A New Way to Look at an Old War: A Strategic Study of the Second Punic War.

Abstract

Many scholars have examined the history of the Second Punic War fought by the Romans and Carthaginians from 218 to 202 B.C. These histories include detailed accounts of some of the most famous battles of ancient times. Modern students of military science study these battles so that they will be better able to identify and use the principles employed by past great captains to plan and conduct a future battle or campaign. However, while these accounts are rich in operational art, few historians study the strategic elements of that protracted war. This study begins with a brief recap of Second Punic War up to the Battle of Cannae. Then it analyzes the strategic elements of the war after the Battle of Cannae - focusing on the ends, ways, and means of both sides. During the course of the analysis, other current military principles are identified: decisive point, theater of operation, center of gravity, culminating point, and interior lines.

Open PDF

Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Mar 01, 1997
Accession Number
ADA326647

Entities

People

  • Anita Moyer

Organizations

  • United States Army War College

Tags

Communities of Interest

  • Energy and Power Technologies
  • Engineered Resilient Systems
  • Weapons Technologies

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Agreements
  • Bibliographies
  • Center Of Gravity
  • Governments
  • Iberian Peninsula
  • Mediterranean Sea
  • Military Doctrine
  • Military History
  • Military Science
  • Military Strategy
  • Naval Warfare
  • New York
  • North Africa
  • Students
  • United States
  • War Colleges
  • Warfare

Fields of Study

  • History

Readers

  • Military History of the United States in the 20th Century.