Second Punic WarBy Dieter Schultz

Causes of the Second PunicThe first Punic War left Carthage very weak. Rome now occupied Sicily, while the Mercenary War left Carthage vulnerable in Africa as well.The Carthaginian responded by sending Hamilcar Barca, The general that hasn’t lost yet from Sicily, to Spain where he was to get Carthage’s fortunes back.With this in mind, Hannibal's campaigns in Spain in 221 can be seen as an attempt to capture more fertile lands to feed his army for Italy.

Battle of TrebiaRomansCarthaginian

sBattle of Trebia was the first battle of the Second Punic War and was fought between Carthaginian forces of Hannibal and the Romans in December 218 BC, and they say it might have been fought on or around the winter solstice.

Hannibal arranged his army on a field that would benefit his armyhe positioned them with 1,000 light infantry as a skirmishing line and behind them he placed 20,000 infantry of libyan, Spanish and Celtic mercenary infantry, with 10,000 light shock cavalry and about 15 elephants split between the two flanks.Sempronius ordered his army to advance in the traditional Roman manner, slowly and in good order.But this didn’t help him when Hannibals plan trapped his army.

Battle of Trebia Continued

Thousands were cut down on the spot and trampled by elephants, and many more drowned attempting to cross the river to safety. Trapped in between Hannibal’s forces, the Romans were quickly routed, losing more than a third of their forces.

Battle of TicinusThe battle of Ticinus was in the flat country of Pavia on the right side of the Ticino River not far from the Po River.The battle was quick because it mainly consisted of cavalry and not many infantry.This stage of the battle was quite even but hannibal had put Numidian Cavalry on the flanks ready to outflank the Romans.Scipio was wounded and just made it out alive.

Lake TrasimeneThis battle was a perfectly executed ambush; Hannibal was able to take note of the daily mist from the lake and use it to completely surprise Flaminius.This was to use the Lake as a blocker so no one would be able to escape easily.

Bibliographyhttp://www.essentialworldhistory.com/battle-of-ticinus.htmlhttp://www.angelfire.com/empire2/unkemptgoose/BattleOfTrebia.htmlhttp://ancienthistory.about.com/b/2005/06/23/battle-of-lake-trasimene.htmhttp://www.unrv.com/empire/second-punic-war.php