WI: Hannibal of the Celts

dcharles

Banned
One of the legends in the story of Hannibal details how, as a nine year old, he begged his father to come along when his father went on campaign in Iberia. As the story goes, his father held him over a fire and made him swear that he would always be an enemy of the Romans. Hannibal swore the oath and was allowed to come along.

What if, once he gets to Iberia, he gets kidnapped? He's kidnapped by a Celtiberian tribe--he can stay with the tribe that kidnaps him or be traded north (perhaps even into Gaul). He starts out as a captive and turns into a member of their society.

Let's assume that Hannibal will still turn into a military genius, and that Rome and Carthage will come into conflict.

I don't think its a given that Carthage is still under the domination of the Barcas, but they could still be running things, too.

I think Hannibal would still hostile to Rome, but not necessarily an ironclad ally of the Carthaginians, especially if the Barcas have fallen out of power.

Anyway, what is the impact of a Celtic military genius coming into his own during the years of Carthaginian-Roman conflict?
 

FillyofDelphi

Banned
That depends; how powerful of a Celtic group does he become a leader in? It's not like the Gauls were a united political entity, but rather a broader cultural-geographic group of tribes and petty kingdoms. Carthage, as a political entity with a core army and navy organization and system of funding/recruitment, can provide its leaders with a much more dependable and varied "toolbox"
 

dcharles

Banned
FillyofDelphi said:
That depends; how powerful of a Celtic group does he become a leader in? It's not like the Gauls were a united political entity, but rather a broader cultural-geographic group of tribes and petty kingdoms. Carthage, as a political entity with a core army and navy organization and system of funding/recruitment, can provide its leaders with a much more dependable and varied "toolbox"
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Well its not fun if he comes from a group with no power. :) From a quick Wiki search, it seems like the Belli and the Arevaci were the two most powerful tribes in Celtiberia, and the Arecomici were a very powerful and advanced group in southern Gaul.
 

FillyofDelphi

Banned
dcharleos said:
Well its not fun if he comes from a group with no power. :) From a quick Wiki search, it seems like the Belli and the Arevaci were the two most powerful tribes in Celtiberia, and the Arecomici were a very powerful and advanced group in southern Gaul.
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Well, it's not like historically Hannibal had trouble handling Celts, considering how much of the army he ended up using in his famous campaign was eventually made up of Gauls. Off the top of my head, I'd say he gets a reputation raiding Roman military expeditions into Transalpine Gaul, using tactics that the Romans consider "cheating" (Using actual reconissance and ambush tactics... Likely building informants/connections with the Cisalpine Gauls as his reputation grows. Due to this making the Romans appear less of a threat, I doubt this results in him pulling a Phillip of Macedon on any of the other tribes/groups to his north or west... But perhaps after getting enough of a reputation as a warlord of wealth and skill (Perhaps sacking some of the major Greek colonies along the southern French coast?) he gets "invited" into Cisalpine Gaul by local leaders , tempted with marriages, offers of loot, and perhaps vassalage, to liberate them once Rome gets bogged down in the second Punic war, as without Hannibal's historic invasion a greater element of the Republic's forces have to go on the stragic offensive, or is hired on/bribed by Carthage in said war.
 
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