Laeca is my name
Catiline is my best friend
We will conquer Rome
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Cicero must fall
He is insufferable
By my hand he dies
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Cash Money Crassus
A true great man and ally
Is unstoppable
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Cato the Younger
More like Cato the Latro
A disgrace to Rome
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The Optimates
Must be quickly disposed of
I’ll do it myself
Being a senior who is about to graduate and not have access to our wonderful dining center anymore, one skill I really want to improve on this year is cooking. Luckily for me, one of our Acta is to make a Roman dish. The opportunity to practice my cooking while also doing an Acta was too good for me to pass up, so today I am making a simple Roman flatbread.
To begin, I started by making the dough. The recipe called for the use of a blender, which was a bit strange because there’s no way the Romans had a blender, but whatever. First, I measured out 250g flour on my trusty scale, and poured it into the blender. Next, I poured half a tablespoon of baking soda and half a tablespoon of salt, 2 tablespoons of oil, and a bit of water into the blender. After it was all in the blender, I hit it with 5 quick pulses to get the blending process started. After I got it started, I gradually poured some more water in while simultaneously blending.
Now was time for the mixing. I took the dough out of the blender, added some more water, and stirred up the mix until the flour was all mixed. Now for the best part of making bread: kneading. I laid out the flour onto my cutting board and began kneading my delicious flatbread. This is definitely not easy to do well, but after a bit of practice, I got the hang of it.
Next, I put a bit of oil into a pan so the kneaded dough wouldn’t stick to it, threw the dough in there, put a cover on top, and set a timer for 30 minutes waiting for the dough to rise.
After it was all risen, it was time to move on to the rolling. I took the dough out the pan, slapped it back on the board, grabbed my roller, and began the rolling process. This was much easier than kneading, so it went quite well.
Once it was rolled up, it was now time to cut it into pieces, which was super easy because of my mom’s cutting device. I cut the dough up into a bunch of edible little circles and tossed it on the stove to be cooked in a toasty medium-high heat. 5 minutes or so later, and I had completed my flatbread!
All in all, it was a fun experience, the bread was pretty tasty, and I boosted my cooking skills and knowledge of Rome in the process. A true win-win.
In the lead up to the Punic Wars, Rome was a civilization on the rise. They had firmly become the dominant Mediterranean land power with their defeats of the Sabines, Etruscans, Samnites, and Pyrrhus. They further cemented their dominance with their victory over the great naval power Carthage in the First Punic War. Rome appeared to be invincible and on a fast track toward complete domination of the Mediterranean. However, out of the ashes of the First Punic War, the man who would strike more fear into Rome than anybody had before would rise up, Hannibal Barca. Although there was no general more skilled than him in the field, Hannibal’s lack of strategic foresight would eventually lead to disastrous consequences for Carthage.
The story of Hannibal is well known. A Carthagian general of unmatched skill who was a sworn enemy of Rome, Hannibal inflicted more pain and fear on Rome than anybody before him. His exploits are legendary. Crossing the Alps with War Elephants to catch Rome completely off guard. Winning battle after battle in Italy. Completely destroying a Roman army in a stroke of military genius still studied today at Cannae. However, even with these great victories, Hannibal was never able to achieve victory. Why?
In my opinion, Hannibal lost the war because he severely underestimated the extent to which the Romans were committed to winning. It appeared that Hannibal’s strategy was to win as many victories as possible in an effort to force Rome to the negotiating table. What he didn’t account for is the fact that surrender isn’t in Rome’s vocabulary. Even after a defeat as horrific as Cannae, the Romans were steadfast in their resolve for victory. Their societal ethos of virtus and fortitude kept them going in the face of disaster. Instead of collapsing, Rome merely buckled down, changed the rules on who can enlist in the military, and raised more legions. If Hannibal could not convince Rome to surrender after Cannae, what could?
It would appear the only thing that would end the war in Carthage’s favor would be total victory, but with every passing day, this became increasingly impossible. Hannibal was marching in a faraway land, with no allies and no way to reinforce and resupply his army besides living off the land. Without the quick knockout that he sought, Rome was able to regroup, stall him in Italy, and win victories over Carthage in Spain and Africa. Suddenly, Carthage was in a war on multiple fronts, and Hannibal’s campaign in Italy was now just a sideshow. The situation eventually got so desperate for Carthage that they had to recall Hannibal in order to help in the defense of Africa. However, by this point the momentum was completely on Rome’s side, and Hannibal was decisively defeated at the Battle of Zama, ending the war in victory for the Romans.
It is without debate that Hannibal was a general of tremendous skill and talent. However, his strategy of forcing Rome to the negotiating table was doomed from the start, as Rome would never surrender. Had he done his due diligence and realized this before crossing the Alps, maybe he could have fought a smarter war. Perhaps he could have focused on regaining territory that was lost in the First Punic War. Unfortunately, his desire for total victory over the Romans clouded his judgment, and ultimately, despite his prodigious tactical gifts, his shortsighted invasion of Italy would result in the total destruction of his homeland.
