Conquests of Hannibal Carthaginian general Hannibal was the son of Hamilcar Barca , ( 247 BC – c . 183 BC ) . Hispania . Upon the assassination of Hasdrubal ( 221 BC ) , Hannibal was proclaimed commander - in - chief by the army and confirmed in his appointment by the Carthaginian government . After he assumed command , Hannibal spent two years consolidating his holdings and completing the conquest of Hispania south of the Ebro . [ 10 ] However , Rome , fearing the growing strength of Hannibal in Iberia , made an alliance with the city of Saguntum which lay a considerable distance south of the River Ebro and claimed the city as its protectorate . Hannibal perceived this as a breach of the treaty signed with Hasdrubal and so he laid siege to the city , which fell after eight months . Rome reacted to this apparent violation of the treaty and demanded justice from Carthage . Second Punic War . Overland journey to Italy . Hannibal departed New Carthage in late spring of 218 BC . He fought his way through the northern tribes to the Pyrenees , subduing the tribes through clever mountain tactics and stubborn fighting . He left a detachment of 11 , 000 troops to garrison the newly conquered region . At the Pyrenees , he released another 11 , 000 Iberian troops who showed reluctance to leave their homeland . Hannibal reportedly entered Gaul with 50 , 000 foot soldiers and 9 , 000 horsemen . Hannibal recognized that he still needed to cross the Pyrenees , the Alps , and many significant rivers . Additionally , he would have to contend with opposition from the Gauls , whose territory he passed through . Starting in the spring of 218 BC , he easily fought his way through the northern tribes to the Pyrenees and , by conciliating the Gaulish chiefs along his passage , reached the Rhône River before the Romans could take any measures to bar his advance . Arriving at the Rhône in September , Hannibal ' s army numbered 38 , 000 infantry , 8 , 000 cavalry , and 37 war elephants . After outmaneuvering the natives , who had tried to prevent his crossing , Hannibal evaded a Roman force marching from the Mediterranean coast by turning inland up the valley of the Rhone . His exact route over the Alps has been the source of scholarly dispute ever since ( Polybius , the surviving ancient account closest in time to Hannibal ' s campaign , reports that the route was already debated ) . The most influential modern theories favour either a march up the valley of the Drome and a crossing of the main range to the south of the modern highway over the Col de Montgenevre ( argued by Sir Gavin de Beer , Alps and Elephants ) or a march further north up the valleys of the Isere and Arc crossing the main range near the present Col de Mont Cenis ( most fully argued by Denis Proctor , Hannibal ' s March in History ) . By whichever route , his passage over the Alps is one of the most celebrated achievements of any military force in ancient warfare . Hannibal successfully crossed the mountains , despite numerous obstacles such as harsh climate and terrain , the guerrilla tactics of the native tribes , and the challenge of commanding an army diverse in race and language . He descended from the foothills and arrived into northern Italy in the vicinity of modern Turin , but accompanied by only half the forces he had started with , and only a few elephants . From the start he seems to have calculated that he would have to operate without aid from Hispania . Historian Adrian Goldsworthy , however , points out that the figures for the number of troops he had when he left Hispania are less than reliable . Battle of Trebia . Hannibal ' s perilous march brought him into the Roman territory and frustrated the attempts of the enemy to fight out the main issue on foreign ground . His sudden appearance among the Gauls of the Po Valley , moreover , enabled him to detach those tribes from their new allegiance to the Romans before the latter could take steps to check the rebellion . Publius Cornelius Scipio , the consul who commanded the Roman force sent to intercept Hannibal , had not expected Hannibal to make an attempt to cross the Alps , since the Romans were prepared to fight the war in Iberia . With a small detachment still positioned in Gaul , Scipio made an attempt to intercept Hannibal . Through prompt decision and speedy movement , he succeeded in transporting his army to Italy by sea , in time to meet Hannibal . Hannibal ' s forces moved through the Po Valley and were engaged in a small confrontation at Ticinus . Here , Hannibal forced the Romans , by virtue of his superior cavalry , to evacuate the plain of Lombardy . While the victory was minor , it encouraged the Gauls and Ligurians to join the Carthaginian cause , whose troops bolstered his army back to 40 , 000 men . Scipio was severely injured and retreated across the river Trebia to camp at Placentia with his army intact . The other Roman consular army was rushed to the Po Valley . Even before news of the defeat at Ticinus had reached Rome , the senate had ordered the consul Sempronius Longus to bring his army back from Sicily to meet Scipio and face Hannibal . Hannibal , by skillful maneuvers , was in position to head him off , for he lay on the direct road between Placentia and Arminum , by which Sempronius would have to march in order to reinforce Scipio . He then captured Clastidium , from which he drew large amounts of rations for his men . But this gain was not without its loss , as Sempronius avoided Hannibal ' s watchfulness , slipped around his flank , and joined his colleague in his camp near the Trebbia River near Placentia . There , in December of the same year , Hannibal had an opportunity to show his superior military skill at Trebia ; after wearing down the excellent Roman infantry he cut it to pieces by a surprise attack from an ambush in the flank . Battle of Lake Trasimene . Having secured his position in northern Italy by this victory , Hannibal quartered his troops for the winter with the Gauls , whose support for him abated . In the Spring of 217 BC , Hannibal decided to find a more reliable base of operations farther south . Expecting Hannibal to carry on advancing to Rome , Cnaeus Servilius and Gaius Flaminius ( the new Consuls of Rome ) took their armies to block the Eastern and Western routes Hannibal could use to get to Rome . The only alternate route to central Italy lay at the mouth of the Arno . This route was practically one huge marsh , and happened to be overflowing more than usual during this particular season . Hannibal knew that this route was full of difficulties , but it remained the surest and certainly the quickest route to Central Italy . As Polybius claims , Hannibal ’ s men marched for four days and three nights , “ through a route which was under water ” , suffering terribly from fatigue and enforced want of sleep . He crossed the Apennines ( during which he lost his left eye because of conjunctivitis ) and the seemingly impassable Arno without opposition , but in the marshy lowlands of the Arno , he lost a large part of his force , including , it would seem , his remaining elephants . Arriving in Etruria in the spring of 217 BC , Hannibal decided to lure the main Roman army , under Flaminius , into a pitched battle , by devastating under his very own eye the area he had been sent to protect . As Polybius tells us , " “ he [ Hannibal ] calculated that , if he passed the camp and made a descent into the district beyond , Flaminius ( partly for fear of popular reproach and partly of personal irritation ) would be unable to endure watching passively the devastation of the country but would spontaneously follow him . . . and give him opportunities for attack . ” " At the same time , Hannibal tried to break the allegiance of Rome ’ s allies , by proving that Flaminius was powerless to protect them . Despite this , Hannibal found Flaminius still passively encamped at Arretium . Unable to draw Flaminius into battle by mere devastation , Hannibal marched boldly around his opponent ’ s left flank and effectively cut Flaminius off from Rome ( thus executing the first recorded turning movement in military history ) . Advancing through the uplands of Etruria , Hannibal provoked Flaminius to a hasty pursuit and , catching him in a defile on the shore of Lake Trasimenus , destroyed his army in the waters or on the adjoining slopes while killing Flaminius as well ( see Battle of Lake Trasimene ) . He had now disposed of the only field force which could check his advance upon Rome , but , realizing that without siege engine s he could not hope to take the capital , he preferred to exploit his victory by passing into central and southern Italy and encouraging a general revolt against the sovereign power . After Lake Trasimeno , Hannibal stated , " “ I have not come to fight Italians , but on behalf of the Italians against Rome . ” " The Romans appointed Fabius Maximus as a dictator . Departing from Roman military traditions , Fabius adopted the Fabian strategy — named after him — of refusing open battle with his opponent while placing several Roman armies in Hannibal ’ s vicinity to limit his movement . Having ravaged Apulia without provoking Fabius to battle , Hannibal decided to march through Samnium to Campania , one of the richest and most fertile provinces of Italy , hoping that the devastation would draw Fabius into battle . Fabius closely followed Hannibal ’ s path of destruction , yet still refused to let himself be drawn , and thus remained on the defensive . This strategy was unpopular with many Romans who believed it was a form of cowardice . Hannibal decided that it would be unwise to winter in the already devastated lowlands of Campania but Fabius had ensured that all the passes out of Campania were blocked . To avoid this , Hannibal deceived the Romans into thinking that the Carthaginian Army was going to escape through the woods . As the Romans moved off towards the woods , Hannibal ' s army occupied the pass , and his army made their way through the pass unopposed . Fabius was within striking distance but in this case his caution worked against him . Smelling a stratagem ( rightly ) he stayed put . For the winter , Hannibal found comfortable quarters in the Apulian plain . What Hannibal achieved in extricating his army was , as Adrian Goldsworthy puts it , " " a classic of ancient generalship , finding its way into nearly every historical narrative of the war and being used by later military manuals " " . This was a severe blow to Fabius ’ s prestige , and soon after this , his period of power ended . Battle of Cannae . In the spring of 216 BC , Hannibal took the initiative and seized the large supply depot at Cannae in the Apulian plain . By seizing Cannae , Hannibal had placed himself between the Romans and their crucial source of supply . Once the Roman Senate resumed their Consular elections in 216 , they appointed Gaius Terentius Varro and Lucius Aemilius Paullus as Consuls . In the meantime , the Romans , hoping to gain success through sheer strength in numbers , raised a new army of unprecedented size , estimated by some to be as large as 100 , 000 men . The Roman and Allied legions of the Consuls , resolving to confront Hannibal , marched southward to Apulia . They eventually found him on the left bank of the Audifus River , and encamped six miles away . On this occasion , the two armies were combined into one , the Consuls having to alternate their command on a daily basis . The Consul Varro , who was in command on the first day , was a man of reckless and hubristic nature , and was determined to defeat Hannibal . Hannibal capitalized on the eagerness of Varro and drew him into a trap by using an envelopment tactic which eliminated the Roman numerical advantage by shrinking the surface area where combat could occur . Hannibal drew up his least reliable infantry in a semicircle in the center with the wings composed of the Gallic and Numidian horse . The Roman legions forced their way through Hannibal ' s weak center , but the Libyan Mercenaries in the wings swung around by the movement , menaced their flanks . The onslaught of Hannibal ' s cavalry was irresistible , and Hasdrubal ( not Hasdrubal Barca ) who commanded the left , pushed in the Roman right and then swept across the rear and attacked Varro ' s cavalry on the Roman left . Then he attacked the legions from behind . As a result , the Roman army was hemmed in with no means of escape . Due to these brilliant tactics , Hannibal , with much inferior numbers , managed to surround and destroy all but a small remainder of this force . Depending upon the source , it is estimated that 50 , 000 - 70 , 000 Romans were killed or captured at Cannae . Among the dead were the Roman consul Lucius Aemilius Paullus , as well two consuls for the preceding year , two quaestors , twenty - nine out of the forty - eight military tribune s and an additional eighty senators ( at a time when the Roman Senate was no more than 300 men , this constituted 25 % – 30 % of the governing body ) . This makes the Battle of Cannae one of the most catastrophic defeats in the history of Ancient Rome , and one of the bloodiest battles in all of human history ( in terms of the number of lives lost within a single day ) . After Cannae , the Romans were not as enthusiastic in challenging Hannibal in pitched battles , instead preferring to defeat him by attrition , relying on their advantages of supply and manpower . As a result , Hannibal and Rome fought no more major battles in Italy for the rest of the war . The effect on morale of this victory meant that many parts of Italy joined Hannibal ' s cause . As Polybius notes , " " How much more serious was the defeat of Cannae , than those which preceded it can be seen by the behavior of Rome ’ s allies ; before that fateful day , their loyalty remained unshaken , now it began to waver for the simple reason that they despaired of Roman Power . " " . During that same year , the Greek cities in Sicily were induced to revolt against Roman political control , while the Macedonian king , Philip V pledged his support to Hannibal – thus initiating the First Macedonian War against Rome . Hannibal also secured an alliance with newly appointed King Hieronymous of Syracuse . It is often argued that if Hannibal would have received proper material reinforcements from Carthage he might have succeeded with a direct attack upon Rome . For the present he had to content himself with subduing the fortresses which still held out against him , and the only other notable event of 216 BC was the defection of Capua , the second largest city of Italy , which Hannibal made his new base . However , only a few of the Italian city - states which he had expected to gain as allies consented to join him . Stalemate . The war in Italy settled into a strategic stalemate . The Romans utilized the attritional strategies Fabius had taught them , and which , they finally realized , were the only feasible means of defeating Hannibal . Indeed , Fabius received the surname " Cunctator " because of his policy of attrition . The Romans deprived Hannibal of a large - scale battle and instead , assaulted his weakening army with multiple smaller armies in an attempt to both weary him and create unrest in his troops . For the next few years , Hannibal was forced to sustain a scorched earth policy and obtain local provisions for protracted and ineffectual operations throughout Southern Italy . His immediate objectives were reduced to minor operations which centered mainly round the cities of Campania . As the forces detached his lieutenants were generally unable to hold their own , and neither his home government nor his new ally Philip V of Macedon helped to make good his losses , his position in southern Italy became increasingly difficult and his chance of ultimately conquering Rome grew ever more remote . Hannibal still won a number of notable victories : completely destroying two Roman armies in 212 BC , and at one point , killing two Consuls ( which included the famed Marcus Claudius Marcellus ) in a battle in 208 BC . Nevertheless , without the resources his allies could contribute , or reinforcements from Carthage , Hannibal could not make further significant gains . Thus , inadequately supported by his Italian allies , abandoned by his government , and unable to match Rome ’ s resources , Hannibal slowly began losing ground . Hannibal continued defeating the Romans whenever he could bring them into battle , yet he was never able to complete another decisive victory that produced a lasting strategic effect . Hannibal ' s retreat in Italy . In 212 BC Hannibal captured Tarentum but he failed to obtain control of the harbour . The tide was slowly turning against him , and in favor of Rome . The Romans mounted two sieges of Capua , which fell in 211 BC , and the Romans completed their conquest of Syracuse and destruction of a Carthaginian army in Sicily . Shortly thereafter , the Romans pacified Sicily and entered into an alliance with the Aetolian League to counter Phillip V . Philip , who attempted to exploit Rome ' s preoccupation in Italy to conquer Illyria , now found himself under attack from several sides at once and was quickly subdued by Rome and her Greek allies . Meanwhile , Hannibal had defeated Fulvius at Herdonea in Apulia , but lost Tarentum in the following year . In 210 BC , Hannibal again proved his superiority in tactics by inflicting a severe defeat at Herdoniac ( modern Ordona ) in Apulia upon a proconsular army , and in 208 BC destroyed a Roman force engaged in the siege of Locri Epizephyri . But with the loss of Tarentum in 209 BC and the gradual reconquest by the Romans of Samnium and Lucania , his hold on south Italy was almost lost . In 207 BC , he succeeded in making his way again into Apulia , where he waited to concert measures for a combined march upon Rome with his brother Hasdrubal Barca . On hearing , however , of his brother ' s defeat and death at the Metaurus he retired into Bruttium , where he maintained himself for the ensuing years . The combination of these events marked the end to Hannibal ' s success in Italy . With the failure of his brother Mago Barca in Liguria ( 205 – 203 BC ) and of his own negotiations with Philip of Macedon , the last hope of recovering his ascendancy in Italy was lost . In 203 BC , after nearly fifteen years of fighting in Italy , and with the military fortunes of Carthage rapidly declining , Hannibal was recalled to Carthage to direct the defense of his native country against a Roman invasion under Scipio Africanus . Conclusion of Second Punic War ( 203 – 201 BC ) . Return to Carthage . In 203 BC , when Scipio was carrying all before him in Africa and the Carthaginian peace party were arranging an armistice , Hannibal was recalled from Italy by the war party at Carthage . After leaving a record of his expedition engraved in Punic and Greek upon brazen tablets in the temple of Juno at Crotona , he sailed back to Africa . His arrival immediately restored the predominance of the war party , who placed him in command of a combined force of African levies and his mercenaries from Italy . In 202 BC , Hannibal met Scipio in a fruitless peace conference . Despite mutual admiration , negotiations floundered due to Roman allegations of " Punic Faith , " referring to the breach of protocols which ended the First Punic War by the Carthaginian attack on Saguntum , as well as perceived breach in contemporary military etiquette ( Hannibal ' s numerous ambuscade s ) . The decisive battle at Zama soon followed . Battle of Zama . Unlike most battles of the Second Punic War , at Zama the Romans had superiority in cavalry and the Carthaginians had superiority in infantry . This Roman cavalry superiority was due to the betrayal of Masinissa , who had earlier assisted Carthage in Iberia , but changed sides in 206 BC with the promise of land and due to his personal conflicts with Syphax , a Carthaginian ally . This betrayal gave Scipio Africanus an advantage that had previously been possessed by the Carthaginians . Although the aging Hannibal was suffering from mental exhaustion and deteriorating health after years of campaigning in Italy , the Carthaginians still had the advantage in numbers and were boosted by the presence of 80 war elephants . The Roman cavalry won an early victory , and Scipio had devised tactics for defeating Carthaginian war elephants . However , the battle remained closely fought . At one point it seemed that Hannibal was on the verge of victory , but Scipio was able to rally his men , and his cavalry attacked Hannibal ' s rear . This two - pronged attack caused the Carthaginian formation to disintegrate and collapse . With their foremost general defeated , the Carthaginians had no choice but to accept defeat and surrender to Rome . Carthage lost approximately 31 , 000 troops with an additional 15 , 000 wounded . In contrast , the Romans suffered only 1500 casualties . The battle resulted in a loss of respect for Hannibal by his fellow Carthaginians . It marked the last major battle of the Second Punic War , with Rome the victor . The conditions of defeat were such that Carthage could no longer battle for Mediterranean supremacy . However , Hannibal has still been glorified despite this loss due to the fact that Scipio had used Hannibal ' s tactics to defeat him .