Paper outline Essay

Paper Outline

Topic: General Hannibal
Thesis Statement: General Hannibal, a Carthaginian, was one of the greatest generals and tacticians of all time who almost crippled the Roman Empire.
I. Introduction
1. This meant that not only was the leader of the military
but also the political leader as well.
2. In 221 b.c. Hasdrubal was assassinated
and Hannibal became commander in Spain.
II. Expansion of Carthaginian power  
1. As a result of this he expanded the Carthaginian power
toward the Ebro River, which was the written northern boundary of Carthage
by the Rome treaty of 226.
2. Expanded trade routes
3. Rome attacked Saguntum, a city close to but
clearly on the Carthaginian side of the border.
III. Hannibal against Romans
1. So in 218 b.c. Rome declared war on Carthage. This begins the second Punic War.
2. The problem was he had to go by land because Rome controlled the
seas.
3. Hannibal takes an army of thirty-five to forty thousand men, some
on foot and others on horse, along with fifty war elephants across the
Pyrenees and the Alps in August of 218.
IV. Fall of Hannibal
1. Hannibal continued his campaign in Italy until the year 203 B.C. when the Roman commander Publius Cornelius Scipio attacked Carthage itself.
2. After loss Hannibal fled from Carthage to Syriato become an admiral.
3. Rome intervened, and Hannibal poisoned himself in 183 to avoid exile
V. Conclusion
1. Hannibal was probably the smartest and most determined general in all history.
2. He probably could have won the Second Punic War if the army still in Carthage was prepared for an attack.
3. If he had won, history books would have been filled with the stories of Hannibal and the Carthaginian Empire.

Bibliography
Book
1. Prevas, John. 2001. Hannibal Crosses the Alps: the invasion of Italy and the Second Punic War.
New York: Da Capo Press
2. Warrick, Clemens. 2005. Hannibal: Great general of the Ancient World
New York: Pocket Books...