The Second Punic War - OverSimplified (Part 3)

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0:35 (dramatic music) (swords clanging) (soldiers screaming) (swords

0:52 clanging) (dramatic music continues) (soldiers screaming) (swords clanging)

1:02 (dramatic music continues) (Romans screaming) (ominous music)

1:25 How do you solve a problem like Hannibal?

1:29 (Romans screaming) In a crisis such

1:33 as this, 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 and lost their virginity!

1:47 That's why Hannibal's kicking our ass!

1:49 [Roman 2] What should we do with them?

1:51 [Roman 4] Appease the gods, bury them alive.

1:54 (Romans cheering)- [Roman 1] Who did they even boink?

1:58 [Roman 2] It was those guys.

2:00 [Roman 5] Huh?

2:01 [Roman 1] What should we do with them?

2:01 [Roman 3] Beat them to death!

2:04 (Romans cheering) (blows thudding)- [Narrator] Needless to say,

2:07 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, first of all, involved raising a new army.

2:19 Remember, at Cannae,

2:21 Hannibal had wiped out the biggest army Rome had ever fielded,

2:25 possibly 20% of Rome's military-aged men.

2:28 Rome needed to replace those losses

2:31 and fast before Hannibal arrived at their gates.

2:35 But where would those replacements come from?

2:37 Rome had a few ideas.

2:40 [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) 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) (ominous music)- [Narrator]

3:07 After the earth-shattering defeat at Cannae,

3:09 the Romans expected Hannibal to arrive at their gates any day now.

3:13 In Hannibal's camp, the mood was triumphant.

3:17 [Soldier 1] We did it.

3:18 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.

3:23 Whoa.

3:23 Slow down.

3:23 We're not going to Rome.

3:24 (soldiers gasping) 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 because,

3:33 after what we did, 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.

3:42 [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!

3:50 [Hannibal] What?

3:51 They didn't surrender?

3:52 [Jimbob] No, and they were mean!

3:58 [Narrator] Hannibal was learning that Rome

4:00 had an unprecedented attitude towards surrender.

4:03 Even when Hannibal offered to ransom thousands 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

4:12 sold into slavery rather than paying a penny to the enemy.

4:16 It was clear that in order to defeat Rome, 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

4:29 on Rome 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, but you do not know how to win

4:38 a war." (soldiers laughing) 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 to undertake a risky

4:50 siege of one of the most fortified cities on earth.

4:53 Plus with many of the southern cities defecting 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 after three major defeats,

5:06 but surely they'll surrender after four.

5:10 (soldiers groaning)- [Narrator] Unfortunately for Hannibal,

5:14 however, after Cannae, 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 was too dangerous to fight?

5:26 [Senator] You.

5:27 [Fabius Maximus] And who said we shouldn't fight him directly?

5:30 [Senator] You.

5:31 [Fabius Maximus] And who tried to fight him directly?

5:34 [Senator] Us.

5:35 [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)- [Narrator] After Cannae,

5:53 Fabius Maximus kind of became the unofficial leader of Rome.

5:57 Even if others were elected Consul,

5:59 his influence was unparalleled and Rome quickly

6:02 reverted 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 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, you better not be being massacred by the Rome...

6:42 Oh, for goodness sake!

6:44 [Narrator] The Romans spread out their newly-formed legions

6:46 and began attacking the southern cities here, 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, 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 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 frequently switched

7:29 sides depending on who appeared to be winning,

7:31 and the whole situation became a nightmare for Hannibal to control,

7:35 playing a constant game of Roman whack-a-mole 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

7:46 around by placing Hannibal in a clever predicament.

7:50 If he left Southern Italy,

7:51 the southern cities would likely capitulate to Rome, 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 for his impressive Italian campaign,

8:09 but those clever Romans found a way to take

8:12 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 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 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, 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, because being a winner is more fun.

9:17 The Carthaginians also landed troops, hoping to retake their lost island,

9:21 while Roman proconsul, Claudius Marcellus, moved in to besiege Syracuse.

9:26 The siege was a brutal slug for the Romans, largely due to the presence

9:32 of one famous scientist and mathematician, Archimedes.

9:35 He lived in Syracuse at the time,

9:37 and he invented a variety of clever contraptions to defend the city.

9:41 There was a giant claw that could grab and destroy Roman

9:44 ships and purportedly even a big mirror that could magically ignite them.

9:49 The Carthaginian forces on the island attempted to come to Syracuse's rescue,

9:53 but luckily for the Romans, 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 and the Syracusans said...

10:05 [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)- [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 of the open bar.

10:21 [Carl] Sir, they've got battering rams.

10:23 [Syracusan General] Well, Carl, I'm ramming 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 on the dance floor.

10:33 [Carl] Sir, they're literally at the gates.

10:35 [Syracusan General] Well, Carl, I am literally at the cheese platter.

10:39 (people screaming)- [Narrator] Marcellus took

10:42 advantage of the drunken festivities, stormed the city, and plundering ensued.

10:47 In the chaos, Marcellus ordered Archimedes be captured alive.

10:52 Some sources say Roman troops entered Archimedes' home and they were like...

10:56 [Roman Soldier] Hey, man, are you the math guy?

10:58 [Archimedes] Go away.

10:58 I'm drawing circles.

10:59 [Roman Soldier] Look, I just need to know if you're the nerd.

11:01 [Archimedes] Come on, bro.

11:02 Get outta here.

11:02 You're messing up my circles.

11:03 [Roman Soldier] Now is not a good time to draw circles.

11:05 [Archimedes] It's always a good time for circles.

11:06 I love circles.

11:07 [Roman Soldier] Either stop drawing the circles or I kill you.

11:09 [Archimedes] I choose the circles.

11:10 (Archimedes screams) (bell tolls)- [Narrator] Despite

11:13 not securing Archimedes, by 210 BC, the Romans did secure Sicily and also

11:19 put down a Carthage-supported rebellion 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 saw an opportunity.

11:30 He was concerned with recent Roman expansion into Illyria, and so,

11:34 when he saw Hannibal annihilating the Romans 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 and annihilate the Romans together.

11:49 [Hannibal] Eh, sure.

11:51 [King Philip] Yes.

11:52 Yippee!

11:54 (dolphin squeaking)- [Narrator] Hannibal hoped

11:56 to secure Philip's help 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 to push Carthage back in was Spain.

12:15 The riches of Spain made it one 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 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 and joined his brother in Spain.

12:43 There the two Scipio brothers fought

12:46 a successful campaign against Hannibal's brother, Hasdrubal.

12:49 Over the next few years, they won a number of key victories,

12:53 even taking Saguntum, 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

13:18 to their old ways of being the aggressive go-getters,

13:22 and perhaps it would help if Rome had a Hannibal of their own.

13:28 (thunder roars) (dramatic music) Scipio the Younger

13:35 was the son of Publius Scipio, currently fighting in Spain.

13:39 This made him a member of one of Rome's most prestigious families.

13:43 Not much is known of his childhood, although there is one story of how he

13:47 was getting hot and heavy with a young lady,

13:49 only to have his dad barge in and drag him out, wearing nothing but a cloak.

13:54 This story was written by a Roman poet to make Scipio look bad,

13:57 but by modern standards, 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) (people cheering) Scipio was only

14:09 18 when the Second Punic War broke out.

14:11 He was at the Battle of Ticinus, 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 who dared abandon Rome.

14:23 He was a natural leader and up to his ears in spunk.

14:27 And therefore, he rose through the Roman ranks shockingly fast.

14:31 [Roman 1] We need a new military Tribune, 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?

14:38 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) We need to elect a new aedile.

14:49 Who do we have left?

14:51 [Scipio The Younger] Put me in, coach!

14:52 Scipio!

14:53 You don't meet the minimum age requirement.

14:55 [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)- [Roman 1] Ugh, my room's a mess.

15:03 I gotta cook dinner.

15:04 Oh, and would you look at that?

15:05 My fly's down.

15:07 Life sucks.

15:10 [Scipio The Younger] Put me in, coach.

15:12 [Roman 1] Wow, you're so spunky.

15:15 [Narrator] When Scipio was 25, however, he received some bad news.

15:19 His father and uncle in Spain 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 as almost

15:34 all of their Spanish gains were wiped away.

15:38 [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) Come on.

15:46 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, 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!

16:08 [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.

16:20 [Senators] He's right.

16:20 Yeah, he's right.

16:21 That's a good point.

16:22 Yeah.

16:22 [Scipio The Younger] And you're 71,

16:24 you can't stand up without a little urine dribbling down your leg.

16:27 [Senators] That's a good point.

16:27 He's absolutely right.

16:29 [Narrator] Scipio didn't meet the typical requirements for the position,

16:32 but as the only person willing to go,

16:34 this young piece of hot Roman meat was unanimously elected

16:38 proconsul and sent to lead the Roman armies in Spain.

16:41 He hoped to carry out a campaign as impressive as Hannibal's had been in Italy.

16:46 In fact, Scipio rather admired the one-eyed general.

16:51 [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, then you, my friend, need NordVPN!

17:23 [Scipio The Younger] Don't touch me.

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18:03 I don't think so.

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18:35 Now, where were we?

18:37 Oh yeah.

18:38 Hannibal contained, a young piece of hot Roman

18:42 meat sent to lead the Roman armies in Spain.

18:45 (dramatic music) 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?

18:56 [Scipio The Younger] Don't call me that.

18:57 [Billy] We're Roman, so same thing as usual, right?

18:59 We march straight at the enemy, right?

19:02 [Scipio The Younger] Get this, Billy.

19:03 No, we don't.

19:06 [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,

19:14 Hasdrubal and Mago, and another led by Hasdrubal Gisco.

19:18 Most Roman generals might have looked at these armies and said, "I just gotta,

19:21 you know, march straight at these guys

19:23 and kick their ass and stuff." 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 to a base of support.

19:40 With its mass resources and manpower,

19:42 it's where Hannibal likely hoped 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 and receive supplies from Africa.

19:57 And so if Scipio managed to take New Carthage, he could take Spain.

20:02 And if he took Spain, then maybe Hannibal would fall.

20:07 To Scipio, Spain wasn't just some sideshow,

20:10 it was the main show 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, once you get there,

20:28 you'd only have a couple weeks to take

20:30 the city before the Carthaginians arrived to kick your ass.

20:33 Sieges of cities that fortified usually took months, if not years.

20:38 So Scipio, how are you gonna pull this off?

20:41 Well, first of all, 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.

20:52 [Billy] Is it Disneyland?

20:53 [Scipio The Younger] I'm not telling you.

20:54 [Billy] I think that means we're going to Disneyland.

20:56 (soldiers giggling)- [Narrator] This secrecy kept

20:59 the Carthaginians from preemptively reinforcing the city.

21:02 As a result, New Carthage was left undergarrisoned because

21:06 the Carthaginians believed it to be kind of naturally impenetrable.

21:09 It was surrounded on three sides

21:11 by a lagoon 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

21:23 a 10-days march 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 on the main city gates,

21:44 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 and opened the city gates to the rest of Scipio's army.

21:58 And just like that, New Carthage had fallen in a single day.

22:04 Scipio had taken Carthage's capital city in Spain, 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-- [Scipio The Younger] Yes!

22:37 That's it.

22:37 I speak to the gods!

22:39 [Billy] Wow!

22:41 Wow!

22:41 [Narrator] Scipio had no problem allowing

22:43 his men 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.

22:57 [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!

23:04 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.

23:11 [Narrator] The Carthaginian generals in the region must have

23:13 been shocked at the loss of their capital city.

23:16 There was now a terminator in Spain, and he was coming.

23:21 In 208 BC, he made a move on Hasdrubal, hoping to defeat him before the other

23:27 Carthaginian armies could come and link up.

23:29 When Hasdrubal heard Scipio was coming, he said...

23:32 (Hasdrubal screams) 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.

23:43 [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?

23:52 [Scipio The Younger] Billy, no.

23:54 [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, but Scipio had trained his army to pull

24:11 off maneuvers 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) As Scipio was dominating in Spain,

24:26 Hannibal's struggles in Southern Italy continued.

24:29 He was convinced that if he just received ample supplies and reinforcements,

24:34 he could reverse his fortunes 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 from the Carthaginian senate.

24:45 After Cannae, Hannibal had sent his brother, Mago, to Carthage,

24:49 where he famously poured out golden rings taken from fallen Roman knights.

24:54 He told the Senate that, with reinforcements, Hannibal could finish the job.

24:59 But a growing faction in the Senate,

25:01 possibly jealous of Hannibal's rising influence, 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 to stop Scipio in Spain.

25:15 Just as he had hoped,

25:17 Scipio's campaign in Spain was actively harming Hannibal in Italy.

25:22 However, those reinforcements meant that when Scipio made

25:25 a move 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 at them, right?

25:38 [Scipio The Younger] No, Billy.

25:40 [Billy] What?

25:41 [Narrator] The preceding Battle of Ilipa is often considered Scipio's

25:45 masterpiece because it was positively oozing with deception and trickery.

25:50 First, both sides spent several days forming

25:53 up and facing off without actually fighting.

25:56 On each day, 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 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 with an early morning attack,

26:22 causing them to rush out of camp without breakfast.

26:25 When the Carthaginians lined up with their strongest

26:28 troops in the center to meet Scipio's,

26:30 they were stunned to find that Scipio had completely reversed his order.

26:35 The weaker Carthaginian sides 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 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 but just stand and wait.

27:00 In this way, the outnumbered Scipio had cleverly controlled events so

27:05 that the bulk of the strongest Carthaginian

27:07 troops 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

27:17 defeat on a much larger enemy force.

27:20 And the Battle of Ilipa was the final nail in the coffin for Carthaginian Spain.

27:26 Yet more tribes people continued to side with the Romans,

27:29 and the remaining Carthaginians retreated

27:31 to the coast 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 of the battlefield to his advantage.

28:01 He staged ambushes by concealed troops.

28:04 He treated local tribes people well, earning their friendship.

28:07 He even once forced his enemy to come out and fight him without breakfast.

28:12 Each and every one of these tactics

28:14 were possibly borrowed 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.

28:24 [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.

28:30 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 in taking a well-fortified city,

28:41 plus his understanding of the overall strategy,

28:44 has led some historians 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 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, 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, Hannibal needed to take drastic action fast.

29:26 [Hannibal] Man, everything's falling apart.

29:28 Ugh, fine.

29:30 I'll do it.

29:31 [Soldier] Do what?

29:32 [Hannibal] Yeah, yeah.

29:32 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.

29:43 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 and they freaked the hell out.

29:55 Hannibal is said to have closely approached the city walls,

29:58 inspecting the defenses, as the Romans inside quivered in their togas.

30:03 However, Hannibal probably knew he had no chance of taking the city.

30:08 The whole thing was a feint, and Hannibal soon left.

30:11 The Romans famously coined the phrase, "Hannibal is at the gates," to describe

30:16 a moment of crisis or severe desperation.

30:19 But for accuracy's sake, the phrase should probably be,

30:22 "Hannibal is at the gates.

30:23 But don't worry, it's just a feint 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 and thought Hannibal had abandoned them,

30:33 and so they surrendered the city." But apparently that's not as catchy.

30:39 Despite a few successes, including an ambush in 208 BC where Hannibal

30:43 managed to kill both Consuls in one go,

30:46 Hannibal was slowly but steadily losing his grip on Southern Italy.

30:51 Even Hasdrubal, who had fled Spain to join Hannibal, never reached his brother.

30:56 He made his own dramatic crossing of the Alps, 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 and threw

31:08 it over the walls into his brother's camp.

31:11 Hannibal was becoming extremely isolated.

31:15 After his impressive conquest of Spain, 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, 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, attack his base of support.

31:49 [Hannibal] Oof.

31:50 [Narrator] Which now happened to be Carthage itself.

31:53 That's right.

31:54 Scipio would invade Africa.

31:57 However, Scipio understood that any invasion of Africa would stand a much better

32:02 chance if he could secure an alliance with one of the African tribes.

32:06 Throughout the war, 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, had sympathized with Rome for much of the war.

32:23 And so at some point, Scipio visited Syphax to ratify at treaty.

32:28 It just so happened, however, that the Carthaginian general, Hasdrubal Gisco,

32:32 whom Scipio had fought in Spain, 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, 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, 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.

33:06 Check this out.

33:07 (body thuds) (plates clattering) (Gisco farts)- [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 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, who was a longtime ally of Carthage.

33:37 Scipio told Masinissa...

33:39 [Scipio The Younger] If you join the Romans,

33:40 I'll help you defeat Syphax 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, Scipio prepared for his invasion of Africa.

33:56 He raised a volunteer force that included

33:58 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?

34:14 [Scipio The Younger] Here's Skippy!

34:17 [Terry] Oh my God!

34:20 [Narrator] The Roman landing sent a clear message 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, 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 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?

35:00 [Scipio The Younger] Vigorously!

35:01 And while maintaining eye contact.

35:04 [Narrator] As always, Scipio had a plan to deal with the larger enemy force.

35:08 It just so happened that Syphax was offering to try

35:11 and broker peace 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, a small safety demonstration.

35:28 As you can see, our huts are made of grass and reeds, very flammable.

35:33 If there was even a single spark,

35:35 this whole place would become a inferno and all my men would burn alive.

35:42 [Billy] Very interesting.

35:43 [Narrator] The Roman troops then reported

35:44 back to Scipio about the Numidian camp,

35:47 its construction, and, most importantly, its flammability.

35:51 Then, the following night, as the sun was setting over the beautiful African

35:57 plains and the Carthaginians got all comfy in their beds,

36:00 they began to gently dream of Carthaginian figs 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 approached the Numidian camp.

36:19 As the Numidians lay in their beds, Scipio executed his plan.

36:25 (fire whooshing) The camp erupted into flames.

36:30 With the flammable wooden huts, 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 also rushed out unarmed.

36:51 And when they got there, there he was, Scipio, the Romans, and their steel.

36:58 (dramatic music) The terrified Carthaginians were massacred.

37:09 And with heavy casualties, Hasdrubal and Syphax fled the scene of the disaster.

37:16 Scipio followed this incredible success with another victory against

37:20 the pair 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 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?

37:59 What do we do?

38:00 [Carthaginian General] There's only one thing left to do.

38:02 Recall him.

38:07 [Gerald] Well, Hannibal, you've been here in Italy 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, 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!

38:35 [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, his vengeance, was it really all for nothing?

38:51 (melancholy music) But that was that.

38:54 Carthage was under threat, and Hannibal had to protect his home city.

38:58 As he left Italy, in Rome there was celebration, 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 and approached Scipio for peace talks.

39:17 [Carthaginian General] Hey, look,

39:19 we never meant 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.

39:30 [Carthaginian General] Okay.

39:32 Let me just get my signature right on there.

39:37 [Carthaginian] He's here!

39:38 [Carthaginian General] Yes.

39:38 Oh, look who's here, you bald prick!

39:42 You are so dead now, Skippy!

39:46 [Scipio The Younger] Don't call me that!

39:50 [Narrator] After Carthage proposed peace, 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.

40:06 [Carthaginian] Hannibal, he's burning our towns.

40:07 Go stop him.

40:09 [Hannibal] Guys, he's obviously trying to lure me out there to fight

40:11 on those flat plains 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.

40:21 [Carthaginian] And we're falling for it.

40:22 Go and fight him!

40:24 [Narrator] Hannibal set out 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 in one last decisive battle.

40:39 Would Hannibal's genius still shine through?

40:42 Or would Scipio prove 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.

40:53 [Scipio The Younger] Hannibal, I'm a huge fan.

40:56 [Hannibal] I thought you'd have more hair.

40:57 [Scipio The Younger] And I thought you'd have more eyes.

40:59 [Hannibal] Touche.

41:00 [Narrator] They then had a conversation, which I'll paraphrase.

41:02 Hannibal said, "At the start of this war, I had great fortune in Italy.

41:07 But look at me now, a sad old man who,

41:09 like other sad old men, 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." Very eloquently put.

41:23 Scipio then replied, "(bleeps) you!

41:27 Negotiate?

41:28 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, I am such a big fan." And so it was settled.

41:46 The two great generals would face off one last time in the epic Battle of Zama.

41:53 Scipio gave his men,

41:54 consisting of many survivors from Cannae, 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 because most

42:07 of them didn't even speak the same language.

42:10 As the two armies lined up for battle, something interesting became clear.

42:15 Hannibal had more infantry and hoped to use them to brute strength the Romans.

42:20 But Scipio had the nimble Numidian cavalry 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 to smash through and weaken the Roman infantry.

42:38 Scipio had the perfect response.

42:41 He had altered his formation 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 between a suicide

42:54 charge into spears or a nice clean escape, will probably choose the escape.

42:59 And that's what happened.

43:01 Some elephants were so frightened from the noise that they

43:04 even turned 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 on open plains.

43:19 So when his weaker cavalry ended up being routed from the battlefield,

43:23 he probably wasn't surprised and hoped the Roman cavalry would be lured as far

43:28 from the battlefield as possible because his infantry

43:31 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 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 had just fought an entire battle to get

44:09 there while the remaining Carthaginians were fresh 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, the Carthaginian infantry or the Roman cavalry?

44:32 The answer: 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 was well fought on both sides.

44:57 Both showed their genius, but fortune fell in the favor of Scipio.

45:03 With just a few thousand Roman casualties

45:06 compared to 40,000 Carthaginians, Scipio had won.

45:11 (ominous music) Hannibal advised the Carthaginian

45:14 senate 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 and were prohibited from starting

45:28 any more wars with anyone 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, 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, he was primed to dominate Roman politics.

45:57 He was even offered to become Consul for Life, 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 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 in Carthaginian politics after the war.

46:22 But again, due to jealousy, factionalism,

46:25 and a possibility of arrest by the Romans, he eventually entered exile.

46:30 He spent the remainder of his years out east, even advising enemies of Rome.

46:36 Rome's hatred of Hannibal endured and they

46:38 never stopped hoping to someday capture the monster.

46:42 One story is told of how,

46:44 when a much older Hannibal was chilling 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 who he thought

47:01 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, and in third place, himself.

47:12 Scipio then asked, "And what if you had defeated me at Zama?" "Well, Scipio,

47:17 then I would have been the greatest general

47:20 of all time."- [Scipio The Younger] Please, call me Skippy.

47:25 (generals giggling)- [Narrator] Eventually around 183 BC, Hannibal,

47:30 now in his 60s, 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, "Let us now relieve the Romans of the anxiety

47:44 they have so long experienced since they think it tries their patience too much

47:48 to wait for an old man's death."- [Servant] Wow, Hannibal, what a dignified end.

47:57 Gross.

47:58 [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, 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 for one last

48:23 crusade against Carthage to end the threat once and for all.

48:27 He famously began to end all of his speeches with one singular phrase,

48:33 one of the most famous phrases in Roman history.

48:38 (dramatic music)