2300 years later still talking about it!
Told my boss to blame flash point history because I'm late 😅😅😅
Hahhaha - how did that fly?
Excellent description. I couldn't stop listening so now I have to look up thr three previous episodes. 😊
Nice - let me know what you think
Do you think it would have been possible to lay seige to Rome and force her to pull back troops from Sardinia and Siciliy? I almost feel like no matter how hard Hannibal pressed, even with significant resupply, that the Romans wouldn't have given up unless Rome itself fell, which at the time would have taken maybe a decade. Hannibal's entire motivation to invade Italy was banking on more people hailing him a liberator and turning on Rome but he really struggled to find support in north and central Italy. He also figured if he killed enough Romans and allies that there'd be chaos, but he didn't realize just how well Rome had solidified itself as master of Italy in the last century. Seems like he never had a chance. Rome was like Russia in WWII just all too willing to throw more and more troops at their enemy who invaded their home.
He had no chance - Rome's man power and core of cities was unconquerable. - IMHO
What a great unbiased method of story telling.
Wow! Thank you so MUCH. I love it. You are a Wonderful teacher and so passionate about your subject.
A refreshingly original , witty and amusing doco' . Just the ticket on a Winter's night , in front of the open fire , with whiskey , pipe and snoozing cat , curled up on my slippers .
Wow! I'm happy I can be a part of that. A friend of mine and I did a tour of the battlefields of the American Civil War. We would toast every night with some good scotch to the history around us.
Living the actual dream there.
Excellent use of camera movement over still images. A Ken Burns fan I assume?
I am a huge fan of Ken Burns - ever since his series on the Civil War. I think the method of a slow scrawl across a static image has been named in his honor. When you use iMovie on a Mac to create videos like this the option to do this is actually called "Ken Burns".
@Sebastian Thor thanks!
Really enjoying your podcast series, keep up the good work!
Thanks! Will do
Really great in depth look at the Punic wars. Great job man. highly recommend
Thank you!
woow, woow ,woooow man!!! I've never enjoyed or have been exited throughout a storytelling of battles that should contain a great amount of action!!!
Hannibal is truly a master mined and with your ability to describe actual battles in a really exciting way I really really have never been entertained by a story this Much, Great work!
Hey happy that you liked the content so much. This time basically just wrote itself. Hannibal was truly a master and his only worthy opponent was Scipio
One of the best video ever
Thank you!
Thank you for such amazing videos, I love this series.
You are totally welcome - happy you like the videos!
@@FlashPointHx Thanks! It's my pleasure. I can't believe Hannibal's history, he's straight out from a movie. What a life he must have lived, I'm a little jealous.
The STWS name is so accurate, really enjoy the podcast overall! thanks
Happy that you liked it Jorge - again, like the avatar
Learning the exact history in all the wars and Roman lineage as to try and follow the history in my rome 2 dei total war campaign. I'm a bit early tho as I already got Sicily Sardinia and corsica and I'm at 265 bc. Kinda jumped the gun as I'm apparently 30 to 40 years to early in the second punic war. Hispania is next
Nice - see if you can recreate a battle of Ilipa
I often do the same, try the mod for DeI with custom objectives for Rome.
please do long ones, :) its awesome,
This series was very well done. Very detailed and in chronological order with having to go back to often to tie the past with the then present. HOWEVER, it is mind boggling that the speaker pronounced one of the major battles incorrectly. Over and Over. I received a degree in Ancient History and the it is pronounced "Can-eye" not "KAN-EE. In the dozens of courses, two different universities, youtube videos, numerous professors ALL pronounce it "Can-eye".
Other than that annoyance, the series was very good. Perhaps a little too detailed for the general public, but for an avid ancient history fan, very good. The battle of CANNAE- is pronounced CAN-EYE. However I doubt if the Romans of the time cared how it was pronounced. The podcast also relates how you can win almost the battles (except 1!) and not the war.
well I'm glad you liked the series. I've actually heard it both ways. In fact - there are several documentaries listed that pronounce it the way I did. I've created some shorter versions of the punic war series to cover the major battles. Make sure you check them out. The Battle of Zama will be coming out in a few days as well. All the best!
There are varied ways of pronouncing Cannae, yours and FlashPoints are both acceptable. There is also the southern Ka'na'e'aye which is the greek and of course San'ne'aye which is the rough phonecian/carthage way of saying it.
What a wanker. Get over yourself. Fluent in Latin, are you? Probably kicked out of your first university for this kind of obnoxious crap.
The battle at Trasimine is kind of wrong set into place. You introduce Geminus as an idiot seeking for glory marching right into this narrow passage willing to pick a fight. In fact, Hannibal lighted some campfires way ahead so Geminus thought he had to take the shortest way to have at least a chance to reach Hannibal on his way to Rome, he simply thought this was necessary to shorten the distance, therefore he took this way, otherwise, he wouldn't have chosen this path as he was aware of the tactical issues.
Marching head long into a trap with the hubris to bring chains to shackle an opponent that in your mind you have already defeated is the mark of an idiot. You’ve made it to episode IV - thought you didn’t like my rambling narrative style :)
This is the voice is legendary... next ones are not that great.. is there more?
@@Bashisfaction there are 7 parts to this podcast and several other podcasts out there
Even today at the end of 2024, at the height of the Ukrainian war all of this is so relevant: the element of surprise, the proper use of terrain, the maneuver element and so on.
ist verry interresting !! Thank you verry much !!!
post 001 a fellow german?
Veelytes lol. That was the best one... your bizarre pronunciation of words is entertaining
Figured once I heard this was part 4 I’d have to stop and watch other videos 😩
hahah - thats right - back to the beginning for you!
good one thank you.
Glad you liked it! Seems like you have been following along. Let me know what you think when you get to the end. BTW checked out your channel. Love table top gaming!
@@FlashPointHx, will do. Btw. thanks for checking out my channel.
Flash Point History, you actually have a good perspective on this.
Hey, Flasppoint you guys the best. I love your work!
Please consider your next podcast on The Mongol Empire.
There is a ton of stuff on the Mongols - What about Mughals?
Yes please the Moghuls and the Bengal Sultanate. Please
@@FlashPointHx Agreed!
In a span of 1yr. This is my 3rd time listening to the Punic Wars...there're great listen to. Keep up the fantastic work you do...thank you
@@bryon5284 Thank you! You listened to the whole thing three times? impressive
Thank you!
You're welcome
Great series. This episode isnt on Spotify or I am blind.
Spotify does weird things sometimes. You can download it from Apple podcasts
U said in yer opinion he brought Elephants across the alps so the men would think if they could cross so could they. I think they were valuable war machines, knowing the Celts and Gauls never even saw one it gave him advantage well worth it
The elephants didn't do that much when it came to war. By the time Hannibal made it to the Arno Swamps there was only one left.
@@FlashPointHx what did they do for him against the Alabrogrees there presence alone held them off where ever he placed them
Great lectures! But need to point out that 8:30 arrow pointing Ebro river should be moved up to north on map where you can see word Iberus which is roman name for river Ebro.
Great job!!! The best of youtube.
I found this channel after watching History Time's "Entire History of the Phoenicians" and his poetic description of the fall of Carthage got me more hyped to learn more about the first and third Punic Wars. I love this so much and am greatly you have a playlist for them. Keep doing what your doing. Also can anyone tell me what song plays at 1:04:38?
The song name is Carmina burana made by Carl orff
Beautiful
Thank you!
This is an amazing content.
On pair with Dan Carlin if you ask me.
Appreciate that - DC was an inspiration for me
I get upset that he loses. I want him to win in the end.
ditto =)
Flash Point History🤣🤣🤣
Give me a minute. I’m about to email you. But honestly, what I want is anything you could possibly need music wise.
Would love that - my email is flashpointhistory@gmail.com
Fully agree. He should at least have conquered Rome or Sardinia, Sicily.
Imagine if Hannibal would have won. Imagine the consequences.
The latin based languages of europe like Spanish, French would not be.
I mean it would have change everything.
Maybe even the religions and their development in Europe and middle east.
Crazy.
But not to be.
what Carthaginian strongholds were Sagumtom attacking?
GREAT JOB !!
Glad you liked it !
I thought it was the San Bernardino pass that Hannibal crossed, at least that's what i heard in most videos about the punic wars. Same one as Napoleon prior to the battle of Marengo around 2 milleniums later
Thats one of many places people think he passed. No one knows for sure
@@FlashPointHx that makes sense. I thought it was actually known for people to be saying that, guess i was wrong.
I am in complete awe at the sheer amount of slaughter that happened in one day in Cannae. Thats like if every single person in a massivle football stadium, like old trafford in Manchester for example were killed, in one day, in an age where the most men used swords and shields, wow!
blati blati wach mghribi hada, wtf ?
@@NadirGh la hadik machi rayt lmghrib, hadik matisha
@@haitamc5611 la ms rah impossible tl9a chi mghribi dakhl lchi video documentaire b7al hada
@@NadirGh mgharba langlais loghthom thalta. Kayn liloghto rab3a ga3.
@@haitamc5611 ouii
To think about it, the march itself from Hispania to Italia was quite an achivement. It's a logistical nightmare, they had to cover some 1500 km on foot, and all that on forign territory where they also needed to feed themselves somehow. And they couldn't just go pillaging, becouse they had to keep in good terms with the locals. I guess they had to buy their food. And it's quite a lot of food for such a big army. The animals too need huge amount of feed. Imagine how much those elephants ate!
Your insight on this is really good.
Holy shit!! Why are you not more popular?!?!
Hahaha thanks! I take it you are liking the series.
Flash Point History very much so!
Awesome - this was an evolving work in progress. Let me know what you think when you get to the end of the series.
Flash Point History Hey man, not tryna fan boy or anything but, to me, it's the best series on the punic wars ive seen on UA-cam. Well done. I wish people would take the time to watch this. Thanks for creating this its exactly what I was looking for and I'm the better for discovering it.
Samuel - I’m loving the fact that you liked my series so much! All of these podcasts can be downloaded for free for your mobile device as well. Just take a look at the link in the description. I have a series on Attila the Hun you might like. I hope you continue with my War of the Worlds series after this.
So nothing really new for me, read it all before, but compliments for the well understandable, congenial voice and way of lecturing. Are you sure that at Cannae Romans were positioned east and Hannibals army west. I always thought the other way.
It was the other way around - my bad
As the way it looks, it seems to me that peace was never an option. Rome wanted to eventually get Carthago's territories, and if not for Saguntum, then they'd went to war for some other reason, maybe later, but at some point certainly. The fact that they did not hesitate to declar war shows that they very much wanted it. And the ultimatum they presented was also impossible: no country, let alone an empire would surrender their commander in chief to be executed. And even if they wanted it, they couldn't have done it, you can't just go and arrest the general commanding your army in the field.
Agree - For Rome it was victory or death
Oh man, I nearly fall of my chair at 30:00 onwards while I have tears in my eyes from laughing. Amazing stuff mate.
hahaha - I still remember recording that. I used to have a simple outline of talking points and then would ad lib lines like that as I went along.
an army of lions commended by a lion but in the end got defeated by the roman hydra ,romans had more soldiers than what hannibal and his could kill that what happened to germany against soviets ....very good job thanks
you mispronounce sooooooo many words....but this is the best full account of the punic wars ive ever heard.....this and lindybeige. excellent work!
Hahhaha - I actually do my due diligence and try to find the correct pronunciations - just doesn’t seem to work out. We all have flaws - this is one of many of them for me. Happy you like the content however ;)
@@FlashPointHx its no big deal, latin is a strange dead language XD and it doesnt detract from the quality of the presentation
Some interesting items of Hannibal’s victories during the early years of his Italian Campaign:
Gallic Fickleness- Having dealt with the Romans over the previous decades, the Gallic tribes of the Po River Valley didn’t take joining Hannibal’s polyglot army lightly. They all knew too well that if Hannibal’s foray into Italy proved a failure, there would be absolute hell to pay. For reasons now lost to history, Hannibal became so put out with certain Gallic tribes to the south of the Po, on the west side of the Trebbia tributary that he deployed a medium sized detachment of infantry and cavalry which began laying waste to the area causing them to appeal to Tiberius Sempronius Longus who responded by successfully repulsing this force. This had the effect of emboldening Tiberius to give battle to Hannibal a few days later at the Battle of the Trebbia very similar the Roman victory over a small Carthaginian contingent of troops the day before the Battle of Cannae unfolded.
Battle of Trebbia River- Tiberius effected a hollow square formation with his more seasoned men in the center after Mago’s ambush fell upon his rear with the bulk of his Italic allies on the flanks becoming the main casualties of the battle. Once this was accomplished he successfully drove through the Carthaginian center and as the story goes kept on going, eventually entering Placentia which does pose problems geographically but I won’t get into that here.
War Elephants at Trebbia- Also at Trebbia would be the only pitched battle where Hannibal had use of his war elephants numbering around 35, most of which fell victim to the attacks of Tiberius’s light infantry stationed on either side composed of both Roman and allied men.
Battle of Cannae:
Composition of Hannibal’s Army- I think your review of this battle classifies the center of Hannibal’s line (composed of an interwoven distribution of Iberian and Gallic infantry) as being “Light Infantry”. I would strongly disagree to this depiction. While it was noted that Hannibal put his “weaker” men in the center, the word weaker does not mean “light” by any stretch of the imagination. Hannibal knew full well that these Spanish and Gallic men would be the ones with the unenviable task of resisting as best as possible the butchery they were sure to receive from the vanguard of Rome’s killing machine which had assembled before them. While they were to give ground before the Roman onslaught, they had to do this in a controlled manner…gradually, thus ensuring plenty of contact with the enemy. Hannibal certainly wasn’t going to assign this task to light infantry. Doing so would have insured not only center giving ground, they would most assuredly not have stopped “giving” their ground all the way to the Tyrrhenian Sea on the other side of Italy! In fact, I’m of the opinion that the center of Hannibal’s line was no less thick that any other portion of Hannibal’s army so important was it that his men hold the beast that was the Roman army and prevent an all-out route. I would further say that Hannibal’s methodical yielding of the ground was probably the best that his men in the center could possibly hope for and were it not for the fog of war that plumed over the Romans when the walls started closing in and the confusion set in, Hannibal would have been toast.
Libyan Infantry- Another item of interest is the battle armaments of Hannibal’s Libyan heavy infantry. I believe it was Polybius who recorded that the Libyan mercenaries where equipped in the Greek phalanx style. However, it was Livy (I think) that suggested the Libyans had ditched their sarissas for captured Roman weaponry which I believe to be the case as a phalanx formation would have been ill suited for holding the Roman flanks in place for a sustained amount of time which was necessary to surround and lock them in place after the envelopment was complete. A wall of pikes while daunting and seemingly irresistible when advancing on the enemy is vulnerable when locked in a stationary fight where individual soldiers of the opposing enemy can eventually make their way past the pointy ends of these prickly poles and quickly undo the entire formation.
Hannibal’s Skirmishers- Hannibal was reported to have had on hand for the fight at Cannae some 8-9,000 skirmishers made up largely of Balearic slingers and skirmishers from south Iberia and even newer recruits from Magana Grecia. In addition to unleashing their deadly payloads of stones and other missiles Hannibal most probably used his skirmishers who would have retired behind the army after their opening salvos, to bolster the cavalry’s attempt to bottle up the Romans at the back end of their formation. It had been pointed out that cavalry (kind of like a Phalanx) is somewhat ill suited at holding a large force of men in place. These skirmishers would have gone a long way to ensuring the last side of the trap remained shut.
Ever thought about writing a book about Hannibal ? You're half way there =).
LOL! Sorry but you know how it is. I find it impossible to comment on anything related to this era in history in 157 characters of less!
Oh, I meant to comment in my last post but chose to omit due to its growing size. That being a few pronunciations:
Velites- (vĕ-lă-tā) or my pronunciation- (veh-lah-tay) I think you've been saying something that sounds like "Vee-lites".
And, regarding Pyrrhus of Epirus how are you saying his name? It kind of sounds like you're inserting an "h" after the P to make a soft F sound as if saying what sounds like "Fer-us" or even "Fi-rus".
No - don't apologize - its lovely to meet people who are so into history. A friend of mine and I finished up a tour of Civil War Battle sites in Maryland / Penn / Virginia and meeting people passionate about history is always refreshing. Got into a huge debate with a shop owner in Gettysburg about General Hooker and toasted a round to Gen Meade with a bunch of Europeans there as well. As far as Velites and Pyrrhus - I think you're right about the pronunciation - but sometimes you hear it a half dozen different ways in different documentaries.
Flash Point History Before moving back to Georgia I worked in Silver Spring, MD just outside Washington DC. While I was up there I definitely took advantage of my location to visit many a Civil War Battlefield in the vicinity and hit Gettysburg 4 times. Great place. I'm quite obsessed with the battle really and still remain quite befuddled really as to how and why Lee's plan for Day 2 ran off the tracks like it did with so many Confederate brigades no engaging with the enemy at all that day.
When one stops to consider that with only 11 brigades (Hood's 4 brigades + McLaw's 4 brigades + 3 of the 5 brigades belonging to Anderson's Division), the Rebels brought Meade and the AOP near the breaking point by early evening. I could write a thesis on all this but will spare you for now. ;o)
Flash Point History I meant to ask, what specifically about Hooker did you and the shop owner debate? How he lost his nerve in spectacular fashion at a critical point of the battle? That whole debacle must have been difficult to live down, especially after talking such a big game about how he was going whip those bitchass Confederates' little bitchasses and all! ;-) He was definitely an interesting character for sure. Meade on the other hand, not so much but he did finally give Lincoln a real, conclusive victory that was not in dispute. (I like to joke that Meade won at Gettysburg with 7 Union Corps and invaluable help and assistance from Lee's 3 Corps Commanders). ;-)
The death toll of Cannae can really only be compared I think to that at Sekigahara at the start of the 17th century at the close of the warring states period in Japan. That was about 30,000 dead. Both are completely incomprehensible numbers for a battle that transpired over just a single day.
Need to look into that battle in more detail - you're right - its an insane number for death in a single battle in a single day
I think the WW1 Battle of Tannenberg is a more appropriate comparison to the Battle of Canae, the main battle was four days long, but an encirclement of a larger army by a smaller one that lead to 70+k dead and 90+k captured has the same ring to it.
You can also go into even more similarities, like one of the generals being killed in action and the two generals leading the Russian force into their horrible blunder were said to be rivals who disagreed on how they should proceed the entire time.
Tannenberg was a horrendous battle - the Russians never really recovered. Estimates of 170k and more! Yikes
Yeah US invaded Afghanistan and Iraq and Syria and Libya saying we are liberators and committed genocide
all generals in history are not equal the sweat of hannibal balls.
He’s good in battle but he cant win a war like the Khans and Alexander
@@djbuenaventura5534 or Khalid ibn al-Walid
He lost though lol
Hannibal is overrated imo
Of course he was a genius but not the best
Hannibal the animal, phenomenal, with great abdominals, and his skills for battle were almost criminal. He had heavy genitals. His march turned altitudinal, he was no ordinal, his triumphs became testimonial. to Rome he came proximal, bad ass he was the original, his strategy was optimal. His awareness of the enemy was anatomical. Fucked the Romans like an aboriginal, his victories were astronomical, and his tactics psychological. Survived by being economical, almost made it seem comical. The Roman senate became lachrymal, when Rome's defeat became periodical. The matter became very personal, his achievements were historical. Though he lost the war and it was ironical. Such was the story of Hannibal the mythological.
Hopefully one day you read
Philip and Alexander: Kings and Conquerors
by Adrian Goldsworthy !
Love AG
@@FlashPointHx unfortunately I am reading hundred years War by Jonathan Sumption vol 2 Trail by Fire
Five volume series
It's good
Had to come here because part 4 isn't on Spotify
I have no idea why that’s so - enjoy
Had to hear the rest. Great stuff!@@FlashPointHx
Your podcasts are really great, but it is really distracting when the text boxes are not fully revealed in a slide.
Thank you! Keep watching - the text boxes go away almost entirely from this point forward
There is a certain trend you notice in this story when it comes to Roman Generals. Almost every single one who Hannibal beats is portrayed very similarly: hotheads seeking glory. It almost makes you think that the Roman historians might have done some historical revisions to create some scapegoats for all the disasters they suffered. The only significant figure that doesn't get this treatment is Scipio the Elder, but since his son is clearly being set up for greater things later down the lines, it wouldn't do to make his father out to be an idiot.
Its also the nature of the Roman Government - Men have to fight and claw their way to the position of consul, then they need to share that position with another. Then there are only given one year to establish themselves. Time is ticking and you are either daring or you are replaced.
@@FlashPointHx i might add tiberius longus was good he was even respected by hannibal excerp therstite the historian video about the master of horse
Why is this part blocked in some countries and not the other parts? I had to use USA vpn to watch this.
Not sure
Great podcast! Loved learning about the Punic wars back in high school so decided to revisit. On a side note, at the beginning I heard you talking about Jerusalem and the IDF. I'm just wondering if you visited other cities in Palestine as well?
I was in a semester abroad program and I spent the summer traveling from Rome to Jerusalem via Greece, Turkey, and Egypt. Our group went up and down the nile and then crossed the Sinai peninsula. We entered into Israel at Eilat and then made our way up along the Dead Sea - nearly up to the Golan Heights before heading back to Tel Aviv. It was 1997 and there were suicide bombings going on so we didn't go into Palentine itself. In fact, our group was diverted away from Jerusalem due to the threat. However, a few of us said screw it, we didn't come this far not to go to Jerusalem.
@@FlashPointHx I gotcha. I'm a Palestinian born and raised in the US so the Palestine-Israel conflict is something I've studied a bit! As a Palestinian I'm not too fond of the IDF and Israel's actions so hearing your story about the soldier made me curious. I know you were just comparing them militarily and not so much politically so no offense taken of course! Would really love to see a podcast on your take of the conflict even though it seems your channel is more geared towards older history and not ongoing moderb conflicts
@@justiceandfreedomforall4999 My impression of Israel was that most of the people that lived there or in Palestine simply wanted to live, enjoy their families, and come home to a good meal. It is unfortunate that there is so much conflict that is embedded in the land.
It would of been infinitely more advantageous if Hannibal fought the Romans in Spain. 100,000 men that would have been well supplied and easily reinforced. His campaign in Italy came from his want to make the Romans to suffer. Stupid reason.
Quite relieved I never served under Longus- an ancestor may have, but more than likely we just hid in the woods and hunted pigs.
I think he took the elephants because he knew if they ever needed to, they could use them for meat or heat
Hmm.. never thought of that. They could do the old tautaun sleeping bag technique. Lols.
This is awesome. But why no mention of the Etruscans ? I would love a separate video series just on them :)
I'm glad you liked it. When I created this series, there was so much information out there. It was hard to decide what to keep in and hold off on. The problem is that you have to keep the narrative flowing without getting too bogged down with too many details.
One can forgive Flash in this regard as even today we have very little information regarding the Estruscans and their Empire. SPQR made sure to start the "victor writes/controls..." by pretty much absorbing all the valuable aspects of the Etruscans by simply calling it Roman Tradition (as we all know SPQR was good at doing) and quite literally destroying everything else.
Well put !
Should have added that I love these little sessions. I have already listened to this set series about nine times in the past week. I must say however, we seem to have different attitudes towards Hannibal..
Wow - you really like the Punic wars! Seriously, you heard my entire series 9 times?
Yeah - I'm enamored by Hannibal for his out of box thinking. But like with any major general, you also had a ruthless streak. You need to have some degree of a sociopathic personality to do what he did.
Hannibal was great at winning battles, but the war suffered from bad strategy. The Carthaginian government did not fully support the war, and the idea of splitting the allies from Rome was tried by Pyrrhus of Epirus.
Tactically Hannibal was brilliant. strategically he underestimated the Romans perserverance. But then, most states couldn’t recover from a Ticinus, Trebia, Trasimene, and Cannae.
The Battle of Cartagena de Indias took place during the 1739 to 1748 War of Jenkins' Ear between Spain and Britain. Ends with Spanish victory consolidating its supremacy in South America
Forces
The British
27,400-30,000 military personnel
12,000 regulars, marines and militia
15,398 Royal Navy sailors
29 ships of the line
22 frigates
71 sloops-of-war
2 hospital ships
80 troop ships
50 merchant ships
The Spanish
3,000-4,000 military personnel
2,700 regulars
600 sailors and 300 militia
600 Indian archers
6 ships of the line and numerous shore-based guns
Casualties and losses
The British
9,500-11,500 dead
7,500 wounded and sick
1,500 guns lost
6 Royal Navy ships lost
17 Royal Navy ships of the line heavily damaged
4 frigates and 27 transports lost
The Spanish
800 dead
1,200 wounded
6 ships lost
5 forts
3 batteries
It would be nice to hear you about this war and its implications in the Caribbean trade during the migth of the Spanish Empire.
Love this
Awesome!
I don't know about you, but when u used the Hiroshima a-bomb to describe the massacre and the math about 100men killed/min i really understood what a horrible sight in had to be, though i watched alot of battle documentaries about Hannibal and others. It was a military masterpiece but a human horror. Outstanding documentary and perfect job with the score/narration.
Thanks - the scary thing about that death rate - was that it was non-linear. The number of deaths would increase at an exponential rate as the battle continued culminating in a gory climax as the day progressed
i just opened like 40 tabs of this playing and you talking, almost went insane
Wow - you have an interesting taste in entertainment. Did you have it on a good stereo speaker system and blast it at full volume?
It pretty interesting that the Romans and warring state of China could field such large numbers of troop,This kind of army would sent Saladin running.
I've got a question, what people(s) reinforced Hannibal's army after the Volturnus valley? Still Gauls or Latins?
Anyone he could find - Rome had many enemies. The Gauls would contribute their forces for example
Are you planning to do a video on the Crusades?
Yes - crusades are my area of speciality - however it will not be for awhile - need to finish punic wars and then will do a series on Hernan Cortez and the Aztec.
Flash Point History Okay, it sounds cool. So does your voice.
Flash Point History where can we find the maps that you used.
Good job...your choice of words,accent, tone etc etc play a big role...yours are ok
Thank you!
You should upload your podcast for Atila to UA-cam so you can get more listeners. It's great and some graphics added like this video would be nice.
Would love to - its all a matter of time - still trying to finish punic wars and then perhaps will get a chance to go back and do the Attila Series
why didn't you finish the series..you did a good job
+Flash Point History That would be cool!
Thulsa - I have two more episodes planned for the Punic Wars - Episode V "The Return of the Scipi" is under production now - it just takes time.
why's part 4 not on Spotify,?
Hahah - you’re the second person to ask me this same question in a week. I have no idea - Spotify is weird about this
@@FlashPointHxThanks. Wasn't expecting a reply, certainly not so fast. I've been listening to these in my car. Enjoying the series 👍🏼
Aníbal vivía en España, Hispania , en Cartago Nova , su esposa una princesa Ibera.
" this was the time when there was violence in the Middle East"... that doesn't narrow it down budy! lol
hahaha - good point. There were suicide bombings that took place a week before I got there in Israel and a week after I left.
hahahahaha, i'm from Jordan and when i heard that i said to myself: "was?"
The graphic says 1997
HistoryMarche covered this in much greater detail. So many things were half-assed or not even mentioned.
To be fair all details in history can not possibly be covered and narrated, which is why it's called flash point and those minor details are also macro flash points in history. But overall it's definitely a thumbs up for this history lesson