Anyone to enlighten me on Hannibal?

Question

I know he has something to do with Africa. Tell me more in your own words pls.

Answer 1

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hannibal

Answer 2

Hannibal (Favourite of Baal) Barca (Lightning) -

Son of Hamilcar Barca, another great leader who drowned before he had he chance to achieve greatness & brother to Hasdrubal & Hanno Barca.

He was the brains behind bringing the war to Roman lands & defeated the Romans in 3 famous battles (Placenta, Cannae & Lake Trasimene) of which Cannae was most famous for his double-pincer or encirclement tactics which destroyed a numerically superior Roman force. His main strategy of destroying Roman power was to break the Roman federation, ie, turning Roman allies towards his cause as they supply the biggest bulk of soldiers in the Roman legions.

Hannibal hails from Carthage, a city which stood in modern Tunisia (it was destroyed by the Romans at the end of the 3rd Punic War & was never rebuilt). His infantry comprise mainly of Gauls & Spaniards whereas his cavalry was comprised of Numidians, led by the their King Massinisa.

As the Carthaginian senate was mainly opposed to war, Hannibal was said to have financed the 2nd Punic War from his family's coffer.

Upon defeat by Scipio Africanus in Zama, Hannibal tries to reform Carthage & maintain peace with Rome as he was well aware that Carthage stood to gain more though peace. He was betrayed by his own people (via political intrigue) in which he was made the scapegoat in straining Roman-Carthaginian relations & was forced to flee Carthage. He was close to being captured by the Romans when he took his own life. A tragic ending for a great man.

Answer 3

Hannibal Barca (247 BC – c. 183 BC;[1][2][3][4][5] Barca or Barcas, which means lightning: see Baraq, in Canaanite, برق, Barq, in Arabic) was a Punic military commander and politician, later also working in other professions, who is popularly credited as one of the finest commanders in history. [citation needed] He lived in a period of tension in the Mediterranean, when Rome (then the Roman Republic) established its supremacy over other great powers such as Carthage, Macedon, Syracuse and the Seleucid empire. He is one of the best known Carthaginian commanders. His most famous achievement was at the outbreak of the Second Punic War, when he marched an army, which included war elephants, from Iberia over the Pyrenees and the Alps into northern Italy.

During his invasion of Italy he defeated the Romans in a series of battles, including those at Trebia, Trasimene and Cannae. After Cannae, the second largest city in Italy, Capua, joined Hannibal through defection from Rome. Hannibal lacked the strength necessary to attack the city of Rome itself. He maintained an army in Italy for more than a decade afterward, never losing a major engagement, but never able to push the war through to a conclusion. During that period of time, the Roman armies regrouped. A Roman counter-invasion of North Africa forced him to return to Carthage, where he was defeated in the Battle of Zama. The defeat forced the Carthaginian Senate to send him into exile. During this exile, he lived at the Seleucid court, where he acted as military advisor to Antiochus III in his war against Rome. Defeated in a naval battle, Hannibal fled again, this time to the Bithynian court. When the Romans demanded his surrender, he preferred to commit suicide rather than submit.

Hannibal is universally ranked as one of the greatest military commanders and tacticians in history. Military historian Theodore Ayrault Dodge once famously christened Hannibal the "father of strategy"[6] because his greatest enemy, Rome, came to adopt elements of his military tactics in their strategic canon. This praise has earned him a strong reputation in the modern world and he was regarded as a "gifted strategist" by men like Napoleon Bonaparte and the Duke of Wellington. His life has also been the basis for a number of films and documentaries.

Contents [hide]
1 Background and early career
2 Second Punic War in Italy (218–203 B.C.)
2.1 Overland Journey to Italy
2.2 Battle of Trebia
2.3 Battle of Lake Trasimene
2.4 Battle of Cannae
2.5 Stalemate
2.6 End of War in Italy
3 Conclusion of Second Punic War (203–201 B.C.)
3.1 Return to Carthage
3.2 Battle of Zama
4 Later career
4.1 Peacetime Carthage (200–196 B.C.)
4.2 Exile and death (195–183 B.C.)
5 Legacy to the ancient world
6 Legacy to the modern world
6.1 TV and film
6.2 Literature
6.3 Theatre and opera
6.4 Military history
7 References
8 Further reading
9 See also



[edit] Background and early career

Hannibal Barca: a 19th century engraved portrait based on the Capua bustHannibal Barca ("mercy of Baal") was the son of Hamilcar Barca. 'Barca' was an epithet, meaning "lightning" and not a family name, but it was carried by his sons. Historians refer to the Hamilcar's family as the Barcids to avoid confusion with other Carthaginians of the same name. After Carthage's defeat in the First Punic War, Hamilcar set out to improve his family's and Carthage's fortunes. With that in mind and supported by Gades, Hamilcar began the subjugation of the tribes of the Iberian Peninsula. Carthage at the time was in such a poor state that its navy was unable to transport his army to Iberia (Hispania); instead, Hamilcar had to march it towards the Pillars of Hercules and ferry it across the Strait of Gilbratrar (present-day Morocco).

According to Livy, Hannibal much later said that when he came upon his father and begged to go with him. Hamilcar agreed and demanded him to swear that as long as he lived he would never be a friend of Rome. Other sources report that Hannibal told his father, "I swear so soon as age will permit...I will use fire and steel to arrest the destiny of Rome."[7] [citation needed]

Hannibal's father went about the conquest of Hispania. When he was killed in a battle, Hannibal's brother-in-law Hasdrubal succeeded to his command of the army. Hasdrubal pursued a policy of consolidation of Carthage's Iberian interests, even signing a treaty with Rome whereby Carthage would not expand north of the Ebro River, so long as Rome did not expand south of it.

Upon the assassination of Hasdrubal (221 BC), Hannibal was proclaimed commander-in-chief by the army and confirmed in his appointment by the Carthaginian government. Titus Livy, a Roman scholar, gives a depiction of the young Carthaginian:

No sooner had he arrived...the old soldiers fancied they saw Hamilcar in his youth given back to them; the same bright look; the same fire in his eye, the same trick of countenance and features. Never was one and the same spirit more skillful to meet opposition, to obey, or to command...[8]

After he assumed command, Hannibal spent two years consolidating his holdings and completing the conquest of Hispania south of the Ebro. However, Rome, fearing the growing strength of Hannibal in Iberia, made an alliance with the city of Saguntum which lay a considerable distance south of the River Ebro and claimed the city as its protectorate. Hannibal perceived this as a breach of the treaty signed with Hasdrubal and so he laid siege to the city, which fell after eight months. Rome reacted to this apparent violation of the treaty and demanded justice from Carthage. In view of Hannibal's great popularity, the Carthaginian government did not repudiate Hannibal's actions, and the war he sought was declared at the end of the year. Hannibal was now determined to carry the war into the heart of Italy by a rapid march through Hispania and southern Gaul.


[edit] Second Punic War in Italy (218–203 B.C.)
Main article: Second Punic War.

[edit] Overland Journey to Italy

Hannibal´s route of invasion given graciously by The Department of History, United States Military AcademyHannibal departed New Carthage in late spring of 218 B.C. He fought his way through the northern tribes to the Pyrenees, subduing the tribes through clever mountain tactics and stubborn fighting. He left a detachment of 11,000 troops to garrison the newly conquered region. At the Pyrenees, he released another 11,000 Iberian troops who showed reluctance to leave their homeland. Hannibal reportedly entered Gaul with 50,000 foot soldiers and 9,000 horsemen.

Hannibal recognized that he still needed to cross the Pyrenees, the Alps, and many significant rivers. Additionally, he would have to contend with opposition from the Gauls, whose territory he passed through. Starting in the spring of 218 BC, he easily fought his way through the northern tribes to the Pyrenees and, by conciliating the Gaulish chiefs along his passage, reached the Rhône River before the Romans could take any measures to bar his advance. Arriving at the Rhône in September, Hannibal's army numbered 38,000 infantry, 8,000 cavalry, and thirty-seven war elephants.

After outmaneuvering the natives, who had tried to prevent his crossing, Hannibal evaded a Roman force sent to operate against him in Gaul. He then proceeded up the valley of one of the tributaries of the Rhône River and by autumn arrived at the foot of the Alps. His passage over the Alps is one of the most celebrated achievements of any military force in ancient warfare. Hannibal successfully crossed the mountains, despite numerous obstacles such as harsh climate and terrain, the guerrilla tactics of the native tribes, and the challenge of commanding an army diverse in race and language. He descended from the foothills and arrived into northern Italy, but accompanied by only half the forces he had started with, and only a few elephants. From the start he seems to have calculated that he would have to operate without aid from Hispania. Historian Adrian Goldsworthy, however, points out that the figures for the number of troops he had when he left Hispania are less than reliable.