Scipio Africanus - Battles, Strategy and Victory

[@jeffjefferson2853]

Scipio is one of the most underrated people of ancient history. Everyone knows of the military genius of Hannibal, but few know of the man who defeated him. Its sad, really.

[@lock376]

a lot or people tend to down play Scipio as simply winning cause Hannibal got screwed

[@namelessoneforever]

@@lock376 what is worse is that even in the Italian history books scipio is described in a single line as the general who defeated Hannibal at Zama. I understand passion for tragic heroes like hannibal, but scipio was also a genius. Scipio is even mentioned in the Italian anthem and many Italians don't even know why

[@Mitraxxi]

My opinion it was due to Romans: they were so impacted by Hannibal -he threatened the very city of Rome-, that he seemed invictus -even knowing he wasn't. We've taken Hannibal's terror from the same and very Romans.

[@MrKatra14]

Scipio outsmarted Hannibal and is only general to defeat another top 5 general in history considered the greatest by some, no one else did

[@Michael_De_Santa-Unofficial]

@@MrKatra14 The Duke of Wellington did the same.

[@aussiedave2266]

I wish my teachers when I was in school presented this the way you did.

[@metatronyt]

I'm glad you liked my presentation :)

[@lordzarock2372]

+Metatron who dosnt

[@SpaghettiToaster]

Hannibal

[@lordzarock2372]

+SpaghettiToaster well played

[@bobbyhill4118]

Aussie Dave it’d be pretty cool if they walked into class with a spear and talked about ancient warfare, the battles and the tactics used to win them.

[@gaius_enceladus]

Great video! Scipio was an absolute genius, that's for sure! I'd say he would be very close to equaling Julius Caesar in his superb eye for military tactics and strategy.

[@stuka80]

significantly more superior to Caesar actually.

[@carlossaraiva8213]

I might have a minority opinion but i think Scipio was a better general than Caesar. Caesar had the nin trivial advantage of a fully professional army made of highly trained profesdional soldiers from the Marian Reforms, while Scipuo army was made of volunteers that gained their veteran status from surviving Cahraee they were bloodthirsty for revenge but yet not the professionals of later Rome. I think that makes Scipio's and his solders acgievements even more remarkable.

[@namelessoneforever]

@@carlossaraiva8213 Fortunately, there is a minority of military critics who are not fans but only analyze the facts (eg Sir Basil Liddel Hart). These critics believe that Scipio had no weaknesses, as a strategist he never made a mistake and as a tactician he invented many ingenious tricks such as Hannibal. Caesar was a great strategist but he was not a tactician, I challenge anyone to remember a great battle of Caesar won with tricks worthy of Cannae or Ilipa. IMHO Scipio was the strongest general in ancient age

[@hejhej6956]

@@namelessoneforever the battle of Alesia is equal to Cannae, no other general in history wouls have won that battle in mu opinion, the enemy did everything right and still lost

[@namelessoneforever]

@@hejhej6956 Certainly Alesia was a great battle, but if we want to do military analysis, it was a masterpiece born from a strategic error: Caesar risked more than necessary, he played all for all in a single battle, closing all his escape routes, even though he was in advantage and it was the Gauls who had to risk. Hannibal, on the other hand, had to play all in against the Romans to diminish their enormous strength. Finally, Scipio did better than both in my opinion, I give an example: He was in Spain, against 3 Carthaginian armies, yet he managed to move quickly and besiege and conquer Carthago Nova in a few days, with the fleet that followed him ready to embark if things had gone wrong. Nothing left to chance, that's how a great general behaves

[@3daysago266]

I enjoy your theatrical approach and your passion. I almost envy you.

[@metatronyt]

+Misanthropy I am gald you like my videos and my style, I appreciate your time friend ^^

[@burt2800]

I just saw a video you did a few years back and I have to say your English has improved a lot, it's really very good! I'm having a bit of a hard time getting the (Swiss-German) harshness out of my Italian so I know how hard it is to really get these kinds of nuances and you have done a really great job. It's nice to see someone caring about the details and putting that much work into it.

[@metatronyt]

+Henry Cookson Thank you very much, I really appreciate :D

[@senexferrum]

For who is interested. There's are a spanish writer, Santiago Posteguillo, who created a trilogy books historic novel, which described the 2nd Punic war, called in order: 1. El hijo del Consul 2. Las Legiones Malditas 3. La Traicion de Roma I'm not sure if they are all ready edited in English but I learned a lot reading this books. Also de had another trilogy about the life of Traianus emperor. It worth as well.

[@magnuschristianssen8999]

Alan Smith Hmm does he give the truth of what happened to Hannabal Barca? I hardly believe the "he committed suicide" narrative. It's almost like history forgot what happened to him and some historian came along and offered a fantastical outcome..

[@MarioGonzalez-kv2hs]

I"ve read the trilogy, wonderful books

[@Fif0l]

History lesson at school: Hannibal conquered half the Roman Republic, then Scipio Africanus attacks Zama and won the war. Yeah, I find this one much more fascinating.

[@ktm8848]

At zama the winner was massinissa romans were getting nailed until he returned and attacked carthaginian from behind

[@johncampbell4534]

YURI Ogarkov It wasn’t just Massinissa, Lealus (Scipio’s trusted lieutenant) also attacked with his cavalry in the rear of Hannibal’s final line of soldiers.

[@abc-oq7dt]

You went to a bad school my dude

[@rachdarastrix5251]

I'm not surprised. We are actively losing the battle to keep schools out of the hands of the pro-stupidity party.

[@rivaxbcz9227]

@@ktm8848 fake

[@tommyss4l]

Love all the stuff about Scipio Africanus! Keep it coming!

[@bakters]

Impressive. I'm gonna watch it again.

[@metatronyt]

+bakters Thank you very much for your time ^^

[@thegreatafricanus8535]

Well done!! It's always great to see Scipio getting some love😃

[@MrCearl]

I love that your voice deepens when you're either a samurai speaking Japanese or a legionary speaking Latin. Manly!

[@miko4752]

KingKLR HAHA You=RACA

[@BustaCaps1]

I live in Canada and it's a shame we never learned any of this in history class, I mean we only have 150 years of history to teach, pretty sure they could have squeezed in this lol

[@Mustygusher]

Yeah, all we learn is white guilt over natives...

[@BustaCaps1]

And don't forget white guilt about slavery

[@bleedingpurple2386]

Dude youre not german. We had hitler so many times now... we even talked about hitler in music fucking music...

[@alessandrapeluzzi3651]

lol here in italy even in scientific highschools it's mandatory to study classical history, latin, latin litterature and history of the cassical arts i'd love to feel guilty about slavery

[@lemonvariable72]

You know how many fucking times I had to learn about africville?

[@linkxsc]

HISTORY LESSONS. Love these kind of videos man. +1

[@oblongobject7771]

Best lecture on Scipio I've heard. Subscribed.

[@metatronyt]

+Oblong Object Thank you somuch for subscribing pal :)

[@Mr.56Goldtop]

Looking at artists renditions of ancient Carthage it's easy to see what a beautiful city it appeared to be.

[@abyssalknight4081]

Talk about Germanicus next! :D

[@Duke_of_Lorraine]

+American Soldier And Caesar !

[@stevenb6437]

+scarfacemperor I see you everywhere. At Extra Credits, at AlternateHistoryHub, and here.

[@usernaem4818]

+Steven Betchel good

[@stevenb6437]

Vlad Tepes Very good

[@pzuh277]

And, Augustus himself!. 😀

[@TheRebellionMan]

Hi Metatron, I have discovered your channel recently and I've got to say that your analysis of weapons and armor are so good! Also your history lessons are so immersing and interesting as opposed to those I had in elementary and high school. You are a great teacher and its fun to listen to you! Please keep making these long historic videos! Subscribed and thumbs up! :D

[@metatronyt]

+TheRebellionMan thank you so much I really appreciate ^^

[@Ostsol]

Very interesting! I'll have to check out Polybius for my next audio book purchase.

[@LukoHevia]

I always thought that Scipio was a sort of capable and very competent commander who, in a fit of inspiration, happened to defeat one of the greatest military geniuses of all time (kinda like Wellington defeating Napoleon). Now i think this man was a true genius, and more than a match for Hannibal, Alexander and Caesar as the greatest commander of ancient times

[@rhysnichols8608]

Wellington needed the assistance of a very experienced Prussian army with its own great general: Blücher. It’s a massive historical disservice when people just throw around ‘Wellington beat Napoleon’ and completely forget that a whole second army was needed to assist Wellington to just scrape a close victory. Skipio vs Hannibal was a ‘1vs1’ so to speak, as in skipio didn’t need a whole second army to help him win.

[@Splodge542]

Beautifully illustrated as usual. I've read about this before but understand it all much better because of the way you have presented it. Bello.

[@IronDuke1815]

Such a good documentary style video, really enjoyed this!

[@karakondzula1388]

You should make more videos like this. you have fitting voice for it. Pretty sure this could be the main theme and strong of your channel .

[@gutzskywalker975]

One of my favorite videos made by you, cheers mate

[@321AlterSchwede]

Scipio is in my opinion one of the biggest military geniuses of all time, probably the biggest. He managed to turn a strategically lost war, into a total victory.

[@2InchesOfPain]

Rome would have most likely won regardless. It just would have taken longer though. Carthage refused to resupply Hannibal with men and material.

[@321AlterSchwede]

@@2InchesOfPain The situation for rome was very bad. An brilliant enemy general was plundering trough italy. Many italian allys had joined Hannibal, so italy was divided. Northafrica and spain where 100 % under carthaginian control and macedonia was allied with carthago. Without scipio conquering spain, rome probably would never had managed to conquer spain nor northafrica and sooner or later rome had asked for peace. Probably carthage had demande sicily back.

[@2InchesOfPain]

@@321AlterSchwede It's all about what ifs but Hannibal couldn't take the city of Rome or at least that's what he personally believed. Carthage refused and denied Hannibals brother pleas for more support on 2 separate occasions, to resupply Hannibal. One of his brothers died in battle and the other injured and recalled back to Carthage. It was almost as if they purposely handicapped Hannibal. Also, Hannibals campaign was over a decade and his recruitment of more mercenaries was slowly becoming much harder and losing favor with the tribes. He even had his elite cavalry change sides at the battle of Zama. Plus, Romans scorch Earth policies and purposely evading large pitch battles and running him around the country, would eventually collapse the will to fight

[@2InchesOfPain]

@@321AlterSchwede Rome most likely wouldn't have capitulated unless the city of Rome itself was sacked but even then, Rome would of done as it always had... conscript more men into the army to retake it. Hannibal himself couldn't understand Rome's unbreakable will to continue to fight, as basically all other countries in past would of sued for peace in what he perceived as a unattainable, losing situation. He tried to figure out why Rome's spirit was so fierce and revengeful. Romes inhabitants wouldn't stop until a satisfactory conclusion was met during this 2nd Punic war......Either Rome will fight till the last man and Rome itself will cease to exist or Carthage is razed to the ground.

[@2InchesOfPain]

With that said, Scipio no doubt, was a military giant. He prevailed in the face of extremely unfavorable odds with not only the external forces of Carthage and others but also internally, with Roman Senators.

[@nestoNESTOnesto]

Awesome video! Thanks Only one thing, I would mention quality and experience of Carthaginian forces, in battle of Zama, if I were you. It wasn't Hannibals army, it was some Carthaginian army which wasn't experienced with Hannibals tactics or leadership. Hannibal was basically forced by his own state and Scipio's strategy to loose this battle. But anyway, I loved to see this video. Scipio Africanus is my hero. Looking forward to see other videos about SPQR from you :-)

[@horsepukey]

One more thing to add on the list. The early Romans and Hellenes referred to ancient Spain as Iberia not Spain. That name was added as other territories where in that region.

[@SveinNOR]

Interesting and detailed video, no bs, thumbs up! :)

[@metatronyt]

+cheroxx Thanks pal ^^

[@budibausto]

Scipio is without any doubt the most underrated, unknown genius and military commander in ancient history if not all time...you go around and ask "Do you know who was Scipio?" - "Is that a pets' name?" -">.

[@metatronyt]

Luckly in Italy if you ask in Italian who "Scipione L' Africano" is most people will know it's the name of a Roman general...well, those who went to school that is. :D

[@budibausto]

in my experience not many unfortunately...and I grew up in Rome! but that it's ok...btw ever seen "Scipione detto anche l'Africano?" for me and many it's a masterpiece. Did you read Scipio Africanus: Greater Than Napoleon by Hart? terrific book. probably the best out there on the matter. I don't know if it's been translated in Italian. I'm trying to finish the Histories of Polybius...what a book, actually a brick! Perhaps one day you can replicate his invention of a smoke signal system, I never figure out exactly how it worked, but apparently it was a failure. Regardless, it could be fun to "debunk" it.

[@Agorante]

I appreciate these videos.I once was invited to give a guest lecture on Data Base Design at the Naval College in Monterey California. I, for some reason, decided to weave my technical talk around the first battles of Hannibal in Italy - Trebia, Trasimene, and Cannae. The lecture was a success but none of the Naval Officers could make much of the historical references. Stupid me, maybe Army officers would have gotten it but naval officers were just confused. I always wanted to teach Roman history. I was in considerable demand to teach programming, and all sorts of computer subjects but no school would consider me because I didn't have a PhD in history.

[@leopoldsamsonite1750]

Ave Metatron. Great vid. I enjoyed that very much. Ty

[@andrewkennedy-reagan3289]

You make awesome vids. Keep it up Metatron. Well done.

[@ScipioAfricanus_Chris]

Excellent historical account and even better military analysis.

[@WellWisdom.]

He was a tactical genius with the right amount of touch, of a master strategist.

[@od1401]

Absolutely fascinating couple of videos, I knew nothing about this before watching. I have to say I derived great pleasure from seeing the Romans get their revenge and crush Carthage into the ground, forcing Hannibal to commit suicide in despair and shame.

[@MrpitBlogz]

Total war Rome 2 brought me here ! Great video 👍

[@MilesDei95]

i just love when great generlas live alongside others then it is so mutch fun to read about it

[@theweaponeer1]

Great presentation! Thanks for the lesson.

[@FlymanMS]

These two videos feel like RTS playthrough. The previous campaign we were playing as Carthage and Hannibal, now we’re on the side of Rome with Scipio Jr.

[@gaius_enceladus]

Scipio - great man! I wouldn't mind betting that if **he** had been in charge of Legions XVIII, XIX and XX, he would not have "taken the bait" that lead to those legions being destroyed in the Teutoburg Forest. I would imagine that **he** would have seen the possibility of such an ambush and would have avoided it. After all, the Legions were designed for "open plains" battles - not fighting in forests.

[@Artrulux]

Hey Metatron! Love your channel! Just one detail: did you mentioned Hannibal commuted suicide? As far as I know, it is said that during the war against Syria, Scipio and Hannibal had a meeting - which was funny as Hannibal never accepted Scipio was better than him lol - cheers mate!

[@PC_Simo]

Gotta love the name: ”New Carthage”. The name ”Carthage” comes from ”Qart Hadast”, meaning: ”New City”; so, ”New Carthage” would technically be ”New New City”. It’s like naming your city/port/whatever: ”New Novgorod”. Kinda reminds me of ”New New York”, from Futurama. 😅

[@johnlansing2902]

Thank you for the great video.

[@GonzoTehGreat]

You should make a whole series on Rome. Life in the empire for citizens and slaves, famous people/leaders/politicians and of course, the important wars & battles. You've already covered quite a lot of these topics but sporadically here and there rather than chronologically as part of a history of Rome. It would be nice to watch a series which takes us from the founding the the republic to the end of the empire. There must be enough content there for dozens of videos!

[@AJayQDR]

The Romans always won the last battle. No matter how many times they lost they kept coming back. The enemies on the other hand never recovered from a loss.

[@josepnebotrius872]

Romans were incredibly resilient and stubborn. But, the romans won almost any battle in which Hannibal was not present. The Exception was Zama.

[@josepnebotrius872]

Indeed, although Romans were famed for being very aggressive. Ended practising an strategy called Fabian strategy. That can be simplified as never fight Hannibal directly and weaken his allies and troops through attrition. @Metatron will probably agree. This Fabian strategy has also been copied several times as by example the continental army under Washington or the allies fighting Napoleon in the Leipzig campaign.

[@AJayQDR]

@@josepnebotrius872 yes Napoleón came to my mind as I was reading your comment. The individual vs system is an old theme, the system always wins because the individual always has flaws and all it takes is to lose once then you are done.

[@donofwar]

So what do u think about Lucius Aemilius Paullus Macedonicus.

[@guerrierosannita]

I wish they taught history in school like this! Please make more videos like this series, i loved it (i like the samnite wars, maybe you could consider making a video about that)

[@TheBonzobonzo]

This was amazing !!

[@istvansipos9940]

great videos. thanx for them. and a question from me: Hannibal used the longer, continental way and did not launch a maritime attack because the sea was ruled and dominated by the Roman navy. Clear. But how could he then cross the sea from Italy when Carthage needed to be defended? Sailing to Italy was impossible but sailing to Africa somehow still possible? Did the Romans let him to do this so that they can finish the war? Seems logical but you dont mention the reason.

[@alesmatoh4625]

he mentioned the negotiating. The part of it was also save return for Hannibal and his men, meaning that the war is over. And yea, as you said, that was their tactic to get rid of Hannibal later on.

[@symonjones43]

Nice job with the riveted mail

[@SODEMO2007]

Great vid. Might wanna mention what the Romans did to Carthage after they won though. It was some real game of thrones shit.

[@TonyStark-bg6np]

Oof

[@washlappen4862]

Great Video! Could you do a video about the first campaigns of the Germans against the roman empire?

[@edmundguzman7813]

that was great! Thank you!

[@Vlad-eu1oq]

Great video as always. Can you cover the dacian wars next?

[@metatronyt]

+Vlad JMK Eventually I will for now I have other videos in mind in the "must do" list :D

[@bwoodrow5655]

Please do more of these types of videos!

[@wolframdregaar620]

I share all of your videos.

[@metatronyt]

+john winters Thank you so much for that!

[@jaylene1701]

Cool Introduction!

[@CidGuerreiro1234]

I imagine it's a little overdone by now, but can we get anything on Attila the Hun, or perhaps Joan of Arc? Alexander the Great would be awesome too. I'm loving your channel, very glad I subscribed :)

[@aaronpaul9188]

Joan of Arc was there for about 20 minutes. You want Bertrand du Guesclin. That is a cool story. He was a master of guerilla tactics and the fabian strategy. He only fought about 6 battles and I think lost two of them, but he drove the english out of all of france save bordeaux. He completely undid the battles of Crecy and Poitiers.

[@CidGuerreiro1234]

Yeah I know Joan of Arc was more of a symbol than an actual general. Lots of misconceptions about her (and many other historical figures).

[@aaronpaul9188]

CidGuerreiro1234 What she did was give legitimacy to Charles VII after his father disowned him. (His father, Charles VI was insane, not the last valois king to be so). Thats not nothing, and it helped revitalize his cause. But, that also largely makes her a glorified cheerleader. Look up Bertrand du Guesclin, that is a cool story. I'm still waiting for the movie about him.

[@parthiancapitalist2733]

I wonder who would win: Caesar or Scipio?

[@stuka80]

looking at their military skills and situation in which they operated and performed, Scipio is by far the superior commander.

[@stevethebarbarian99]

@@stuka80 It's an impossible question, but Caesar should have lost at least 2 battles: Alesia and Pharsalus. Losing either would see him dead With equal terrain, equal troops, who knows? No-one.

[@palabragris]

I feel the strong need to go play rome total war now... XD

[@mattbrown5511]

awesome video Thank you

[@stevetragg]

Love this!!!

[@miroslavkvicala4733]

Very well done :)

[@Brandazzo22]

Scipio Africanus kicked the shit out of Hannibal and made the latter his bitch.

[@mrsn6264]

thank you, great job,

[@kohrakthehorriblebionicle6187]

really really excellent couple of videos on this subject mate, I think perhaps you're wasted as an English teacher, maybe history would be better

[@metatronyt]

Well thank you very much for that pal :3

[@megdicheomar7211]

Good video , but here we learn about the great leader hannibal barca , respect from tunisia

[@coracorvus]

We're just doing this in history lessons!

[@dawnjones9983]

I love your videos Metatron and could do a video on the emperor Constantine.

[@norbertbatiuk121]

Impressive! is it true that Hannibal was banished from the city after his defeat and had to flee to "modern turkey"- region? And had to stay low in order to not get assassinated by Roman spyes?

[@Normacly]

+Norbert Batiuk Scipio actually allowed Hannibal to remain as the civil leader of Carthage. Unlike most other Roman leaders, Scipio was known to be a pretty lenient person and he often prefer diplomacy over force. It is only after Scipio retired from politics that the other more conservative/revengeful Romans were able to go after Hannibal. Hannibal also pissed off the Carthaginian elites with his series of dictatorial reforms. With the Roman threatening war, Hannibal decided to go into exile himself to save Carthage from possible annihilation (which still got destroyed anyways). Scipio tried to save Hannibal and Carthage, but due to leaving politics so early he didn't have the influence to do so. Hannibal accepted an offer to fight for Seleucid King Antiochos III who ruled most of Asia Minor. Then, Antiochos decided to invade the Roman-allied Greek city states, thus drawing in the Romans. Antiochos was forced back to Asia Minor, where a Roman army led by Scipio Asiaticus (younger brother) and Africanus would defeat him. Meanwhile, Hannibal was placed in charge of Antiochos fleet that the Romans quickly defeated in battle. Hannibal fled again since he knew the Romans would demand Antiochos to hand him off as part of the peace treaty. Hannibal ended up in a minor kingdom in northern Asia Minor and helped protect it, but the ruler gave up Hannibal when the Romans (now the sole superpower of the entire Mediterranean) demanded it. Hannibal decided to commit suicide rather than suffer at the hands of the Romans.

[@norbertbatiuk121]

+Normacly Interesting! Thank you very much!

[@nemo0036]

Hey, Metatron! Is it just me, or does the opening move in Illipa sound similar to Hannibal's opening move at the Trebia.

[@baalhadad6297]

+Nemo003 Yep, Scipio copied Hannibaal's strategy and used it against the Carthaginians, smart move.

[@OljeiKhan]

If the Carthaginians actually raised trained armies instead of buying mercenaries and recruiting tribesmen from Gaul&Iberia , they would stand a chance. The Romans loved their nation , their armies mostly spoke one language , and everyone had a lot in common with each other. While in the Carthaginian camp , you have Gauls , Iberian , Balearic slingers , Numidians and Libyans and some Carthaginians. 6 different languages ; 6 differet types of people. One army fights for their nation , the other is mostly fighting for money.

[@hazzmati]

Carthaginians didn't lose the war because of the mercenaries, Rome was just more powerful. They had more men, more influence. They were stubborn and had an iron will to win the war. Carthage wasn't as interested and didn't support Hannibal so much. The mercenaries did their job, it was the support from his own faction Hannibal lacked.

[@ColasTeam]

+hazzmati keep in mind the Punic wars were the equivalent of the WW for the US, it was this war which turned into the juggernaut they went down in history as. At this point in history they hadn't even conquered all of Italy yet.

[@hazzmati]

Ok maybe not influence but they had bigger armies, higher rate of replenishment of troops and an iron will to win the war

[@woutvermeulen4883]

they had a real iron will because in the battle of cannae rome lost 20% of its adult male population

[@woutvermeulen4883]

and also the invasion force of scipio was all volunteers

[@wartstein8814]

Both Videos great and put together very well! Do you think that there was a point in history when Hannibal himself made a critical mistake (and not other carth. leaders)? Or let me put it this way: Could Hannibal at one point be sucsessfull in winning the conflict? As far as I know there is a discussion about if he should have besieged Rome or not. Most probably he would not have been able to take the city, but maybe the frigthened Romans would have negotiated some peace treaty? I´d really appreciate your opinion on that, Metatron. Thanks again for the great videos, keep doing your stuff!!!

[@BENCMEN]

more vids like this please:)

[@thomaszhang3101]

Love it!

[@DeutscherDummer]

Hah, I understood the beginning ! I guess I do remember something from those latin classes.

[@charliemashara477]

It is good learn this stuff because history repeats itself.

[@joshnim]

Great video

[@IceniTotalWar]

Hannibal at the Gates ! Well i just put an "Out to Lunch" sign up 😁😁

[@sillysad3198]

there is plenty of hindsight in our historical studies... it would be utterly interesting to learn what did Scipio and Hannibal know about the war, the situation and each other... and WHEN. There were now radio in ancient Rome!!! How were they learning news? How significantly their decisions were delayed? I want to know how do they perceive the world :-( :-( P. S. and also you used modern days maps :-( what do ancients know about the geography?

[@TannithVQ]

Thank you. Do you have any suggestions for reading material in English on the Punic wars?

[@waynemyers2469]

Liddel Hart's book, Greater than Napolean, gives an excellent view of the 2nd Punic War and specifically, Scipio's actions within that context and, besides, it's an essential book for anyone interested in that period...

[@romulusremus6912]

Fantastic.

[@Ixor779]

Did I spot some Europa Barbarorum sprites there? Great video.

[@myn-word9505]

Metatron do a video about who will win in a battle : Romans vs middle age infantry and knights

[@TheJamie1103]

plz do a video about signifiers trumpeteers etc the morale/passive troops

[@JeyyPi]

16:09 Where to get the picture?

[@NotMeButAnother]

Beautifully told, but I'd actually be interested in hearing the story of the Punic Wars from the Carthagian point of view for a change.

[@alexmiliki]

Hannibal beats Romans > The cartaginian Senate refuses to send help > Carthaginians then blame Hannibal for losing Zama. They really shoot themselves in the foot, they feared hannibal would do a Julius Caesar.

[@miracleyang3048]

@@alexmiliki Hannibal: why the Senate refuses to send help? they fear that you will do a Julius Caesar Hannibal: Who the fuck is that

[@diogenesofsinope6502]

'Twas an honour to serve Rome sir

[@BGgamesca]

Great video, if your planning on doing more, Vercingetorix could be an interesting character.

[@metatronyt]

+BGgamesca I want my channel to cover all Roman history, so I have another 200 + videos to make on this subject xD xD

[@BGgamesca]

Nice, I look forwards the them.

[@Killobot42]

+Metatron i look forward to watching them :D

[@rhysnichols8608]

I still baffles me that Carthage didn’t send Hannibal significant reinforcements in the 9 years he was in Italy waiting to siege Rome. It was probably worth sending a huge fleet with as many men and supplies as possible and risk losing many ships in battle, if even a portion got through it would’ve been 1 step closer to the fall of Rome. Proper communication and an attempt at naval supremacy should have been made. They could have even ferried across small numbers of men across a period of several months and years, even 1000 at a time which could slip past Roman naval patrols. They had years to do something to aid Hannibal. Understandably it was risky but the stakes demanded it, the Carthaginian leadership seemed only to give half hearted effort to help Hannibal.

[@Fred-px5xu]

Scipio Africanus remains a very underrated general. If I have but one critique; the term Spanish is modern one. You are supposedly a stickler for facts Metatron, the more accurate term is Iberian tribes not Spanish. Just as one uses Gaulic not French tribes. With that said the criticism is minor. The rest was on point. Wonderful video lecture. Indeed brilliant work.🧐🤔💯👊👍

[@Pizzagulper]

Yeah I still think that, that picture is still better than the original. :)

[@CoconutSundae]

Based on a comparison between each culture (Rome/Carthage) and the values held by our modern one, would you say the good guys won the Punic wars? Put another way, if we could see the futures both nations had in mind for the world, would the Roman version be preferable to us? Thanks, Phil

[@mrmoth26]

Talk about Boudicca, She was THICC! If she would go to battle naked all the men from both sides (and some women) would be distracted!

[@cgarrand08]

great video very informative but entertaining still! i believe that after Zama and peace treaties there was a third punic war. so i don't know how accurate the very ending is although the premise that when Carthage was destroyed in the third punic war Rome had achieved complete control of the Mediterranean is still correct!

[@woutvermeulen4883]

the third punic war was when the cartiginians were already subjugated and they had already handed out their weapons before it started

[@franciscodiaz7557]

Escipión el africano era un genio militar, hay una trilogía de Santiago Posteguillo muy buena al respecto.

[@andread5560]

I think thar Scipio is one of the greteast general of human history. He faced an enemy capable of defeating the roman , he changed tactic every time , conquered Spain, had the capacity to fix the problem of the weak roman cavalry helping Massinissa , then he faced another military genius at Zama and defeted him. Scipio is one of the few general that have never been defeated.

[@gabrielschake6259]

Man I love history!

[@БожоС]

Where did you buyed your Great helm and how much it costed? Can you send me a link?

[@b33lze6u6]

soo ive seen a few documentaries and heard from places that hannibal wasn't really a genius and post roman victory they hyped hannibal up to make themselves seem that much greater. is this not true?

[@neutronalchemist3241]

+b33lze6u6 He really was a genius, way ahead of his time. Mind that he had to fight (usually obtaining great victories) with what he had at disposition. Few african hevy infantry, the rest mercenaries from Gaul, Spain, Balearic Islands, Numidia, all with different fighting styles, often not really reliable, but he managed to extract the best from every one of them often using even their weakness at his advantge, and always perfectly using the environment as a weapon that worked for him. But, like Napoleon centuries after, he, in the end, trained his own enemies. The Roman generals of the late part of the war were wastly superior to those of the early part, cause they grew up studyng Hannibal's strategies. At Zama, Scipio simply made that Hannibal could'nt invent anything. The final disposition of his men, in a long line, was to avoid every surprise, to prevent any outflanking maneuver, and rely only on the strenght of the heavy infantry.

[@HaNsWiDjAjA]

That did not make much sense really. Why would the Romans paint him as such a genius, when it showed them to be such utter fools for most of the war except at the very end?

[@Efrello]

The Romans had a different mindset. Today to promote war a government must depict the enemies as brutes, vile, evil all around people or the general public will not buy the necessity for war. Then war was not seen as a bad thing... if the result of war was more resouces, more stability, security and glory. But the tale of a war needed heroes and foes. Big heroes and big foes. Like the Greeks, the Roman believed that a strong and morally superior hero needed an equally worty and moral opponent.

[@alexmiliki]

If he wasn't a genius Cannae wouldn't be taught even nowadays in military academies. And, from the sources I have read, Zama was an uphill battle. He had never used elefants in mase before for example. Aditionally he didn't have the trust of the senate, when he was in Italy the carthaginians refused to reinforce him fearing he would overthrow the goverment if he managed to beat Rome.

[@kivati]

alexmiliki that's rubbish, the senate tried on multiple occasions to support him, but failures elsewhere didnt help

[@seb2750]

So, who here lives at modern day New Carthage in Spain?