Hannibal Facts
Hannibal Facts
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Interesting Hannibal Facts: |
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Hannibal Barca was born in 247 BC in Carthage (today it is Tunisia). |
Hannibal's last name Barca means thunderbolt. |
When Hannibal was only 10 his father Hamiclar took him to Spain and made him swear his hostility toward Rome. |
Hannibal Barca was given control of an army at the age of 26, and he made Cartagena in Spain his headquarters. |
In 218 BC Hannibal marched his troops across Europe and over the Alps towards Rome. |
His army consisted of more than 100,000 troops and almost 40 war elephants. |
On the journey to Rome Hannibal's army met with attacks by various indigenous tribes. The tribes rolled heavy stones upon them and across their path. |
When Hannibal exited the Alps he only had one elephant and approximately 26,000 troops left. |
During the Second Punic War Hannibal's army battled the Roman forces in an attempt to gain control of Italian land. |
Hannibal had success at the battles of Trebbia, Cannae, and Trasimene. |
Hannibal came within three miles of Rome, the capital of the Roman Empire. |
By the time Hannibal reached the outskirts of Rome his forces were not sufficient to attack and conquer. |
Rome did not have the forces to defeat Hannibal's army. |
The stalemate resulted in Hannibal retreating to defend his country against the Roman army. |
The Romans used trumpets to scare the elephants of the Carthaginian army at the Battle of Zama. The scared elephants stampeded and killed many of the Carthaginian troops. |
The Romans and Carthaginians peace agreement was hard on the Carthaginians. Their military was greatly reduced. |
Hannibal spent the next 10 years involved heavily in politics in Carthage. |
Because of Hannibal's involvement in politics the Romans grew concerned, especially because he was gaining popularity. |
In 195 BC the Romans demanded that Hannibal retire. |
Instead Hannibal moved to Turkey. He became a military advisor to the Turkish. |
Hannibal was given control of a Greek fleet in 190 BC and he went to war against a Roman ally. |
Hannibal's army was defeated. Hannibal fled when the Roman's demanded that he be turned over to them. |
Hannibal refused to be captured and in 183 BC, near the Bosporus Straits at Libyssa, he committed suicide. |
Hannibal swallowed a vial of poison to end his life. |
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