I've got a list of guys from history I'd love to spend time with. You met Sun Tzu on day 1 of Rock-tober. It's been 2500 years since his death, yet modern military strategists are still poring over his manuscripts.
Charlemagne, whose military conquests united most of Europe, almost single-handedly kick-started the Renaissance half a millennia early.
And then there's Hannibal.
No. Not the mad genius cannibal, Hannibal Lecter, the mad genius Carthaginian general, Hannibal Barca. Hannibal kept the Roman expansion in check during the second Punic war and nearly changed the course of history for Western Europe.
I suspect Hannibal and Sun Tzu would have gotten along famously. Although born 250 years and 2 continents apart, Hannibal mastered Sun Tzu's tenet of, "He who knows both himself and his enemy need not fear the result of a hundred battles."
Hannibal twice found himself boxed into a canyon at night with a herd of cattle. Both times a Roman contingent controlled a hill near the only exit. The first time, he knew the Roman commander to be fairly aggressive, so he ordered his men to tie straw to the horns of the cattle, set the bundles alight, and drive them across the base of the hill. The aggressive commander chased after the noise and lights around the cattle while Hannibal and his men quietly slipped away on the other side of the hill.
The second incident was identical, but the Roman commander was much less assertive. Hannibal employed the exact same strategy, but realizing this commander was more inclined to sit tight, he drove the cattle between his men and the Roman garrison and once again escaped.
On the eve before the Battle of Cannae, Hannibal, and his senior staff were on a hillside overlooking the Roman garrison. The Carthaginians held a slight cavalry advantage but their infantry units were vastly outnumbered - by 35,000 men in some accounts. It was the largest army fielded by Rome.
Predictably, there was a palpable unease in the Carthaginian camp. A conversation between Hannibal and a member of his senior staff, Gersakkun, was recorded.
Gersakkun: "That's a lot of men."
Hannibal: "True. But there's something we have that they don't."
Gersakkun: Raising an eyebrow, "Really? What's that?"
Hannibal: "In that immense army," pointing to the Roman camp, "they don't have a single man named Gersakkun."
The ensuing laughter was boldly raucous and loud, and it carried in the still night air. Seeing their leaders' calm nonchalance in the face of the immense Roman host energized Hannibal's army, and their nervousness dissipated. The following day, the two forces clashed in an epic battle that lasted until darkness forced a halt. By day's end, Hannibal visited on the Romans one of the most crushing defeats in military history with Rome suffering an 80% casualty rate. Cannae is still studied in military circles as an example of perfect tactical and strategic execution of battle.
There aren't a lot of Carthaginian-themed rock songs in my playlist, but the Hu came through with something that might have been played before one of Genghis's battles. Genghis's story, though, is another post.
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