The Second Punic War - OverSimplified (Part 1)

Summary

The script details the escalating tensions between Rome and Carthage after the First Punic War, focusing on Hannibal's hatred of Rome instilled by his father Hamilcar Barca. It recounts Hannibal's besieging of Saguntum against Rome's wishes, igniting the Second Punic War. Hannibal leads his army on a grueling trek over the Alps into Italy to surprise the Romans, though he loses many men crossing the mountains. Finally, Hannibal reaches Italy, ready to embark on a ruthless campaign against Rome.

Takeaways

• 😠 After losing the First Punic War, Carthage struggles to pay Rome and its mercenaries
• 😤 Hamilcar Barca goes to Spain to get money for Carthage and train his son Hannibal to hate Rome
• 👨‍👦‍👦 Hannibal learns hatred of Rome from his father Hamilcar
• 💰 Carthage rebuilds strength in Spain with silver mines
• 😡 Rome takes Sardinia from Carthage while they are weak
• 😈 Hannibal sieges Saguntum to provoke Rome into declaring war
• ❄️ Hannibal makes the daring move to take his army over the Alps to invade Italy
• 😵 Hannibal loses over half his army crossing the Alps
• 📈 Hannibal hopes to recruit Celts in Italy to defeat Rome
• ⚔️ After the shocking invasion, Hannibal starts his war against Rome in Italy

Q & A

What was the main cause of the Second Punic War?

The main cause was growing tensions between Rome and Carthage over control of Spain. Specifically, Hannibal's siege and destruction of the city of Saguntum, which was allied with Rome, provoked the Romans into declaring war.

Why did Hamilcar Barca go to Spain with Hannibal?

Officially, Hamilcar went to Spain to expand Carthaginian territory and establish control over the silver mines there, in order to pay Carthage's debts to Rome. However, he likely also intended to rebuild Carthaginian strength for a future war against Rome.

What route did Hannibal take to invade Italy?

Hannibal took his army on a grueling march from Spain, across the Pyrenees mountains, through Southern Gaul, and then crossed the treacherous Alpine mountains into Northern Italy, catching the Romans by surprise.

Why did Hannibal lose so many troops crossing the Alps?

The hostile mountain conditions took a heavy toll, with many men falling off icy cliffs, starving, or being killed by mountain tribes. By the time Hannibal reached Italy, he had lost over half his original forces.

What was Hannibal's strategy after reaching Italy?

Hannibal hoped to win over the Celtic tribes of Northern Italy, convincing them to provide him reinforcements to replace his losses and keep fighting the Romans.

How did the Romans respond to Hannibal's invasion?

The Romans were shocked but did not take Hannibal's battered forces very seriously at first. However, they soon realized the threat he posed on Italian soil and prepared their defenses.

Who was Hamilcar Barca?

Hamilcar Barca was a Carthaginian general and Hannibal's father. He led Carthage's conquest of Spain after the First Punic War before drowning in battle when Hannibal was young.

What happened at the end of the First Punic War?

Carthage was decisively defeated by Rome and forced to give up Sicily, pay heavy reparations, and deal with a destructive revolt by its unpaid mercenaries.

Who was Fabius Maximus?

Fabius Maximus was a prominent Roman senator who led the delegation that demanded Carthage hand over Hannibal after the attack on Saguntum. His refusal started the war.

What happened to Hannibal after the Second Punic War?

After Carthage's defeat, Hannibal went into exile and continued fighting against Rome. He eventually took poison to avoid being captured and brought to Rome.

Outlines

00:00

😈 Hamilcar raises Hannibal to hate Rome.

Hamilcar Barca instills an intense hatred of Rome in his young son Hannibal while establishing Carthaginian influence in Spain. He expands territory and gets silver mines running to help Carthage pay reparations to Rome after losing the First Punic War. Hamilcar dreams of taking revenge on Rome one day.

05:00

😠 Hannibal takes over and provokes Rome.

After Hamilcar dies, Hannibal takes charge of the Carthaginian armies in...

Keywords

💡Carthage

Carthage was an ancient Phoenician city-state located in what is now Tunisia. It was a major naval and commercial power in the Mediterranean region. In the video, Carthage fights two wars against the Roman Republic known as the Punic Wars. Their conflict represents the clash between two mighty empires vying for dominance. Carthage is portrayed as the underdog against the rising Roman Republic.

💡Rome

Rome refers to the Roman Republic which emerged as a major power in the Mediterranean after defeating Carthage in the First Punic War. Rome is depicted as arrogant and aggressive, imposing harsh terms on Carthage after the war. Rome's determination to curb Carthage's resurgence leads to renewed conflict between the two powers in the Second Punic War.

💡Hannibal

Hannibal was a Carthaginian general and statesman who led the Carthaginian forces during the Second Punic War. He was the son of the Carthaginian leader Hamilcar Barca. Hannibal is portrayed as embodying Carthage's thirst for vengeance against Rome. His daring invasion of Italy over the Alps took Rome by surprise.

💡Saguntum

Saguntum was an Iberian coastal city allied with Rome. Hannibal's siege and destruction of Saguntum provoked Rome into declaring war, starting the Second Punic War. Saguntum represents the political tensions leading up to the war as both sides tried to expand their spheres of influence.

💡Spain

After their defeat in the First Punic War, Carthage expands into Spain under Hamilcar Barca and his son Hannibal. Spain provides Carthage with new sources of wealth to pay war reparations to Rome. But Rome sees Carthage's growth in Spain as a threat, leading to rising tensions.

💡Alps

The Alps are a European mountain range that Hannibal's army crossed in their invasion of Italy. The harsh Alpine crossing left Hannibal's forces greatly depleted, exemplifying the boldness and risk of his attack on Rome.

💡Conquest

The video focuses on competing campaigns of conquest between Rome and Carthage as they seek to dominate the Mediterranean region. Their territorial ambitions bring them into conflict as they invade each other's spheres of influence.

💡Navy

Naval power was important in the Punic Wars. The First Punic War was fought largely at sea. After Carthage lost its navy in that war, Rome gained naval supremacy in the region.

💡Mercenaries

Both Rome and Carthage relied heavily on hired mercenary troops to fight their wars. After the First Punic War, Carthage struggled to pay its mercenaries leading to a destabilizing revolt.

💡Alliances

Shifting political alliances played a role in the outbreak of both Punic Wars. Rome formed alliances in Carthaginian spheres of influence, provoking conflict.

Highlights

Hannibal became a child of war, even earning battle scars from a young age

Hamilcar carved out a kingdom for himself in Spain, free from the meddling Carthaginian politicians

Hannibal's daring plan was to cross the Alps and surprise the Romans in Italy

Hannibal brought nearly 100,000 men across the Ebro River to begin his march

The Alpine crossing was extremely brutal with many men falling off icy cliffs and starving

After the Alpine crossing, Hannibal's army was reduced to only 26,000 men

Hannibal aimed to recruit Celtic tribes in northern Italy to bolster his ranks

Hannibal showed his ruthlessness by obliterating a nearby tribe who refused to join him

The Romans greatly underestimated the weakened Carthaginian army in Italy

Despite heavy losses, Hannibal embarked on an astonishing military campaign in Italy

Hamilcar taught Hannibal that vengeance was everything in life

Hamilcar secretly aimed to use Spanish wealth to rebuild Carthage's strength for revenge

The Roman sack of Saguntum deliberately provoked Hannibal into all-out war

The Second Punic War began when Fabius Maximus symbolically dropped war from his toga

The Romans arrogantly believed victory over Carthage would be easy this time

Transcripts

- [OverSimplified] This video was made possible by NordVPN.

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Hey! What are you still doing here?

I said go and buy it now! (dramatic music)

All right, our beloved mercenaries. Let's hear it.

Okay, thank you one and all for your hard work

fighting in the First Punic War.

Would've been nice if you'd won.

Maybe tried a little harder.

But this isn't the finger pointing convention.

I know you all have one thing on your minds.

"Hey, when are we all getting paid?"

(crowd cheering)

All right, all right, simmer down!

Remember you lost, you, okay.

Jim, why don't you tell them?

I'm not telling them, you tell them!

Ugh.

Look, you're not getting paid.

(crowd gasps) What?

We lost the First Punic war

and owed the Romans a ton of reparations.

Of course we can't pay you in full.

Let's burn this place to the ground!

(crowd cheers)

Hey! Hey!

Don't burn this place to the ground!

Come on, fellas.

Will killing us really make you feel better

about your money?

Yes.

Way to go, sir.

Shut up, Jim! You're fired!

I guess that makes two of us.

Huh? (yells)

(suspenseful music)

In the aftermath of the First Punic War,

Carthage's disgruntled mercenaries

left unpaid for all their hard work revolted

and Carthage found itself caught up

in an extremely destructive Mercenary War.

The panicked Carthaginians hired more mercenaries

to fight the mercenaries they couldn't afford to pay,

and Carthage came dangerously close to collapse.

All the while, across the water, there was Rome.

Ha. Look at those morons.

We just kicked their in the First Punic war

and now their own mercenaries are revolting.

Ha ha. Yeah.

Wait, First Punic War?

You mean there's gonna be a second one?

Well, we're definitely taking advantage of this situation,

so almost certainly yes.

The Romans did in fact take advantage of the situation.

Amongst the chaos,

rebels on the Carthaginian Island of Sardinia

sent out a cry for help to Rome.

"Hot diggity dog," said the Romans,

"that's free real estate."

And so in they went.

Whoa, whoa, whoa.

That's our island! Get the hell off!

Hey, they requested our help. We're simply helping.

Oh, no, you don't.

Look, we're sending our own army

to deal with the rebels, okay?

But just to be clear,

we're not trying to start a fight with you.

So you know, don't declare war on us or anything.

War!

We surrender!

Great and as part of the peace treaty,

we get to keep these islands.

No!

The Carthaginians we're hopping mad.

As if their humiliating loss

in the First Punic War wasn't bad enough,

the Romans now took advantage of their mercenary problem

and stole their islands.

This shocking land grab was pretty hard to justify

even by Roman standards.

Additionally, the Romans now demanded Carthage pay them

even more money on top of what was already owed.

If Rome was trying to make Carthage as mad as possible,

they were doing a fantastic job.

The seeds of a Second Punic War were being sown,

and they were being watered with Carthaginian tears.

Resentment in Carthage only continued to grow.

Eventually, Carthage solved their mercenary problem

thanks to Carthaginian military genius

and hero of the First Punic War, Hamilcar Barca.

He sorted those naughty mercenaries out

with some good old fashioned atrocities

and the destructive Mercenary War was over.

Still, all was not well.

In Carthage, mere decades ago,

they were the top dogs in the Western Mediterranean.

Now, after the crushing defeat in the First Punic War,

and a huge bill to pay the Romans,

Carthage was well and truly under Rome's thumb.

What on earth were they supposed to do?

If they wanted any chance

at regaining their former strength,

there was one thing they needed now more than anything.

Money.

But as long as they owed Rome a bazillion dollars,

there was nothing they could do.

Fortunately for them,

amongst their ranks, there was one big hunk of a man

with one big clump of a brain.

Me!

- [Senators] Hamilcar Barca?

- Yes.

Wait, why do you all have the exact same voice?

(yells) I have it too!

That's right, hero of the First Punic War,

greatest general alive and the poster above my bed.

Hamilcar Barca had an idea.

All right, we need money?

Well, I've got one word for you. Spain.

An area filled with lucrative silver mines

from which the silver would flow like a river,

and our pockets would be stuffed

like Tony's mother at a buffet.

Hey! So here's my proposal.

You send me with an army to Spain,

I'll expand our territory,

get those silver mines up and running,

and we'll be able to pay the Romans back in no time.

Okay, but just to check,

you're not secretly raising the money

to go on a bloodthirsty revenge spree against Rome, are you?

Because we can't afford that.

Hanno, my dear,

I'm simply going to pay them back.

Well, that wasn't reassuring.

Few in Carthage were as bitter about their loss

in the First Punic War as Hamilcar Barca.

98% of his brain matter had been reallocated

to thoughts of revenge.

He was also fed up with the Carthaginian politicians

for what he deemed a cowardly betrayal

when they surrendered at the end of the last war.

And so for Hamilcar, going to Spain

meant being able to act independently

from the weak Carthaginian government,

building his own strength,

and then perhaps somewhere down the line, revenge.

However, he wasn't going to Spain by himself.

Hannibal. Yes, father?

Would you like to come with me to build an empire in Spain?

Oh boy, would I!

Barbara, mind if I take our nine-year-old son with me?

I want to implant an intense hatred of Rome in him

and prepare him for a glorious campaign of vengeance.

(sighs) Just try not to traumatize him dear.

No promises.

The young boy Hannibal would accompany his father,

watching, learning.

Boy, you see that city over there?

Yes, father?

That is Rome. Do you know what we do to Romans?

No, Father.

We hate them, Hannibal.

We hate them with every fiber of our being.

But why, Father? Can't I just play with my digimons?

No son! They took everything from us.

Our land, our wealth, our pride.

Those animals! I'll tear them limb from limb!

I'll burn their pathetic city to the ground!

Dad?

I'm sorry, son, I've just never been so proud. Keep going.

I'll slaughter their people.

I'll cut off their faces and wear them as masks!

(sobs) I love you, son!

After taking Hannibal to the temple of Baal

and having him swear an oath never to be a friend of Rome,

off dad and son went

for their lovely beach holiday in Spain.

But Spain was already inhabited by many tribes people.

And when Hamilcar suddenly showed up in their territory,

they were like, hey, who the hell are you?

What are you doing here?

I'm teaching my son how to become a warrior like me.

Aw! Well, that's sweet.

Well then little guy, let's see what you got.

Good boy.

As Hamilcar got to work fighting the tribes of Iberia

and expanding Carthaginian influence,

Hannibal became a child of war,

even earning battle scars from a young age

and he grew to become a great military leader himself,

making his father very proud.

I love you so much, son.

Dad, not in front of the enemy!

(army laughing)

You killed that guy so well, son.

(army laughing) Dad!

The Barcas successfully consolidated Carthaginian power,

got those silver mines up and running,

and were sending buckets of cash

back to a money-starved Carthage.

And symbolizing Carthage's regrowing strength,

a beautiful new city would eventually be founded in Spain,

New Carthage with a magnificent palace at its center.

Carthage is back, baby!

What in the name of Apollo is going on here?

(yells) Romans!

Flowing silver mines? Dancing elephants?

What are you up to, Hamilcar?

I'm simply gathering the money to pay you back.

Oh. Oh, okay then.

Or are you rebuilding strength

to go on a bloodthirsty revenge spree?

Like I said, Claudius,

I'm simply trying to pay you back.

Aw, you guys are hugging.

No, we're not!

I was.

I was hugging! (sobs)

Hamilcar had practically carved out

a kingdom for himself in Spain,

free from the meddling Carthaginian politicians.

His power was becoming immense.

But dad.

Yes, my son?

I'm confused. Are we really simply paying the Romans back?

We're not gonna go on a bloodthirsty revenge spree?

Of course we are.

I'm just saying that to get the Romans off our backs.

Listen, here's the most important life lesson

I have for you: vengeance is everything.

An all-encompassing thirst for vengeance

is great for your mental health.

Are you still confused?

No, no, I get it now.

But what if the Romans find out what we're up to?

They won't find out.

Why?

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I'm confused again.

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So thank you. Now, where were we?

Oh yeah.

Carthaginian tears, a child of war,

and the Carthaginian conquest of Spain.

The Carthaginian recovery had been staggeringly quick

and Rome was seriously alarmed.

But they were also preoccupied with ongoing wars elsewhere,

including an expansionist war to the north

where they were enslaving thousands of northern Celts.

So for now, to keep Carthage in check,

the Romans insisted on a new treaty.

See this river?

The two sides agreed that everything above it

was in Rome's sphere of influence,

while beneath it was Carthage.

Under no circumstances were the Carthaginians

to expand north of that river.

But for now, Hamilcar and son were living it up.

Well son, here's to many more years

of successful campaigning in Spain.

Now if you'll excuse me, I just have to go fight those guys.

See you later, son.

I love you!

What the? Aw crap.

I drowned? Oh well.

Always remember, son,

you are vengeance!

Also, delete my browsing history.

Hamilcar Barca was tragically ambushed at a river

and drowned.

His son-in-law and possibly also his lover,

no further questions, took charge for a while,

but he too was later assassinated,

leaving finally a 26-year-old Hannibal

in charge of the Carthaginian armies in Spain.

Sources say the men readily accepted him as their leader.

He chose to suffer the same hardships as his men.

He lived in the same conditions,

was often the first into battle, and the last one out.

And it also helped that he looked a lot like his dad.

He had the total respect of his men.

If he said, "jump," they said "how high?"

If he said "tuck me in," they said "how tight?"

If he said, "talk to a girl without peeing your pants,"

they said "that's impossible. Nobody can do that!"

An army that would follow him anywhere would be crucial

for exacting his vengeance against Rome.

Hannibal's army had become

a strong and loyal fighting force,

and that was making a certain nation very uncomfortable.

Seeing Carthage restrengthened so quickly

was not something Rome had expected.

Yet here they were, paying off their debts

and expanding their territory.

It didn't feel very much like Carthage

was under Rome's thumb at all

and Rome wanted to put an end to it.

Tensions were strung tighter than your lyre's g-string

and all it would take was one incident

to trigger all-out war.

And in 219 BC, a city in Spain

would find itself at the very center

of that fateful incident, Saguntum.

Remember that treaty

declaring everything south of this river

to be Carthage's sphere of influence?

Well, Saguntum should therefore

obviously be Carthaginian, right?

Wrong!

Saguntum had actually scored itself

an informal alliance with Rome

after Rome had helped it with an internal dispute.

With Carthaginian encroachment,

Saguntum began to fear for its independence,

and Rome declared itself Saguntum's protector.

But this clearly went against the Ebro River Treaty,

so what on earth was Rome doing?

Were the Saguntines and the Romans truly just BFFs?

It's possible.

Or was Rome deliberately trying to interfere

with Hannibal's Spanish expansion

and maintain a staging post for a future war with Carthage?

More likely.

And Hannibal certainly viewed this Rome-Saguntum alliance

as an outrage.

Yet another example of Roman arrogance.

At first, he left Saguntum alone.

But having learned from his father to hate all things Roman,

and having inherited his father's dream

of bringing Rome to its knees, more and more,

Hannibal may have begun to see Saguntum as an opportunity.

Could this controversial alliance

be just what devilish little Hannibal needed

to kickstart a second war with Rome

and restore Carthaginian dominance?

It's even possible that Rome were also using Saguntum

to goad Hannibal into a fight

so they could go and kick him out of Spain.

And as the two giants began gearing up for round two,

the poor people of Saguntum had no idea

that they were about to be crushed in the collision.

Hey, your alliance with Saguntum is an insult

and we won't stand for it.

They're our friends Hannibal,

and if you lay a finger on them, it'll be an act of war.

Yeah, Hannibal! Back the hell off!

War, eh?

I was thinking I might just besiege their city

and massacre their people.

I hope you do, Hannibal! Find out what happens.

Yeah, we hope you do, Hani- Wait, what?

Maybe I will.

Go ahead, kill them all.

Uh. Okay, then.

Fine. Fine.

Okay. Guess I'll do just that.

Consul? We look forward to it.

Consul? You're gonna protect us though, right, Consul?

Consul?!

Oh no!

To top it all off,

when the Saguntine people made the genius decision

of raiding into Carthaginian territory, enough was enough.

In an action that was guaranteed

to provoke the Romans into war, Hannibal besieged the city.

The siege of Saguntum lasted eight cruel months

before Hannibal broke through the city defenses

and turned Saguntum into a killing field.

It was a massacre.

What the hell?

Tell me I didn't just catch you massacring our friends,

the Saguntise!

Well Consul, if you like the Saguntise so much,

perhaps you should Sagundeez nuts!

(all cheering)

Hearing word of the attack on Saguntum,

Rome was understandably in an uproar

and all eyes were now fixated on what would happen next.

As Rome sent a delegation to Carthage

led by one of the most highly esteemed Roman senators,

Fabius Maximus.

He demanded an answer for Hannibal's sins.

All right, listen up scum.

You've got a rogue general in Spain attacking a Roman ally.

What are we supposed to do about it?

Well, there shouldn't have even been a Roman ally in Spain.

You're the aggressor here!

Hand Hannibal over to us as a criminal

so we can punish him severely.

No. Yes.

No. Yes.

No! Look,

I hold in the folds of my toga both peace and war.

Which one should I let drop?

Whichever one you want!

Then I choose war!

(dramatic music)

The Second Punic War had begun.

Pack it up boys we've got 'em!

We already destroyed these clowns once,

and we were the underdogs!

Now, we're the, over dogs?

Hotdogs. Exactly.

This is gonna be E-Z. Here's the plan.

Consul Longus, you take your army

and sail straight for Carthage.

Burn that city to the ground!

And Consul Scipio, you just head on over to Iberia

and make sure this Hannibal guy doesn't do anything crazy.

I mean, what's he gonna do? Cross the Alps?

(all laugh)

We're going to what?!

Cross the Alps!

We're going to what?!

I just told you.

Hannibal, we'll freeze to death!

Trust me, Jerome.

The Romans are expecting us to fight

the same way we did last time,

passively, taking no initiative.

They think it's gonna be E-Z.

So this time, we have to be aggressive.

We have to go on the attack!

It sickens me to say this,

but this time we have to be a little more Roman.

(all gasp)

You mean we're gonna take poops and baths together?!

But I'm insecure about my hairy legs!

No! I'm saying this time we're gonna take the fight to them.

Think about it.

Rome thinks they're simply going to invade us

and win the war.

So when they suddenly find themselves being invaded

from the north, they'll freak out

like Tony's mother when the buffet runs out of shrimp.

Hey!

I gotta admit, it's actually kind of genius.

And my hairy legs will insulate me from the cold!

That's the spirit!

Hannibal, you have my sword.

And my spear.

And my legs!

Bleugh.

Hannibal's plan, a daring Alpine trek to surprise the Romans

was a bold but risky strategy.

If it paid off, he could catch the Romans

with their pants down, but he could also end up losing

a ton of men and supplies

in the hostile mountain conditions.

Nevertheless, in 218 BC, with a fire in his eyes

and some vengeance in his belly, Hannibal brought his force

of almost a hundred thousand men across the Ebro River.

They spent months on the road trekking through the cold,

hostile mountain conditions.

And when they finally reached the other side,

they said, "Hooray! We did it.

We crossed the Alps."

No, those were the Pyrenees.

Those are the Alps.

(wind whooshing)

(army crying)

After crossing the Pyrenees,

the army then had to pass through Southern Gaul,

a vast territory filled with tribes people,

many of whom were hostile to Hannibal's presence.

His journey to the Alps was an ordeal in itself

as he was forced to fight his way through

and incurred pretty hefty losses

before even reaching the mountains.

His plan was almost stopped in its tracks entirely

as the Roman Consul Scipio on his way to Iberia

discovered Hannibal was right on his doorstep.

Suddenly, Hannibal's journey became a race

as he rushed to get his massive army

across the vast Rhone River

before the Romans could intercept him.

The crossing was chaotic,

with the panicking elephants causing several men to drown.

And the first combat of the war occurred

when small scouting parties from each side

encountered one another.

When Scipio finally caught up to Hannibal's position,

what he found was an empty Carthaginian camp.

Hannibal had slipped through his fingers.

The Roman Consul Scipio felt the weight of the situation.

Quite unbelievably,

Hannibal was going to cross the Alps into Italy

and the Romans had no idea where he would emerge.

For the first time,

a Carthaginian force had the Roman homeland under threat.

Scipio sent his men onto Iberia as planned,

but he himself rushed home to raise a new army

so that if Hannibal survived the crossing,

Scipio would be there waiting.

Would you look at that, boys?

We're here! The Alps!

Although it is a little later than I expected.

Yeah, it's kind of chilly.

We'll set up camp here and wait for spring, right?

It's way too cold, right?

Hannibal?

(wind whooshing)

Hannibal's famous crossing of the Alps was brutal.

It was already autumn and the men suffered terribly.

It was cold. Men would fall off the sides of icy cliffs.

They starved, they fell off the sides of icy cliffs.

Some sources say they had to eat their pack animals

and would finish off dying comrades

in order to take their clothes for extra warmth.

And then, they would fall off the sides of icy cliffs.

Imagine an army of 50,000 men with all of their horses,

supplies and 37 elephants trying to navigate

the most hostile mountain range in Europe.

And it wasn't just nature that they were up against.

Tribes people lived in the mountains

and they couldn't believe what they were seeing.

A tribe approached Hannibal and said,

hey man, geez, that's some nice armor. What is that, gold?

Man, I'd really like that armor.

Hey boss! They've got food as well.

Shut up! Be cool.

Hey, why don't you let us guide you

through this narrow gorge?

We're not gonna kill you or nothing.

Just walk right on through there. We're not gonna kill ya.

It's just right this way.

We're not gonna kill ya!

Hannibal's army were forced to fight their way

through the gorge

as massive boulders rained down on them from above.

Some clever reorganization of his line helped them survive,

and they were able to fend off the opportunistic tribes.

But losses from the constant attacks were heavy.

As the journey continued, men who went over the sides

would get stuck on the ice sheets below

and had to make a grizzly choice

between starving to death or just getting it over with.

When the deeply demoralized army reached the summit

and rested for a couple days,

Hannibal tried to lift their spirits with a rousing speech.

Look, men! down there, it's Rome.

These plains stretching out in front of you

are bountiful with food to eat and Romans to kill!

Move, Bessie!

Look! You have just climbed the walls of Rome.

The hard part is over.

From here on out, it's all downhill

and nobody else will die!

Except for them.

The rest of us here, no one dies.

Starting now.

Okay, let's go.

Oh for goodness sake!

As it turned out, the descent was as deadly as the way up

with the cold really starting to set in.

The path became even more narrow.

And at one point, the men spent three days

in the freezing cold repairing a collapsed road.

When they finally reached the bottom,

Hannibal said look guys, we did it!

(army groaning)

Well, I thought it went really well!

When Hannibal left Spain,

he had about a hundred thousand men.

By the time he reached the Italian plains,

his numbers had dwindled to about 26,000.

He was now caught in enemy territory

without a supply line or a source of reinforcements.

And any elephants who had survived to this point

were almost certainly traumatized.

So what on earth was Hannibal up to?

This supposed military genius

had just led a starving and weakened army

right into enemy territory.

Any modern general who lost half their men to mountains

would be immediately fired

and possibly even depantsed on live TV.

Here's the thing, while Hannibal may not have planned

on losing quite so many men,

he had almost certainly expected considerable losses,

and he always had a plan for how to replace them.

Need men?

Northern Italy was full of men, big burly Celtic men.

All the men Hannibal would ever need to beat off Rome.

These Celts were filled with resentment,

having only recently been conquered by Rome.

Hannibal hoped to be seen as a liberator,

convince the Celts to cut ties with Rome,

and instead join him in crushing Rome.

That way, he could gain a source of reinforcements

and supplies right in Rome's backyard.

But sir, in order to win the loyalty of the Celts,

we would need to make a seriously favorable impression

on them.

How do we get 'em to like us?

Hmm.

Kill them. (dramatic music)

One of Hannibal's first actions in Italy

was to obliterate a nearby tribe who wouldn't join him.

This sent a clear message to all the other tribes.

It was his wrath they should fear, not Rome's.

The realization that a Carthaginian army

had just invaded them

must have been shocking for the Romans.

But when they looked at this rag tie group

broken by the Alps,

they couldn't have felt very intimidated.

However, Hannibal was now in Italy

and he was about to embark

on one of the most astonishing military campaigns

in all of human history.

The Romans may not have known it yet,

but there was now a monster loose in their territory,

and he was vying for Roman blood.

(dramatic music)

(dramatic music continues)