[Pollster1]

Possible GGG ping - almost unmarked historic “grave”-site of 50,000 at Cannae.

Interesting contemporary visit. I’ve been to the main battlefields from our Revolutionary and Civil War, as well as Sparta, Thermopylae, and even Zama, but I never bothered to visit Cannae, and now I’m wondering why I never thought of going there.

[bboop]

You went to Thermopylae? Recommended??

[Don Hernando de Las Casas]

I WANTED to go, but if I recall correctly, I did not go because the sea claimed the site hundreds of years ago. Am I wrong?

[SunkenCiv]

Thanks Pollster1.

Eventually the Romans cleaned out his backfield in Spain, crossed over into Africa, and threatened Carthage itself, which meant that his family was rehabilitated (there was a lot of political infighting in Carthage among the 'noble' families, same as went on in Rome) and he was recalled for the city's defense, his army evacuated by sea, and ushered into battle. He lost.

Hannibal stayed in Italy for sixteen years without being able to take one walled city. I've never seen it discussed, but his loss of so many of his elephants during the crossing of the Alps (and remember, he also brought them over, ultimately, from Africa, and crossed the Rhone before he reached the Alps) probably helped him in his ability to stay put. Elephants eat a lot. And methods to cope with the ancient world's "tanks" were well-developed, such that the last use of them in a large battle was Thapsus, which broke the back of the Pompeian faction in that phase of the civil war.

Imagine, Hannibal and his army managed to live off the land for sixteen years, with but a little resupply by sea -- but in Italy, where such a thing is obviously not that difficult. The Romans kept him out of southern Italy by using a scorched-Earth approach to create a barrier, and alas they never went back to fix it (no one has to the current day).

Cannae was an outlier, despite the hero worship that has gone on -- it was due more to the stupidity of the Roman field leadership and a couple of lucky breaks for Hannibal than it had to do with some kind of genius.

There ya go -- have at it! Hell, let's make this week a double-topic ping to the Digest list. This should be good!