Hannibal was born into the Barcas', a wealthy and powerful Carthaginian family. Rome and Carthage were clashing over control of the western Mediterranean and had become deadly rivals. Legend relates that when Hannibal was ten years old, his father made him swear on a sacrificial animal that he would never forget that Rome was the enemy.
Hannibal spent most of his youth fighting in Spain, gaining valuable firsthand experience of command. He was described as an athletic man with dark, fiery eyes.
In 218 BC, Hannibal set off from New Carthage in southern Spain to break the power of Rome once and for all. His intention was to reduce Rome once more to a collection of city-states - as the power of Rome lay in her army, Hannibal planned to inflict crushing defeats and thus encourage the spread of revolt in Rome's satellite states.
Much has been written of Hannibal's epic march across the Alps. When he entered northern Italy, his ranks were bolstered by 50,000 Gallic tribesmen. Most of Hannibals army was composed of mercenaries, a longstanding Carthaginian tradition. These troops were armed and armoured in their traditional wargear and his force included Numidians, Libyans, Gauls, and Celtiberians.
The Second Punic War
Hannibal inflicted a crushing defeat on Roman forces at the Battle of the River Trebia ( fought in freezing snow), followed by an ambush at Lake Trasimene, where he pinned a marching Roman army between hills and the shores of the lake. Thousands of Romans perished. But Hannibals greatest victory was at Cannae, in 216 BC, where over fifty thousand Romans died in a single day. The slaughter at Cannae was unprecedented - it was said that every family in the republic lost a son or father. What makes the carnage even more terrible is the fact that it was carried out using hand-held weapons at close quarters - ancient accounts state that the press of Romans was so great that the Carthaginians ham-strung them and returned to finish them off later.
Despite his victories, Hannibal had not reckoned on Roman fortitude. Teetering on the brink of destruction, Rome nevertheless refused to accede to Hannibal's demands and set about raising fresh armies through mass conscription. The Romans refused to meet Hannibal in the field, knowing full well that he could not capture Rome itself.
Hannibal was to spend fifteen years on Roman soil. His campaign ground to a halt because his main supply base, Spain, was conquered and absorbed into Roman territory by a brilliant Roman general, Publius Cornelius Scipio. Furthermore, Hannibal recieved virtually no assistance from Carthage itself during the war.
Eventually, Scipio invaded North Africa, and the Carthaginian leaders begged his pardon, blaming everything on Hannibal. Hannibal was recalled to fight in defense of his home-city - which he had barely seen in his life - but was defeated by Scipio at the Battle of Zama in 202 BC.
Hannibal escaped and spent the rest of his life in exile, offering his services as a general to various Kings. But the Romans never forgave or forgot and numerous attempts were made on his life. Weary of running, Hannibal eventually took poison in 183 BC. It could be said that in seeking to destroy the Romans, Hannibal ultimately made them stronger than ever before.
Source:
Rome and Her Enemies Edited by Jane Penrose, Osprey 2005
