Hannibal’s legacy: always find the flank

Hannibal’s legacy: always find the flank

12 Oct 23
Posted by: Lt Gen Robert Fry
8 minutes, 0 seconds read
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The author considers the grand strategic temptation of seeking a flank to break the current, Huntingesque, East-West standoff. Engaging additional allies, or enemies, and perpetuating old conflicts worldwide has dangerous implications for the future of global stability. Originally published in The Article. A 10 minute read.

Remarkably, much of the theory and practice of warfare for the last two millennia has been shaped by the events of an August day in Apulia (south-eastern Italy) in 216 BC, when the Carthaginian and Roman armies met on the battlefield of Cannae. The Carthaginians, commanded by Hannibal Barca, had twice defeated Roman armies since invading the Italian peninsula, but now seemed to be cornered by a numerically superior Roman force. Republican propriety required that command of the Romans alternated daily between two consuls and most historians credit Hannibal with offering battle on a day he knew…

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