Why Is It Important To Capture Rome?

As mentioned before, Hannibal crossed the Alps and Apennines to his great difficulty and bereavement. Not only did this journey cost him most of his elephants, but he also lost a large portion of his soldiers. Crossing the mountain ranges resulted in the loss of approximately 13,333 men, which makes up a third of the forty-thousand men that he originally had. It is important to note, though, that this was the best case scenario for Hannibal. Had he decided to bring heavy siege equipment that he needed to capture Rome, it would have been an even more perilous journey, as the equipment was very heavy and cumbersome and would have surely cost him more lives. Actually, if the siege equipment had been somehow successfully brought over, it might have spelled victory for the Carthaginians.
This gave Rome the time to fortify what defences it had in the capital, making an irremovable stronghold for the Romans. This also allowed them to build new fortifications in the Alps and along the northern Italian frontier. This would prove problematic for Hannibal’s forces in their attempt to capture Rome and move through Italy swiftly. Though the ancients were not that good at siege operations, the equipment would have given Hannibal a shot at it. It would seem that the Carthaginian general needed the equipment if he was to stand a chance against the Roman defences, but alternatively, would have faced loosing his whole army in the Alps and Apennines if he had brought it. In the end, Hannibal was able to cut his losses and carry on with his march through Italy, but with great losses to his army; non expendable losses that would cost him the