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Originally Posted by Praxus
Because Scipio Africanus massacred 20,000 of his troops and captured another 20,000, while only losing 1,500  |
Not a valid arguement. When the two finally met, Hannibal's army was already decimated beyond repair by desertion and casualties and mercenaries just seeing the pay ain't good enough.
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Originally Posted by Praxus
But in all seriousness he was brilliant at keeping different peoples united (exspecially the traitorous Gauls) against the Romans. Not to mention an excellent field commander that defeated (massacred is a better word) two massive Roman Armies. However once a General of equal ability came along on the Roman side, the Romans triumphed.
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Hannibal was a manouver general without peer in his time. Crossing the Alps was a mark of strategic brilliance. He just could not sustain his losses and could not convince the rest of Italy to abandon Rome.
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Originally Posted by Praxus
I didn't want to make a list 5 miles long (so I confined it mostly to Europe).
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Still missing alot of names. I would put Pausinias instead of Leonidas. The Spartan King who finally killed the Persian Army Leonidas could not stop at Platea.
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Originally Posted by Praxus
I dunno, I've read "The Art of War" and 95% of it so common sensical. If you read ancient histories, then you can realize that most of what is said in this, is already being carried out in the Western World, exspecially by the Great Generals.
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Now it is sensical. What the Art of War actually is is a Field Manual, akin to an ancient version of FM 3.0. I really recommend you read FM 3.0 and you would see just how advance the Art of War was for its time.
Until you learn, you really don't know what is sensical or not. The Great Pharoh Ramses walked into a trap with the Hitties when he believed two Hittie spies who told him that the Hittie Army was so in awe of him that they abandonned the field. Ramses, believing the spies and without checking their stories out, walked straight into a Hittie host.
To answer your other question, Sun Tzu was a mercenary General in demand for his time. He adbhore the slaughter that usually came with combat and as a result, his advice was sought since his victories were often bloodless.