The Roman Republic was stubborn af

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• PugJesus@piefed.social ⁨19⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago

  Explanation: In the Second Punic War between Rome and Carthage ("Punics"), the Carthaginian forces achieved several years of victory early in the war under the military genius Hannibal Barca. Hannibal managed to win several massive battles, utterly obliterating entire Roman armies in Italy, killing or taking prisoner a significant percentage of Rome’s military-age male population. Any sane polity would have sued for peace!

  … the Roman Republic was not a sane polity. Even by the standards of their time and region, the Roman Republic was noted as unusually stubborn and vengeful. Once they stopped feeding Roman armies to Hannibal in open battle, instead opting to offer battle only on fields of their choice, not battlefields the near-invincible military genius had chosen, Hannibal’s victories dried up.

  Rome, furthermore, did what it did best, even at that early point - adapted and integrated foreigners and their ideas. Additional armies were raised from slaves, foreigners, criminals, and the poor (😱); the great Roman military genius Scipio Africanus came into command and adapted Hannibal’s tactics, as well as Spanish equipment and North African cavalry, into his forces; and the heartland of Carthage itself was invaded, with Hannibal forced to meet Scipio Africanus on a battlefield of Scipio’s choosing at the Battle of Zama, and subsequently losing.

  Carthage, being a sane polity, would sue for peace, ending the Second Punic War.

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