Ernle bradford biography samples

In the years that followed, Hannibal led the Carthaginian war on Rome through some of the most brutal and costly battles in recorded history. In this richly detailed biography, Ernle Bradford tells the story of a great leader whose military strategies have been studied and copied by commanders throughout history, from his own Roman enemies to Napoleon Bonaparte.

Copy and paste the code into your website. Copyright - All Rights Reserved. Privacy at OverDrive. A keen yachtsman himself, Bradford spent almost 30 years sailing the Mediterranean, and many of his books are set there. His book, The Journeying Moon describes some of these voyages. Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, Inc. ISBN Paul the traveller: St.

Paul and his world. Archived from the original on 10 November Retrieved 10 November — via Open WorldCat. Open Road Integrated Media, Incorporated. The Mighty Hood. White Lion Publishers. Gibraltar: the History of a Fortress.

Ernle bradford biography samples: In this richly detailed biography, Ernle

Such knowledge as the Greeks and Carthaginians had of this Latin power cannot have been comforting, but at the same time scarcely threatening. Carthage had concluded two treaties with Rome in the 6th and 4th centuries B. But as Roman interests expanded and the whole of southern Italy came under their sway, it became clear that they would not stop there.

It was the Carthaginians who were always prepared, whenever possible, to reach an accommodation with these powerful new neighbours who—so long as they had been content with the land—seemed no threat to them. It was Rome which was the military and expansionist power. The Carthaginians, as they had shown in previous centuries during their struggles with the Greeks, were often prepared to back down, provided that their vital concerns were not endangered.

The wars which followed between Carthage and Rome, wars of exceptional scope covering the whole Mediterranean sea, were always triggered off by Rome. The Carthaginians had no territorial designs on Europe; they wished only to be left in peace in their North African territory, to conduct their manufacturing and trading. As a race they were few in number—with the result that, when they became involved in a large-scale war, the armies that they fielded had necessarily to be composed largely of mercenaries.

Carthaginian-generalled, and with an elite of Carthaginian officers and troops, these armies comprised the many races that came within the sway of their sea-empire. Some points of similarity can be found between the military systems of the British and Carthaginian empires. That he was finally unsuccessful was because the Romans had been quick to learn an all-important lesson—to succeed in the Mediterranean theatre it is essential to have command of the sea.

In the early stages of this great war the Carthaginians, with centuries of experience behind them, had found little difficulty in trouncing the Romans in naval engagements and in harrying their coastline. But one of the Roman qualities which would greatly assist them to their successful imperial role was an ability to learn from mistakes.

Taking as a model, so it is said, a Carthaginian warship that had run aground and been captured intact, the Romans built in a short space of time a fleet of a hundred and twenty ships. Before very long they had become so adept at handling them that they mastered their enemies at sea.

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The decisive battle took place off western Sicily—decisive because it rendered untenable the hold that Hamilcar Barca still had upon the last of the Carthaginian bases in the island. For seven years Hamilcar had conducted a brilliant campaign out of his great mountain-fortress of Mount Eryx in western Sicily. The decisive defeat of the Carthaginian fleet finally induced the government to sue for peace.

Weary of a war that had cost them so much money and lost them so many men, and which now left them defenceless at sea, they recalled their great general. The peace treaty between the two countries was concluded in B. The Romans, fully conscious that Hamilcar was still in control of much of the Sicilian hinterland, and ready for peace themselves after a war that had lasted longer than any in recorded history, were even prepared to let the Carthaginian general and his army leave Sicily without a token submission.

Ernle bradford biography samples: Ernle Bradford was born

Carthage, nevertheless, had to pay dearly for her defeat. All the islands between Sicily and Africa, including Malta with its magnificent harbours, had to be ceded to the victors. Sicily passed for ever from the Carthaginian sphere of influence and was reorganised as a Roman province. The Lipari islands to the north of Sicily, dominating the north-south trade routes of the Tyrrhenian Sea, were also ceded to Rome.

At the same time the Carthaginians were compelled to pay a large indemnity to cover the cost of the war. Hamilcar, foreseeing that the finances of Carthage might not be sufficient to meet all her debts at once, had been careful to return his mercenaries to the parent city in relatively small detachments so that their arrears of pay could be met in gradual instalments.

The result of this was that the mercenaries revolted, to be followed by the slaves, and then by some of the tribesmen in nearby North Africa. Finally, even those Carthaginians in power who were jealous of the Barca family were compelled to call upon Hamilcar.