Hannibal ante portas: Why did Hannibal decline to capture Roma in BC 216?

Abstract

“Vincere scis, Hannibal, victoria uti nescis/you know how to gain a victory, Hannibal, you know not how to use one”. On 2nd. August 216 B.C., the carthaginian general Hannibal, caused the Romans a devastating defeat in the proximities of Cannae. After the battle his cavalry commander, Maharbal, advised the general that the final victory was imminent if at that time he mobilized his troops against the city of Rome. The Roman historian Livy, who lived almost three centuries after these events, describes this scene (22, 51, 1-4). He attributes the famous phrase to Maharbal, after Hannibal's refusal to follow his advice and adds, that by this refusal, Rome and the Roman Empire were saved from destruction. Did Maharbal know on August 2nd. that Rome could be destroyed? Did Hannibal later regret not having followed the advice of his cavalry chief? Is Livy's conclusion on the alleged inaction of the carthaginian historically plausible? Or is it that the historian from his perspective and with knowledge of the further development of the history of Rome, sees in Hannibal's action the salvation of Rome, turning his perspective into a distorted retrospective? Which eventually leads to an erroneous historical analysis.