Hannibal and the Carthaginian Empire Essay

Hannibal was great and famous Carthaginian general. He is remembered for his great strategic skills on the battle field and as a great military chief. Born in late 247 BC, was the oldest son of Hamilcar Barca. In 237 BC, Hamilcar took his nine year old son, Hannibal, to the altar of a Carthaginian god and made him pledge eternal hatred to the Romans. Then Hannibal and his father left for Spain. The headquarters of Carthaginian power in Spain was the city of New Carthage. Hannibal saw immediately his father’s techniques for war . When Hamilcar perished in the battle of 230 BC, his son-in-law, Hasdrubal, became the military leader plus the political leader and continued Carthage’s pressure in Spain. In 226 BC Hasdrubal signed an agreement with the Romans. The agreement stated that neither army could cross the Ebro River in the northern Spain . When Hasdrubal was murdered in 221 BC, the Carthaginians collectively elected twenty-six-year-old Hannibal to be the leader in Carthaginian government and commandant of the army in Spain. After Hamilcar’s death Hannibal became an excellent military leader. â€Å"Under [Hannibal’s] control the Carthaginians made large territorial advances†¦Ã¢â‚¬  (I-cias). He learned quickly how to be a leader and with the support of his brothers he was able to succeed through his battles. Hannibal was crossing the Alps and was able to receive rations for a couple days. â€Å"On the third day he captured a Gallic town and provided the army from its stores with rations for two or three days† (Alps). He wanted the best for his army, but had little support from Carthage. Despite the number of men falling from the army due to natural disasters he managed to recruit others. â€Å"Even if many fell from his army during this march because of snowstorms, landslides, and attacks from hostile local tribes, he managed to recruit new personnel along the route. † His strategy was to respond quickly to these natural disasters and it helped him. Hannibal earned his success by enduring hardships with his recruits and reinforcements. Hannibal experienced many challenges including battle delays little amount of military equipment and a small number of reinforcements from home. Other military leaders knew he would not be able to handle a delay due to the lack of preparation he took for each battle. â€Å"He [Fabius, Roman Military Leader] believed that Hannibal lacked the equipment for a prolonged siege and that a delay in the battle would seriously reduce the Carthaginian food supply†. Rome believed that delays would end in the conquering of Hannibal because of the lack of necessities there was little he could do. Hannibal began to suffer during his career due to the lack of food. â€Å"Zama was the only defeat. Hannibal suffered in his military career† . After his defeat his enemies began to discover his weakness. Hannibal was running out of everything during the Battle of Cannae and his help refused to aid him. â€Å"Hannibal needed reinforcements, which the Carthaginian government refused to furnish, and he also lacked siege weapons† . Hannibal’s restrictions could have given him success, had he been willing to bargain with another force greater then his own. Hannibal was the instrument of his own undoing. Hannibal was set on being the conqueror and set on some one else’s defeat, which lead him to his own. His enemy, Rome, was the center of his downfall. He would never settle and there was no satisfaction between them. â€Å"†¦In 218, he clashed with the Roman army. The Romans claimed that this was a break of an existing treaty between Rome and Carthage and demanded Hannibal surrendered to them†¦the Second Punic War started† (I-cias). If Hannibal conquered Romans he would never be able to rule over. â€Å"According to legend, Hamilcar had made the young Hannibal swear on a sacred altar that he would remain an enemy of Rome for life† . Hannibal had made a promise to his father, therefore intending to go on with nothing. â€Å"The loss of the second city of Italy cost Hannibal the allegiance of many of his Italian allies and put an end to his hopes of further replenishing his army from their ranks† . Hannibal had lost it all. His hope had been limited at this point. Hannibal both succeeded and failed. He never won the hearts of the people; therefore he was never able to truly be victorious. Hannibal married a Spanish princess and conquered the surrounding land and took hostages from the adjacent tribes to assure their loyalty to him without crossing the Ebro River, except for the city of Saguntum, an ally of Rome. When Saguntum began trouble between Carthage and Rome in 219 BC, Hannibal invaded the city. This began the Second Punic War . After hearing the declaration of war Hannibal immediately starts off towards Rome. The problem was he had to go by land since Rome controlled the seas. Hannibal began a long and hazardous expedition across the Pyrenees and the Alps in August of 218, with battle elephants walking at the front of his army . In the spring of 218 BC, Hannibal handed over command of the Spanish armies to his brother Hasdrubal. He then led his troops north toward the Pyrenees Mountains and began one of the most famous journeys in history . Hannibal’s army included Libyans and Numidians from North Africa, Iberians and Celtiberians from Spain, and Gauls from Spain, France, and Italy. There were thirty-five thousand foot soldiers, twelve thousand horsemen, and fifty war elephants. Hannibal used the elephants to break infantry lines and to create fear and disorder. The elephants also frightened horses, so they were able to disrupt the enemy’s cavalry . In the Pyrenees, Hannibal encountered resistance from local tribes. He lost a lot of his men to fighting, and some of the mercenaries went home because they were scared of the long journey. With all this, Hannibal continued to move as quickly as possible, but bad luck fell into Hannibal’s lap as early snows and landslides kill many of his men and almost all of his war elephants . He enters Italy with only twenty-six thousand men and five or six war elephants in September 218. Hannibal and his troops spent the winter in Po Valley. In the spring of 217 BC When news of Hannibal’s army reached Rome, the Gauls of northern Italy revolted. They joined Hannibal in fighting the Romans. Now Hannibal had a sufficient army of infantry and cavalry. The Romans had plans to attack Carthage and New Carthage, but they had to be delayed because of the rebelling tribes in Italy and the approach of Hannibal. So the Romans sent troops under the command of Publius Cornelius Scipio, to stop Hannibal at Massilia . Massilia is on the French coast where the Rhone River runs into the Mediterranean Sea. The Rhone is a wide river with a swift current, so it was a great obstacle to Hannibal. Scipio’s troops set up camp by the sea, thinking that Hannibal would reach Massilia in the near future. But he did not realize how fast Hannibal was moving his troops . When Scipio received news of Hannibal, it was too late. Hannibal had moved his entire army across the Rhone, fifty miles north of Massilia . Although Hannibal’s army had been reduced to twenty-six thousand infantry, nine thousand horses, and five or six elephants, it was a great accomplishment to get across the Rhone. To transport the elephants, the men built rafts . When the Alps came into view, Hannibal allowed his army a few days to rest, because he knew that his army had doubts about crossing the Alps. Never before had elephants crossed the Alps. The army did not reach the Alps until late in the year, and many troops and horses were killed. Some troops who came from warmer climates died from the cold. Some troops died of hunger because food was short to come by. Others died in fights with mountain tribes. Some of the mountain tribes rolled big stones down the mountains and caused men and animals to fall from the narrow mountain passage .

Decoding Apple’s Balance Sheet Apa Format Essay

Decoding Apple’s Balance Sheet In March of 2009, Apple had its best March quarter revenue and earnings in Apple history (Apple). In order to see how this occurred, it is important to look over the financial statements of Apple. There is a lot of information available to investors who are interested in investing in a company. By looking specifically at the balance sheet of Apple I am going to determine if investing in Apple is a good idea or a bad idea. Some things I am going to consider are Apple’s assets, liabilities, and shareholder’s equity. These areas should give me insight to how the best quarter in Apple history ame to be. Looking at the current assets of Apple, cash and cash equivalents went down from 1 1. 8 billion dollars to 4. 4 billion dollars. This may look bad at first, but all of the other assets must be added to this in order to get an overall picture of the assets. Short- term marketable securities went up from 10. 2 billion dollars to 20. 5 billion dollars. This helped Apple’s assets grow tremendously. Accounts receivable fell to 1. 9 billion dollars from 2. 4 billion dollars. With the rest of the current assets fgured in, inventories, deferred tax assets, and other current assets, the total current assets ose to 33. billion dollars from 32. 3 billion dollars. That was a rise of 1. 5 billion dollars (Apple). It is important to take into account the rest of the assets. For example, long-term marketable securities rose 1. 5 billion dollars, property, plant and equipment rose 0. 91 billion dollars, goodwill stayed the same, acquired intangible assets fell 0. 017 billion dollars, and othe r assets rose 0. 56 billion dollars. Now that we know how each asset was affected during this quarter, we come to the final numbers, which are total assets rose 3. 6 billion dollars. Apple grew its assets substantially during this quarter. I would think Apple would be a good company to invest in. Before I made any decisions I would investigate the balance sheet further in order to compare liabilities and shareholder’s equity with the previous quarter. This will give me a better understanding of the financial situation of the company (Apple). Current liabilities are in the first section of liabilities and shareholder’s equity. The following accounts are current liabilities and how they fared. Accounts payable went down from 5. 5 billion dollars to 3. 9 billion dollars. Accrued expenses went down 1 billion dollars. Deferred revenue went up from 4. 8 billion dollars to 7 billion dollars. The total change in current liabilities was a decrease of 0. 4 billion dollars. The other two liabilities categories, deferred revenue (non-current) and other non-current liabilities, rose collectively 0. 7 billion dollars. This gives the total liabilities a rise of 0. 3 billion dollars. This amount compared to current assets is not as significant. So far Apple is still looking like a good investment because the assets of Apple rose 1. 5 billion dollars whereas their liabilities only rose 0. billion dollars. It is now time to take a look at the final category of the balance sheet, the shareholder’s equity (Apple). The value of shareholders equity, common stock, rose from 7. 1 billion dollars to billion dollars. Accumulated other comprehensive income rose . 07 billion dollars. Total shareholder’s equity rose 3. 3 billion dollars. So adding together the rise of 0. 4 billion dollars in liabilities with the 3. 3 billion dollar rise of the shareholder’s equity, we get the same amount, 3. 7 billion dollars, as we got for the rise in total assets. The balance sheet balances (Apple). With the rise in assets, which led to the rise in retained earnings, I think Apple would be a good company to invest in because they are growing their business. I would want to look at past financial statements, specifically the balance sheets, in order to compare assets, liabilities, and shareholder’s equity from past quarters, but from the information presented on the balance sheet from this quarter I would be willing to invest in Apple. References Apple reports second quarter results. (2009, April 22). Retrieved August 29, 2010, from http://www. apple. com/pr/library/2009/04/22results. html

The Criminal Justice System of England and Wales Essay

The Criminal Justice System of England and Wales - Essay Example This is because the acts of the Parliament can override common law provisions. Moreover, its membership in the European Union requires it to follow the European community law. The World Factbook of Criminal Justice Systems also said that the legal system in England and Wales is "adversarial" in all courts, including the juvenile courts. Its criminal justice is the "historical pioneer" of the common law type of legal system. More often than not, the law evolves through the decisions made in previous individual cases while decisions in court influence certain perceptions and rules. Such practices might have originated from the fifth century while it was after 1066 when general perceptions regarding common law principles increased. Also, the World Factbook of Criminal Justice Systems added that England and Wales' common legal systems were derived from the Acts of Union of 1536 and 1542. Moreover, the late 19th and 20th centuries have witnessed a boost in the number and scale of statutes and of delegated legislation in British law. Just like in most countries, crime in England and Wales is classified and distinguished mostly on the basis of its seriousness. In addition, an offense may vary according to the procedure it is brought into trial. For example, if it's through a magistrates' court only, by indictment, or by the higher Crown court. It may also vary according to the sanction. Criminal responsibility in England and Wales is 10, so those between ages 10 and 17 are forced to face a youth court if they are charged with a criminal offense. Its difference with the court for adults is that parents of the child offender may be charged with fines which they must pay and supervise their child's behavior. In terms of drug use, the Misuse of Drugs Act of 1971 covers the terms and conditions. It listed drugs into classes A, B, or C. This act was intended to regulate the use and flow of drugs, according to the World Factbook of Criminal Justice Systems. And as in many countries all over the world, it is unlawful to produce, supply, possess, prepare, cultivate, and import or export and such substances. World Factbook of Criminal Justice Systems said that 1994 data shows that there were 5.3 million recorded offenses in England and Wales, this would include indictable offenses and summary offenses, 26 percent of which were cleared. About 729 of the cases were homicide charges and 220,000 offenses of violence against persons. Meanwhile, only 19,600.of these offenses were classified to be serious. During the same year, 5,039 rape cases were recorded which accounted to only one percent of the total recorded offenses. Meanwhile, an astounding 93 percent of the overall offenses were against property, including burglary, theft, criminal damages, and fraud. As for drug offenses, 17,569 cases were reported. Not surprisingly, about half of the total recorded offenses were to be found in metropolitan police areas while rural areas had the lowest crime rates. Judicial System According to The Criminal Justice System Review, the criminal justice system of England and Wales has changed drastically. This is because before the introduction of the due process, those

Statistics Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words - 5

Statistics - Essay Example This has been done to ascertain where Maryland stands among all the regions of USA especially with respect to Virginia and Pennsylvania in terms of well being index and work and life quality. The findings of the statistical analysis is presented and discussed in this paper. Data on Well Being Index and Quality of Work and Life for 50 states and / or congressional district was collected and recorded in MS Office Excel spreadsheet. Descriptive Statistics for well being index and work and life quality was then obtained using MS Office Excel Data Analysis Tool. This was done to get a feel of these indexes i.e. well being index and work and life quality across all the 50 states / congressional districts of USA. The findings of this analysis are presented in Table 1, in the Appendix. It is better to examine and discuss the important statistics obtained from this analysis for each of these indexes – well being index and work and life quality. Summary statistics of well being index for all the 50 states / congressional districts is presented in Table, in the Appendix. The values for mean, median and mode are 65.47, 65.75 and 66.3 respectively. These parameters are measures of central tendency i.e. the central value around which actual well being index of different states lies. Another important statistics of well being index is standard deviation. Its value is 1.69. This is a measure of dispersion of the actual values around the mean value. Now let us examine, whether Maryland lies among all the 50 regions with respect to well being index. Well being index for Maryland is 67.1% (Table 2, in the Appendix). This means Maryland has above average well being index among all the 50 regions under consideration. It is important to examine whether the difference from the mean is significant. To do so 95% confidence interval for mean well being index was determined. This confidence interval is [64.90,

Analyze the case and answer the questions Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Analyze the and answer the questions - Case Study Example The level of hemoglobin of a patient who is suffering from lymphocytosis is likely to drop to about 7.4g/dL. This means that the red blood cell count may be reduced if anemia is present secondary to bone marrow infiltration with cancer cells. The level of platelets of a patient that has ALL will be low. The symptoms include pitting edema, petechia, bone pain, generalized weakness and anemia. There are numerous pains that are associated Acute lymphoblastic leukemia which include excessive brusing, joint pain, bome pain, enlarged lymp nodes and swelling of stoamch. (Johannes, 2010). The treatment of lymphocytosis depended on the type of illness. The various causes of lymphocytosis may be used to determine the treat the type of lymphocytosis. The basic medication is chemotherapy and radiation therapy. The aim of this is to kill all the tumor cells. For pediatric Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia, this patient was given antibiotic incase he is

Case study-management Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Case study-management - Essay Example Also, measures and ways to monitor the change process will be examined. The project will end with an examination of the challenges that the organization may face in the foreseeable future spanning from the next five to ten years and possible contingent solutions to these problems. We begin by talking about what organizational change is and then examining the reasons why it happens or is necessary in every organization. Organizational change or change in general can be defined from a variety of points depending on the perception of the user. An individual or employee in an organization may look at a new post or position as a change while higher management may feel it is unimportant. (Cao et al, 2000, p187). Changes viewed also by management may also not be looked upon as change by outsiders like competitors or suppliers. This has led to the categorizing of change in various ways, some of which include strategic and non-strategic change, incremental and radical change, changes of identity, co-ordination and control, planned and emergent change, change in terms of scale, human-centered change in terms of individual, group and inter-group or organizational level, quantum change and so on. (Cao et al, 2000, p187; Todnem, 2005, p372). ... (Cao et al, 2000, p187; Todnem, 2005, p372). Changes can also be structural, that is dealing with the physical alteration of an organization like its buildings and equipment or even employees. (Bennett & Durkin, 2000). On the other hand, it may be a change in process, that is, the way the related group of tasks are combined to create value for a target customer. (Cao et al, 2000, p188). A change can as well be in functions, that is, the decision system or policy and resource allocation duties of a particular element of an organization. There can also be changes in values, beliefs and human behavior in terms of social rules and relationships and so on. (Cao et al, 2000, p187). Lastly, there can be changes in the distribution of power and level of influence with an organization. These four types of change have different implications on the their total quality management as can be seen in the table below. Table 1. Change Management Classification. Change management classifications Total Quality Management Process change Focuses on process ahead of the other three types of organizational change. Function (structural) change Says little about organizational structure Values (cultural) change Relies on but cannot influence culture Changes in power Is distorted by power in the organization With all the above determinants and types of change outlined, we can then define change management as 'the process of updating on a continuous basis and organization's direction, structure and capabilities to serve the ever evolving needs of the indigenous and exogenous clients'. (Todnem, 2005, p369). It involves identifying the future organizational needs and managing the changes required within the present system to

Airport Planning and Expansion Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 5250 words

Airport Planning and Expansion - Case Study Example In this study, I intend to focus the analysis on the overall facility by reviewing the constraints within which the airport works and at the end offer recommendations on a probable development scheme so as to augment on the capacity in reference to flight and travellers accommodation. The Changi Airport found in Singapore has grown to rise to be a major aviation hub in Asian region. Its importance is particularly crucial to the southeast part of Asia. Occupying change, the airport rests on a thirteen square kilometres land, and about 17 kilometres to the north-east of the commercial hub. This is a military and public airport that is owned by the government of Singapore. The Changi Airport opened in 1981 is at an elevation of 22ft or 7meters above sea level and serves the Singapore Government and is run by the Changi Airport Group. It is considered as a landmark achievement for the country of Singapore. The company has won a plethora of awards totalling to about 280 in a span of 20 years, that is from 1987- 2007, for providing excellent service that is considered as a benchmark in the Aviation industry. The year 2007 alone saw the company earn 19 awards in the best airport category. The airport has made measures to address the age issue by offering periodic physical upgrades to the already in place terminals, building fresh facilities and taking actions towards the development of high level customer services. The Changi Airport is base to the Singapore Airlines, Tiger Airways, Valuair, Jett8 Airlines Cargo, Singapore Airlines Cargo, Jetstar Asia Airways, and SilkAir, and the main stopping point for Qantas which uses it as the main stop point en route kangaroo - a route that connects Australia and