User blog comment:Goddess of Despair/Season 4 battle 1 Hannibal Barca vs Spartacus/@comment-2006360-20130214013130

Thornclaw's Prickly and Thorned Edges

Short Range: Difficult to say, but in the end at the Battle of Kynoskephalai, the Falcata's ancestor the Kopis met the Gladius in battle and the weapon that can be used to attack while defending yourself at the same time proved best. If this battle involved horses I would have something different to say. Edge: Spartacus

Mid-Range: NOBODY uses a sarissa in a small group, it's useless unless you have 20-a couple thousand people all using them against another massed force. This will most likely end up being a bunch of individuals fighting each other, and such a clumsy weapon won't last a minute against the trident-net combo. Edge: Spartacus

Long Range: The Soliferrum is a good missile weapon but the Pilum can do all it can and more; it can render the Caetra useless. Also it's a better melee and defensive weapon. Edge: Spartacus

Shields: This is obvious, the Scutum has much better protection, especially against the Soliferrum, and although clumsier I'd choose a speed penalty over a protection penalty any day. Edge: Spartacus

There's a recurring problem in this battle, and it's that Spartacus was a gladiator, trained for one-on-one and small skirmihes like these. Hannibal was a general, a tactician, and looked at big pictures, strategies and massive armies. If this were an Army vs. Army battle I'd be giving Hannibal the edge for everything, however he wasn't the commander who would charge right into enemy lines at the head of a massive assault, like Alexander the Great; he was far more the thinker, he would find a vantage point where he could see what was going on. But regardless of actual history, in this battle as you have placed it, I have to say Spartacus will win because he's more suited for small battles and his weapons are overall more reliable.