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Transcript
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(dramatic music)
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(swords clanging)
0:49
(soldiers screaming)
0:50
(swords clanging)
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0:53
(dramatic music continues)
0:58
(soldiers screaming)
(swords clanging)
1:02
(dramatic music continues)
1:18
(Romans screaming)
1:22
(ominous music)
1:25
How do you solve a problem like Hannibal?
1:29
(Romans screaming)
1:32
In a crisis such as this,
1:33
the Romans often turned to religion.
1:36
- [Roman 1] What's going on?
1:37
Are the gods mad at us?
1:38
The Gods must be mad at us.
1:40
- [Roman 2] But why?
1:41
- [Roman 3] I know why.
1:42
Two of the Vestal Virgins
broke their sacred oath
1:45
and lost their virginity!
1:47
That's why Hannibal's kicking our ass!
1:49
- [Roman 2] What should we do with them?
1:50
- [Roman 4] Appease the
gods, bury them alive.
1:54
(Romans cheering)
1:57
- [Roman 1] Who did they even boink?
1:58
- [Roman 2] It was those guys.
2:00
- [Roman 5] Huh?
2:00
- [Roman 1] What should we do with them?
2:01
- [Roman 3] Beat them to death!
2:04
(Romans cheering)
(blows thudding)
2:05
- [Narrator] Needless to say,
the Romans were freaking out.
2:12
- [Roman 1] Okay, now that
that's out of our system,
2:14
let's go find a real solution.
2:15
- [Narrator] The real solution,
2:16
first of all, involved raising a new army.
2:19
Remember, at Cannae,
2:21
Hannibal had wiped out
the biggest army Rome
2:23
had ever fielded, possibly 20%
of Rome's military-aged men.
2:28
Rome needed to replace
those losses and fast
2:32
before Hannibal arrived at their gates.
2:35
But where would those
replacements come from?
2:37
Rome had a few ideas.
2:39
- [Roman 1] Quick, lower
the age of conscription!
2:42
You!
2:43
Put down those Digimons.
2:44
You're a soldier now.
2:46
Enlist all these slaves
with the promise of freedom!
2:49
(slave cheers)
2:50
And equip them with all these
religious weapons and armor.
2:52
Anything we've got!
2:54
All right, men, you are
Rome's last line of defense.
2:58
Man the walls!
3:00
(children cheering)
3:02
(ominous music)
3:07
- [Narrator] After the
earth-shattering defeat at Cannae,
3:09
the Romans expected Hannibal to arrive
3:11
at their gates any day now.
3:13
In Hannibal's camp, the
mood was triumphant.
3:17
- [Soldier 1] We did it. We won.
3:19
So when do we march on Rome?
3:20
Today?
3:21
- [Soldier 2] I'm free in 10 minutes.
3:22
- [Hannibal] Whoa. Whoa. Slow down.
3:23
We're not going to Rome.
3:24
(soldiers gasping)
3:26
We're staying right here.
3:27
- [Soldier 1] Are you an idiot, Hannibal?
3:29
- [Hannibal] No, I'm smart.
3:30
We don't need to march on Rome
3:32
because, after what we did,
3:34
the Romans are definitely
going to surrender.
3:37
Watch.
3:38
Hey, Jimbob?
3:39
- [Jimbob] Yes, sir?
3:40
- [Hannibal] Go to Rome
and discuss peace terms.
3:41
- [Jimbob] Yes, sir.
3:42
Hey, I'm here to discuss
peace terms terms.
3:45
- [Fabius Maximus] Piss off!
3:46
- [Jimbob] They told me to piss off!
3:49
- [Hannibal] What? They didn't surrender?
3:52
- [Jimbob] No, and they were mean!
3:57
- [Narrator] Hannibal was learning
3:59
that Rome had an unprecedented
attitude towards surrender.
4:03
Even when Hannibal offered
to ransom thousands
4:05
of prisoners back to Rome,
4:07
a pretty common practice
in ancient warfare,
4:09
the Romans refused, opting
to let their own men be sold
4:13
into slavery rather than
paying a penny to the enemy.
4:16
It was clear that in order to defeat Rome,
4:19
you had to annihilate them.
4:21
If any Roman man was still
standing, you hadn't yet won.
4:26
But still, Hannibal decided
not to march on Rome
4:29
and it was a controversial decision.
4:32
Even one of his own
commanders famously told him,
4:34
"Hannibal, you know how to win a battle,
4:36
but you do not know how to win a war."
4:38
(soldiers laughing)
4:41
From Hannibal's perspective,
4:42
perhaps he knew his army was designed
4:44
to survive behind enemy
lines and sow chaos.
4:47
It may not have been well equipped
4:49
to undertake a risky siege
4:50
of one of the most
fortified cities on earth.
4:53
Plus with many of the
southern cities defecting
4:56
to his side after Cannae,
4:57
Hannibal likely thought things
were going pretty well as is.
5:01
- [Hannibal] We'll stay the course.
5:03
Okay, so the Romans didn't surrender
5:05
after three major defeats,
5:06
but surely they'll surrender after four.
5:10
(soldiers groaning)
5:13
- [Narrator] Unfortunately for Hannibal,
5:14
however, after Cannae,
5:16
the Romans well and truly
learned their lesson.
5:20
- [Fabius Maximus] Well,
would you look at that?
5:22
Remind me, who was it that said Hannibal
5:24
was too dangerous to fight?
5:26
- [Senator] You.
5:27
- [Fabius Maximus] And
who said we shouldn't
5:28
fight him directly?
5:30
- [Senator] You.
5:31
- [Fabius Maximus] And who
tried to fight him directly?
5:34
- [Senator] Us.
5:34
- [Fabius Maximus] And what happened?
5:36
- [Senator] We lost 20%
of our military-aged men.
5:40
- [Fabius Maximus] That's right.
5:41
So tell me, when Hannibal
approaches, what do we do?
5:46
- [Senator] We run away.
5:47
- [Fabius Maximus] I'm a genius.
5:50
Clap for me!
5:50
(senators clapping)
5:52
- [Narrator] After Cannae,
Fabius Maximus kind of
5:54
became the unofficial leader of Rome.
5:57
Even if others were elected Consul,
5:59
his influence was unparalleled
6:01
and Rome quickly reverted
6:03
to the Fabian strategy
of avoiding Hannibal.
6:06
They knew they couldn't defeat him,
6:08
so instead they hoped they
could at least contain him.
6:12
They raised an impressively
large number of men,
6:14
partly by enlisting teenagers,
slaves, and criminals.
6:17
And rather than trying to fight Hannibal,
6:19
they instead turned
their attention towards
6:21
those treacherous southern
cities that had switched sides.
6:25
- [Hannibal] Thanks for
joining the winning team, guys.
6:27
Here's the deal.
6:28
All you have to do is
provide me some troops
6:31
and defend your own city,
6:32
since I'll be too busy
to defend it for you.
6:35
Now, I'm going to briefly
turn around, look this way,
6:39
and when I look back,
6:40
you better not be being
massacred by the Rome...
6:42
Oh, for goodness sake!
6:44
- [Narrator] The Romans spread out
6:45
their newly-formed legions
6:46
and began attacking the
southern cities here,
6:49
there, everywhere.
6:50
The southern cities expected
to have Hannibal's protection
6:53
and Hannibal was inundated
with requests for help.
6:56
He was forced to run
around southern Italy,
6:58
trying to encourage defection,
7:00
while rescuing his own allies.
7:02
But when he showed up, the
Romans would often leave,
7:05
only to come back the
second he went away again.
7:08
And as these southern cities found
7:10
themselves being punished
severely by the Romans,
7:12
they began to realize
that joining Hannibal
7:15
may not have been such a good idea.
7:17
- [Hannibal] Hey, you think you're so big?
7:18
Attacking my allies!
7:21
Why don't you come out and face me?
7:23
- [Roman Soldier] Because you are scary.
7:27
- [Narrator] The fickle southern cities
7:28
frequently switched sides depending
7:30
on who appeared to be winning,
7:31
and the whole situation became a nightmare
7:34
for Hannibal to control,
7:35
playing a constant game
of Roman whack-a-mole
7:38
to fend off the enemy armies.
7:40
Having not long ago
seemed near extinction,
7:43
the Romans had managed to
turn this situation around
7:46
by placing Hannibal in
a clever predicament.
7:50
If he left Southern Italy,
7:51
the southern cities would
likely capitulate to Rome,
7:54
meaning he couldn't leave.
7:56
And since the Romans wouldn't fight him,
7:58
he couldn't inflict any
more dangerous defeats.
8:01
For now, Hannibal had been muzzled.
8:04
Southern Italy had been his prize
8:07
for his impressive Italian campaign,
8:09
but those clever Romans found a way
8:11
to take his prize and
turn it into his prison.
8:15
With the Fabian strategy
neutralizing Hannibal for now,
8:19
the Romans were freed up
to refocus their attention
8:22
to other fronts.
8:26
This whole time while we've
been discussing Hannibal
8:28
and the Italian campaign
of the Second Punic War,
8:31
fighting had actually
been occurring elsewhere.
8:34
For example, in 216 BC, the
Romans had sent an army north
8:38
to punish the Celtic tribes
that had joined Hannibal.
8:41
However, as the Romans
entered the Litana Forest,
8:45
little did they know those
clever Celts had set up a trap.
8:49
The Celts dropped trees on
them, decimating the Romans,
8:52
and they even took the commander's head
8:54
to use as a religious sippy cup.
8:57
So that went pretty bad.
8:59
Whoa, very bad.
9:01
But thankfully in other theaters,
9:03
things were going a bit better.
9:05
For example, let's look at Sicily.
9:08
After Cannae, internal
chaos in Syracuse caused
9:11
this longtime Roman ally to switch sides,
9:14
because being a winner is more fun.
9:17
The Carthaginians also landed troops,
9:19
hoping to retake their lost island,
9:21
while Roman proconsul,
Claudius Marcellus, moved in
9:24
to besiege Syracuse.
9:26
The siege was a brutal
slug for the Romans,
9:30
largely due to the presence
of one famous scientist
9:33
and mathematician, Archimedes.
9:35
He lived in Syracuse at the time,
9:37
and he invented a variety
of clever contraptions
9:40
to defend the city.
9:41
There was a giant claw that could grab
9:43
and destroy Roman ships
9:45
and purportedly even a big mirror
9:47
that could magically ignite them.
9:49
The Carthaginian forces
on the island attempted
9:51
to come to Syracuse's rescue,
9:53
but luckily for the Romans,
9:55
they all got diarrhea and then died.
9:58
Finally, in the city itself,
10:00
the day of a big annual
religious festival came
10:02
and the Syracusans said...
10:04
- [Syracusan General] Well, fellas,
10:05
we've been holding off the
Romans for over a year now.
10:08
I think we've earned
ourselves a little party.
10:10
(Syracusans cheering)
10:13
- [Carl] Sir, we're still
under a massive siege.
10:15
Are you sure?
10:16
They'll probably take advantage of it.
10:18
- [Syracusan General] Well,
Carl, I'm taking advantage
10:20
of the open bar.
10:21
- [Carl] Sir, they've got battering rams.
10:23
- [Syracusan General]
Well, Carl, I'm ramming
10:25
these hor d'oeuvres into my mouth.
10:27
- [Carl] Sir, they'll tear down our walls.
10:29
- [Syracusan General] Well,
Carl, I'm tearing it up
10:32
on the dance floor.
10:33
- [Carl] Sir, they're
literally at the gates.
10:35
- [Syracusan General]
Well, Carl, I am literally
10:37
at the cheese platter.
10:39
(people screaming)
10:41
- [Narrator] Marcellus took advantage
10:42
of the drunken festivities,
stormed the city,
10:45
and plundering ensued.
10:47
In the chaos, Marcellus ordered Archimedes
10:50
be captured alive.
10:52
Some sources say Roman troops
entered Archimedes' home
10:55
and they were like...
10:56
- [Roman Soldier] Hey,
man, are you the math guy?
10:57
- [Archimedes] Go away.
I'm drawing circles.
10:59
- [Roman Soldier] Look,
I just need to know
11:00
if you're the nerd.
11:01
- [Archimedes] Come on, bro.
11:02
Get outta here. You're
messing up my circles.
11:03
- [Roman Soldier] Now is not
a good time to draw circles.
11:04
- [Archimedes] It's always
a good time for circles.
11:06
I love circles.
11:07
- [Roman Soldier] Either
stop drawing the circles
11:08
or I kill you.
11:09
- [Archimedes] I choose the circles.
11:10
(Archimedes screams)
11:11
(bell tolls)
11:12
- [Narrator] Despite
not securing Archimedes,
11:14
by 210 BC, the Romans did secure Sicily
11:18
and also put down a
Carthage-supported rebellion
11:20
on nearby Sardinia.
11:22
Two Roman successes.
11:24
And there were more to come.
11:26
After Cannae, King Philip the V of Macedon
11:29
saw an opportunity.
11:30
He was concerned with recent
Roman expansion into Illyria,
11:34
and so, when he saw Hannibal
annihilating the Romans
11:37
in Italy, he said...
11:38
- [King Philip] Oh my gosh.
11:39
Hey!
11:41
Hey, Hannibal.
11:43
Oh my gosh, you're so cool.
11:45
Let's form an alliance
11:46
and annihilate the Romans together.
11:48
- [Hannibal] Eh, sure.
11:50
- [King Philip] Yes.
11:52
Yippee!
11:54
(dolphin squeaking)
11:55
- [Narrator] Hannibal hoped
to secure Philip's help
11:57
in fighting Rome,
11:58
but a Roman army was sent to the region,
12:00
stirred up Philip's other Greek opponents,
12:03
and essentially kept Philip
bogged down in Greece
12:05
for the entire duration of the war.
12:07
Another, kind of, Roman success.
12:10
But the main front Rome was hoping
12:12
to push Carthage back in was Spain.
12:15
The riches of Spain made it one
12:17
of Carthage's most valuable possessions,
12:20
and the Romans were eager to weaken it.
12:22
Remember, way back at
the start of the war,
12:25
the Consul Scipio was
supposed to go to Spain,
12:27
but ended up rushing back to Italy
12:29
when he realized Hannibal
was crossing the Alps.
12:32
He then faced Hannibal at Ticinus
12:34
and had to be rescued by his son.
12:36
Well, after he recovered from his wounds,
12:39
he proceeded with the original plan
12:41
and joined his brother in Spain.
12:43
There the two Scipio brothers
fought a successful campaign
12:47
against Hannibal's brother, Hasdrubal.
12:49
Over the next few years, they
won a number of key victories,
12:53
even taking Saguntum,
12:55
the city that had
kickstarted this entire war.
12:58
Yet more Roman success.
13:02
A trend appeared to be emerging.
13:04
Whenever the Romans fought
anyone other than Hannibal,
13:07
they usually came out on top.
13:10
Perhaps these other
fronts would be the key
13:13
to Rome taking back control of this war.
13:16
Perhaps it was time for Rome
to return to their old ways
13:19
of being the aggressive go-getters,
13:22
and perhaps it would help
13:24
if Rome had a Hannibal of their own.
13:28
(thunder roars)
(dramatic music)
13:34
Scipio the Younger was the son
13:36
of Publius Scipio,
currently fighting in Spain.
13:39
This made him a member
13:40
of one of Rome's most
prestigious families.
13:43
Not much is known of his childhood,
13:45
although there is one story
13:46
of how he was getting hot
and heavy with a young lady,
13:49
only to have his dad barge in
13:51
and drag him out, wearing
nothing but a cloak.
13:54
This story was written by a Roman poet
13:56
to make Scipio look bad,
13:57
but by modern standards,
13:59
has ended up making him look pretty rad.
14:02
My guess is if Rome had a
high-school football team,
14:05
Scipio would be the quarterback.
14:07
(upbeat rock music)
14:07
(people cheering)
14:08
Scipio was only 18 when the
Second Punic War broke out.
14:11
He was at the Battle of Ticinus,
14:13
where he famously rescued his father,
14:15
and he was one of the survivors
of the Battle of Cannae,
14:18
after which he threatened
to cut down any man
14:21
who dared abandon Rome.
14:23
He was a natural leader and
up to his ears in spunk.
14:27
And therefore, he rose
14:28
through the Roman ranks shockingly fast.
14:31
- [Roman 1] We need a
new military Tribune,
14:33
but Hannibal has killed so many men.
14:35
We're running out of options.
14:36
- [Scipio The Younger] Put me in, coach!
14:37
- [Roman 1] Scipio? You're only 20.
14:39
You can't be a Tribune.
14:40
- [Scipio The Younger] Come on, coach.
14:41
Put me in.
14:42
- [Roman 1] Well, you
do have a lot of spunk.
14:45
All right, you're hired.
14:47
(Scipio the Younger cheers)
14:48
We need to elect a new aedile.
14:49
Who do we have left?
14:50
- [Scipio The Younger] Put me in, coach!
14:52
- Scipio!
14:53
You don't meet the
minimum age requirement.
14:54
- [Scipio The Younger] I got this, coach.
14:56
I got this.
14:57
- [Roman 1] Well, okay, then.
14:58
You're in!
15:00
(Scipio the Younger cheers)
15:01
- [Roman 1] Ugh, my room's
a mess. I gotta cook dinner.
15:04
Oh, and would you look at that?
15:05
My fly's down. Life sucks.
15:10
- [Scipio The Younger] Put me in, coach.
15:11
- [Roman 1] Wow, you're so spunky.
15:15
- [Narrator] When Scipio was 25, however,
15:17
he received some bad news.
15:19
His father and uncle in Spain
15:21
had both been defeated in battle,
15:23
and shockingly both of them were killed.
15:26
The news must have been
devastating for the young Scipio,
15:30
but it was also devastating for Rome
15:33
as almost all of their
Spanish gains were wiped away.
15:37
- [Fabius Maximus] Okay, listen up.
15:39
We need someone to go and
replace the Scipios in Spain.
15:42
So who's up for it?
15:44
(Romans murmuring)
15:45
Come on. Who's gonna go?
15:47
- [Roman 2] Fabius,
Spain seems unwinnable.
15:49
There's no glory to be had there.
15:51
- [Roman 1] Yeah, the glory is here,
15:53
defending the homeland from Hannibal.
15:55
- [Fabius Maximus] Well,
somebody has to go.
15:59
I said, well, somebody has to go!
16:04
- [Scipio The Younger] Put me in, coach!
16:07
- [Narrator] Scipio
was eager to be the one
16:09
to go and replace his
father and uncle in Spain.
16:12
However, there was concern
amongst the older senators.
16:16
- [Fabius Maximus] You are only 26.
16:17
You can't lead a military campaign.
16:19
- [Senators] He's right.
16:20
Yeah, he's right.
16:21
That's a good point. Yeah.
16:22
- [Scipio The Younger] And you're 71,
16:24
you can't stand up
16:24
without a little urine
dribbling down your leg.
16:26
- [Senators] That's a good point.
16:27
He's absolutely right.
16:29
- [Narrator] Scipio didn't
meet the typical requirements
16:31
for the position, but as the
only person willing to go,
16:34
this young piece of hot Roman meat
16:36
was unanimously elected proconsul
16:38
and sent to lead the
Roman armies in Spain.
16:41
He hoped to carry out a campaign
16:43
as impressive as Hannibal's
had been in Italy.
16:46
In fact, Scipio rather
admired the one-eyed general.
16:50
- [Billy] Scipio, you've got a
Hannibal poster in your room?
16:54
- [Scipio The Younger] Yes.
16:55
- [Billy] But he's the enemy.
16:56
- [Scipio The Younger] I'll
let you in on a secret, Billy.
16:57
You know how we're gonna win this war?
16:59
- [Billy] By marching
straight at the enemy?
17:01
- [Scipio The Younger]
No, that's the old way.
17:03
We've gotta be less Roman
and a little more Hannibal.
17:08
Hey, by the way, don't
just barge into my room.
17:10
That's an infringement of my privacy.
17:12
- [Billy] Privacy.
17:13
Privacy, you say?
17:14
Well, Scipio, if it's privacy you want,
17:18
then you, my friend, need NordVPN!
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- [Scipio The Younger] Don't touch me.
17:24
- [Narrator] How would you like
17:25
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inspirational photos
17:27
of Nicholas Cage,
17:28
only to realize it's
malware stealing your data
17:31
and telling all your
friends you still sleep
17:33
between your parents
because of scary dreams.
17:37
Yeah, didn't think so.
17:39
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17:42
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18:05
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18:25
That's www.nordvpn.com/oversimplified.
18:29
And as always, you'll be
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18:32
So thank you.
18:35
Now, where were we?
18:37
Oh yeah.
18:38
Hannibal contained,
18:39
a young piece of hot Roman meat sent
18:42
to lead the Roman armies in Spain.
18:45
(dramatic music)
18:46
Scipio was charismatic,
extremely confident, bold,
18:49
and probably most importantly of all,
18:51
he thought differently
from other Roman generals.
18:54
- [Billy] So, Skippy, what's the plan?
18:55
- [Scipio The Younger] Don't call me that.
18:56
- [Billy] We're Roman, so same thing
18:58
as usual, right?
18:59
We march straight at the enemy, right?
19:01
- [Scipio The Younger] Get this, Billy.
19:03
No, we don't.
19:05
- [Billy] What?
19:07
- [Narrator] Scipio was a
real outside-the-box thinker.
19:09
There were three main
Carthaginian armies in Spain,
19:12
two led by Hannibal's
brothers, Hasdrubal and Mago,
19:15
and another led by Hasdrubal Gisco.
19:18
Most Roman generals might
have looked at these armies
19:20
and said, "I just gotta, you know,
19:21
march straight at these guys
and kick their ass and stuff."
19:24
But not Scipio.
19:26
At a time when many believed
winning battles won wars,
19:30
one of Scipio's greatest
strengths was an ability
19:32
to see the overall strategy
behind his actions.
19:36
He knew that Spain was the
closest thing Hannibal had
19:39
to a base of support.
19:40
With its mass resources and manpower,
19:42
it's where Hannibal likely hoped
19:44
to get supplies and reinforcements from.
19:46
Spain's base of support was
the city of New Carthage,
19:50
the most fortified city on the peninsula,
19:52
perfectly positioned to communicate with
19:55
and receive supplies from Africa.
19:57
And so if Scipio managed
to take New Carthage,
20:00
he could take Spain.
20:02
And if he took Spain,
20:03
then maybe Hannibal would fall.
20:07
To Scipio, Spain wasn't
just some sideshow,
20:10
it was the main show
20:12
and it all rested on New Carthage.
20:15
But a surprise attack on
Carthage's capital city in Spain?
20:19
It was a ridiculous idea.
20:22
Even if you pull off the
seven-day forced march,
20:24
pass the Carthaginian
armies to New Carthage,
20:27
once you get there,
20:28
you'd only have a couple
weeks to take the city
20:30
before the Carthaginians
arrived to kick your ass.
20:33
Sieges of cities that
fortified usually took months,
20:37
if not years.
20:38
So Scipio, how are you
gonna pull this off?
20:41
Well, first of all,
20:43
to make sure the surprise
plan stayed hidden,
20:45
Scipio kept it a total
secret, even from his own men.
20:49
- [Billy] Where are we going, Skippy?
20:50
- [Scipio The Younger]
I'm not telling you.
20:51
- [Billy] Is it Disneyland?
20:52
- [Scipio The Younger]
I'm not telling you.
20:54
- [Billy] I think that means
we're going to Disneyland.
20:56
(soldiers giggling)
20:58
- [Narrator] This secrecy
kept the Carthaginians
21:00
from preemptively reinforcing the city.
21:02
As a result, New Carthage
was left undergarrisoned
21:05
because the Carthaginians believed it
21:07
to be kind of naturally impenetrable.
21:09
It was surrounded on
three sides by a lagoon
21:12
and only accessible via narrow isthmus.
21:15
What's an isthmus, you ask?
21:17
Maybe read a book.
21:19
All right, Scipio, you
made it to New Carthage.
21:21
Now the other Carthaginian
armies are only a 10-days march
21:24
from coming and kicking your ass.
21:26
Just what were you thinking?
21:29
Well, Scipio had learned
something crucial.
21:32
Every afternoon, the tides made the lagoon
21:35
around New Carthage briefly
shallow enough to cross.
21:39
So he ordered a large diversionary attack
21:42
on the main city gates,
distracting the city's defenders.
21:45
Then a small infiltration
force traversed the lagoon,
21:49
climbed the unguarded northern
walls, and entered the city.
21:53
They ambushed the guards
21:55
and opened the city gates to
the rest of Scipio's army.
21:58
And just like that,
22:00
New Carthage had fallen
22:03
in a single day.
22:04
Scipio had taken Carthage's
capital city in Spain,
22:08
and he made it look easy.
22:10
With it, he seized much of
Carthage's war supplies,
22:13
several silver mines near the city,
22:15
and various powerful Iberian
tribes even joined his side.
22:19
And now he was in a great position
22:22
to take on the other
Carthaginian armies in Spain.
22:25
- [Billy] Wow, Skippy, you are amazing.
22:28
- [Scipio The Younger] Don't call me that.
22:29
- [Billy] How'd you know the
lagoon would get shallow?
22:30
It's almost like you speak to the gods.
22:32
- [Farmer] No, I told him.
22:34
All the local farmers know about the-
22:35
- [Scipio The Younger] Yes! That's it.
22:37
I speak to the gods!
22:39
- [Billy] Wow! Wow!
22:41
- [Narrator] Scipio had no
problem allowing his men
22:43
to think he was divinely inspired.
22:46
Roman writers also tell us
another of Scipio's traits.
22:50
He was apparently quite
merciful in victory
22:52
and often protected the
inhabitants of captured cities.
22:56
- [Scipio The Younger]
Spencer, what are you doing?
22:59
- [Spencer] Well, I was just
about to murder this family.
23:02
- [Scipio The Younger]
Hey, bad Spencer! No!
23:04
- [Spencer] Can I at least kill the dad?
23:06
- [Scipio The Younger] No.
23:07
- [Spencer] What about the-
- [Scipio The Younger] No!
23:09
- [Spencer] Oh, you're mean.
23:10
- [Narrator] The Carthaginian generals
23:12
in the region must have been shocked
23:14
at the loss of their capital city.
23:16
There was now a terminator in Spain,
23:19
and he was coming.
23:21
In 208 BC, he made a move on Hasdrubal,
23:24
hoping to defeat him before
the other Carthaginian armies
23:27
could come and link up.
23:29
When Hasdrubal heard Scipio
was coming, he said...
23:32
(Hasdrubal screams)
23:34
Hasdrubal did this sensible thing
23:36
and climbed a big hill for safety.
23:38
- [Scipio The Younger] Hey, get down here.
23:39
I want to kill you!
23:41
- [Hasdrubal] Fat chance, Vin Diesel.
23:42
- [Scipio The Younger] Well,
he doesn't have to be rude.
23:45
- [Billy] So what's the plan then, Scipio?
23:46
This time we march straight
up and at 'em, right?
23:50
Right, Scipio?
23:51
- [Scipio The Younger] Billy, no.
23:53
- [Billy] What?
23:55
- [Narrator] Scipio once again displayed
23:56
a distinctly not-Roman
approach to fighting.
23:59
When, instead of marching
straight up and at 'em,
24:01
Scipio feigned a frontal skirmish,
24:03
only to pull off a surprise
uphill envelopment.
24:07
Not an easy thing to do,
24:09
but Scipio had trained his
army to pull off maneuvers
24:11
that typical Roman armies couldn't.
24:14
After the battle, the
defeated Hasdrubal fled Spain,
24:17
hoping to link up with his
brother Hannibal in Italy.
24:20
And Hannibal desperately needed the help.
24:23
(tense music)
24:24
As Scipio was dominating in Spain,
24:26
Hannibal's struggles in
Southern Italy continued.
24:29
He was convinced that
24:31
if he just received ample
supplies and reinforcements,
24:34
he could reverse his fortunes
24:35
and get back to kicking Rome's ass.
24:38
But for the remainder of the war,
24:40
he would suffer a
frustrating lack of support
24:43
from the Carthaginian senate.
24:45
After Cannae, Hannibal had
sent his brother, Mago,
24:48
to Carthage, where he famously
poured out golden rings
24:51
taken from fallen Roman knights.
24:54
He told the Senate that,
with reinforcements,
24:57
Hannibal could finish the job.
24:59
But a growing faction in the Senate,
25:01
possibly jealous of
Hannibal's rising influence,
25:04
opposed sending any help.
25:06
In the end, a large number of
the reinforcements gathered
25:09
for Hannibal now ended up being diverted
25:12
to stop Scipio in Spain.
25:15
Just as he had hoped,
Scipio's campaign in Spain
25:19
was actively harming Hannibal in Italy.
25:22
However, those reinforcements meant
25:24
that when Scipio made a move
25:26
on the remaining
Carthaginian armies in Spain,
25:28
they now likely outnumbered him.
25:31
With the odds heavily stacked against him,
25:33
it would take some serious
skill to win this battle.
25:36
- [Billy] This time we're
gonna march straight
25:37
at them, right?
25:38
- [Scipio The Younger] No, Billy.
25:39
- [Billy] What?
25:41
- [Narrator] The preceding Battle of Ilipa
25:42
is often considered Scipio's masterpiece
25:45
because it was positively oozing
25:47
with deception and trickery.
25:50
First, both sides spent
several days forming up
25:53
and facing off without actually fighting.
25:56
On each day,
25:57
Scipio placed his strongest
Roman legions in the center,
26:00
with his weaker Iberian
allies on the sides.
26:03
Seeing this, the
Carthaginians were like...
26:06
- [Carthaginian General]
This guy's an idiot!
26:07
We've seen his plan.
26:08
His strongest troops are
going to be in the center,
26:11
so let's form all of
our battle plans based
26:13
on this information.
26:14
I'm sure he won't change
anything at the last minute.
26:17
- [Narrator] Then when
the day of battle came,
26:19
Scipio woke up the Carthaginians
26:21
with an early morning attack,
26:22
causing them to rush out
of camp without breakfast.
26:25
When the Carthaginians lined up
26:27
with their strongest troops in
the center to meet Scipio's,
26:30
they were stunned to find
26:32
that Scipio had completely
reversed his order.
26:35
The weaker Carthaginian sides
26:37
now found Scipio's strongest
bearing down on them.
26:40
Then, in an extremely impressive maneuver,
26:43
the well-trained Roman
wings even stretched out
26:46
during their approach,
26:47
hitting the Carthaginians from the sides.
26:50
The Carthaginian center
could have turned to help,
26:53
but Scipio had ordered his
center to approach so slowly
26:56
that Carthage's center could do nothing
26:58
but just stand and wait.
27:00
In this way, the outnumbered Scipio
27:03
had cleverly controlled events
27:05
so that the bulk of the
strongest Carthaginian troops
27:08
couldn't even fight during the battle.
27:10
He had completely removed
them from the equation.
27:13
The incredible Scipio had
inflicted a monumental defeat
27:18
on a much larger enemy force.
27:20
And the Battle of Ilipa was
the final nail in the coffin
27:24
for Carthaginian Spain.
27:26
Yet more tribes people continued
to side with the Romans,
27:29
and the remaining Carthaginians
retreated to the coast
27:32
and eventually fled the peninsula.
27:36
And would you look at that?
27:38
In just a few years,
27:39
the incredible young Scipio had
turned Spain completely red.
27:44
The Carthaginians must have been stunned.
27:48
His Spanish campaign had almost been
27:50
as impressive as Hannibal's
campaign in Italy.
27:53
In fact, see if any of
this sounds familiar.
27:56
In Spain, Scipio had used the environment
27:59
of the battlefield to his advantage.
28:01
He staged ambushes by concealed troops.
28:04
He treated local tribes people well,
28:06
earning their friendship.
28:07
He even once forced his enemy to come out
28:10
and fight him without breakfast.
28:12
Each and every one of these
tactics were possibly borrowed
28:15
from a certain one-eyed general.
28:17
In all the battles Scipio
had fought against Hannibal,
28:20
it seemed he may have been taking notes.
28:23
- [Hannibal] Hey, Scipio!
28:25
- [Scipio The Younger] What?
28:26
- [Hannibal] Stop stealing my tactics!
28:28
- [Scipio The Younger] I'm 700
miles away. I can't hear you.
28:32
- [Hannibal] What did you say?
28:34
- [Scipio The Younger] What?
28:36
- [Hannibal] What?
28:37
- [Narrator] Better yet,
Scipio's achievement
28:39
in taking a well-fortified city,
28:41
plus his understanding
of the overall strategy,
28:44
has led some historians
28:45
to argue he wasn't just
as good as Hannibal,
28:48
Scipio may actually have been better.
28:51
This young man, who many
in Rome had doubted,
28:54
had just shut those Silly
Billies right the flip up.
28:59
Mere years ago, it looked
like Rome had no chance
29:02
of even surviving this war.
29:04
But now the momentum of war was
shifting astonishingly fast.
29:08
And for Hannibal in Italy,
things continued to head south.
29:13
Before Scipio had even gone to Spain,
29:15
the Romans had placed Capua,
29:17
Hannibal's largest city in
Italy, under a dangerous siege.
29:20
And in order to rescue it,
29:22
Hannibal needed to take
drastic action fast.
29:25
- [Hannibal] Man,
everything's falling apart.
29:28
Ugh, fine.
29:30
I'll do it.
29:31
- [Soldier] Do what?
29:31
- [Hannibal] Yeah, yeah.
You've convinced me.
29:33
I'll march on Rome.
29:35
- [Soldier] Hannibal, that
conversation was five years ago.
29:38
It's too late.
29:39
No one's trying to convince
you to march on Rome.
29:40
- [Hannibal] I said, I'll do it!
29:42
Quit nagging me. Ugh.
29:44
- [Narrator] Hannibal
finally marched on Rome,
29:46
hoping it might draw the
Romans away from Capua.
29:49
The Romans saw Hannibal
approaching their city
29:52
and they freaked the hell out.
29:55
Hannibal is said to have closely
approached the city walls,
29:58
inspecting the defenses,
30:00
as the Romans inside
quivered in their togas.
30:03
However, Hannibal probably
knew he had no chance
30:06
of taking the city.
30:08
The whole thing was a feint,
and Hannibal soon left.
30:11
The Romans famously coined the phrase,
30:14
"Hannibal is at the gates,"
30:16
to describe a moment of
crisis or severe desperation.
30:19
But for accuracy's sake,
30:21
the phrase should probably
be, "Hannibal is at the gates.
30:23
But don't worry, it's just a feint
30:25
to draw the Romans away from Capua.
30:26
And it didn't even work because
the Romans stayed at Capua
30:29
and the Capuans misunderstood
30:31
and thought Hannibal had abandoned them,
30:33
and so they surrendered the city."
30:37
But apparently that's not as catchy.
30:39
Despite a few successes,
30:41
including an ambush in 208 BC
30:43
where Hannibal managed to
kill both Consuls in one go,
30:46
Hannibal was slowly
30:47
but steadily losing his
grip on Southern Italy.
30:51
Even Hasdrubal, who had
fled Spain to join Hannibal,
30:54
never reached his brother.
30:56
He made his own dramatic
crossing of the Alps,
30:58
just as Hannibal had done.
31:00
But unlike Hannibal, the second
Hasdrubal arrived in Italy,
31:03
he was immediately pulverized.
31:05
The Romans then took his head
31:07
and threw it over the walls
into his brother's camp.
31:11
Hannibal was becoming extremely isolated.
31:15
After his impressive conquest of Spain,
31:18
Scipio returned to Rome a hero.
31:20
And when the election came
for next year's Consuls,
31:23
despite not meeting the
typical requirements,
31:25
Scipio won in a landslide.
31:28
But the question now was,
what would he do next?
31:32
- [Fabius Maximus] All right,
what's your plan then, Scipio?
31:34
You're gonna go fight Hannibal now, right?
31:36
- [Scipio The Younger] Get this, Fabius.
31:38
No.
31:39
- [Senators] What?
31:42
- [Narrator] Scipio's plan
remained the same as before.
31:45
Don't attack the monster directly,
31:47
attack his base of support.
31:49
- [Hannibal] Oof.
31:50
- [Narrator] Which now
happened to be Carthage itself.
31:53
That's right. Scipio would invade Africa.
31:57
However, Scipio understood
that any invasion of Africa
32:01
would stand a much better chance
32:03
if he could secure an alliance
32:04
with one of the African tribes.
32:06
Throughout the war,
32:07
Carthage's far superior Numidian cavalry,
32:10
which came from this part of Africa,
32:12
had played a critical
role in winning battles.
32:15
Numidia was divided
between two rival kings.
32:18
In the east, the king, Syphax,
32:20
had sympathized with
Rome for much of the war.
32:23
And so at some point,
Scipio visited Syphax
32:26
to ratify at treaty.
32:28
It just so happened, however,
32:30
that the Carthaginian
general, Hasdrubal Gisco,
32:32
whom Scipio had fought in Spain,
32:34
also arrived at the exact same time.
32:37
And so Syphax invited both
Scipio and Gisco for a meal.
32:41
The two men fought for Syphax's alliance.
32:44
And by Roman accounts, Scipio
was positively charming.
32:48
- [Scipio The Younger] Come on, Syphax,
32:49
stick with us Romans.
32:51
We'll build a naked statue of you.
32:53
- [Syphax] Very enticing.
32:54
- [Gisco] If you join our side, Syphax,
32:56
we'll give you a 2% discount on figs.
32:58
You like figs, don't you?
33:00
- [Syphax] Not really.
33:01
- [Scipio The Younger] Hey, Syphax.
33:01
Check this out.
33:04
- [Syphax] Wow!
33:05
- [Gisco] Hey, Syphax. Check this out.
33:07
(body thuds)
33:08
(plates clattering)
33:09
(Gisco farts)
33:10
- [Syphax] Did he just defecate?
33:11
- [Scipio The Younger] I believe he did.
33:12
- [Syphax] Well, Scipio,
33:13
you clearly are the most charming
man in the Mediterranean.
33:17
My alliance is...
33:20
- [Gisco] Syphax, I'll let you marry
33:21
my extremely hot daughter.
33:24
- [Syphax] Yours!
33:25
Humminah humminah!
33:26
- [Narrator] Unable to
compete with Syphax's libido,
33:28
Scipio instead, made
contact with Syphax's rival,
33:31
the other Numidian king, Masinissa,
33:34
who was a longtime ally of Carthage.
33:37
Scipio told Masinissa...
33:38
- [Scipio The Younger]
If you join the Romans,
33:40
I'll help you defeat Syphax
33:41
and become the ultimate Numidian king.
33:46
- [Narrator] And so Masinissa
was now on Team Rome.
33:49
Good job, Skippy.
33:50
With a Numidian alliance solidified,
33:53
Scipio prepared for
his invasion of Africa.
33:56
He raised a volunteer force
33:58
that included many of the
disgraced survivors from Cannae.
34:01
And he set sail.
34:04
- [Syphax] Well, Terry,
any news from Italy?
34:06
Has Hannibal won the war yet?
34:09
Who on earth?
34:13
- [Scipio The Younger] Here's Skippy!
34:17
- [Terry] Oh my God!
34:20
- [Narrator] The Roman
landing sent a clear message
34:22
to the Carthaginians.
34:24
You don't invade us.
34:25
No, no.
34:26
We invade you.
34:28
For the first time in the war,
34:30
the Carthaginian homeland
was under threat,
34:33
and the Carthaginians needed
to defeat Scipio at all costs.
34:37
They gathered a huge army
led by Hasdrubal Gisco,
34:41
with allied Numidians led by Syphax,
34:43
and they ordered them to get Scipio
34:45
the hell off their continent.
34:47
Sources say at this point,
Scipio was severely outnumbered.
34:52
- [Billy] Scipio, that army's huge!
34:54
There's no way we can
beat off all these men.
34:57
How are we gonna beat off all these men?
34:59
- [Scipio The Younger] Vigorously!
35:01
And while maintaining eye contact.
35:04
- [Narrator] As always,
Scipio had a plan to deal
35:06
with the larger enemy force.
35:08
It just so happened
that Syphax was offering
35:11
to try and broker peace
35:12
between the Romans and the Carthaginians.
35:15
And Scipio smelled an opportunity.
35:17
He sent a Roman envoy to Syphax's camp.
35:20
And when they got there,
Syphax was like...
35:23
- [Syphax] Hey, guys,
welcome to the enemy camp.
35:25
Just before we begin negotiations,
35:27
a small safety demonstration.
35:28
As you can see, our huts are made
35:30
of grass and reeds, very flammable.
35:33
If there was even a single spark,
35:35
this whole place would become a inferno
35:37
and all my men would burn alive.
35:42
- [Billy] Very interesting.
35:43
- [Narrator] The Roman
troops then reported back
35:44
to Scipio about the Numidian
camp, its construction,
35:48
and, most importantly, its flammability.
35:51
Then, the following night,
35:53
as the sun was setting over
the beautiful African plains
35:57
and the Carthaginians got
all comfy in their beds,
36:00
they began to gently
dream of Carthaginian figs
36:04
and child sacrifice.
36:06
Goodnight, Carthaginians.
36:08
Goodnight, Syphax and Gisco.
36:11
Good evening, Scipio.
36:14
In the night shadowy Roman figures
36:16
approached the Numidian camp.
36:19
As the Numidians lay in their beds,
36:21
Scipio executed his plan.
36:25
(fire whooshing)
36:27
The camp erupted into flames.
36:30
With the flammable wooden huts,
36:31
the fires spread terrifyingly fast.
36:35
Men were burned in their beds.
36:37
Those who awoke in a
panic believing the fire
36:40
to have been some kind
of terrible accident,
36:43
rushed to the exits without
their weapons and armor.
36:46
Those who saw the fire
from the Carthaginian camp
36:49
also rushed out unarmed.
36:51
And when they got there, there he was,
36:55
Scipio, the Romans, and their steel.
36:58
(dramatic music)
37:06
The terrified Carthaginians
were massacred.
37:09
And with heavy casualties,
37:11
Hasdrubal and Syphax fled
the scene of the disaster.
37:16
Scipio followed this incredible success
37:18
with another victory against the pair
37:20
at the Battle of the Great Plains.
37:22
After that, Masinissa
chased his rival Syphax
37:26
into his kingdom where
Syphax was captured.
37:29
Masinissa was now the
ultimate Numidian king.
37:33
He entered Syphax's capital city.
37:36
He seized Syphax's palace.
37:38
He even married Syphax's wife.
37:41
And when Scipio got mad at him
37:42
for marrying a Carthaginian girl,
37:44
he then poisoned his wife.
37:46
Boys will be boys.
37:48
Having defeated the
Carthaginian armies in Africa,
37:51
almost nothing now stood
between Scipio and Carthage.
37:55
And the Carthaginians were freaking out.
37:58
- [Carthaginian] What
do we do? What do we do?
37:59
- [Carthaginian General] There's
only one thing left to do.
38:02
Recall him.
38:06
- [Gerald] Well, Hannibal,
you've been here in Italy
38:08
for 16 years.
38:10
This is practically your home.
38:12
You're basically Italian.
38:13
- [Hannibal] Yes, Gerald.
38:14
And I've had such a lovely time.
38:16
I ate spaghetti,
38:17
did-a this-a with-a my hands.
38:19
I've committed my whole
life to this campaign.
38:21
And once Rome has fallen,
it'll all have been worth it.
38:25
- [Carthaginian] Hannibal, you
have to return to Carthage.
38:27
Your Italian campaign
has been for nothing.
38:29
Your whole life has been a waste.
38:32
- [Hannibal] No!
38:34
- [Narrator] Imagine being
Hannibal in this moment.
38:37
You left Carthage when you were nine.
38:39
You probably barely even
recognize your own homeland.
38:42
The kingdom he had built in
Spain with his father, gone.
38:46
And now his Italian campaign,
38:48
his vengeance, was it
really all for nothing?
38:51
(melancholy music)
38:52
But that was that.
38:54
Carthage was under threat,
38:56
and Hannibal had to protect his home city.
38:58
As he left Italy, in Rome
there was celebration,
39:03
but also some trepidation.
39:05
Now Scipio would have to
face Hannibal in Africa,
39:08
where Hannibal would have home advantage.
39:11
While Hannibal was on his way,
39:13
the Carthaginians stalled for time
39:15
and approached Scipio for peace talks.
39:17
- [Carthaginian General]
Hey, look, we never meant
39:20
to start an all-out two-decade-long war.
39:22
- [Scipio The Younger] But you did.
39:23
- [Carthaginian General]
No, that was Hannibal.
39:25
He's to blame for all of this.
39:27
- [Scipio The Younger]
Well, all right then.
39:28
Sign this peace treaty.
39:29
- [Carthaginian General] Okay.
39:32
Let me just get my
signature right on there.
39:36
- [Carthaginian] He's here!
39:37
- [Carthaginian General] Yes.
39:38
Oh, look who's here, you bald prick!
39:42
You are so dead now, Skippy!
39:45
- [Scipio The Younger] Don't call me that!
39:50
- [Narrator] After
Carthage proposed peace,
39:51
only to then go back on it,
39:53
the normally merciful Scipio was enraged.
39:56
He began refusing to
accept towns' surrender,
39:59
and instead began burning
everything to the ground,
40:03
selling everyone into slavery.
40:05
- [Carthaginian] Hannibal,
he's burning our towns.
40:07
Go stop him.
40:09
- [Hannibal] Guys, he's obviously trying
40:10
to lure me out there to
fight on those flat plains
40:12
where his Numidian cavalry
will give him the advantage.
40:15
It's a trick.
40:16
- [Carthaginian] Well, it's working.
40:18
Go and fight him.
40:19
- [Hannibal] It's obviously a trap.
40:20
- [Carthaginian] And we're falling for it.
40:22
Go and fight him!
40:23
- [Narrator] Hannibal set out
40:24
to meet Scipio in the Western Plains.
40:27
And here came Scipio's final test.
40:30
Finally, the teacher
would face the student,
40:34
the two greatest generals of all time
40:36
in one last decisive battle.
40:39
Would Hannibal's genius
still shine through?
40:42
Or would Scipio prove
40:44
that he had surpassed the master?
40:47
Before battle, the two
great generals rode out
40:49
from their camps and met in
person for the first time.
40:52
- [Scipio The Younger]
Hannibal, I'm a huge fan.
40:55
- [Hannibal] I thought
you'd have more hair.
40:56
- [Scipio The Younger] And I
thought you'd have more eyes.
40:59
- [Hannibal] Touche.
41:00
- [Narrator] They then had a conversation,
41:01
which I'll paraphrase.
41:02
Hannibal said, "At the start of this war,
41:05
I had great fortune in Italy.
41:07
But look at me now,
41:08
a sad old man who, like other sad old men,
41:11
failed to conquer Rome.
41:13
Your fortune can change rapidly, Scipio.
41:15
You should consider negotiating a peace,
41:18
rather than risking it all in
one last fight against me."
41:21
Very eloquently put.
41:23
Scipio then replied, "(bleeps) you!
41:27
Negotiate? Negotiate what?
41:30
I took Spain.
41:31
I'm about to burn your
pathetic city to the ground.
41:34
What could you offer me in negotiations?
41:37
I already have it all.
41:39
Ah!
41:42
Seriously though, Hannibal,
41:43
I am such a big fan."
41:44
And so it was settled.
41:46
The two great generals
would face off one last time
41:49
in the epic Battle of Zama.
41:53
Scipio gave his men,
41:54
consisting of many survivors from Cannae,
41:57
a pre-battle speech,
41:58
telling them not only
would they gain redemption,
42:01
but they could become
masters of the world.
42:04
Hannibal told his men probably nothing
42:07
because most of them didn't
even speak the same language.
42:10
As the two armies lined up for battle,
42:12
something interesting became clear.
42:15
Hannibal had more infantry
42:16
and hoped to use them to
brute strength the Romans.
42:20
But Scipio had the nimble Numidian cavalry
42:23
and hoped to pull off an envelopment.
42:25
It was a complete roll reversal of Cannae.
42:29
As the battle began,
Hannibal made his first move.
42:33
He sent his 80 war elephants
42:35
to smash through and
weaken the Roman infantry.
42:38
Scipio had the perfect response.
42:41
He had altered his formation
42:43
to create passages between
the Roman maniples.
42:46
His light troops stepped
aside at the right moment,
42:48
revealing the gaps ahead
of the charging elephants.
42:51
Elephants, if given the choice
42:53
between a suicide charge into spears
42:56
or a nice clean escape,
42:57
will probably choose the escape.
42:59
And that's what happened.
43:01
Some elephants were so
frightened from the noise
43:04
that they even turned
43:05
and smashed back into
the Carthaginian cavalry,
43:08
which the Roman cavalry then engaged.
43:11
Your move, Hannibal.
43:13
Hannibal wasn't an idiot.
43:15
He knew that he was fighting
superior Numidian cavalry
43:18
on open plains.
43:19
So when his weaker cavalry
ended up being routed
43:22
from the battlefield, he
probably wasn't surprised
43:25
and hoped the Roman cavalry would be lured
43:27
as far from the battlefield as possible
43:30
because his infantry needed
time to do a clever little job.
43:35
Hannibal had the numerical advantage,
43:37
and he had positioned
his army in three lines.
43:40
The weaker troops were at
the front while his best men,
43:44
the army that had been with
him in Italy, were in the rear.
43:47
As the Romans smashed into
the weaker front lines,
43:50
they managed to cut through them,
43:51
but suffered losses and
exhaustion in doing so.
43:55
The same with Hannibal's second line,
43:57
so that by the time
43:58
the Romans reached Hannibal's
superior third line,
44:01
the two sides may have now
been about equal in number.
44:04
But the exhausted Romans
44:06
had just fought an entire
battle to get there
44:09
while the remaining
Carthaginians were fresh
44:12
and ready to go.
44:14
Hannibal was still a genius.
44:16
And this is where the final race began.
44:19
Could Hannibal's stronger
infantry finish off the Romans
44:23
before the Roman cavalry
returned from their pursuit?
44:26
Who would be quicker,
44:28
the Carthaginian infantry
or the Roman cavalry?
44:32
The answer:
44:34
the cavalry.
44:36
They had called off their
pursuit just in time
44:38
to turn around and hit
Hannibal from the rear.
44:42
And that was the deciding move.
44:45
As the sandwiched Carthaginians
were hacked to pieces,
44:48
Hannibal knew he had lost and
he escaped the battlefield.
44:52
It was a battle that some historians say
44:55
was well fought on both sides.
44:57
Both showed their genius,
44:59
but fortune fell in the favor of Scipio.
45:03
With just a few thousand Roman casualties
45:06
compared to 40,000 Carthaginians,
45:09
Scipio had won.
45:11
(ominous music)
45:12
Hannibal advised the Carthaginian senate
45:15
that it was time to surrender.
45:18
17 years of war finally over.
45:22
The terms Rome placed
on Carthage were harsh.
45:26
They lost territory
45:27
and were prohibited from starting
any more wars with anyone
45:30
without Rome's explicit permission.
45:32
Carthage basically became
a weak Roman client state.
45:36
And what of these two military geniuses?
45:39
Well, Scipio returned to Rome triumphant.
45:43
For his victory in Africa,
45:45
he was given the title Scipio Africanus.
45:49
He had delivered Rome from
an existential threat.
45:52
And so from here on out,
45:54
he was primed to dominate Roman politics.
45:57
He was even offered to
become Consul for Life,
46:00
but he humbly refused.
46:02
Politics being what it is
however, jealousy eventually grew.
46:06
Scipio and his family ended
up battling accusations
46:09
of corruption and Scipio,
46:11
possibly becoming tired of Roman politics,
46:14
retired to a nice country
house by the coast.
46:18
Hannibal also took a leading role
46:20
in Carthaginian politics after the war.
46:22
But again, due to jealousy, factionalism,
46:25
and a possibility of arrest by the Romans,
46:28
he eventually entered exile.
46:30
He spent the remainder
of his years out east,
46:33
even advising enemies of Rome.
46:36
Rome's hatred of Hannibal endured
46:38
and they never stopped hoping
46:39
to someday capture the monster.
46:42
One story is told of how,
46:44
when a much older Hannibal was chilling
46:46
in the city of Ephesus,
46:47
a Roman delegation was sent to the city.
46:50
And in that delegation
was Scipio Africanus.
46:54
The two men met for the second time,
46:56
and they seem to have
gotten along quite well.
46:59
Scipio asked Hannibal
47:00
who he thought the three greatest
generals of all time were.
47:04
Hannibal placed Alexander
the Great in number one,
47:07
Pyrrhus of Epirus in number two,
47:09
and in third place, himself.
47:12
Scipio then asked,
47:13
"And what if you had defeated me at Zama?"
47:16
"Well, Scipio, then I would
have been the greatest general
47:20
of all time."
47:22
- [Scipio The Younger]
Please, call me Skippy.
47:25
(generals giggling)
47:26
- [Narrator] Eventually around 183 BC,
47:29
Hannibal, now in his 60s,
47:31
came under threat of Roman capture.
47:34
After a long life, he
chose to take some poison.
47:38
According to Livy, his last words,
47:41
"Let us now relieve the
Romans of the anxiety
47:44
they have so long experienced
47:46
since they think it tries
their patience too much
47:48
to wait for an old man's death."
47:51
- [Servant] Wow, Hannibal,
what a dignified end.
47:57
Gross.
47:57
- [Narrator] And there you have it.
47:59
The Second Punic War, finally done.
48:02
It took 17 years to end the war.
48:04
And on a personal note,
48:06
making these videos has also
taken 17 years off my life.
48:10
Carthage began to recover
from the war shockingly fast,
48:13
however, and anxieties over
Carthage would remain in Rome.
48:18
In particular, one Senator
would begin calling
48:21
for one last crusade against Carthage
48:24
to end the threat once and for all.
48:27
He famously began to
end all of his speeches
48:31
with one singular phrase,
48:33
one of the most famous
phrases in Roman history.
48:38
(dramatic music)
— end of transcript —
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