Hannibal was a Carthaginian general and statesman who commanded the forces of Carthage in their war against the Roman Republic during the Second Punic War. Hannibal lived during a period of great tension in the Mediterranean basin, triggered by the emergence of the Roman Republic as a major power following its defeat of Carthage in the First Punic War. Revanchism prevailed in Carthage, symbolized by the pledge that Hannibal made to his father, Hamilcar Barca, to "never be a friend of Rome".

Overview

Hannibal was a Carthaginian general and statesman who commanded the forces of Carthage in their war against the Roman Republic during the Second Punic War. Hannibal lived during a period of great tension in the Mediterranean basin, triggered by the emergence of the Roman Republic as a major power following its defeat of Carthage in the First Punic War. Revanchism prevailed in Carthage, symbolized by the pledge that Hannibal made to his father, Hamilcar Barca, to "never be a friend of Rome".

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Notable quotes

“I have come not to make war on the Italians, but to aid the Italians against Rome.”
— Spoken to Italian soldiers of Rome captured at the Battle of Lake Trasimene (24 June 217 BC) as quoted in Hannibal : One Man Against Rome (1958) by Harold Lamb, p. 119.
“Ah there is one thing about them more wonderful than their numbers … in all that vast number there is not one man called Gisgo.”
— Spoken as a jest to one of his officers named Gisgo, who had remarked on the numbers of Roman forces against them before the Battle of Cannae (2 August 216 BC), as quoted in A History of Rome (1855), by Henry George Liddell Vol. 1, p. 355
“nullum contemptu m[ortis incitamentum] ad uincendum homini ab dis immortalibus acrius datum est.”
— God has given to man no sharper spur to victory than contempt of death.
“Liberemus diuturna cura populum Romanum, quando mortem senis exspectare longum censent. (Latin, not original language)”
— Let us ease the Roman people of their continual care, who think it long to await the death of an old man.
“I am not carrying on a war of extermination against the Romans. I am contending for honour and empire. My ancestors yielded to Roman valour. I am endeavouring that others, in their turn, will be obliged to yield to my good fortune, and my valour.”
— As quoted in Hannibal : Enemy of Rome (1992) by Leonard Cottrell, p. 150.