How Did Hannibal Get His Army

After Hannibal had lead his army through the Alps and Apennines Mountain ranges and finally set foot on Roman soil, there was the small matter of the impending battle to deal with. Part of Hannibal's demise was that he hadn’t accounted for the number of soldiers, elephants and equipment that he would lose along the route to Rome, and the infantry numbers of Rome itself. The quincunx was the deployment of legion infantry in segmented lines defined by weapon and the class of soldier wielding. This was a change from the standard lines of infantry based on the Greek Hoplite armies and a change from the peasant to professional army that the Romans were adopting. Perhaps this can be seen as the defining moment in Roman history, as settlement conquest
Before this war, the Roman army was used to fighting the likes of Celtic barbarians or the people of Italy during the interior Italian civil war, but going against Hannibal, who was a master of military tactics, was a different matter. During the battle of Trebia, for example, Hannibal knew the strengths of the forces at his disposal and the military history of previous Carthaginian encounters with Rome, and could therefore predict the movement of his enemies. Throughout these battles Hannibal was successful in preventing two roman tactics; the first being operating on interior lines which involved the deployment of infantry lines and resources in an area that could be easily accessed. It is often used to prevent the opponent from being able to deploy a similar tactic and hold them to a point where re-enforcing the front line becomes evermore difficult. This tactic was very popular among Roman generals and for centuries to come would it be used in
Where Rome had more than 700,000 infantry and 70,000 cavalry at their disposal, Hannibal had 20,000 altogether to march on Rome. While Hannibal did claim some victories due to his smart wit and battle prowess, his ascendancy would eventually be cut short, as even he couldn’t manage to keep up the morale of his men and be able to hold out against the onslaught of Roman infantry that was posed against him by Scipio Africanus, who was dispatched to confront and defeat Hannibal. Furthermore, as shall be explained in more depth in a later segment, the Roman attitudes which demanded an ‘all out war’ stance on the matter. Conquest brought with it honour and power for the soldiers that fought in it, many citizens could dream of a glorious end as a war hero. By committing to acts of valiancy and bravery on the battlefield, one could earn privilege and honour for himself and his family, so it was valued very highly for all men to commit to warfare. In the end, Hannibal had military tactics on his side, but the tactical advancements made by the Romans were new to the Carthaginians and unsettled Hannibal's