Made famous by the Carthage general Hannibal, "Aut inveniam viam aut faciam” is Latin for “I shall either find a way or make one." He coined the term when he made the impossible journey of the Alps on elephants, and used them to attack the Italian Peninsula in the Second Punic War.

During the Second Punic War, Hannibal enticed the Roman Army to attempt a river crossing in December, before fighting Hannibal's warm, well rested men in the Battle of Trebia. Despite the Romans' bulk, the war elephants drove away their cavalry, allowing Hannibal to flank the nearly frozen Roman legions. The Roman striking approach was incredibly successful, but only when fighting head on. A flanked legion would often be crushed, as was the case at Trebia, because it could not maintain an attack from both the front and the sides.

Hannibal utilized his weaker forces to beat the Romans at the Battles of Lake Trasimine and Cannae (217 and 216 BC). The general exploited the Roman troops' vulnerability on both occasions by using geography to block them and hide additional deployments on the wings.

The Battle of Cannae didn't need to be fought, as Hannibal and his army were low on supplies, but the confidence that another Roman attack would effectively eradicate Hannibal led to Rome’s third crushing defeat in three years.

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