Hannibal

Hannibal Barca was born in 247 BCE, the oldest son of Carthaginian general Hamilcar Barca. He was born in Carthage, but moved to the Iberian Peninsula with his father at the age of ten. When his father died in 229, Hannibal's brother-in-law, Hasdrubal, took command of the Carthaginian Army, but was murdered in 221. The people then elected Hannibal as their commander at only 26 years old. After this election was confirmed by the government, Hannibal continued his father's aggressive military tactics by quickly attacking Salamanca and Saguntum in 218 BCE, two provinces of New Carthage that were inhabited by Greeks, breaking a treaty and thus starting The Second Punic War. However, the Romans had sided with the Greeks and agreed to protect these colonies. While the Romans were making plans to invade New Carthage, Hannibal, being the aggressive man that he was, was not concerned with any means of defense. After the Romans declared war on Hannibal and his Carthaginians, he began a fast-paced campaign, attempting to catch the Romans by surprise. He marched almost 60,000 troops, and 37 African elephants across the Italian Alps into Rome. Upon arrival, he was met by Roman troops led by general Publius Cornelius Scipio, but easily defeated them in battle.However, he lost many men in the process. After defeating the Romans at Cannae, where hannibal and his men were outnumbered 50,000 to 80,000, and winning several other battles, the Romans sent in Scipio Africanus to destroy Carthage. His Roman force took on Hannibal at Zama and handily defeated them. When the Romans made the treaty to end The Second Punic War,thus ending Hannibal's impressive career as a genera as he was forced to resign, he went to the Seleucid Empire, where he united the Selucidians as allies of Carthage. He advised King Antiochus III to invade Greece and Italy in 192, starting the Syrian War. Antiochus's forces were defeated by the Romans, forcing Hannibal to flee one last time. He ended up in Bithynia, at the Court of King Prusias. He attempted to start yet another war by supporting Prusias in his war against Pergamene. Hannibal achieved his final military victory in 184, defeating the Pergamene fleet. However, when Rome intervened and helped Pergamene in 182, Hannibal poisoned himself to avoid extradition.
 * Hannibal Barca (247-182 BCE):**