Hannibal
Carthaginian general who crossed the Alps and fought Rome in the Second Punic War.
His name is a common Semitic Phoenician-Carthaginian personal name, combining the name Hanno with the deity Baal Hammon.[1][2]
Quick Facts
- Born
- 247 BC
- Birthplace
- Carthage, Carthaginian Empire
- Died
- 183–181 BC (aged between 64–66)
- Place of death
- Libyssa, Bithynia
- Allegiance
- Carthage (221–202 BC)
- Seleucid Empire (192–190 BC)
- Kingdom of Bithynia (190–182 BC)
- Other work
- Politician
- Rank
- General Commander-in-Chief of the Carthaginian army
- Spouse
- Imilce
Facts from the source article.
Life and work
He had two brothers, Hasdrubal and Mago, and several sisters whose names are unknown.[3] According to Polybius, Hannibal later said that when he begged to go with his father to war, Hamilcar demanded he swear never to be a friend of Rome.[4] Livy records that Hannibal married a woman from Castulo, a powerful Spanish city allied with Carthage.[5] Hannibal departed Cartagena in late spring of 218 BC, crossing the Pyrenees and reaching the Rhône by September.[6][7]
His army numbered 38,000 infantry, 8,000 cavalry, and 38 elephants, almost none of which would survive the Alps.[7] The Carthaginian general Hamilcar Barca and an unnamed mother had several children, one of whom was Hannibal, who was probably born in Carthage.[3] After Hasdrubal was killed in 221 BC, the army, at that time, proclaimed the 26-year-old Hannibal as their commander-in-chief.[8] In November 218 BC, Hannibal's superior cavalry forced the Romans to withdraw from the plain of Lombardy following the Battle of Ticinus.[9]
What the cited sources add
The History of Rome: Vol III states that the war with Hannibal is "the most memorable of any that have ever been waged"[10] The same source recounts that when Hannibal was nine years old, his father made him swear on a sacrifice that he would show himself the enemy of Rome.[10] Reverse Spins Patton reports that Hannibal said "I will use fire and steel to arrest the destiny of Rome" standing next to his father before an altar.[11] The same source notes that Hannibal's final defeat happened in North Africa.[11]
Reverse Spins Patton states that after his defeat, Hannibal ruled Carthage with democratic principles trying to reduce the power of the oligarchy.[11]
References
- Wikipedia, "Hannibal" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Huss 1985, p. [https://books.google.com/books?id=NvEK7kc3qnQC&pg=PA565 565] (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
- Wikipedia, "Hannibal" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: "Carthage by Eve MacDonald", www.penguin.com.au (we also read that source) en.wikipedia.org
- Wikipedia, "Hannibal" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Lancel, S. Hannibal p. 6. (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
- Wikipedia, "Hannibal" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Dodge, "Hannibal: A History of the Art of War Among the Carthaginians and Romans Down to the Battle of Pydna, 168 BC", Da Capo Press, 1995; Reverse Spins Patton, the Second Coming of Hannibal.; Hilowitz, Beverley (1974). A Horizon guide: great historic places of Europe. American Heritage Pub. Co., p. 119. (we also read that source) en.wikipedia.org
- Wikipedia, "Hannibal" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: "The History of Rome: Vol III"; Silius Italicus, Punica, III, 97; Picard, Gilbert Charles(1967), Hannibal p. 119; Silius Italicus, Punica, III, 63–64 (we also read that source) en.wikipedia.org
- Wikipedia, "Hannibal" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Lancel, "Hannibal", Wiley, 1999, p. 225 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
- Wikipedia, "Hannibal" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Lancel, "Hannibal", Wiley, 1999, p. 60 (we also read that source) en.wikipedia.org
- Wikipedia, "Hannibal" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: "The History of Rome: Vol III" (we also read that source) en.wikipedia.org
- Wikipedia, "Hannibal" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Dodge, Theodore. Hannibal. Cambridge Massachusetts: Da Capo Press, 1891; (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
- "The History of Rome: Vol III". facts only, no text reused. brainfly.net
- Reverse Spins Patton, the Second Coming of Hannibal.. facts only, no text reused. reversespins.com
Each numbered sentence above was checked against the source it cites before publication. Sentences citing Wikipedia adapt text from the English Wikipedia article Hannibal (contributors), used under CC BY-SA 4.0; this entry is available under the same licence. Other sources were used for facts only; no text or images are copied from them.
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