Hannibal Barca was a legendary figure in the Punic Wars, which were fought between Carthage and Rome.

His army consisted of somewhere between 40,000 - 60,000 troops and employed countless African elephants.

Hannibal is considered by many –– including the likes of National Geographic –– to be one of the most creative generals to ever live.

After this story that reads stranger than fiction, you’ll understand why…

During the Second Punic War, Hannibal’s scouts misread the terrain and navigated his troops into a marsh with the sea at their backs.

The Roman army led by Fabius Maximus, Hannibals arch-nemesis, had the Carthaginians cornered.

Come nightfall, Hannibal had branches tied to the horns of the 2,000 oxen that accompanied his army.

He then ordered his troops to set fire to the branches and send them in a line up the mountain beside them.

The Roman army looked on in horror as the fiery line moved up the mountain and eventually burst into a fury of flame and demonic cries, setting much of the mountainside on fire.

The Romans retreated with certainty that Hannibal and the Carthaginians had summoned demons.

In reality, as the fire burned down the horns and eventually the backs of the Oxen, it sent them into a total panic, causing them to break their line, cry out and run wild across the face of the mountain.

In the midst of the chaos, Hannibal and his army made their escape.

By Cole Schafer (inspired by Robert Greene).

Subscribe to Sticky Notes for more stories like these.

Hannibal Barca was a legendary figure in the Punic Wars, which were fought between Carthage and Rome.

His army consisted of somewhere between 40,000 - 60,000 troops and employed countless African elephants.

Hannibal is considered by many –– including the likes of National Geographic –– to be one of the most creative generals to ever live.

After this story that reads stranger than fiction, you’ll understand why…

During the Second Punic War, Hannibal’s scouts misread the terrain and navigated his troops into a marsh with the sea at their backs.

The Roman army led by Fabius Maximus, Hannibals arch-nemesis, had the Carthaginians cornered.

Come nightfall, Hannibal had branches tied to the horns of the 2,000 oxen that accompanied his army.

He then ordered his troops to set fire to the branches and send them in a line up the mountain beside them.

The Roman army looked on in horror as the fiery line moved up the mountain and eventually burst into a fury of flame and demonic cries, setting much of the mountainside on fire.

The Romans retreated with certainty that Hannibal and the Carthaginians had summoned demons.

In reality, as the fire burned down the horns and eventually the backs of the Oxen, it sent them into a total panic, causing them to break their line, cry out and run wild across the face of the mountain.

In the midst of the chaos, Hannibal and his army made their escape.

By Cole Schafer (inspired by Robert Greene).

Subscribe to Sticky Notes for more stories like these.