[00:00] - [Narrator] This video was
made possible by Incogni.
[00:03] Use code oversimplified in the link below
[00:05] for an exclusive 60% off
an annual Incogni plan.
[00:10] Also, make sure to grab
our Roman Consul Youtooz
[00:13] before it's too late.
[00:14] Don't make me mention it a third time,
[00:16] or I'll you know what.
[00:18] (ominous music)
[00:21] (dramatic music)
[00:22] Hannibal's army
[00:23] had survived its famous
crossing of the Alps,
[00:26] and he was now in Italy.
[00:28] With Hannibal's arrival,
the Roman Consul Scipio
[00:31] hit the ground running.
[00:33] In typical Roman fashion
he marched his army
[00:35] straight at the enemy, and
Hannibal began preparing
[00:39] for his first combat with
Rome on Italian soil.
[00:43] Before the battle, Hannibal
wanted to inspire his men,
[00:46] so he staged a gladiatorial death match
[00:49] between captured Celt prisoners
[00:51] with the winner getting
prizes and freedom.
[00:55] He then explained that the
whole thing was a metaphor.
[00:58] "A metaphor, for what?"
[01:01] "You, these warriors are you.
[01:04] You're trapped in Italy with no escape.
[01:06] Your only choice now is to fight and win."
[01:10] "What about the dead guy?"
[01:11] "That's you if you don't win."
[01:13] "And the prizes?"
[01:14] "That's what you stand
to gain by winning."
[01:16] "And the fact that I've soiled myself
[01:18] in all this excitement?"
[01:19] "That, no, that's not
part of the metaphor."
[01:24] "Okay."
[01:25] Hannibal also smashed
in the head of a goat,
[01:27] again for inspiration.
[01:29] Scipio, on the other hand,
now arriving in the area,
[01:32] opted for the more classic route
[01:34] of a rousing pre-battle speech.
[01:37] "Look at the men.
[01:38] Weak, starved by the Alps,
[01:41] while we are the strongest
military in the world.
[01:44] This will be easy.
[01:46] Like 10,000 horse-sized ducks
fighting a baby sized baby.
[01:51] It'll be like Mike Tyson in
his prime, kicking a baby.
[01:54] A tug of war between 10
sumo wrestlers and, uh,
[01:58] help me out here, Ralph."
[01:59] "A baby, sir."
[02:00] "Yes, yes, that's it, a baby.
[02:03] The point is, there is
absolutely no possible way
[02:06] we could lose a battle this easy.
[02:09] So if everybody's ready
on my mark, charge."
[02:14] (Roman soldiers yelling)
[02:21] (Roman soldiers screaming)
[02:24] The Battle of Ticinus was over
[02:27] almost as soon as it had begun,
[02:29] as the Romans found themselves
completely outmatched
[02:32] by Hannibal's famed lightning
fast Numidian cavalry,
[02:36] a key element in Hannibal's devastating
[02:39] double envelopment tactics.
[02:41] In the chaos, Scipio was wounded.
[02:44] Thankfully, according
to some ancient writers,
[02:47] his handsome 17-year-old
son, Scipio the Younger,
[02:51] saw his father fall.
[02:52] Scipio the Younger,
supposedly saved his father,
[02:55] and in the process earned
himself a lot of daddy's kisses.
[02:59] The Romans ended up fleeing the area,
[03:02] destroying the bridge
behind them as they went.
[03:05] For a nation so overtly
confident in victory,
[03:08] believing Hannibal to be an easy kill,
[03:11] the Romans found themselves running away
[03:13] with their tail between their legs.
[03:15] It was humiliating.
[03:18] And do you know who thought so as well?
[03:20] The Celts.
[03:21] They began flocking to Hannibal's
side just as he had hoped.
[03:26] Even Celtic troops fighting
for Rome in the Roman camp
[03:29] began to reconsider.
[03:31] "Man, I'm thinking we should
try to join Hannibal."
[03:34] "I hear you, maybe we
should bring him a gift.
[03:36] What do you think he'd like?"
[03:38] "Hmm,
[03:40] oh, I know."
[03:41] "Hey, Hannibal, we wanna join your side
[03:43] and we brought you a present."
[03:45] "A gift for me?
[03:47] I hope it's Roman heads."
[03:49] Oh, please, oh, please be Roman heads.
[03:55] How did you know?"
[03:56] Running away from Hannibal
was humiliating enough,
[03:59] but having dozens of Romans
beheaded in the night.
[04:02] Now that's embarrassing.
[04:05] Ticinus had been a
relatively small battle,
[04:08] but the psychological impact
it had early on was huge.
[04:12] And it was only just a taste
[04:14] of what Hannibal was capable of.
[04:16] Despite the shocking
initial loss, however,
[04:19] Rome still didn't seem to
fully understand the danger
[04:22] posed by the monster now
loose in their territory.
[04:25] The Senate was full of excuses.
[04:28] "It's those traitorous
Celts, that's why we lost.
[04:31] "Yeah, and it was a cavalry battle,
[04:33] wait until Hannibal faces
our almighty legions."
[04:36] "And our Consul was bald,
[04:37] once he faces our other
fully follicled Consul
[04:40] then he'll really pee his pants."
[04:42] That other Consul, Longus
[04:44] had been in the south all this time,
[04:46] preparing to invade Africa.
[04:48] He had seen some success
even capturing Malta,
[04:51] but then he heard the news,
[04:54] "Hannibal's in Italy, and
I'm being ordered home.
[04:57] But, but I was gonna be the big boy.
[04:59] I was gonna invade
Carthage and win the war."
[05:02] "Well, you can be a big boy at home."
[05:04] "No."
[05:04] "Does somebody need a nap, sir?"
[05:06] "No, no, no!"
[05:10] And so Longus brought his army
on the long journey north,
[05:14] when he arrived in the area
[05:15] to decisively neutralize Hannibal.
[05:18] The two Consuls joined
their forces together,
[05:20] creating a double consular army.
[05:23] But the two Consuls weren't
exactly on the same page,
[05:26] "Having a nice rest there, old man?"
[05:28] "I'm wounded, Longus."
[05:30] "Pathetic."
[05:31] "You don't understand.
[05:32] He's more dangerous than we thought."
[05:34] "Maybe for you, whoops."
[05:36] "Listen, we can't just march
[05:37] straight at him like we normally do.
[05:39] We need to train our
man through the winter
[05:41] and we'll try again in spring."
[05:42] "Sorry, I don't take advice
from a bowling bowl."
[05:45] "H-hey, I'll kick your ass, Longus."
[05:48] "Any day now."
[05:49] "I'm coming, just you wait."
[05:51] "Oh, Scipio, you feeble old man."
[05:54] (Longus screeches)
[05:55] Scipio was apparently quite cautious
[05:57] after his recent encounter with Hannibal,
[05:59] while Longus, typically Roman,
[06:01] couldn't wait to give Hannibal a swirly.
[06:04] So who would get their way?
[06:06] Well, when two Consuls
joined their forces,
[06:09] it turned out the Romans had
an interesting system in place.
[06:13] They would each take turns
being the one in charge.
[06:15] Consul one would lead one
day, then Consul two the next,
[06:20] back and forth, back and forth.
[06:22] As you can imagine, when the
two Consuls didn't agree,
[06:25] things didn't go so well.
[06:27] In this case, due to Scipio's injury,
[06:29] Longus probably assumed even
more command than normal.
[06:33] Hannibal had Celtic
spies in the Roman camp.
[06:36] He fully understood the Roman system
[06:38] and Longus's hotheaded nature,
[06:40] and he knew he could exploit it.
[06:43] "For goodness sake."
[06:44] "What's wrong, sir?"
[06:45] "I'm trying to order some pizza,
[06:46] but I keep getting fed
all these personalized ads
[06:49] about being a hothead.
[06:50] I'm not a hothead, am I?"
[06:51] "No, sir."
[06:52] "Look at this, butt insurance?
[06:55] Who would buy butt insurance?"
[06:57] "Yeah, that sounds really stupid."
[06:59] "Sir, it seems like a lot of data brokers
[07:01] have collected data on you.
[07:02] They could sell that data to Hannibal."
[07:04] "What?"
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[08:42] Now, where were we?
[08:43] Oh yeah, Roman heads, a double
consular army and a hothead.
[08:50] Hannibal needed to keep
smashing the Romans in battle
[08:53] in order to maintain the
loyalty of the Celts.
[08:55] And so he was eager to
fight another battle.
[08:59] The combined Roman force
possibly outnumbered him.
[09:02] So he carefully crafted a clever trap,
[09:05] and he made sure to spring it,
[09:06] while Longus was still in charge.
[09:08] The plan began with his army
getting an early night's sleep.
[09:12] "All right, boys, time for lights out."
[09:15] (Carthaginian soldiers whine)
[09:16] "Sorry, but we got a big day ahead of us.
[09:18] Tomorrow we're gonna massacre the Romans."
[09:22] (Carthaginian soldiers cheer)
[09:23] "Goodnight boys, dream of revenge."
[09:26] (door clicks)
[09:27] "Gorzog, send out the cavalry."
[09:30] (dramatic music)
[09:33] That night, Hannibal's Numidian cavalry
[09:35] made their way over to the Roman camp
[09:37] arriving just before dawn.
[09:39] "Hey, Romans, wakey, wakey."
[09:42] "What, what the, what's going on?"
[09:45] "Hey, Longus, your butt
smells like a butt."
[09:48] "It does not.
[09:49] Scipio, awaken the troops."
[09:51] "Longus, these playground insults
[09:53] are clearly meant to lure you out."
[09:55] "Well, it's working, send out the troops."
[09:57] "Longus, it's clearly a trap."
[09:59] "And I'm falling for it,
send out the troops."
[10:02] "Hey guys, wake up, you're
heading out for battle."
[10:05] "What?
[10:06] But we haven't had breakfast."
[10:07] "We're skipping breakfast."
[10:09] "I don't think you can do that."
[10:11] As the Romans hurried out of camp,
[10:13] the Numidians began luring them back
[10:14] to the Carthaginian camp,
where these gentle angels
[10:18] were just awakening from their slumber.
[10:21] "Eat up boys we're having pancakes."
[10:24] (Carthaginian soldiers cheer)
[10:26] While the Carthaginians
[10:27] were enjoying their hearty breakfast.
[10:29] The starving Romans
were still on their way.
[10:33] "Hurry up, we have to
catch those Numidians.
[10:35] Hey, why have you stopped marching?"
[10:37] "Longus, there's a freezing
river in front of us."
[10:40] "Well get your gluteus
maximus in the water."
[10:44] (Roman soldiers yelling)
[10:47] "All right, boys, time to lather up.
[10:49] This oil will insulate you from the cold.
[10:51] It also smells like lavender."
[10:53] (Carthaginian soldiers hum)
[10:55] "There's the Carthaginian
camp, get ready to fight men."
[10:59] "Sir, I take the water from the river
[11:02] is beginning to ice over.
[11:04] I can't move."
[11:05] "Oh, oh, I'm sorry, you
thought war would be fun.
[11:08] Sitting around a nice hot campfire
[11:10] playing truth or dare with your friends?
[11:11] Welcome to the real world."
[11:13] "Truth."
[11:14] "Who do you like?"
[11:16] "Sharon."
[11:17] "Ew."
[11:20] "Hey, look, guys, the Romans are here."
[11:22] (Roman soldiers shivering)
[11:25] Having perfectly orchestrated events
[11:28] so that his enemy was
cold, tired, and hungry,
[11:30] while his men were well
rested and covered in oil.
[11:34] When the two sides engaged one another,
[11:36] the Romans were in no condition to fight.
[11:39] And the cherry on top?
[11:41] The previous night, Hannibal had sent out
[11:43] an elite force of men led by his brother
[11:45] to go and hide behind a bush.
[11:47] They suddenly sprung out
encircling the exhausted Romans
[11:51] who were then cut to pieces.
[11:54] Once again, Hannibal's superior cavalry
[11:56] and double envelopment tactics
had flummoxed the Romans.
[12:00] But the key word at Trebia was control.
[12:03] Hannibal used his intel on the enemy
[12:05] and the environment of the battlefield
[12:07] to carefully control the
conditions of battle,
[12:10] creating lots of little
advantages for himself
[12:13] that paved the way to success.
[12:15] And concealing troops for an ambush?
[12:17] All of these things are what make Hannibal
[12:19] the genius he's remembered as today.
[12:22] As for Longus, he managed
to escape the battlefield
[12:25] with a small number of troops.
[12:27] Disgraced, he didn't want this Senate
[12:29] to find out what had happened,
[12:31] and he began obscuring
communications back to Rome.
[12:35] "Longus, where have you been?
[12:37] We've been looking for you."
[12:38] "Uh, nowhere in particular."
[12:40] "Longus, 30,000 men are missing.
[12:42] Do you know where they are?"
[12:44] "Uh, they're taking a bath."
[12:46] "30,000 men, all in a bath."
[12:49] "Yes."
[12:50] "Longus, what's under that rug?"
[12:52] (flies buzzing)
[12:53] "Aurora Borealis."
[12:55] "Aurora Borealis?
[12:58] Oh."
(alarm beeps)
[12:59] "Well, that's my consulship over.
[13:01] Good luck with Hannibal, bye."
[13:03] Trebia had been a disaster for the Romans.
[13:07] And as even more Celts
began flocking to Hannibal,
[13:10] Rome largely lost its
control over Cisalpine Gaul.
[13:14] In Rome, complacency turned to alarm.
[13:17] Hannibal had outwitted
them on their own soil
[13:20] and inflicted a costly defeat.
[13:22] But with that,
[13:23] Scipio and Longus's terms
as Consul were over.
[13:27] They were replaced with two new Consuls,
[13:29] Servilius and Flaminius.
[13:31] The Romans may now have begun to realize
[13:34] the trouble they were in,
[13:35] and the genius Hannibal had
shown in invading Italy.
[13:39] The Romans had expected to be
the ones controlling this war.
[13:43] Remember, they thought they
were going to invade Carthage.
[13:46] Now their plans lay in ruins,
[13:49] and they were levying 11 new legions
[13:51] to deal with the threat,
[13:53] Hannibal had completely redefined the war.
[13:56] But Hannibal had a little
problem of his own.
[13:59] Things had gone well so far,
[14:01] but the Celts were notoriously fickle.
[14:03] And Hannibal needed to ensure
he maintained their alliance
[14:06] and his base of support in Italy.
[14:08] Any Celts he captured fighting for Rome
[14:10] he treated extremely well
[14:12] and allowed them to return to their homes.
[14:14] But the longer he hung
around in their territory,
[14:16] eating all their food
[14:18] and leaving beard
trimmings in their sinks,
[14:20] the more resentful they may become.
[14:22] They wanted to go south and
plunder some Roman booty.
[14:25] And Hannibal also hoped to sway
[14:27] Rome's other Italian allies
in the south to his side.
[14:30] So from here, the path was clear.
[14:33] Hannibal had to move south.
[14:35] Just one problem.
[14:37] There were two main routes
[14:39] Hannibal could take to move south.
[14:41] And wouldn't you know it?
[14:42] That's exactly where the
two new Roman Consuls
[14:45] had taken fortified positions.
[14:47] If Hannibal tried to move on them,
[14:49] he'd be fighting from a
disadvantaged position
[14:51] and could be bottled in.
[14:53] "There is a third option."
[14:54] "Ooh, tell me, tell me."
[14:56] "We could move through this
vast, impassable marshland
[14:58] flooded with dirty, stinky
disease infested water
[15:00] that at times would come up to our necks."
[15:02] "But there's no way we
would attempt that, right?
[15:05] That it'd be crazy, right?
[15:07] (playful music)
[15:11] Hannibal?"
[15:12] Hannibal's four day trek
across the Arno marshlands
[15:14] was hell on Earth,
[15:16] almost as crazy as when
he crossed the Alps.
[15:19] Imagine three full days
unable to sit or lie down
[15:22] because there's nowhere
to sit or lie down.
[15:24] Meaning four full days without sleep
[15:27] slugging through heavy mud.
[15:29] You contract cholera.
[15:30] Your foot falls off
[15:31] and Jimbob directly in front of you
[15:33] won't stop pooping in your path.
[15:35] In fact, everybody's pooping in your path.
[15:38] Some delirious sleepless
men would see clumps of mud
[15:41] and say, "Man, I could
just sink into that."
[15:44] And then they would.
[15:46] When Pack animals died,
[15:47] it gave nearby men a chance to rest,
[15:49] but only for a few moments
[15:51] before they were whipped back into line.
[15:53] Even Hannibal himself couldn't
escape the torture of it.
[15:56] "Hey, Hannibal, if we see
a Starbucks, can we stop?
[15:59] I need to take a leak."
[16:01] (Carthaginian soldiers screaming)
[16:06] "What?"
[16:07] "Geez, Hannibal looks like you picked up
[16:08] a nasty eye infection.
[16:10] Normally for this sort of thing,
[16:11] we'd just wash it out
with some clean water.
[16:12] But as you can see, water everywhere,
[16:15] but it's full of Jimbob's poop."
[16:16] "No worries, doc, I'll just
take care of it myself."
[16:21] (Carthaginian soldiers gasp)
[16:24] "That'll be $3,000."
[16:25] When the now possibly one-eyed Hannibal
[16:27] and his army emerged from the
swamp, they were shattered.
[16:30] But he had just managed to slip 50,000 men
[16:34] right past the Romans
into Rich Etrurian lands
[16:38] where he could replenish his supplies
[16:40] and his Celt allies could go crazy
[16:43] securing Roman loot and booty.
[16:45] As fields and villages went up in flames,
[16:48] one Roman Consul couldn't help but notice.
[16:50] The hotheaded Flaminius,
[16:52] feeling it was his responsibility
to protect these lands.
[16:56] Rather than waiting for his
co-consul to come join him,
[16:58] immediately left to go chase Hannibal.
[17:02] Now this Flaminius was
an interesting character.
[17:05] He was what the Romans called a new man.
[17:08] He came from the lower plebeian
classes of Roman society,
[17:11] and as a result, he reportedly had
[17:13] kind of a screw you attitude
to the establishment
[17:16] and a big old, arrogant
chip on his shoulder.
[17:19] Picture Sid Vicious wearing
a toga, that's Flaminius.
[17:23] And Hannibal, thanks to
his spies, knew everything.
[17:28] Just as with Longus,
Hannibal knew Flaminius
[17:30] was just the kind of man
he could lure into a trap.
[17:34] Hannibal led Flaminius to
the entrance of a narrow pass
[17:38] along the north shore of Lake Trasimene.
[17:40] Flaminius watched as Hannibal's
army entered the pass.
[17:44] "I've done it, I've spotted the enemy."
[17:47] "Uh, sir, that big "Follow us" sign
[17:50] seems kinda like they're
trying to lure you in."
[17:52] "Yes, Gareth, and I'm taking the bait."
[17:55] "Sir, this really seems like a trap."
[17:57] "Yes, Gareth, and I'm falling for it."
[18:00] Daylight was fading, so for
now, the Romans set up camp.
[18:03] The two armies encamped across
the lake from one another
[18:06] and night fell over the two camps.
[18:10] In the morning, Flaminius
would catch up to Hannibal
[18:13] and he would be the hero of Rome.
[18:16] For now, the Romans got nice
and comfy in their beds.
[18:21] Goodnight, Flaminius.
[18:22] Good night, Rome.
[18:25] Good evening, Hannibal.
[18:27] During the night, Hannibal
ordered total stealth
[18:30] (Flaminius snoring)
[18:34] as tens of thousands of troops
[18:37] (Roman soldiers snoring)
[18:41] scaled the wooded hills above the pass,
[18:43] (Roman soldiers snoring)
[18:46] completely undetected by Rome's scouts.
[18:49] (Flaminius snoring)
[18:53] (upbeat music)
[18:56] "Let's go girls."
[18:57] Flaminius took off across the lake shore
[19:00] to try to catch Hannibal.
[19:02] As he did, even the weather
seemed to be on Hannibal's side.
[19:06] A thick fog rose from
the surface of the lake
[19:09] obscuring visibility.
[19:11] "Look at this, this is perfect.
[19:14] The mist will obscure our approach.
[19:16] Hannibal will never see me coming."
[19:18] (battle horns blast)
[19:22] "Sir, why does it sound
like 50,000 Carthaginians
[19:25] are charging down the hill towards us?
[19:27] "You mean 50,000 Carthaginians
[19:29] are charging right into my trap."
[19:31] (Carthaginian soldiers yelling)
[19:33] The Romans found themselves
[19:34] completely hemmed in on all sides.
[19:37] With zero visibility in the fog,
[19:39] the fighting was terrifying and chaotic.
[19:42] Troops were pushed into the
lake in their heavy armor
[19:45] where they were either
cut down or drowned.
[19:48] And Flaminius, who likely
stood out like a sore thumb
[19:51] in his Consul attire caught the attention
[19:53] of one Celt warrior.
[19:55] With his head possibly
swirling with thoughts
[19:58] of how the Romans had
decimated his homeland.
[20:01] According to the ancient writers,
this Celt took his chance.
[20:08] (triumphant music)
[20:13] In the three hour long massacre,
15,000 Romans were killed,
[20:18] and an equal number captured.
[20:20] An entire army completely wiped out
[20:23] along with their Consul.
[20:25] During the battle, the Roman vanguard
[20:27] had managed to break through at the front
[20:29] and climb the hill above the fog.
[20:31] When the mist cleared, what
they saw was a blood red lake
[20:36] and a sea of Roman bodies.
[20:40] Worse yet, when the other
consuls sent cavalry
[20:43] to try to aid Flaminius's doomed legions,
[20:45] they too were caught and defeated.
[20:48] A double disaster.
[20:53] (senators screaming)
[20:55] Rome went into a frenzy.
[20:58] For the second time, Hannibal
had completely decimated
[21:01] an entire Roman army.
[21:03] Romans were dying by
the tens of thousands.
[21:06] Common citizens began flocking
to the city for safety.
[21:10] Women waited by the city gates in tears,
[21:13] hoping to hear news of loved ones.
[21:15] This one man, having just led
[21:17] his battered army across
the Alps the previous year
[21:20] now stood less than a
hundred miles from Rome.
[21:24] To this point, he had been a problem.
[21:27] Now Hannibal was a crisis.
[21:32] And in a crisis, Rome
took desperate measures.
[21:36] They actually had a system in place
[21:38] when dealing with an
emergency of this magnitude.
[21:41] They would forego their two
Consul power sharing system,
[21:44] and instead, temporarily give one man
[21:47] near total power and authority
[21:50] to be as decisive as he needed
[21:52] and hopefully salvage the situation.
[21:54] This all powerful position
in Rome's government
[21:57] had a name, dictator.
[22:00] It's actually where we get the word.
[22:02] But unlike modern dictators,
[22:04] Roman ones didn't score
perfect rounds of golf
[22:07] or ride bears through the Siberian Tundra.
[22:09] They held their power for just six months
[22:11] before they were required to give it up.
[22:14] And in Rome's hour of need,
[22:16] the man chosen to be dictator in 217 BC,
[22:20] one of the most highly esteemed
members of the Roman Senate,
[22:24] Fabius Maximus.
[22:26] So how would Fabius as
dictator confront Hannibal?
[22:30] Well, Fabius understood
[22:31] that marching all of Rome's young men
[22:33] straight into a one-man meat
grinder was bleeding Rome dry.
[22:37] Hannibal was clearly too dangerous
[22:39] to face head on in battle.
[22:41] However, he was also
stuck in their territory
[22:44] with dwindling manpower and
forced to live off the land.
[22:48] It wasn't a sustainable
position to be in long term,
[22:51] and he could only remain
there for so long.
[22:54] So if Rome avoided battle with Hannibal
[22:57] to prevent any more crippling losses,
[22:59] and instead simply maneuvered
around him, blocking supplies
[23:03] and taking out smaller
contingents where possible
[23:05] Hannibal would gradually become weaker
[23:08] while they would
gradually become stronger.
[23:11] And so Fabius presented his
new idea to the Roman Senate.
[23:15] "Okay, guys, I have an idea.
[23:18] See if you can follow me here, okay?
[23:20] Instead of fighting
Hannibal when he approaches,
[23:23] we run away."
[23:27] (senators booing)
[23:31] Fabius's strategy couldn't
have been any less Roman.
[23:35] Romans were meant to march
headfirst into battle,
[23:37] not run away from it.
[23:39] It seemed cowardly and Fabius
was extremely unpopular.
[23:44] At this point, Hannibal
was continuing south.
[23:47] He had to stay on the
move to keep his army fed,
[23:49] and he was still aiming
[23:50] to undermine Rome's
alliances in the south.
[23:53] As he went in a calculated
display of aggression,
[23:56] he devastated the Roman
countryside and killed many Romans,
[24:00] all in plain sight of Fabius and his army.
[24:03] "We're just gonna stand here?"
[24:05] "Yes."
[24:06] "Are you a coward?"
[24:07] "No."
[24:08] "But Fabius, that's my farm."
[24:10] "Well, MacDonald, thank
you for your sacrifice.
[24:13] You're a hero now.
[24:14] Think of the stories you'll tell."
[24:16] "Old McDonald had a farm." (cries)
[24:22] "Shut up."
[24:23] But you know who else
hated Fabius's strategy?
[24:26] Hannibal.
[24:27] He understood the danger he was in.
[24:30] Turning Rome's allies against her,
[24:32] required Hannibal to keep
smashing the Romans in battle.
[24:35] He couldn't do that if
Fabius wouldn't fight him.
[24:38] Multiple times, Hannibal tried
to goad Fabius into a fight,
[24:42] but Fabius wouldn't bite.
[24:44] Failing that he tried to
turn room against Fabius.
[24:48] According to the writer, Livy,
[24:49] he burned down all the farms he could.
[24:52] But any farm he learned
was owned by Fabius himself
[24:55] he left well alone.
[24:56] "Hey, Fabius, why isn't
he burning down your farm?
[25:00] You got some sort of a
secret deal with him."
[25:03] "What, of course not."
[25:04] "Hey, Hannibal!"
[25:06] "What?"
[25:07] "Burn my farm too, please."
[25:09] "What?"
[25:11] "Burn my farm too, please."
[25:14] "No, remember our secret deal."
[25:20] (sighs) Well, you gotta
admit he's a genius.
[25:23] Hannibal's problem, however,
[25:24] was that he had to stay on the move
[25:26] to keep supplying his
army from the local lands.
[25:29] At one point, he entered Campania,
[25:31] one of the richest regions of
Italy, great for resupplying
[25:34] and great for showing up Fabius
[25:36] in front of Rome's south Italian allies.
[25:39] But he was caught in a valley,
[25:41] and Fabius quickly moved
to block his escapes.
[25:44] "Ha ha, we've got him.
[25:46] After he's used up
[25:47] all the valley's supplies, he'll starve."
[25:50] "Uh, sir, what are all those
lights leaving the valley?
[25:53] Is he trying to escape?"
[25:54] "Lights in plain view?
[25:57] Well, that's a trap if
I've ever seen one."
[25:59] "And we're falling for it."
[26:01] Suspecting a trap,
Fabius refused to budge.
[26:04] But other Romans in the valley
rushed to confront Hannibal,
[26:07] only to find the Carthaginian army
[26:09] was actually just a herd of oxen
[26:11] with torches tied to their heads.
[26:13] They then found themselves
caught in an ambush.
[26:16] With the Romans distracted Hannibal's army
[26:19] was able to slip away
into the night unopposed.
[26:23] Classic Hannibal.
[26:25] For all his inaction,
the dissatisfied Romans
[26:27] mockingly dubbed him Fabius the Delayer.
[26:31] But the thing is, Fabius's strategy
[26:33] was probably the best
thing he could have done.
[26:35] He was right that constant
encounters with Hannibal
[26:38] were bleeding Rome dry.
[26:40] And the time he took allowed
Rome some breathing room
[26:43] to recover their forces when
they desperately needed to
[26:46] while putting Hannibal
[26:47] into an increasingly
more difficult position.
[26:50] Modern historians view Fabius's strategy
[26:53] as generally a good idea.
[26:55] To this day, the act of
not engaging an enemy,
[26:58] but instead gradually wearing them down
[27:01] is still referred to
as the Fabian strategy.
[27:05] But when Fabius's term
finally came to an end,
[27:08] the Senate couldn't have been happier.
[27:11] It was time to start fighting again.
[27:13] However, they probably had a little chat
[27:16] about how they were gonna go about it.
[27:18] See, Hannibal's tactics up
until now had been very sneaky.
[27:22] Or if you're a Roman, you
might say dishonorable.
[27:26] "I'm sick of it.
[27:28] Every time we try to take this guy down,
[27:30] we march straight at him.
[27:31] But then, oh, no,
Hannibal's hiding in a bush.
[27:35] Hannibal's got 30,000 men up a tree.
[27:38] At this point, I'm not convinced my wife
[27:40] isn't just Hannibal wearing a disguise."
[27:42] (senator's wife coos)
[27:44] (senator shudders)
[27:45] "Look, this time we obviously
have to switch something up.
[27:48] Now, granted, we're Roman,
[27:50] so we're gonna march straight
at him without thinking.
[27:53] That can't be helped, it's in our blood.
[27:55] But I have a proposition.
[27:59] This time when we march straight at him,
[28:01] we do it with a massive army.
[28:04] I'm talking like 80,000 men.
[28:06] It won't matter what kind
of shenanigans he pulls.
[28:09] He can hide in all the bushes he wants.
[28:11] There's no way he can
possibly beat off 80,000 men."
[28:17] (senators laughing)
[28:18] "Grow up, you know what I mean."
[28:19] And so it was with two new Consuls
[28:22] Rome put together a massive army.
[28:25] The biggest Rome had ever fielded
[28:27] to put Hannibal away once and for all.
[28:30] To gather them in required,
two thirds of them
[28:33] ended up being completely inexperienced.
[28:35] But how much experienced does it take
[28:37] to be expendable war fodder?
[28:39] As this massive army set
out in the summer of 216 BC
[28:43] the Romans knew they
needed to win this battle.
[28:47] Just one victory over Hannibal
[28:49] would likely be enough to
end his entire campaign.
[28:52] And this time, their overwhelming manpower
[28:55] gave them confidence they could do it.
[28:57] Hannibal had taken position
at the town of Cannae
[29:00] where he had captured an
important Roman Supply depot.
[29:03] With Fabius gone, Hannibal knew
[29:05] the battle was likely coming,
[29:07] and he was eager to fight it on his terms.
[29:10] But when his men looked
out at the Roman camp,
[29:13] they couldn't believe
what they were seeing.
[29:16] "That army's huge.
[29:18] There's no way we can possibly
beat off all these men.
[29:20] How are we gonna beat
off all of these men?"
[29:22] "Heh, heh."
[29:23] "You know what I mean."
[29:24] "I think he's right, Hannibal."
[29:26] Hannibal is then said to have replied,
[29:28] "Gisco, my friend, don't worry.
[29:31] There may be a lot of them,
but amongst their ranks,
[29:34] there's not a single man named Gisco."
[29:37] This joke was apparently so funny
[29:40] that his officers began
to laugh and laugh.
[29:43] And when his men in the
camp heard the laughter,
[29:45] they were like, "Hey, they're laughing.
[29:47] I guess that means we're
gonna win the battle."
[29:50] (Carthaginian soldiers cheer)
[29:52] As for the Romans, the
Consuls were another pairing
[29:55] between an inexperienced
hothead and a wise scholar.
[29:58] Although the main historian from this era
[30:00] was good friends with Paullus's family,
[30:03] so take that with a grain of salt.
[30:05] On his day of command,
the rash and hasty Varro,
[30:08] despite the apparent pleas from Paullus
[30:11] sent the army out for battle.
[30:12] And when Hannibal saw
this, he did the same.
[30:16] And here comes the single largest battle
[30:19] of the Second Punic War
[30:21] and one of the most
renowned battles in history.
[30:24] The infamous Battle of Cannae.
[30:28] In all the pre battle maneuvering,
[30:30] Hannibal was able to ensure his army
[30:32] was fighting from the south.
[30:34] This meant the seasonal dust
carrying winds were to his back
[30:37] and blowing directly into
the faces of the Romans.
[30:41] Like I said, control.
[30:43] After two years in Italy,
Hannibal's infantry
[30:46] had dwindled to about 40,000.
[30:48] The Romans possibly
outnumbered him two to one.
[30:52] Their army was so big
[30:53] that their maniple stretched far deeper
[30:55] than they normally would.
[30:57] The Romans plan to charge
Hannibal's thin weak line
[31:00] like a battering ram and break it.
[31:02] They also chose a narrow battlefield
[31:04] in the hopes it would prevent
[31:06] Hannibal's far superior cavalry
[31:08] from being able to outmaneuver them.
[31:10] They wanted an honorable
battle where pure strength,
[31:13] rather than trickery,
would decide the outcome.
[31:16] If Hannibal had his say, however,
[31:18] trickery might end up
having a lot to do with it.
[31:21] He ordered his line
[31:23] to position themselves as an outward bulge
[31:25] with his weakest troops
at the very center.
[31:28] Just behind them out of
sight from the Romans,
[31:31] stood the elite Libyan infantry
[31:33] waiting for their moment to strike.
[31:36] The battle commenced as
the massive Roman troops
[31:39] smashed into the Carthaginian center.
[31:42] The shape of Hannibal's line
[31:44] ensured the overwhelming
weight of the Romans
[31:46] hit his weakest troops first,
[31:48] and they were pushed back.
[31:51] Hannibal's outward bulge reversed inward
[31:54] with the Romans being funneled
in towards the weak center.
[31:57] Hannibal had positioned
himself at the center
[32:00] to encourage the troops to hold out
[32:02] as long as possible against
the Roman onslaught,
[32:05] because while the Romans
[32:06] were on leashing carnage on the center,
[32:08] Hannibal's cavalry needed
time to do their job.
[32:12] The heavy cavalry on the left
[32:14] after a barbaric fight sent
the Roman horse packing
[32:17] with the Consul Paullus
[32:19] even sustaining a severe head injury.
[32:21] He managed to move into the
center to keep the battle going.
[32:25] Then the heavy cavalry turned
[32:27] and approached Varro's
cavalry from behind.
[32:30] At the first sight of the
coming Carthaginian envelopment
[32:33] Varro ordered his horsemen
to flee the battlefield,
[32:37] the Carthaginians had
won the cavalry battle.
[32:40] But back in the center,
according to some accounts,
[32:43] Hannibal's line did
eventually end up caving
[32:46] to the massive weight of the
Romans, and they began to flee.
[32:51] The Romans pushed deeper
[32:53] and organization within
the army likely broke down,
[32:56] as they became a giant mass
[32:58] trying to massacre the
fleeing Carthaginians.
[33:01] They didn't realize
[33:03] that they were playing
right into Hannibal's hands.
[33:07] At that moment, Hannibal's elite units
[33:10] having done no fighting yet,
and therefore fresh as a daisy
[33:14] turned and smashed into the Roman sides.
[33:16] Many of these troops were
wearing Roman helmets and armor
[33:19] they had picked up after previous battles,
[33:21] and the confused Romans
may not have even realized
[33:24] they were the enemy.
[33:26] As Hannibal managed to regain
the composure of his center
[33:30] and encourage them back into the fight,
[33:32] the Carthaginian cavalry
swooped in from behind.
[33:36] And look at what lies before you.
[33:39] A military general's wet dream
[33:42] the total encirclement
of a much larger force
[33:45] by a much smaller force.
[33:47] The Romans were trapped.
[33:50] Hannibal had unbelievably managed to use
[33:53] their own superiority
in numbers against them,
[33:56] rather than simply encircling them,
[33:58] he had actually allowed them
to use their own immense power
[34:03] and push themselves into
an encircled position.
[34:07] This was the genius of Cannae
[34:11] And with that, the annihilation began.
[34:16] For hours the Carthaginians
[34:18] slaughtered the helpless
Romans from all sides.
[34:21] The terrified Romans were so
tightly packed that at times
[34:25] they couldn't even lift their
arms to defend themselves.
[34:28] The killing went on so
long that the Carthaginians
[34:32] became exhausted from
the nonstop massacre.
[34:35] And by the time the
butchery came to an end,
[34:38] the grim toll spoke for itself.
[34:41] To Hannibal several thousand lost.
[34:43] The Romans suffered 60 to
80,000 dead or captured.
[34:49] Yet another entire army
wiped out by Hannibal.
[34:54] Many high-ranking Romans
met their end at Cannae.
[34:57] Paullus for one, but also
80 senators and more.
[35:01] It's been estimated that 20%
[35:05] of Rome's male population,
aged 18 to 50 died at Cannae.
[35:10] This was it, Hannibal's vengeance.
[35:14] The stunned Carthaginians
[35:16] as they searched for their
own survivors among the dead,
[35:19] couldn't believe the sight of it.
[35:21] An estimated 30,000 gallons of blood
[35:24] now lay spilled on the battlefield.
[35:28] Rome's defeat at Cannae sent
shockwaves throughout Italy.
[35:32] Just as Hannibal had hoped,
[35:34] most of southern Italy
now defected to his side,
[35:38] including the second largest
city on the peninsula.
[35:42] "Wow, Hannibal, this is incredible.
[35:45] What could possibly come next?"
[35:47] "Next?
[35:49] Jimbob, I've killed 150,000 Romans.
[35:53] I've turned her allies against her.
[35:55] That's it, that's vengeance.
[35:59] So let me tell you what comes next.
[36:01] Rome surrenders.
[36:03] (dramatic music)
[36:05] Their territories are reduced.
[36:09] We recover our lost islands.
[36:14] And Carthage dominates the
Mediterranean once again."
[36:20] "But sir, what if they don't surrender?"
[36:23] "Jimbob, did you miss what just happened?
[36:25] Of course, they're gonna surrender."
[36:28] Throughout his campaign
Hannibal had shown himself
[36:30] to be very adept at
reading the Roman mind.
[36:34] But if he now thought
that Rome might surrender,
[36:37] it was the first time he
severely underestimated them.
[36:41] And he was about to discover
[36:42] an extremely inconvenient fact about Rome.
[36:46] Rome never surrenders.
[36:49] At a Roman survivor's camp near Cannae.
[36:52] One young officer overheard some troops
[36:55] discussing how they would flee Rome.
[36:57] Drawing his sword he
threatened to cut down any man
[37:01] that would abandon Rome
in its hour of need.
[37:05] That officer was Scipio the Younger,
[37:08] but soon enough, the Romans
would come to call him
[37:11] Scipio Africanus, the hero of Rome.
[37:16] (dramatic music)