From Cannae To Zama

[pompeius magnus]

between hanibals victory at cannae and scipio's victory at zama when did hannibal lose grasp of victory or when did the tide turn.

[Hamilcar Barca]

Hard to say, it was more of a gradual process than any singular event. Cannae onwards basicly saw Hannibal run out of steam while the Romans stepped up a notch and suddenly had nothing but competent military commanders. Furthermore, several prime opportunities were passed up to reinforce Hannibal, best example been in 211BC when the Scipio's were defeated at Iliorci and Castulo. The more famous example though is when Hasdrubal and his army were checked at the Metaurus by Nero.

 

But after Cannae, the war in Italy changed dramatically. Instead of actively engaging Hannibal, the Romans worked towards recapturing the Italian cities which had defected to him. These cities all had their own separate agendas and despite Hannibal

[P.Clodius]

Quitus Fabius Maximus, Marcus Claudius Marcellus, and the three Scipio's are what happened. Effective military leadership gradually took precedent over political ladder climbing. Maximus checked Hannibal, Marcellus hung on to him like a pitbull on steroids, and the Scipio's carried the war on strategically.

[Dominus]

Publius Cornelius Scipio (later Africanus) took Spain off Carthaginian hands. Since Hannibal received no military support from Carthage, he relied on a Spain controlled by his brothers to provide reinforcements. When Scipio took Spain from the Barcas, he effectively cut Hannibal's supply line and isolated him in Italy.

 

(Hamilcar, great response! I couldn't agree more on the precise turning point. Nero so rarely gets credit.) Hasdrubal's last ditch effort to reach Hannibal and join forces led to his defeat in the Metaurus valley. This was a distaster for the Carthaginian side, brilliantly engineered by both Consuls working in tandem. The credit really goes to the modest Consul Claudius Nero, who conceived a brilliant notion of how to defeat Hasdrubal. He had Hannibal cornered in southern Italy. With 6,000 picked men, he marched the length of Italy in a week to meet his Consular colleague. Seeing the two Consuls against him, Hasdrubal could only have assumed that Hannibal had been defeated. Hannibal never even knew that Nero had left camp, until he returned with his army and threw the head of Hannibal's defeated Hasdrubal to the Carthaginian troops back in southern Italy.

 

This was the the end of Carthage's offensive position. From then on, they were on the defensive.

[Lacertus]

It