Hannibal was a military and strategical genius who for a long time positively impacted Carthage. However, his loss to his great enemy, Rome, in the Second Punic War, ultimately led Carthage to its downfall, making Rome the major European power.
In order to fully understand Hannibal’s influence to his community, we must first learn about Carthage before his arrival. In the third century, Rome and Carthage were the two major European powers. By 265 (?) Rome had conquered almost all of Italy and wanted to expand its borders. While Carthage controlled most of Northern Africa, parts of Spain, and several large islands in the Mediterranean, including certain parts of Sicily. In 265, (?) mercenaries inside Messina, a city in Sicily, were besieged
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Following Hamilcar's death in 229 BCE, a relative by the name Hasdrubal took over. As a leader, he did two important things. Firstly, he improved and expanded the Carthaginian army by 10,000 infantry and 100 war elephants. Secondly, he signed a treaty with Rome that defined Roman and Carthage borders. During this time, Hannibal was the chief of the military in Spain and invaded and conquered a city named Saguntum, a Roman ally. According to the Romans, Hannibal traveled to close to the Roman borders and territory, which was something that went against Hasdrubal’s treaty. Rome felt that Hannibal had to be handed over and punished. So when Carthage refused to do so, Rome declared the Second Punic War. Hannibal knew from the First Punic War, that Carthage would not be able to stand up against Rome’s new navy. Subsequently, they would have to fight and travel by land. Hannibal’s incredible idea was to travel straight through the Alps so that his army would be able to invade Italy. The Alps contained some of Europe's highest mountains and had always acted as a natural barrier. As part of his plan, Hannibal brought 40 war elephants and 100,000 soldiers over the mountains, something that no one else had ever done. “Back in Rome, an army was quickly raised to deal with the resurgent Carthaginian threat, but the Romans were unprepared for the