Second Punic War Trivia Quiz

Answer: 218 BC

Hannibal set out for Italy in 218 BC from New Carthage. He crossed the Pyrenees, the Rhone river, and the Alps all in under one year, and by the time he reached Northern Italy, had roughly 30,000 infantry, 6,000 cavalry, and around 30 elephants.

Answer: Tiberius Sempronius Longus

Tiberius Sempronius Longus was actually in Sicily when Hannibal had arrived in Northern Italy. Sempronius was immediately sent to counter Hannibal when Publius Cornelius Scipio, Senior, was injured in combat.

Answer: They broke through the center

The answer is pretty much the entire story. Around 10,000 Romans were able to break through the center, and escaped back to Placentia. The rest of the Romans still in the battle were all either slaughtered or captured.

Answer: Numidian and Gallic cavalry

For many decades, thousands of Gallic women and children had been slaughtered by invading Romans. Being in the rear of the Romans, the Gauls were able to take revenge on their loved ones. They showed no mercy, and, despite heavy casualties on their side, were able to quickly close the trap, and seal the fate of the Roman Army.

Answer: Disguised himself as an anonymous figure when outside

There were many conspiracies against Hannibal, especially among the Gauls. His tactics were usually disliked by his troops, who wanted to be more offensive than Hannibal.

Answer: Gaius Terentius Varro

Gaius Terentius Varro was the consul of 216 BC, and came from a Plebeian family. The other consul was Aemilus Paulus, who came from a Patrician family. Even though Paulus was the more "noble" man, Varro was more popular among the people and the senate.

Answer: Aemilius Paulus

The Roman "hero" of the battle, Aemilus Paulus, was on the Roman right flank with Varro at the beginning of the battle. The right flank was defeated by the Carthaginian cavalry, and while Varro and the rest of the cavalrymen were routed in the battle, Aemilus, being wounded, got down from his horse, and joined the Roman infantrymen in the center.

There is, of course, no way of knowing exactly how he died, but he was most likely either killed by Carthaginian sword or was trampled by his own men during the slaughter.

Answer: Gallic and Spanish infantry

The Gallic and Spanish infantrymen, being in the center crescent of the Carthaginian lines, felt the full impact of the Roman juggernaut. They suffered the most casualties of all of the Carthaginian soldiers.

Answer: His head was beheaded and sent directly to Hannibal

Seeing the severed head of his younger brother, the impact would have been tremendous on Hannibal. In each of the battles that a Roman general had been killed, he treated the general's body with full respect, usually giving it a proper burial. Yet, this was how he was treated in return by the Romans.

Answer: Battle of Zama

In the Battle of Zama, Rome's Publius Cornelius Scipio Jr., assisted by Masinissa of Numidia and his Numidian cavalry, were able to decisively destroy the Carthaginian Army led by Hannibal. But even this final defeat was not on the part of Hannibal's leadership failings, but rather the poor training of the majority of his troops.

This was also the first and only battle in which the Romans had more cavalry than the Carthaginians.