Hannibal And His Secret Weapon Dr Patrick Hunt Summary

In the verbal presentation “Hannibal and His Secret Weapon,” by Dr. Patrick Hunt, he explains the incredible life of Hannibal, a famous carthaginian war general, focusing specifically on how he used his small force of men and his environment to his advantage. The presentation starts off talking about how after Hannibal swore to eternally hate Rome on a living sacrifice, his father was killed in an avalanche on an expedition in search of gold. After this, the Carthaginians pronounced Hannibal their new war general, because his father was the previous one and they recognize his military genius. Next, Hannibal decides to embark on his quest to take back Rome. In a brilliant move, he takes a path through the Alps to sneak up on the Romans where

In the Battle of the Trebbia, Hannibal tricks Roman general Scipio into forcing his troops to cross a freezing river to fight, leaving them off guard from the cold and therefore Hannibal’s easy prey. The presentation then goes on into one of Hannibal’s other famous battles, namely the Battle of Lake Trasimene. In this battle, Hannibal uses the dense forests around the lake to hide his troops and make them seem far bigger than they truly are. Falling for the trick, Roman general Flaminius pushes his troops forward only to find that Hannibal’s concealed soldiers have revealed themselves and proceed to trap them in a massive slaughter. Moving forward to August 2, 216 BC, Hannibal engages in yet another battle against the Romans, tricking consuls Paulus and Varro by pretending that his side flanks were defeated, when really they surged forward to trap the Roman forces. The Carthaginian forces hemmed the Roman troops in so much that there was barely any room for them to move, rendering them incapable of even swinging their swords. Pressing their advantage, Hannibal’s men then proceeded to mercilessly slaughter 44,000