huh? why so much antipathy against rome? now i'm no historian, but isn't the most likely answer always a compromise? one can say that the romans would have won at cannae had they been facing lesser soldiers. had either the celts or iberians been poorer than they were on that day, varro would have pushed through and beaten hannibal fairly easily.. had the libyan infantry been less skilled/disciplined, the encirclement may never have formed.. not to mention the discipline shown by the libyan cavalry.. etc.

but of course one has to acknowledge that hannibal's brilliance was absolutely crucial to the victory.. to all of his three major ones, in fact. those roman legions were a superb fighting machine. without hannibal, trebia would have been a defeat for the carthaginians, trasimene wouldn't have even happened, and cannae would have been a win for rome too.