هانيبال | الدحيح

Oh Marquinhos, I can no longer sleep out of worry on Rome's fate. And what happened to Rome, commander? I believe we are fine.

Hannibal, that Carthaginian commander, who disturbs my peace day and night. Hannibal? But how would he get to us from his location?

Don't you see? All roads lead to Rome. You're right, commander.

We now look like a boot on the map! Hannibal is fighting with his mind not hands, and no matter how many we are, or how equipped we are, he triumphs. Where are the valorous commanders of Rome?

Caesar? Francesco Totti? He retired years ago.

What about the commander Daniele De Rossi? He also retired. There's just the warrior Dybala now.

Is this Dybala a courageous fighter? He would die before the battle even starts from the sounds of clashes or neighs! Then this is my opportunity, commander.

Grant me this honor, I will go out. . .

to face Hannibal, and kill him! Are you truthful, Marquinhos? Face Hannibal and kill him?

I swear on my blood to bring you his head! No more Carthaginians! All glory for Roman Empire!

-Glory for Roman Empire. -Glory for Roman Empire! What's that?

Is that Hannibal? Yes, it is. Kill him, Marquinhos, just like you swore!

Goodbye, commander. I'll miss you a lot. Wait, don't you love Rome?

Don't you love Rome? ! Rome?

Forza Milan! Marquinhos! Hello, my dear viewers of ElDaheeh.

. . A new episode, what can we say, I hope you like the episode.

What's that, Abo Hmeed? Your Tunisian is pretty rough. I wanted to give you the worst Tunisian dialect you'd hear, my friend.

Anyway, "Hannibal ad portas" It's a Latin sentence means "Hannibal at the gates". In Rome, in 216 B. C, You would've heard this sentence from senators in worry and fear.

And in a few hours, it would turn into screams of terror, from hundreds of thousands of citizens. Everyone repeating these words. "Hannibal at the gates".

Hannibal, or Hannibal the Barcid, was a military commander of Carthage in North Africa, who took his army to attack the budding Roman Empire. They thought that the Mediterranean sea was an impenetrable barrier for him, that he couldn't cross to reach them. But he crossed it, and triumphed in a battle after another, and was then steps away from conquering Rome itself.

That only meant one thing. . .

The End. Not just the end of the Roman army, but the end of Rome's past, future, and all what belongs to it. Hannibal is on the gates of Rome, and the imagination of citizens drew for them the scene of attack, the dirt storming in the air, sounds of horses, swords covered in their blood, and Hannibal as he's killing everyone.

Hannibal is the angel of death, the doom incarnated. But Hannibal, against all expectations, held his ground and didn't enter Rome, and retreated from the attack. A strange and unpredictable decision.

It was one of the most significant decisions that could've changed history. Not just back then, but nowadays too. Your life, my life, and everyone else's could've been very different.

But what happened at the end, is that Hannibal was no longer at the gates. The story starts way before that, before Hannibal was even born. At that time, the world witnessed the rise of two powers, the first was Carthage in North Africa, a trading civilization that wanted to possess new ports to control the trading routes.

The other one was Rome in South Europe, a military civilization that wanted to take over more lands and add to its glory. Each power was minding its business, and focused on growing into an empire. But both had their eyes watching the other one growing at the same time, looking at each other's ambitions in fear and suspicion.

Each one of them wanted to expand. Between them was the Mediterranean Sea, one northern and the other southern. This made their clash inevitable even if later than sooner.

This clash happened in 246 B. C. which turned into the First Punic War.

Of course you thought "Punic" here comes from "punching", it's not right. But it actually came from the name that Rome named the people living in Carthage. The fight was on Sicily, that they both greedily wanted.

Like I said, it was a fierce war, because both powers were almost even. This made the war go on for more than 20 years, without a clear victory of one of them. Days came and went, and on the 23rd year of the war, Carthage loses a battle.

It wasn't a huge battle indeed, not the sucker punch, but that's when Carthage decided that that's it, "We're done with the war, let us surrender" That easy, Abo Hmeed? They fight for 23 years then surrender? The answer is in what I said in the beginning, my friend.

What did Carthage want? It wanted trade and business. Carthage wasn't a military civilization.

Take this too, Carthage's army wasn't its own, they fought with an army of mercenary from Carthage's neighboring countries. They were getting paid to fight. A labor with salaries, not people from the country fighting for glory or survival.

That's other than fleets, soldiers, and money paid. That wasn't a profitable business. Then they said, congrats Rome you won, goodbye.

I'll go work in the ports and farewell. That's when Rome said, wait Carthage, do you think easy come easy go? What does no war mean?

we'll end it, it's our job and business model. And indeed, Rome decided to humiliate Carthage, and impose a levy of 81 tons of silver every year for many years. Not just that, but also force it to withdraw its troops from Sicily, and other islands that weren't even fought on.

By that, surrender wasn't also profitable. After many years of Carthage's surrender and Rome's sanctions, Hannibal appears. The commander of Spain's army after his father.

Wait, Abo Hmeed, what brought Spain into it? We're talking about Carthage, Rome, and the sea. Why is Spain here?

My friend, it's self-explanatory. Rome imposed a yearly tax on Carthage, where would've Carthage got all that money? Their neighbors?

My aunt? No, not from my aunt. Carthage had to expand to other countries so they can take their resources and pay the taxes.

Hannibal was then in an awkward situation, he was waiting for Rome's messengers. . .

-definitely not coming with good news- Hannibal who was 26 at the time, waited that ominous visit. He then remembered his father, who taught him everything. His father was Hamilcar Barca, who was one of the most important Carthaginian commander in First Punic War.

Abo Hmeed, didn't you say Carthage had no army? The Barca family was different, they were generational warriors. But Hamilcar wasn't just a warrior, he was one of the Carthage's prominent leaders he was the one who chose Spain to be the land where they get resources.

And the Barca family did establish a city in Spain, called New Carthage, this city is still here to this day, and called Carthagene. There's a theory says that Spain's Barcelona has its name derived from the Barca family. Barc-elona.

Imagine how influential that family was. Hannibal, while waiting for the Roman messengers, remembered one of the most significant day with his father. He was only 9 years old, when his father decided to take him to a great religious celebration in Carthage.

That's when Hannibal saw his father's sadness and prideless. In Hamilcar's war with Rome, he never lost a battle, that's why he was furious toward's his country's surrender. Hannibal was by his father watching clergymen around fire and serving offerings to the god Baal.

Hannibal's father took his hand and made him kneel for the offering, and repeat an oath. That as long as he was alive, Hannibal would always be an enemy of Rome. Hannibal soulfully repeated the oath, and decided he would never break it.

Hannibal got back to reality on the sounds of Rome messengers arrival. The messengers looked at Hannibal, the man in his twenties, with arrogance, and talked about how Rome is upset with Carthage's expansion in Spain. "Why did you go to Spain?

" "Why not Monte Carlo? " This was especially because Hannibal hugely expanded in Spain, and here we go back to what we said before. Why did the war start?

Out of fear of sovereignty expansion. If you started expanding, you could be a danger to me. Rome sensed that Carthage wasn't done, and sent a clear message to Hannibal with the messengers, to stay in his lane.

And that Saguntum in East Spain was theirs, and if Hannibal's army went as close as its borders, they would declare war. Hannibal looked at the messengers with their tone, and remembered his father's pridelessness the day Carthage surrendered, and the oath he said. Hannibal told them he wouldn't stop expanding, and to add on that, next time they wouldn't need to send messengers, because he would go there himself.

Hannibal, quit joking around, conquering Rome? Rome expected such a response because they knew Hannibal hated them. But they didn't expect the response to be this fast and firm in reality.

In a short period of time, Hannibal led his army and left. "Hannibal": Didn't you want me away from this city, Rome? Here I go, here I go.

Hannibal then did enter the city and took it down. In the moment he invaded the city, he officially fired up the Second Punic War. The 26 year old young man, succeeded at the peak of the war in being at the gates of Rome, and embodying its worst nightmare.

Rome never imagined that Hannibal could have ever reach it or be close to. I mean, logic wise, how would Hannibal get to Rome? Look at the map with me, at first it would seem simple, here's Rome, Carthage, and the Mediterranean Sea in the middle.

He could just gather his men, ride ships, and go there. But in reality, it was impossible. Because simply Carthage's fleet was completely destroyed in First Punic War.

That idea was out. You might tell me: Abo Hmeed there's another route that's longer but works. If Hannibal took his army from Spain and went to Rome, he would get there.

It's a good idea, my friend, but has a small issue. See these mountains? These are the Pyrenees mountain range.

Imagine getting lost in the Pyrenees. Not good. And these?

these are the Alps mountain range. And this is the Rhône river. For Hannibal to reach Rome by land, he would need to go through all this with his army, through 2 mountain ranges and a river.

Keep in mind that Hannibal was solo on this trip, Carthage didn't support him. No one offered him any help. Because most leaders in Carthage, were originally against war with Rome.

"We just want to trade and do business". They were against helping him in any shape or form in the war. He ended up being a lonely leader on a not-so-big army, and a foreign land, fighting a mighty country.

Abo Hmeed, the man is so weak. My friend, you're the weak one, Hannibal had a high caliber army, enough for an operation. He had 100 thousand soldiers, 19 thousand horses, and 37 war elephants.

What's a war elephant, Abo Hmeed, are you okay? Carthage had been using elephants in its war for ages. .

. -imagine the elephant in the war moving his trunk randomly- "Back off, man" to scare its enemies, who weren't used to fighting or seeing elephants. It's a huge deal.

All what I said is alright but useless. The problem still exists. How could he cross with all this army?

He was moving around with 37 elephants! That's when Rome rested assured, and told him if he was a real man, he'd go, which apparently he was, because he did go. In a critical military decision, Hannibal took his army with its horses and elephants, and wandered in the Pyrenees mountains.

. . "Come on guys, to the Pyrenees!

" Hannibal didn't stop there, he had elephants with him, how would he cross the Rhône river? He made them boats so the elephants get on them and continued. He walked through the Alps mountains in temperatures below zero.

See how we said it all easily in three sentences? But the trip was incredibly hard. Sine Romans believed the trip was impossible, they weren't concerned about Hannibal, as if he was a reckless man.

He could be ended by a troop of theirs going to Spain, wrap him up with his army, and take them away. That's why I want you to picture with me, the amount of terror and surprise they felt when they knew that Hannibal's plan worked. They never imagined he would complete the trip, and that Hannibal's army arrived at Italy.

Watch Chaouali go crazy! Apparently my friend, we envied Hannibal. Why, Abo Hmeed, he caught the flu in the Pyrenees?

Hannibal looked at his soldiers who made it to Italy, and realized it wasn't the army he took off with. "Hannibal": It's either victory or death! "Are these the guys we had in the Pyrenees?

" Indeed my friend, it wasn't the army Hannibal took off with. The truth is, half of his army died in that rough route to Rome. And the ones who made it were barely humans, after all this effort, weeks of hunger and cold, with no time for rest.

And there wouldn't be rest because Rome knew they arrived, and will fight them soon. At that moment, Hannibal stood on a cliff that saw Rome from above, and preached his soldiers saying, There's no surrender, the mountain is behind them, and the enemy in front of them. The only way forward is victory.

But of course, Hannibal wasn't the only one preaching his army, on the other side, Scipio the Elder, the commander of Rome's army, told them it was easy and simple. And that they were going to fight fragments of men, who were hungry to death and tired. While they were in their country, comfortable, eating, drinking, and not tired.

This only needed a knockout from Rome, and these Carthaginians would disappear. Especially that their commander is nothing but a reckless young man, drunk on the pleasure of glory and vengeance, and soon he would know his place. Rome's soldiers felt like it was an easy win, and it wasn't going to take much.

Both armies clash indeed, on the banks of Ticino river. In that moment, the smiles disappeared from the faces of Roman soldiers. Scipio the Elder and Rome's army saw themselves how much they underestimated their enemy.

The battle was fast, and its results were easily on Hannibal's side. Scipio, the Roman commander himself, was close to death during the chaos. Scipio the Younger knew that his father didn't rightfully acknowledge his opponent.

We weren't facing a reckless man, but a very smart commander, that we needed to learn from. It happened a lot, my friend, and every battle between Rome and Hannibal, they knew Hannibal wasn't easy. In almost every battle, Hannibal had his army half the number of Rome's But still triumphed.

Years went by that way, and every day Rome's sense of danger increases. Hannibal and his army who wandered in their land, were a real threat to the Roman entity. Rome, that wanted to remain on the map, had to erase Hannibal from existence.

"We only had one solution, to attack Hannibal. . .

violently, and kill him". Oh you feisty. That was Rome's mindset in the Battle of Cannae, on 2nd August, 216 B.

C. Rome gathered 70 thousand warriors to fight Hannibal. It was its largest army at that point.

"Isn't he fighting with his mindset? we'll fight with ours! " The day of the battle, Hannibal looks at Rome's army that was way bigger than his.

. . Rome concentrated on increasing its soldiers and well-equip them.

It depended on blunt force, to invade the enemy's lines. Hannibal always had fewer soldiers, and fought on foreign land, so he didn't have the luxury of giving the blunt force. Rome's army looked at Hannibal's front-lines, and all what they saw was a weak line of soldiers they can easily break into.

Rome's army did penetrate Hannibal's army frontier. In the moment when they thought they were winning and started picturing Hannibal's head hanging in Rome as an example to whoever dares to cross the empire, Hannibal was looking at them from above, laughing. Because he didn't see the win that the Roman's saw.

Instead, he saw rats going into the trap he set up himself. Suddenly, this weak line of soldiers broke up and transformed from a line to a circle. A circle that surrounds the Romans in all directions, and locked them inside.

Imagine 70 thousand soldiers trapped in a circle, if any of them tried pushing the other to escape, he would just be accelerating the death rate. Just then, none of Rome's soldiers was capable of doing anything other than waiting for his inevitable death. Hannibal used Rome's power against it.

Hannibal's army killed 100 Roman soldier every minute! 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6. .

. 95, 96, 97, 98, 99. .

. 100! Next!

They had it on a stopwatch. Are you aware of the rate? That's fast.

As if you're in a train station and a train comes by every minute hitting 100 people. This kept going for long hours. Some stories even say that Hannibal's soldiers when they arrived at the center of the circle, found Roman soldiers had dug holes and buried their head into them, to suffocate and die quickly.

The ones who were alive begged Hannibal's soldiers to kill them. They didn't want to suffer. It's said that on that day, 50 thousand Roman soldiers died, which was almost 20% of war-eligible Roman men, including the commander himself, and 3 senators.

That day was Rome's biggest defeat in its history. Until Manchester United defeated them 7-1 in Champions League. That was the real Chaouali madness, not Carthage.

This was Hannibal's masterpiece, the perfect battle, that is still taught around the world to this day. How to win when you're the weaker party, and how to use strategy in a battle. Cannae became a higher example for any military leader, and was a direct inspiration for many commanders.

Like the Germans taking over France in World War I, whose strategy was inspired from Hannibal in Cannae. When the news of the terrible defeat reached Rome, panic was all over the place. The sound of screaming and weeping was everywhere.

Each house in Rome had a victim of Hannibal's. People ran to the temples and prayed for salvation. They were all sure that it was a matter of days till Hannibal entered Rome, who was only a few-days journey away.

The terror that Rome lived that day would remain engraved in their memory forever. Despite all that, Rome who had the biggest defeat in its history took a decision that no other country would. It decided to not surrender.

And to fight till the last breath. There's a famous Roman saying that says "The victor is not victorious if the vanquished does not consider himself so" Rome refused to admit the defeat, and it gathered an army to replace the one defeated. Any male above 17 years would join the army.

Even the slaves who weren't allowed to fight were offered to be soldiers in return of freedom. And 8000 people joined the army, then it moved to the borders to defend them. In the city, a law emerged banning showing any sign of mourning.

There would be grieve, but vengeance first. What's strange is that when Hannibal sent his messengers to negotiate the captives he took in Cannae, Rome refused to let them in. It told them to keep the captives, even though Rome was in dire need for soldiers.

They did that because captive negotiation had an important significance. It meant that the war was over, and Rome admitted the defeat, which was something it would never accept nor admit. It also meant that Hannibal wanted to negotiate.

If you want to negotiate, then this means you. . .

are tired of war. Rome was given a survival chance after a crushing defeat. .

. for two reasons. First was their military mindset, and the second was what we started the episode with.

That Hannibal decided to take a step back from entering Rome after reaching its gates. Why did he do that? I didn't tell you at the beginning?

I meant not to say to get you to continue watching. It's writing techniques and stuff. It's art and drama!

Hannibal's decision to retreat was a butterfly effect, and not just in that war, but it reformed the entire world. The butterfly effect even affected you. Look around and you'll see Rome's influence everywhere, from languages like French, Italian, and Spanish, to democracy and judiciary systems that many countries use.

Rome was the one to set the cornerstone for all that. Even our Gregorian calendar months, were named after Roman leaders and gods. Can you imagine how life would've been if Hannibal, after Cannae, decided to move to Rome and destroy ?

Carthage would have been a superior power, that its effect would have had an effect to our current times. But the most important question, why didn't Hannibal enter Rome? That question left the minds of historians wondering for centuries, the first logical answer, was that if Hannibal had moved to Rome it would have been difficult to put it under siege.

Keep in mind that Hannibal always fought with less soldiers, they did tactics or win a quick battle, but to siege a city in the size of Rome that's surrounded by huge walls and numerous soldiers, you need a lot of soldiers and equipment that Hannibal didn't have. That answer is reinforced by Hannibal's own strategy in war. He didn't aim for destroying Rome, and his negotiation was proof.

Remember when I said that? He was alone in that campaign, and knew that no matter how strong or smart he got, he would still remain a lone commander on a small army in a foreign land, fighting a mighty empire. That's when it's Rome's turn to get back at Hannibal for all what he did and be sure that no empire would have sovereignty except for one.

. . Rome.

The Second Punic War was a war between Hannibal and his army and Rome. Rome, who was the center of power in the years before the war, had majorly expanded in Italy. It took over many cities ruled by tribes.

Hannibal never intended to destroy Rome, that was a far-fetched dream. His intention was to break and weaken them which was done in two ways. The first was in the battlefield, and Hannibal checked that box.

The second was to steal Rome's allies. Hannibal saw that Rome's expansion was the secret of its power, where if he managed to take it on his side, the balance of power would change, and Rome would become a normal city without any authorities, and wouldn't be able to impose its power on Carthage like it did after the First Punic War. Hannibal's plan started working after Cannae, where many of Rome's allies switched alliance to his side.

But them joining him was on an important condition, that Hannibal was responsible for protecting their cities against any attack Rome might initiate. Rome managed to make use of that condition for its sake. After the terrible defeats for Rome on Hannibal's hands, Rome learnt the lesson, and knew he was a schemer, and couldn't face him in a direct conflict.

Because he would simply defeat them again. So the solution was to weaken him in every way possible. There wasn't a better way than attacking the allies that Hannibal vowed to protect.

Hannibal found out that Rome would attack and asked his brother in Spain for backup. And indeed, the brother led a huge army to Rome. But let me tell you that Rome was smart at the time.

Oh Gabriel Martinelli! Rome used to attack two cities from Hannibal's allies, but two cities away from one another and attacked at the same time, so that Hannibal wouldn't know which to save. This delivered a message to the cities that took his side.

"You allied with the wrong person Because Rome can crush you any time. " Message delivered. Hannibal's allies went back to Rome one after the other, leaving Hannibal alone against the enemy.

With all these hardships, there was a beacon of hope. . .

"My brother coming from Spain! " Hannibal kept waiting for his brother coming from Spain, who could have changed the face of the war. One day when he was at camp among his soldiers, saying that he missed his brother and was waiting for him to save them, just seeing his face, a knight throws a bag at him from a distance Hannibal opened the bag and realized he was receiving two pieces of news.

the good news that he finally saw his brother's face, the bad news that it was just the head, there was no body. They sent his brother's decapitated head. In that moment, Hannibal realised that any help on the way was gone.

And that if the war was to continue, it would be just him. The situation lasted for 15 years, some skirmishes between the two parties, but never develop to a battle. Hannibal made allies and lost them, so he made other allies.

A war without a victor between two sides. The first was Hannibal who was too weak to attack Rome. The second was Rome who was too weak to attack Hannibal, with his history and all what he did.

The two powers all almost equal, a third party had to intervene and weigh on one side Who was that party? I'll go get him and be back, my friend. Hannibal's method in war was entirely new to Rome, which at the beginning of the battle made it seem as if he's in a different game, than the one Rome knows.

A game where he sets the rules and knows how to win. That's when Rome realized the truth, that they couldn't fight Hannibal with their mindset. If they wanted to defeat him, they would have to use his mindset.

They needed a new leader, a different method in war, rather than the blunt force mindset that made them lose! That's when someone appears. .

. the commander Scipio the Younger. This man was just like Hannibal, grew up on hating Hannibal, and swore on Rome's loyalty.

Similarly to how Hannibal swore his loyalty to Carthage. Both of them have similar backgrounds and motives. Scipio the Younger was a part of all of Rome's battles.

He fought with his sword, according to his commanders, but he was keeping track. He kept an eye on his enemy and his tactics. Scipio didn't learn tactics and battling from Rome.

He learnt them from Hannibal. Scipio realized the fundamental mistakes in Rome's strategic plan, and it's the sentence we started this episode with. "Hannibal at the gates" We're facing a very tricky enemy on the battlefield.

We can never directly face him. But, wait a second! Why is the war taking place in Rome?

That gives a bright idea to Scipio. Since Hannibal took us by surprise, and waged war on our land, then let's make the people of Carthage yell "Scipio at the gates" and wage war on Hannibal's land. Not all Roman leaders agreed to this plan.

To be fair, my friend, the plan is very risky. How could you deploy your army somewhere far, while your enemy is at the gates? There's indeed a possibility that Hannibal rushes to save his land.

But there's also a possibility that he would take the chance and attack them. Also, not all Roman leaders trusted Scipio the Younger. Why?

because he was young. He was too young to lead an army on his own. However, boys will be boys.

After multiple negotiations, Scipio convinced the Roman government, and took a great fleet to the north African coast. In order to bring war to the enemy. Scipio did in Africa what Hannibal failed to do in Rome, my friend.

He succeeded in getting Carthage's allies on his side. In all of Hannibal's battles, one of his most powerful assets was the cavalry or his horsemen. Those cavalrymen came from a country near Carthage called Numidia.

New media? are you a horseman, Abo Hmeed? Yes, my friend, they call me BoJack Horseman.

Abo Hmeed, stop telling jokes. Numidia is modern-day Algeria. Scipio took advantage of one of the leaders' greedy desires to rule.

He promised to give him Numidia, if he got on his side. That way, Scipio was able to guarantee his loyalty , and, deny Carthage and Hannibal of a very important ally. Scipio learnt from Hannibal to study the battlefield well, and to take advantage of it.

Which is what he did in his battle with Carthage. He noticed that the Carthaginian soldiers had small tents of hay close to each other. He thought that if he set fire to one of these tents, the fire would spread across the entire camp.

A brilliant plan. That way, he got rid of a large portion of his enemy without even going into combat, and without losing any soldiers. So, that's exactly what Scipio the Younger did.

Who isn't younger anymore. He became a highly respected leader. Against a powerful enemy that misled all of Rome.

He made a number on Carthage in many battles. So, a Carthaginian delegation was sent to negotiate with him. They offered a peace treaty to end the war.

That's not the issue. The issue is that Carthaginian's would hand Hannibal over on a silver plate. They told Scipio that they were already against going to war.

"He did it on his own, Scipio" "Forget about him, and let's turn a new page" Indeed, negotiations were successful. Scipio signed a peace treaty with them. You may think that this is where the story ends.

You wish. Carthage did in fact summon Hannibal from Rome. However, when he arrived back with his army.

Carthage got greedy. They thought "if Hannibal says he's so strong, then let's send him to fight Scipio. " "This time it's really over, but at least we win" Hannibal then goes into battle with the Roman army.

In Zama, a city that lies 100 miles away from Carthage, the two armies clash. However, this battle isn't like any other. Hannibal is battling against his arch-enemy.

One that understands his game and plays it too. He won't fall for any trap or ambush. Not just that, He also knows a huge flaw in Hannibal's army.

You see, an important detail was that Hannibal was an immigrant all these years. He also leads an army consists of foreigners from all around the world. From Spain, Libya, Algeria, and France.

That's a football league not an army. So naturally, they don't speak the same language. Which made it difficult for Hannibal to change plans, or to give new commands during battle.

This reduced Hannibal's resiliency against Scipio, who was hard to predict. Let's also not forget, Hannibal's secret weapon. The Numidian cavalry.

Which were in the hands of Scipio. At the end of October 17th in 202 B. C, Hannibal was defeated in the battle of Zama.

The leader who never lost a battle, lost the war on that day. He was defeated by his own weapon and tactic. "No one defeats Hannibal, but Hannibal.

" After the battle of Zama, Carthage signed a humiliating peace treaty, way more humiliating than the one it signed after the First Punic War. Hannibal suffered the bitter defeat. He stepped down as a leader of the army, and became one of the government officials.

He tried to root out the corruption there, but, unfortunately, it only made him enemies. They hated him to the point of wanting to hand him over to Rome. So sad for you, Hannibal.

When Hannibal knew about this, he fled from Carthage. He spent the rest of his life hunted. However, he never forgot his father's oath.

To be an eternal enemy for Rome. He would go to countries fighting Rome, and worked as a military consultant for its kings. In one of these countries, Rome scores a victory, its troops stood in front of Hannibal's house, and when he heard their steps from a distance, he realized the journey is over.

Rome's eternal enemy decided to resist till the last breath, he wouldn't give them the honor of capturing him. He wouldn't go to Rome as a captive in chains. The one who took an oath with his father to hate Rome, would never enter it humiliated.

As he was used to, he decided to take his fate into his hands, he drank from the poison that he always held close for this exact moment. On his lips were his last words: "Let us now relieve the Romans of their fears by the death of a feeble old man" And as we know, my friend, history is written by victors. Which was the situation with Rome and Carthage's story.

All what I said came from Roman historians, that was their version of the story. You'll ask me, Abo Hmeed, why didn't you tell Carthage's version? For the same reason why till this day we don't know how the world would have been if Carthage had won.

Simply, my friend, Rome completely erased Carthage from the face of the earth. After the Second Punic War, Carthage avoided clashing with Rome. It left the war and refocused its efforts on trade, which made it flourish again in a few years.

Especially that the one fighting Rome was just a leader they didn't support. He meant nothing and if things got rough, they would turn him in. Just like during the treaty.

Rome feared that, it didn't forget what happened even after Hannibal died with 40 years. When he left Carthage and threatened them. That's why Rome started the Third Punic War, but I won't tell you about it.

Because simply, it wasn't a war. A war means two parties toing and froing, captives and fights, but what happened was a massacre. Before the war even started, Rome ordered Carthage to give up all its weapons if it didn't want to get destroyed.

And unfortunately Carthage abided and did what it was told expecting peace. But then Carthage got surprised by Rome attacking and sieging it. A siege that went on for 3 years.

3 years of an disarmed people, protecting their land and trying to guard its gates. Till one day, Rome succeeded in penetrating the city, and for 6 days, kept killing everyone. On the seventh day, Rome decided to let the survivors live, on a condition to be slaves for it.

After the massacre, the Roman army wandered around Carthage, and burnt every building it saw. Rome's ships didn't leave Carthage till it burnt to the ground, and the odds of a new Hannibal rising became zero. I know how you feel, my friend, because I feel it too.

I wished the story would end in a better way, and at least that wouldn't have been Carthage's fate. I ask myself, wouldn't have Carthage's leaders joined Hannibal and they could 've won? or at least not have this terrible ending?

But the history was already written. Hannibal may have lost a war with Rome, but he won a war of forgetfulness, among many people who lived and died with no memory of them. What he did was impressive to the point that his enemies were the one to tell.

Imagine your enemy's tale of you got you looking almighty and great, then what would your family and people and your own tale be like? Rome's tale told us what Hannibal did, and true, history is written by the victor, but the tale of the defeated is sometimes way greater. And sometimes the victor acquires its value from the value of his opponent.

Just like Scipio the Younger, who wasn't known as a great Roman leader, as much as he was known as the man who defeated Hannibal. That's it my friend, that was today's story. Last but not least, don't forget to see the old and new episodes, check the sources, and if you're on YouTube, subscribe.

My friend, at the end I would like to salute the Tunisian people, and the singer Saber Rebai, no one deserves to fight the world for. Hannibal's friends betrayed him. No I'm just kidding.

. . Do whatever you want, Saber, and back up whoever, I love Tunis a lot, But I can never.

. . throw my wedding there.

Impossible, no matter what.