[PzLdr]

The difference between Rome and now is that not only did the Romans refuse to receive Hannibal's peace envoys when he had destroyed the largest army they'd ever fielded; the Senate forbade the families of those taken captive from ransoming them. Plus, there were no Murthas, Pelosis, Kerrys, etc, calling for retreat, negotiation,or surrender. The lack of a NEW YORK TIMES, and MSM probably helped, too.

[Restorer]

Very good points.

Especially important when you consider the relatively small size of the Roman state at the time.

Hannibal killed something like 150,000 to 200,000 Roman and allied soldiers in two years. That's out of a total population of perhaps 5M. That's equivalent to America losing perhaps 12M to 15M in two years.