Hannibal's War Elephants Cross Rhone, Second Punic War
Hannibal, son of Hamilcar Barca (247-183/182 BC) was a Carthaginian military commander and tactician generally considered one of the greatest military commanders in history. One of his most famous achievements 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. In his first few years in Italy, he won dramatic victories (Trebia, Trasimene, and Cannae) and won over many allies of Rome. Hannibal occupied much of Italy for 15 years, but a Roman counter-invasion of North Africa forced him to return to Carthage, where he was defeated at the Battle of Zama by Publius Cornelius Scipio Africanus. The battle was closely fought. At one point, it seemed that Hannibal was on the verge of victory, but Scipio was able to rally his men, and his cavalry, having routed the Carthaginian horse, attacked Hannibal's rear. This two-pronged attack caused the Carthaginian formation to collapse.The last major battle of the Second Punic War resulted in a loss of respect for Hannibal by his fellow Carthaginians. The conditions of defeat were such that Carthage could no longer battle for Mediterranean supremacy. Seven years after the victory of Zama, the Romans, alarmed by Carthage's renewed prosperity, demanded Hannibal's surrender. Hannibal went into voluntary exile. Determined not to fall into enemy hands he took poison, which he had long carried about with him in a ring
