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Against Rome |
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Back to section iii of this chapter I. Hannibal, Spain, 221 - 218 B.C. iv Much
there was to do indeed. Would Carthage see it Hannibal’s way? What about the
scores of hostile tribes between southern Spain and the city of Rome? And what
would be the objectives if an invading force could actually surmount the Alps
and penetrate Italy? They would be far from reinforcements and supplies, thrown
upon their own endurance and ingenuity. Most of all, what was the overall aim of
Hannibal’s proposed march? And what would spark the fires of war? “Hasdrubal,”
he told his brother, having again gathered his lieutenants in the map room.
“You’ll sail for Carthage immediately. Take your time there. You must build
a solid foundation of support before the expedition ever comes to a vote.” “Remember,”
he told Hasdrubal, “none of the three of us has been back to Carthage since we
were boys. You’ll have to reknit Father’s backers. Spend whatever it
takes.” “The
rest of us can write to our own people there as well,” Hasdrubal Gisgo said. “Good.”
Then: “Carthalo,”
Hannibal said. “You’re my spider.” He paused while the others laughed.
Carthalo’s even, aristocratic face wore a puzzled smile. “I
need spies,” Hannibal went on, “in northern Spain, Gaul, northern Italy, in
fact all of Italy, but most of all in Rome herself.” He pointed to those
places on the map. “You’ll organize a web of spies with yourself at its
center. You’ll find plenty of recruits among the Italians.” “Hasdrubal
Gisgo,” he said. “You’ll apply the grease—all the way from here to
Italy.” “Grease?”
asked Hasdrubal Gisgo, his normally bright eyes now reflecting only
befuddlement. “The
golden kind,” Hannibal said. “You’ll send emissaries to every people whose
territory we must pass through.” Now Hannibal walked his proposed invasion
route, up through Spain, across Gaul and the Alps, into Italy.
“Gain their neutrality if nothing else, but try for their support. Buy
it, beg it, get it—but quietly; Rome must not hear. “Be
especially careful around Massilia—the Massiliotes are in Rome’s camp
already. There’ll be a great many of us, at least early on, and we’ll need
provisions, guides, interpreters. Look to Carthaginian traders familiar with the
areas we’ll march through. You can work with Carthalo and Hanno.” Now
Hannibal turned to Hanno, son of Bomilcar. “Hanno, you’ll help Carthalo.
You’ll be the spider inside Italy herself. In the past century, Rome has
conquered all of her neighbors on the peninsula—and I’m sure much resentment
still lurks in Italy. You’ll ferret out the resentment. We’ll need as many
as possible of those people to come over to us when we arrive.” Hannibal stood
at Rome and pointed to eastern and southern Italy. When
Hanno nodded, Hannibal next addressed his chief of cavalry, whose face wore that
careful passivity that Hannibal knew so well. Deep thoughts beneath, no doubt.
“Maharbal, you’ll see to recruiting and training the additional troops we
need. I don’t expect to pass the Alps with more than fifty thousand, but in
order to get through the intervening tribes, especially in northern Spain,
we’ll need many more than that to start with, and don’t forget replenishing
losses in Italian Gaul once we come down from the Alps.” “Sounds
like fun,” Maharbal said without changing his expression. “What
about me?” young Mago asked. “You’re
coming with me,” Hannibal told him. “We have to solidify our base here in
Spain before we ever step over the Ebro.” *
* * So
the plans began to unfold, far in advance, as soon as Hannibal was in the
saddle. Hasdrubal
Barca sailed for Carthage. The other Hasdrubal and Carthalo started rounding up
Carthaginian traders from northern Spain, southern Gaul, and the Alpine regions,
while Hanno sent emissaries into Italy herself. Maharbal started recruiting,
aided by Bostar. Hannibal
and Mago meanwhile set out to push back the frontiers of Carthaginian control in
Spain. He knew this was probably the most formidable task on his list. The
tribes in the interior had already shown their recalcitrance and treachery many
times. The tribes north of the Ebro had yet to feel the Carthaginian yoke,
meaning that they would rebel when he tried to fit it to them. Yet he must, and
rapidly, for he had so little time. Time!
He felt Rome like a tempest on the horizon. Hurry, he thought, hurry. That
summer they moved northwest, first against the Olcadi, in whose lands lay the
Silver Mountains on which Carthage depended so heavily to remedy her losses from
the first war with Rome. Hannibal stormed their capital. With
the line of the River Tagus secured within his first year in power, Hannibal put
his troops into winter quarters at New Carthage, well satisfied so far. But as
good as it all was, he needed it to go faster. Time. Time. *
* * Hannibal
knew very well what he was getting himself—and perhaps a hundred thousand
men—into. Rome might well have forces in Spain to block him before he could
launch the invasion. If so, the Ebro River was the likely place they’d try.
He’d have to rely on Carthalo’s intelligence web to warn him of that in time
to devise plans to counter it. He’d not let the Romans bog him down fighting
them in Spain. Once
he’d marched up the east coast of Spain—near the coast being the only easy
route because the Spanish hinterlands were so mountainous—he’d cross the
Pyrenees easily enough, though he’d have to leave troops behind him to guard
the passes. These were low, especially towards the coast, and any hostility from
the mountain people should be little problem for a force probably eighty
thousand strong at that point. Unless, of course, the Romans moved to block him
there. A distinct possibility. The
chief Iberian tribes in his path up the Spanish coast were the Ilergetes, the
Iberi, then the Lacetani, Ausetani, and Indigetes to the vicinity of Emporion, a
Greek trading town on the Spanish coast just south of the Pyrenees. He’d
bypass Emporion, an offshoot of Massilia, a Roman ally farther along the route. Gaul
was full of unknowns, though his emissaries should be able to pave the way for
him—in gold and silver. He could bribe the tribes on his route, the Volcae
Tectosages inland and the Atacini south of Narbo. Then the Volcae Arecomici up
to the Rhodanus River. But
Gaul’s two biggest unknowns could not be bribed. First, the Rhodanus, long and
wide and deep, which must be crossed. No other river on the whole route compared
to this, for it would offer no ford at all. He’d have to find the boats with
which to ferry at least fifty thousand men across—he anticipated having
reduced his forces by that much when he’d reached the Rhodanus. And
he’d have to find a way to get his elephants across. No Carthaginian general
would attempt a campaign so difficult without his elephants. He’d
bypass the Greek trading colony at Massilia, of course. That city, which lay on
the seacoast not quite a hundred miles east of the mouths of the Rhodanus, was
too sycophantic a Roman boot licker to let her get wind of Hannibal’s passage.
Not if he had any hope of surprising Rome, even a little. But
where, then, should he cross the Alps, the greatest mountains in the known
world? They thrust so tall they could not help but resist an army’s passage,
and by the time he could get there, at the earliest, it would be very late
summer. He shuddered at the thought of finding himself still among the tall
peaks when winter struck. And at that altitude it would strike early. But
he must cross the Alps before winter or have no hope at all of catching Rome off
guard. The
natural route from Gaul into Italy followed the legendary Route of Hercules,
along the coast through Liguria into western Italian Gaul. But that ran too
close to Massilia, and was too obvious besides. He
studied his giant map carefully, sometimes with two or three lieutenants in tow,
sometimes accompanied by his Gallic allies, sometimes alone. Logically,
he must cross farther north than the Route of Hercules, and the most obvious
place was up the Druentia River. The Druentia’s course ran almost all the way
through the Alps, her headwaters near a relatively easy pass at the Montgenèvre.
Therefore he’d cross the Rhodanus well north, near the Druentia, and continue
up the tributary river. This decision he based in part on the word of the
Italian Gallic tribesmen his agents had brought him. These agreed on the route
and promised to guide him through it. The
Druentia would challenge him, especially if winter set in, its terrain rugged,
the river wild, and food scarce. Furthermore, he could not trust the mountain
tribesmen. They might not harm a few fellow Gauls passing through, but what
would they think of Hannibal’s massive baggage train? That would loom a large
problem along his whole route, for that matter. Still,
it was the best plan. Once in Italian Gaul, he could probably count on a great
deal of support from the local tribes there: the Insubres in the west, then the
Cenomani, and finally the Boii in the east. He’d
either strike south immediately and begin his campaign in Italy, if the weather
and time were on his side, or he’d hole up and winter in Italian Gaul, then
attack in the spring. The sooner the better, for the more he had surprise on his
side the more he liked his chances. The
easiest route on into Italy paralleled the Apennine Mountains on their north all
the way east to the Roman town of Ariminum on the Adriatic coast. Of course,
Hannibal disliked the obvious. He
asked Carthalo: “What of our web of spies?” “Our
emissaries to the tribes are recruiting local agents to report to them,”
Carthalo told him. “Where that isn’t the case, especially in Rome herself,
we’ve sent in agents to recruit disaffected Italians—I’m assured there are
many—who can enter Rome and gather information there. They may even be able to
stand outside the Senate’s doors and listen!” “And
do you think we can count on raising much support among those disaffected
Italians?” “As
with the Italian Gauls, the rest of Italy has only fallen under Rome’s boot in
the last century or so, some fairly recently, especially in the mountainous
lands of central Italy and in the south. We know some of them still harbor
grudges, especially as Rome doesn’t grant them Roman citizenship but does
require that they supply soldiers and tribute. We’ll know more once our agents
have had time to report back.” Finally,
Hannibal turned to Maharbal: “Troops?” “Recruiting
goes well among the Iberian tribes, and we’re reaching out as well to southern
Gaul and the usual sources in Africa, Macedonia, and Greece. We can begin with
at least seventy thousand infantry, plus another ten thousand of good cavalry,
many of them Numidians. Add to that the necessary non-combatants, elephants and
other animals, artillery pieces, and we’re almost ready. You’ll need to
spend some of these troops at Saguntum, no doubt, and more along the march—but
we expect to keep recruiting through the winter, or longer if the siege is long,
and we can expect to pick up more men as we pass through their lands. “I
think by the day we march across the Ebro you can count on close to a hundred
thousand men.” Next section of I. Hannibal, Spain, 221 - 218 B.C. Back to Top
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