Was Hannibal a genius?

As I forget which commander said, "Strategy Is For Amateurs, Logistics Is For Professionals" Hannibals was most definately a professional.

Originally posted by Delenda est Roma Zama was a stalemate from each man's actions cancelling out the other. It then devolved into a proverbial slogging match as you know :). Scipio actually was thinking more of himself in not besieging the city. Besides that he pretended to be earnestly negotiating then attacked Syphax and Hanno's camps in bad faith. Scipio's reluctance to besiege Carthage was the fact he might not have been able to take it. He had a small navy at the time and his siege of Utica took over a year. To take Carthage he would've needed a much larger army and navy. He recognized he wouldn't be able to take it and so instead of wasting his proconsulship on it and risking being replaced he concentrated and making Carthage accept terms so he could assure he took credit and received a triumph.

Originally posted by Delenda est Roma Oh don't doubt Hannibal's haters. I have met numerous people who argue Hannibal was merely competent if that. They much prefer Scipio. Anyway, at Trasimene Hannibal hid his whole army from Flaminius. Most of Hannibal's victories were total with few survivors and he used cavalry decisively. He used his diverse army to its strengths and so achieved victory.

If he can still be referred to for study of his campaigns and tactics; by institutions as redoubtable as Sandhurst..WestPoint..VMI..The Citadel..Anapolis..Norwich..Saint Cyr..CGSC and the US Army War College...then the answer remains obvious.

Alas I too can't be fully objective. He is by far my favorite person in history. On another note, how can one deny his genius? Simply mentioning Cannae or Trasimene should remedy that.

Hannibal one of the greatest generals of all time though he was also an admiral. Does he qualify as a military genius? He had numerous crushing defeats over the Romans, Spaniards, Celts, and Pergamon. He won naval and land battles and never stopped fighting. His tactical masterpiece Cannae is one of the best tactical battles ever. Trasimen and Trebia are also model battles. His lesser none battles like Herdonia or Tagus River were also impressive. He wasnt deficient at siege warfare either taking, Acerrae, Tarentum, Saguntum, and numerous other cities. He crossed the Alps under attack by Celtic tribes a truly spectacular feat. His strategy of detaching Roman allies was working. The Etruria was unrestful, he took all of Bruttium, most of Magna Graecia, Tarentum and Capua plus all but one of the Samnite tribes went over to him. Rome was in dire straits having to reduce their coinage weight and lower the standards for military recruitment. 12 Latin conies could no longer send men or tribute. He fought the Rhodians in a naval battle and won Naval and land battles against Pergamon. His accomplishments are gigantic and can be extolled on for days. Do his accomplishments give him the title military genius? I of course say yes. What say you?