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Polybius: 2 ideas worth knowing

2 ideas from Polybius, each explained in a minute and credited to the original work. Free on Savvy.

• Hannibal marched dozens of war elephants across the Alps to invade Rome

  In 218 BCE, Carthaginian general Hannibal led roughly 60,000 soldiers, thousands of horses and dozens of elephants over the Alps in winter to attack Rome from a direction it never …

  — Polybius, The Histories

• Outnumbered nearly 2-to-1, Hannibal still surrounded and destroyed a Roman army in a day

  At Cannae in 216 BC, Hannibal let his center sag backward under Roman pressure while his flanks and cavalry swung around the sides, closing a ring around the entire Roman force. Te…

  — Polybius, The Histories

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