By Sophia Prescott
Stanford University medieval studies professor Patrick Hunt lectured at UCSB on Hannibal.
The brilliant Carthaganian general Hannibal lived over 2,000 years ago, yet his war tactics are so memorable and ingenious that they are still used today to train modern leaders of military intelligence, says medieval studies scholar Patrick Hunt.
In a talk last week at UC Santa Barbara, Hunt said he sometimes speaks about Hannibal at the U.S. Naval War College to an audience of CIA, NSA, FBI, and other military intelligence agencies.
“They are all grad students with the U.S. Naval War College and they want to know how Hannibal did what he did,” he said. “What was his secret weapon?”
Hunt is a medieval studies professor at Stanford University, an explorer for National Geographic, and a best-selling Amazon author. His lecture was co-sponsored by UCSB’s departments of Classics, History, and History of Art & Architecture.
According to Hunt, Hannibal’s secret weapon was his innovative and strategic use of nature to give his troops an edge.
Rome was on track to conquer the world before the Second Punic War between Carthage and Rome, which began in 218 B.C. Hannibal’s weaponization of nature was critical to his many successes against Rome which eventually led the war to become known as “Hannibal’s War,” Hunt said.
Hannibal’s first major victory was in Trebbia, where he lured Roman soldiers across a frozen river so that by the time they got across they would be freezing, their icy clothes stuck to them. In this neutralized state, Hannibal’s soldiers attacked them.
Stanford medieval studies professor Patrick Hunt at a UC Santa Barbara lecture last week titled “Hannibal’s Secret Weapon.” He is showing a photo from a mountain pass where he believes military general Hannibal crossed the Alps.
“Rome said that Hannibal was winning the first battle because of winter,” Hunt said. What the Romans did not know was that Hannibal’s victory was due to an intentional and carefully composed strategy—not to luck. He used the cold winter conditions as a strategic weapon to his advantage.
Hannibal used other simple yet ingenious tactics to trick his enemy. He moved his army at night to avoid being seen, a rare and unexpected move. Hannibal also used thick fog as a cover for ambushes and disguised his soldiers as Romans after multiple battles to confuse the real Romans.
Hunt emphasized that one of Hannibal’s most impressive strategies was developed when Hannibal needed to move his army through a pass obstructed by Roman troops, a seemingly impossible task. Undeterred, Hannibal tied a group of cattle together with rope and torches. He then lit the torches, inciting a stampede which caused the Romans to think that Hannibal was moving his army that night. The plan worked seamlessly and the Romans followed the cattle, allowing Hannibal’s army to pass through Roman territory unscathed.
Stanford medieval studies scholar Patrick Hunt at UC Santa Barbara. He shows a map of the territory where Hannibal’s warfare took place—what is now modern-day North Africa and Spain.
Hunt also asserted that “[Hannibal] was probably the father of biological warfare.” For example, he contaminated the Romans’ drinking water with dead bodies.
Hannibal’s most famous endeavor was when he crossed the Alps, surprising Roman troops who thought the Alps were uncrossable. Researchers today are still trying to figure out how he did it, and Hunt has spent much of his life participating in this research.
“It’s a nine-day journey. And he's ambushed in two places— at the gateway to the Alps and one day's march from the summit. These are important clues. Our team’s been over 35 alpine passes just in this western half of the Alps,” said Hunt.
“Tracking Hannibal has been, according to my students, an obsession of mine.”
Hunt concluded his lecture by revealing a theory that Machiavelli’s most famous line from The Prince is about the brilliant and brutal Hannibal’s leadership style. “It is better to be feared than to be loved, if one cannot be both,” wrote Machiavelli.
Sophia Prescott is a third-year UC Santa Barbara student double majoring in Economics and Environmental Studies. She wrote this article for her Digital Journalism class.