The Second Punic War- Hannibal's Invasion of Italy

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Introduction The expansion of Rome in the 3rd century BCE brought it into conflict with Carthage, the dominant power in the central Mediterranean. This result in the three Punic Wars, between 264-146 BCE. In the First Punic War, Rome and Carthage fought for control of the island of Sicily in a series of naval battles. Defeated in Sicily, Carthage sought revenge in the Second Punic War. During this campaign, the Carthaginian general Hannibal came close to destroying Rome, but ultimately failed in his goal. The Third Punic War saw Rome permanently remove Carthage from being a significant power. Hannibal (reputedly the subject of the marble bust, below) was the son of Hamilcar Barca, a Carthaginian general in the First Punic War. Hannibal inherited his father’s obsession with revenge against Rome and so provoked the Second Punic War by besieging Saguntum, in Eastern Spain, in 219. He showed his military genius time and time again in the campaigns in Italy from 218 onwards, but even he could not prevent the final defeat for Carthage at Zama in 202. He spent his later years in exile, first at the court of the Seleucid king Antiochus III and finally in Bithynia, where he poisoned himself rather than face Roman captivity. Roman accounts of Hannibal mention his cruelty and greed, but there is much evidence to the contrary, such as the respect he showed for the bodies of fallen Roman generals and the care he took of his men and his animals. Why the Second Punic War was an important event The Second Punic War was important both from the perspective of the feats accomplished and tactics developed on both sides, as well as the political consequences. Hannibal pushed the borders of what was considered possible by successfully marching a force of 50,000 men, 9000 horses and 37 elephants across the Alps, and in doing so passed into legend. Once on the Italian Peninsula

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