Hannibal was in Carthage in 247 BC. When he was born, Carthage was about to
lose a long and very important war. Carthage suffered a huge loss from the Romans in the
first Punic War. After Rome defeated Carthage, they stripped Carthage of Sicily, which
was their most important province. Rome also ended up seizing Sardinia and Corsica
after the Civil War broke out in Carthage.
Hannibal was the oldest son of the Carthaginian general Hamilcar Barca. When
Hannibal was 10 years old, his father took him to Iberia in 237 BC. There were several
cities in Andalusia. These cities are Gadir, Malkah, and New Carthage. Hamilcar added
new territories to this informal empire. This is how Carthage made up their loss of
overseas territories.
When Hamilcar died in 229 BC, Hannibal’s brother-in-law, Hasdrubal the Fair,
gained command. Hasdrubal improved the Carthaginian position by diplomatic needs.
One of which was intermarriage between Carthaginians and Iberians. Because of this,
Hannibal ended up marrying a native princess. In 221 BC, Hasdrubal was murdered and
the Carthaginians elected Hannibal to be their commander. Hannibal returned to his
father’s violent military politics and attacked the natives. During this attack, he captured
Salamanca.
In 218 BC, he crossed the Ebro River so that he could continue his conquest of
the Iberian Peninsula. When Rome heard about this news, they declared the Second Punic
War. Rome sent reinforcements to Sicily because they thought that they were going to
attack from Sicily, but Hannibal decided to attack Rome at Catalonia. Hannibal decided
to win the war by invading Italy before the Romans could prepare. He led an army with
50,000 infantry, 9,000 Calvary, and 60 elephants across the Pyrenees. He then crossed the
Rhone River. He ferried his elephants across the river by using big rafts. In 218 BC, he
reached the plains along the Po River in Turin, Italy. In a Calvary engagement at the
Ticinus River, Hannibal defeated his opponents in a little battle. Hannibal ended up
winning a second battle at the Trebia River. Hannibal ended up losing an eye in one of
the battles that he fought.
Rome chose a man by the name of Scipio to be their General. Scipio attacked
Hannibal and Carthage. At the battle of Zama in 202 BC, Scipio and the Romans
defeated Hannibal. After his loss at the Second Punic War, Hannibal helped Antiochus III
of Syria fight Rome, but they lost at the Battle of Magnesia in 190 BC.
Hannibal did not die when he lost the Battle of Zama. In 183 BC, he committed
suicide my taking poison. At the time, he was in Bithynia, and he was in danger of being
extradited to Rome.