4 – He Lost His Eye Early in his Invasion of Italy
Despite his brilliance early in his invasion of Italy, Hannibal didn’t always make the best possible decision. After the victory at the Battle of the Trebbia in 218 BC, Hannibal had two choices. One, he could march down Italy’s east coast and travel quickly along with the dry and flat land. The problem with this tactic was that he would probably meet well-armed Roman armies.
The second option, the one he chose, was to cross a massive swamp as a means of surprising the Romans. Although he ultimately succeeded in surprising the Romans with his arrival, it came at a considerable personal cost as well as resulting in numerous deaths amongst his army. One of the big problems with the swamp was that the water was extremely well distributed, so there was nowhere from the Carthaginian army to sleep.
Eventually, Hannibal suffered from an eye infection, many of his men died, and they apparently lost what remained of their war elephants (although it is possible that Surus survived). The Carthaginians did not encounter dry land for several days, and by that time, the infection was so bad that Hannibal lost his eye. He supposedly removed it entirely yet there are still some statues supposedly depicting him after Cannae which don’t show a missing eye or his famous eye patch.
Likewise, any images or statues relating to his crossing of the Alps which include Hannibal with one eye or an eye patch are misleading. As painful as losing the eye was, Hannibal did achieve his initial goal which was to meet the Romans in open battle in Italy. Massive victories at Lake Trasimene and Cannae ensured Rome was on its knees. The eye patch also served as a reminder to his men that their leader was prepared to suffer like them, and his character helped keep the army’s spirits up in tough times.