Hannibal and the Carhaginians in the Second Punic War

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Hannibal Barca

Hannibal’s birth name was Hannibal Barca. He grew up with his father, Hamilcar Barca, his brothers, Hasdrubal and Mago, and his brother-in-law, Hasdrubal The Fair. He married “the daughter of a Spanish chieftain” (Green 20), Imilce, and then left for the Roman Empire. and never saw her again. Hamilcar made Hannibal swear to a Carthaginian god to be a forever enemy of the Romans and after Hamilcar died in war, he passed his power over to his son-in-law Hasdrubal in 230 B.C. (Green 59). After Hasdrubal dies in 221 B.C., Hannibal is put in command of the Carthaginians (Green 17). He won the Second Punic War by striking fear in the enemy and then defeating them. Hannibal was a strategic commander, a fearless fighter, and a sensible leader.

Hannibal used strategic military tactics to defeat his enemies and survive on the journey to the Roman Empire. For example, Hannibal needed to cross the Rhône River but the Volcae, a violent warlike tribe, was in his way, so he sent a small force up the river at night to cross the river and hide behind the enemy line. Then, in the morning, the small force that crossed the river during the night attacked the Volcae from behind, while Hannibal’s army attacked them from the front (Mills 46-47). This proves that Hannibal was clever because he needed to cross the river to get to The Alps and he defeated the Volcae tribe in the process. In addition, Hannibal laid siege on the Romans in the Po Valley. His tactics were to let the Numidian Cavalry reverse the Romans charge and then to surround the Roman regiments. The Numidian Cavalry were very fast and they quickly surrounded the Romans (Mills 63-64). This proves that Hannibal was very strategic in battle because he knew that if the Rom...

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... a small army to protect him (Green 59). Hannibal committed suicide in 182 B.C. in Bithynia by drinking a cup of poison to escape being captured by the Romans (Green 58). The Romans destroy Carthage during the Third Punic War in 149-146 B.C. (Green 58-59).

Works Cited

"Hannibal the Great." World History Encyclopedia. Ed. Alfred J. Andrea and Carolyn Neel. Vol. 6: Era 3: Classical Traditions, 1000 BCE-300 CE. Santa Barbara, CA: ABC-CLIO, 2011. 510-11. Gale Virtual Reference Library. Web. 23 Jan. 2014. .

"Hannibal the Warrior [B.C. 28o B.C. 28o]." Hannibal The Warrior. N.p., n.d. Web. 23 Jan. 2014.

Mills, Cliff W. Hannibal. New York: Chelsea House, 2008. Print.

Green, Robert. Hannibal. New York: Franklin Watts, 1996. Print.

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