Hannibal Barca was a strategist, tactician, and general of the armies of Carthage during the second Punic War (218-202 B.C.). http://www.historyofwar.org/articles/people_hannibal.html He was the son of Carthaginian army commander and politician Hammilcar Barca and the eldest of the sons that were called ‘’the lions brood”. http://www.historyofwar.org/articles/people_hannibal.html Hannibal took his army, which consisted of cavalry, footman, and elephants, across the Pyrenees and Alps to take the Romans by surprise and drive his attack straight at the heart of Rome.

His army marched across Italy, winning key battles at Ticinus and Trebia, and destroying 2 Roman legions at Trasimene Lake. http://ehistory.osu.edu/world/PeopleView.cfm?PID=273 He won an important victory at Cannae, a battle that is called the “bloodiest battle in History” with the loss of 48,000 Roman lives.http://www.historyofwar.org/articles/people_hannibal.html http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=128490878 His strategies at key battles of his campaign were studied by the Romans and included in their military manuals. http://www.leader-values.com/Content/detail.asp?ContentDetailID=1081 He led his mercenary army by example and had the ability to understand the men which he led. http://www.historyofwar.org/articles/people_hannibal.html

Hannibal’s campaign to defeat Rome started in Carthage, the ruling city in what is now Tunnis, when one of its islands was subjugated to Rome when he was a boy.http://www.leader-values.com/Content/detail.asp?ContentDetailID=1081 He was trained in military leadership from the time he was nine and was taken to Spain with his father to start winning back the independence of Carthage.http://www.leader-values.com/Content/detail.asp?ContentDetailID=1081 After taking over the army at the age of 26, Hannibal took his army across the land to attack the Romans on their home ground.http://www.leader-values.com/Content/detail.asp?ContentDetailID=1081

Although winning many battles in Italy, the Romans learned from their mistakes and gradually took back the cities that Hannibal had captured by refusing to meet him in pitched battles. http://ehistory.osu.edu/world/PeopleView.cfm?PID=273 Hannibal was forced back to Carthage to defend it when Publius Cornelius Scipio invaded in 204 B.C. http://ehistory.osu.edu/world/PeopleView.cfm?PID=273 Here he was defeated by the Roman general at the battle of Zama on October 19, 202 B.C. Hannibal was forced to flee Carthage and move from country to country until he poisoned himself in 182 B.C. to avoid being captured. http://ehistory.osu.edu/world/PeopleView.cfm?PID=273

• 247 B.C.: Hannibal Barca bornhttp://ehistory.osu.edu/world/PeopleView.cfm?PID=273

• 221 B.C.: Hannibal becomes commander of the Carthigian armyhttp://ehistory.osu.edu/world/PeopleView.cfm?PID=273

• 218 B.C.: Start of the Second Punic Warhttp://ehistory.osu.edu/world/PeopleView.cfm?PID=273

• 218 B.C.: Battle at Trebiahttp://ehistory.osu.edu/world/PeopleView.cfm?PID=273
• 217 B.C.: Battle of Lake Trasimene http://ehistory.osu.edu/world/PeopleView.cfm?PID=273

• 216 B.C.: Battle of Cannaehttp://ehistory.osu.edu/world/PeopleView.cfm?PID=273

• 202 B.C.: Battle of Zamahttp://ehistory.osu.edu/world/PeopleView.cfm?PID=273

• 195 B.C.: Hannibal forced into exilehttp://ehistory.osu.edu/world/PeopleView.cfm?PID=273

• 182 B.C.: Hannibal commits suicidehttp://ehistory.osu.edu/world/PeopleView.cfm?PID=273