The Challenge of Hannibal

Prologue

It has been a year since Hannibal and the Carthaginians invaded Saguntum in southern Spain. In destroying the Suguntians the Carthaginians took on the great burden of having to face the Romans in combat. But ever since Hannibal was a boy he had swore to destroy the Roman empire, and though the odds were against him, he wanted to fulfill his dream.

Chapter I

"Sir, crossing the Alps is insane and a tremendous danger. We all want to defeat the Romans but we must be alive to do it," said Maharbal.

"Maharbal, all my life I have dreamed of destroying the Romans. We will destroy them! No matter how long it takes, no matter how many men die, we will end their worthless empire and earn Carthage power and freedom. No longer will Rome not permit us full right to the sea, not being able to biuld an army and they will not alter our government and laws to their way of perspective. Just have your horsemen ready," said Hannibal.

"Yes, sir."

"Iacibul, bring in the leaders of the new recruits," said Hannibal.

"Yes, sir," replied Iacibul.

Two minutes later a large man at least 6'3" and about 220 pounds walked in with a young man about seventeen years old and maybe six feet tall. "My name is Sanae," said the large man in a rough, voice with a Spanish accent. "This is my brother, Nai. We are here to serve you."

"Welcome to my army," said Hannibal. "How many of you are there?"

"It is only us and six other men. We come from the southern coast of Spain," said Sanae.

"Do you have any military background?" asked Hannibal.

"I have a military background, but the only fighting the rest of my men have done is against thieves and the law," said Sanae with a smirk on his face.

"So, you're here to seek refuge from the authorities," said Hannibal. "Well, many of the men we've recruited were once criminals and I do not throw them away. You may join. Do you have weapons of your own?"

"Yes," replied Sanae, "and we have what extra clothes we could bring."

"Good," said Hannibal. "Iacibul, show them to their tent."

Chapter II

"My lord Hannibal, come quickly. There are three hundred villagers from the village next to Saruntum coming to attack us," said a servant.

"How many, three hundred?", exclaimed Hannibal.

"Yes, three hundred," repeated the servant to an astonished Hannibal.

"Tell the messenger to tell the men that they are to prepare for battle, but once we start fighting not to kill the ones that can be captured," barked Hannibal. "And bring Maharbal to me."

Five minutes later Maharbal arrived. "What can I do for you general?", he asked.

"Do not lead your cavalry or the elephants into battle," shouted Hannibal.

"But why my lord", Maharbal asked, "we could wipe out the villagers in less than an hour and none would live to tell of it. It would only take twenty horsemen."

"You are always so bold, Maharbal," Hannibal exclaimed. "But there are three hundred peasants and I want less than fifty dead.

Chapter III

"Charge!"

"Remember men," Iacibul yelled, "take prisoners, and only kill in a life and death situation."

The villagers and soldiers charged together, the pitch forks meeting spears, the swords meeting axes. In less then four hours the villagers were halted with only fifty-one villagers and fifty-six soldiers dead. About one hundred and sixty villagers were injured. The Carthaginians had trouble with the villagers because they could not strike deadly blows. Iacibul returned to Hannibal and told him of their accomplishments.

Hannibal was pleased and replied, "Good, tell the soldiers to guard the villagers tightly and that we leave tomorrow heading for northern Spain. When we leave, the villagers will be escorted back to their village."

"Why do we go to northern Spain, sir?" Iacibul asked.

"We are going to march towards the Alps," Hannibal said. "Tell no one: they will learn of it in the morning."

"Yes sir, goodnight sir," Iacibul replied.

After Iacibul left, Hannibal sat pondering the expedition route the army would be taking to get to and through the Alps. How would the men take the news of the army traveling to the Alps? After a long while of pondering and wondering about the expedition, a new thought came to Hannibal's mind. A thought he dreamed of and wanted, the thought of Rome burning to the ground.

Chapter IV

The next morning Hannibal strode through the camp toward Maharbal's tent. As he passed the tents, he saw tired men rising. The most tired of the soldiers were the guards, who had bags under their eyes, because they stayed up all night guarding the prisoners. After about fifty paces, Hannibal was standing outside Maharbal's tent. Hannibal walked into the tent to find Maharbal strapping on his armor.

"Maharbal," Hannibal asked, "why do you strap on your armor at this time of the day?"

"I wear my armor in case we are attacked, I want some action today."

"Well, wear what you will even if it is warm. And while you're wearing a leather chestplate and steel helmet, come with me. Today is the day we start for the Alps and Italy. I need you there looking like a strong soldier because you are the leader of the horsemen and are very brash. Maybe you can talk some sense into the men so they do not abandon the mission," Hannibal replied.

"Yes sir, but are you sure about the route?" Maharbal asked.

"I am general of this army and I know what route to take. We cannot go by sea because the Roman navy will sink us before we even get to shore. The Alps are the best way to go. It leads to a surprise attack in northern Italy. The Romans will be unprepared for the attack and by taking the Alps we are one step closer to destroying the Romans and a step closer to freedom. Come, let's go tell the men," Hannibal said.

Chapter V

"Men of the Carthaginian army!" yelled Hannibal. "Our goal in starting this war was to defeat the Roman Empire and give Carthage its freedom. Now, so far, all we have done is conquer a few Spanish villages. Is that what we set out to do, have we won our freedom yet?"

"No!" the men chanted.

"Do we want to win our freedom for ourselves and our families and defeat the Roman army?" Hannibal loudly asked.

"Yes!" the men replied.

"Men, Maharbal, Iacibul and I have been planning a way to defeat the Romans. What we came up with is to cross the Alps into northern Italy and catch the Romans by surprise," Hannibal said.

"That's insane!" yelled one man.

"We'll die before we even reach northern Italy and what good would that do?" yelled another.

"We all want our freedom, right?" Hannibal screamed. "Well, right now we have no freedom and we're going to have to take chances to earn our freedom! If you don't want to take a chance and freedom isn't worth risking your life for, well then, leave by tonight. We leave for the Alps in the morning, whether it be with 50 men or 50,000! All of you who would rather die than not be free, be ready in the morning."

Chapter VI

In the morning Hannibal went and talked to Maharbal in his tent.

"So," said Hannibal, how many men have abandoned us?"

"There were about 3,000 soldiers who left," replied Maharbal. "Most of the new recruits. But the ones who stayed remained because of what Sanae said. He told them they would never be free and never be heroes if they didn't go. He is a brave man and I would like him to be at my side," said Maharbal.

"Good," Hannibal said. "Tell the men to gear up for battle and riding, because from now on all who oppose us shall be destroyed. We leave in an hour!"

"Yes, sir," Maharbal replied.

The ride through northern Spain got tougher as the army approached the Alps, not because of the villagers occasionally attacking them, but because the trail got steeper and rockier. A few weeks passed and the army reached the foot of the mountains. The air here was cooler, the path rockier, and the fear greater. The men stared at the huge mountainside in front of them. One man asked if Rome was on the other side of the first mountain and another asked if the gods lived on the top. A few just turned and ran, but Hannibal took charge then.

"Men," he said, "we are at the foothills of the Alps. On the other side is Italy, always remember that. And no one shall give up! Forward, march!"

Chapter VII

The men had trouble getting used to the thinner and colder air, but they grew used to the conditions in time. After three days, some of the men said they heard talking, but no one took them seriously. Early in the morning, boulders started falling from the sky. The men ran for protection, yet several were crushed to death. The men thought it was the gods, but that night the boulders stopped.

"Sir," Maharbal asked, "do you think the gods are still angry at us ? Because if they are, I will ride to their kingdom and ask them why."

"Maharbal, I do not know if the gods are mad at us or not, we'll find out tomorrow," Hannibal replied.

The next day, beginning early in the morning, boulders began falling from the sky again.

But this time Nai yelled, "Look there. There are men pushing the boulders down on us."

Hannibal saw the men too, but he could not send his men up because they would need time to climb the icy cliffs, and before they could make it up they would get crushed by the boulders.

"Men," Hannibal yelled, "move to the middle so as to not be crushed!"

But the boulders still fell and men still died. That night the bombardment stopped. Hannibal realized then that they were only attacked during the day. So he sent up pikemen onto the ledges where the enemy had been during the day. When the enemy arrived the next day, they were immediately ambushed and the rain of boulders stopped.

Without the falling boulders, the journey was easier now. The only sound in the air Hannibal's men could hear was metal clashing on metal and wood. Finally, the pikemen returned, losing half their number. Hannibal and his army had overcome the first challenge of the Alps, if there were more, they knew they could overcome them. But defeating a few men in the hills was no victory to Hannibal, it was just getting rid of a nuisance. A real victory would be to destroy the Roman Empire!

Chapter VIII

A few days later, Hannibal and his men were marching along a steep trail . They had descended large ice hills before but this was the steepest of all. There was even loose snow and rocks. If it fell, it could start an avalanche. Hannibal would not give up land he pushed his men to overcome the icy conditions. Hannibal was the first to reach every peak and ledge.

While marching up the steep-faced ice trail, one of the boulders fell and crushed a giant icicle. The icicle fell to the ground and smashed the ice above the men and a giant avalanche started. The falling ice crushed many animals and men in the front of the marching army.

When this happened Hannibal started yelling, "Men, seek refuge in caves and behind large, sturdy boulders."

The men listened to his advice and hastily followed his command while the ice overran and crushed the stragglers. Many animals and men died from the ice fall and many more were injured. But the helpful advice of Hannibal saved the lives of many.

As Hannibal ventured from behind a boulder, he observed how many were lost. Then he said, "Men, we move on and we'll set up camp tonight and the top of this trail. We are not getting any nearer to Rome by sitting here and staring. You men, get stretchers for the wounded, and you men over there, go scout ahead. To all of you, I want to say that the men who died here today are casualties of war and I swear that twice their number of Romans will die by Carthaginian swords in Italy!"

Chapter IX

While sitting around the fire that night, a man came into the camp. He said he was from a village in the Alps and wanted to help lead Hannibal and his troops into Italy. Hannibal did not trust the man but he had no choice because the ice fall had split up his troops. Some of the troops had been led off the main trail, so Hannibal accepted the man's offer. The next morning the army geared up for battle. Then they set off following the villager. While venturing around a turn the army was confronted by about 1,000 villagers. The village man leading Hannibal turned around and drew his sword. But before the sword was out of its scabbard, Hannibal sliced off the man's head.

Then Hannibal yelled a command, "Elephants with archers, to the front! Long poles, alongside and in back, horsemen and foot soldiers, get ready to charge!"

The villagers came at a rush and their first four lines were cut down by arrows. The following lines still charged and Maharbal yelled to his horsemen, "Charge!"

Iacibul yelled, "Charge!"

And the two forces met.

Many villagers died at the point of a sword or spear and many Carthaginians fell off the edges of cliffs. The battle raged on with screams and noises of steel meeting steel.

Eventually the noises stopped and the villagers ran. The Carthaginians tried to heal their wounded. Most men had fallen off cliffs, but some had gotten a sword through them. Among the wounded was Nai. He had a slash across his chest and a deep, long cut down his left arm. Maharbal had found him with part of the left side of his body under an icy rock. Maharbal told Sanae to come.

Sanae was shocked to find his brother in such a horrible predicament. Sanae said, "Brother, sit still, we will get some men to come and help you."

Nae responded sadly, "No, brother, do not get help for me. With all the damage done to me, just put me out of my misery. I only ask one favor, avenge our parent's death and fight for freedom!"

When Nae was done speaking, Sanae put a sword between his ribs and let his brother die in peace. Sanae did not shed a tear. Then Maharbal and Sanae walked back to Hannibal and reported on Nae's death.

When all the men had come back to Hannibal, Hannibal stated, "Today men, we won a small victory over an untrained force. Do not be fooled by the ease of this victory. Now, we must work hard ot find the trail back toward Italy. The guide led us off the trail even farther. So let us move, we will stop at dark."

Chapter X

After a few more days of travel, the army started descending the mountains. The men were cold, tired and hungry, but still pushed on with urging and talk of liberation from Hannibal. Then the army stopped on a ledge and Hannibal rode through some trees onto a large, flat rock. Below he saw the rolling green hills of Italy, and freedom.

"Come men," Hannibal called, "look below and see our freedom!"

The men looked down and were speechless because after fifteen days in the bitter cold and nothing but death around them, they had come to their destination.

Sanae murmured to himself, "Freedom."

Others cheered, forgetting their past and looking only at the future. Then they began their descent in to the green hills of northern Italy. Their destiny with Rome awaited them...

By Ian O. "02", Germantown Academy

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