C., though Carthage itself was not destroyed for more than a
century afterwards, and though Hannibal, one of the greatest soldiers
who ever lived, often beat the Romans in the meantime. All sorts of
reasons, many of them true enough in their way, are given for
Hannibal's final defeat. But sea-power, the first and greatest of all,
is commonly left out. His march round the shores of the western
Mediterranean and his invasion of Italy from across the Alps will
remain one of the wonders of war till the end of history. But the mere
fact that he had to go all the way round by land, instead of straight
across by water, was the real prime cause of his defeat. His forces
simply wore themselves out. Why? Look at the map and you will see
that he and his supplies had to go much farther by land than the Romans
and their supplies had to go by water because the Roman victory over
the Carthaginian fleet had made the shortest seaways safe for Romans
and very unsafe for Carthaginians. Then remember that carrying men and
supplies by sea is many times easier than carrying them by land; and
you get the perfect answer.
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