IS THE CARSLC4A TIKES SAT., FEMUMt IS. 1852 :
' clack insrroitY month special section, part I
enormous winy to surprise Hannibal in what they
felt to be a stateof unreadiness: j
The armies met in the Battle of Trasimeno where
the greatest defeat that Rome ever suffered took;
place. Rome lost over 25,000 men; Hannibal but;
1500. . '
the road to Rome -was now open, Fabius, the;
general who succeeded Famenuis, kept delaying to
enjoin Hannibal in battle. These delays satisfied
Hannibal, for he sought reinforcements from Car
thage which came in wholly inadequate numbers.
Finally, the two armies met at Cannae. Here,
with forces less than half of Rome's Hannibal put
into action the now famous pincer strategy that was
so successfully copied by Hitler in Belgium. With
his cen the weakest and his strength on either. ,
flank, he drew the Romans into the center and clos
ed in for the massacre. With the loss of 70,000 men, '
all of Rome except the capital city now belonged to
Hannibal. However, with little artillery to siege a ci
ty and no secure route or source of supplies, he'
decided against attacking the city. He knew how to
win battles, but he did not have the substance from
Carthage to win the country of Rome. ; ! . ; .
For fifteen years in all, he roamed the coun
tryside, but his homeland was in such political tur
moil that he was finally called home to repel attacks
by Scipio, a Roman general who had defeated Car-
thage in battle on her own soil.
He met the army of Scipio and Massinissa, a
Numidian and former ally of Carthage in battle at;
Zama where be was defeated. Rome then demanded
that a massive debt be paid by Carthage. Hannibal
used his superior organizational and statesman
skills to form a government, and he was able to an
nounce that Carthage would pay the indemnity in
one sum. Frightened by the prospect of a once again
powerful! Carthage under the leadership of Han
nibal,, Rome demanded instead that he surrender
himself. He refused, fled in exile; and, taking the
poison that he had secreted for such an event, died
at the age of 61. His audacious ability to correctly
assess the tactical situation and devise strategies
that assured success in battle with a concomitant
regard for the safety of his men has caused Han
nibal's name to be synonymous with military,
genius. . -
Massinissa (238-149 B.C.)
Born in a southern Numidian area called'
Massylia, Massinissa received his education in Car
thage where he was an outstanding student in
languages and military strategy. While there, he met
and fell in love with Sophronisba, Hannibal's niece.
This act would have a profound effect upon Han-
nibal's fate. It seems inevitable that youth must per
form daring feats to attract the eye of the beloved.
Massinissa was up exception.
Not yet eighteen, he elected to join Hasdrubal,
Sophronisba's father and the general in charge of
Carthage's forces in Spain. There he distinguished
himself in two battles against a Roman army when
Hannibal was winning in Italy. V
Meanwhile, Syphax, the king of Numidia, joined
with Rome to attack, Carthage. In order to prevent
this, Sophronisba was forced to marry Syphax. '
When Massinissa heard of this, .he left the Carthagi
nian army and became a Roman ally. Syphax and :
his army then went south to Massylia, Massinissa's
homeland,, and soundly defeated it. Wounded, ,
Massinissa pretended to have been slain and re-r
mained in hiding until Scipio, Hannibal's foe, land-:
ed in Africa.
, "J V V
( -5
r ii
Mulai Ismael
-claimed King of Numidia" and a "Roman citizen
, wit,h senatorial rank. . . .the first strangerso
honored" he went into battle against Hannibal who
'had been' called back to Carthage, and defeated t
him. - ' s ' i
' . He ruled his family and country with stern ;
' benevolence, increasing the wealth and prestige of
the latter for 61 years. His poignant love story was
' depicted in the Italian film "Cabiria" in 1914.
, The advent of Christianity upon the continent of
Africa continued the Europeans' quest for col- r
- onization; however, a new rationale was given in
the form of enlightening the pagan native popula-,
Jion. 1
Initially; the Europeans came in quietly, settling
In as traders ' and missionaries, ' and generally
, welcomed by the hospitable blacks on the western ;
shore; The European settlements most often were:
along the sea coast so that; like the American In-;
dian, the native population was pushed further in-!
ward, . away from the . Atlantic coastline; and i
southward toward central Africa (by the Romans :
. and Greeks) away from that area most vital for con-1
trol of the seacoast. All of this was gradual, almost
imperceptible. - & ; f ' lr ' ? ;
I King Kalydosos (7th Century A.D.) ' ,
In northeast Africa, the area closest to the bir-
' thplace of Christianity and Mohammedanism
(Islam), blacks had gradually migrated from the
seacoast, so that by the 7th Century, they had firm
ly established themselves in Ethiopia. There, they '
repeatedly suffered the incursions into this area
(that . was by this time largely Christian) by the
burgeoning Muslim (Arab) armies that swarmed the;
eastern section of Africa and easily occupied Egypt, j
Having done so in 634 A D. with an army of only
4,090 men, the Muslims, ' under Abdullah . the !
n Viceroy of Egypt, now turned southward with the;
confidence born from the easy defeat , of Egypt.
- Meeting and overcoming limited resistance, fur-j
Other southward they pressed the fleeing Ethiopians:
until the latter, joining at an assigned area with
their king, Kalydosos, leading the way, they massed;
into a group of 100,000 expertly trained courageous .
troops that almost totally destroyed the Muslims.;
The bow-and-arrow corps was so skillful that the.
devastation it wreaked astonished the world.
Defeated, the remnants of the Arabian army
retired northward and remained there for eight
years; rebuilding and retraining to again attack
King Kalydosos and ; his country (then called1
Makuria).
In 651 A.D., the decision was made by the Arab
viceroy of Egypt to avenge the earlier slaughter by
Kalydosos, so once more the Muslims invaded
Makuria. This time they penetrated deeply enough .
to capture and raze the capital city of Dongola. All ;
. major buildings, including the great cathedral, were
destroyed by massive catapults. Often, the loss of
;the capital in ancient times signalled capitulation; ;
however, King KalydpsOs regrouped. So outraged :
, were the blacks that it soon became apparent to the .
Arabs that the king and his army would fight to they, , formed the largest ethnic groups in India and
death. An armistice was then declared that lasted became known as Sidis, seized the island of Janjira,
600 years. - -: rnow known as Bombay. They also settled in Gu-
Some historians : betieve f that
Ethiopia had an enormous political and religious? s ;. Malik Ambar (1548-1628)
. impactvupon the world for it created a buffer zone . , In 1600, Malik Ambar, a former Ethiopian slave
between the Afro-Asian Islamic, forces and the ! bfthe Queen;; became head of Bombay's army.
' white, Christian Europeans. A theory has beerf;pr(v During coup in which the queen was killed by
' mulgated that had it not been for King Kalydosos, tebels, hc remained a loyalist and overcame the
Ethiopia, as an Islamic country, may have' rebellion. 'Seven years later, through various
prevented Europe from colonizing Africa Con-' , military encounters; he, ruled an area east of Bom-
A stern but just ruler, the tenets of his faith were
strictly adhered to. Crime in his land was almost
unheard of for the criminal paid dearly. He was
deeply loved by his poor subjects.
Reigning for 55 years, he began to rebuild
Morocco into its former glory with 25,000 Christian .
slaves. .Trade was reestablished throughout north
Africa and southern Europe. Although he ac
cumulated much wealth in this way, he lived simply
for eighty years.
(Africa and Asia)
The Middle East (Asia Minor) is most noted for
its black militarists who spread the world of Islam
throughout Africa and Europe.
Some, however, looked further east. For cen
turies, Ethiopia and the other eastern countries of
Africa traded with the countries in Asia and
established enclaves there. So too did refugees from
the. holy, wars emigrate to Asia. Some became
mercenaries in the armiesof India. Jn the middle of
the 15th Century, Barbek Shah was the first Indian
ruler to employ blacks in an Asian army. There
were a( least 8,000 soldiers, and his most faithful
were rewarded by promotions to high levels in the
army and navy.
As early as the 14th century, Ethiopians, who
Sharing this section of the Deccan with another, .
Emperor Jahanghvthere were Constant military .
conflicts- between the two. Ambar's strategies,!
along with the loyalty from his Muslim forces; most
often found the fortunes of war in his favor. This
would continue for almost twenty years. - '
When the British attempted to gain control of the
, gateway to India, Malik Ambar, as Master of Jan-,,
jirn,' saw through their duplicity and seized a -caravan
as hostage; At the demand for its returnr
Ambar countered with the demand that they leave.
They left, ';V--:;;V"'
During his reign, Malik Ambar was a supreme'
: militarist, consistent 1 statesman," enterprising H
' economist, and just ruler. Tyrannical slavery was
abolished and the fractious ethnic groups under his '
rule remained peaceful. ,
. Close to winning in his wars with Jahangir and
his allies, he was not to enjoy the Victory, for hot
died at age eighty In 1628... ; J
Queen Ann Nzingi ( c. 1580-1663)
For centuries the" Europeans, content to over
r come through trading and religion rather than by
might; had been gradually penetrating the African.;
continent on the west coast. By the 15th century; '
Portugal had made incursions deep into the area of
the Kongo, all under the guise of "Christian
Enlightenment". Numbers of the kings had been
converted,r relinquished their African names for '
Portuguese titles under baptism, and allowed Euro
pean "aides' in their courts. s; ;
All went as planned until during the late 16th and ,
early 1 7th century the Portuguese became unmask-;
ed through their ruthless aggressiveness in slave
:. trading. J-- ':'''' ' . .;' ;. )y-;'
. It should be noted that slavery had been in ex
istence from time immemoriaU A slave, before the;
commercial aspects of slavery entered in such a
large measure during European expansion and col-
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With Roman aid. he attacked Syphax's forces ' fyersely, Ethiopia, as a Christian country, may have! j,bay.
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and captured the leader and marched him in chains
to the capital. There he abandoned all caution and ,
took the willing Sophronisba as his wife; willing to
die with a Numidian rather than with his Romans.
When Syphax heard what had been done, he begged
to Romans to forgive him and blamed the charms
of his wife, not Massinissa's, for . blinding his
reason. r t
Scipio, the Roman Supreme Commander who so'
admired Massinissa and saw a great military future -
for the young man, called Massinissa in and advised
him to recognize that passion could destroy all that u
he had done and could do since Numidia and all of v
its people now belonged to Rome.
After agonizing over his choice he agreed with '
Scipio's logic. Rather than have his beloved fall into '
Roman bands, he sent . a poison ; potion . to 1
Sophronisba as she requested, and turned his attcn- "
tion to defeating Carthage with a vengeance. Pro-
prevented the Islamic forces from conquering-all of
Africa, in i-'Fxmrft n. ,? ry
r" Mulai Ismael (1647-1727)
As Sultan of Morocco, Mulai Ismael commanded
an army that soundly defeated the Turks and
Berbers of Atlas. He also was head of an army that
broke Spain's grip on Africa and sent them reeling
New booklet
Outlines
Struqales Of
back to Europe, So, too, was England forced to li lompc CMI
leave Tangiers and Fort Charles. t uaiUCO Ulty
When Morocco was free of foreign intervention,5
Ismael sent his ships along the western coast of
' Europe as far north as England. Raiding the coun-i
tries along the way, he acquired thousands of Euro-,
pean slaves; learned, men and women as well as
common folk. The many he acquired were held for
ransom with the command that it be paid for by the
.Christian churches. In this way he felt he was
revenging the Muslims (Moors) who were enslaved
in Europe. . , . . ':,-. ., 1 .... i-
(Continued from Page 17)
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