That was Greece

And yeah Carthage was the superpower of the age

Rome entered the First Punic War not even knowing how to build a navy against the naval superpower

They then won the largest naval battle in history

Rome's early history is not just surviving shit that should be impossible, but actively fucking over the enemy in the process.

^this guy definitely joined caesars legion when given the choice

Second Punic War for example.

In 18 months, Rome lost 1/5th of its adult male population to Carthaginian victories. 40% of its Italian allies changed sides. And Macedon declared war from the other side of the sea.

Rome continued to fight the war for another 15 years and win.

To be fair Hannibal kinda fucked around even after he took control of the countryside

Waited for the perfect opportunity while his armies dwindled

Yeah, he never attacked Rome directly. No one's sure if he could've.

But Rome's total unwillingness to even consider surrender in the face of Hannibal?

Strong shit. They didn't know he wouldn't attack.

Benefit of hindsight gives us that. For all they knew they were facing the imminent destruction of their civilisation.

True. Not many of their vassals switched sides

40% did.

The real deep shit is why 60% didn't.

Did they? I thought that only few of them joined Hannibal and he just plundered the rest when he could and remained neutral-ish when he couldn't

But yea, Rome was on the brink of destruction. Apparently after one massive defeat, they even resorted to human sacrifices.

*After the death or imprisonment of 130,000 Roman troops in two years, 40% of Rome's Italian allies defected to Carthage, giving it control over most of southern Italy.*

wew

Three massive defeats actually. But Cannae was the worst.

Trebia, Trasimene, and then Cannae.

And yes.

Eventually they resorted to human sacrifice

Which they really didn't usually or even unusually do

This was end of the world as we know it type shit

Impressive shit

Man I love ancient Rome

um, battle of cannae was a shitshow

For the Romans, yeah

no i mean, in general... and not even just the battle itself... after the battle was most of a shitshow

I'm impressed by the fact Rome won the war, let alone survived

Idk what you mean, it was a pretty well ordered affair on the Carthaginian side

jk

like.. you know they took where between 1,000 and 20,000 prisoners right?