We hear much of the lengths Hannibal went to so that southern Italian city-states would defect to the Carthaginian side, yet little of his attempts to win over the Etrurians; after his army left Etruria after the battle of lake Trasimene, I’m unaware of him ever entering the area again.
Etruria was one of the last Italian regions to be fully controlled by Rome, was wealthy and urbanized, had suitable ports and winter quarters for Hannibal's army, had close historical, cultural, and economic toes with Carthage, and was in prime position to link up with reinforcements from Iberia and Cisalpine Gaul. Why did Hannibal dismiss Etruria and instead prioritize southern Italy?
Hey there,
Just to let you know, your question is fine, and we're letting it stand. However, you should be aware that questions framed as 'Why didn't X do Y' relatively often don't get an answer that meets our standards (in our experience as moderators). There are a few reasons for this. Firstly, it often can be difficult to prove the counterfactual: historians know much more about what happened than what might have happened. Secondly, 'why didn't X do Y' questions are sometimes phrased in an ahistorical way. It's worth remembering that people in the past couldn't see into the future, and they generally didn't have all the information we now have about their situations; things that look obvious now didn't necessarily look that way at the time.
If you end up not getting a response after a day or two, consider asking a new question focusing instead on why what happened did happen (rather than why what didn't happen didn't happen) - this kind of question is more likely to get a response in our experience. Hope this helps!